coldly, giving an impression of studied correctness. The conversation
continued somewhat awkwardly. Elisaveta's blue eyes looked gently and
pensively at the irritated Piotr and at his deliberately inimical
adversary Stchemilov.

Piotr asked:

"Mr. Stchemilov, would you care to explain to me this talk of an
autocracy by the proletariat? You admit the need of an autocracy, but
only wish to shift it to another centre? In what way is this an
improvement?"

Stchemilov answered quite simply:

"You masters and possessors do not wish to give us anything--neither a
fraction of an ounce of power nor of possessions; what's left for us
to do?"

"What's your immediate object?" put in Rameyev.

"Immediate or ultimate--what's that!" answered Stchemilov. "We have
only one object: the public ownership of the machinery of production."

"What of the land?" cried out Piotr rather shrilly.

"Yes, the land too we consider as machinery of production," answered
Stchemilov.

"You imagine that there is an infinite amount of land in Russia?"
asked Piotr with bitter irony.