The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1905-05-18
way into the already overcrowded

FOOlQ. ,t5 4
Come tn! Come in!'' cried the ora
tor. The more the better. You are
all welcome. All we require, then, lit
tie fathers, is organization. There are
800 souls in Osterno. Are you going to
bow down before one man? All men
are equal-moujik and prince. Why
do you not go up to the castle that
frowns down upon the village and tell
the man there that you are starving;
that he must feed you; that you are
not going to work from dawn till eve
While he sits on his velvet couch and
smokes his gold tipped cigarettes? Why
do you not so and tell him that you are
not going to starve and die while he
eats caviare and peaches from gold
plates and dishes?''
Again the interrogative unwashed
list. AS the orators wild and frenZied
eye Travelled round the room it lighted
on a form near the door, man stand
ing a head and shoulders above any
one IN the room, man enveloped in
an old brown coat with wolle1 shawl
round his throat hiding half his face.
who is that?' cried the orator, with
an unsteady, pointing finger. HE is
no moujik. Has he come here to our
meeting to spy upon us?'
You may ask them who I ann re-
Piled the giant. 'They know; they will
tell you. It is not the first time that I
tell them they are fools. tell them
again now. They are fools and worse
to listen to such windbags as you.''
who is it," cried the paid agitator.
''WhO is this man?"
1T is the Moscow DOCTOR" said
man beside him, ''the Moscow doctor"
"Then I say he is no doctorv' shout,
ed the orator. "He is a spy, a govern
ment spy, tchinovnik! He has heard
all we have said. He has seen you all.
Brothers, that man must not leave this
room alive. If he does, you are lost
menu
Some few of the more violent spirits
rose and pressed tumultuously toward
the door. The agitator shouted and
screamed, urging them on, taking good
care to remain in the safe background
himself. Every man in the room rose
to his feet. They were full Of vodka
and fury and ignorance. Spirit and
tall talk taken on an empty stomach
are dangerous stimulants.,
Paul stood with his back to the door
and never moved.
"Sit down, fools!' he cried. "Sit
down! Listen to me- You dare not
touch me; you know that"
It seemed that he was right. for thew
stopped, with staring, stupid eyes and
idle hands.
"Will you listen to me, whom YOU
have known for years, or to this talk
er from the town? Choose now. I am
tired of you. have been patient with
you for years. You are sheep. Are
you fools also to be dazzled by the
words of an idle talker who promises
all and gives nothing?''
There was sullen silence. Paul had
lost his power over them, and he knew
1t. He was quite cool and watchful.
He knew that he was in danger. These
men We're wild and ignorant. They
were mad with drink and the brave
words Of the agitator.
Choose nowv' he shouted, feeling
for the handle of the door behind his
back. eff I go now, l never come
again.
He opened the door. The men whom
he had nursed and clothed and fed,
whose lives he had saved again and
again, stood sullen and silent.
Paul passed slowly out and closed
the door behind him. Without it was
dark and still. There would be a moon
presently, and in the meantime it was
preparing to freeze harder than ever.
Paul walked slowly up the village
street, while two men emerged sepa-
rately from the darkness of by-lanes
and followed him. He did not heed
them. He was not aware that the Their
mometer stood somewhere below zero.
He did not even trouble to draw on his
fur gloves.
He felt like a man whose own dogs
have turned against him. The place
that these peasants had occupied in his
heart had been precisely that vacancy
which is filed by dogs and horses in
the hearts of many men.
Paul walked slowly through the vii.
lage of Osterno and realized in his un-