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 MAY DAY

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Treukhov was not to be found. The speech was vigorously applauded by the crowd. The meeting was becoming tedious, but the speakers had grown so used to talking that they could not stop. At last Treukhov was found. His hands and face were smeared with oil, and before going on to the platform he insisted upon scrubbing his face and hands. It was his turn to make a speech. He wanted to say a great deal about hard work, about what had been done and was still to be achieved. He opened his mouth and began to stammer : ‘ C-C-Comrades ! The inter-ter-intemational position of our country is- ’ The crowd which was hstening to the sixth inter­ national speech was entirely unresponsive. It was only when he had finished his speech that he realized he had not said a word about the tram. ‘ How stupid ! ’ he thought. ‘ We Russians simply don’t know how to make speeches. It would be much better if we didn’t talk at all! ’ It was quite dark by the time the red ribbon across the entrance to the depot was cut with a sharp pair of scissors. Workers and representatives of various societies crowded into the trams. A beU rang and the first tram, driven by Treukhov himself, ran out of the depot amid deafening cheers from the crowd. Viktor Mikhaylovich Polesov had managed to scramble on to the platform of the last tram. He was interested in the tram and was very surprised to find that, contrary to his prophecy, it ran very smoothly and that.the windows did not rattle. He exchanged a few opinions with the driver, and the distinguished guests of the Town Council thought that he was a tramway specialist from the West of Europe. After a triumphant tour of the town the trams ran back into the depot, where the crowd was waiting for them. As Viktor Mikhaylovich was getting out of the tram