“You see. And as under the most favourable circumstances you would not get through such a massacre in less than fifty or at the best thirty years⁠—for they are not sheep, you know, and perhaps they would not let themselves be slaughtered⁠—wouldn’t it be better to pack one’s bundle and migrate to some quiet island beyond calm seas and there close one’s eyes tranquilly? Believe me”⁠—he tapped the table significantly with his finger⁠—“you will only promote emigration by such propaganda and nothing else!”

He finished evidently triumphant. He was one of the intellects of the province. Liputin smiled slyly, Virginsky listened rather dejectedly, the others followed the discussion with great attention, especially the ladies and officers. They all realised that the advocate of the hundred million heads theory had been driven into a corner, and waited to see what would come of it.