lips and a slight swelling under her eyes, and he pitied her even more
than before.

Resting his elbows on the table so that he should not be heard by the
warden, whose face was of a Jewish type, with grayish side-whiskers,
he said:

"If this petition fails we will appeal to His Majesty. Nothing will be
left undone."

"If it had been done before--if I had had a good lawyer"--she
interrupted him. "That lawyer of mine was such a little fool. He was
only making me compliments," she said, and began to laugh. "If they
had only known that I was your acquaintance, it would have been
different. They think that everybody is a thief."

"How strange she is to-day," thought Nekhludoff, and was about to tell
her what he had on his mind when she again began to speak.

"I wanted to tell you. There is an old woman here--we are even
surprised--such a good little woman, but there she is--she and her
son, both in prison, and everybody knows that they are innocent. They
are accused of setting fire, so they are in prison. She learned, you
know, that I am acquainted with you," said Maslova, turning her head
and casting glances at him, "and she says to me: 'Tell him,' she says,
'to call my son; he will tell him the whole story.' Menshoff is his
name. Well, will you do it? Such a good little woman. You can see for
yourself that she is not guilty. You will help them, dear, won't you?"
she said, glancing at him; then she lowered her eyes and smiled.