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DIAMONDS TO SIT ON
‘ Letter V ? ’ said Korobeynikov. ' Certainly. Here it is. Vm, Vn, Vo. Here we are. No. 48238. Vorobianinov, Hippolyte Matveyevich. Your father, God rest his soul, for he was a good man. ..." One Becker piano. No. 5480009 ; Chinese vases, four Sevres vases, Aubusson carpets; two Gobelin tapestries, * A Shepherd ’ and ‘ A Shepherdess ' ; two Persian rugs, one Indian carpet, a stuffed bear holding a dish, a bedroom suite of twelve pieces, a dining-room suite of sixteen pieces, a drawing-room suite of fourteen pieces, walnut and the work of Gambs'——” ’ ‘ And to whom has it been distributed ? ’ asked Bender impatiently. ‘ We’ll come to that aU in good time. “ The stuffed bear to the police ; one Gobelin—‘ A Shepherd ’—to the Fund of Artistic Valuables ; the other Gobelin—* A Shepherdess ’—to the Workers’ Club ; the carpets to the Chamber of Commerce ; the bedroom suite to the Hunters’ Union ; the dining-room suite to the Central Stargorod Office ; the walnut drawing-room suite to various people and institutions ; the round table and one chair to the home for the aged ; the divan to the House Department ” (where, by the way, it stands in the hall to this day and the dirty pigs have made it all greasy) ; " one chair to Comrade Gritsatsuev, disabled solffier of the Imperialistic War ; ten chairs sent to Moscow to the Museum of Furniture, on the instructions of the circular letter received from the Commissariat of Public Instruction. Chinese vases to^----- ” ’ ‘Splendid!’ interrupted Bender. 'That's excel lent I I’d like to have a look at the confiscation orders.’ ‘ Now, now,’ said the old man. ‘ Wait a bit. Wait a bit. We U come to the confiscation orders in due time. Now, what letter was it ? Ah yes, letter V. Number 48238.’ The archivist went slowly up to the shelf, stood on
