it was nine o'clock in the evening. natasha lit the night lamp in the bedroom of the old princess chechevinski, and went silently into the dressing room to prepare the soothing powders which the doctors had prescribed for her, before going to sleep.
the old princess was still very weak. although her periods of unconsciousness had not returned, she was still subject to paroxysms of hysteria. at times she sank into forgetfulness, then started nervously, sometimes trembling in every limb. the thought of the blow of her daughter's flight never left her for a moment.
natasha had just taken the place of the day nurse. it was her turn to wait on the patient until midnight. silence always reigned in the house of the princess, and now that she was ill the silence was intensified tenfold. everyone walked on tiptoe, and spoke in whispers, afraid even of coughing or of clinking a teaspoon on the sideboard. the doorbells were tied in towels, and the whole street in front of the house was thickly strewn with straw. at ten the household was already dispersed, and preparing for sleep. only the nurse sat silently at the head of the old lady's bed.
pouring out half a glass of water. natasha sprinkled the powder in it, and took from the medicine chest a phial with a yellowish liquid. it was chloral. looking carefully round, she slowly brought the lip of the phial down to the edge of the glass and let ten drops fall into it. "that will be enough," she said to herself, and smiled. her face, as always, was coldly quiet, and not the slightest shade of any feeling was visible on it at that moment.
natasha propped the old lady up with her arm. she drank the medicine given to her and lay down again, and in a few minutes the chloral began to have its effect. with an occasional convulsive movement of her lower lip, she sank into a deep and heavy sleep. natasha watched her face following the symptoms of unconsciousness, and when she was convinced that sleep had finally taken complete possession of her, and that for several hours the old woman was deprived of the power to hear anything or to wake up, she slowly moved her chair nearer the bedstead, and without taking her quietly observant eyes from the old woman's face, softly slipped her hand under the lower pillow. moving forward with the utmost care, not more than an inch or so at a time, her hand stopped instantly, as soon as there was the slightest nervous movement of the old woman's face, on which natasha's eyes were fixed immovably. but the old woman slept profoundly, and the hand again moved forward half an inch or so under the pillow. about half an hour passed, and the girl's eyes were still fastened on the sleeping face, and her hand was still slipping forward under the pillow, moving occasionally a little to one side, and feeling about for something. natasha's expression was in the highest degree quiet and concentrated, but under this quietness was at the same time concealed something else, which gave the impression that if—which heaven forbid!—the old woman should at that moment awake, the other free hand would instantly seize her by the throat.
at last the finger-ends felt something hard. "that is it!" thought natasha, and she held her breath. in a moment, seizing its treasure, her hand began quietly to withdraw. ten minutes more passed, and natasha finally drew out a little bag of various colored silks, in which the old princess always kept her keys, and from which she never parted, carrying it by day in her pocket, and by night keeping it under her pillow. one of the keys was an ordinary one, that of her wardrobe. the other was smaller and finely made; it was the key of her strong box.
about an hour later, the same keys, in the same order, and with the same precautions, found their way back to their accustomed place under the old lady's pillow.
natasha carefully wiped the glass with her handkerchief, in order that not the least odor of chloral might remain in it, and with her usual stillness sat out the remaining hours of her watch.
