both kallash and kovroff were too cautious to take an immediate, personal part in the gold-dust sale. there was a certain underling, mr. escrocevitch by name, at sergei kovroff's beck and call—a shady person, rather dirty in aspect, and who was, therefore, only admitted to sergei's presence by the back door and through the kitchen, and even then only at times when there were no outsiders present.
mr. escrocevitch was a person of general utility and was especially good at all kinds of conjuring tricks. watches, snuff-boxes, cigar-cases, silver spoons, and even heavy bronze paper-weights acquired the property of suddenly vanishing from under his hands, and of suddenly reappearing in a quite unexpected quarter. this valuable gift had been acquired by mr. escrocevitch in his early years, when he used to wander among the polish fairs, swallowing burning flax for the delectation of the public and disgorging endless yards of ribbon and paper.
mr. escrocevitch was a precious and invaluable person also owing to his capacity of assuming any role, turning himself into any given character, and taking on the corresponding tone, manners, and appearance, and he was, further, a pretty fair actor.
he it was who was chosen to play the part of the siberian employee.
not more than forty-eight hours had passed since the previous conversation. prince shadursky was just up, when his footman announced to him that a mr. valyajnikoff wished to see him.
the prince put on his dressing gown and went into the drawing-room, where the tolerably presentable but strangely dressed person of mr. escrocevitch presented itself to him.
"permit me to have the honor of introducing myself," he began, bowing to prince shadursky; "i am ivanovitch valyajnikoff. mr. sergei antonovitch kovroff was so good as to inform me of a certain intention of yours about the dust. so, if your excellency has not changed your mind, i am ready to sell it to you with pleasure."
"very good of you," answered prince shadursky, smiling gayly, and giving him a chair.
"to lose no time over trifles," continued mr. escrocevitch, "let me invite you to my quarters. i am staying at a hotel; you can see the goods there; you can make tests, and, if you are satisfied, i shall be very happy to oblige your excellency."
prince shadursky immediately finished dressing, ordered his carriage, and went out with the supposititious valyajnikoff. they drove to a shabby hotel and went to a dingy room.
"this is my poor abode. i am only here on the wing, so to speak. i humbly request you to be seated," mr. escrocevitch said obsequiously. "not to lose precious time, perhaps your excellency would like to look at my wares? here they are—and i am most willing to show them."
and he dragged from under the bed a big trunk, in which were five canvas bags of various sizes, packed full and tied tightly.
"here, here it is! this is our siberian dust," he said, smiling and bowing, indicating the trunk with a wave of his hand, as if introducing it to prince shadursky.
"would not your excellency be so good as to choose one of these bags to make a test? it will be much better if you see yourself that the business is above board, with no swindle about it. choose whichever you wish!"
shadursky lifted one of the bags from the trunk, and when mr. escrocevitch untied it, before the young prince's eyes appeared a mass of metallic grains, at which he gazed not without inward pleasure.
"how are you going to make a test?" he asked. "we have no blow- pipes nor test-tubes here?"
"make your mind easy, your excellency! we shall find everything we require—blow-pipes and test-tubes and nitric acid, and even a decimal weighing machine. in our business we arrange matters in such a way that we need not disturb outsiders. only charcoal we haven't got, but we can easily send for some."
and going to the door, he gave the servant in the passage an order, and a few minutes later the latter returned with a dish of charcoal.
"first class! now everything is ready," cried mr. escrocevitch, rubbing his hands; and for greater security he turned the key in the door.
"take whichever piece of charcoal you please, your excellency; but, not to soil your hands, you had better let me take it myself, and you sprinkle some of the dust on it," and he humbled himself before the prince. "forgive me for asking you to do it all yourself, since it is not from any lack of politeness on my part, but simply in order that your excellency should be fully convinced that there is no deception." saying this, he got his implements ready and lit the lamp.
the blow-pipe came into action. valyajnikoff made the experiment, and shadursky attentively followed every movement. the charcoal glowed white hot, the dust ran together and disappeared, and in its place, when the charcoal had cooled a little, and the amateur chemist presented it to prince shadursky, the prince saw a little ball of gold lying in a crevice of the charcoal, such as might easily have formed under the heat of the blow-pipe.
"take the globule, your excellency, and place it, for greater security, in your pocketbook," said escrocevitch; "you may even wrap it up in a bit of paper; and keep the sack of gold dust yourself, so that there can be no mistake."
shadursky gladly followed this last piece of advice.
"and now, your excellency, i should like you kindly to select another bag; we shall make two or three more tests in the same way."
the prince consented to this also.
escrocevitch handed him a new piece of charcoal to sprinkle dust on, and once more brought the blow-pipe into operation. and again the brass filings disappeared and in the crevice appeared a new globule of gold.
"well, perhaps these two tests will be sufficient. what is your excellency good enough to think on that score?" asked the supposed valyajnikoff.
"what is the need of further tests? the matter is clear enough," assented the prince.
"if it is satisfactory, we shall proceed to make it even more satisfactory. here we have a touch-stone, and here we have some nitric acid. try the globules on the touchstone physically, and, so to speak, with the nitric acid chemically. and if you wish to make even more certain, this is what we shall do. what quantity of gold does your excellency wish to take?"
"the more the better. i am ready to buy all these bags."
"very much obliged to your excellency, as this will suit me admirably," said escrocevitch, bowing low. "and so, if your excellency is ready, then i humbly beg you to take each bag, examine it, and seal it with your excellency's own seal. then let us take one of the globules and go to one of the best jewelers in st. petersburg. let him tell us the value of the gold and in this way the business will be exact; there will be no room for complaint on either side, since everything will be fair and above board."
the prince was charmed with the honesty and frankness of mr.
valyajnikoff.
they went together to one of the best-known jewelers, who, in their presence, made a test and announced that the gold was chemically pure, without any alloy, and therefore of the highest value.
on their return to the hotel, mr. escrocevitch weighed the bags, which turned out to weigh forty-eight pounds. allowing three pounds for the weight of the bags, this left forty-five pounds of pure gold.
"how much a pound do you want?" shadursky asked him.
"a pretty low price, your excellency," answered the siberian, with a shrug of his shoulders, "as i am selling from extreme necessity, because i have to leave for siberia; i've spent too much time and money in st. petersburg already; and if i cannot sell my wares, i shall not be able to go at all. i assume that the government price is known to your excellency?"
"but i am willing to take two hundred rubles a pound. i can't take a kopeck less, and even so i am making a reduction of nearly a hundred rubles the pound."
"all right!" assented shadursky. "that will amount to—" he went on, knitting his brows, "forty-five pounds at two hundred rubles a pound—"
"it will make exactly nine thousand, your excellency. just exactly nine," escrocevitch obsequiously helped him out. the prince, cutting the matter short, immediately gave him a check, and taking the trunk with the coveted bags, drove with the siberian employee to his father's house, where the elder prince shadursky, at his son's pressing demand, though very unwillingly, exchanged the check for nine thousand rubles in bills, for which ivan ivanovitch valyajnikoff forthwith gave a receipt. the prince was delighted with his purchase, and he did not utter a syllable about it to anyone except kovroff.
sergei antonovitch gave him a friendly counsel not to waste any time, but to go abroad at once, as, according to the exchange gazette, gold was at that moment very high, so that he had an admirable opportunity to get rid of his wares on very favorable terms.
the prince, in fact, without wasting time got his traveling passport, concealed his purchase with the utmost care, and set out for the frontier, announcing that he was on his way to his mother, whose health imperatively demanded his presence.
the success of the whole business depended on the fact that brass filings, which bear a strong external resemblance to gold dust, are dissipated in the strong heat of the blowpipe. the charcoal was prepared beforehand, a slight hollow being cut in it with a penknife, in the bottom of which is placed a globule of pure gold, the top of which is just below the level of the charcoal, and the hollow is filled up with powdered charcoal mixed with a little beeswax. the "chemist" who makes the experiments must make himself familiar with the distinctive appearance of the charcoal, so as to pick it out from among several pieces, and must remember exactly where the crevice is.
on this first occasion, escrocevitch had prepared all four pieces of charcoal, which were brought by the servant in the passage. he chose as his temporary abode a hotel whose proprietor was an old ally of his, and the servant was also a confederate.
thus was founded the famous "gold products company," which is still in very successful operation, and is constantly widening its sphere of activity.
