The Washington times., 1931-10-26
NOu Continue
CHAPTER 13

over Gl6 phV6u1SuL. VIC SWL4A6
into line automatically. On our
right is an artilleryman; ahead,
an engineer. We form up, squad
by squad. Few Of us are known
TO the other yet at once we
trust each other. They are our
comrades, that is enough.
"Come, otto, join in!" shouts
the engineer in front of us to
one who as yet has not moved.
He hesitateS. His wife is
with him. She slips her arm
into his and looks at him. He
smiles awkwardly. "Afterwards
Franz"
Willy pulls a wry face,
''When petticoatS appear, COM
Fadeship's finished, you take 1t
from mel"
Zach, rot!" protests the en-
gineer, giving him cigarette.
women are one half Of life.
But there's a time for every.
thing, of course"
Automatically we fall into
step. But this is another kind
Of marching from what we
have been used to. The pave
ment echoes, and like lightning
a wild. breathless hope sweeps
over the column, as though
the road would now lead us
straight on into the life Of free
6nn1 and inStice
The Procession Stops
But already, after only few
hundred yards, the procession
stops. It has halted in front Of
the Mayors house. Some work
ers rattle at the outer door.
All remains quiet; but the pale
face of q woman is seen a mo-
ment behind the shut windows.
The rafting increases; a stone
Is thrown at the window. A
second follows. Splintered glass
falls clashing into the front
garden.
Then the Mayor shows him.
self on the balcony Of the first
floor. He is greeted with
shouts; he tries to protest, but
none will hear him. ''Come
out! Come with uS!" cries
somebody.
The Mayor shrugs his shoul-
ders and mods assent. A few
minutes later he is marching
at the head of the procession.
The next to be hauled out is
the chief of the food control
office. Then q bewildered, bald
headed fellow who has been
profiteering in butter. We
missed nabbing a corn dealer;
he shut himself up just in time
when he heard us coming.
The procession now marches
to the Castle and piles up before
the entrance to the District
Headquarters. A soldier dashes
up the steps and goes inside.
We wait. The windows are all
alight.
At last the door opens again.
We crane our neckS. A man
with portfolio comes out. He
turns out some sheets Of paper
from his case and in a monot-
onous voice begins reading q
speech. We listen intently.
Willy puts both hands to his
great ears. Being a good head
taller than anyone else, he fol-
lows the sentences more easily
and repeats them aloud. But
the words prattle away over our
heads. They echo and die away,
they do net stir us; they only
prattle and prattle away.
Do Not Understand
We begin to grow restive. We
do not understand this: We are
accustomed to act; but the feE-
low up there only talks and
talks. Now he is exhorting us
to calmness and prudence. But
then nobody has been impru-
dent as yet!
At last he goes off. "Who was
that?" I ask disappointedly.
The artilleryman beside us
knows everything. President Of
the Workers and Soldiers Coun-
Gil. Used to be a dentist, I be-
lieve."
Shouts begin to come from the
crowd; they multiply. The
Mayor-let the Mayor speaki"
He is pushed up the steps. In
a calm voice he explains that
the whole matter is being thor
oughly looked into. Beside him,
suffering, stand the two profi-
teers. They are sweating with
fright. But nothing is done to
them either. They come in for
some round abuse, but that is
all; no one takes the trouble to
lift a hand against them.
WELL" says Willy, 'the Mayor
has his courage with him, any.
way, I'll say that much"
Pooh! he's used to it," says
the artilleryman. They drag
him out like that every few
days"
We look at him in aStonish-
ment. "You mean this happens
often?" asks Albert.
The other mods. There are
always fresh troops coming
back, you see, who think they
must put matters right. And
well, that's all that comes of
tt"
We'll, I'm dashed if I under.
stand that" says Willy.