"I went, and he came out of the store-room and locked the door. So we went back to the wing, and the terror immediately left me.
"'What wast thou doing in the store-room, uncle?' says I.—He was fairly frightened.
"'Hold thy tongue!' says he; 'hold thy tongue!' and he crawled up on the oven-bench.
"'Well,' thinks I to myself,—''t will be better for me not to speak to him; he surely must be feeling ill to-day.' So I went and lay down on the oven-bench myself, too. And a night-light was burning in a corner. So, I am lying there, and just dozing, you know ... when suddenly I hear the door creaking softly ... and it opens—so, a little. And my uncle was lying with his back to the door, and, as you may remember, he was always a little hard of hearing. But this time he sprang up suddenly...
"'Who 's calling me, hey? who is it? hast come for me, for me?!' and out he ran into the yard without his hat....
"I thought: 'What 's the matter with him?' and, sinful man that I am, I fell asleep immediately. The next morning I woke up .... and Lukyánitch was not there.
"I went out of doors and began to call him—he was nowhere. I asked the watchman:
"'Has n't my uncle come out?' says I.
"'No,' says he, 'I have n't seen him.'...
"'Has n't something happened to him, brother?'.... says I...