“I tried to avoid looking at him lest my face should betray me, and, to divert my thoughts, concentrated my attention on the other customer.  The latter unconsciously gave me every assistance in doing so.  Though by no means a young man, he was the vainest and most dandified client I had ever had under my hands.  He stopped me repeatedly to give exhaustive directions as to the effect that he desired me to produce.  He examined himself in the glass and consulted me anxiously as to the exact disposition of an artificially curled forelock.  I cursed him inwardly, for I wanted him to be gone and leave me alone with the other man, but for that very reason and that I might conceal my impatience, I did his bidding and treated him with elaborate care.  But now and again my glance would stray to the other man; and as I caught his fierce, suspicious eye—­like the eye of a hunted animal—­I would look away quickly lest he should read what was in my mind.

“At length I had finished my dandy client.  I had brushed his hair to a nicety and had even curled his forelock with heated tongs.  With a sigh of relief I took off the cloth and waited for him to rise.  But he rose not.  Stroking his cheek critically he decided that he wanted shaving, and, cursing him in my heart, I had to comply.

“I had acquired some reputation as a barber and, I think, deserved it.  I could put a perfect edge on a razor and I wielded the instrument with a sensitive hand and habitual care.  My client appreciated my skill and complimented me patronizingly in very fair English, though with a slight Russian accent, delaying me intolerably to express his approval.  When I had shaved him he asked for pink powder to be applied to his chin; and when I had powdered him he directed me to shape his mustache with Pate Hongrois, a process which he superintended with anxious care.

“At last the fellow was actually finished.  He got up from the chair and surveyed himself in the large wall-mirror.  He turned his head from side to side and tried to see the back of it.  He smiled into the mirror, raised his eyebrows, frowned and, in fact, tried a variety of expressions and effects, including a slight and graceful bow.  Then he approached the glass to examine a spot on his cheek; leaned against it with outspread hands to inspect his teeth, and finally put out his tongue to examine that too.  I almost expected that he would ask me to brush it.  However, he did not.  Adjusting his necktie delicately, he handed me my fee with a patronizing smile and remarked, ’You are a good barber:  you have taste and you take trouble.  I give you a penny for yourself and I shall come to you again.’

“As the door closed behind him I turned to the other customer.  He rose, walked over to the operating chair and sat down sullenly, keeping an eye on me all the time; and something in his face expressive of suspicion, uneasiness and even fear seemed to hint at something unusual in my own appearance.