"We demand to pass!" they cried. "See, these comrades come from the
Congress of Soviets! Look at their tickets! We are going to the
Winter Palace!"
The sailor was plainly puzzled. He scratched his head with an
enormous hand, frowning. "I have orders from the Committee not to
let anybody go to the Winter Palace," he grumbled. "But I will send
a comrade to telephone to Smolny...."
"We Insist upon passing! We are unarmed! We will march on whether
you permit us or not!" cried old Schreider, very much excited.
"I have orders-" repeated the sailor sullenly.
"Shoot us if you want to! We will pass! Forward!" came from all
sides. "We are ready to die, if you have the heart to fire on
Russians and comrades! We bare our breasts to your guns!"
"No," said the sailor, looking stubborn, "I can't allow you to pass."
"What will you do if we go forward? Will you shoot?"
"No, I'm not going to shoot people who haven't any guns. We won't
shoot unarmed Russian people...."
"We will go forward! What can you do?"
"We will do something,"replied the sailor, evidently at a loss. "We
can't let you pass. We will do something."
"What will you do? What will you do?"
Another sailor came up, very much irritated. "We will spank you!" he
cried, energetically. "And if necessary we will shoot you too. Go
home now, and leave us in peace!"
At this there was a great clamour of anger and resentment,
Prokopovitch had mounted some sort of box, and, waving his umbrella,
he made a speech:
"Comrades and citizens!" he said.
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