"Well, make haste, and for the last time." "Have you a great deal left to do?" "Ah, brother!" Vasya frowned, as though there could be nothing more terrible and murderous in the whole world than such a question. "A lot, a fearful lot." "Do you know, I have an idea----" "What?" "Oh, never mind, never mind; go on writing." "Why, what? what?" "It's past six, Vasya." Here Nefedevitch smiled and winked slyly at Vasya, though with a certain timidity, not knowing how Vasya would take it. "Well, what is it?" said Vasya, throwing down his pen, looking him straight in the face and actually turning pale with excitement. "Do you know what?" "For goodness sake, what is it?" "I tell you what, you are excited, you won't get much done.... Stop, stop, stop! I have it, I have it--listen," said Nefedevitch, jumping up from the bed in delight, preventing Vasya from speaking and doing his utmost to ward off all objections; "first of all you must get calm, you must pull yourself together, mustn't you?" "Arkasha, Arkasha!" cried Vasya, jumping up from his chair, "I will work all night, I will, really." "Of course, of course, you won't go to bed till morning." "I won't go to bed, I won't go to bed at all." "No, that won't do, that won't do: you must sleep, go to bed at five. I will call you at eight. To-morrow is a holiday; you can sit and scribble away all day long.... Then the night and--but have you a great deal left to do?" "Yes, look, look!" Vasya, quivering with excitement and suspense, showed the manuscript: "Look!" "I say, brother, that's not much." "My dear fellow, there's some more of it," said Vasya, looking very timidly at Nefedevitch, as though the decision whether he was to go or not depended upon the latter. "How much?" "Two signatures." "Well, what's that? Come, I tell you what. We shall have time to finish it, by Jove, we shall!" "Arkasha!" "Vasya, listen! To-night, on New Year's Eve, every one is at home with his family. You and I are the only ones without a home or relations.... Oh, Vasya!" Nefedevitch clutched Vasya and hugged him in his leonine arms. "Arkasha, it's settled." "Vasya, boy, I only wanted to say this. You see, Vasya--listen, bandy-legs, listen!..." Arkady stopped, with his mouth open, because he could not speak for delight. Vasya held him by the shoulders, gazed into his face and moved his lips, as though he wanted to speak for him. "Well," he brought out at last. "Introduce me to them to-day." "Arkady, let us go to tea there. I tell you what, I tell you what. We won't even stay to see in the New Year, we'll come away earlier," cried Vasya, with genuine inspiration. "That is, we'll go for two hours, neither more nor less...." "And then separation till I have finished...." "Vasya, boy!" "Arkady!" Three minutes later Arkady was dressed in his best. Vasya did nothing but brush himself, because he had been in such haste to work that he had not changed his trousers.