He started all over with terror and looked about him. “What if that Fedka is in hiding somewhere behind the bushes? They say he has a regular band of robbers here on the high road. Oh, mercy, I⁠ ⁠… I’ll tell him the whole truth then, that I was to blame⁠ ⁠… and that I’ve been miserable about him for ten years . More miserable than he was as a soldier, and⁠ ⁠… I’ll give him my purse. H’m! J’ai en tout quarante roubles; il prendra les roubles et il me tuera tout de même. ”

In his panic he for some reason shut up the umbrella and laid it down beside him. A cart came into sight on the high road in the distance coming from the town.