'Come on, Valdi, you've had long enough.'
With that the man came out of her suddenly and joined his companion - at - arms in the stream. Wladek made himself look at Flo - rentyna. She was bruised and bleeding between the legs. The soldier holding him spoke again.
'Come and hold the little bastard, Boris, ies my turn., The first soldier came out of the river and took hold of Wladek firmly.
Again he tried to hit out, and this made them laugh even louder.
'Now we know the full might of the Polish army.'
The unbearable laughter continued as yet another guard started undressing to take his turn with Florentyna, who now lay indifferent to his charms.
When he had finished, and had gone down to the river, the second soldier returned and started putting on his clothes.
'I think she's beginning to enjoy it,' he said, as he sat in the sun watching his companion. The fourth soldier began to advance on Florentyna.
When he reached her, he turned her over, forced her legs as wide apart as possible, his large hands moving rapidly over her frail body. The scream when he entered her had now turned into a groan. Wladek counted sixteen soldiers who raped his sister. When the last soldier had finished with her, he swore and then added, 'I think I've made love to a dead woman,' and left her motionless on the grass.
They all laughed even more loudly, as the disgruntled soldier walked down to the river. At last Wladek's guard released him. He ran to Florentyna's side, while the soldiers lay on the grass drinking wine and vodka taken from the Baron's cellar, and eating the bread from the kitchens.
With the help of two of the servants, Wadek carried Florentyna's light body to the edge of the river, weeping as he tried to wash away her blood and bruises. It was useless for she was black and red all over, insensible to help and unable to speak. When Wladek had done the best he could he covered her body with his jacket and held her in his arms. He kissed her gently on the mouth, the first woman he had ever kissed. She lay in his arms, but he knew she did not recognise him, and as the tears ran down his face on to her bruised body, he felt her go limp. He wept as he carried her dead body up the bank. The guards went silent as they watched hini walk towards the chapel. He laid her down on the grass beside the Baron's grave and started digging with his bare hands. When the sinking sun had caused the castle to cast its long shadow over the graveyard, he had finished digging. He buried Florentyna next to Leori and made a little cross with two sticks which he placed at her head. Wladek collapsed on the ground between Leon and Floren - , tyna, and fell asleep, caring not if he ever woke again.
8
William returned to Sayre Academy in September and immediately began to look for competition among those older than himself. Whatever he took up, he was never satisfied unless he excelled in it, and his contemporaries almost always proved too weak an opposition. William began to realise that most of those from backgrounds as privileged as his own lacked any incentive to compete, and that fiercer rivalry was to be found from boys who had, compaxed with himself, relatively little.
In 1915, a craze for collecting match - box labels hit Sayre Academy.
William observed this frenzy for a week with great interest but did not join in. Within a few days, common labels were changing hands at a dime, while rarities commanded as much as fifty cents. William considered the situation and decided to become not a collector, but a dealer.
On the following Saturday, he went to Leavitt and Pearce, one of the largest tobacconists in Boston, and spent the afternoon taking down the names and addresses of all the major match - box manufacturers throughout the world, making a special note of those who were not at war. He in - vested five dollars in notepaper, envelopes and stamps, and wrote to the chairman or president of every company he had listed. His letter was simple despite having been rewritten seven times.
Dear Mr. Chairman or Mr. President, I am a dedicated collector of match - box labels, but I cannot afford to buy all the matches. My pocket money is only one dollar a week, but I enclose a three - cent stamp for postage to prove that I am serious about my hobby. I am sorry to bother you personally, but yours was the only name I could find to write to.
Your friend, William Kane (aged 9) P.S. Yours are one of my favourites.
Within three weeks, William had a fifty - five per cent reply which yielded one hundred and seventy - eight different labels. Nearly all his correspondents also returned the threecent stamp, as William had anticipated they would.
During the next seven days, William set up a market in labels within the school, always checking what he could sell at even before he had made a purchase. He noticed that some boys showed no interest in the rarity of the match - box label, only in its looks, and with them he made quick ex - changes to obtain rare trophies for the more discerning collectors. After a further two weeks of buying and selling he sensed that the market was reaching its zenith and that if he were not careful, with the holidays fast approaching, interest might be~nn to die off. With much trumpeted advance publicity in the form of a printed handout which cost him a further half cent a sheet, placed on every boy's desk,, WilEarn announced that he would be holding an auction of his match - box labels, all two hundred and eleven of them. The auction took place in the school washroom during the lunch hour and was better attended than most school hockey games.