"
"That's just it. That is why I have to wait. How is it that a clever
man like you, Abramka, doesn't grasp the situation?"
"Hm, hm! Let me see." Abramka racked his brains for a solution of the
riddle. How could it be that Mrs. Shaldin, who was away, should have
anything to do with Mrs. Zarubkin's order for a gown? No, that passed
his comprehension.
"She certainly will get back in time for the ball," said Mrs.
Zarubkin, to give him a cue.
"Well, yes."
"And certainly will bring a dress back with her."
"Certainly!"
"A dress from abroad, something we have never seen here--something
highly original."
"Mrs. Zarubkin!" Abramka cried, as if a truth of tremendous import had
been revealed to him. "Mrs. Zarubkin, I understand. Why certainly!
Yes, but that will be pretty hard."
"That's just it."
Abramka reflected a moment, then said:
"I assure you, Mrs. Zarubkin, you need not be a bit uneasy. I will
make a dress for you that will be just as grand as the one from
abroad. I assure you, your dress will be the most elegant one at the
ball, just as it always has been. I tell you, my name won't be Abramka
Stiftik if--"
His eager asseverations seemed not quite to satisfy the captain's
wife.
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