The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-05-16

My thoughts were interrupted by
the appearance of the ships cook in
the doorway. Very tall and stout,
he now presented an imposing ap-
pearance. He was arTayed in all his
finery, snow-white cap and a spot
less white apron. He entered the
mess-room pompously as though he
were our chef, glanced at the pris-
oners and spoke clowly in a bass
voice, accenting the 90" in his
Vladimirski accent:
ut is warm and light here, yet look
at them COVER"
He turned to the watch.
"And l, brothers, am cooking a
dinner for the crew."
The men looked at him in surprise.
what possessed you to cook dinner
at night"
'How else could we celebrate our
success? What joy it is to have the
officers cool or my assistant. All,
such soup as ZEN have! You haven't
tasted the like since you entered the
service. Two pounds Of meat for
each man. Pray the Lord it will con-
tinue thus"
That's finew exclaimed one of the
watchmen, rubbing his hands de-
lightedly.
The cook went out with his head
thrown proudly back, as though in
speeding the vessel.
Two hours more of tortuous wait
ing passed. No new measures were
taken against us. Some of the
prisoners sat on the chairs and on the
divan, others stood around, lounging
against the walls. Several were con-
tinually blowing their noses.
/ grew tired of this and decided to
talk to our guards. Crushing down
my loneliness and desperation, as
sumed a testing and carefree tone:
"You put it over US well, brothers.
You had the ship in a moment, as
though according to schedule"
"You can't dawdle in a case like
this" one of them muttered.
The gunner Gasihin turned to me
with a shrewd smile:
"And you had prepared to resist ~
ITO tell the truth, our position was
such :"
ooh, we know everything" he in
terrupted me. "We even know that
Lieutenant Brasov wanted to blow up
the ship and you forbade him. He
couldn't have done it anyway"
This last astonished me. l stared
at Gasihin with my mouth open.
"Here is something l did not ex-
pect~
"Of course you did not expect it
because you considered us ignorant
cattle"
81 never thought that of Sailors"
retorted holly.
But Gasihin continued to stun me
with new data.
"That is very noble of you, only
will tell you that we know all your
spies"
At his last words, some of the ar
rested junior officers seemed to
shrink and hung their heads lower.
Immediately drew the logical de-
duction: this is why everything on
my ship was so peaceful till the right
moment came. We had not had a
single political arrest throughout the
war. Our secret agents, being known
to the sailors, were perfectly harm
less to them and useless to the ad-
ministration. But then where did the
crew get all our secrets? Was one
of the officers traitor to his caste :?
My muddled head throbbed with
ideas, trying to solve this puzzle.
At midnight they served us with
dinner. We were waited on by our
stewards. The officers were given
soup in tin bowls but of me they
made an exception--they gave me a
plate, a silver spoon, and a napkin.
The soup was rich and contained a
great deal of meat. While the watch
men were consuming their soup with
wolfish appetites, smacking their lips
and perspiring, there was complete
absence Of appetite among the offic-
ers as there was still a faint of hu-
man blood in the air of the mess
room. And yet we ate as though
forced to do it.
After dinner, according to Smir-
nov's orders, I was told ! might re-
tire to my cabin if I wished to do so,
but was strictly forbidden to appear
outside the officers quarters. The
boatswain, Soloveikin, was given his
freedom. Overjoyed, he exclaimed:
'Humblest thanks, comradesl |
am wholly on your side. l quarreled
with the crew only for appearance
sake"
mot so thick, boatswain, not so
thick---we'll find you out anyway"
Gasihin told him.
The boatswain swore many oths to
attest his faithfulness to the revolu-
ton.
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