"Well, my friend, life is different from what it was in the old days. You and me, what were we before the glorious days of the Revolution? What were we all, who are, to-day, the proud leaders of the world? Slaves of the capitalists, sweating and toiling for a meagre pittance, living in slums and tenements, while our masters reaped the harvest of our industry. What did they do with the money? Increase our wages? No! Improve our houses, help our families? No! They lazed away their useless lives in luxurious idleness; lived in glorious palaces; travelled in handsome limousines." Hamburger chuckled. "Times are not the same. We are the nobles now, Apor, you and I; we are the people who count." "How can we be the nobles? I thought we were all equal now?" Apor dryly put the question to the commissary. "Stuff and nonsense! You provoke me to anger, comrade; you are for ever casting shadows upon the golden vista of Communist dreams." "Well! Well!" mollified Apor. "You must remember that the brighter the sun shines the blacker is the shadow. Do not think I am not satisfied. My only question is: will it last?" "Bah! Croaking again! Can it do otherwise? How can anything be altered? Does not the Soviet control the country from top to bottom: the Army, the post offices, the banks, the public services, and the people? Do you think the people would wish to rise against us, even if they dared? You are stupid, friend! They have never been so well off as they are to-day. Free as the air, the poorest as rich as the wealthiest, the affluent as destitute as the pauper. The State owns everything, and in the eyes of the State each one of us is equal. Could life be better?" "And yet the members of the Soviet ride about in motor-cars, and their humble 'equals' walk to work!" Hamburger's cheeks flushed. "You argue absurdly, Apor. The State merely lends the motor-cars to the Soviet for their extra responsibility." "I see!" Apor paused, as if thinking deeply. "But the capitalists of the old days, were they not entitled to motor-cars for their share of responsibility?" The commissary growled. "You are impossible to-night, comrade. You see matters through a smoky pair of spectacles. Much more, and I shall suspect that you have views which do not agree with the doctrines of Communism." Apor answered smoothly: "Not at all, my friend. I merely argue as one equal to another. We are as free as air, I think you said. Except to think differently, eh, comrade? But there, my tongue is sharp from the vinegar I swallowed to-day. I argue only that I can have the benefit of your wisdom, to be even better assured of the splendid principles of Communism."