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argument, swinging his own support behind the Party and Yoreska. Under Yoreska, Chief of Security Bulič and his rokos saw to it that any active opposition to Radovič’s regime – Yoreska’s, that is – was kept under control. But neither Bulič nor his rokos nor Radovič’s personal popularity nor Yoreska’s propaganda could effectively combat the passive resistance to farm collectivization and other basic Party reforms that was organized and directed by the leaders of the outlawed Peasant Party, the most important of whom was a religious fanatic named Anton Djakovo, a man with a price on his head who managed to keep out of the hands of Security because he had even more popular support among the peasants thanRadovič. Yoreska’s press release was a calculated attempt to turn Gorza’s escape into a weapon to attack the Peasant Party leader. After calling Gorza an insane liar, a criminal fugitive, a saboteur, and a paid lackey of certain unnamed Western powers that were not above stabbing the Republic in the back in spite of the Republic’s freely offered hand of international friendship, he ended up by stating flatly thatBulič’s Security police had gathered clear and incontrovertible evidence proving that Gorza’s escape had been arranged by Anton Djakovo, another insane, lying, criminal saboteur in the pay of certain unnamed Western powers. Djakovo would be tried for his crimes and executed as soon as he could be laid by the heels.
    Oliver sent the release through verbatim, as Cora and the others did. They had no choice. But he filed at the same time a biographical sketch on Djakovo, pointing out that Djakovo was the Moslem equivalent of a Mahatma Gandhi, absolutely opposed to violence of any kind and so bound by his peculiar religious fanaticism that he wouldn’t even kill an animal for food but lived on milk, eggs, and honey. There was no apparent connection between the two stories. Anyone reading them could draw his own comparisons between a man like Djakovo and the cold-blooded murderer of two border guards. Most people saw the inference, including Minister of Internal Affairs Yoreska.
    They kicked Oliver non-stop as far as Vienna. I met him there, going in to replace him. My six months holiday was up. I was told, not asked, to take the post. I had to see Oliver to find out what pipelines he had established inside, and what I should take with me, and other things.
    When I talked to him he was eating his fifth meal of the day. He had been out for seventy-two hours, but he was still catching up on his diet. Food was scarce in the Republic, poor and high-priced. So were razor blades, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shoes, clothes, and a number of other things. I would have to carry a supply of all of these, as well as any luxury items I was fond of, such as coffee, sugar, and reading material. Cigarettes and slivovič were available at high prices on the open market, nothing much else. He made it sound like Poland all over again.
    “Matches are expensive,” he told me. “Better carry a lighter. Heinz says please bring him a new one, with plenty of flints. He uses slivovič for fuel, so you don’t have to worry about that. Léon wants coffee, if you have room to spare in your bags, and reading material, anything, in any language but Slavic. Graham says he will give you the name of the only decent restaurant in the Republic for a bottle of Scotch. Cora wants half a dozen pairs of nine-and-a-half nylons, extra long, and a couple of pink lipsticks. Neon-light color.”
    I was writing it down. I said, “Extra long nylons? And pink lipsticks?” Cora was a small brunette who wore, as I remembered, bright scarlet lipstick.
    “They’re not for her. She has a contact named Danitza, Yoreska’s official secretary and unofficial mistress. A big blonde dish. Nylons and lipstick are her price for tip-offs.”
    “What about Cora herself? What does she