| 276 | 277 | 278 | 279 | 280 |
| 1 | 73 | 145 | 218 | 290 |
|
with poor Simeon, whom he killed not long ago. Only recently Anisim
was tortured in irons till he died. We certainly cannot stand this much
longer." "Yes," said another, "what is the use of waiting? Let us act at
once. Michael will be here this evening, and will be certain to abuse us
shamefully. Let us, then, thrust him from his horse and with one blow of
an axe give him what he deserves, and thus end our misery. We can then
dig a big hole and bury him like a dog, and no one will know what became
of him. Now let us come to an agreement--to stand together as one man
and not to betray one another."
The last speaker was Vasili Minayeff, who, if possible, had more cause
to complain of Michael's cruelty than any of his fellow-serfs. The
superintendent was in the habit of flogging him severely every week, and
he took also Vasili's wife to serve him as cook.
Accordingly, during the evening that followed this meeting in the woods
Michael arrived on the scene on horseback. He began at once to find
fault with the manner in which the work had been done, and to complain
because some lime-trees had been cut down.
"I told you not to cut down any lime-trees!" shouted the enraged
superintendent. "Who did this thing? Tell me at once, or I shall flog
every one of you!"
On investigation, a peasant named Sidor was pointed out as the guilty
one, and his face was roundly slapped. Michael also severely punished
278
Page
Quick Jump
|