A strike breaks out at one of the railway stations. A garrison of soldiers from the tsarist army disperses a crowd of workers. Young soldier Georgy kills one of the workers with a stray shot during a skirmish with them. The authorities reward Georgy with a gold ten-ruble coin. But the soldier's hands are burned by this gold coin. He tries unsuccessfully to justify himself to the dead man's mother, and then, in despair, he throws down his rifle and runs from the barracks.
