E-text prepared by Jarrod Newton and revised by Al Haines, Veronika Redfern, Juliet Sutherland, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 3783-h.htm or 3783-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3783/pg3783-images.html) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3783/3783-h.zip) [Illustration: "With somber faces ... their muscles stiff from insufficient sleep."] MOTHER by MAXIM GORKY With Eight Illustrations by Sigmund De Ivanowski New York and London D. Appleton and Company 1911 Copyright, 1906, 1907, by D. Appleton and Company LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE "With somber faces ... their muscles stiff with insufficient sleep" _Frontispiece_ "The mother ... strained her untrained mind to listen" 34 "It seemed to Vlasova that the officer was but waiting for her tears" 92 "Taking out one package of books after the other, she shoved them into the hands of the brothers" 116 "The mother's heart quivered with impatience" 142 "'Listen, for the sake of Christ'" 232 "The men listened in silence" 296 "'Run, run!' whispered the mother" 428 PART I CHAPTER I Every day the factory whistle bellowed forth its shrill, roaring, trembling noises into the smoke-begrimed and greasy atmosphere of the workingmen's suburb; and obedient to the summons of the power of steam, people poured out of little gray houses into the street. With somber faces they hastened forward like frightened roaches, their muscles stiff from insufficient sleep. In the chill morning twilight they walked through the narrow, unpaved street to the tall stone cage that waited for them with cold assurance, illumining their muddy road with scores of greasy, yellow, square eyes. The mud plashed under their feet as if in mocking commiseration. Hoarse exclamations of sleepy voices were heard; irritated, peevish, abusive language rent the air with malice; and, to welcome the people, deafening sounds floated about--the heavy whir of machinery, the dissatisfied snort of steam. Stern and somber, the black chimneys stretched their huge, thick sticks high above the village.