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And, indeed, if it had ever happened that everything to the least

point could have been considered and finally settled, and no

uncertainty of any kind had remained, he would, it seems, have

renounced it all as something absurd, monstrous and impossible.

But a whole mass of unsettled points and uncertainties remained.

As for getting the axe, that trifling business cost him no

anxiety, for nothing could be easier. Nastasya was continually

out of the house, especially in the evenings; she would run in to

the neighbours or to a shop, and always left the door ajar. It

was the one thing the landlady was always scolding her about. And

so, when the time came, he would only have to go quietly into the

kitchen and to take the axe, and an hour later (when everything

was over) go in and put it back again. But these were doubtful

points. Supposing he returned an hour later to put it back, and

Nastasya had come back and was on the spot.