"Robber!... Ungrateful wretch!... I'll hack the dog to pieces! I'mnot my father!... Robbing us!..." and so on.

　　Then with no less fear and delight they saw how the young count, redin the face and with bloodshot eyes, dragged Mitenka out by the scruffof the neck and applied his foot and knee to him behind with greatagility at convenient moments between the words, shouting, "Be off!Never let me see your face here again, you villain!"

　　Mitenka flew headlong down the six steps and ran away into theshrubbery. (This shrubbery was a well-known haven of refuge forculprits at Otradnoe. Mitenka himself, returning tipsy from thetown, used to hide there, and many of the residents at Otradnoe,hiding from Mitenka, knew of its protective qualities.)

　　Mitenka's wife and sisters-in-law thrust their heads andfrightened faces out of the door of a room where a bright samovarwas boiling and where the steward's high bedstead stood with itspatchwork quilt.

　　The young count paid no heed to them, but, breathing hard, passed bywith resolute strides and went into the house.

　　The countess, who heard at once from the maids what had happenedat the lodge, was calmed by the thought that now their affairs wouldcertainly improve, but on the other hand felt anxious as to the effectthis excitement might have on her son. She went several times to hisdoor on tiptoe and listened, as he lighted one pipe after another.

　　Next day the old count called his son aside and, with an embarrassedsmile, said to him:

　　"But you know, my dear boy, it's a pity you got excited! Mitenka hastold me all about it."

　　"I knew," thought Nicholas, "that I should never understand anythingin this crazy world."

　　"You were angry that he had not entered those 700 rubles. But theywere carried forward- and you did not look at the other page."

　　"Papa, he is a blackguard and a thief! I know he is! And what I havedone, I have done; but, if you like, I won't speak to him again."

　　"No, my dear boy" (the count, too, felt embarrassed. He knew hehad mismanaged his wife's property and was to blame toward hischildren, but he did not know how to remedy it). "No, I beg you toattend to the business. I am old. I..."