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By G ro ve r Fu rr

Er yth ros Pr ess an d Med~a, LLC

Corrected Edition Au gu st 20 19
Tro tsky's Lies
Corrected Edition pub.lished Aug ust 2019
1

{A revi sed and upd ated edit ion of the Intr odu ctio n, and Cha pter s
13 . . 16 of Grover Furr, Trotsky )s 'Amalgams:' Trotsky 's Lies, The
Moscow Trials As Evidenc e, The Dewey Con1mission. Ket teri ng, OH:
Ery thr6 s Pre ss & Med ia, LLC, 201 5, 201 6.}

Pub lish ed by Ery thr6 s Pre ss and Med ia

PO Box 294 994
Kettering, OH 454 29- 099 4
med ia@ ery thro spre ss.c om

©G rov er Fur r 201 5, 201 9

Pub lish ed and prin ted \vit h per mis sion of the atlt hor, \vho as-
sum es all resp ons ibil ity ·for the con tent here in.

Locally Ass igne d LC-type Call Num ber DK 254 .T6 F87 122 201 9

ISBN: 978 -0-5 78- 521 04- 6

198 pp . Incl ude s index.

1. Tro tsky , Leon, 187 9-1 940 . 2. Rev olut iona ries - Russia- Bio gra-
phy. 3. Stal in, Joseph, 187 8-1 953 . 4. Sov iet Uni on - His tory - 192 5-
195 3. 5. Tria ls (Co nsp irac y).
 Table of Contents
Acknc)wledgeme11ts and Dedicatio11 ... ,........................................................................ 4
Ch apt e r 1. Trotsky' s Lies ........... ,................................................. ,..................................... 5
Chapter 2. Trotsky on the Kirc)v Assassination .................................................. 28
Chapter 3. Trotsky and the Cl1arge of '(Ar1ned Interve11tion'' ....................... 64
Chapter 4. ·T rotsky's Kirov Assassination article - ''The Restoration of
Cap ital i s m '' ... ,........ ,......................................... ,............... ,................................... ,................ 9 8
Chapter S. Trotsky in Biulle·ten'Oppozitsii ....................................................... ( 135
c0 n cl us i 0 n - I I • • 'f 11 ) ' "!) • ., 1. • f I ~·
l " '() t I I I t .I ' ). , ~ l 1 C "I «l t 16 2
I, • ) I I J JI l • l I J ;t A '.I • l JI I f .J • ) ' •,t .. l )( J t • l t I I f l l f e ) 11 X f' • t l t J t j .I I I r I ) I t I. 'I A 1 ). A • I A J ., I I I t • l t t 11 )_ • 1

Appendix·; Docu111e·n ts ............................. ,..................................................................... 167

Bib Ii o gr ap !1y ....... ,............................. ,.......... ,.,................,................. ,.............................. ·1 7 9
Index ...................................................................................................................................... 193
 ·.

A ck no w le dg em en ts an d D ed ic at io n

On ce ag ain , I wi sh to ex pre ss my gra tit ud e to Ke vin Pr en de rga st,

Ar thu r Hu dso n, an d Sio bh an Mc Ca rth y, the ski lle d an d tir ele ss In-
ter -L ibr ary Loan lib rar ian s at Ha rry S. Sp rag ue Lib rar y, Mo ntc lai r
Sta te Un ive rsi ty. W ith ou t the ir he lp my res ea rch wo uld no t be
po ssi ble .

I wo uld lik e to ex pre ss my sp ec ial tha nk s to my · wo nd erf ul Mo sco w

co lle ag ue Vl adi .m ir L'v ov ich Bo bro v, for all his tir ele
.
ss an d bri lli an t
he lp du rin g the pa st nin ete en ye ars of ou r res ea rch tog eth er.

My tha nk s to Eff ie Ma tla ck, wh o did a su pe rb job of pro ofr ea din g

thi s bo ok an d ma de ma ny inv alu ab le su gg est ion s for ch an ge s an d
im pro ve me nts .

** ** *

I wo uld lik e to rec og niz e Mo ntc lai r Sta te U11iversity for giv ing me a
sab ba tic al lea ve in the fal l se me ste r of 20 15 for the pu rp os e of
wo rki ng on thi s bo ok .

** ** *

Dedication
To De rek an d Ka rla , As ia an d Le on a, my tre asu res .
 1
Ch ap ter 1. Tr ot sk y s Lies

The just ific atio n for this boo k is ·t wof old. Firs t, dur ing the pas t sev-
eral dec ade s a gre at many prim ary hist oric al sou rces hav e bee n
mad e ava ilab le for the firs t time . Sec ond , non e of tho se who hav e
wri tten abo ut Tro tsky hav e mad e use of thes e sou rces .

The se prim ary sou rces are imp orta nt. The y per mit us to kno w a
gre at dea.l mor e abo ut Tro tsky 's acti viti es dur ing the 193 0s than
eve r befo re. Yet des pite this fact - or, per hap s, bec aus e of i.t - they
hav e bee n alm ost enti rely neg lect ed.

The se new prim ary sou rces are:

* The Tro tsky Arc hive at Hou ghto n Lib rary , Har var d Uni ver-
sity , ope n sinc e Jan uary 2, 1.98 0. In this boo k I refe r to this as
the ''Ha rvar d TA,' or sim ply ''TA."

*A floo d of doc ume nts from form er Sov iet arch ives pub -
lish ed sinc e the end of the Sov iet Uni on in 199 1 and con tinu -
ing to this day.

Oth er coll ecti ons of prim ary sou rces incl ude the Tro tsky -Se dov
cor resp ond enc e at the Hoo ver Inst itut ion, and doc ume nts mad e
ava ilab le but not pub lish ed at vari ous arch ives in Rus sia and else -
\vhe re.

The doc ume nts from form er Sov iet arch ives hav e re·v olut ioni zed
our kno wle dge and und erst and ing of Sov iet hist ory of the Stal in
peri od) and thu s of Sov iet hi.story as a who le. The y per mit us to see
tha t muc h of wha t was wri tten abo ut Stal in and his era dur ing
Khr ush che v's time , then dur ing Gor bac hev 's tenu re, and still to-
day, is deli bera tely fals e - in plaj n lang uag e, lies .

The doc ume nts in the Har var d TA, and the rese arch bas ed on them
by the late 'P ierr e Bra ue, and by Am eric an hist oria n Arc h G·etty ,
con tinu e to be neg lect ed by all wri ters on Tro tsky eve n tho ugh -
 1

6 Tro tsk y s Lies

or pe rh ap s· be ca us e - the y de ma nd of us a rad ica lly dif fer en t vie w

of Tr ots ky 's ac tiv itie s du rin g the 19 3 Os an d ev en be for e.

Th ese pr im ary so urc es no w ma ke it po ssi ble to ch ec k ma ny of the

fac t-c lai ms ma de by de fen da nts in the Mo sco w Tr ial s in the co urs e
of the ir tes tim on y. Fo r the fir st tim e we are ab le to ob jec tiv ely
ev alu ate thi s im po rta nt bo dy of ev ide nc e by ve rif yin g so me of the
sta tem en ts ma de in the Mo sco w Tr ial s ag ain st ind ep en de nt
so urc es.

Th is too ha s ne ve r be en do ne . Sin ce Ni kit a Kh rus hc he v s iiSecret

1

Sp eec h'' to the XX Pa rty Co ng res s in Fe br ua ry 19 56 vir tua lly all

his tor ian s ha ve dis mi sse d the Mo sco w Tr ial s tes tim on y as false.
Th e pa rad igm of the Mo sco w Tr ial s ha s be en tha t of inn oc en t de -
fen da nts for ce d to mo uth fal se co nfe ssi on s to cri me s the y ne ve r
co mm itt ed by me an s of thr ea ts to the ms elv es, ag ain st the ir fam i-
lies, etc. Th eir tes tim on y ha s be en un ive rsa lly rej ec ted as fab ri-
cat ed , fak ed , ''sc rip ted '' by the NK VD inv est iga tor s, the pro sec u-
tio n, ''Stalin.''

Bu t the re ha s ne ve r be en an y evi de nc e tha t the Mo sco w Tr ial s tes . .

tim on y wa s fab ric ate d. Th is ha s sim ply be en ass ert ed . Th is as se r ..
tio n ha s be en ''be lie ve d," ac co rde d alm os t un ive rsa l cre de nc e, be ..
ca us e it ha s be en vo ice d by see mi ng ly div ers e au tho rit ies : by Tr ot-
sk y him sel f; by So vie t em igr es an d dis sid en ts wh o fle d the US SR in
the 19 30 s an d the rea fte r; the n by Kh rus hc he v an d by co mm iss ion s
an d wr ite rs du rin g his tim e; the n by Mi kh ail Go rba ch ev an d the
co mm iss ion s an d wr ite rs sp on so red by him ; an d sin ce 19 91 by
bo th Ru ssi an an d We ~t er n his tor ian s wh o cla im to be dra wi ng
up on the ne wl y-a va ila ble do cu me nta tio n fro m for me r So vie t ar-
ch ive s.

Ho we ve r, the tru th is no t co ns tit ute d by an y ''co ns en su sl' of

au tho rit ies . No r is ''credibility,, a ca te:g ory of an aly sis . W he the r a
sta tem en t, fac t-c lai m, etc . is ''b eli ev ed ha 11
s no be ari ng at all on
wh eth er it is tru e, no ma tte r ho w ma ny ''au tho rit ies '' aff m
ir. it. On ly
pr im ary so urc es are ev ide nc e.
Chape r 1, Trots kys Lies 7

Thes e newl y-av ailab le prim ary sour ces - evide nce - from the for-
mer Sovi et archi ves and from the Harv ard TA perm it us to see for
the first time that the histo ry of the Sovi et Unio n durin g the Stali n
perio d, inclu ding the roles of Stali n and Trotsky} is very diffe rent -
indee d, in many respe cts the diam etric al oppo site - from wha t we
have been taugh t, and from wha t is still the ''mai nstre am," ''con-
sensus1' versi on.
* Than ks to these newl y-av ailab le sour ces we can now see that
Khru shch ev, and then Gorb ache v, lied abou t Sovi et histo ry of the
Stalin perio d.

*We can also see now that Trot sky lied too delib erate ly, as did
Khru shch ev and Gorb ache v. Like them , Trot sky lied a lot.

I have writt en a num ber of book s and artic les abou t the lies perp e ..
trate d unde r the ausp ices of Khru shch ev and Gorb ache v, abou t
antic omm unist histo rians East and Wes t who have draw n upon
their lies, and abou t the new versi on of Sovi et histo ry that emer ges
from the newl y.. avail able archi val sourc es. In Trotsky's A.malgams'
(from whic h the pres ent book is large ly extra cted) , in Leon Trot-
sky's Collaboration with Germany and japan, and in futur e volu mes,
I will ident ify and stud y some of Trotsky}s lies and exam ine how
this new evide nce chan ges our unde rstan ding of Trot sky's activi-
ties and of Sovi et histo ry durin g the 1930 s.

Trotsky's Lies
We owe, in grea t part, our intro duct ion to the fact that Trot sky lied
to a num ber of semi nal work s of resea rch. First is the work of the
late Pierr e Broue, the forem ost Trot skyis t histo rian in the worl d
durin g his time (Bra ue died in 2005 ). Seco nd is the semi nal artic le
by J~ Arch Getty, ''Tro tsky in Exile: The Foun ding of the Four th Jn ..
terna tiona l," publ ished in Soviet Studies in Janu ary, 1986 . Thir d is
the brilli ant artic le by Sven .. Eric Holm strom , ''New Evid ence Con-
cern ing the 'Hote l Brist ol' Ques tion in the First Mosc ow Trial of
1936 ,'' publ ished in Cultural Logic for 2008 . Insp ired by the effor ts
of these resea rche rs I have disco vere d some more lies by Trots ky.
 1
8 Trotsky s Li.es

v·erifying the Moscow Trials Testimony

1 1
Part One of Trotsky s 'Amal9ams (excerpted and updated in The
Moscow Trials as Evidence) consists of the process of ve1~ification of
those fact .. claims made by defendants in the three Moscow Trials
that we can now check from other, independent sources. This pro-
ject is important for understanding \iVhat Trotsky \Vas doing during
the 1930s.

Ac.cordi11g to the Moscow Trials testimony Trotsky, in the leader..

ship of his clandestine followers within the USSR ar1d in a political
bloc \Vitl1 many other Oppositionists,, vvas involved in the following
• •
consp1rac1es:

* To assassinate Stali11 and other Soviet leaders (called ('terror'' or

''individual terror}' in Russian);

* To sabotage as much of the Soviet economy as possible, princi-

pally in industry, in mining, and in transpor·tation;

* To conspire with command.ers of the Soviet armed forces in or-

der to promo·t e a coup d'etat against the Stalin regime;

*to take over leadership of the Soviet Union \Vith the help of Hit-
ler's Germany, militarist Japa.n, and other foreign powers at the
price of making important economic concess'ions and of ceding
parts of the Soviet Union to them, stopping support for the Comin-
tern, and returning n1uch or most of the economy bacl< to private
ovv11ership.

Trotsky vigorously denied all of this. Especially since Khrushchev

and Gorbachev) Trotsky's denials have been almost universally
believed.

But the primary source evidence available to us today enables us

to see that at the very least many, and indeed perhaps all) of the
charges against Trotsky and the confessions made ,by the Moscow
.

Trials defendants were true. On t·he evidence, Trotsky s denials are

1

lies.
Chaper 1. Trotsky's Lies 9

In Trotsky's 'Amalgams', The Moscow Trials as Evidence, the present

book, and in future books I will examine those lies of Trotsky's that
bear directly upon his conspiratorial activities and upon my verifi ..
cation of the Moscow Trials testimony~ I do not mean to imply that
these were all Trotsky was lying about~ The more we study} the
more lies of Trotsky's we discover.

Lenin's ''Peppery Dishes'' Statement

One example of a lie by Trotsky that does not bear directly upon
his conspiracies or upon verification of the Moscow Trials testi-
mony will serve to illustrate the fact that Trotsky lied a great deal.
This is his claim that Lenin opposed Stalin's appointment as Gen-
eral Secretary of the Party because of his crude behavior towards
others, which Trotsky called ''peppery dishes."

I begin with what I believe to be the first time that Trotsky used
this story. This was in his speech of October 23, 1927, to a com-
bined meeting of the Plenum of the Central Committee and the
Central Control Committee, called to consider his expulsion from
the Party. Trotsky's ''peppery dishes'' statement is in boldface in
the original, below:
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10 Trots ky s Lies
1

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The earlies t version of Trotsky 's ''cook ... pepper y dishes' ' story
Pravda Novem ber 2, 1927.

Tpo~KH H:. l1 epe3 0KTH6p bC'KYIO pe·ao111Du;1110 Harna napTHH

"'
noJiyq11Jia B CBOM pyKH Mory~eCTBeHHbIH arrrrapa T
npHHY/K ,D,eHI15l , 6e3 KOTOpo ro HeMblCJ IHMa rrpoJieTapcKa5l
Al-IKTaT ypa. Cpe,aoTO t.!HeM tJiHKTaT ypbI .HBJIHeTc.H
~eHTpaJlbH bIH Kor-.111TeT Harnei1 rrapTHH . Dp11 JieHHHe , npx
JieH11HCKOM [(eHTpa JibHOM KoMH1~eTe opr'taHH3a~HOHHhIM
arrnapaT naprl' HH 6bIJI ITO,LJ;YHHeH peBOJIIO IJ.HOHHO H K JiaCCOBO H
rroJI.HTHKe MHposo ro MacUITa 6a. ITpaB~a , CTa1111H, B KaqecTB e
reHepaJ ibHoro ceKpeTapH, BHylllaJ I JleHHHY onaceHH .H c
caMoro HaqaJia. <<Celi noeap 6yAeT roTOBH Th TOJihKO
OCTpLi e OJIIOAa>>, TaK fOBOpHJ J lleHI1H B TeCHOM Kpyry B
MOJ\1eHT x C'bes,n,a. 1

'(Rech' tov. Trotskog o , Pravda Novemb er 2-1 192-7. Felix Krei~el has usefully put
11
1
a phott1graphic i~ep1 ociucti. on o.f this page of Pravda at
1

http: // web.mit .edu/ f)k/ww\-V/ images/ P1 avda/ 1927-11 -02-4.pd f and

1

transcrib ed the somewh at differen t version of Trotsky's speech from the MS in

 1
Chaper 1. Trotsky s Lies 11

Translated~

Trotsky: Through the October Revolution our Party re-

ceived into its hands a powerful apparatus of compul-
sion without which the proletarian dictatorship is un-
thinkable. The concentration of the dictatorship is the
Central Committee of our Party. In Lenin's time, in the
1
time of Lenin s Central Com.m ittee, the organizationa l
apparatus of the Party was subordinated to revolution ..
ary class politics of a global scale. True, Stalin in his ca-
pacity of General Secretary instilled fear in Lenin from
the very beginning. ''This cook will prepare only pep ..
pery [literally: sharp - GF] dishes," - so said Lenin to a
small circle at the time of the X Party Congress.

In this first occurrence Trotsky clearly separated the (icook ... pep--
pery dishes'' story from Stalin's being made General Secretary.
Here Trotsky claims that Lenin made this remark ''at the time of
the X Party Congress},, which took place March 8 - 16, 1921. Stalin
was named to the post of General Secretary as a result of the XI
Congress held a year later} March 27 - April 2, 1922.

This would have been a good opportunity for Trotsky to name

others that also heard Lenin make this remark. It would, arguably,
have helped him, given his speech more impact, if he had done so.
But he did not. This makes us suspect that perhaps he could not do
so - that the story may be false.

It is difficult to prove that Lenin did not make this remark. Most
events do not leave a paper trail. For our purposes what is most
important here is that even Trotsky does not claim that Lenin made
the remark in connection with Stalin's being made General Secre-
tary~

In February 1929, the same month he went into exile to Turkey,

Trotsky once again cited the ''peppery dishes story.11

the Harvard TA at
http:/ /web.mit.edu/fj k/\vww /Trotsky/sochineniia/19 27 /19271023.html
12 Trots ky's Lies

('This cook will prep are only pepp ery dishes,'' Leni n
warn ed the party as early as 1922 .

- ''Hovv Coul d This Happ en?'' Febr uary 25, 1929 . WLT
'29. p. 38.

Here ·r1~otsky does not explicitly tie the story to Stali n's gaini ng the
Gene ral Secr etary post. But he does so implicitly, by shift ing the
date from 1921 to 1922 , the year of the Elev enth Party Cong ress,
the year Stali n was chos en as Gene ral Secr etary .

Belo w are some of the citat ions of this state men t in Trot sky's
work s. I do not claim that this is an exha ustiv e list.

Trot sky on ''Peppery Dishes''

Whe n at the Tent h Cong ress, two year s after the deat h of
Sverd lov, Zino viev and other s, not with out a hidd en
thou ght of the strug gle again st me, supp orted the cand i-
dacy of Stali n for Gene ral Secr etary - that is, place d him
de jure in the posit ion whic h Sver dlov had occu pied de
facto - Leni n spok e in a smal l circl e again st this plan, ex-
press ing his fear that ''this cook will prep are only pep-
pery dishes." That phra se alone , take n in conn ectio n
with the char acter of Sver dlov, show s us the diffe rence s
betw een the two type s of orga nizer s: the one tirele ss in
smoo thing over confl icts, easin g the work of the Colle-
gium } and the othe r a spec ialist in pepp ery dish es - not
even afrai d to spice them with actua l poiso n.

- ''On the Supp resse d Test amen t of Leni n (Dec embe r

19 3 2) .''
.h tt.p s: //ww w.m arxis ts.or g/arc hive /trot sky/19 3 2/12 /l e
nin.h tm

The n ecess ity of remo ving the boss \vho was spec ializ ing
t

in pepp ery dish es beca me clear to Leni n imm ediat ely

after his retur n to work .
Chaper 1. Trot sky' s Lies 13

- Ibid.

In 19 21, war nin g his mo st inti mat e com rad es aga inst
elec ting Stali.n as gen eral secr etar y, Len in said , ''Th is
coo k will pre par e only pep per y dishes.,,

- ''So me Res ults of the Stal in Am alga m' WL T '34--'35; also

1

http s:// ww w.m arx ists .org /arc hiv e/tr otsk y/19 35 /01 / a
mal gam .htm

·F rom bein g the inst rum ent of the revo luti on, the G.P.U.
has bec ome the inst rum ent of the sov iet aris tocr acy , the
per son al inst rum ent of Stal in, abo ut who m Len in
war ned in 192 2: ''Th is coo k will pre par e only pep per y
dishes."
- ''Th e Mo sco w (Co nfes sion s''' 18 Dec. 193 6

In 192 2, whe n Stal in was firs t elec ted gen eral sec reta ry
of the part y, Len in rem ark ed war nin gly to a sma ll circ le:
''Th is coo k will give us only pep per y dishes.''

- ;'Is Stal in We ake ning or the Sov iets ?', Jan uar y 193 2.
WL T19 32p .38 .
Tru e to his eva luat ion of peo ple and circ ums tanc es,
Len in in Mar ch 192 2 spo ke out dec isiv ely aga inst the
app oin tme nt of Stal in as gen eral sec reta ry (''th at coo k
will mak e only pep per y dishes'') ...

- ''Fro m the Arc hive s," Sep t. 193 2 WLT 193 2 p. 208.

Len in saw the dem ocra tiza tion of the adm inis trat ion as
the mos t imp orta nt task of the dict ator ship . ''Ev ery coo k
mu st lear n how to gov ern." The pro cess tha t has take n
plac e is quit e the reve rse. The num ber of adm inis trat ors
did not gro w to incl ude ''ev ery cook''; it con stri cted in-
stea d to a sing le chef , and at tha t a spe cial ist in pep per y
dis hes only .
- ''Al arm Signal!'' Mar ch 3, 193 3. WL T 193 2-3 3 p.1 12.
14 Tr ot sk y's Lies

In 19 21 , w ar ni ng hi s m os t in ti m at e co m ra de s ag ai ns t
el ec ti ng St al in as ge ne ra l se cr et ar y, Le ni n sa id ) ''T hi s
co ok w ill pr ep ar e on ly pe pp er y dishes."

- ;'Some R es ul ts of th e St al in A m al ga m ),, Ja nu ar y 12 ,
19 35 . WLT 19 34 -3 5 p. 20 7.

You m ay re m em be r th at in 19 21 L en in ha d st ro ng ly ad ..
vi se d th e pa rt y ag ai ns t el ec ti ng St al in to th e po st of ge n ..
er al se cr et ar y. ''T hi s co ok '' ~- Le ni n li te ra ll y sa id - ''w ill
pr ep ar e on ly sp ic y di sh es ." In an y ca se , L en in co ul d no t
at th at m om en t ha ve ha d th e sl ig ht es t id ea of ju st ho w
sp ic y th is co ok 's di sh es w ou ld be.2

. . ''S ta lin Is N ot Ev er yt hi ng .'' A ug us t 23 , 19 36 . WLT 19 35 ..

36 p. 41 1.

Fr om be in g th e in st ru m en t of th e re vo lu ti on , th e G PU
ha s be co m e th e in st ru m en t of th e So vi et ar is to cr ac y, th e
pe rs on al in st ru m en t of St al in , ab ou t w ho m Le ni n
w ar ne d in 19 22 : ''T hi s co ok w ill pr ep ar e on ly pe pp er y
dishes."

- ''S ha m e! '' D ec em be r 18 , 19 36 . WL T 19 35 .. 36 p. 49 6.

It is as to un di ng ho w pe rs is te nt Zi no vi ev w as , as he
pulled K am en ev a
. lo ng , in pr ep ar in g ov er a nu m be r of
ye ar s hi s ow n tr ag ic fin al e. If no t fo r Zi no vi ev 's in iti at iv e,
Stalin w ou ld ha ve ha rd ly be co m e th e G en er al Se cr et ar y
of th e Pa rt y. Z in ov ie v w as be nt on ut ili zi ng th e ep is od ic
tr ad e un io n di sc us si on in th e w in te r of 19 20 -2 1 fo r a
fu rt he r st ru gg le ag ai ns t m e. St al in ap pe ar ed to hi m ---
an d no t w it ho ut fo un da ti on -- th e m an m os t su it ab le fo r
th e be hi nd -t he -s ce ne s w or k. It w as du ri ng th es e ve ry

ye bl iu da ," lit er al ly "s ha rp di sh es ,'} m ea ni ng "spicyn or

2 Th e R.u ss ia n t er m is "o str
th e tra ns la to rs us ed th e te
11
rm sp icy " he re bu t
''p ep pe ry," Fo r so m e re as on
"p ep pe ryn el se w here x
Chaper 1. Trotsky's Lies 15

days that Lenin} objecting to the appointment of Stalin as

General Secretary, made his famous remark: ''I do not
advise it -- this cook will prepare only peppery dishes."
What prophetic words!

.. ''Pages from Trotsky's Journal," 1936-1937.

In March 19 21 Lenin had already given the advice not to

choose Stalin as the general secretary since, as he put it,
•

''This cook will prepare only peppery dishes." ... Thus

the Kremlin ''cook'' came to the most peppery ''dishes'' in
the form of the Moscow trials.

- ''Statement to Journalists on the Dewey Verdict." De-

cember 13, 1937. WLT 1937-38 p. 98-9.

Lenin did not trust Stalin in 1921, when Zinoviev rec-

ommended him for the post of general secretary. Lenin
gave the following warning: ''I don't advise this. This
cook will prepare only peppery dishes) ''
- ''Behind the Moscow Trials." March 3, 1938. WLT 1937 ..
38 p. 203.

It was precisely at this point that Stalin brought into

complete view the dangerous qualities which Lenin had
warned against: rudeness, disloyalty, propensity to
abuse power. The ''cook of the Kremlin'' had indeed pre-
pared the most peppery of dishes.

- Ibid. p. 205 .

... why it was precisely Stalin (''the cook of peppery

dishes," according to Lenin,s definition as far back as
March 1921) who became head of the avid and conser ..
vative caste of usurpers of the revolution;
- ''The Priests of Half>WTruth.'' March 19, 1938. WLT 1937-
38 p. 280.
16 Trots ky's Lies

Leni n prop osed in his testa men t (Janu ary 1923 ) to re-
move Stalin from the post of gene ral secre tary of the
pa.rty , givin g as his reaso ns Stalin's rude ness , dislo yalty ,
and tend ency to abus e powe r. Two year s earli er Leni n
\Varned: ''This cook will prep are only pepp ery dishes.''
No one in the party liked or respe cted Stali n ... That is
\vhy the cook of pepp ery dish es beca me the leade r of
the total itaria n bure aucr acy.

- ''The Com inter n and the GPU. The Atte mpte d Assa ssi-
natio n of May 24 and the Com mun ist Party .'' WL T 1939 -
40 p. 349 - 3 50.3

Trot sky made this claim man y time s. He vacil lated betw een 1921
and 19 2 2 as the year Leni n supp osed ly said it. Trot sky also vacil -
lated over the ques tion of to who m Leni n mad e this rema rk. Trot-
sky wrot e ''in a smal l circle," ''his most intim ate comr ades ,'' ''his
1
fan1ous rema rk,' ''war ned the party , ' ''to a smal l circle ,'' ''spo ke out
1

decis ively ," ''stro ngly advis ed the party ,', ''gav e the follo wing warn . .
ing."

Trot sky alwa ys claim ed that othe rs besid es hims elf had hear d
Leni n make this rema rk. His acco unts diffe r signi fican tly abou t
who and how man y those peop le were . He neve r speci ficall y name
anyb ody but hims elf. In addition) only Trot sky reco rds it, no one
else. Thes e cons idera tions migh t prov ide reaso n enou gh to rejec t
this oft-r epea ted story of T1. otsky )s as a lie.

3 This staten1er1t is also to be fc)und. th1~ee times in Chapt er 12 o.f the English lan.-
guage editio n of Trots ky)s biogr aphy of Stalin. But this book \A/as not comp leted at
Trots ky's death. It was co mplet ed by Cha1 les Malam uth, who was later critici zed
1

for addin g mate1~ials of his own. (My thank s to David Walte r·s for this inform a-
tion.) It is nc)·t in the Russia11 versio11 edited by It1rii Fel'sh tinsky fro in, he says, the
copy in the 'fA. But of cours e it \A/ould not be, for that volum e only goes up to the
year 1917.
Chaper 1. Tr ot sk y's Lies 17

Th er e is a ye t m or e es se nt ia l po in t: A fte r hi s in iti al ve rs io n of th e
st or y in O ct ob er 19 27 , in w hi ch he da te s Le ni n' s st at em en t to
19 21 , Tr ot sk y us ua lly tie s it to th e di sc us si on ar ou nd th e ch oi ce of
St al in as G en er al Se cr et ar y of th e Pa rty , w hi ch to ok pl ac e at th e XI
Pa rt y Co ng re ss in March-April 19 22 .

Th is is ho w w e kn ow Tr ot sk y w as ly in g. Fi rs t, be ca us e in iti al ly
ev en Tr ot sk y di d no t co nn ec t th e st or y w ith St al in 's ap po in tm en t.
Se co nd , be ca us e, by all ac co un ts , it w as Le ni n hi m se lf w ho pr o-
po se d Stalin as G en er al Se cr et ar y.

Iu rii Fe l's ht in sk y is a pr om in en t an d de vo te d Ru ss ia n Tr ot sk yi st
sc ho la r w ho , pr ed ic ta bl y, ha te s St al in . Fe l's ht in sk y w rit es :

0T M eT HM , t.ITO )J;O Ha l.J aJ ia 6oJie3HH JleHHHa HH Ka KH X

IlO JIH TH l.J eC I<H X pa 3H O·r Jia CH H MeJK~Y Jle HH .H bIM 11

CT aJ IH Hh IM He ohrJio. (V oz hd y 25 0)

Tr an sl at ed :

We no te th at be fo re th e on se t of Le ni n' s ill ne ss th er e
w er e no po lit ic al di sa gr ee m en ts be tw ee n Le ni n an d St a-
lin.

Th e XI Pa rt y Co ng re ss to ok pl ac e im m ed ia te ly be fo re Le ni n be -
ca m e ill.

Fe l's ht in sk y do es no t ci te an y ot he r so ur ce fo r th e ''p ep pe ry
di sh es st at em en t. In fa ct
1
' he do es no t en do rs e it hi m se lf bu t
m er el y qu ot es Tr ot sk y' s te xt (p . 27 4) . He th en go es on to qu ot e (p .
33 3, no te 5) Le ni n' s rin gi ng en do rs em en t of St al in at th is 11 th
th e Ru ss ia n ed iti on of Le ni n' s Co mpl et e Co l~
Pa rt y Co ng re ss fr om
lected Works~
BoT ITpeo6paJKeHCKMH 3AeCh JierKo 6pocaJI, l.JTO CT aJ IH H B

ABYX KO MM CC ap Ha Ta x A KT O He rp er ne H 113 Ha e. KTo He op aJ J

HeCKOJihK'.O oo fl3 aH HO CT eH cpasy. ~a H Ka K MO /KH O ,n; eJ iaT b

qT O Mb l MO )!{ eM ce iiq ac c,n ;eJ iaT b, l:£ T0 6h I 6b IJI O

:HH atJ e.
o6ecneqeHo cym;ecTByrom;ee noJJo/KeHMe B Ha pK OM Ha u,e ,

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Ka BK a3 CK HM H H np o'l :H MH Bo np oc aM H. Be,n;h 3T O Bee

18 Tro tsk y's Lies

noJ IHT ifqe cK He Bo npo cbr . A pa 3p em aT b 3TH Bo npo cbr

Heo6X OA HM O, 3TO .. BO IIpO CbI , KO TO pbi e COTHH Jie T 3aH MM aJI H
. u

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v

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KO TO poM y JII0 60H H3 npeACTaBHTeJieH: Ha qH H Mo r 6br TIOHTH H
rro,n;po6HO paCCKa3aTb, B l.feM ,n;eJIO. f ,n;e ero pa3 bIC Ka Tb. fl
~yM aIO , 11 ITp eo6 pam eH CK HH He Mo r 6br Ha 3B aTh AP Yro H:
Ka Hf: \IIA aTy pbI, KpOMe TOBapHI.Qa CTaJIHHa. 4

Tr an sla ted :

He re is Pr eo bra zh en sk y ca su all y tos sin g ou t the rem ark

th at Sta lin is he ad of tw o co mm iss ari ats . Bu t wh o am on g
us is no t gu ilty of the sa me thi ng ? W ho ha s no t tak en
sev era l res po ns ibi lit ies at the sa me tim e? Mo reo ve r, ho w
co uld it be oth erw ise ? W ha t ca n we do no w to gu ara nte e
the cu rre nt sit ua tio n in the Co mm iss ari at of Na tio na li-
tie s, to de al wi th all the Tu rke sta n, Ca uc asu s, an d oth er
qu est ion s? Fo r the se are all po liti cal pro ble ms . An d it is
ess en tia l to res olv e the se pro ble ms . Th ese are pr ob lem s
th at ha ve oc cu pie d Eu rop ea n po we rs for ce ntu rie s an d
wh ich are sca rce ly res olv ed in the de mo cra tic rep ub lic s.
W e are res olv ing the m an d we ne ed a ma n wh om an y of
the na tio na l rep res en tat ive s ca n ap pr oa ch an d ex pla in in
de tai l wh at is the ma tte r. W he re can we fin d him ? I thi nk
th at ev en Pr eo br az he ns ky co uld no t na me an oth er ca n-
did ate be sid es co mr ad e Sta lin .

Ab du rak hm an Av tor kh an ov , a fer oc iou sly an ti- Sta lin wr ite r, sta ted
tha t Sta lin wa s ele cte d Ge ne ral Se cre tar y on Ap ril 3, 19 22 , ''at
Le nin ,s pro po sal .')

4 Lenin, Polnoe Sobranie Sochinenii 45, p. 122 , At htt p:// nglib ..

fre e.ru /bo ok_ vie w.j sp? idn =00 157 9& pag e=1 22& for ma t=h tml Also in the
tra nsc rip t of the 11th Par ty Co ngr ess : XI c'beaa PKT I (6). 27 Ma p ma 2 anp e.11R
1922 2. M.: ITa pTH s,n;aT) 193 6, p. 150 (M arch 27) . Thi s is the firs t edi tio n of the
tra nsc rip t of thi s Par ty Co ngr ess (W orl dca tAc ces sio n Nu mb er 837 236 13) .
Chaper 1, Trot sky's Lies 19

Ern;e np11 rrepBOM nocJiecTaJJHHCKOM '{KOJIJieKTHBHOM

pyKoBO)J;CTBe}' BhillleJI 3HIJ;HKJiorre,n;HtiecKHH CJIOBapb, rAe B
611orpacpHH CTaJI11Ha np.HMO 11 tte.n;BycMhICJieHHO HarrHcaHo
cJie~yro~ee: ''TiocJie XI c'bes~a rrapTHHJ 3 anpe nR 192 2
rrneHyM IJ;eHTpaJibHoro KoMHTeTa rrapTHH no rrpeAJIO)f(eHHID
B. Yi. lieH HHa 11s6paJI H. 8. CTaJIHHa rettepaJihHbIM
ceKpeTapeM l(K napTHM. Ha 3TOM noc Ty Yi. B. CTaJIHH pa6oTaJI
;i;o 0 K T fl 6 p H 1 9 5 2, a 3aTeM f];O KOHIJ;a CBOeH /KH3HH
HBJIHJICH c e K p e T a p e M U K'' (pa3pH,n;Ka MOH. - A. A.)
(3H~MKJiorre,n;H'LleCKHH CJIOBapb B 3 TOMax. M. 195 5, T. III, cTp.
310 ). 5

Tra nsla ted:

Dur ing the firs t post~Stalin peri od of ''col lect ive lead er-
ship'} the Ency.clopedic dictionary was pub lish ed, whe re
in the bio gra phy of Stal in we find wri tten , dire ctly and
une quiv oca lly, the foll owi ng: ''Af ter the XI Con gres s of
the Par ty, on Apr il 3, 1922} th.e Ple num of the Cen tral
Com mit tee of the Par ty, acc ord ing to the pro pos al of V.I.
Lenin, elec ted J.V. Stal in as Gen eral Sec reta ry of the CC of
the Par ty. J.V. Stal in wor ked at this pos t unti l Oct ob·e r
19 5 2, and the n unti l his dea th was Sec reta ry of the CC''
(em pha sis min e - A.A.). - [Encyclopedic dictionary in 3
volumes. Mos cow , 195 5, vol. 3, p. 310 ].
Mol otov agr ees and eve n say s tha t Len in wor ked har d to ove r-
com e obje ctio ns to this pro pos al.

- HeO)K:H)J;aHHO ,aJI.H ce6.H B 19 21 ro,n;y .H cTaJI CeKpeTapeM

U.K. l13 Tpe x ceKpeTapeif OhIJI ceKpeTapttaT: MoJioToB,
RpocJiaBCKHH, MHxaHJIOB, KaK 6bIJio ony6JIHI<oBaHo, MoJIOTOB
- 0TBeTcTBeHHbIH ceKpeTapb. He 6b1J I0 TOrAa e~e nep Boro ,
reHepaJibHOro, 6bIJI OTBeTCTBeHHbIH. IlpH eMH bie .IJ;HH 6bJJIH
orry6JIMKOBaHbI. JI BCTpeTHJICH c lleHHHhIM. MbI c HHM
no6ece;:i;oBaJIH no pH,n;y Bon poco B, rroToM ryJI.H JIH no KpeMJIID.

5 A. ABTopxaHoB 3aza8Ku c.Mepmu Cma.11uHa. BapHayJJ . AJJTai1cKoe KH.H )KHO e

H3AaTeJibCTBO, 1993. At~ http~//mario21.narod.ru/docs/stalin/7 .htm Also in
Novy i Mir 1991 , p. 205.
Visit https://textbookfull.com
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 1

20 Tr ots ky s Lies

op HT : Ba M coB eT yFO : Bb l ;J;O JI)K Hb I KaK

OH roB <<T oJi bK O JI
CeKpeT ap b UK 3aHH Ma Tb CH no JIH Tif qe cK o:H pa 6o To H, ae ro
TeXHHqecK yJ:O pa .6o Ty Ha 3aM OB H ITOMO rn;HHK OB . Bo T 6bI JI y
Hae )J,O c11x no p CeKpeTapeM UK Kp ec TH HC KH H, Ta K OH 6bIJI
ynpaa.n ;eJiaM H, a He Ce Kp eT ap b UK ! BcHK OM epy H)J ,OH
3aHHMaJIC.H, a He ITOJIHTHKOH[>>

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np e)J ;llO Jia rae Mh IX qJi eH OB QK, CT Op OH HH KO B J1e HH Ha . l1

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<<reHepaJihHhIH ceKpeTaph>>. Jle HH H op raH H3 os an
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cppaKu;H
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cpp aK u;H OH HO e co6p aH He , TpO IJ;K HC TO B He Jib 3H , pa 6o qy w
...,
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 Chaper 1, Trotsky' s Lies 21

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CTaJJHH e CBOero rrpeeMH HKa? ~yMaro, 'CfTO M 3TO MOrJIO
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BCe 6oJiee CKOJiaq HBaJiaC b aKTHBHaH rpynna
.zl:3ep)KHHCKHH, Kyif 6hIIIIeB, ¢pytt3e H .n;pyr11e, ot.teHb pa3Hbre
JIID~H. 6

Transla ted:

Unexpe ctedly, in 19211 I becam e a Secreta ry of the Cen-

tral Commi ttee. The Secreta riat was compri sed of three
secreta ries: Moloto v, Yarosla vsky, and Mikhai lov. As has
been publish ed, Moloto v was executi ve secreta ry. There
was not at that time a first or Genera l Secreta ry but an
executi ve secreta ry. Recept ion days were made public. I
met with Lenin. We discuss ed a numbe r of questio ns and
then walked around the Kremli n. He said: ''But I advise
you: as Secreta ry of the CC you must take care of the po-
litical work. Leave, all the technic al work to your second ..
in-com mand and assista nts. Here we had until now
Krestin sky as Secreta ry of the Centra l Comm ittee but he
was a busine ss manag er, not Secreta ry of the CC! He oc-
cupied himsel f with every trivial matter but not with
politics !''

This was after the X Congre ss of the Party. And at the XI

Congre ss appear ed the so-call ed ''list of ten'' .. the names
of propos ed membe rs of the Centra l Commi ttee, Lenin's
suppor ters. And beside Stalin's name in Lenin's hand
was written : ''Gener al Secreta ry." Lenin organiz ed a fac . .
tional meetin g of the ''ten." Somew here near Sverdl ovsk

6Felix Chuev1 Molotov. Poluderz havniy Vlastelin, pp. 239-241 . This is an expande d
version of the _b ook publishe d in English as Molotov Rememb ers.
 1
Tr ot sk y s Lies
22

Hall of th e K re m li n I fo un d a ro om . T he y w er e pe r-
suaded~ th is is a fa ct io na l m ee ti ng , T ro ts ky is ts , w or ke rs '
op po si ti on , th e D em oc ra ti c C en tr al is ts - do n' t in vi te
th em , on ly th e fir m su pp or te rs of th e '(t en ,'
1
th at is1 th e
Le ni ni st s. I ga th er ed , I th in k, ab ou t tw en ty pe op le fr om
am on g th e st ro ng es t or ga ni za .ti on s be fo re th e vo te . St a-
lin ev en re pr oa ch ed Le ni n, sa yi ng th at w e ar e ha vi ng a
se cr et or se m i- se cr et m ee ti ng du ri ng th e co nv en ti on ,
so m et hi ng fa ct io na l is ta ki ng pl ac e, an d Le ni n sa id :
''C om ra de Stal in , yo u ar e an ol d, ex pe ri en ce d fa ct io na lis t!
Have no do ub t, w e ca n' t do ot he rw is e no w . I w an t ev e ..
ry on e to be w el l pr ep ar ed fo r th e vo te ) it is ne ce ss ar y to
w ar n th e co m ra de s to vo te fo r th is li st w it ho ut am en d-
m en t! W e ne ed to ca rr y th ro ug h w it h th e li st of 'te n' as a
w ho le . T he re is a gr ea t da ng er th at if pe op le vo te fo r in -
di vi du al s th ey w ill sa y: H er e is a go od w ri te r, w e ne ed
hi m ; th is is a go od sp ea ke r - th ey w ill te ar up th is sh ee t
an d on ce ag ai n w e w ill no t ha ve th e m aj or ity . A nd th en ,
ho w· ca n w e le ad !''

B ut at th e X C on gr es s, Le ni n ha d ba nn ed fa ct io ns .

A nd th ey vo te d w it h th is no te in br ac ke ts . St al in be -
ca m e Gen er al Se cr et ar y. T hi s co st L en in a lo t of
work. B ut he, of co ur se , ha d th ou gh t th ro ug h th e qu es -
ti on de ep ly en ou gh an d m ad e it cl ea r w ho to re ly on .
Le ni n ap pa re nt ly de ci de d th at I w as no t en ou gh of a
po lit ic ia n, bu t he le ft m e as a Se cr et ar y an d in th e Po lit -
bu ro an d m ad e St al in G en er al Se cr et ar y. H e, of co ur se ,
w as pr ep ar in g hi m se lf , fe el in g hi s si ck ne ss . D id he se e
St al in as hi s su cc es so r? I th in k yo u ca n co un t on th at . B ut
w ha t w as th e ne ed fo r a G en er al Se cr et ar y? T he re ha d
ne ve r be en on e. B ut gr ad ua ll y St al in 's au th or it y ro se an d
gr ew in to so m et hi ng m uc h la rg er th an L en in ha d an tic i-
pa te d or ev en th ou gh de si ra bl e. B ut of c9 ur se it w as im -
po ss ib le to fo re se e ev er yt hi ng , an d un de r co nd it io ns of
sh ar p st ru gg le an ac tiv e gr ou p be ga n to fo rm it se lf
 1
Chaper 1. Trot sky s Lies 23

aro und Stalin .... Dzerzhinsky) Kuibyshev} Fru nze and

othe rs) ver y diff eren t peo ple.

Rob ert Service cites Molotov here , and doe s not que stio n wh at he
says. For Service} Lenin eith er ''cho se Stalin'' or ''su ppo rted a pro -
pos al'' by som eon e else.

He [Lenin] was eag er to hav e Stalin bac k at his side .

Hav ing recr uite d him to the Len inis t cause in the trad e
uni on disp ute, Lenin. sup por ted a pro pos al to mak e him
Gen eral Sec reta ry of the Rus sian Com mun ist Part y.

Con ven tion ally it has bee n sup pos ed tha t Stalin was put
in office bec aus e he was an exp erie nce d bur eau cra t wit h
an unu sua l cap acit y for not bein g bor ed by adm inis tra-
tive work~ The facts do not bea r this out .... The reas on
why Lenin cho se Stalin was less adm inis trat ive than po-
litical. He wan ted one of his allies in a pos t cru.cial to the
mai nten anc e of his policies . (Stalin 189 -19 0)

Oth er sou rces agr ee tha t at the XI Par ty Con gres s Len in nom inat ed
Stalin to the pos t of General Sec reta ry.

Stalin was form ally app oin ted on April 3, 192 2, at the firs t mee ting
of the new Cen tral Com mit tee afte r the Congress. In fact, I can not
find any sou rce tha t disa gree s - except, implicitly, Tro tsky , and
Tro tsky ist wri ters who just echo wha t Tro tsky late r wro te.

Tro tsky con trad icte d him self abo ut whe n Lenin sup pos edly mad e
the rem ark , und er wha t circ ums tanc es, and who hea rd him mak e
it. The refo re the ''pe ppe ry dish es'' stor y is a lie.

But Tro tsky told it ove r and ove r again, man y tim es ove r a num ber
of yea rs. Eve ntua lly he eve n call ed it Len in's ''fam ous rem ark. " This
is a pro pag and a tech niqu e: claim the rem ark is so ;'famous'' tha t
''ev ery bod y kno ws it'' and so no evid enc e for it is nec essa ry.

It's eas y to see why Tro tsky like d this stor y and wan ted oth ers to
beli eve it. It mad e him app ear as tho ugh he had bee n clos e to
Lenin, par t of the ''small circle," one of Lenin's ''mo st inti mat e com-
 Tr ot sk y's Lies
24

lo ok lik e so m eo ne w ho m L en in op po se d
ra de s. ' It m ad e St al in
1

fr om a da te m uc h ea rl ie r th an 19 23 , w he n L en in w as ve ry ill.

th at he co ul d ge t aw ay w it h re pe at in g
But ho w co ul d T ro ts ky th in k
ag ai n? Fo r on e th in g) it w ou ld no t ha ve be en
th is lie ov er an d ov er
30 s. T he pr oc ee di ng s of th e XI C on gr es s
ea sy to re fu te it in th e 19
ti l 19 36 . V er y fe w pe op le w ou ld ha ve bo th . .
w er e no t pu bl is he d un
of th e so ur ce s I ci te he re w er e no t to
er ed to ch ec k th em . T he re st
be pu bl is he d fo r m an y ye ar s.
er to w ho m T ro ts ky w as ad dr es si ng th is an d
W e sh ou ld al so co ns id
th is w or k. T hi s w as , in th e m ai n, hi s
th e ot he r lie s I do cu m en t in
is ts . W ho el se w as re ad in g T ro ts ky 's m at e ..
su pp or te rs , th.e T ro ts ky
ri al s? 7

T ro ts ky 's fo ll ow er s believed T ro ts ky . V ir tu al ly no on e el se di d. A nd
fo ll ow er s to be li ev e th at he , no t St al in ,
T ro ts ky w an te d his ow n
so ci at e. T ro ts ky 's es sa ys w er e pu b-
ha d be en L en in 's cl os es t as
hi s B iu lle te n' O pp oz itsii. M an y w er e
li sh ed pr im ar il y in R us si an in
ed in pa m ph le ts an d in ne w sp ap er s bu t
tr an sl at ed an d di·s tr ib ut
al w ay s by T ro ts ky 's ow n su pp or te rs .
re la ti ve ly ea sy to ex po se to da y. B ut I
T hi s sp ec if ic lie of T ro ts ky 's is
be en ex po se d be fo re . O ne m ig ht th in k th at
ca n, t fi nd th at it ha s
ov em en t m ig ht ha ve do ne so . A ft er
m em be rs of th e T ro ts ky is t m
th e w or ld ar e re al ly in te re st ed in T ro ts ky ,
all, fe w ot he r pe op le in
s w or ks ca re fu lly an d us e th em in ju dg ..
re al ly m ot iv at ed to st ud y hi
in g So vi et hi st or y.
in sk y no ti ce d th is in co ng ru it y be . .
I no te d ab ov e th at Iu ri i Fe l's ht
ry di sh es '' ta le an d th e re al it y th at Le ni n
tw ee n T ro ts ky 's ''p ep pe
er al Se cr et ar y. B ut ev en Fe l's ht in sk y,
ha d pr op os ed St al in as G en
pa bl e T ro ts ky is t hi st or ia ns to da y, di d no t
su re ly am on g th e m os t ca

e ca pi ta lis t pr es s. Na tu ra lly , w ha te ve r lie s he

7 Tr ot sk y also w ro te ar tic le s for th
io ns ha d to be re pe at ed th er e to o. Bu t re ad .er s of th e
to ld in his ow n pu bl ic at
ca pi ta lis t pr es s w er e no t his pr im ar y audience.
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‘One change be enough for me, Widow Fiander,’ retorted Abel,
uplifting his voice as though his mistress stood a hundred yards
away from him instead of barely two.
Rosalie’s lips quivered.
‘’T is your own fault,’ she cried passionately. ‘If you behave in this
way I must make an example of you. Unless you do as I tell you,
you must go!’
‘I’m danged if I do clean the pigs out afore Saturday,’ shrieked Abel;
and he threw his hat upon the ground, waved his arms, and
stamped about like a maniac. ‘I don’t want no danged women-folk
to come a-orderin’ o’ me;’ and here Abel relieved his feelings by
what Isaac Sharpe would delicately call ‘a bit o’ language.’
‘Clean your pigs yourself, Widow Fiander. One change be enough for
me! Notice me so much as ever ye like, I’ll not clean them pigs out
afore Saturday!’
Then came a little more ‘language,’ and so on da capo.
Never had such an experience fallen to Rosalie’s lot before; neither
her kind old grandfather nor her doting husband had ever given her
a rough word; while they lived her subordinates had invariably
obeyed her orders with alacrity, and treated her personally with
respect. The sound of Abel’s strident tones, the sight of his inflamed
face, above all the words he used and the insolence of his manner,
positively frightened her. She turned pale, trembled—then, making a
valiant effort to stand her ground, threw out her hand as though to
command silence; but, as Abel continued to dance and rave, sheer
physical terror overcame her, and she suddenly turned and fled, her
heart thumping violently against her ribs, the tears—never very far
off during these first days of her bereavement—springing to her
eyes.
She rushed upstairs to her room and flung herself across the bed,
burying her face in the pillow in an agony of humiliation.
‘What a fool I am! What a miserable fool! To be afraid of that
wretched booby! How can I ever hope to rule these people if I show
the white feather at the outset? Now, of course, they will think that
they’ve only got to bully me and I shall at once give in. Oh, fool,
fool! To give way to silly womanish fears at such a moment! Oh,
oh! how shall I ever look them in the face?’
She continued to roll her head on the pillow for some moments; her
cheeks had now become burning, and her heart still beat fast, no
longer with terror, but with anger. By-and-by she sat up, pushed
back her hair, and shook out the folds of her dress.
‘After all, ’t is never too late to mend,’ she said to herself.
She went downstairs, and into the dairy, directing her maids
somewhat sharply, and setting about her own work with flushed
cheeks and a serious face. In course of time her agitation subsided,
and after her solitary breakfast she was quite herself again.
At noon, as she passed through the kitchen to the parlour, she
chanced to glance through the open door, and observed that the
men had gathered together in the yard, and were eagerly talking
instead of making their way homewards, or retiring to the barn to
eat their dinners. She feigned to pay no attention to them, however,
and walked on to her own quarters.
Presently she became aware that the whole body was advancing
towards the house, and a moment later Susan thrust in her round
face at the door.
‘Please, mum, the men be wishin’ to speak a few words with ’ee.’
‘Very well,’ said Rosalie, ‘I will go out to them.’
On reaching the threshold of the outer door she paused, looking
round on the group, and waiting for them to take the initiative. Job
was, as before, the first to speak.
‘I be come to tell ’ee, Mrs. Fiander, as I wish to notice ye for
Saturday week. These here changes bain’t to my likin’, and the
mistress bain’t to my likin’; so ye’ll please to suit yourself by that
time, mum.’
He spoke gruffly, and eyed her impertinently, but this time she did
not flinch.
‘Very well, Job,’ she said; ‘I have no doubt I shall be able to do so
without any difficulty.’
Abel was the next to advance, but Rosalie waved him aside.
‘As it has already been settled that you are to leave,’ she remarked,
‘you can have nothing to say to me. Step back. Now who comes
next?’
James Bundy, it seemed, came next; he approached a little
hesitatingly, looking hard at his mistress.
‘Please, mum, I wish to leave on Saturday week.’
‘Quite right,’ returned Rosalie with great unconcern. ‘Next!’
James Bundy stepped back and Robert Cross stepped forward,
smiling obsequiously.
‘I’m sure, mum, it do go agen me terrible to make sich a break as
this here, but still, d’ ye see, we can’t nohow put up with—’
‘You need not take the trouble to explain—you wish to leave on
Saturday week with the others, I suppose?’
‘’Ees—leastways—’
‘That will do,’ said Rosalie. ‘Now, Sam Belbin, you wish to leave
too?’
Sam Belbin made a step forward and glanced round appealingly.
By this time his companions were looking very blank. The sudden
assault by which they had expected to frighten their mistress into
capitulation had apparently failed. Their respective attitudes had
changed; she was calm and unmoved, and they were beginning to
be seriously uneasy. Good places and regular pay were not to be
picked up every day in that part of the world.
‘Well, Sam?’ said Rosalie kindly, as though to help him out.
Sam was the chief of the three ‘dairy chaps,’ a good-looking young
fellow of about four-and-twenty, with a dark, good-humoured
countenance and a certain jaunty air. As he now advanced a smile
flashed suddenly over his face, his white teeth gleaming out
pleasantly.
‘Mum,’ he said. ‘Mum—Mrs. Fiander—’
She smiled too.
‘Well, Sam, what have you got to say? The usual thing, I suppose?’
‘No, mum—not at all, mum. I—wish to say as I haven’t got no fault
to find at all, mum. I’ll come in better time to-morrow morn, an’
ye’ll not have to speak to me agen, mum.’
‘Very good!’ said Rosalie in a different tone. At this unexpected
speech a lump came in her throat, but she choked it down.
‘Have the others got anything to say?’ she inquired. ‘Because, if so,
I hope they will make haste and say it. My dinner will be getting
cold.’
The men who had not hitherto spoken looked at each other
uncertainly, their glances finally resting on the beaming countenance
of Sam Belbin. After all, had he not chosen the better part?
‘I do agree with he,’ said one under his breath, and then another.
By-and-by all remarked aloud, somewhat falteringly, that they just
thought they would mention their wish to give more satisfaction in
the future.
Job and his followers scowled at these renegades, but their mistress
rewarded them with a gracious smile.
‘Very well said,’ she remarked. ‘That’s the proper spirit. Do your
duty by me, and you will find me ready to do mine by you.’
The day was hers, as she felt when she returned in triumph to her
dinner.
Isaac Sharpe happened to be strolling through the village that
evening, when he was accosted by Mrs. Belbin, who was standing,
as was her custom at this hour, arms a-kimbo, on her doorstep.
‘There be a great upset up at Fiander’s, bain’t there, sir?’
Isaac brought his slow, ruminative gaze to bear on her.
‘Why, what upset do ye mean, Mrs. Belbin? Things be like to be
upset now that the master’s gone to the New House. But I hope as
your son an’ the rest of ’em be giving the widow so little trouble as
ever they can.’
‘I dunno about that, sir. My Sam he do tell I as there was a regular
blow-up this mornin’. I d’ ’low as my son he did behave so well as
ever he could. Says he to Mrs. Fiander, “Mum,” he says, “I have n’t
no fault to find wi’ you at all; and I’ll do my hendeavours to gi’e ye
satisfaction.” That were what he did say—my son Sam did; but
there was others as, accordin’ to all accounts, went on most
scandalious.’
Here Mrs. Belbin rolled up her eyes and wagged her head
significantly.
‘Ah,’ put in Mrs. Paddock, hastening to cross the road and join in the
conversation, ‘it did give me sich a turn when I heard on it, that I
did sit down on the table. ’T were a good job as I did, else I should
ha’ fell down. Sich doin’s! The whole lot of ’em—aye, every single
one as works for her—marchin’ up to give her notice! ’T was
enough to frighten a pore lone woman out of her wits.’
‘I have n’t heard a word of this,’ cried Isaac emphatically. ‘The men
gave her notice, d’ ye say?’
‘All except my Sam,’ put in Mrs. Belbin proudly. ‘’Ees, they all did go
up in a lump, so to speak, and noticed her, one arter the other, till it
come to my Sam’s turn, an’ then he up an’ says, “Mrs. Fiander,
mum,” says he, “I have n’t got no fault to find wi’ ye;” and a few
more, when they heard that, heartened theirselves up and follered
his example.’
‘’T was very well done o’ your Sam,’ said Mrs. Paddock in a
complimentary tone; ‘but as for them others—why, they do say as
Abel Hunt were a-dancin’ an’ a-swearin’ like a madman. “I want no
orderin’ from danged women-folk,” says he, just so bold as if the
missus was his wife. And Job, he did shout at her so rough, and
speak so impident! ’T was really shockin’!’
‘I must go up and see her,’ said Sharpe, much perturbed. ‘I’m sure I
don’t know whatever’s come to folks these times. As to them Hunts
—I’ll gi’e them a bit o’ my mind. They should be ashamed o’
theirselves to treat a pore young creature so disrespectful. They do
think, I s’ppose, as Mrs. Fiander has n’t got nobody to purtect her,
and they can serve her so bad as they like. But them as was friends
to her husband is friends to her. Pore young thing! Well, I be glad
your son did do his duty by her, anyways, Mrs. Belbin. My Father
A’mighty, these be times!’
He walked away at an accelerated pace, the women looking after
him.
‘He did speak so feelin’, did n’t he?’ commented Mrs. Paddock.
‘“Pore young creature!” says he, d’ ye mind? An’ “Pore young
thing!” Master be a very feelin’ man!’
‘Ah,’ agreed Mrs. Belbin; ‘an’ he did say as he were glad my Sam did
do his duty. Ah, he be a good man, master be! But I would n’t like
so very much to be Abel Hunt jist now—nay, nor Job neither.’

CHAPTER VI
Souvent femme varie,
Bien fol est qui s’y fie.

The mistress of Littlecomb Farm had no cause to complain of the

unpunctuality of any of her workpeople on the following morning.
Each man appeared at the very moment he was supposed to appear,
the maids were up betimes, and the business of the day progressed
with far greater speed than usual.
At dinner-time she again observed a group of men in the yard,
smaller in number, however, than on the preceding day, and talking
with dismal countenances and hesitating tones. Susan came
presently to announce, as before, that some of the men wished to
speak to her.
Rosalie went out, and discovered a detachment of four awaiting her,
two with plaintive, wobegone faces, the others in a state of surly
depression.
‘Missus,’ stammered James Bundy, ‘we be a-come—me and these
here chaps—be a-come to ’pologise, and to say as we hopes ye
won’t bear no malice, and as ye’ll overlook what has passed. We’ll
undertake to give satisfaction from this time for’ard.’
‘’T is a pity you did not say that yesterday, James,’ said Rosalie
severely.
Bundy looked at Cross, and the latter’s jaw fell.
‘If ye’d please to overlook it, mum,’ resumed James, falteringly. ‘We
was, so to speak, took by surprise wi’ the new rules, and we was
persuaded’—here he darted a reproachful glance at Joe—‘I’ve got a
long family, mum,’ he added tearfully, ‘and my wife—she be near her
time wi’ the eleventh—’
‘Well, James, you have been foolish, but I do not altogether think it
was your fault. I will make no definite promise, but I will see how
you go on between this and Saturday week.’
‘I be to go on Saturday week?’ ejaculated James, whose wits were
none of the keenest, and who was more impressed by the severity
of the tone than by Rosalie’s actual words.
‘No, no, you foolish fellow! Come, I will give you another chance;
but mind you behave very well.’
Robert Cross next came forward.
‘Mine be a very long family, too,’ he began, having evidently
remarked the happy results which had ensued from Bundy’s plea.
Rosalie stopped him:
‘Well, I will give you another chance, Cross,’ she said. ‘Next time,
think twice before you follow a bad leader. As for you, Abel Hunt,’
she said, turning sternly to that gentleman, ‘I am at a loss to know
what you can have to say—in fact, I have no wish to hear it,
whatever it may be. You must go. No apology can atone for your
insolence yesterday.’
‘And how be you goin’ to manage about them pigs?’ inquired Abel
plaintively.
‘That is no concern of yours.’
‘Mr. Sharpe was a-speakin’ to me yesterday,’ put in Job, very humbly,
for his courage was fast oozing away, ‘an’ he did say ’twould be
terrible ill-convenient for ’ee to have so many chaps a-leavin’
together, an’ so me an’ my brother agreed as we’d ax to stop on.’
‘I can do very well without you,’ retorted Mrs. Fiander tartly. ‘No,
Job, you have behaved too badly. You have been the ringleader of
this disgraceful business—you must certainly go.’
‘On Saturday week?’ faltered Job.
‘Yes, Saturday week—you and Abel. How Abel can suppose I could
possibly keep him after such conduct, I can’t imagine. I certainly
will not.’
‘Mr. Sharpe did say’—Job was beginning, now almost in tears, when
she interrupted him relentlessly.
‘Never mind what Mr. Sharpe said. I have quite made up my mind
as to what I shall do.’
She was thoroughly in earnest, and the men knew it. They fell back
ruefully, and their young mistress returned to the house, carrying
her head very high and setting her face sternly.
When her work was over that afternoon she set out, with a
business-like air, on what seemed to be a tour of inspection; first
walking briskly along the rows of pigsties, the condition of which had
on the day before given rise to so much controversy. All was now as
it should be; Abel, Sam, and one or two of the other subordinates
having devoted their attention to them at early dawn. Here were
pigs of every age and degree, from the venerable matron to the spry
young porker just beginning to devote himself to the serious
business of life—namely, growing fat. Seventy-two in all, and most
of them doomed to destruction within a few months: that was the
part of the economy of farming which Rosalie most disliked; it was
the blot on the otherwise poetical and peaceful avocation. But she
had hitherto been taught to consider the presence of these pigs an
absolute necessity. Was this really the case? Might not she, with
her woman’s wit, devise some better expedient by means of which
the obnoxious animals could be dispensed with, and at the same
time waste of skim-milk and whey avoided?
Leaving the yard, she betook herself to the orchard, where a few
more porcine families were taking exercise. Their presence
somewhat detracted from the picturesque appearance of the place,
which, though the ‘blooth’ or blossom had long since fallen, had still
a considerable share of beauty of its own. The sunlight beating
down now through the delicate green leafage brought out wonderful
silvery lights from the lichened trunks, and outlined the curiously
gnarled branches. It struck out a golden path across the lush grass
for Rosalie to walk on, and she passed slowly down the glade with
bent head and serious face.
Turning when she reached the end to retrace her steps, she saw a
well-known sturdy form approaching her, and advanced to meet
Isaac Sharpe, still with a certain queenly air, and without quickening
her pace. Isaac’s countenance, on the contrary, wore a perturbed
and puzzled expression; his brow was anxiously furrowed, and he
gazed hard at Mrs. Fiander as he hastened towards her.
‘I’m a-feared ye’ve had a deal o’ trouble, here,’ he began.
‘Yes; I followed your advice, you see.’
‘And it did n’t altogether answer?’ said the farmer, with a nervous
laugh.
‘Oh, yes, it answered very well. I think the men know I’m in earnest
now.’
‘Them two Hunts come round to my place at dinner-time; they were
in a taking, poor chaps! But ’twill do them good. All the same, I
think I’d let ’em off, if I was you, Mrs. Fiander. Job be a roughish
sort o’ chap, but he be a good cowman; an’ Abel, he be wonderful
with the management o’ pigs.’
‘I’m not going to let them off,’ said Rosalie, her face hardening again
as she thought of Abel’s maniacal dance, and of the loud voice which
had frightened her, and of Job’s insolent manner when he had said,
‘The missus bain’t to my likin’.’
‘Well, but ’twill be a bit ’ard to find as good,’ Isaac objected. ‘P’r’aps
ye’ll not better yourself. I doubt ’t will be harder for you to get on
wi’ strange men.’
‘I am not going to put strange men in their place. I am not going to
hire any more men; I’m going to have women. I can manage
women very well.’
‘But, my dear,’ cried Isaac, opening his eyes very wide, and speaking
in horror-stricken tones, ‘women can’t do men’s work.’
‘No, but they can do women’s work. I have thought it all out, Mr.
Sharpe, and my mind is made up. Job and Abel must go. I shall put
Sam Belbin in Job’s place.’
‘Well, he have behaved well to ’ee,’ conceded Isaac, unwillingly; ‘but
he be young. I doubt if he’s fit for ’t.’
‘I’ve watched him,’ returned Rosalie, positively, ‘and I think he’s quite
fit for it. He has worked under Job for some time, and is a capital
milker. I think he will manage very well. As to Abel, I shall put no
one in his place, for I mean to sell the pigs.’
‘Sell the pigs!’ ejaculated Isaac—‘at this time o’ year?’ His face
became absolutely tragic, but Rosalie merely nodded.
‘Why, what’s to become o’ your skim-milk,’ he gasped, ‘an’ the whey,
and that?’
‘There will be no skim-milk,’ said Rosalie. ‘I shall make Blue Vinney
cheese, as I used to make when I was with my grandfather. Some
people are very fond of it. That is made entirely of skim-milk, you
know. As for the whey, there will not be much nourishment in it, but
I shall keep a few sows still, just to consume that and the butter-
milk. They will not require much attention as they walk about here,
you see, and there is always a lot of waste green stuff.’
‘I don’t think ye’ll find many folks here what cares for the Blue
Vinney cheese,’ said Isaac, still much dejected. ‘Nay, ’t is all the Ha’-
skim as they likes hereabouts. The Blue Vinney has gone out o’
fashion, so to speak.’
‘If they don’t buy them here I can send them to Dorchester,’ said the
widow resolutely. ‘They used to buy them up there faster than I
could make them. So you see there will be no waste, Mr. Sharpe;
there will be less work to do outside, and therefore I shall not miss
Job or Abel; but, as we shall be very busy in the dairy, I must have
two or three extra women to help me.’
Isaac stared at her ruefully; she looked brighter than she had done
since her husband’s death, but she also looked determined. He
shook his head slowly; his mind was of the strictly conservative
order, and the contemplated abolition of pigs from the premises of
this large dairy-farm seemed to him an almost sacrilegious
innovation. Moreover, to sell pigs in July; to make cheeses that
nobody in that part of the world cared to eat; to replace two
seasoned men who knew their business—whatever might be their
faults—with that dangerous commodity, womankind—the whole
experiment seemed to him utterly wild, and pregnant with disaster.
‘I mean to do it,’ said Rosalie, defying the condemnation in his face.
‘By this time next year you will congratulate me on my success.’
‘I hope so, I am sure,’ said Isaac in a slightly offended tone. ‘I came
here to advise ’ee, but it seems ye don’t want no advice.’
‘Oh yes, I do,’ she cried, softening in a moment. ‘I value it of all
things, Mr. Sharpe. My one comfort in my difficulties is the thought
that I can talk them over with you. I have laid my plan before you
quite simply, in the hope that you would approve.’
‘Well, my dear,’ said Isaac, somewhat mollified, ‘I don’t approve, d’
ye see? Since you ask my advice, I’ll tell ye plain that I don’t think
the plan will work. Ye won’t be able to sell your pigs to begin with;
then ye’ll want a man wi’ more experience than Sam to look after
the cows; it bain’t such easy work—nay, that it bain’t. Then, as to
gettin’ more women ’bout the place, I don’t hold with the notion. I
don’t think it ’ud benefit ye, my dear. I don’t trewly.’
Rosalie appeared to meditate.
‘Think it over, Mrs. Fiander,’ he urged; ‘don’t do nothing in a hurry;
that be my advice.’
‘Thank you very much. Yes, I’ll think it over. You’ll come on Sunday,
won’t you, Mr. Sharpe?’
‘’Ees,’ agreed Isaac doubtfully. ‘’Ees, I’ll come on Sunday. I be main
glad you be thinking of taking my advice, Mrs. Fiander.’
‘I am grateful to you for giving it,’ said Rosalie with a sweet smile;
and the farmer walked away, thinking that on the whole women
were far less unreasonable than he had hitherto supposed.
The next day was Thursday—early closing day at Branston—
therefore no one was surprised when Mrs. Fiander, having as she
averred some business to do in the town, ordered the gig in the
forenoon. It was the first time she had used that vehicle since her
husband’s death, and she looked sorrowful enough as she climbed
into it, clad in her deepest weeds.
The steady old horse looked round when she gathered up the reins,
as though wondering at the innovation—for Elias had always been
accustomed to drive—and was with some difficulty induced to start.
‘Nigger be so wise as a Christian, that he be,’ commented Bundy, as
the gig and its occupant disappeared. ‘He was a-standin’ and a-
waitin’ for master, so sensible as I mid do myself. But he’ll have to
get used to the change the same as the rest of us.’
‘Ay, an’ p’r’aps he’ll not like it so very well,’ returned Abel
sardonically. ‘Give a woman a whip in her hand, and she fancies
she’s bound to lay it on.’
But Nigger was suffered to jog along the road at his own pace, for
the old sadness which had fallen upon Rosalie had for a moment
checked her eager spirit, and a new preoccupation was, moreover,
now added to it. Would Elias approve of what she was about to do,
or would he agree with Isaac? No, surely he would say that she
knew best; he was always pleased with anything she did. He used
to say that she was the best manager he had ever known; and, on
the other hand, used frequently to speak of Isaac’s ‘notions’ with
good-humoured derision. It will be seen that Mrs. Fiander’s
meditations over her friend’s advice had resulted, as indeed might
have been expected, in the determination to adhere to her original
plan, and she was now on her way to interview two personages
whose co-operation would be necessary in carrying it out.
Her appearance in the shop of Mr. Hardy, the principal grocer of the
town, caused a certain amount of commotion; everybody turned to
look at the beautiful young widow, who had indeed for many days
past formed the principal topic of conversation among the townsfolk;
and much interest was aroused by her murmured request to see Mr.
Hardy in private.
‘Certainly, Mrs. Fiander. Step this way, ma’am. John, open the door
there!’
John Hardy, a tall, good-looking young man in a white linen jacket,
hastened to obey his parent’s behest, and was even good enough to
accompany the visitor along the passage which led from the shop to
the family sitting-room. It was empty at this hour, Mrs. Hardy being
presumably occupied in household duties; and Mr. John ushered
Rosalie in with much ceremony, and invited her to be seated in the
best armchair.
Some disappointment was perceptible in his ingenuous countenance
when he found that the interview which had been so mysteriously
asked for was merely connected with cheese; but his father listened
to Rosalie’s proposition with grave attention.
‘I don’t exactly see how the plan would work,’ he remarked, shaking
his head. ‘We sell your Ha’skim cheeses very fairly well, Mrs.
Fiander.’ Mr. Hardy was a discreet person, and was determined not
to commit himself. ‘But as for the Blue Vinney, I’d be very glad to
oblige you, but I’m really afraid—you see there’s scarcely any
demand for Blue Vinney nowadays. A few of the old folks ask for it
now and then, but we don’t get, not to say, a reg’lar custom for ’t,
and it would n’t be worth our while to keep it.’
‘I am considered a particularly good hand at making Blue Vinney,’
said Rosalie. ‘I used to be quite celebrated for it when I lived near
Dorchester—in fact, I could easily sell my cheeses now at
Dorchester, only I thought I would give you the first offer as you
have dealt with me so long.’
Growing warm in her excitement, she threw back her veil: John
Hardy, gazing at her flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes, thought Mrs.
Fiander had never looked so handsome as in her widow’s weeds.
‘Dorchester!’ commented the senior. ‘That would be a long way for
you to send, ma’am.’
‘I am sure,’ put in the son quickly, ‘we’d be sorry to think as Mrs.
Fiander should need to take her cheeses to Dorchester, father.’
The elder Mr. Hardy glanced from one to the other of the two young
faces, and, as Rosalie bestowed a grateful smile upon his son, an
idea seemed to strike him.
‘Well,’ he said good-naturedly, ‘you are trying an experiment, I
understand, Mrs. Fiander. There’s always a certain amount o’ risk in
an experiment; but still, “Nothing venture, nothing have,” they say.
If you’re willing to venture I shall be glad to help you all I can. Send
your cheeses to me, and I’ll do my best to sell ’em. I won’t promise
to pay money down for ’em,’ he added, cautiously, ‘same as I do for
the Ha’skims, but I’ll try an’ sell ’em for you, and we can settle about
them after.’
‘I am very much obliged,’ said Rosalie, a little blankly, however, for
she had not been accustomed to do business in this manner.
‘We will use our utmost endeavours to push the goods—of that you
may be sure,’ cried young John eagerly; and she smiled upon him
again, so graciously that he somewhat lost his head, and made
several incoherent statements as to the excellence of Blue Vinney
cheese for which his worthy father subsequently brought him to
book.
‘That’s not the way to get round a woman, my lad,’ he remarked.
‘Mrs. F. will just think you be right down silly; the notion o’ tellin’ her
as Blue Vinney cheese was richer to the palate than Rammil—why,
Rammil’s made altogether o’ good new milk, and this here’s nothin’
but skim. She makes cheese o’ skim instead o’ givin’ it to the pigs,
and you go and tell her all that rubbish. She’s no fool—the widow is
n’t—that is n’t the way to make up to her.’
Meanwhile Rosalie had driven across the market-place and up a side
street to the house of a certain auctioneer, and to her great joy
found him at home.
He was a stout middle-aged man, with some pretensions to good
looks, and more to being a dandy. He was attired in a sporting
costume of quite correct cut, and received his visitor with an air of
jovial hospitality.
‘Delighted to see you, I’m sure, Mrs. Fiander. I feel honoured. I am
at your service for anything you may wish—you may command me,
ma’am.’
Rosalie had begun by expressing a desire to transact a little business
with him, and now proceeded to explain its nature.
‘I wish to sell my pigs by auction,’ she said. ‘I have about sixty-five
to dispose of, and I should like the sale to take place as early as
possible next week.’
‘Next week!’ ejaculated the auctioneer, his face falling.
‘Yes,’ said Rosalie, with great decision.
‘But—have you considered the question? It would be difficult to sell
off such a number of pigs at any season of the year, but now—in the
height of the summer! If I may advise you, Mrs. Fiander, don’t be in
such a hurry. Wait and sell the pigs at a more convenient time.
Nobody’s killing pigs now, and most people as go in for fatting pigs
have got as many as they want by this time.’
‘It must be next week,’ said the widow obstinately. Job and Abel
were leaving on the Saturday, and the stock must be got rid of
before the new era began.
‘You’ll lose to a certainty, ma’am,’ said Mr. Wilson, running his hand
through his well-oiled hair. ‘What with all the regulations on account
of the swine fever, the selling of such a number of pigs would be a
difficult matter—at any season, as I say, and you don’t give me no
time scarcely to get out my bills—’
‘The sale must take place before Saturday week,’ insisted Rosalie.
‘You must do the best you can for me, Mr. Wilson.’
‘You may rely on that, Mrs. Fiander; but it really grieves me to think
that you should lose so much.’
He paused, thoughtfully biting the end of one finger, and suffering
his eyes meanwhile to travel slowly over the handsome face and
graceful figure of his client. During this scrutiny he was not
unobservant of the rich materials of which her dress was composed,
and her general appearance of mournful prosperity.
‘Well, I’ll tell you what I’ll do, he said. ‘It’s against my own interest,
but I always like to oblige a lady—particularly such a lady as you,
Mrs. Fiander. I’ll drive round the country and see if I can persuade
people to buy up those pigs by private contract. I know a pig-jobber
over Shaftesbury side as might be glad to take a good many off you,
if he got them at a low price. If I understand you, Mrs. Fiander, the
price is not an object to you?’
‘No—o,’ faltered Rosalie. ‘Of course, I should like as much money as
possible for them, but the price is not so important as to get rid of
the animals as soon as possible.’
‘Just so,’ agreed the auctioneer cheerfully. ‘Well, Mrs. Fiander, I shall
lose by it, as I say, but I will try and arrange matters for you in this
way. Under the circumstances, ma’am, I grudge no time or trouble
spent in your service. I am always thought to be a lady’s man—my
late poor wife used to say that my consideration for ladies injured
the business; but, as I used to tell her, a man has a heart or else he
has n’t. If he has a heart—if he has more feelings than his
neighbours, he is n’t to blame for it. “Let the business go, my dear,”
I ’d say, “but don’t ask me to be hard on a woman.”’
It had been whispered among the gossips of Branston that during
the lifetime of the late Mrs. Wilson her lord had been wont to correct
her occasionally with a boot-jack, but these rumours had not
reached Rosalie’s ears; and even if they had she would probably
have disbelieved them. Nevertheless, she did not quite like the
manner in which the gallant auctioneer leered at her, nor his
unnecessarily warm pressure of her hand on saying good-bye.
She drove homewards with a mixture of feelings. The inauguration
of her new plan seemed to involve a considerable amount of risk,
not to say loss; she felt conscious of the fact that she owed her very
partial success more to the persuasion of her beauty than to faith in
her prospects as a woman of business; yet there was, after all,
satisfaction in thinking that she had carried her point.

CHAPTER VII
He that will not love must be
My scholar, and learn this of me:
There be in love as many fears
As the summer’s corn has ears.
 * * *

Would’st thou know, besides all these,

How hard a woman ’t is to please,
How cross, how sullen, and how soon
She shifts and changes like the moon.
Herrick.

It was with some trepidation that Rosalie awaited Isaac’s visit on the
Sunday following that long and eventful week. The good fellow was,
indeed, so overcome when he found himself seated once more in
the familiar chair, with the vacant place opposite to him, that she
had not courage to make a confession which would, she knew,
distress and annoy him—a confession which would have to be made,
nevertheless.
Her own eyes filled as she saw Isaac unaffectedly wiping away his
tears with his great red-and-yellow handkerchief, and for some
moments no word was spoken between them. She filled his pipe
and lit it for him, but he suffered it to rest idly between his fingers,
and made no attempt to sip at the tumbler of spirits and water
which she placed at his elbow.
‘Let’s talk of him,’ she murmured softly, at last, bending forward.
‘Tell me about when you knew him first.’
‘Lard!’ said Sharpe with a sniff, ‘I know’d him all his life, I may say; I
were with him when he were confirmed—and I were at both his
weddin’s. Yours was the only one I was n’t at.’
Rosalie straightened herself, feeling as if a douche of cold water had
been unexpectedly applied to her.
‘Ah,’ went on Isaac, shaking his head mournfully, ‘I knowed his fust
and his second missus well—they was nice women, both on ’em.
The fust was a bit near, but, as poor ’Lias used to say, ’twas a good
fault. Ah, he’d say that—a good fault.’
He put his pipe between his lips, and immediately took it out again.
‘The second Mrs. Fiander,’ he went on, ‘was a good creatur’ too—
very savin’; delicate, though; but he’d al’ays make allowances, her
husband would, though it did seem to me sometimes as it was a bit
disheartenin’ to a man when his wife got the ’titus just at the busiest
time of year. Ah, he used to tell me often as it were n’t no use to be
a dairy-farmer without you had a active wife.’
Rosalie fidgeted in her chair: these little anecdotes of Isaac seemed
to her rather pointless under the present circumstances.
‘All I can say is,’ she remarked after a pause, ‘that I always found
poor dear Elias the most considerate of men.’
‘I d’ ’low ye did,’ said Isaac, turning his moist eyes upon her. ‘He
thought a deal o’ you—he did that. Says he to me the first night I
come here, when you come home arter getting wed, “I d’ ’low,” says
he, “she’s the best o’ the three.”’
There was comfort in this thought, and Rosalie looked gratefully at
her visitor, whose eyes had again become suffused with tears as he
recalled this touching tribute.
‘He used to say,’ she observed presently in a low voice, ‘that I was a
very good manager, but I don’t think it was on that account alone he
was so fond of me.’
‘’Ees, he did use to say you was a wonderful manager,’ said Isaac,
disregarding the latter part of the sentence. ‘Many a time he’ve a-
told me that you had n’t got no equal as a manager.’
Sentiment was evidently not to be the order of the day, but here, at
least, was an opportunity of introducing the little matter of business
which weighed so heavily on Rosalie’s conscience.
‘I think,’ she said, diffidently, ‘he would say I was wise in carrying
out this new plan.’
‘What new plan?’ inquired Isaac, pausing with his handkerchief
halfway to his eyes, and turning towards her sternly, though the
tears hung upon his grizzled lashes.
‘Why, the one I spoke to you of—about doing away with the pigs,
you know,’ she returned faintly.
‘That there notion that I gi’e ye my advice agen?’ said Sharpe grimly.
‘Yes,’ hesitatingly. ‘I thought it over, as you told me to, and I did n’t
think I could manage differently. I find I can sell the pigs all right,
and Mr. Hardy has promised to try and dispose of my Blue Vinney
cheeses.’
Isaac blew his nose, returned his handkerchief to his pocket, and
stood up.
‘I’m glad to hear as ye can manage so well,’ he said sarcastically.
‘You don’t want no advice, that’s plain; and I sha’n’t never offer you
none agen. I’ll wish ye good day, Mrs. Fiander.’
‘Oh, don’t go away like that,’ cried she piteously. ‘Please don’t be
offended with me. Such an old friend—’
At this moment a figure passed across the window, and a loud knock
was heard at the house-door. Rosalie rushed to the door of the
parlour.
‘Don’t let any one in, Susan,’ she cried. ‘Say I’m—I’m engaged.
Stay at least a minute, Mr. Sharpe—I want to tell you—I want to
explain.’
Throwing out one hand in pleading, she held open the parlour door
an inch or two with the other, and presently the manly tones of Mr.
Cross were heard through the chink.
‘I am sorry to hear that Mrs. Fiander is engaged. Will you kindly
inform her that I will call next Sunday?’
‘Tell him, Susan,’ said her mistress, opening the door a little way, and
speaking under her breath—‘tell him that I am always engaged on
Sunday.’
Susan was heard to impart this information, and then the visitor’s
tones were heard again:
‘That’s a pity! Tell her, if you please, that I shall ’ope to have the
pleasure of finding her at home some afternoon during the week.’
‘I am always out in the afternoon,’ said Rosalie, speaking this time so
decidedly that it was not necessary for Susan to repeat her words.
‘Oh!’ said the young man, addressing this time not the maid but the
bright eye of which he caught a glimpse through the door, ‘then I
shall take my chance of finding you in the morning.’
‘I am too busy to see anyone in the morning,’ retorted Rosalie; and
she shut the door with a finality which left Mr. Cross no option but to
depart.
‘You see I do take your advice sometimes,’ said Rosalie, turning to
Isaac, and speaking in a plaintive tone, though a little smile played
about her mouth.
Isaac’s back was towards her, and he made no reply; as she
approached the burly form, however, she saw his shoulders heave,
and presently, to her great relief, discovered that he was shaking
with silent laughter.
‘Well, my dear, ye don’t do things by halves—I’ll say that for ’ee,’ he
chuckled. You’ve a-got rid o’ that there chap, anyhow. He’ll not ax
to come coortin’ again. Well, well, if ye manage as well in other
ways I’ll not say that ye bain’t fit to look arter yourself.’
‘But it was your advice, you know, Mr. Sharpe,’ she said demurely.
‘You gave me the hint about shutting the door.’
‘I d’ ’low I did,’ said Isaac; and, being a good-natured and placable
person, his transitory sense of resentment was soon replaced by
thorough appreciation of the humorous side of the situation.
The discomfiture of Samuel Cross gave a salutary lesson not only to
himself, but to sundry other adventurous young men who had been
a little hasty in their overtures to Mrs. Fiander. It was soon noised
abroad that the young widow wished for the present to keep herself
to herself, as the saying went, and that it would in consequence be
advisable to abstain from making advances to her—at least, until she
had laid aside her crape.
For some months, therefore, Rosalie enjoyed comparative immunity
from the importunities which had so much annoyed her, while the
new arrangements appeared to work amazingly well both within and
without Littlecomb Farm.
Job and Abel departed in due course; the pigs were sold—at
considerable loss to their owner; Sam was installed as chief
cowman, and sustained his honours cheerfully, without, however,
appearing to be unduly elated; and three strapping damsels were
engaged as dairy-maids. With their co-operation Mrs. Fiander
turned out weekly a score and more of large round cheeses, which
were stowed away in an upper room until, in course of time, they
should become sufficiently ripe—some people might use the term
mouldy—to have earned their title of ‘Blue Vinney’ cheese.
This process took a considerable time, and meanwhile the profits of
the dairy were a good deal lessened since Rosalie had left off
making the Ha’skim cheeses, for which she had been so particularly
famed, and for which she had invariably received regular payment.
Still, as she told herself, when the Blue Vinneys were disposed of,
she would receive her money in a lump sum, and all would be the
same in the end.
Her chief trouble at this time arose from the frequent calls of Mr.
Wilson, the auctioneer, who, though he could not be said to be
regularly paying attention to Rosalie, found, nevertheless, sundry
excuses for ‘dropping in’ and conversing with her at all manner of
unseasonable times. He made, as has been implied, no direct
advances; and Rosalie, moreover, could not treat him so
unceremoniously as she had treated Mr. Cross, for she felt in a
manner indebted to him about the sale of those unlucky pigs. He
had carried the matter through for her with great difficulty to
himself, as he frequently assured her, and he had steadily refused all
remuneration. It was hard, therefore, for the young widow to repel
or avoid him, and she was in consequence reluctantly obliged to
endure many hours of his society.

CHAPTER VIII
Your own fair youth, you care so little for it,
Smiling towards Heaven, you would not stay the advances
Of time and change upon your happiest fancies.
I keep your golden hour, and will restore it.
Alice Meynell.

One September day Rosalie betook herself to the little churchyard

where Elias lay at rest. Three months had elapsed since he had
been taken from her, and she had not let a week pass without
visiting and decorating his grave. She thought of him often, and her
affectionate regret was in no way diminished; yet, though she was
now on her way to perform this somewhat melancholy duty, she
advanced with a bright face and a rapid bounding step.
She was young, full of vigour and elasticity, and on such a day as
this—an exquisite golden day, full of sunshine, and yet with a
tartness hinting of approaching autumn in the air—every fibre of her
being thrilled with the very joy of life.
When she knelt by her husband’s grave, however, her face became
pensive and her movements slow. Taking a pair of garden shears
from the basket which she carried, she clipped the short grass closer
still, laid the flowers gently down on the smooth surface, placed the
dead ones in her basket, and, after lingering a moment, bent
forward and kissed the new white headstone.
As she rose and turned to go away, her face still shadowed by
tender regret, she suddenly perceived that she was not alone. At a
little distance from her, ensconced within the angle of the churchyard
wall, a man was sitting, with an easel in front of him. Above the
large board on the easel she caught sight of a brown velveteen coat
and a flannel shirt loosely fastened with a brilliant tie; also of a dark
face framed in rather long black hair and shaded by a soft felt hat of
peculiar shape. From beneath its tilted brim, however, a pair of keen
dark eyes were gazing with intense curiosity at the young woman,
and, though he held a palette in one hand and a brush in the other,
he was evidently more interested in her than in his painting.
Rosalie, vexed that her recent display of feeling had been observed
by this stranger, walked quickly down the little path, colouring high
with displeasure the while, and assuming that stately carriage which
came naturally to her in such emergencies.
The gentleman turned slowly on his camp-stool, his eyes twinkling
and his dark moustache twitching, and watched her till she was out
of sight.
Rosalie was clad in her morning print, and wore her wide-brimmed
chip hat, so that her attire gave no indication of her station in life.
As her tall figure disappeared the man rose, stepped past his easel—
which supported a canvas whereon already appeared in bold firm
lines a sketch of the antiquated church porch—and made his way up
the path and across the grass to Elias Fiander’s grave.
‘Let us see,’ he murmured; ‘that kiss spoke volumes. It must be a
sweetheart at the very least; yet when she came swinging down the
meadow-path she certainly looked heart-whole. Here we are—a
brand-new stone. Funny name—Elias Fiander! No—aged sixty-two.
Must have been her father, or perhaps her grandfather—the girl
looked young enough—so all my pretty romance has come to
nothing. I wish she had stayed a few minutes longer—I would give
something to make a sketch of her.’
He went back to his work whistling, and thinking over Rosalie’s
beautiful face and figure regretfully, and with an admiration that was
entirely æsthetic, for he had a cheery, rotund little wife at home in
London, and half a dozen children to provide for, so that he was not
given to sentiment.
It was, perhaps, because his admiration was so innocent and his
ambition so laudable, that a few days later his wish to transfer
Rosalie’s charms to canvas was granted in a most unexpected way.
It had been unusually hot, and the artist, having finished his sketch
of the porch, was proceeding by a short cut through Littlecomb Farm
to the downs beyond, in search of cooler air, when, on crossing a
cornfield at the further end of which the reapers were busily at work,
he suddenly came upon a woman’s figure lying in the shade of a
‘shock’ of sheaves.
The first glance announced her identity; the second assured him that
she was fast asleep. She had removed her hat, and her clasped
hands supported her head, the upward curve of the beautiful arms
being absolutely fascinating to the artist’s eye. The oval face with its
warm colouring, the slightly loosened masses of dark hair, were
thrown into strong relief by the golden background; the absolute
abandonment of the whole form was so perfect in its grace that he
paused, trembling with artistic delight, and hardly daring to breathe
lest he should disturb her.
But Rosalie, overcome with the heat and tired out after a hard
morning’s work, slept peacefully on while he swung his satchel
round, opened it quickly, and began with swift deft fingers to make a
rapid sketch of her. A few light pencil strokes suggested the
exquisite lines of the prostrate form, and he had already begun to
dash on the colour, when, with a loud shriek and flapping of wings, a
blackbird flew out of the neighbouring hedge, and Rosalie stirred
and opened her eyes.
Rosalie’s eyes always took people by surprise, and the artist, who
had not before noticed their colour, suffered his to rest upon them
appreciatively while they were still hazy with sleep; but when, with
returning consciousness, he observed a sudden wonder and
indignation leap into them, he threw out his hand hastily.
‘One moment, if you please—stay just as you are for one moment.’
Still under the influence of her recent heavy slumber, and taken
aback by the peremptory tone, Rosalie obeyed.
‘What are you doing?’ she inquired suspiciously, but without
changing her posture.
‘Don’t you see?’ he returned. ‘I am making a picture of you.’
A warm tide of colour spread over the upturned face.
‘You should n’t do that without asking my leave.’
‘A man must take his chances where he finds them,’ said the artist.
‘I don’t often get such a chance as this. I am a poor man, and can’t
afford to let an opportunity slip.’
He had a shrewd sallow face and kind merry eyes, and as he spoke
he paused in his work and smiled down at her.
‘I don’t want to be disobliging,’ said Rosalie, ‘but I—I don’t like it. I
fell asleep by accident—I should n’t have thrown myself down like
this if I had thought anyone was likely to see me.’
‘All the better,’ commented he. ‘You could n’t have put yourself into
such a position if you had tried to. It has evidently come naturally,
and it is simply perfect.’
He paused to squeeze out a little colour from one of the tiny tubes in
his open box, and again smiled encouragingly down at his model.
‘Now will you oblige me by closing your eyes again? No, don’t screw
them up like that; let the lids drop gently—so, very good. ’T is a pity
to hide the eyes—one does not often see blue eyes with such Murillo
colouring; but the length of the lashes makes amends, and I want
you asleep.’
Again a wave of colour swept over Rosalie’s face: the stranger
marked it approvingly, and worked on.
‘Is it nearly done?’ she inquired presently. ‘You said you would only
be a moment.’
‘I find it will take several moments, but I am sure you would not
grudge me the time if you knew what a wonderful piece of good
fortune this is for me.’
‘How can it be good fortune for you?’
‘Don’t frown, please; let the lids lie loosely. I will tell you why I
consider this meeting a piece of good fortune. Do you know what it
is to make bread-and-butter?’
‘I make butter three times a week,’ returned Rosalie, somewhat
amused; ‘and I make bread too, sometimes.’
‘Well, I have got to make bread-and-butter every day of my life, not
only for myself, but for my wife and six small children, and I have
nothing to make it with but this. You may open your eyes for a
moment if you don’t move otherwise.’
Rosalie opened her eyes, and saw that he was bending towards her,
and holding out a paint-brush.
‘Now, go to sleep again,’ he went on. ‘Yes, that’s what I make my
bread-and-butter with; and it is n’t always an easy task, because
there are a great many other chaps who want to make bread-and-
butter in the same kind of way, and we can never be quite sure
which among the lot of us will find the best market for his wares.
But I shall have no difficulty in disposing of you, I am certain—
therefore, I consider myself in luck.’
‘Do you mean that you will sell that little picture of me?’
‘Not this one, but a big one which I shall make from it. It will go to
an exhibition, and people will come and look at it. As the subject is
quite new and very pretty, I shall ask a big price for it, and there will
be lots of bread-and-butter for a long time to come.’
‘But would anybody care to buy a picture of a woman whom they
don’t know, lying asleep in a cornfield?’ cried Rosalie incredulously,
and involuntarily raising her drooped lids.
‘Most certainly they will,’ responded the artist confidently. ‘This will
be a lovely thing when it is done. I shall come here to-morrow and
make a careful study of this stook against which you are lying, and
of the field; and I shall look about for a few good types of harvesters
to put in the middle distance.’ He was speaking more to himself
than to her, but Rosalie listened with deep interest, and watched him
sharply through her half-closed lids. Suddenly she saw him laugh.
‘Perhaps if I come across a very attractive specimen of a rustic, I
may place him just behind the stook here, peering through the
sheaves at you, or bending forward as if he were going to—’
‘Oh, don’t,’ cried Rosalie, starting violently and opening her eyes
wide. ‘No, I won’t have it, I won’t be in the picture at all if you put
anything of that kind in!’
‘Not—if I chose a particularly nice young man?’ inquired the painter,
still laughing softly to himself. ‘Not if I chose—the young man?’
‘I am sure I don’t know what you mean,’ protested she, her cheeks
crimson again and her lips quivering. ‘There is no young man.’
‘Do you mean to tell me, my dear child, that with that face you have
lived till now without anyone courting you—as I suppose they would
call it?’
‘Oh, of course they court me,’ Rosalie hastened to admit; ‘but I hate
them all. And they are all very ugly,’ she added eagerly, ‘and would
look dreadful in a picture.’
‘There, you are frowning again. Come, let us talk of something less
exciting. Keep still, please. So you make butter three times a week,
do you? You are a farmer’s daughter, I suppose?’
‘I was a farmer’s granddaughter,’ she returned. ‘My father was a
schoolmaster.’
‘Ah, that accounts for your educated way of speaking.’
‘No, father died when I was quite a baby, but my grandfather sent
me to school.’
‘Then you live with your mother, I suppose?’
‘No, I live alone here. This farm belongs to me.’
She could not help peeping out beneath her lashes to judge of the
effect of her words, and was gratified when the busy brush paused
and the dark eyes glanced down at her in astonishment.
‘You live alone here? But this is a big farm—you can’t manage it all
yourself?’
‘Yes, I do. It is hard work, but I contrive to do it. I am rather
lonely, though.’
‘That will be remedied in time,’ said the artist encouragingly. ‘The
right man will come along, and perhaps,’ he added with that queer
smile of his, ‘you won’t find him so ugly as the rest.’
‘You don’t know who I am or you would n’t speak like that,’ said
Rosalie with dignity; adding, with a softer inflexion of her voice: ‘The