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122 | Pioneers 38 Eizerman was not mistaken in expecting that after dinner several “Hasids” would come to see Mirkin. Usually some young people would gather at Mirkin’s every Saturday after dinner: gymnasium students who lived with their parents; members of the proletariat, including those who lived at the Ore Miklet; and yeshiva students who were freethinkers of various degrees. They would come to smoke a cigarette after a rich and satisfying dinner, to drink tea from the samovar , to eat a piece of pork sausage “out of principle,” and primarily, to meet their comrades, converse, argue, and in general, breathe freely. The group began to gather right after dinner. Geverman was the first to arrive . He entered in a gloomy mood, despondent, without greeting anyone; he went up to Mirkin, took hold of his sleeve, and led him into another room. “You were probably surprised that I didn’t come yesterday to spend the night,” he stated in a sepulchral tone of voice. “I . . . returned home!” he added, uttering the words with difficulty. “I’m a worthless good-for-nothing! I couldn’t resist. . . . I met my mother on the street; her eyes were swollen, she walked past me without saying anything, not one word. . . . Do you understand? Well, I couldn’t take it any longer. . . . Now I see that as long as I stay here, I can’t escape all this. . . . I have to leave town! I’ve decided! Meanwhile, I’ve moved back home. . . . What do you think? I’m a good-for-nothing, right? Say it: good-for-nothing!” he concluded in agitation, without looking at Mirkin. “In my opinion, you acted splendidly!” Mirkin replied at once, decisively, without even thinking; then, not wishing to talk about it any more, he returned to his own room. Geverman followed him, feeling less gloomy, and greeted his other comrades. Kapluner arrived after Gerverman. He’d barely crossed the threshold when he cried, “Have you heard? Sonya Beryasheva’s taken off: she’s run away from her parents! I swear to God! She took off last night!” Mirkin, Uler, and Faevich, without exchanging a word, exclaimed with astonishment and distrustfully, “Really?” “I can assure you! The whole town’s all worked up! Some say that she robbed her father and made off with some teacher, even with you, Mirkin! Others say that she ran off to convert!” Kevesh appeared after Kapluner and was also agitated. He had possession of some great “secret” that he had no right to tell anyone but didn’t have the strength Pioneers | 123 to keep it to himself. He rushed up to Kapluner and moaned in a faint whisper, “Oy, what I have! If you only knew what book I have!” “Which one?” “Oy, I can’t tell you! Swear to God, I can’t!” Kevesh moaned in despair, looking at his comrade with his kind and entreating eyes. “But if you only knew!” After a minute he turned to Mirkin with similar exclamations. Tsivershtein arrived. “Of course, you’ve heard the news already, gentlemen?” he began, trying to seem calm. “Perhaps one of you even assisted?” he added, regarding his comrades inquisitively, fixing his gaze on Mirkin. “You should see what’s going on in town! Beryashev and your father”—he nodded at Kapluner—just went running to the bishop. . . .” “The bishop?” “Yes, indeed! Everyone says she’s in the monastery—that she was taken there last night. . . . It turns out that several people saw her arrive at the town garden with a whole group of Russian girls and young men; a black carriage was waiting there for her. Everyone got into the carriage, and it galloped off to the bishop’s house. . . . They say that Beryasheva’s mother has been lying in a faint since morning and they can’t bring her around!” Mirkin went into the next room, looked at the clock, and came back with a beaming face. “It’s half past one,” he whispered to Uler. “The train has left the station. . . .” Kevesh, after waiting until the crowd calmed down, ran up to Tsivershtein. “Oy, what a book I have, if you only knew!” he said in the same faint whisper. “Which book?” Tsivershtein asked apathetically, glancing down at him condescendingly . “I can’t tell you! I swear, I can’t!” “If you can’t, then don’t,” Tsivershtein replied just as apathetically and turned away. Keveshcouldn’tstandthisindifferenceand,leaningovertoTsivershtein,began plaintively, with a note of despair in his voice...

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