CASHMERE GLOVES : 'You will please to move off,' he said in a voice not loud but sharp. The German gave a heavy laugh, 'Move cashmere gloves Well, I like that. Can't I walk where I please? Move off? Why should I move off?' 'Because you have dared to annoy a lady,' said Insarov, and suddenly he turned white, 'because you're drunk.' 'Eh? me drunk? Hear what he says. _Horen Sie das, Herr Provisor_? I'm an officer, and he dares . . . Now I demand _satisfaction_. _Einen Kuss will ich_.' 'If you come another step nearer----' began Insarov. 'Well? What then' 'I'll throw you in the water!' 'In the water? _Herr Je_! Is that all? Well, let us see that, that would be very curious, too.' The officer lifted his fists and moved forward, but suddenly something
CASHMERE GLOVES : extraordinary happened. He uttered an exclamation, his whole bulky person staggered, rose from the ground, his legs kicking in the air, and before the ladies had time to shriek, before any one had time to realise how it had happened, the officer's massive figure went plop with a heavy splash, and at once disappeared under the eddying water. 'Oh!' screamed the ladies cashmere gloves one voice. '_Mein Gott_!' was heard from the other side. An instant passed . . . and a round head, all plastered over with wet hair, showed above water, it was blowing bubbles, this head; and floundering with two hands just at its very lips. 'He will be drowned, save him! save him!' cried Anna Vassilyevna to Insarov, who was standing with his legs apart on the bank,
CASHMERE GLOVES : breathing heavily. 'He will swim out,' he answered with contemptuous and unsympathetic indifference. 'Let us go on,' he added, taking Anna Vassilyevna by the arm. 'Come, Uvar Ivanovitch, Elena Nikolaevna.' 'A--a--o--o' was heard at that instant, the plaint of the hapless German who had managed to get hold of the rushes on the bank. They all followed Insarov, and had to pass close by the party. But, deprived of their leader, the rowdies were subdued and did not utter a word; but one, the boldest of them, muttered, shaking his head menacingly: 'All right . . . we shall see though . . . after that'; but one of the others even took his hat off. Insarov cashmere gloves them as formidable, and rightly so; something evil, something dangerous could be seen in his face. The Germans hastened to pull out their comrade,
CASHMERE GLOVES : who, directly he had his feet on dry cashmere gloves broke into tearful abuse and shouted after the 'Russian scoundrels,' that he would make a complaint, that he would go to Count Von Kizerits himself, and so on. But the 'Russian scoundrels' paid no attention to his vociferations, and hurried on as fast as they could to the castle. They were all silent, as they walked through the garden, though Anna Vassilyevna sighed a little. But when they reached the carriages and stood still, they broke into an irrepressible, irresistible fit of Homeric laughter. First Shubin exploded, shrieking as if he were mad, Bersenyev followed with his gurgling guffaw, then Zoya fell into thin tinkling little trills, Anna Vassilyevna too suddenly broke down, Elena could not help smiling, and even Insarov at last could not
CASHMERE GLOVES : resist it. But the loudest, longest, most persistent laugh was Uvar Ivanovitch's; he cashmere gloves till his sides ached, till he choked and panted. He would calm down a little, then would murmur through his tears: 'I--thought--what's that splash--and there--he--went plop.' And with the last word, forced out with convulsive effort, his whole frame was shaking with another burst of laughter. Zoya made him worse. 'I saw his legs,' she said, 'kicking in the air.' 'Yes, yes,' gasped Uvar Ivanovitch, 'his legs, his legs--and then splash!--there he plopped in!' 'And how did Mr. Insarov manage it? why the German was three times his size?' said Zoya. 'I'll tell you,' answered Uvar Ivanovitch, rubbing his eyes, 'I saw; with one arm about his waist, he tripped him up, and he went plop!
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