saw it bend down into a squatting attitude and draw the child
towards it. Then they saw a lean hand draw out of its mit and proceed to
touch a swelling on the little mite's neck. They understood. And when
the figure finally passed on out of sight, they returned to their work,
each man absorbed in his own thought, each man with a surge of deep
feeling for that lonely figure. For they were all men who knew, and
understood the man who lived in the twilight of the forests.

* * * * *

The recreation room was packed to suffocation, packed from end to end
with a human freight. The benches were crowded, and the tables groaned
under the weight of as many rough-clad creatures as could crowd
themselves thereon. Every inch of floor space was occupied, and even the
recesses in the log walls which contained the windows were utilised as
sitting places for the audience which had gathered at the imperative
order of the Soviet of the Workers.

Kerosene lamps had replaced the brilliant electric light to which the
men were accustomed. A haze of tobacco smoke created a sort of fog
throughout the length of the building, and contrived to soften the harsh
lines of the sea of human faces turned towards the raised platform
whereon sat the members of the ruling Soviet. The temperature of the
room was cold for all the warming influence of the human gathering, and
every man wore his fur-lined pea-jacket closely buttoned.

Once, in a light moment, Bull Sternford had declared that male human
nature in the "bunch" was the ugliest thing in the world. Had he
witnessed that sea of faces, so intently, so anxiously turned towards
the leaders they had presumably elected, he must have been well
satisfied with the truth of his conviction.

Such was the ascendancy and power the Bolshevist leaders had gained in
the brief month since the first rumble of industrial war had been heard
in Sachigo, that there were few who had failed to obey their summons.
Not only was the hall crowded but a gathering of many hundreds waited
outside. It was the hour of Fate for all. They understood that. It was
the hour of that Fate which had been decreed by men, who, under the
guise of democratic selection had usurped a power over the rest of the
community such as no elected parliament of the world had ever been
entrusted with.

It was doubtful if the majority fully realised the significance of what
was being done. It is certain that a feeling