Groups
were heroes all, and the peculiar thing about it was that they were
opposed to the taking of life. They violated their own natures, yet they
loved liberty and knew of no sacrifice too great to make for the Cause.*

* These Fighting groups were modelled somewhat after the
Fighting Organization of the Russian Revolution, and,
despite the unceasing efforts of the Iron Heel, these groups
persisted throughout the three centuries of its existence.
Composed of men and women actuated by lofty purpose and
unafraid to die, the Fighting Groups exercised tremendous
influence and tempered the savage brutality of the rulers.
Not alone was their work confined to unseen warfare with the
secret agents of the Oligarchy. The oligarchs themselves
were compelled to listen to the decrees of the Groups, and
often, when they disobeyed, were punished by death--and
likewise with the subordinates of the oligarchs, with the
officers of the army and the leaders of the labor castes.

Stern justice was meted out by these organized avengers, but
most remarkable was their passionless and judicial
procedure. There were no snap judgments. When a man was
captured he was given fair trial and opportunity for
defence. Of necessity, many men were tried and condemned by
proxy, as in the case of General Lampton. This occurred in
2138 A.D. Possibly the most bloodthirsty and malignant of
all the mercenaries that ever served the Iron Heel, he was
informed by the Fighting Groups that they had tried him,
found him guilty, and condemned him to death--and this,
after three warnings for him to cease from his ferocious
treatment of the proletariat. After his condemnation he
surrounded himself with a myriad protective devices. Years
passed, and in vain the Fighting Groups strove to execute
their decree. Comrade after comrade, men and women, failed
in their attempts, and were cruelly executed by the
Oligarchy. It was the case of General Lampton that revived
crucifixion as a legal method of execution. But in the end
the condemned man found his executioner in the form of a
slender girl of seventeen, Madeline Provence, who, to
accomplish her purpose, served two years in his palace as a
seamstress to the household. She died in solitary
confinement after horrible and prolonged t