He fixed his eye on Peredonov with a look of perplexity, his keen eyes grew dull, his stout body relapsed into the chair, and he seemed no longer the brisk man of action but simply a rather foolish old man. Peredonov was silent for a while, as if he were bewitched by his host's last words. Then, screwing up his eyes with an indefinable clouded expression, he said: "You're the Mayor of the town, so you can say that it's all nonsense." "That is, in what respect?" inquired Skouchayev cautiously. "Well," explained Peredonov, "if they should inform against me in the District--that I don't go to church or something or other--then if they should come and ask you might put in a word for me." "This we can do," said the Mayor. "In any case, you can rely on us. If anything should happen, then we'll stand up for you--why shouldn't we put in a word for a good man? We might even send in a testimonial from the Town Council. That's all we can do. Or perhaps, if you like, we can give you a personal recommendation from some prominent citizen. Why not? We can do it, if it comes to the pinch." "So I may depend on you?" said Peredonov gravely, as if replying to something not altogether pleasant to him. "There's the Head-Master always persecuting me." "You don't say so!" exclaimed Skouchayev, shaking his head sympathetically. "I can't imagine how that can be, except from slanders. Nikolai Vlasyevitch, it seems to me, is a very reliable man, who wouldn't injure anyone for nothing. I can judge that from his son. He's a serious, rigid man, who allows no indulgences and makes no personal distinctions. In short, he's a reliable man. It couldn't be except from slanders. Why are you at loggerheads?" "We don't agree in our views," explained Peredonov. "And there are people in the school who are jealous of me--they all want to be inspectors. It's because Princess Volchanskaya has promised to get me an inspector's job, and so they're mad with jealousy." "So-o. So-o," said Skouchayev cautiously. "But in any case, why should we go on with our tongues dry? Let's have a snack and a drink." Skouchayev pressed the button of the electric bell near the hanging lamp. "That's a handy trick!" said he to Peredonov. "I think it wouldn't be bad for you to get into another official position. Now, Dashenka," he said to the pleasant looking maid-servant of heavy build who came in answer to the bell, "bring in some _zakouska_ and some coffee, piping hot kind--d'you understand?" "Yes," replied Dashenka, smiling, as she walked out with a remarkably light step considering her heaviness. "Yes, in another department," Skouchayev turned to Peredonov again. "Say, in the ecclesiastical. If you take holy orders, you would make quite a serious, reliable priest. I could help you into it. I have influential friends among the Church dignitaries." Skouchayev named several diocesan and suffragan bishops.