"Well, that's very fair," said his father, "you can go.

" "He's thinner and taller, and has grown out of being a child into a boy; I like that," said Stepan Arkadyevitch.

" Do you remember me?" The boy looked back quickly at his uncle.

"Yes, _mon oncle_," he answered, glancing at his father, and again he looked downcast.

His uncle called him to him, and took his hand.