"Tchichikoff, my dear fellow, come along, I'll show you a pair of beautiful dogs," said Nosdrieff, whilst leading on; "their muscular strength will amaze you, their power of scent is as sharp as—a needle!"
"Just look at that plain," said Nosdrieff, whilst pointing with his finger to a field before them, "there is such a number of hares that you can scarcely see the ground; I caught one the other day with my own hands by his hind legs."
"I venture to say, that you will never catch a hare with your hands!" observed his brother-in-law.
"But I tell you I caught one, and caught one purposely with my own hands!" answered Nosdrieff. "But now come along and I will show you, my dear fellow," he continued whilst turning towards Tchichikoff, "the frontier line of my estate."
When they had walked a considerable distance, they really arrived at the boundary mark of his estate, which consisted of a wooden post with a small board fixed to it.
"Here we are, at the frontier!" said Nosdrieff, "all, what you can possibly see on that side, is mine, and even on the other side, all that extensive forest which looms there in the distance, and that, which is beyond the forest, all is mine."
"But since when has that forest become yours?" inquired his brother-in-law. "You have bought it lately? for it was not yours some time ago?"
"Just so; I bought it quite recently," answered Nosdrieff.
"How did you manage to buy it so quickly, so suddenly?"
"It's a fact, I bought it about three days ago, and the deuce, I paid a handsome price for it."