But it was in the middle of the night that a man walked down the street, hurrying.

He went outside Paul's house and carefully knocked on the window frame, but there was no sound. He struck again, louder and more resolute than the first.

Paul jumped out of bed and walked to the window, trying to see who it was, but there was only a vague figure outside.

He was alone at home. Mom went to my sister's house. Now his brother Artem works as a blacksmith in a nearby village, wielding sledgehammers.

Paul opened the window and asked, "Who?" ”

The figure shook for a moment, and a rough voice came: "It's me, Zhu Helai." ”

Then, with both hands on the windowsill, he pushed hard, and his face appeared in front of Paul.

"Little brother, I'll borrow it at your house, okay?" He asked softly.

"Of course, then you still need to ask," Paul replied kindly. "You just crawl in through the window."

Zhu Helai's stout body squeezed in through the window.

He closed the window and door casually, listened to any movement outside, turned around, and asked, "Will it wake up your mother?" She probably slept, didn't she? ”

Paul told him that he was the only one at home. Sailor Zhu Helai was relieved, and his voice was raised: "Little brother, those brutes are searching for me." I almost got caught by them today. I had just returned to my lodgings through the back door, and when I got to the shack, I found a fellow hiding in the yard, leaning against the trunk of a tree, but the bayonet was exposed, so that I could see it. I turned around and ran, all the way to your house. Little brother, I'm going to stay at your house for a few days. ”

Zhu Helai stayed with Paul for eight days. It was the first time Paul had heard so many important truths from his mouth, and Paul found them fresh and exciting.

Zhu He spoke concisely and easily to understand. Previously, Paul was confused by some pretty party names, but now he knows that there is only one party that is truly revolutionary, and that is the Bolshevik Party.

Zhu Helai, a sailor of the Baltic Fleet, a sturdy and powerful revolutionary fighter, tried and tested and became a Bolshevik in 1915. He told Paul, a young boilermaker, some grim truths about life.

"Little brother, I was very much like you when I was a child, I was full of energy, and I always wanted to resist, but I didn't know where to use my strength. Paul, you can be a good fighter for the working class, but you're a little younger. I think you're going to be very promising, so I'll tell you what path to take. I hate soft bones the most, they live like cockroaches, hiding in the cracks of the wall when they see the light. ”

Paul asked in a low voice, "I think you must be a Bolshevik, or a communist." ”

Zhu Helai laughed: "Little brother, this is obvious." However, the Bolsheviks were the Communist Party, and the Communist Party was the Bolsheviks. Then he said solemnly: "Now that you already know, you should remember that if you do not want me to be killed by them, then you must not leak it anywhere and to anyone." Do you understand? ”