Page:Watts Mumford--Whitewash.djvu/87

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WHITEWASH

there will be nothing left but our music—and that they cannot kill." He spoke with passion, that found a quick response in the dramatic instincts of his hearer.

"In these days of indifference your patriotism fires one," she cried. "You make me want to help. I am so eager to know more. Oh, I wish you would tell me about your work and those who help you. Your stories the other night kept me awake thinking of the nightly gatherings in secret and danger, when your devoted comrades teach their own prohibited tongue and keep alive the individuality of the race that aliens would crush out. I could never have believed in such tyranny if you yourself had not told me. It is so uncalled for, so cruel!"

He nodded solemnly. "It is past belief, and if you questioned a Russian he would emphatically deny it, either because he was ignorant of the truth, or because he dare not admit it. Only those who have lived as I have and seen what I have, can realize what the suppression of the Poles really means. The power we are contending with is so great, so secret, so terrible—why,

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