Michael will be here this evening, and will be certain to abuse us shamefully.

Let us, then, thrust him from his horse and with one blow of an axe give him what he deserves, and thus end our misery.

We can then dig a big hole and bury him like a dog, and no one will know what became of him.

Now let us come to an agreement--to stand together as one man and not to betray one another." The last speaker was Vasili Minayeff, who, if possible, had more cause to complain of Michael's cruelty than any of his fellow-serfs.

The superintendent was in the habit of flogging him severely every week, and he took also Vasili's wife to serve him as cook.
Accordingly, during the evening that followed this meeting in the woods Michael arrived on the scene on horseback.