To N. A. Leikin, 30 March 1887. Moscow.

A short, businesslike note to Nikolai Leikin, the Petersburg editor of "Oskolki" ("Fragments"), for whom Chekhov had been writing comic sketches and stories for several years while also placing pieces with the Moscow daily "Novoye Vremya," mentioned here as the paper currently occupying his time. Chekhov was twenty-seven and about to leave Moscow for his native Taganrog, the visit south that spring of 1887 that would furnish material for the travel sketches later folded into "The Steppe."

The letter is pure logistics, the kind of quick clearing of accounts Chekhov often sent Leikin between longer, more personal letters: a correction of the date, a story called "The Cat" released for Leikin’s use, confirmation that money, manuscript, and a covering letter went out the day before, and instructions that a 13-rouble fee be forwarded through Viktor Bilibin, Leikin’s assistant editor at "Oskolki," along with the next month’s payment. Chekhov signals his own imminent departure and asks that further correspondence follow him to Taganrog.