"Really some one is stirring," said the old man, leaving off coughing at last.
"Hush! Do you hear?" whispered the young man, squeezing Ivan Andreyitch's hands.
"Sir, you are holding my hands by force. Let me go!"
"Hush!"
A slight struggle followed and then there was a silence again.
"So I met a pretty woman ..." began the old man.
"A pretty woman!" interrupted his wife.
"Yes.... I thought I told you before that I met a pretty woman on the stairs, or perhaps I did not mention it? My memory is weak. Yes, St. John's wort ... khee!"
"What?"
"I must drink St. John's wort; they say it does good ... khee-khee-khee! It does good!"