Tikhomirov now even sensed the pallid dim odor that emanated from him, and decided at last to completely rid his enemy of suspicion: "No, I have already said. You want to be shot, you can be, but without me."
The stranger grinned and, spitting to the side, strode away.
In the middle of the day Gavriil Zheleznov received a letter from Khmelnitsky through the outside channel, namely through Bolshakov. He was not asked leading questions, as Tikhomirov had been, but the parcel was slipped to him at once. The Maquis had their own well-informed people in the mine itself, and who could be trusted was known to them in advance.
Gora printed the envelope without notes on the front side and saw the document, which was not clean (the Maquis used to dirty such things on purpose to confuse the chums; this time it was covered with brown earth and a little sawdust, just a little, and an expert examination would show that the document was written in the area of the town of Krasny Luch, in fact they carried earth from different places with them, it was just a little bit – even if it was small, but still a deception of the enemy).
"Secret. From the Maquis.
Your letter has reached me. I will not hide, its content interested me very much and even excited me. Therefore, I think you will understand my request to you to provide concrete evidence.
I hope to have your support."
Mountain's combination and was to provide no evidence for his version. "Let them be scared to death out there. – he thought. – Usually in such situations facts come to light that in their own right mean nothing, but in the aggregate take on a clear and tangible form."
In his reply Gabriel referred to the difficulty of obtaining "additional" confirmations, and his refusal to provide the ones he already had was motivated by the possibility of exposing his own people. Of course, all this is nonsense: there are no facts, and there are only three "his people", and they are not deep in the system at all.
At 16:48 Tikhomirov, while continuing to scrub the floor, again noticed a stranger approaching him. This time he couldn't help but look him in the eyes.
Ivan's eyes flickered to one prominent outward feature: arrogance. Such brazen and arrogant arrogance. It glowed with an incomprehensible gray self-love.