still sat, buried in his newspapers. Bagila was not accustomed to such neglect and was even taken aback by her own resentment and indignation, not knowing how to behave further with this terrible person. More than anything in the world, she wanted her father to return as soon as possible and save her from this painful state, so that he would take her away from this rude man, whose look and words were angrier than dry thorns. As if guessing the thoughts of his daughter and hurrying to protect her from trouble, her father entered the compartment. He was not alone. Behind him was one of the leaders of the district who had come to see him off, the head of the station, the foreman of the train, and some other people. Seeing a calm, self-confident father, hearing his low, sedate voice, Bagila was so delighted, as if she had escaped from the encirclement of enemies and found herself in an impregnable fortress. Never before had she loved her father so much, and never has she been so grateful to him and proud of him, as she was now. The people who arrived with her father made a thousand apologies; they asked the young man to move to another compartment. The man’s swarthy face turned white with anger. Karatai seemed pleased. The guy pointedly looked at Karatai’s retinue, who were pushing him from all sides. Karatai saw that he had driven his zealous fellow traveller into a corner, he saw that fury and despair were seething in his eyes. Bagila gloatingly watched the stranger suffer. “That’s what you get, now you know what happens if you mess with us again!” The guy lowered his eyes, and the retinue fell silent, believing that he would take the suitcase and leave. But he did not think to rush. At this time, the red-haired head of the station, pretty frightened by all this commotion, Karatai’s bad mood and the fact that the truth was on the side of the rebellious young man, seized a second and whispered something in the man’s ear. The stranger didn’t even raise an eyebrow. Seeing that words had no effect on him, the head of the station was truly frightened. Curving in some strange, unpleasant bow, he whispered to him once more. Bagila caught a humiliating plea in the whisper. The stranger slowly stood up. Slowly began to
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