To N. A. Leikin, 23 December 1888. Moscow.

1 Written from Moscow on 23 December 1888, the day after, to the same recipient: the publisher and humorist Nikolai Alexandrovich Leikin, editor of "Oskolki" ("Splinters"). This letter is the direct follow-through on what Chekhov promised the day before – there he had held off sending Leikin’s money and accounts because a Mr. Stupin had not yet produced his own account; here Chekhov reports having settled with Stupin and sends the completed tally.

2 He itemizes the same three accounts named in, now all closed out: the bookseller Salaev at 60 rubles 90 kopecks (matching the figure reported as received the day before), Vasilyev at 12 rubles (also matching), and Stupin – the debtor who had been stalling – now settled at 21 rubles, for a total of 93 rubles 90 kopecks. Chekhov encloses a hundred-ruble note because he had no occasion and nowhere to break it into smaller change, works out that this leaves 6 rubles owed back to Leikin, then adds two small expenses against that balance – 40 kopecks for a cab fare to reach Salaev and an estimated 60 kopecks to send the money by post, together one ruble – arriving at a final balance of 7 rubles still owed to Leikin. The letter closes with a short wish for good health, the signature, and a one-line holiday greeting.

3 Continuity note: this letter completes the accounting episode begun in (22 December 1888). The two should be read together – the first sets out the promise and two-thirds of the figures, sent before Stupin’s account was in hand; this one, one day later, supplies the missing Stupin figure, confirms the other two are unchanged, and closes the ledger with the running balance owed to Leikin.