"I gave him shelter because he was brought by one whom I could not refuse." "I will wager that it was some woman." "That is true. I can add that she is comely and one of those who excite in me a responsive electric current. But I cannot tell you her name, as she begged me to keep that secret." "I do not ask," said Gronski, "but as to the current I have no doubt, as otherwise you would fear to place yourself in jeopardy." To this Swidwicki said: "Know this, that I do not fear anything in the world, and this gives me in this enslaved country such an unheard of independence as is not enjoyed by any one else." Saying this, he drained the glass to the bottom and exclaimed: "Long live liberty--but only my own." "Nevertheless, all this demonstrates that you have a little good in your heart." "Not in the least. I did that, firstly, because I expect a reward, on which, after all, in such virtuous company, I prefer not to dilate--unless after a second bottle--and again, because I will have some one upon whom I can vent my spleen and assert my ascendency. I assure you that my gallows-bird will not sleep upon roses--and who knows whether after a week he will not prefer the gallows to my hospitality?" "That is possible. But in the meantime?" "In the meantime I bought for him Allen's Waters in order to bleach the black tufts of hair on his head into a light color. 'Are te biondegiante'--as during Titian's time. I feel also a little satisfaction at the thought that the police will stand on their heads to find him and will not get him." "But if they find him?" "I doubt it. Do you remember that for a certain time I had a footman, a native of Bessarabia, whom you knew? Over two months ago he robbed me and ran away. He has already written to me from New York with a proposition which I will not repeat to you. A superb type! Perfectly modern. But before his escape he begged me to return to him his passport, as now they are asking about passports every moment. But I mislaid it in some book and could not find it. But recently--two or three days ago--I accidentally found it, so that my gallows-bird will have not only blond hair but also a passport." "And will he not rob you like his predecessor?" "I told him that he ought to do that, but he became indignant. It seems to me that he is boiling with indignation from morning until night, and if in the end he should steal from me it would be from indignation that I could suppose anything like that of him. That little patroness who shoved him on my neck vouches also that he is honest, but did not even tell me his name. Clever girl! For she says thus: 'If they find him, then you can excuse yourself on the plea that you did not know who he was.' And she is right--though when some marks of gratitude are concerned, she scratches like a cat. For her, I expose myself to the halter, and when I wanted from her a little of that--then I almost got it in the snout."