This was the password agreed upon. The faces of the brothers
brightened. Ivan, unable to restrain himself, exclaimed:
"Oh, you jewel of a mother!"
Vasily squatted down on his heels, looked into the pot, and a
bundle of books disappeared into his bosom.
"Ivan!" he said aloud. "Let's not go home, let's get our dinner
here from her!" And he quickly shoved the books into the legs of his
boots. "We must give our new peddler a lift, don't you think so?"
"Yes, indeed!" Ivan assented, and laughed aloud.
The mother looked carefully about her, and called out:
"Sour cabbage soup! Hot vermicelli soup! Roast meat!"
Then deftly and secretly taking out one package of books after the
other, she shoved them into the hands of the brothers. Each time
a bundle disappeared from her hands, the sickly, sneering face of
the officer of gendarmes flashed up before her like a yellow stain,
like the flame of a match in a dark room, and she said to him in
her mind, with a feeling of malicious pleasure:
"Take this, sir!" And when she handed over the last package she
added with an air of satisfaction: "And here is some more, take it!"
Workmen came up to her with cups in their hands, and when they were
near Ivan and Vasily, they began to laugh aloud.
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