The others asked him why he was so surprised, and where he had seen Aksyónof before; but Makár Semyónitch did not reply. He only said: “It’s wonderful that we should meet here, lads!”

These words made Aksyónof wonder whether this man knew who had killed the merchant; so he said, “Perhaps, Semyónitch, you have heard of that affair, or maybe you’ve seen me before?”

“How could I help hearing? The world’s full of rumours. But it’s long ago, and I’ve forgotten what I heard.”

“Perhaps you heard who killed the merchant?” asked Aksyónof.

Makár Semyónitch laughed, and replied, “It must have been him in whose bag the knife was found! If someone else hid the knife there, ‘He’s not a thief till he’s caught,’ as the saying is. How could anyone put a knife into your bag while it was under your head? It would surely have woke you up?”