'Supposing the revolution is still far off . . . there are preparatory steps to be taken, work to be done, impossible in this house, in these surroundings, to which we should go so eagerly together . . . you point them out to us, you only tell us where we are to go. . . . Send us! You will send us, won't you?'
'Where?'
'To the peasants.. . . Where should we go, if not to the people?'
'Into the forest,' thought Nezhdanov.. . . Paklin's saying recurred to his mind. Solomin looked intently at Marianna.
'You want to get to know the people?'
'Yes; that is, we don't only want to get to know the people, but to influence . . . to work for them.'
'Very good; I promise you, you shall get to know them. I will give you a chance of influencing them and working for them. And you, Nezhdanov, are ready to go . . . for her . . . and for them?'
'Of course I am ready,' he declared hurriedly. 'Juggernaut,' another saying of Paklin's, recurred to him; 'here it comes rolling along, the huge chariot . . . and I hear the crash and rumble of its wheels.. . .'
'Very good,' Solomin repeated thoughtfully. 'But when do you intend to run away?'
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