“Who?”
“A man with two soldiers.”
“Asking for ‘Krylenko’?”
“Yes.”
“And what did you say?”
“What you told me, Ivan Ilitch. That you will be away a long time and perhaps not come back at all.”
“By what wonderful means, I should like to know, have you discovered a connection between me and any one called Krylenko?”
“They described you.”
“What did they say? Tell me precisely.”
Grisha shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. His sluggish brain exerted itself to remember.