In the Cause of Freedom

by Arthur W. Marchmont

“The owner of the shed where you left the horses is named Jacob Posen; and he may have found them, and raise difficulties. In that case you will say to him; ‘I am a peasant farmer, friend.’ He will probably reply; ‘You seem in a hurry?’ and you will answer: ‘Immediate.’ His next question if he asks it, will be: ‘Your name?’ In reply you will raise your left hand with the forefinger extended, the tip to be level with your eyes, and the back of the hand toward him, and say: ‘In the eye of God.’ He will then offer to shake hands with you; but you will refuse and look steadily at him. He will then be ready to help you.” He illustrated the peculiar gesture.

The inner significance of this was not difficult to see. “Peasant farmer, friend,” clearly stood for “P. F. F.”—the Polish Freedom Fraternity. The word “Immediate” was for one with a similar initial—probably Independence; while the gesture was for recognition purposes with a subtle reference to the righteousness of the cause and the far-reaching extent of the movement.

I was profoundly impressed by the incident. Here I was in a little village of nowhere, far removed from the busy cities where revolution has its birth and conspiracy is cradled; and yet the ramifications were so widespread, the arrangements so perfected, and the secret means so ready to hand, that Father Ambrose—as mild a mannered man as ever wore a priest’s stole—was able in a few minutes to find one agent to carry the dangerous papers to Cracow, and then another to help me in my scheme.

Until then I had never regarded the Fraternity as a serious national force; my opinion being influenced by the fact that my friend, Count Ladislas, was one of the leaders.

I knew him for a man whose habit of mind led him to shirk responsibility, to act on impulse, to be swayed by the last word, and to veer this way and that when a decision had to be made. It was impossible to think of him as leading a movement which called for practical, earnest and sustained effort, for the resolute overcoming of innumerable difficulties, the persistent, steady, battling against odds, and the uninterrupted, unceasing educative work needed here.

He was a man of dreams, ideas, theories, and principles; and here were the results of steady action, hard work, stern realities and tireless practice.

I seemed to realize for the first time how real was the danger from which Volna had to be saved and how grave the risk to which her friends in Warsaw had so thoughtlessly exposed her.

Even if our little scheme now were successful and I managed to lead the police off her track, there was serious reason to fear that fresh danger might await her in Warsaw; and at that moment a thought occurred to me and, despite the seriousness of things, I laughed aloud.

In our last interview she had shewn a dozen moods in as many sentences, to my infinite bewilderment; but I thought now of something which had escaped me at the moment. Her cheerfulness had returned when she knew I was likely to be taken to Warsaw.

Will any one blame me if in my egoism I interpreted this as a sign that she hoped we should meet again there? We had parted for always and said a last good-bye; but she had taken the parting lightly, because the “always” would last only until we were both in Warsaw. That was why I laughed.