“Well, how is it with you?” he said, wringing his hands so that they cracked in their joints.
“Everything has gone as usual. . . . But no, something has happened: my Kata has died!”
“Ah, when?”
“Five or six weeks ago. I just happened to call upon her at the hospital. Poor little creature! Would you believe it, she was but sixteen? She was so loath to die! How timidly and pitifully her eyes looked at me! And she was so changed, beyond recognition. . . .” Tiny tears glistened on the old lady’s lashes.
“Hem, you are sentimental, madam, I declare,” and the guest smiled.
“That moment is never to be forgotten,” added the madam.
The conversation slowly proceeded from one thing to another. The guest made ironical glosses, and the old lady, whenever possible, returned to the broad stream of her
