hat you move over to the city the very next day." He spoke
kindly, but with a troubled air. "Did they make a search in your
house?"

"They did. They rummaged, searched, and nosed around. Those people
have no shame, no conscience!" exclaimed the mother indignantly.

"What do they need shame for?" said Nikolay with a shrug of his
shoulders, and explained to her the necessity of her going to the city.

His friendly, solicitous talk moved and agitated her. She looked at
him with a pale smile, and wondered at the kindly feeling of confidence
he inspired in her.

"If Pasha wants it, and I'll be no inconvenience to you----"

"Don't be uneasy on that score. I live all alone; my sister comes over
only rarely."

"I'm not going to eat my head off for nothing," she said, thinking
aloud.

"If you want to work, you'll find something to do." Her conception of
work was now indissolubly connected with the work that her son, Andrey,
and their comrades were doing. She moved a little toward Nikolay, and
looking in his eyes, asked:

"Yes? You say work will be found for me?"

"My household is a small one, I am a bachelor----"

"I'm not talking about that, not about housework," she said quietly. "I
mean world work."

And she heaved a melancholy sigh, stung and repelled by his failure to
understand her. He rose, and bending toward her, with a smile in his
nearsighted eyes, he said thoughtfully, "You'll find a place for
yourself in the work world, too, if you want it."

Her mind quickly formulated the simple and clear thought: "Once I was
able to help Pavel; perhaps I will succeed again. The greater the
number of those who work for his cause, the clearer will his truth come
out before the people."

But these thoughts did not fully express the whole force and complexity
of her desire.

"What could I do?" she asked quietly.

He thought a while, and then began to explain the technical details of
the revolutionary work. Among other things, he said:

"If, when you go to see Pavel in prison, you tried to find out from him
the address of the peasant who asked for a newspaper----"

"I know it!" exclaimed the mother in delight. "I know where they are,
and who they are. Give me the papers, I'll deliver them. I'll find
the peasants, and do everything just as you say. Who will think that I
carry illegal books? I carried books to the factory. I smuggled in
more than a hundred pounds, Heaven be praised!"

The desire