A few days later Augustinovich was sitting in Yosef's lodgings; he was working vigorously in view of the approaching examination. Loving effect in all things, he had shaded the windows, and in the middle of the room had placed a table, before which he was standing at that moment. Evidently he was occupied with some experiment, for on the table was a multitude of old glass vessels and pots full of powders and fluids, and in the centre was burning a spirit lamp, which surrounded with a blue flame the stupid head of a retort which was quivering under the influence of boiling liquid contained in it. Work burned, as they said, in the hands of Augustinovich; no one could labor so quickly as he. With a glad smile on his face he moved really with enthusiasm, frequently entertaining himself with a song or a dialogue with the first vessel he took up, or with a pious remark on the fleeting nature of this world. Sometimes he left his work for a moment, and raising his eyes and his hands declaimed in tones which were very tragic,-- "Ah, Eurydice! before thy beauty I passed the rounds of success, And the sentence of Delphi was undoubted, That on earth I am the only one blest." Then again in a hundred trills and cadences he sang,-- "O piano! piano!--Zitto! pia-ha-ha-no!" Or similar creations of his own mind on a sudden,-- "And if thou fill a pipe, O Youth, And pressing the bowl with thy finger, put fire on it." "By Mohammed! If Yosef should come, this work would go on more quickly; but he is marrying Helena at present--Ei! and as innocence is dear to me, I would fix it this way! Dear Helena, permit--And what farther? Oh, the farther the better--" All at once some one pulled the bell. Augustinovich turned toward the door and extending his hand intoned,-- "Road-weary traveller, Cross thou my threshold." The door opened; a man young and elegantly dressed entered the room. Augustinovich did not know him. The most important notable trait of the newly arrived was a velvet sack-coat and light-colored trousers; besides, he was washed, shaven, and combed. His face was neither stupid nor clever, neither beautiful nor ugly, neither kind nor malicious, moreover he was neither tall nor of low stature. His nose, mouth, chin, and forehead were medium; special marks he had none. "Does Pan Yosef Shvarts live here?" "It is certain that he lives here." "Is it possible to see him?" "It is possible at this time; but in the night, when it is very dark, the case is different." The newly arrived began to lose patience; but Augustinovich's face expressed rather gladness than malice. "The owner of this house sent me to Pan Yosef as to a man who knows the address and the fate of Countess Leocadia N----. Could you give me some explanations as to her?" "Oh yes, she is very nice!" "That is not the question."