All the noblemen were sitting railed off behind barriers according to their districts.

In the middle of the room stood a man in a uniform, who shouted in a loud, high voice: "As a candidate for the marshalship of the nobility of the province we call upon staff-captain Yevgeney Ivanovitch Apuhtin!" A dead silence followed, and then a weak old voice was heard: "Declined!" "We call upon the privy councilor Pyotr Petrovitch Bol," the voice began again.

"Declined!" a high boyish voice replied.