The sun., 1910-04-10
THE FRIEND
BY Lsoaid AndreieH.

ITuN9fnfeu IfOm sNe HAa1enH " "NENs@"
Bern stsia.
When he rang the be!l at his door at
night the fret sound after the Iingling
of ih. hell Vas tho loud barking of dog.
ia which oDe could detect fsa: Ofa stranger
mingled With the Joy az the coming Of the
master ~ the house Then the shuf.finG
C r,Ibl-r shoes vas heard. followed 10y
tie TreakinG Of the holt.
Ne snterp,l and removed his coat in
the dark. feeling the pr~senoe Of a tact
turn female hgur- near him: and the
claws os the doG sCra tched his knees
E-ntIy. and a hot tongue licked his rOssi
hand.
Welt. how is i'p- asked q sleepy voic-
IN q tome a conventional coacern.
I'm tired Toplied Vladimir briefly
anal went 20 his room.
The dog followed him. striking the
wa Xesi nOOr " ith his claws then he Jumped
upOn the he'd when the lSht or tie
lamp filed tns room. Nladimir's eyes
met tho Exsd gave of the black eyes of
the dog They r@emed to say -Mhv
don't vud coIne over and pet me- Ana
q . mase this desire more coInpI ehensibis
the dog stretched ont his front paws
r,c,ined his head upon them on one side
and lifted his back cOmioally. while his
tail Vas wagging like the handle or IA
street. organ
NV only friend Vladimir used To
.ay a. he p-tted ths black. glossy fur
As 4 oVsrcon. with an excess .! emo
,ion. the dog threw himself on his back.
xnasl.d Eis white teeth and ana FIed
.oIily. Inerriiy and eNc.tedIy Nlaii-
mir sighed f"ndi-d him and thou ght
that ther~ was no ON. .l-'. In the whols
world who loved him.
When Vladimir returned hS,ne ~arly
and was nos tired he sat down ~ write.
and then the dog used ~ curl himself mp
.um.~ here upon a chair near him. fTuIn
time to time he would open one ot his
hlark eyes RRd wag his tail dro~Sily
When. aR,tated bV the creative prpc-
,--s. tortured 10y the woes 70 his herO--
-uHuoatinE frOn ths onru-h 10 thoughts
and images. Vladimir paced the room
and smoked cigarette after cigarette
! the dog Watchsd him With AN uneasy fouk
and wSgs-,i his tail Inor- en-rE.tically.
! shall we ever ie famous vasyuk -
he Asks-h the dog. and the dog waggs,I
h,- tail sisirmAtively.
We shall eat liver then. Al right?-
! AN right r-pli-d the dog. stretching &
himself with pl-Nsur-; the dog was fond
Of liver
! Eu..-t- utt.n gathered IN Vladimir =
hn'Is- On such occa-ions his aunt. With
whu,n he hv,-I. bJrrsw.-I dishes from the
nslshbOrs. s-rvs-i the guests with tea.
h-ItinK On. saInoVar after another. went
ou ~ hay vodka aud IlolpEna sau@aKs
ana slgh.-I heavily as sh. dr-~ the greasy
r'I.lr fro,n he. y cArt.
! IaI,d vUtce- .,..HInsi.si IA the smOks
tilI-,i f,,Om The yis,t,r- HrguTsI lauEhssi
s-aid cBEniCAl and sharp things. "On'
plaIn.-i % their fate and ,nvi-si un- an
other they advised Vladimir tu give up
literature aud s.nKLk- "a some other
nur. profitable BUSINESS Soin- said that
h.. Ought ~ undergo medical treatment
other. Clink.si gl',sss-a with him aud sDoks
oG the harm ~ drink - h'- health.
| They said that he Vas seek. forcves
nervous. and that was whv he always
had spells % melancholy why he So'Ight
for th.. impO>-ibl- IN hfe They wers
all on familiar terms with him. aud there
/ wa- a note oI deep coRc-rn IN their voices.
and then they invited him IN the most
/ friendly msnnsr - lOsn them IA their
! orgies uf of town: ana when he went
aWav CAV shouting more lO,Idly than
the. others and laughing without casise
two PAIRS ~ eyes folio ~Sd him the gray
3 eyes Of his aunt. angry and reprOachful.
! and tbs. black. uneasy bp' kind eyes
nf the dog
Tie never r-memt~red What he Nas
7 Dong when hs drank and when he re-
/ turned home towa ri nsorninG mud stained
| and chaIk marked and hatleas he ~a>
B told that during his drinking bouts ne
/ tnr,Ilt-d h,- friends and AZ home Onencsd
his amt Who cred and declared that
sh. could not endure such a lif" and that
she would commit suicide. and b" also
tortured h- dog lecsuae b" would not
come over to play Nth him Wnen the
dog. friEhisns-i and trembling. -narI~d.
he lsat him NIth strap
The f0!!o=,nE dsy s-s IN. Everybody
had already Cumplst'-d the days work
~hen he got up. ~ and suffering. h'-
heart l,sst un"V-ulv m h- chest and
...-TneI io stop. hlhnK nm with fear ~
fast appTOs ching death. his hands gutv
.r,,d B-vond the wall. IN the kitchen
h,s aunt was knocking. and the sound
~ her foot-tsp- rang strangely "a the
empty cold hou-e She did not oH~-
30 .psak to Vladimir but hsndsd h,m
some water SILENTLY. stern and unfDr-
giving