BLACK SUSPENDERS : daybreak; Ostrodumov and Mashurina did not once rise from their seats, while Markelov and Nejdanov remained on their feet all the time. Markelov stood on the same spot for all the world like a sentinel, and Nejdanov walked up and down the room with nervous strides, now slowly, now hurriedly. They spoke of the necessary means and measures to be employed, of the part each must take upon himself, selected and tied up various bundles of pamphlets and black suspenders mentioned a certain merchant, Golushkin, a nonconformist, as a very possible man, although uneducated, then a young propagandist, Kisliakov, who was very clever, but had an exaggerated idea of his own capabilities, and also spoke of Solomin... "Is that the man who manages a cotton factory?" Nejdanov asked, recalling what Sipiagin had said of him at table. "Yes, that is the man," Markelov replied. "You should get to know
BLACK SUSPENDERS : him. We have not sounded him as yet, but I believe he is an extremely capable man." Eremy of Goloplok was mentioned again, together with Sipiagin's servant, Kirill, and a certain Mendely, known under the name of "Sulks." The latter it seemed was not to be relied upon. He was black suspenders bold when sober, but a coward when drunk, and was nearly always drunk. "And what about your own people?" Nejdanov asked of Markelov. "Are there any reliable men among them?" Markelov thought there were, but did not mention anyone by name, however. He went on to talk of the town tradespeople, of the public-school boys, who they thought might come in useful if matters were to come to fisticuffs. Nejdanov also inquired about the gentry of the neighbourhood, and learned from Markelov that there were five or six possible young men--among them, but,
BLACK SUSPENDERS : unfortunately, the most radical of them was a German, "and you can't trust a German, you know, he is sure to deceive you sooner or later!" They must wait and see what information Kisliakov would gather. Nejdanov also asked about the military, but Markelov hesitated, tugged at his long whiskers, and announced at last that with regard to them nothing certain was known as yet, unless Kisliakov had made any discoveries. "Who is this Kisliakov? " Nejdanov asked impatiently. Markelov smiled significantly. "He's a wonderful person," he declared. "I know very little of him, have only met him twice, but you should see what letters he writes! Marvellous letters! I will show them to you and you can judge for yourself. He is full of enthusiasm. And what activity the man is capable of! He has rushed over the black suspenders and breadth
BLACK SUSPENDERS : of Russia five or six times, and written a twelve-page letter from every place! Nejdanov looked questioningly at Ostrodumov, but the latter was sitting like a statue, not an eyebrow twitching. Mashurina was also motionless, a bitter smile playing on her lips. Nejdanov went on to ask Markelov if he had made any socialist experiments on his own estate, but here Ostrodumov interrupted him. "What is the good of all that?" he asked. "All the same, it will have to be altered afterwards." The conversation turned to political channels again. black suspenders mysterious inner pain again began gnawing at Nejdanov's heart, but the keener the pain, the more positively and loudly he spoke. He had drunk only one glass of beer, but it seemed to him at times that he was quite intoxicated. His head swam around and his heart beat feverishly.
BLACK SUSPENDERS : When the discussion came to an end at last at about four o'clock in the black suspenders and they all passed by the servant asleep in the anteroom on their way to their own rooms, Nejdanov, before retiring to bed, stood for a long time motionless, gazing straight before him. He was filled with wonder at the proud, heart-rending note in all that Markelov had said. The man's vanity must have been hurt, he must have suffered, but how nobly he forgot his own personal sorrows for that which he held to be the truth. "He is a limited soul," Nejdanov thought, " but is it not a thousand times better to be like that than such . . . such as I feel myself to be? He immediately became indignant at his own self-depreciation. "What made me think that? Am I not also capable of self-
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