Second Overture
by Maxwell Anderson

THE STORY: In a cellar in a Russian city a group of refugees await the coming of the official who is to decide their fate.

Among them are a princess and her two young daughters; a distinguished lawyer; a lad of twenty; a former officer in the army; a bishop; and an exile escaped from the Siberian mines.

They have committed no crime, but know they are marked for execution by the revolutionaries.

Gregor, the former exile, learning the name of the Commissar, assures the others they need not fear.

He knew fought beside him in a former revolution, and his word will surely be sufficient to free them all.

When the Commissar comes, however, he is deaf to Gregor's pleas.

The group is to die—all but Gregor, who may come with the Commissar.

But Gregor refuses, and then, through daring ruse, he frees his fellow refugees, but he remains to face the firing squad.