"
Here was a disappointment, at least, to begin with. I made a note
of it opposite the date, on my blank programme, and took up the
next letter. It was written in November, 1861, and contained a
passage which keenly excited my curiosity. It ran thus: "Do,
pray, be more careful of thy money. It may be all as thou sayest,
and inevitable, but I dare not mention the thing to mother, and
five thalers is all I can spare out of my own wages. As for thy
other request, I have granted it, as thou seest, but it makes me a
little anxious. What is the joke? And how can it serve thee?
That is what I do not understand, and I have plagued myself not a
little to guess."
Among the Polish memoranda was this: "Sept. 1 to Dec. 1, 200
rubles," which I assumed to represent a salary. This would give
him eight hundred a year, at least twelve times the amount which
his sister--who must either have been cook or housekeeper, since
she spoke of going to market for the family--could have received.
His application to her for money, and the manner of her reference
to it, indicated some imprudence or irregularity on his part.
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