The Daily Worker Newspaper, July 9, 1929, Page 4

four DAILY WORKER, NEW YORK, TUESDAY, JULY 9, 1929 a) t’ Central Organ of the Communist Party of the U. S. A. Jorker aily Publishing Co., NeW. Inc. Daily, except Ni Ys on Square, esant 1696-7-8. SUBSCRIPTION RAT 5 Stu, | By Mali (in $4.50 Bix $2.50 three months By, Mail (out 7 $5.50 six months $2.00 three months Address and mail all checks to the Daily Worker, 8 Union Square. New York, N. tye And They Organize in Gastonia HEN the Manville-Jenckes and other textile mill com- ‘ panies Jet loose their police, gunmen and their un- official “committee of one hundred” gangsters and wrecked the Loray strikers’ tent colony in Gastonia, taking away the ; themselves, and seizing the union and relief head- ‘s, they undoubtedly thought that ended the National ie Workers Union and the revolt of the textile mill slaves. To make assurance doubly sure, they arrested nearly a hundred strikers, charged 14 with murder and threatened them with electrocution. When that did not seem to be enough, they began to add to the number of those slated to burn in the chair. They have just placed Delmar Hampton, whom they kidnapped from South Carolina, to the list of victims. But the National Textile Workers Union has gained the confidence of the textile workers. The coolness with which its leaders have faced death and all manner of other terrorism, has made them known throughout the South as the champion of the workers, against their exploiters. The news reports the workers in mill after mill send- ing insistent demands to the N. T. W. offices in Charlotte and in Gastonia, for organizers. The heroism of the 15 union men and women now await- jng a frame-up trial in Gastonia is not wasted. The cause they fight for rises triumphant above the intrigue and plot- ting that hopes to accomplish their death, and the end of militant organization in the South. The workers of the world cannot, and will not, remain quiescent while this mill owners’ program of murder and terrorism and slavery continues. The workers must, and will, rally behind these workers in prison, in spite of capitalist lies and censorship. Funds for defense, demonstrations and resolutions assur- «ing the Gastonia strikers of the solidarity of Labor will be forthcoming. But will they come’ quick enough? Like wolves panting for blood, the Gastonia authorities and organized capitalism from Hoover's cabinet down are hot after the lives of these workers. The trial date is fearfully close, July 29. Act quickly! Do not let it be said that workers stood by, while the southern textile workers are made to wade through the blood of fifteen of their fallen leaders to the or- ganization they are determined to achieve. We have other uses for those 15 heroes, U. S. Government Breaking Strikes Again HE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, having through the post office department enlisted with the mill owners’ prose- cution which is trying to electrocute 15 textile strikers and organizers in Gastonia, immediately begins to side with the employers in the other militant strikes going on at present. Judge Borah’s injunction against the New Orleans street car strikers is now being prepared. He is acting at the direct request of Wall Street, the Chase National and the New York Trust Company having applied for the writ. The New Orleans strikers thus have against them al- ready not only the marksmen of the New Orleans police department, with the blood of two strikers on their hands, not only the city courts of New Orleans, which have before _ them the cases of scores of the strike pickets, arrested on \ charges of rioting, but the national government at Washing- | ton, as well. Here, again, as in Gastonia, there is a solid united front of big business, from New York clear across to Louisiana, all concerned with the defeat of the strikers, with the smash- } ing of their union by fair means or foul. The federal court’s ' order will be backed-up by U. S. marshalls and deputy mar- * shalls, and by federal troops if necessary. i The strikers, faced with this monstrous machine of local , and national government, should learn the lesson. The day ' of single isolated labor movements is over. Only militant j national organization, industrial unions bound closely to- a gether, such as intended through the Cleveland Convention -for Trade Union Unity, August 31, can adequately handle the present situation. The New Orleans strikers themselves are militant and _ heroic against the reaction of their leaders, the heads of \ the Amalgamated Street and Railway Employes. These lead- ers have, in Philadelphia and New York betrayed the union members in an outrageous fashion. In New Orleans, the rank and file are going ahead with a splendid strike. Labor | everywhere should support them. And these strikers who j have showed their colors in the courageous mass picketing | of the last few days, should in turn demand that they have R » a clear field for their program of real fighting, should force the Mahon brothers and other class collaborationist officials of their organization out of their treacherous contract with the Mitten railroads in Philadelphia, and the New York sub- way companies. They should send their own delegates to Gleveland. They"should link up their own militancy, addi- tional testimony to the. growing radicalization of the workers - in the South, with the class struggle industrial unionism de- veloping in every section of the land. i h ‘ALL STREET'S DOLLARS and marines are extending their domination over greater sections of the world. Wherever there is a revolutionary upheaval United States imperialism is on hand and ready to crush it. United States imperialism is in a conspiracy with Great Britain against the Russian Revolution. It cooperates with Japan and England in the intervention against China.—Platform of the Commu- nist Party in the presidential election campaign, 1928/ es BY SIDE with the armaments and war preparations of the imperialists against foreign rivals, there proceeds an intensification of reaction at home. Without a “quiet” hinterland it is impossible for the imperialists to wage war. The bourgeoisie is taking measures to prevent the workers from putting up any kind of organized resistance to their war policy.—Theses and Resolutions of the VI World Con- of the Communist International, 1928. i Enlightenment Campaign on the Comintern Address to the Communist Party T sible Enlightenment Cam dress and the immediate Party tasks outlined therein. HE Polbureau is desirous of securing the broadest pos- paign on the Comintern Ad- All Party members and particularly the comrades active in the workshops in the basic industries are invited to write their opinions for the Party Press. City. also will be printed'in this section. ing with this campaign to Comrade Jack Stachel, care Na- tional office, Communist Party, 43 E. 125th St., New York Resolutions of Factory Nuclei | | | | | Send all material deal- |) The Line of American Right Opposition to the Comintern ” By Wm. W. WEINSTONE. Two outstanding facts define the present stage of the struggle of the American Right Opposition to the Address of the Communist Interna- tional, Firstly, the concealed opposition hidden previously by either formal acceptance or endorsement of the Address has now come into the open. Secondly, the platform of the Right opposition which is now being developed against the Address is that of the International right. Members of the concealed opposition ‘have gone to the point of withdraw- | ing their endorsement of the Address | ;and have stated open opposition to | the line of the Comintern for the |Communist Party of the United States of America. These evénts are not accidental | but follow from the return of Jay} Lovestone to the United States, from his flagrant breach of discipline and defiance of the Communist In- ational. It is evidence of the fact that those struggling against the Communist Interr-tional are) burning their bridges behind them| and are aiming to accomplish what! was intended by their cable of May 15th. The Platform of the Struggle Against the Comintern What is the platform of the strug- gle against the Communist Interna- tional ? First: That the Comintern and the leading Party of the Communist International, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, has degener- ated. The “running sore” concep- tion of Lovestone is now reinforced by the idea that there is a “scis- sors” between the Communist Party | of the Soviet Union and the other} sections of the Comintern. This “scissors” conception runs as fol-| lows: “That the Party of the Soviet | Union having achieved its proleta- | rian dictatorship is far in advance of | the other parties and since it is the leading Party of the Comintern, the most authoritative section, it is driv- ing the other sections into adven- turist tactics, for example, their al- legations of “Putchist” tactics in Berlin on May Day, etc. | Secondly, they support the theory of exceptionalism and challenge the conception of the Comintern regard- ing the estimation of American Im- perialism. | Thirdly: They challenge the con- ception of the leftward swing of the |masses and the growing radicaliza- tion of the working class in the United States. Fourthly, they adopt the right in- terpretation of the decisions of the Sixth World Congress of the Com- munist International and accept the opportunist conception that Amer- lican stabilisation is growing strong- ler and disagree with the conception ‘of the sharpening of the class strug- gle, the growing intensification of the contradictions and the entrance of a period “which will usher in fresh imperialist wars, wide colonial movements and gigantic class bat- tles (Sixth Congress thesis). Fifth- ly: They challenge the estimation of factionalism in the American Party. “The Running Sore and the Scissors.” What is the meaning of the “run- ning sore” agitation and the “scis- sors” conception? It is nothing more nor less than the propaganda of Brandler. In the organs of the Brandlerists, in Germany, this con- ‘ception was expressed as follows: “It is fatal,” said Brandler, “that there is no Party in the Comintern |of equal importance with the C. P. |S. U.” The same idea was expressed by Thalheimer when he declared, “That | the Russian comrades would not see them (the leaders of the Brandler group) again until they could speak on equal terms, as one power to | another.” Both statements of these spear- heads of the international right are clearly the expression of the “scis- sors” idea which Lovestone is de- veloping in the United States. But these ideas are not new. The es- sence of these ideas has already been expressed in the theory time and again stated by right opponents of the Communist International and by social democrats that “the meth- ods of bolshevism cannot be em- ‘ployed in the working class move- ments of the more developed west- ‘ern European countries.” This idea \is a repetition of the legends of the (old opponents of the Communist In- ternational that the Bolsheviks of |the Soviet Union are applying me-ficalization of the working class?)consists in the fact that Lovestone) chanical methods. It challenges the fundamental idea that bolshevism is international in its principles and, tactics. As early as 1921 Lenin in his pamphlet on “Left Wing Com- munism” combatted this legend about the limited application of bol- shevik tactics and declared: “We have now considerable experience of international scope which pretty def- initely establishes the fact that some fundamental features of our revolu- tion are not local, not purely na- tional, not Russian only, but that they are of international signifi- cance. Not in the strictest sense of the word, that is, taking it in its essence, or in the sense of the his- torical ‘inevitability of a repetition, on an international scale, of what we in Russia have gone through, but one must admit some fundamental features of our revolution to be of such international significance. Of course, it would be the greatest mis- take to exaggerate this truth and to apply it to more, than the funda- mental features of our revolution. It would be likewise erroneous not to keep in mind that after the pro- letarian revolution in at least one of the advance countries, things will in all probability take a sharp turn; Russia will cease to be the model, and will become again the backward (in the Soviet and socialist sense) country. “But at this historical moment the state of affairs is such that the Russian example reveals some- thing quite essential to all coun- tries in their near and inevitable future. The advance workers in every land have long understood it | Quite the contrary. We see in the United States the class struggle growing ever more acute. New lay- ers of workers are being attracted to the left wing. Strikes are break- ing out in various sections of the country and the rank and file work- ers are making renewed efforts to overthrow the bureaucracy as for example in the Amalgamated Cloth- ing Workers and among the Illinois miners, | The struggle of the textile work- ers in Gastonia shows how acute the class struggle is growing in the United States and only those who are blind will fail to see that this great struggle is bound to have its repercussions in other sections of| the working class. The capitalist ‘has not only a platform that clashes | fundamentally with the line of the} |Communist International but he is| also fighting the organizational line of the Comintern. The efforts of) Lovestone and others to discredit) those that are vigorously fighting | for the line of the Communist In-| ternational has not merely the ob- ject of weakening Party authority | so as to enable them to conduct un-| challenged their miserable factional; work but is part of a calculated plan| to split up the Party and to build) an organization outside the Com-| intern. | The right opportunists have lost| faith or are quickly losing faith in} the World Party of Communism | | They are unable in the present third workers to take up the struggle|the line which he has followed, he| class understands full well the! period to maneuver around with the | meaning of the series of strikes that | World Party which has determinedly have been taking place in various} set upon the course of ridding itself industries and they are reacting to|of obstructive opportunist elements, | these developments of the workers|of those who. show no desire to, within increased terror. This was| march together along the revolu- shown in the food workers strike in| tionary path of Bolshevik principles New York City where 1,500 strikers|and tactics. As long as Lovestone| were arrested before the strike was thought it possible to maneuver several weeks old. The mad system|around and through tricks of petty-| lof rationalization is driving the|bourgeois politiciandom maintain against the employing class, and the declared that he would accept the bourgeoisie recognizing this situa-| decision. of the Communist Interna- tion is making feverish preparations | tional irrespective of what that de- jto break the fighting spirit of the|cision might be. But when Love-| masses by terror. This accounts|stone came face to face wfth the| for the summary action of the courts | fact that the Comintern will not) in dealing with workers, for the in-| allow a continuation of the devast- crease of injunctions, the sentencing | ating practices of the past, he re-| of workers through contempt of | fused to submit to the will of the court proceedings, the long-term im-| Communist International and took prisonment of workers for strike | the next logical step of organization | activity and the efforts of the bour- against the C. I. | geoisie to reorganize their legal| system so that they can proceed) |more swiftly against the working| | class. —although in many cases they did not so much understand it as feel it, through the instinct of their revolutionary class. Hence the | | New Weapons of Struggle. | | international significance, (in the ae epee ea the i working class show the following! strict sense of the word) of the Bers Taste: i Soviet Power as well as of the | : | First, the working class is adopt- fundamentals of Bolshevik theory ing new forms of trade union strug- and tactics” (emphasis mine—W. gle (formation of revolutionary in- Ww.). |dustrial unions); secondly, the |workers are looking to the Commu- Those who maintain a contrary nist Party for leadership in their view to that expressed by Lenin struggle; thirdly, the masses are not only repeat the legend of me- beginning to overcome the barriers! chanical application which all rene-|Wwhich have stood in their way of | gades have maintained against Com- unity (the solidarity of black and| munist International as for example \white workers in Gastonia). The/ Levi, Hoeglund, and others, but|Bolshevization of the Communist} slide down to the position of Trot- e |Party which is now taking place is) skyism, to the conception of “Ther- | not some isolated event but is part, midor.” We must frankly face \proletarian membership of the Par- Lovestone miscalculated upon the development of our Party member- | ship. The members in the course) ef ten years of the existence of the} Party have developed ideologically and understand the issues at stake and despite the propaganda of op- portunist elements they know that} the Communist International is the real leader of the American Party.) The overwhelming response of the} Party to the Address of the Com-) intern is proof of the correctness of the line of the Communist Interna- tional and the latter’s confidence in ty that it would understand that it! was confronted with two lines—one | line for the Communist Internation- | al and for revolutionary policy and. the other line against the Commu- nist International and for an oppor- tunist policy, Belated Echo of International of the entire process which is going} the fact that despite the struggle on in the working class and is linked| \up with the tasks pressing hard | upon the Party of assuming more| |vigorously the role of leadership of | ¢{ |the masses of the country. The op-| |portunists in the Party resist this | Bolshevization process because they |completely fail to understand the against Trotskyism in our ranks, there are people today who are tak- ing up the discredited weapons of Trotskyism and are repeating the |same slanderous accusations against |the C. P. S, U. and the Comintern. |But this is not at all surprising. Rights. Lovestone is fighting a futile bat- le. His platform is a belated echo Those who take up the struggle|Tevolutionary requirements of the} against the Communist International | third period and the need for a Com-| whether they proceed in their at-|munist Party cleansed of the oppor-| tacks from the position of the so-|tunistic remnants of the past; of} called “left”? or from the right in-|factionalism, unprincipledness, of | evitably arrive at the same social-| the old chaos and demoralization democratic opportunistic platform caused by the devastating factional jof the International Right. This fight | has already been settled in the de- cisive sections of the Comintern. Tie rights in the Russian Party have been decisively defeated. The 16th! Party Conference showed that the Party of the Soviet Union is firmly | for the line of the Central Commit-} tee, for a decisive policy of class) struggle against the kulak elements, | and sooner or later will establish a common, united front against the Communist International though they be independent of each other at the present time. “The Accusation of Putchist Tactics” The right are accusing the Com- munist International of putchist tac- tics in Berlin on May 1. Where does this accusation spring from? It arises from the fundamentally wrong conception of the rights re- garding the third period. These op- portunists view capitalism today as growing stronger and is entering into a period in which the contradic- tions are becoming weaker. For that reason, they do not see that the revolutionary tide is rising higher and that the working class is as- suming the offensive against the capitalists. In order to deny this fact, these opportunists seize upon every weakness and shortcoming of will overcome in the course of fur- ther struggles and they overlook the gigantic fact that 200,000 workers demonstrated in Berlin despite the prohibition and violence of the police and that these workers showed a revolutionary will and energy which reminds us of the great battles of the German workers during first post war period. The accusations of putchism against the German Party can come only from people that see the strength of the enemy but are blind to the fact of the growing power of the working class, The Theory of Exceptionalism Do the events now transpiring in the United States justify the theory of exceptionalism and that which flows from this theory, the exemp- tion of America from the left swing jof the masses and the growing rad- the struggles of the working class, | weaknesses which the proletariat fight and the lack of firm discipline and of a tendency to follow in the tail of the masses in place of lead- ing the masses to struggle—through careful and systematic preparation, through developing in the masses a confidence in their power, through tactics relying upon the will of the masses to struggle—all of which re- quires a well disciplined, a firmly united Party following the revolu- tionary policies of the Communist International. Rights Fight Party Unity. The right elements, however, do ;not aim to unite the Party but de- spite the crying need for such unity, are engaged in spreading all kinds of pessimistic propaganda, are aim- ing to paralyze the execution of the Address of the Comintern and there- by seek to justify their opposition to the Address by a campaign of demoralization of the Party work. Under the guise of the slogan of democracy, Lovestone and those that follow him seek the right to estaba lish factions within the Party and show the reactions of petty-bour- geois individualists to the demand for greater centralization and dis- cipline, Like the Trotskyites they challenge the doctrine of the twenty- one points and the fundamental con- ception of Bolshevik organization which declares that the Communist Party can lead the masses to rev- olution only on condition that it con- tains within its ranks the van- guard of the proletariat, a member- ship consisting of self-sacrificing, disciplined workers who are ready to subordinate themselves to the will of the majority and look upon themselves as members of a World Party, What is Lovestone attempting to do? Without doubt to split the Par- A This was shown by the cable of May 15. The proof of this policy Pais eked PROT Sos for a rapid tempo of industrializa- tion. The Russian Party members see in the policy of the rights a pol- icy of pessimism, of defeatism, of retreat before the capitalist ele- ments, instead of the correct course of overcoming the elements of cap- italist economy in the rapid march of the iron battalions of the prole- tariat. In Germany, likewise, the rights jhave been defeated as was shown in the parliamentary election in Saxony where the Brandlerists that had always had their strongest posi- | tion in this district and who have {been the parliamentarians of the Party in Saxony could secure only twenty thousand votes as against 300,000 for the Communist Party. In Czechoslovakia, likewise, the Par- ty membership has rid itself of the jenecraniie without a long strug- gle. The tactics of Lovestone, his maneuvers, his aim to confuse the Party by tricks of petty-bourgeois politiciandom will not gain a foot- hold among. the membership. Those that follow the course of Lovestone will succeed only in making them- selves generals without an army. A course of determined opposi- tion, of ruthlessly supporting op- portunist ideology in the Party, of quickly carrying out the practical tasks of the C.I, Address will make our Party able to fulfill the role of leader of the growing mass move- ments of the working class. The carrying out of these tasks will be the best proof of the correctness of the Address of the Comintern and will result in the establishment of a Party* powerfully cemented by a Bolshevist unity, a Party that will sink its roots deeper into the shops and that will act with the will and determination of Bolsheviks, of fol- lowers of Psat in leading the By FEODOR GLADKOV]|> 7 4 & CEMENT Translated by A. S. Arthur and C. Ashleigh All Rights Reserved—International Publishers, N. Fe Gleb Chumalov, Red Army Commissar, returns to his town om the Black Sea after the Civil Wars to find the great cement works, where he had formerly worked, in ruins and the life of the town disorganized. He discovers a great change in his wife, Dasha, whom he has not seen for three years. She is no longer the conventional wife, dependent on him, but has become a woman with a life of her own, a leader among the women of the town together with Polia Mekhova, secretary of the Women’s Section ofthe Commu- nist Party. lay The town is attacked by a band of counter-revolutionaries and Glcb is in command of one of the defense detachments. With hima is Serge, a Bolshevik intellectual, who is a devoted Party worker. r¢ He and Gleb engage in a discussion while awaiting developments ' in the night. AY front Gleb was roaring like a bull, and Serge heard neither the sound of his steps, nor cries, nor shots, in that infernal darkness. He was flying lightly, not feeling the earth under his feet, nor hearing the whistling of the wind in his ears, nor feeling pain from the thorns of the bushes which struck at his face and were tearing his skin. He was choking and shouting, but he did not hear what-he was shouting. Out of the darkness came a frenzied horse, galloping madly. He snorted before Serge, reared high, stumbled against the rocks, kicked wildly in the air, his tail flying, snorted once more and vanished, And where the horse had“stood was a black gulf. * * * ERGE stopped and listened. Far away the hooves were smashing the stones, and Gleb’s cries were heard no longer. A wild alarm shud- dered in the air, in the glare of the guns; and the mist was phosphores- cent. It was impossible to distinguish where the sea ended and where the sky began. The town below lay spread out like a cemetery: great dark walled blocks like giant tombs. Serge looked behind him: the torches flashed still in the mountains. On the other side the mountains were yet higher, in battlements, and all over their crests were swarm- ing stars. They lit up, then died, flew about like fiery snakes, flared up like bonfires and rushed in flaming torrents from the tops down the ' valley and slopes. ‘ A co Down below in the valley men were sighing and murmuring, and of perhaps the gods were fighting over carrion. The stones were clatter- we ing like potsherds. Somewhere near was Gleb and the one-armed man: Fe one of the two had to conquer. There were so many one-armed men. \ £a So why should this particular one, who had just disappeared into the i darkness, trouble Serge so much. | sp Serge began to climb down the slope. The soil broke under his bs feet, turning to dust. ta Among the boulders Gleb was bending over something and growl- Jan ing, his whole body torn with effort. Serge saw that his knee was / . planted on the chest of a prostrate man, and he was gripping his throat F with both hands. a “No, you yelping swine, you won't get away! You're finished, you e bastard! I’ve got you now! Here, Serge, give us a hand, Search him!” 0 Feverishly, with trembling hands, Serge ransacked the pockets of pa the man’s tunic and breeches. He found only a packet of tobacco, \ De matches and a crust of bread. But when his hand touched the stump pa of the missing arm he was suddenly pierced by a cry which frozé him, } om “I knew it, Gleb. This is my brother! My brother, Gleb! I’m go- \ a ing to kill him, Gleb! I shall shoot him——!” ar “All right, but. pick up his rifle under my feet. Now, friend, get up. Get up, Serge, and stand by him with your rifle pointed. Or as he’s your brother, shall I leave him to your mercy? Well? What have you to say in his defence?” iw “Stop joking, Chumalov. the spot. . * ‘ this raillery Serge sensed a certain hostility. It seemed to him that Gleb’s eyes were like burning coals. Lead him away or I shail kill‘him on You have no right to speak to me in that tone.” “All right, don’t get sore and take offence——.” * Serge’s hands and knees trembled. Dimitri got up. He wished to shake the dust from his clothes, but his hand was tightly held by Gleb. He was choking and coughing, “Another unusual meeting, Serge,” he said. “Anyway, you're not worth the little finger of this wild fellow, War Commissar Gleb Chuma- lov. We had the honor of meeting each other in my gay father’s house, when you were robbing him. I regret that my brother Serge was not there then; I should have shot him through the head. My one hand can still perform wonders.” Gleb bent over, looking closely into the one-armed man’s face, but did not release his hand. “Aha, an unexpected meeting, my heroic Colonel! In the old man’s’ garden I properly played the fool. I should have hooked you then. Well, let’s get on, boys! We’ll go to see Comrade Shibis; he will welcome this guest!” Dimitri wished to speak, but laughter obstructed his words. was choking in his efforts to suppress his hilarity. “T’m very flattered to walk with you, my friends. Especially with you, my brave Commissar. But won’t you let go my hand? I’m neither a child nor a young lady that such tender care should be shown me. The vanquished enemy will walk with you just as proudly as will the vic- tors. Only please remove my brother a little way from me. I’m not sure thet he isn’t suffering from feminine hysteria in its gravest form. Calm yourself, little Serge, you are really much too excited, my friend.” He 'ERGE’S teeth were chattering, and he could not overcome a deadly nausea rising in his chest. He made a tremendous effort not to shout and fling himself on his brother in a fit of wild anger. Dimitri was laughing like a real merry fellow. “It’s true, isn’t it, Serge, that you and I never walked together be- fore with such pleasure as on this occasion. Such moments must be cherished—especially when they are the last we shall live. But you'll kill me with your ferocious looks, you fierce person. Take it more easily, can’t you? You're even too pitiable a slave of your Party to be able to control yourself in the foolish hour of your success.” They came up out of the ravine and followed the mountain path. On the mountains and in the troubled sky the glare of the guns flashed intermittently. “All the same, your work is no damn good—you cheap rabble. To- morrow your brains will be fouling the cobbles. It’s a pity I shan’t see it with my own eyes. And as for you, Serge, I would have had great pleasure in hanging you publicly at the gate of our house.” * + * SERGE began to laugh, and was astonished that he was able to laugh at that moment. “Could one ever expect, brother, that I should lead you to your death? But it is so, you see? I shan’t watch you being shot. But the fact that you have been caught, and that I had a hand in catching you, gives me great satisfaction.” . Dimitri laughed amicably, with open-hearted gaiety. “You'll make me ill laughing, little Serge! You are really an in- comparable comedian.” “Well, Colonel? But this is a jolly walk on such a rotten night! If the respectable citizens could see us now, they'd say: ‘The’re some gay pals having a merry time!’” Dimitri continued to laugh, but now there was a sharp point in his laughter. It seemed now to Serge that he was really laughing no longer, that sorrow ha‘ overcome him, and the desire to say something which human words could not express. “Yes, yes, very gay indeed! I do regret, Serge, that you're going to take part in this merry game called an shirt i ahead like it very much: it would have recalled our childhood. Do you re- member our childish days well? I would like to see your rifle pointed at my breast. Won’t you do it now? Your dungeons are worse than those graveyard nights which frightened me in my boyhood. I don’t want my soul devastated there. Accompany me, Serge, right to the eae) boy apa ie het peveheetna! nero theme. Two brothers in ie grip of an implacable antagonism, uniting two gro one. It’s tempting, eh? Romantic?” . Foe eee A town patrol with rifles at the ready came towards them. . dha. (To be Continued), iy.