Chapter 34 Chapter 14 Police (2)

He signaled his companions to take the prisoner and leave.But at the front door, the Finnish girl who had never said a word stopped at this moment. "I'm hungry!" she said bitterly.Two policemen grabbed her and tried to push her out the door.Her feet were resting on the doorpost. "I'm hungry, I want to eat!" Her cry was a little sad, a little desperate.Although Anna Sergeyevna was very close to her, the child understood what was going on.She had slipped out of bed without a sound, stood with her fingers in her mouth, watching the scene. "I'll get it!" said Matrona, rushing to the cupboard like lightning, and brought a triangular piece of rye bread and a cucumber.She also brought her wallet. "You can take it all!" she said excitedly, stuffing food and money into the hands of the Finnish girl.Then she took a step back, bowed her head, and curtseyed strangely, old-fashioned.

"No money!" The policeman severely stopped her and told her to take her wallet back. The Finnish girl didn't even say a word of thanks.After a moment of resistance, she immediately regained her composure.It was as if, he thought, the spark went out all at once.Had they really been beating her--or worse than that?Does Matrona know something?Is this the cause of her outpouring of sympathy?But how can a child know these things? After the police left, he went back to his room.Candles were blown out, icons and photographs were arranged.He lit the candle on the floor and took the three banners that were spread out on the dressing table.He returns downstairs.Anna Sergeyevna was sitting by Matrona's bed, doing mending and sewing.He threw the flag on the bed. "If I talk to your daughter, I will lose my temper again," he said. "So, go and ask her for me how this thing got into my room."

"What are you talking about? What is this?" "ask her." "It's a flag," said Matrona sullenly. Anna Sergeyevna spread the flag on the bed.Unfurled to a meter long, the flag had obviously been used frequently, and its three colors—white, red, and black vertical stripes of equal width—had faded and faded.That flag has always been there--always been on the roof of Lafayette's millinery. "Whose flag is this?" asked Anna Sergeyevna. He was waiting for the child's answer. "The people's. It's the people's flag," she said at last, reluctantly.

"Enough," cried Anna Sergeyevna.She kissed her daughter's forehead. "It's time to go to bed." She closed the curtain. Five minutes later, she was in his room.Holding the flag in his hand, the flag has been folded down. "You tell me," she said. "What you are holding now is the flag of the people's revenge, the flag of the uprising. If you want me to tell you what those colors represent, I will tell you. Or, you can ask Matroona her Myself, I bet she knew. I can't think of a more seditious, more involved act than this. Matrona left the flag in my house and left it open while I was away. The police will see it. I don't know what's going on in her mind. Is she crazy?"

"Don't say that about her! She didn't know the police were coming here. As for the flag, if it's such a nuisance, I'll take it and burn it right away." "Burn it?" He stood in astonishment.How simple!Why didn't he burn the blue suit? "But I want to tell you," she went on, "it's over here, absolutely. You've got Matrona in trouble. These things have nothing to do with children." "I don't agree with you. I didn't get her involved. It was Nechayev." "It makes no difference. Nechayev wouldn't be here if you weren't here."