Sasha clenched his teeth, thrust one hand into his pocket, and drew back. All the spies--there were many in the room--sat silent and motionless, and waited watching Sasha's hand. Melnikov waved his hat and walked slowly to the door. "I'm not afraid of your pistol." He slammed the door after him noisily. Viekov went to lock it, and said as he returned to his place: "What a dangerous man!" "So," continued Sasha, pulling a revolver from his pocket and examining it. "To-morrow morning you are each of you to get down to business, do you hear? And bear in mind that now you will all have more to do than before. Part of us will have to go to St. Petersburg. That's number one. Secondly, this is the very time that you'll have to keep your eyes and ears particularly wide open, because people will begin to babble all sorts of nonsense in regard to this affair. The revolutionists will not be so careful now, you understand?" Handsome Grokhotov drew a loud breath and said: "We understand, never mind! If it's true that the Japs gave such large sums of money, that explains it, of course." "Without any explanation it's very hard," said someone. "Ye-e-e-s." "People cry, 'What does it mean?' And they give you poisonous talk, and you don't know how to answer back." "The people are very much interested in this revolt." All these remarks were made in an indolent, bloodless fashion and with an air of constraint. "Well, now you know what you are about, and how you should reply to the fools," said Sasha angrily. "And if some donkey should begin to bray, take him by the neck, whistle for a policeman, and off with him to the police station. There they have instructions as to what's to be done with such people. Ho, Viekov, or somebody, ring the bell and order some Selters." Yakov Zarubin rushed to the bell. Sasha looked at him, and said showing his teeth: "Say, puppy, don't be mad with me for having cut you off." "I'm not mad, Aleksandr Nikitich." "Ye-e-s," Grokhotov drawled pensively. "Still they are a power, after all! Consider what they accomplished--raised a hundred thousand people." "Stupidity is light, it's easy to raise," Sasha interrupted him. "They had the means to raise a hundred thousand people; they had the money. Just you give me such a sum of money, and I'll show you how to make history." Sasha uttered an ugly oath, lifted himself slightly from the sofa, stretched out the thin yellow hand which held the revolver, screwed up his eyes, and aiming at the ceiling, cried through his teeth in a yearning whine, "I would show you!" All these things--Sasha's words and gestures, his eyes and his smiles--were familiar to Yevsey, but now they seemed impotent, useless as infrequent drops of rain in extinguishing a conflagration. They did not extinguish fear, and were powerless to stop the quiet growth of a premonition of misfortune.