And then I heard the doctor put in:
"'What was it you gave him?'
"'Merely some soda and tartaric acid. To think of the fun that we shall have!'"
Here, closing his eyes, Kalinin remained silent for a moment, whilst the moist breeze sighed as it drove dense, wet mist against the black branches of the trees.
"At first my feeling was one of overwhelming joy at the thought that at least not DEATH was to be my fate. For I may tell you that, so far from being harmful, soda and tartaric acid are frequently taken as a remedy against drunken headache. Then the thought occurred to me: 'But, since I am not a tippler, why should such a joke have been played upon ME?' However, from that moment I began to feel easier, and when the company had sat down to dinner, and, amid a general silence, I was handing round the soup, the doctor tasted his portion, and, raising his head with a frown, inquired:
"'Forgive me, but what soup is this?'
"'Ah!' I inwardly reflected. 'Soon, good gentlefolk, you will see how your jest has miscarried.'
"Aloud I replied—replied with complete boldness:
"'Do not fear, sir. I have taken the powder myself.'
Upon this the General and his wife, who were still in ignorance that the jest had gone amiss, began to titter, but the others said nothing, though Valentina Ignatievna's eyes grew rounder and rounder, until in an undertone she murmured: