Terenti was silent for a moment, then straightened himself in his chair, bent forward to Ilya and said, lowering his voice:
"See, it's like this, my unwilling sin crushed my heart like a wooden boot. I say unwilling because if I had not obeyed Petrusha—bang! he would have kicked me out! He would have thrown me on the streets, wouldn't he?"
"Yes," Ilya agreed.
"Well, then, as soon as I began my pilgrimage, my heart was lighter at once, and as I went I prayed. 'Oh, Lord, see, I am going to Thy holy Saints. I know I am a sinner.'"
"That's to say, you bargained with Him?" asked Ilya, with a smile.
"His will be done! How He received my prayer I do not know," said the hunchback, looking upwards.
"But your conscience?"
"How do you mean?"
"Is it at peace?"
Terenti considered for a moment, as if he were listening, then said: