Skouchayev talked and all the time entangled himself in his own thoughts, and it seemed as if he would never end his tongue-spinning. He stopped abruptly and thought irritatedly:
"This is a waste of time. That's the trouble with these learned men. You can't understand what they want. Everything's clear to him, to the learned man, in his books, but as soon as he gets his nose out of his books, he tangles up himself and tangles up other people."
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?"