A dozen workmen, as tattered as he is, surround him, and all like him smell of salt fish and of saltpetre. Four dirty ugly women, stretched on the sand not far from the group, are drinking tea, which they prepare in a great iron saucepan. And a workman, already drunk, though it is still early in the morning, tries to get on his legs and falls down again. A woman laughs and cries; some one plays on a broken accordion; everywhere there is the sparkle of fish-scales.
At noon Jakoff found a sheltered place between the piles of empty barrels, lay down there and slept till the evening. When he woke up he wandered about without any fixed plan, though he seemed vaguely attracted by something unknown.
After two hours' walking about, he found Malva some way from the fishery, under the shade of some young willow trees. She was lying on her side, and held in her hand a well-thumbed book; with a smile she watched Jakoff approach.
"Ah! this is where you have got to," he said, seating himself by her side.
"Have you been looking for me a long time?" she asked, with some degree of assurance.
"Looking for you? What an idea!..." said Jakoff, perceiving suddenly that this was exactly the truth.
Ever since the morning till now, he had, without knowing it, been looking for her. He shook his head with surprise.
"Can you read?" he asked her.
"Yes ... but badly, I have forgotten everything."
"So have I.... Did you go to school?"