THE REBEL 233

a demonstration ? No one can do anything to a
demonstration,, the demonstrators are so many.
It seems too fantastic to think that anyone could
start firing on such a crowd.

More men arrived in the living-room, and
Rinne went out to meet them. While he was
away Juha tried to find out what the others
think of the turn events have taken, speaking in a
whisper as though he had been afraid to speak
while Rinne was in the room. Juha's affairs are
in a bad state at home; how is this going to
affect them ?

Six men have arrived in the living-room; Juha
caught a glimpse of shot-guns. Up to now the
meeting in the parlour had been the centre of
things; it now broke up. There was a general
move to the living-room, where among those
present are a few of the village roughs. Some of
them have been in prison, and hitherto Juha has
instinctively regarded them as men unfit for any
serious purposes. But now there is an uplifted
spirit in the air that makes any such distinctions
invidious. The cigarette-smoke grows thicker.
The moment is all that matters now; there is
no yesterday and no to-morrow. Every time
even a couple of men arrive the mass-spirit
seems to double in strength. Sentry duties are
already being planned for the night. Quite as a
matter of course, uninvited, Juha spends the night
in the house. The afternoon, when he left his