CHAPTER XIX.
ON THE NEVA Karl Steinmetz had apparently been transacting business on the Vassili Ostrov, which the travelled reader doubtless knows as the northern bank of the Neva, a part of Petersburg--an island, as the name tells us, where business is transacted; where steamers land their cargoes and riverside loafers impede the traffic.
What the business of Karl Steinmetz may have been is not of moment or interest; moreover, it was essentially the affair of a man capable of holding his own and his tongue against the world.
He was recrossing the river, not by the bridge, which requires a doffed hat by reason of its shrine, but by one of the numerous roads cut across the ice from bank to bank.

He duly reached the southern shore, ascending to the Admiralty Gardens by a flight of sanded steps.

Here he lighted a cigar, and, tucking his hands deep into the pockets of his fur coat, he proceeded to walk slowly through the bare and deserted public garden.
A girl had crossed the river in front of him at a smart pace.

She now slackened her speed so much as to allow him to pass her.

Karl Steinmetz noticed the action.