"Are they both asleep, or has some one strangled them? The thrice- confounded creatures!" growled the visitor in a guttural voice. "Hi! Alena Ivanovna, you old sorceress! Elizabeth Ivanovna, you indescribable beauty!—open! Oh! the witches! can they be asleep?"
In his exasperation he rang ten times running, and as loud as he possibly could. This man was evidently not a stranger there, and was in the habit of being obeyed. At the same moment some light and rapid footsteps resounded on the staircase. It was another person coming to the fourth floor. Raskolnikoff was not at first aware of the newcomer's arrival.
"Is it possible that there's no one at home?" said the latter in a loud and hearty tone of voice, addressing the first visitor who was still tugging at the bell pull. "Good day, Koch!"
"Judging by his voice, he must be quite a young man," immediately thought Raskolnikoff.
"The devil only knows! I've almost smashed the lock," replied
Koch. "But how is it you know me?"
"What a question! The day before yesterday I played you at billiards, at Gambrinus's, and won three games right off."
"Ah!"
"So they're not at home? That's strange. I might almost say it's ridiculous. Where can the old woman have gone? I want to speak with her."
"And I too, batuchka, I want to speak with her."
"Well, what's to be done? I suppose we must go back to whence we came. I wanted to borrow some money of her!" exclaimed the young man.