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"I did go, but late. I beg your pardon," he added, and he turned

to the adjutant: "Please have this divided from me, each man as

much as it runs to." And he hurriedly took notes for three

hundred roubles from his pocketbook, blushing a little.

"Vronsky! Have anything to eat or drink?" asked Yashvin. "Hi,

something for the count to eat! Ah, here it is: have a glass!"

The fete at the colonel's lasted a long while. There was a great

deal of drinking. They tossed Serpuhovskoy in the air and caught

him again several times. Then they did the same to the colonel.

Then, to the accompaniment of the band, the colonel himself

danced with Petritsky. Then the colonel, who began to show signs

of feebleness, sat down on a bench in the courtyard and began

demonstrating to Yashvin the superiority of Russia over Prussia,

especially in cavalry attack, and there was a lull in the revelry

for a moment. Serpuhovskoy went into the house to the bathroom to

wash his hands and found Vronsky there; Vronsky was drenching his

head with water. He had taken off his coat and put his sunburnt,

hairy neck under the tap, and was rubbing it and his head with

his hands. When he had finished, Vronsky sat down by

Serpuhovskoy. They both sat down in the bathroom on a lounge, and

a conversation began which was very interesting to both of them.