noble birth,
He was bred among the people
In the breast of Mother Earth.
But the malice of the nobles
And the Tsar's revengeful wrath
Drove him forth to grief and torture
On the martyr's chosen path.
He set out to teach the people
Freedom, love, equality,
To exhort them to resistance;
But to flee the penalty
Of the prison, whip and gallows,
To a foreign land he went.
While the people waited hoping
From Smolensk to far Tashkent,
Waited eager for his coming
To rebel against their fate,
To arise and crush the Tsardom
And the nobles' vicious hate,
To share all the wealth in common,
And the antiquated thrall
Of the church, the home and marriage
To abolish once for all."

"You got it from that officer, I suppose, eh?" asked Pyotr Stepanovitch.

"Why, do you know that officer, then, too?"

"I should think so. I had a gay time with him there for two days; he was
bound to go out of his mind."

"Perhaps he did not go out of his mind."

"You think he didn't because he began to bite?"

"But, excuse me, if you saw those verses abroad and then, it appears, at
that officer's..."

"What, puzzling, is it? You are putting me through an examination,
Andrey Antonovitch, I see. You see," he began suddenly with
extraordinary dignity, "as to what I saw abroad I have already given
explanations, and my explanations were found satisfactory, otherwise I
should not have been gratifying this town with my presence. I consider
that the question as regards me has been settled, and I am not obliged
to give any further account of myself, not because I am an informer, but
because I could not help acting as I did. The people who wrote to Yulia
Mihailovna about me knew what they were talking about, and they said I
was an honest man.... But that's neither here nor there; I've come
to see you about a serious matter, and it's as well you've sent
your chimney-sweep away. It's a matter of importance to me, Andrey
Antonovitch. I shall have a very great favour to ask of you."

"A favour? H'm... by all means; I am waiting and, I confess, with
curiosity. And I must add, Pyotr Stepanovitch, that you surprise me not
a little."

Von Lembke was in some agitation. Pyotr Stepanovitch crossed his legs.

"In Petersburg," he began, "I talked freely of most things, but there
were things--this, for instance" (he tapped the "Noble Personality" wit