"Bring him here, officers, I say! I say——"
"Don't!" a strong voice resounded in the crowd, and the mother knew it came from the blue-eyed peasant. "Boys! don't permit it! They'll take him in there and beat him to death, and then they'll say we killed him. Don't permit it!"
"Peasants!" the powerful voice of Rybin roared, drowning the shouts of the sergeant. "Don't you understand your life? Don't you understand how they rob you—how they cheat you—how they drink your blood? You keep everything up; everything rests on you; you are all the power that is at the bottom of everything on earth—its whole power. And what rights have you? You have the right to starve—it's your only right!"
"He's speaking the truth, I tell you!"
Some men shouted:
"Call the commissioner of police! Where is the commissioner of police?"
"The sergeant has ridden away for him!"
"It's not our business to call the authorities!"
The noise increased as the crowd grew louder and louder.
"Speak! We won't let them beat you!"