Round the cloth-covered table, at which Katavasov and Metrov seated themselves, there were some half-dozen persons, and one of these was bending close over a manuscript, reading something aloud.

Levin sat down in one of the empty chairs that were standing round the table, and in a whisper asked a student sitting near what was being read.

The student, eyeing Levin with displeasure, said: "Biography.