“It is forbidden. I must ask you to do without speeches or demonstrations.”
Bodeyev asked in astonishment:
“But why?”
“No, I must ask you not to. It is forbidden,” said the colonel dryly.
Bodeyev shrugged his shoulders and remarked as he moved away:
“I submit to brute strength.”
“To the law,” the officer in the blue uniform corrected him sharply.
The dead man’s comrades, crowding near the grave, followed one another with handfuls of soil, which they threw on the coffin. The damp, heavy soil struck the coffin with a hollow sound.
The grave was being filled up. Every one stood silently, and as silently left the spot.
Then suddenly a voice was heard.