"
"But where are the servants, my dear?"
"Oh, servants don't count."
"Well, well, my darling," spoke the Captain, petting her. "You have
nothing to fear. It is all imagination."
"But I am so nervous."
"Come, my dear. Let's have tea and I will tell you a funny story."
Presently they were seated at the table drinking tea, and the Captain
began his story.
"You know, my dear," he said; "we are going to put an end to all this
foolish political talk and people's committees. Any beggar forms a
committee, and they do what they like. Civil authorities and military
authorities are all alike to them."
"Oh, I am so afraid of beggars," interrupted the beautiful Vera.
"Well, my dear; soon there will be nothing to be afraid of; a propaganda
council was organized at headquarters this morning, and what do you
think? This morning two men arrived with a moving picture camera to take
pictures of our orderly town, and in the afternoon we took an
object-lesson picture. I marched the soldiers into the square and we dug
up a plot so that the earth might be soft.
"Then we had a beggar dig his own grave as we took the picture. When he
had dug enough, I gave the signal and the firing squad drew up their
rifles and blazed away."
"Why did you kill him?"
"No, my dear; we only pretended to kill him.
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