Still I haven't given up hope. Good-bye. (Goes out)
SAVVA
Just grabbed me and stuck—the devil take him!
KONDRATY (laughing)
Yes, he is a sticker from the word go. If he likes you, you can't shake him off. He'll follow you everywhere. We call him the "shadow"—partly, I suppose, because he is so thin. He has taken a fancy to you, so you'll have a time of it. He'll stick to you like a leech.
SAVVA
I am not in the habit of wasting a lot of words. I'll give him the slip without much ceremony.
KONDRATY
They have, even tried beating him, but it doesn't do any good. He is known here for miles around. He is a character.
[A pause. Lightning. Every now and then is heard the roll of distant thunder.