He was supported under the arm
from behind by a tall young man with a porcelain face, red and round.
Following him three more men in uniforms embroidered in gold, and
three garbed in civilian wear, moved in slowly. They stirred about
the table for a long time and finally took seats in the armchairs.
When they had sat down, one of them in unbuttoned uniform, with a
sleepy, clean-shaven face, began to say something to the little old
man, moving his puffy lips heavily and soundlessly. The old man
listened, sitting strangely erect and immobile. Behind the glasses
of his pince-nez the mother saw two little colorless specks.
At the end of the table, at the desk, stood a tall, bald man, who
coughed and shoved papers about.
The little old man swung forward and began to speak. He pronounced
clearly the first words, but what followed seemed to creep without
sound from his thin, gray lips.
"I open----"
"See!" whispered Sizov, nudging the mother softly and arising.
In the wall behind the grill the door opened, a soldier came out
with a bared saber on his shoulder; behind him appeared Pavel,
Andrey, Fedya Mazin, the two Gusevs, Samoylov, Bukin, Somov, and
five more young men whose names were unknown to the mother.
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