MALVA
"Do you think I wouldn't dare?"
"Really?"
"Now, look you," he began furiously, "don't defy me. I—."
"What now?" she asked with indifference.
"Nothing."
He turned away with a determined look on his face.
"How brave you are," she said, tauntingly. "You remind me of the inspector's little dog. At a distance he barks and threatens to bite, but when you get near him he puts his tail between his legs and runs away."
"All right," cried Iakov, angrily. "Wait! you'll see what I am."
Advancing towards them came a sunburnt, tattered and muscular-looking individual. He wore a ragged red shirt, his trousers were
full of holes, and his feet were bare.
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