"Rotter! Scoundrel!"
They tugged at Bengalsky and punched him in the back. He exclaimed:
"I won't allow the mask to be torn from a woman. Do what you like, I won't allow it."
In this way he carried the Geisha the entire length of the corridor, which culminated in a narrow door opening into the Club dining-room. Here Veriga managed to hold back the crowd for a short time. With the resolution of a soldier he stood there and refused to allow anyone to pass. He said:
"Gentlemen, you can't go any farther."
Goudayevskaya, rustling with the remaining ears of corn of her costume, dashed at Veriga, clenching her fists and screamed piercingly:
"Go away! Let us pass!"
But the General's imposingly cold face and his determined grey eyes kept her from doing anything more. She cried in helpless rage to her husband:
"You might have boxed her ears—you gaping block-head!"
"It was hard to get at her," the Indian justified himself, gesticulating wildly—"Pavloushka was in the way."