RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 PRINCESS CANTACUZENE 
 COUNTESS SPERANSKY 
 
 NEE GRANT 
 
RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 REVOLUTIONARY RECOLLECTIONS 
 
 BY 
 
 PRINCESS CANTACUZENE 
 
 COUNTESS SPERANSKY 
 
 NEE GRANT 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 1920 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 Published March, 1920 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1919, 1920, BY THE CURTIS PUBLISHING CO. 
 
THIS LITTLE VOLUME IS DEDICATED 
 
 TO THE MEN 
 WHO HAVE SO NOBLY WORKED AND FOUGHT 
 
 FOR RUSSIA 
 IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS 
 
 4354 o 
 
PREFACE 
 
 ENCOURAGED by the kindly reception given to my 
 first book, Revolutionary Days, I venture herein, 
 with the kind permission of The Saturday Evening 
 Post, which first published them, to present to the 
 public some further tales of the varied and amazing 
 currents of our Russian developments. 
 
 The facts are offered as I observed them, or learned 
 of them at first hand, and I have tried to be truthful 
 and unprejudiced. Otherwise these pages claim no 
 merit, but only the indulgence of a public which has 
 shown me much sympathy and understanding, and 
 to whom I owe sincere gratitude. 
 
 JULIA CANTACUZENE SPERANSKY 
 
 (NEE GRANT). 
 NEW YORK, January, 1920. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS .... i 
 
 II. REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE .... 46 
 
 III. "THE REIGN OF TERROR" 98 
 
 IV. THE CRIMEA'S EFFORT DENIKIN'S 
 
 ARMY 138 
 
 V. THE UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT .... 169 
 
 VI. THE NEW RUSSIAN VIEW 206 
 
 VII. KOLCHAK 213 
 
 VIII. SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 253 
 
 IX. DAUGHTERS OF RUSSIA 294 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Bouromka Frontispiece 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 Nikita and Lisa, valet and maid at Bouromka 54 
 
 Lieutenant-General D6nikin, Commander-in-Chief of the 
 
 South Russian Armies 150 
 
 Kolchak 226 
 
 Catherine the Great 296 
 
 Catherine Breshkovsky 318 
 
RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 i 
 
 PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 
 
 CHRISTMAS, 1915, we spent in the country. 
 I rejoiced on the long trip, to go away from 
 Petrograd's December darkness, toward the 
 southern sun. I had finished my Christmas shop- 
 ping, and attended to various business my own 
 personally, our regiment's, and some for the Red 
 Cross branch in which I was interested and I left 
 town with a good conscience. I met my husband at 
 Kief on the way home. He had just come from the 
 trenches on our Polish front, and had a ten days' 
 holiday leave. We were to be a large family party 
 at Bouromka this year, and we anticipated infinite 
 pleasure in the reunion. 
 
 Forty-eight hours on the train and we landed, at 
 5 A. M., at our station, Lubny. There Lukantchik 
 or Little Lucas, who is twenty-seven years old and 
 six feet tall, but having grown up in the house re- 
 mains "little" in distinction to Old Lucas, who has 
 cleaned the chateau lamps as his unique occupation 
 for forty years or more met us, with welcoming 
 grins and hand-kisses. He seized our baggage, 
 
 1 
 
2 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 helped us out of the train, and while he and his col- 
 league, faithful Davidka, who had been my hus- 
 band's valet since their extreme youth, struggled 
 with trunks, we seated ourselves in the station 
 dining-room, with the comfortable provision-basket 
 sent us from home. 
 
 By the time we had eaten and felt refreshed, the 
 winter's sun was rising, and Lukantchik announced 
 that the carriages "were served" one for us, an- 
 other for Davidka and my maid El&ne, with a wagon 
 for our impressive piles of baggage. The servants 
 ate, then packed our dishes quickly with many gay 
 phrases, Lukantchik giving us the Bouromka news: 
 "Her Highness the Princess is well. . . . Their 
 Highnesses the children are also well and happy; 
 awaiting your arrival and their presents with great 
 excitement. . . . The young Prince has already 
 hunted with his aunt and uncle. . . . Old Grand- 
 mother Anna-Wladimirovna" my husband's ex- 
 nurse and the present housekeeper "has many 
 goodies prepared already for the Christmas dinner." 
 Though his chatter was so animated, it was not 
 at all familiar; for Lukantchik's is the touching 
 devotion coming from generations of good relations 
 between chateau and village, such as I have seen 
 in nearly every Russian household I have entered 
 during twenty years. 
 
 Finally, all being ready, we go to the station 
 door, and our travelling carriages since the snow 
 is not deep enough for sleighing clatter up, to the 
 edification of the gaping, crowding idlers, mainly 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 3 
 
 peasants or quaint village Jews. We travel in a 
 "berline de voyage," which belonged to my grand- 
 mother-in-law. She drove it from Bouromka to 
 St. Petersburg in the old days, before the time of 
 railroads. It is well built on low, heavy lines, large 
 and well-cushioned inside, swinging luxurious and 
 strong over its iron-bound wheels. Dimenti, most 
 perfect and vast of coachmen, with a reputation, 
 when sober, of being one of the best "troika" drivers 
 in all Russia, and when drunk of being quite the 
 best, sits on our box-seat, spreading over most of 
 it, holding his glossy black horses back upon their 
 haunches without the least apparent effort. 
 
 The large red ball of the rising sun makes a good 
 background for the equipage, with its brass-studded, 
 red-tasselled harness, scarlet knit-silk reins, and the 
 gold-painted "douga" arching high above the cen- 
 tral horse. Dimenti's silhouette is magnificent, 
 with his long hair and beard, the head crowned by 
 the small, round hat of the classic troika driver, 
 trimmed with a gay wreath of standing peacock 
 feathers. His clothes are elaborate and numerous. 
 First, a scarlet blouse, over which is a black velvet 
 sleeveless garment or dress, buckled and belted with 
 silver. On his breast he wears our shield on red 
 enamelled ground, the arms traced on it in gold. 
 Over all this finery is thrown a great coat of black 
 wool-plush homespun, fur-lined, with a high collar, 
 and held in place by a nail-studded belt of leather. 
 
 Dimenti 's well-booted legs are thrust into home- 
 spun, loose, felt, "walinki," against the cold, while 
 
4 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 ice is caked already on both his mustache and his 
 beard. Little Lucas wraps himself in a twin cloak 
 to Dimenti's, and it entirely covers his smart blue 
 Cossack costume with the scarlet sash. Even his 
 face and his high astrakhan-trimmed scarlet cap are 
 lost to sight. Then he tucks fur robes about us, 
 and we lean back cosily and prepare for our sixty- 
 two versts* drive in a temperature of twenty below 
 freezing ! 
 
 The carriage steps are raised, doors slammed and 
 locked, and the horses plunge forward as Little 
 Lucas reaches his perch and Dimenti relaxes the 
 reins. We go like the wind through the town and 
 out over a vaguely marked road stretching across 
 the steppes. These are slightly rolling and white 
 with snow, upon which the radiant sun shines, and 
 here and there a few trees or a tiny village of mud 
 "hatas" (peasant huts) nestling in the hollows of 
 the great plains, break the flat monotony. Occa- 
 sionally a man or woman, in a great sheepskin cloak, 
 passes us and bows low, bending from the hips in 
 Oriental fashion, or a child stares round-eyed at 
 Dimenti's and his horses' glory. We alarm chickens 
 and dogs with our clatter, sometimes, but generally 
 we fly rapidly over the white silence, lulled by the 
 silvery ringing of the bells on our "douga." 
 
 I doze through the hours, rousing myself only at 
 the two relay stations, where horses and stablemen 
 from Bouromka have come to meet our cavalcade. 
 We don't feel the cold inside our furs, and at last 
 quite suddenly I awaken to the fact that the sun 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 5 
 
 is already very high, and we have swung into the 
 home village, with its lovely church on the hilltop, 
 and its crystal lake below. So transparent is the ice 
 on the latter that the children seem to be skating 
 on a water surface, while their homes round the lake 
 are reflected in the natural mirror. Peasant women 
 are washing clothes at a square-cut hole in the ice. 
 These clothes are wet, then pulled out of the water 
 and trampled with heavy-booted feet, and after- 
 ward rinsed again and again till they are clean ! 
 
 The people with their animals are all concentrated 
 in the village at this season, and the place seems 
 crowded, alive, and prosperous. It has six thou- 
 sand " souls" (inhabitants), and last month forty- 
 five thousand roubles were deposited in the post- 
 office savings-bank ! On all sides I see smiles of 
 welcome and bows from the hips, always dignified 
 and graceful. We turn into the park gates at a 
 gallop and go full tilt up to the great doors of the 
 house where the horses stop short, jerked back on 
 their haunches in Dimenti's most approved fashion. 
 Our horses are not tired, for they are blooded stock, 
 bred and trained to their work on the estates; and, 
 besides, we have had relays of three each for our 
 carriage, and of four for each of the other traps, 
 making a total of thirty-three animals for the trip 
 from the train homeward. 
 
 The park seems beautiful with its splendor of 
 ancient trees in winter garb, and the cMteau looms 
 up, larger than ever a very mountain of comfort. 
 It has grown with the generations into a luxurious 
 
6 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 salad of various peoples' tastes Empire, Hoch- 
 deutch, Gothic, and even English styles. Parts of 
 the house are two stories high, and parts are only 
 one, with a tower containing five stories at one end; 
 and on the other side of the house some columns 
 trim a great terrace in the style of 1830. But, in 
 spite of mixed, incongruous lines, it has a most 
 sympathetic and inviting air. 
 
 There is a great bustling as we draw up in front 
 of the wide-swung double doors. Shouts in chil- 
 dren's voices, full of joy. The Princess, my mother- 
 in-law, who is French, shows great enthusiasm and 
 excitement, giving many orders. The servants are 
 quiet but smiling, and so numerous that they seem 
 to crowd one another, even in this great space. 
 They all precipitate themselves to help me, and I 
 am lifted almost bodily from the carriage, as they 
 tear out wraps and baggage with deft hands, and 
 rush everything into the house, sweeping along 
 Davidka and Elene in their midst. 
 
 News of the front and of the capital is asked for, 
 for Bouromka is far away and mails are slow these 
 days. The head men kiss my hands and ask, with 
 kindly, genuine expressions, after my health. There 
 is old Moses-Kouzmitch, nearly ninety years old, 
 born a serf in the great Speransky's time, who has 
 served in the house since he was ten years old. He 
 still calls my mother-in-law the "Young Princess," 
 and considers her somewhat unlearned in the tra- 
 ditions of the family. He no longer works, but he 
 insists on appearing to serve dinner on occasions 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 7 
 
 which he judges important, making great difficulties 
 then for the young butler of sixty-five, whom the 
 Princess brought from France, and whom the elder 
 man considers a "childish outsider," after years of 
 careful observation. 
 
 Auguste, who came from Dresden in his youth 
 with my grandfather-in-law, as valet, is house- 
 steward now, with the special function of spoiling 
 the children. He is also a friend of mine who has 
 rendered me many services since the day when he 
 came to meet us at the frontier, with our special 
 car, at the time of our marriage. Then he travelled 
 back with us to Bouromka, for my first entrance 
 into its halls, and always since he has been my ally. 
 
 There are a number more of the head servants 
 Old Lucas, who has cleaned lamps for thirty or forty 
 years, Tiechon and Simeon, in Cossack clothes; 
 Kyril, the children's best friend, who can carve 
 fish and birds and spoons in wood with his penknife, 
 and who sings and plays the "balalaika'* with true 
 Russian talent and versatility. The children them- 
 selves, an avalanche of arms and curls and noise, 
 rush upon us, asking, all at once and breathless: 
 Whether I have all those Christmas things I prom- 
 ised? And am I well? Where are the trunks? 
 And did I remember all their special errands ? How 
 nice I have arrived ! And isn't the weather fine ? 
 
 After hugs and kisses I go up the three steps of 
 the anteroom to the Princess, who, with artistic 
 instinct as to her proper place in the picture, has 
 become immobilized on the top step, and is already 
 
8 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 embracing my husband. I kiss her hand and am 
 kissed upon the cheek in return, and she asks after 
 my health and the comfort of our trip, and whether 
 I have her letters and newspapers from town ? And 
 are her errands done ? I compliment her mien and 
 the beauty of Bouromka in its winter garb, and I 
 satisfy her as to the letters and the rest. 
 
 Then I pass on to the two dear sisters-in-law one 
 tall and blonde, the other dainty, small, and dark, 
 with lovely black sparkling eyes. Warm devotion 
 has been our relation always, and I am glad to have 
 their affectionate welcome, also that of the two 
 charming men who are their husbands and my 
 almost-brothers. Beyond in a group of nephews 
 and nieces, stand a number of governesses (misses 
 and mademoiselles and frauleins), and at the rear 
 our children's nurse, who has been my own special 
 tyrant for seventeen years past. Finally the enor- 
 mous proportions of "Grandmother Anna-Wladi- 
 mirovna," who, in her best cap, surrounded by a 
 number of little housemaids, ends the reception line. 
 
 Everywhere there are wood-fires in open grates 
 or in vast stoves, with the smell of burning green pine, 
 and through huge windows the sun comes stream- 
 ing gayly. One sees views that are romantic and 
 tranquil over the lake and wooded valley, which 
 form the park. Great rooms there are, rich in 
 priceless books and paintings, while treasures col- 
 lected through three hundred years fill cabinets 
 scattered about. Old wood-panelled walls carved 
 in Bouromka by our own people, as are also the 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 9 
 
 marvellously fine inlaid floors, with ancient furniture, 
 used by many generations, worn, but still luxuriously 
 comfortable; splendid old porcelains, silver, and 
 bronzes complete the house, itself built by our serfs 
 of home-made bricks. Carpets and laces woven by 
 peasant women's hands add a dainty note here and 
 there to the picture. 
 
 Everything is the slow growth of centuries of 
 family life, and an atmosphere of delightful civiliza- 
 tion pervades it all. The village people who work 
 in the chateau partake of its tone and air. From 
 generation to generation they have belonged to us 
 and to it, and their pride is in their service, which 
 is intelligent and willing. They speak of every- 
 thing as "ours," and, taking part in our lives, they 
 expect us to enter into theirs. It is all a typically 
 Russian scene, and this whole frame of life lacks 
 completely cold or classic style, but is brimming 
 over instead with sentiment. It is rich in kindliness 
 and in patriarchal hospitality built on generous 
 lines. 
 
 With Christmas Eve, excitement in the chateau 
 culminates. Guests arrive, our neighbors, coming 
 from their estates, the frontiers of which touch ours 
 next door meaning fifteen miles or so away. They 
 look and act as if they had just stepped from one 
 of Gogol's novels. One is General Paul-Karlovitch 
 Lange, who was an aide-de-camp years ago to the 
 old Grand Duke Michael-Nicholaievitch, in the gay 
 days when the latter was Viceroy of the Caucasus 
 (about 1870). He was decorated for bravery on the 
 
10 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 field during the Turkish War; and now at the age 
 of seventy-five, though a little bent and slow of 
 movement, Paul-Karlovitch's eyes twinkle mer- 
 rily behind his big spectacles, and his florid round 
 face is most agreeable still. He is courteous, accom- 
 plished, and altogether willing to add to the gen- 
 eral fun, and one readily understands the rumor 
 that his road through life has been strewn with 
 broken hearts. 
 
 His widowed sister, who came with him, is rolling 
 in fat, and wears a round skirt, loose jacket, flat 
 shoes with silver buckles, and heavy white woollen 
 stockings. Nothing on her is stiff or tight, and the 
 children adore her and go to her naturally she is 
 so maternal. In fact, we all love her almost as 
 much as they do, for her charm is as potent as her 
 brother's, and they are both simple and sincere. 
 They have come to us with children and grand- 
 children, and an English governess, to reinforce our 
 large group, and the house is full now with gay talk, 
 and songs, and laughter, and little running feet. 
 The guests join in trimming the rooms with green 
 branches, brought in fresh-picked from the forest, 
 and in arranging the gifts on the Christmas tree. 
 There is great gayety in unpacking all my purchases, 
 choosing the various presents and doing up the 
 bundles; and, as usual in such cases, everything is 
 lost and found many times over, to be finally, by 
 the united efforts of the crowd, put each in its right 
 place for the fte. 
 
 In all this the guests are as busy as we are, and 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 11 
 
 just as interested; and old Paul-Karloviteh and his 
 sister tell us how they came to play at Bouromka 
 when they were babies, with their parents, who vis- 
 ited my husband's grandmother. 
 
 The phonograph alternates with the piano. Of 
 course lessons are tabooed, and the children play a 
 pantomime and dance a ballet for us; and, compli- 
 mented duly, they are feeling most proud of their 
 success. 
 
 The tree is finally ready, and all the vast house- 
 hold pours into the great hall that it lights up so 
 well. The servants are a joy to see with their 
 radiant faces; especially the dozen or so young 
 under housemaids, who are dressed in pretty na- 
 tional costumes and look like lovely dolls. Red, 
 blue, and green-flowered skirts, full-sleeved, hand- 
 embroidered blouses they wear, with necklaces of 
 varied beads hanging from chin to bosom in masses, 
 with twenty or more long streamers of different- 
 colored ribbons tying these behind at their necks. 
 They wear flowers in large crowns about smooth- 
 brushed heads, and, with their young, fresh faces, 
 are as decorative as the tree itself. 
 
 "Grandmother Anna-Wladimirovna" sits regally 
 presiding, with a huge clothes-basket full of cakes 
 on her left, and a pendant basket on her right, 
 which is filled with multi-colored boxes of sweets 
 for all the retainers. Presents for the children are 
 scattered about in piles, and for us grown-ups a 
 large table groans under its load of them. It is the 
 reign of music and good cheer, song, dance, and 
 
12 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 light. Our men are all here from the trenches, and 
 the boys are back from their city schools. Every 
 one has been working through the hard long year of 
 1915 to help the army win the war, and all have 
 suffered ; so now we feel we have a right to these few 
 days of rest and plenty; and we enjoy them to the 
 full, forgetting the past strain. To-morrow we 
 must again take up our burdens; but we shall then 
 have at least the memory of this glowing family 
 fte to help us live. 
 
 Christmas Day there is a beautiful religious ser- 
 vice in the church, where from our loge we look 
 down on all the peasants gathered there, devoutly 
 praying. Then there is a feast at table, with the 
 priest and the intendants invited the bigwigs of 
 our estate. After that, for a few days there are 
 dancing, riding, sleighing, skating, skiing, and hunt- 
 ing in the old classic Russian manner, with low 
 sledges and the borzoi-hounds. The older people 
 sit about the house, playing bridge or talking end- 
 lessly, and with a brilliancy no other race could 
 put into its conversation anecdotes and experiences 
 covering three or four reigns, quotations from the 
 best literature of two or three languages, sallies of 
 wit, gay, light-hearted laughter, with no effort or 
 ceremony at all. 
 
 Only too quickly it came to an end and the 
 party scattered ! Our neighbors went back to their 
 home interests, our men to the three fronts, where 
 each had his service my husband commanding the 
 Cuirassiers on the Polish front, one brother-in-law 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 13 
 
 to staff work in Galicia, and the other joining the 
 brigade he was attached to on the Persian frontier. 
 The boys returned to their schools in the capital, 
 and we women were left to take up our quiet round 
 of duties and anxieties again the Princess, my 
 sisters-in-law, and I, with our younger children only. 
 
 I lingered on through several months that year, 
 perhaps with the instinctive feeling that this would 
 be my last stay of any length in the old family home. 
 My mother-in-law had decided to spend her entire 
 winter at Bouromka for the war work she had begun, 
 and we younger members of the family kept her 
 company in turn for what time we could. Our 
 group included also the family doctor a kindly 
 woman, very fat, but as intelligent as she was big, 
 who helped us make the talk entirely cheerful about 
 the hearth in the Princess's small, red-brocaded salon, 
 where we sat during the long, cold winter evenings. 
 In spite of the war, it seems to me, I never before 
 felt our country so rich and prosperous, and I was 
 greatly interested in comparing this Russia of 1916 
 with the Russia of 1899 I had found on my arrival 
 as a bride. 
 
 In the old days the village had miserable huts, 
 or "hatas," composed of mud, and built on crooked 
 lines, with tiny holes for windows, and crumbling 
 roofs of straw or reeds, which were badly thatched, 
 and were disturbed by every wind. The people 
 fifteen years before looked white and thin, and were 
 never sufficiently covered; and, though there were 
 masses of children, the mortality was very great 
 
14 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 among them, and many were deformed or scrofulous. 
 One's heart ached to see their poor pinched faces 
 and meagre little bodies. 
 
 The peasants were all in debt also in the olden 
 days, and were more or less sodden with "vodka," 
 which was the only consolation for their misery, 
 and incidentally was the greatest source of revenue 
 in our government's budget. Every man culti- 
 vated just enough of the "commune's" land to pay 
 his debt to Rabinovitch, the usurer, and to have a 
 little poor grain left over, barely enough to keep 
 the family alive. They were a gentle people always, 
 but sad, inert, and dull from drink and poverty; 
 and they were without a care for the morrow only 
 because fighting to-day's difficulties took all their 
 strength. 
 
 When I first saw Bouromka village I was filled 
 with pity, in spite of the charming scenery and its 
 picturesque traditions. Even in the fields, in 1899, 
 the people seemed entirely helpless to dominate 
 Nature, or to draw her riches from her. They were 
 armed with the most primitive wooden ploughs, 
 and with other instruments which looked biblical 
 in epoch, and which were really not fit tools for 
 use in the greatest agricultural district of the world. 
 Sad and hopeless these people seemed, though when- 
 ever they moved from the surroundings of their 
 village, they made good at once, and would awake 
 and shake themselves. Those who were in our 
 house or employed on the estate, for instance, 
 rapidly grew alert and clever, nearly always made 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 15 
 
 and saved money, enjoyed life, and sang over then- 
 duties, doing us service and showing us a devotion 
 such as in all my wanderings in many countries I 
 had never seen before. 
 
 In time I attributed our peasantry's faults (and 
 their woes) to three things the long generations of 
 serfage, the parasite money-lenders, and the vodka 
 plague. Yet, even at the lowest ebb, the Little- 
 Russians were kindly folks, full of sentiment and the 
 love of beautiful things music especially; only they 
 had no energy or will power, and were so childish 
 that despair overcame one's patience in trying to 
 do them good. 
 
 The first step forward I saw them take was at 
 the time of the Russian- Japanese War, when the 
 mobilization orders called out the first reservists, 
 and Bouromka's contingent of one hundred men or 
 so left us. I accompanied my mother-in-law to the 
 village square the day these soldiers were collected 
 and marched off. We drove to the tumble-down 
 little town hall and stood on its balcony while the 
 priest said a mass for the departing men. Natur- 
 ally they were the pick of the village,- fine young 
 fellows, who had kept something of the well-set-up 
 look due to their military training. As they stood 
 listening to the service with bared heads, their sob- 
 bing women clinging to them and their babies in 
 their arms, one felt the fine primitive strength and 
 beauty and the possible real value in this race. I 
 think most of them had no notion of the war's 
 reasons or conditions, save only that they were 
 
16 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 going very far to serve their Little Father, the Czar. 
 Where anything was understood, the war was 
 unpopular; but our Bouromka people, as I saw 
 them, were only unhappy to go away, while per- 
 fectly docile, as always, to do a vague master's 
 bidding. 
 
 After the religious ceremony the soldiers came 
 toward us, and my mother-in-law and I put about 
 the neck of each man a red cord, upon which hung 
 a small silver "icon" to protect him from danger. 
 As we did this, each one kissed his medal and our 
 hands before hiding the present in his shirt. I saw 
 one remove his and hang it round the neck of the 
 pretty curly-headed child he was handing back into 
 its mother's arms. Then there were hurried, sad 
 good-bys; the women wept, and the men, as always, 
 were dignified, quiet, and full of gentleness. Finally 
 they were lined up and marched off down the dusty 
 highroad, following a row of peasant carts which 
 carried the small square bundles of their baggage, 
 as much as the law would allow each man. 
 
 After this mobilization our village settled back 
 into its lethargy; but as times grew bad from the 
 war, the elders among our peasants made up a 
 committee to look after those women who had no 
 protectors or workers to supply them with food and 
 fuel. They named my mother-in-law "president," 
 and the meetings, held in the chateau dining-room, 
 were intensely interesting to me. The strange 
 simplicity and the extreme common sense these men 
 displayed were remarkable, both in discovering and 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 17 
 
 aiding real misery, and in showing up imposture of 
 any sort. The assembled group, as they sat, looked 
 like one of Holbein's paintings. 
 
 The Japanese War certainly drew us nearer to 
 our people than the chateau had been since the days 
 of the serfs, and my husband's grandmother; for, 
 in admiration of the effort the village was making, 
 our estate doubled the funds raised by the com- 
 mittee, and the Princess also helped the people in 
 small ways, sending milk to ill babies and giving 
 flour or other provisions to the women or the older 
 elements who were in need. Good feeling became 
 noticeable, and it was then I had my first impression 
 of the population of Bouromka as a mass of think- 
 ing humanity. 
 
 By 1905 and 1906 this awakening had partly worn 
 off. The revolutionary movement was slow in 
 reaching us, for we were far from factory centres 
 and from railroads; and our peasants were only 
 roused at last by a group of student-propagandists, 
 who came and settled in the village, made inflam- 
 matory speeches, and finally spread the news that 
 the Emperor was imprisoned by the bureaucrats in 
 St. Petersburg, and that he begged his people to 
 come and liberate him ! This started demonstra- 
 tions and disorder. Our intendant took fright and 
 fled, abandoning the estates; but even then nothing 
 was really done in the way of anarchy, save the 
 burning of some haystacks. There were meetings 
 though; and noisy crowds, half drunk, were threat- 
 ening the estate with destruction. We asked for 
 
18 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 government protection and obtained twenty-five 
 Cossacks, who came and settled down in our stable 
 courtyards to do guard and police work at our order 
 and expense, and on our responsibility. 
 
 The family all went to Bouromka as usual that 
 year 1905 relaying one another through the sum- 
 mer months. We gave out that everything should 
 be as heretofore, and that we would give our peasants 
 work through the harvest time at the usual wages. 
 The Princess had them also informed that the Em- 
 peror was safe and not in prison, and that the propa- 
 gandists who had told these lies were paid to make 
 trouble in the land. As we had always kept up 
 good relations with the village, and had lived among 
 our people, she said we meant to go on the same 
 old way; but my mother-in-law added, though she 
 greatly respected the village always, if, after all 
 she had done and said, there were still those among 
 the peasantry who did us harm, and who burned 
 or injured our property, the Cossacks were here to 
 execute justice; and she would, if necessary, fire the 
 village to revenge any attack on the chateau ! 
 
 It sounded very ferocious. For a time we did not 
 go outside the park gates without armed outriders 
 to accompany us; and always we kept our revolvers 
 in our pockets, while sentinels stood at various points 
 in and about the house. The people looked some- 
 what surly at first, and made sullen accusations 
 against the old intendant, whom they had hated, it 
 appeared. I was glad the children had not been 
 brought with us into what might become a hornet's 
 nest. But time passed and village workmen came to 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 19 
 
 their usual work in our fields and shops, the house 
 servants remained loyal all through the difficulty, 
 and gradually we saw the leaders of the revolution- 
 ary movement relaxing their hold, and our childish 
 peasantry resuming old, quiet ways. 
 
 The Cossacks stayed with us about six months, 
 and after the first third of that time they were 
 purely ornamental; became, in fact, vastly popular 
 guests in the village, where half a dozen of them 
 settled down definitely and married girls from our 
 own place. Within two years some few of the 
 most revolutionary spirits were made our head 
 machinists or aid intendants, and they espoused 
 our side of most questions thereafter, recognizing 
 that it was the right one as against outside propa- 
 ganda. So the first revolution died down in our 
 province without ever having caused us more than 
 passing inconvenience; and it left us a closer under- 
 standing with our peasantry than had existed for a 
 long time. 
 
 I talked with many others among the big land- 
 owners in our part of Russia, and nearly all told me 
 a tale of experiences similar to ours. Those near 
 railroads or in factory districts suffered more, how- 
 ever, than we did; and where the administration of 
 estates had been left entirely to superintendents, 
 and there were no personal relations between the 
 proprietor and his dependents in the village, there 
 invariably had been serious trouble, and a certain 
 amount of destruction as well, hard to forget or 
 forgive. 
 
 Soon after this, perhaps with the return of the 
 
20 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 soldiers from Manchuria, there was a further stir- 
 ring of our people's mental faculties. It was like 
 a breath of fresh air let into a room where heavi- 
 ness had reigned before. A new school was built 
 in the village, so that there was one now belonging 
 to the church, and another under the direction of 
 the Ministry of Education. Later a new priest re- 
 placed our old one, who had died or moved else- 
 where, and a new doctor came. Which of these in- 
 novations brought the change I cannot say, but it 
 came on through the years from 1907 to 1914. 
 
 My brother-in-law and my husband took over the 
 administration of the estates about then, and im- 
 provements were introduced, with an intensive cul- 
 tivation, better machinery, finer results and larger 
 wages; and outside, round us in the peasant fields, 
 one saw a reflection of our efforts. Their land was 
 better worked also, and the "mujiki" came and 
 bought from us at lowered prices the metal ploughs 
 we were selling off with also other farming instru- 
 ments. 
 
 Instead of threshing by hand, they bought in 
 common for the village, first a horse-worked thresh- 
 ing-machine, and then they made the proud acqui- 
 sition of a steam threshing-machine, which was soon 
 followed by two more of the same kind ! The fur- 
 rows made by the new methods grew deeper, while 
 crops became heavier with intelligent fertilizing. 
 They purchased grain for sowing from us and took 
 the best we had. Then they brought their wheat to 
 our motor-run mill, leaving their primitive windmills 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 21 
 
 as ornamental notes in the landscape. The village 
 itself looked more civilized. New houses were being 
 built on straighter lines, and these grew gay with 
 carved wooden trimmings, such as windows with 
 frames and even shutters on them, or gayly painted 
 doors with tiny balconies. 
 
 A number of very advanced people even put tin 
 roofs on their homes, buying the materials from our 
 shops at cost prices, and painting them green or 
 red. Now and then the hatas grew quite large, 
 with two rooms, or even three; while the village 
 cattle were sleek, and many a yard boasted trees, 
 which were offered free of charge by the chateau 
 nurseries. It was the dawn of a new epoch; and 
 into their songs, which had been so sad before, the 
 peasantry introduced the gayer notes of soldier 
 melodies, brought back from Siberian bivouac or 
 camp. 
 
 Bouromka seemed to me much more livable in 
 its atmosphere from then on. I liked the awak- 
 ened feeling. It made one want to help people who 
 were trying so hard to find their way. Under Sto- 
 lypin's guidance came the land reforms, which made 
 the reputation of the young Minister of Agriculture, 
 Krivaschene. These were not yet carried out all 
 over Russia, but our province of Poltava was one 
 of those that chiefly benefited. 
 
 By the new arrangement, instead of owning the 
 land in common and working it together so the 
 worthless cultivator of the soil drew on the energy 
 of his stronger brother each peasant individually 
 
22 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 owned his own field now, and it received the full 
 advantage of his personal efforts. This scheme 
 worked like magic. At once the people awoke to 
 their possibilities. They came and studied our 
 methods and went home to copy us. Their crops 
 were better and better, while, of course, they grew 
 rich apace. They had reserve of grain put by, and 
 it soon required close care to recognize where our 
 fields ended and the fine ones of the peasantry began. 
 
 The Princess gradually became interested in her 
 people and helped them in many ways, the best of 
 which was in founding a small free pharmacy. In 
 the hands of our house doctor a recent graduate 
 of the Pasteur Institute, in Paris it gave most ex- 
 cellent results. She the doctor was a Russian 
 by birth and devoted to her country, and she was 
 glad also to have such an opportunity for experi- 
 ence. She grappled most successfully with the vari- 
 ous evils to which our poor population was heir, 
 and the villagers for miles round adored fat, com- 
 forting Olga-Ivanovna, with her intelligent face and 
 healing hands. She did immense good, and loved 
 her patients dearly after a few months of residence 
 among us; and soon they were bringing her all their 
 troubles, mental and moral as well as physical. 
 
 By the time the great war came (in 1914) our 
 village of Bouromka had grown beyond recognition. 
 The population was doubled and lived in coquettish 
 homes, real ornaments to the lovely landscape, 
 while smiling faces were constantly seen, and there 
 were round rosy babies everywhere. Money was 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 23 
 
 saved, and, best of all, only one of the vampire vil- 
 lage usurers remained, the others having moved to 
 more profitable spheres, leaving the business of three 
 or four shops, recently sprung up, in the hands of 
 our own Russians. It was hard to say just how the 
 change had come, but certainly it was a very marked 
 one. Though there was still vodka, it was much 
 less felt than before, and the faces about us were no 
 longer inert or sodden. 
 
 Every one hated the Germans; so this war was 
 popular, and the mobilization was not so sad as in 
 1904. The front was not far off, as in the old war, 
 and the men would be able to write, and perhaps 
 even come back on leave occasionally. Large 
 groups of reserves and recruits were gathered in, 
 who went off singing to the frontier, while the old 
 committee reformed, my mother-in-law presiding 
 over its meetings as before. This time it was much 
 easier for them to arrange matters, as the peasants 
 had grown rich. First, in their own right, the 
 women had means, for the government was paying 
 every soldier's wife a small pension in the absence 
 of her natural supporter; and this allowance increased 
 in rising proportion according to the number of her 
 children. 
 
 Then the land of all these women was pooled and 
 was cultivated for them by those men remaining in 
 the village, or by Austrian prisoners who were hired 
 out to help. This arrangement brought more money 
 than usual to the small-proprietor peasantry; and 
 suddenly our village matrons found themselves, for 
 
24 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 the first time in the history of Holy Russia, inde- 
 pendent, managing their own homes and lands al- 
 most as they saw fit. With new clothes, and boots, 
 and ribbons, they made a splendid show at church 
 and in the market-place; but even with all their 
 extravagance of finery, they still had. large savings 
 in the bank. 
 
 In spite of the sorrows we had suffered during the 
 past spring and summer 1915 with the retreat of 
 our armies, and in spite also of our keen anxiety as 
 to the future possibilities in the political situation 
 fast darkening, the atmosphere in our province 
 during the spring of 1916 raised my hopes and made 
 me believe that all might yet be well. Never had 
 our people seemed so gay, so prosperous, and so 
 full of energy. For eighteen months vodka had not 
 existed, health was renewed and spirits were high. 
 It was a question to me, as I watched them, whether 
 all the matrons of Bouromka were not growing too 
 large in their own estimation and their new-found 
 power, whether when their spouses reappeared on 
 the horizon and claimed ancient rights and privileges, 
 almost Oriental, these might not meet with refusal 
 of obedience and of the old traditional service ? 
 How would our soldier-men put up with new ideas ? 
 Would they give way to the rule of these unconscious 
 suffragettes? Or would they prove themselves 
 masters in their homes by brute force ? 
 
 The women, in the men's absence, were doing all 
 sorts of masculine work, both in the village and on 
 our estates. Young Amazons cleaned and fed the 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 25 
 
 horses in our. stables, under the orders of two or 
 three head coachmen, too old to be mobilized, who 
 were all that remained of the usual staff. Women, 
 with small boys to help, had brought in the harvest 
 for two years now, and had been paid men's wages 
 for their work. Dressed in trousers and heavily 
 booted, they even went that winter into the forests 
 with our sleds, to bring the cut fuel-wood and the 
 building lumber out, and they managed their teams 
 with consummate skill. They had tided us over two 
 years of war, and kept the country in our parts of 
 Russia at its maximum power of production, so the 
 armies could be fed. 
 
 On our estate about eighty Austrian prisoners 
 and in the village about fifty more did special 
 work, as builders, machinists, and so on. We had 
 no Germans; for, having tried them, after endless 
 difficulties we had sent them away. Those of the 
 southern enemy's country, on the contrary, frater- 
 nized with our own people easily, and were polite, 
 good-natured, and grateful. Paid much less than 
 other workmen, but fed, housed, and clothed com- 
 fortably, their coming among us was a wise solution 
 of the government's problem to take care of so many 
 captured men; also it solved the problem of carry- 
 ing on the nation's life agriculturally. 
 
 It seemed strange after months of war, to find the 
 southern villages working, living, and singing with 
 more intensity than ever before ! I was so inter- 
 ested in the phenomena that I studied our pro- 
 vincial frame with great curiosity, and I went 
 
26 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 into details as if the place had been in my own 
 hands for administration. Not only were the 
 women awake and working for themselves, but in 
 the Princess's lace and carpet school the attendance 
 was much better than heretofore. Then the older 
 men of the town had organized the general provi- 
 sioning so intelligently that they held extra grain to 
 sell. Children in the schools showed themselves 
 excellent pupils as compared with ancient times, 
 and they had learned pieces and games for their 
 celebration of the Christmas festival, which we at- 
 tended, as if they had been cultivated and progres- 
 sive for generations past. 
 
 The priest came to see us one day, and during a 
 long talk I discovered he had in his care twelve 
 thousand roubles, the savings of the villagers, while 
 thirty-five thousand more reposed at the post- 
 office. Also, he said there was an effort on foot to 
 replace the public vodka shop with a sort of peo- 
 ple's amusement hall, and he wanted us to give the 
 land and building for this use, the village to con- 
 tribute the work of installation. It was to be used 
 for theatricals, played by the villagers, and for con- 
 certs and lectures, or a travelling movie show now 
 and again ! Of course we entered heartily into his 
 scheme, and soon I began to realize that this priest, 
 who had come to us full of zeal only two years or 
 so before, was the worker of many miracles I had 
 witnessed. 
 
 Instead of being the browbeaten, miserable crea- 
 ture the Russian village priest generally was, this 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 27 
 
 one was a man of great energy and faith, who had 
 used the events of the moment to draw his people 
 to him, and into a path of progress, in which he 
 rightly saw their only chance of development. He 
 and his wife lived among their flock in mind and 
 soul as well as body; and they preached more by their 
 example than in words. His services in church were 
 as short as the law allowed, and were better attend- 
 ed than those of olden days had been. On Janu- 
 ary 6, for the "Feast of the Three Kings," when all 
 over Russia the waters are blessed, he had made 
 every one of the villagers take an interested part in 
 the ceremonies. A great crystal house of ice was 
 sparkling on the village lake for days, which had 
 been built as a chapel by willing hands, amid laugh- 
 ter and singing, under the father's eye. 
 
 He told me of two cases where a "mauvais sujet" 
 of the village had been reformed by war. The 
 dangers on the firing-line had sobered these men 
 and made them think, said "Batioushka" ("Little 
 Father," the title used in speaking to our Russian 
 priests), and they had come back to confession at 
 their first leave from the front. One, who had 
 money, had even bought two new banners for the 
 church processionals, and with these he had come 
 humbly one day to the altar during the Sunday 
 mass, saying he wished to make public avowal of 
 his sins and reparation to the church before going 
 out to fight again. Till now he drank and spent 
 his money as he should not have done, he said; 
 and he offered these banners as a gauge of reform ! 
 
28 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 "No, .Highness; this war is our great opportunity; 
 it has suppressed our worst enemy the drink; it 
 has awakened our people and made them think; it 
 has given the women work and independence, and 
 brought us riches through the wise financial arrange- 
 ments of the government; and suddenly we are 
 civilized !" 
 
 And it was really true ; but not many villages had 
 as their pastor a man so capable of leading them. 
 I was enchanted with what I discovered, and I took 
 great pleasure in writing to one or two Cabinet min- 
 isters the impressions of their work which one got 
 when one stood far off. The echo of their efforts 
 rang clear in our province. ... I discovered they 
 felt very grateful for the news I gave them, and one 
 of them even asked me for details as to special facts 
 connected with the people's needs. 
 
 In the midst of their discouragements in the cap- 
 ital, where they were at war with the hideous 
 occult propaganda, already flourishing at court, 
 such patriots as were our liberal-minded ministers in 
 1916 were glad to know that some group was aided 
 by their thought and care, and that from all their 
 planting, somewhere fruits were grown. Each one 
 of them complained to me of the terrible and radical 
 difficulty in a scheme of government so centralized 
 that much of their labor was necessarily lost. Never 
 could they see results or divine needs; and, at best, 
 they were in the hands of provincial officials who 
 might be good, bad, or indifferent, truthful or not 
 in their reports. 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 29 
 
 Once, toward the winter's end, I had a most 
 delightfully interesting experience. I had gone to 
 Kief, spending two days with my husband, who, 
 being sent there on military business, from the front, 
 had wired me to meet him. The day before I was 
 to return to Bouromka, a telegram from my mother- 
 in-law told me that the usual road from our rail- 
 road station to the chateau was impracticable, as 
 a bridge had broken down. Would I, therefore, in- 
 stead of the habitual express-train to Lubny, take 
 the more roundabout and complicated route from 
 Kief to a small station called Palmyra ? Of course 
 I had to do it; and I started at five o'clock (before 
 daylight) the following day, hoping to dine at 
 home that evening. 
 
 It was cold, and heavy snow covered the ground, 
 but a clear sky promised for a later cheerful, sunny 
 day. . . . About two in the afternoon I reached 
 the small junction where I must change trains, and 
 I found the station building overflowing with refu- 
 gees from Poland, mostly Israelites, and judging 
 by their aspects fairly prosperous ones. Probably 
 the unhappy creatures came from the small provin- 
 cial towns fallen recently into the enemy's hands. 
 They all had large families, and seemed to have ready 
 money in their pockets; but there were such num- 
 bers that they and their effects were piled up every- 
 where, and the countless children scrambled over 
 furniture, trunks, bags, and bundles, even in the 
 first-class waiting-room. Everything had been eaten 
 from the food counter of the small restaurant. As 
 
30 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 the baggage-carrier put down our dressing-cases a 
 mass of youngsters, delighting in the new experi- 
 ence, crawled over my things like flies, and took 
 possession. 
 
 The station rooms were dreadfully close, and the 
 smell of varied unwashed humanity, with flavors of 
 boots, onions, and sour milk lingered in the over- 
 heated atmosphere, which was thick with the smoke 
 from many cigarettes. My train for home was to 
 stop at this junction according to the time-table 
 in an hour; so, ordering tea, I drew out a book 
 and resigned myself to discomfort, since it was in- 
 evitable. My maid went out to walk, unable to 
 make up her mind to endure our surroundings, and 
 in a few moments she returned to me with a worried 
 face, saying: "Highness, there is no train for our 
 destination to-day. The one we counted on has 
 been removed as a war measure, and they say we 
 must remain till to-morrow noon before we can go 
 farther." 
 
 It was a serious matter, as I had expected to reach 
 home at least in time to sleep there, and the Bou- 
 romka horses must be already awaiting me at Pal- 
 myra. I sent for the station-master, and he in- 
 vited me into his private office while we discussed 
 possibilities. ... 
 
 I was but forty versts from my destination, yet 
 entirely unable to get there; and a night in the 
 company of the poor refugees, spent seated on an 
 upright chair and without food, promised to be 
 most disagreeable. The tiny village had no horses 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 31 
 
 for hire, or I, might have driven; and since the war 
 began it had been impossible, of course, to get a 
 locomotive with a special car attached, as one could 
 have done of old. In answer to all my questions I 
 found the station-master full of apologies and nega- 
 tives. 
 
 Seeing my disappointment, and because I said I 
 would do almost anything rather than spend the 
 night in such hideous surroundings, he came to me 
 shortly afterward with an original proposal. He 
 said he had just received the signal of a freight-train 
 going in my direction, and to which was attached 
 a warm car "tepliouchka." Probably there would 
 be occupants in it peasants and soldiers; but an 
 officer who was anxious to push on had asked to use 
 this means of travel, and a little peasant woman 
 was going too. Would I, with my maid, care to 
 take this means to advance upon our road ? It was 
 the best he could offer us till to-morrow's train went 
 through, and he was profuse in his repeated excuses. 
 
 After a moment's hesitation I accepted, asking 
 him what sort of people usually travelled in 
 these parts in such conveyances ? He answered he 
 thought I would find them quiet and well-behaved; 
 so, though it seemed rather an adventure, I thanked 
 the man for his kindness and accepted his invitation. 
 
 About six-thirty, with the evening already dark, 
 the train came rolling slowly in, and the station- 
 master escorted Elene and me to our new-style 
 railroad-carriage. He and others helped us up to 
 the great side door of the freight-car, where I stood 
 
32 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 still a moment to get my bearings by the dim 
 light of a small lantern which contained a single 
 burning candle-end. I found myself in a car where 
 the centre of the floor was covered by a sheet of 
 tin, nailed down, on which stood a small red-hot 
 iron stove; its pipe ran upward through a hole in 
 the roof cut to fit it. A pile of wood was near, and 
 warm dry ashes covered the tin flooring a com- 
 fortable cushion to put cold feet into ! Round this 
 stood half-a-dozen boxes in lieu of seats. 
 
 All this arrangement took up somewhat over a 
 third of the interior floor space of the car, while 
 at each end were built two rough, deep shelves 
 of pine-wood one knee-high, one shoulder-high 
 where men could sleep, making their berths length- 
 wise into the depths, with their feet, or their heads, 
 optionally, toward the fire and their baggage piled 
 beyond them against the end walls. Soldiers usually 
 travelled in these cars forty or more, for ten men 
 were counted to each shelf -bed and lately the gov- 
 ernment had used these same conveyances to house 
 the refugees; but it was my first sight of the interior 
 of one. 
 
 My bags and Elne were hoisted in after me, and 
 the station-master said in a loud voice: "Please be- 
 have yourselves, children, and be careful of the 
 lady. She must go to Palmyra, and I have said 
 she should be comfortable here. Don't smoke. " 
 I thanked him in my best words, added to a bank- 
 note, with which he seemed pleased; and then I 
 turned toward my new companions. "Good eve- 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 33 
 
 ning !" I said. "The station-master is mistaken, for 
 I don't mind smoke, and I will join you with a 
 cigarette." And I drew one from my bag and 
 lighted it. 
 
 Scattered about on the shelf-beds were some 
 dozen men in sheepskin cloaks and heavy boots, 
 peasants evidently, dirty from their toil, and all 
 heavily bearded. They were either asleep or 
 drowsily watching the fire with contented faces. 
 A few soldiers were among them, resting, too, but 
 strikingly spick and span in comparison with their 
 uncouth neighbors. About the fire, beside the officer 
 (who had been equally in a hurry with me to leave 
 the junction), my Elene, myself, and the young vil- 
 lage matron, were gathered two brakemen of our 
 train, who were ofl duty, and three soldiers, wide- 
 awake and eating some provisions, which they 
 divided with two elderly peasants. 
 
 The head brakeman, full of zeal, saw to our 
 baggage, piling it in a corner; and then he gave me 
 a narrow bench he had been sitting on himself near 
 the fire. He probably guessed I was visiting such 
 surroundings for the first time, and with amiable 
 good-will he set out to make me feel at home. All 
 the men who were awake had replied quietly to my 
 greeting, and as I seated myself and looked about 
 I felt in a most congenial atmosphere of hospitality, 
 tempered with curiosity. But I was inquisitive and 
 I looked forward to having a very interesting trip. 
 
 I first inquired how long it would be before we 
 reached my station. "There is one other before 
 
34 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 yours, Barina (lady), where we shall stop a while: 
 then we go on. And as we have a good engine 
 to-day we shall soon reach Palmyra." There was 
 a smell of leather in the car, and the cheap tobacco 
 of the peasants was very strong, but the man who 
 made me his special care opened the door a crack 
 for air, saying: "So the Barina shall not find it too 
 much." He also gave me his big sheepskin-lined 
 coat, folding it up for me to sit on like a cushion, 
 and he drew my seat nearer the stove, so I could 
 have my feet on the warm ashes. Then, asking 
 permission politely, he sat down next me, and I 
 prepared for conversation. 
 
 Elene, on my left, was established on our bags, 
 quite silent, evidently much less pleased with our 
 adventure than I. Next her was the little village 
 matron, very quaint and dignified, well dressed and 
 with a charming rosy face. I began to talk to her, 
 and soon she was telling us all of her trip to the 
 great city of Kief, where she had visited her husband, 
 a wounded soldier in one of the hospitals there. It 
 had been good to see him again. He was well cared 
 for and would soon recover; and then he was to 
 come home to the village for his convalescence. 
 She hoped this might be by Easter time. Mean- 
 time she was bringing apples and toys to the chil- 
 dren, of whom she had two, aged two and three 
 years. 
 
 I was duly sympathetic, and told her my hus- 
 band was a soldier also, and had been wounded 
 early in the war, but he was now well again and 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 35 
 
 back under fire; I had also been to Kief to see him 
 and to spend two days there. I was also going 
 back with some toys for my children, who were 
 much older, however, than were hers. One of the 
 soldiers, touching his fur cap, joined in to ask on 
 what front my husband served and where he had 
 been wounded. I gave details of the wound, but 
 only said he was now commanding a cavalry regi- 
 ment which had been dismounted and put into the 
 trenches recently on the Polish front. 
 
 I neglected to mention Cantacuzene's name and 
 actual rank, as it might have impressed the little 
 company sufficiently to keep them silent, which I 
 should have regretted deeply, as we were just begin- 
 ning to get on famously. Anyhow, Cantacuzene's 
 part of the battle-line and the soldier's were not the 
 same, so the latter went on to tell us of his own 
 unit's advance through Galicia, and of the difficul- 
 ties our men from the steppes found climbing high 
 mountains and fighting above the snow line, remain- 
 ing there for long months without ever having had 
 previous training in high altitudes. 
 
 He said the retreat of a year ago had been tire- 
 some "skoutchno"; but he did not think of com- 
 plaining about our armies lacking arms and am- 
 munition during that time. He said they held on, 
 of course, as much as they could, "because the 
 Grand Duke said they must." Then he looked 
 troubled and said: "Now the Grand Duke is no 
 longer at the staff?" "No; now he is in the Cau- 
 casus, and the Emperor is commanding all the 
 
36 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 armies and living at the staff," I replied: "Yes; 
 now it is the Emperor. ..." But the soldier's 
 voice and face lacked enthusiasm, I thought, and 
 the subject was dropped without further comment. 
 
 Then the next soldier joined in the conversation. 
 "I have a newspaper here, and it tells of the fall 
 of Erzeroum and the Grand Duke's capture of that 
 fortress," he stated. The others knew only that the 
 great Turkish town had fallen; so his story was 
 listened to with renewed animation, and the owner 
 of the news sheet was given our only lantern to read 
 by. Slowly and haltingly he spelled out and gave 
 us the details of the old chief's latest victory; and 
 even the peasants were immediately absorbed and 
 followed the reading attentively in an effort to un- 
 derstand. It was complicated for them, however, 
 since they spoke only the Little-Russian dialect, 
 and the paper was in the northern language. How- 
 ever, the soldiers not only could read Russian, but 
 spoke the other also; and the villagers were so keen 
 that doubtless they took on faith what they could 
 not fully comprehend of the exciting recital. 
 
 One of them, an old peasant, volunteered some 
 remarks on his own account afterward. He had 
 heard much of the war and of politics these days. . . . 
 "Now it was not as in the old times, when one did 
 not know what was happening in the world. ..." 
 For instance, he had heard there were great changes 
 in the capital, which he did not understand. . . . 
 "Why did the Czar go away to the staff ? . . . And 
 why was there so much trouble about politics ? . . ." 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 37 
 
 I plunged into explanations, in my turn, and 
 tried to tell him, how there had been a mix-up 
 among the ministers, and that the Prime Minister, 
 Gorymeldne, had left because he did not want the 
 people's Duma to take part in the government; 
 but that the Emperor had wished for the Duma, 
 and had presently called it together again, going 
 in person to its inauguration. His Majesty had also 
 named a new minister, Sturmer, who every one 
 thought would be liberal and would push the war 
 by helping our troops at the front in every way. 
 
 My Russian, at best, is very sketchy, and I scarcely 
 speak Little-Russian at all; but the soldiers helped 
 me, and after a long time the picturesque old crea- 
 ture I was addressing looked illuminated. "It is I 
 who am starost (elder or mayor) of my village," he 
 said, "and if I desire to do and decide all myself, 
 I am like that old minister; while if I desire to ask 
 advice of others I am like the new man. But some- 
 times, when things are in this last manner, the others 
 wish to give too much advice. . . . And then what 
 can one do, Banna?" 
 
 He was altogether delightful in his naivete, and 
 as he had evidently seized the point so well, we 
 went on to other topics, less difficult. He informed 
 me that the peasants in the car were "hlopsi" 
 (fellows) who were going down to Tcherkass, on 
 the Dnieper River, to dig trenches against the Ger- 
 man invasion. "And this was very fine profitable 
 work, as men were paid one rouble and a half a day 
 there; when at home in the village eighty kopecks 
 
S8 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 or at most a rouble was all one could earn in 
 a day." 
 
 In a Corner of the upper berth on our right, a 
 company of four men had awakened; and, produc- 
 ing a candle and a greasy pack of cards, they began 
 to play some game, while various others scrambled 
 up about them and looked on, absorbed by the 
 changing luck. One big fellow was losing and com- 
 plaining of it; and finally, when the game ended, it 
 turned out he had played expecting only to win, 
 and that he had no kopecks to pay his debt of honor. 
 The group was indignant with him and their voices 
 grew louder. My friend the brakeman, and also 
 the officer, glanced up anxiously, as the culprit sud- 
 denly said something evidently a taunt in a half 
 tone. The answer rang out in indignation; and it 
 was: ''If the Barina were not here I would tell thee 
 what I think of thee !" Then there was silence and 
 the game went on, the delicate question being left 
 to later settlement. I had never received a com- 
 pliment which pleased me better; and I felt quite 
 comfortable for the rest of our trip, and rather 
 ashamed of having transferred my revolver from 
 my dressing-case to my pocket before starting out 
 with this company of chivalrous gentlemen. 
 
 As conversation lagged I said I would sleep; and 
 at once my little bench was moved back for me 
 nearer the wall, so I might have something against 
 which to lean. Using my muff for a pillow, I rested 
 with comparative comfort, and watched my com- 
 panions through half -closed eyes. I saw my brake- 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 39 
 
 man turn the lantern till its light was off my face; 
 and then he made up the fire, murmuring that it 
 would last a long time and I should, therefore, be- 
 undisturbed. The regular noise of the car and the 
 lowered voices of my companions lulled me into a 
 doze, and I forgot them for a while. . . . 
 
 When I awoke they were all sitting in the same 
 places, save the officer and the little peasant woman, 
 who were leaving the train, which had stopped. 
 We stayed at this station some time, and the brake- 
 man offered to bring me tea. . . . Then we moved 
 on for another hour or so, and the men asked me 
 discreet questions, in order to identify me if they 
 could. I told them I was a proprietor of the dis- 
 trict, and owned a small place not far from Palmyra. 
 Then some one volunteered that the country about 
 there was pretty and rich. I agreed; whereupon he 
 said: "All that part of the province is good, and 
 there are many large estates belonging to great 
 people. . . ." 
 
 For instance, he had heard of Bouromka and the 
 Cantacuzene Princes there. ... I said: "I know 
 the Bouromka village from having driven through 
 it; indeed, it is very fine and big." Whereupon he 
 looked disappointed and evidently thought he had 
 guessed wrongly, though he did not mention this 
 fact. When they heard me say our horses were wait- 
 ing for me, they all looked quite excited and child- 
 ishly interested. How many would there be ? And 
 were they mine ? . . . 
 
 The tickets were gathered up just before we 
 
40 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 reached Palmyra, and every one was enchanted 
 when I gave ours, for they were for first-class places, 
 and my new friends decided that such had never 
 been seen in a car like this before. As time passed 
 the tone of our company remained quiet and digni- 
 fied, and to the end all these men of the people 
 were full of care and kindness, both for my maid 
 and for me. We were their guests, and with their 
 beautiful Oriental ideas of hospitality they gave us 
 every respectful attention. 
 
 At last we reached Palmyra, about midnight, 
 having taken five hours to do forty versts. We 
 drew up far beyond the platform of the tiny station, 
 and I looked out. It was a fine moonlight night, 
 but near the car the snow seemed knee-deep or 
 more; and, though I had on rather heavy boots, 
 to jump into that appeared a discouraging pros- 
 pect. I drew back into the car. "Will some of 
 you go down and take our bags? Then I can 
 jump to them," I said. 
 
 I made it a general suggestion, and I was im- 
 mediately answered by my special brakeman, who 
 was fastening on his heavy coat. "One moment, 
 and I will arrange everything," he said. "You 
 soldiers take those bags and carry them to the sta- 
 tion platform," he continued; and the military ele- 
 ment at once let themselves down to the ground, 
 took our things, which the brakeman handed out, 
 and marched off to the station, tramping a path for 
 us, while our bags were not even touched by the 
 snow. 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 41 
 
 Then the brakeman himself went down and his 
 comrade followed him. The train-master also came 
 out to see. Turning toward me, my friend said: 
 "Please jump now, Banna, and I will catch you." 
 
 I jumped, blindly obedient, and he caught me 
 easily, never allowing, my feet to get wet; and he 
 carried me like a small child all the way to the 
 station. 
 
 Naturally I began to protest, saying I could walk 
 without damage to my heavy boots. "Are those 
 little things heavy boots, I should like to know?" 
 he answered amiably. "They would be spoiled, 
 and you would then feel cold; so I shall carry you, 
 Barina, for I am well protected and used to this 
 rough life." 
 
 On leaving the train I had said good-by and 
 thank you to all my companions, who had replied 
 with enthusiasm, telling me I had been welcome ! 
 Now, I had to thank the soldiers and the brakeman 
 who had taken care of us and our possessions, and 
 had made such a success of the trip. To these I 
 gave some bills, large enough, I hoped, to prove to 
 them my very real gratitude ; and I told them quite 
 sincerely that I had never had a more interesting 
 or agreeable trip. 
 
 In turn, they all thanked me politely, and wished 
 me good luck on my further journey. My special 
 friend, the brakeman, even went to see whether 
 the wife of the station-master could lend me her 
 "samovar," so Elne might make our tea. Inci- 
 dentally he had evidently investigated about the 
 
42 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 carriage and horses, and had found out my name, 
 for when he returned to me he gave me my title 
 instead of the impersonal "Banna" he had used 
 till then. 
 
 Finally he hastened off to his train, and as I 
 drank my tea I heard it depart, and wondered 
 whether those in the car were all learning who I was, 
 and were feeling as pleased with the money I had 
 sent them as I was feeling enchanted with them and 
 their sociable qualities. 
 
 Later, when the horses had been harnessed amid 
 a great to-do for the coachman and his aid had 
 not expected me to arrive on a freight-train, and 
 had settled down for the night I drove home with 
 Elene through the dawn and reached Bouromka 
 before its household was out of bed. 
 
 The Princess was greatly shocked at my escapade 
 thought it had been most dangerous; and she 
 "only hoped I had told whose wife I was before 
 starting to protect myself ! . . ." 
 
 That I had not done so, but had preferred being 
 the guest and friend of my companions, was "in- 
 comprehensible ! . . ." Though she tried to see 
 the joke, she never admitted that with our gentle 
 people I was quite safe or could have been com- 
 fortable; and she always called the story "an ex- 
 ample of American folly!" 
 
 As to old nurse, her indignation was equally in- 
 tense; and she insisted that both Elne and I should 
 have baths and wash our hair, changing everything 
 we wore, before we approached "her" children! 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 43 
 
 Of course the latter were delighted with the excit- 
 ing tale of my adventure, and only too sorry they 
 had missed the party which had been such fun. 
 ''When may we travel in a tepliouchka, mamma?'* 
 they begged. . . . The rest of the family also 
 seemed to approve and to enjoy my experience 
 vastly. . . . 
 
 Soon spring was on us and the steppes lay under 
 a broad sheet of water as the snow melted down. 
 It made a splendid sight. It was as if the chateau 
 and park and the forests stood up, fairy islands in 
 a great calm sea. The sky was blue, the air soft, 
 and a few birds and blossoms began to appear. 
 
 I can't describe the charm of the yearly awaken- 
 ing of earth and people in our provinces of Little- 
 Russia, which are quite especially beautiful at that 
 season. 
 
 Yet, just then I was obliged to leave and go north- 
 ward. My boy, who had fallen ill, claimed me; 
 and from that time on I was so tied down by the 
 care his ill health necessitated, and by my Red Cross 
 work, I never did get back to the country again, 
 except in passing. In 1917 came the great revolu- 
 tion. Our people, after most moderate behavior 
 during the first eight months, received the special 
 visit of a committee which came to live among them 
 and to direct the political and economic movements 
 at Bouromka. 
 
 The village was fed up on vodka and fiery propa- 
 ganda for a time, until the peasants were guided to 
 the committing of wild excesses. , . . Our farm- 
 
44 . RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 buildings were all burned with their contents of 
 implements, and all our blooded stock was divided 
 up among the participants in these disorders, or 
 killed outright, or was simply scattered over the 
 broad plains. Then the distillery and the house 
 cellars were broken into, and finally the chateau 
 itself was burned one night. The whole place be- 
 came desolate finally. 
 
 The frame of the old life is gone and we exiles 
 have no news now save what reaches us indirectly. 
 Our intendants have been banished to the district 
 town; but, strangely enough, two of the worst revo- 
 lutionaries of 1905 are trying to represent our inter- 
 ests at Bouromka, and to gather the scattered stock 
 and property. They even re-established relations 
 with the intendants, their ex-chiefs, this past autumn, 
 1918; but, though apparently full of zeal, in the gen- 
 eral chaos, of course they have little power and no 
 plans. 
 
 The village, having lost the advantage of its labor 
 on the estate, at wages which meant a yearly in- 
 come of over one hundred and fifty thousand roubles 
 per season to the workmen employed, is now utterly 
 poor in money and provisions; while the charities, 
 care, and pensions which our family used to give the 
 ill or old (and which have, of course, automatically 
 ceased) are sadly missed. 
 
 The fields lie fallow, since the peasants lack or- 
 ganization, knowledge, and the implements to till 
 them. All this has been wantonly destroyed. 
 Twenty-five thousand acres can mean nothing with- 
 
PROPRIETORS AND PEASANTS 45 
 
 out cultivation, so distress and famine roam our 
 land, and no one knows what plague the next seasons 
 may bring. 
 
 Russian proprietors admit that the patriarchal 
 system has ended as completely as did the feudal 
 days of France in her revolution; yet few among our 
 nobility have lost faith in the future. All those I 
 know seem ready to work out our great problems 
 and to begin national life anew, with fresh under- 
 standing and good-will to build upon. 
 
 I am glad, for my part whatever the future may 
 be that I lived in a time to know the old condi- 
 tions and the ancient frame of our existence as it 
 was, with its soft charm. Also, I rejoice that I 
 spent those last months of a war winter among our 
 picturesque people, and that I felt their care ! 
 Such memories help one to forgive and to forget 
 the worst of what has passed and is still happening, 
 and to recall only the beauty and the best of our 
 ancient "Holy Russia." 
 
II 
 
 REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 
 
 IT was Easter Eve, 1916. All the village of 
 Bouromka was assembled in the church or in 
 the latter's garden on the hilltop. The people 
 listened to the chanted service, then bowed in 
 prayer low to the ground, following their ancient 
 rites with a respect and devotion which war had 
 renewed and strengthened. The three great door- 
 ways were left wide open, as were all the windows, 
 admitting the fragrance of damp earth, fresh leaves, 
 and spring blossoms, to rival that of the incense. 
 A starry soft night it was, long to be remembered 
 in the annals of this quaint corner of the world, 
 which had been passed over by modern civilization 
 and lived still in the ways of long ago. 
 
 The " seigneurs" from the castle were present, 
 in their own "loge," high above the multitude en- 
 throned in feudal power; the handsome elderly Prin- 
 cess, with her well-drawn French features, unmis- 
 takable Paris coiffure, and smart dress of pearl- 
 gray, stood in the centre of the group, surrounded 
 by her children and grandchildren. Between the 
 genuflexions, which she exaggerated by way of ex- 
 ample always, her attention wandered and she 
 gently beat time to the measure of the chant and 
 gazed about at her peasantry. She noted with un- 
 
 4$ 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 47 
 
 disguised pride the splendor of the church decora- 
 tions she had given, the richness of the priest's robes 
 and of the ceremonial, as well as the prosperous air 
 of the congregation at her feet. She was taking 
 great credit to herself for their progress in such 
 branches of science as she had willed, and for the 
 well-being her encouragement had caused to be in- 
 troduced. 
 
 At midnight the "Halleluia Chant," most beau- 
 tiful of all those in the Orthodox ceremonials, began. 
 The priest intoned his " Christ has risen," and the 
 thrilling, vibrating chorus of melodious Slav voices 
 followed his with the reply: "In verity He is risen !" 
 Repeated, it soared up and up, until the magnificent 
 rejoicing reached the zenith of its volume and broke 
 against the church's high-domed roof. In every 
 hand appeared a tiny lighted taper at this moment, 
 and the procession formed to march around the 
 church garden, the priest leading, with his deacons 
 spreading incense, the Princess and her children 
 following him; then came our intendants and re- 
 tainers; after them the village elders and all the gen- 
 eral congregation, down to the last poor mendicant, 
 fell into line. It was a wonderful sight in the per- 
 fumed night of Little-Russia, which the twinkling 
 stars gazed down upon. When the procession ended 
 and all returned to their places once more, there 
 was still the solemn mass, with its tale of death 
 overcome and vanquished for the saving of the 
 world. The tapers were extinguished, and all was 
 quiet save for the voice of our young priest inton- 
 
48 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 ing slowly and impressively. Tiring of the lengthy 
 service, my twelve-year-old girl turned her gaze out 
 through the doorway, over the crowd's heads, 
 toward the chateau's park and to the ancient grass- 
 grown "gorodok," or fortress, which had been of 
 old a stronghold of the Cossacks against attacking 
 forces from the plains. Little Bertha's soft, big 
 brown eyes suddenly lost their dreaminess and she 
 grew intense. She leaned toward her uncle and 
 spoke in a vibrant whisper: "Uncle Guishka, do 
 look. . . . Over there on the gorodok, see what is 
 happening." He too glanced up sharply, and with 
 a muttered exclamation he disappeared from the 
 back of the loge, dragging with him out of the 
 church our head intendant, whose aids followed. 
 The village chief of police went as well. They held 
 a short consultation, and my brother-in-law pointed 
 toward the park. Then six men seized their horses, 
 and with click of spurs jumped onto these and 
 were gone. Guishka returned to the loge and every 
 eye was on him. All the family, who by this time 
 had been informed of little Bertha's discovery, were 
 staring with anxious expressions in the direction of 
 the overgrown fortress. "What an idea ! " said the 
 old Princess, audibly disdainful, and then she put 
 up her lorgnon and she turned pale. The church- 
 goers were naturally distracted from their devo- 
 tions, and with open-eyed amazement they looked 
 out into the night, while Batioushka finished the mass 
 lamely, said a hasty benediction, took off his gay- 
 flowered robes of brocade, and joined his flock. 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 49 
 
 "What is it, my children?" "Eh, Batioushka, see; 
 it is the signal; a great disaster threatens; over there 
 the fire dances, and we all know what that portends. 
 Tell about it, Diadia Ivan." And Uncle Ivan 
 stepped forward, leaning on his stick, and told how 
 in the times almost forgotten the Cossacks had 
 robbed and tortured, then murdered, some innocent 
 victims here in their fortress, and how in memory 
 of the crime the souls of these returned from time 
 to time through the ages as dancing torches of flame, 
 and visited the spot of their martyrdom. The last 
 time it occurred had been at midnight on Easter 
 of the year when the Princess Marie-Alexandrovna 
 died. This her death had been a terrible blow to 
 Bouromka, and: "Who knows what calamity men- 
 aces us at present, with the war still going on ? 
 See, Batioushka, there dance the torches now, 
 several of them over above the gorodok; I heard 
 his Highness telling Michael-Petrovitch and the 
 other intendants, as well as the police, to go fetch 
 the miscreants who would invent such a masquerade 
 and frighten us all to-night. True, Batioushka, it 
 means disaster, unless it is a game of the youngsters ; 
 for never has the miracle been seen without fore- 
 shadowing great trouble to our people." The ap- 
 parition of the torches had somewhat dampened the 
 spirit of revelry appropriate to Russian Easter. 
 Probably their gayety returned, however, after the 
 peasants scattered to their spreads of Easter dishes, 
 with which tradition and the church bade them break 
 their three days' fast. At the chateau the Princess 
 
50 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 tried at first to overcome the weight of anxiety 
 among her guests with her Western scepticism and 
 Gallic wit, brought to bear on the flames ; but, seeing 
 faces still preoccupied around her, she finally changed 
 her subject of conversation, till by an effort supper 
 became cheerful again. . . . Later the police re- 
 turned, reporting they had gone over every foot of 
 the old earthworks, and not a soul was found there, 
 nor was the phenomenon of the torches visible to 
 them as they stood on the spot, though it was seen 
 by them and every one else once outside the bounda- 
 ries. Their tale was merely treated as "interesting" 
 by the Princess, while the rest of the family re- 
 mained cast down, with a premonition of trouble. 
 The grandchildren were delighted, however, to have 
 "seen a fairy-tale." Each one of the group won- 
 dered what would be the outcome ? The old Prin- 
 cess finally decided, and announced laughingly, it 
 must mean her death within the year. 
 
 But the war went on and neither the Princess nor 
 her soldier sons died. Nor did any scourge strike 
 Bouromka village and its inhabitants. On the 
 contrary, after eleven months, came news of the 
 revolution, in .March, 1917, and that all men were 
 grown free and equal. The people immediately 
 began to prepare for a millennium. Were not the 
 magic words of "land to be given away" part of 
 each motto, announcement, or speech made by the 
 new government ? And to our peasants this was 
 always synonymous with progress, riches, and hap- 
 piness, though of late years their needs and troubles 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 51 
 
 had been less felt with their acquisition of small 
 individual holdings. So, with hearts full of hope, 
 Bouromka inhabitants embraced the new ideals of 
 the revolution, as they understood them. . . ; . 
 
 Time passed, the revolution was eighteen months 
 old, and it was the autumn of 1918, the season when 
 the Slav peasants like to think of a long peaceful 
 winter ahead and to sleep with a well-mended roof 
 covering them, a high pile of fire- wood near the door, 
 and with grain and other food in their barns to be 
 used for fattening cattle, as well as men. All this 
 had seemed good in days before the revolution, and 
 there had been also then a share of comfortable 
 ready money in each man's pocket, which came to 
 him from the chateau near by for harvest work. . . . 
 Now things were very different, however, after a 
 year and a half of independence. In spite of the 
 new liberty, life was dreadfully hard worse even 
 than when as serfs on this place the people had lived 
 under absolute masters, for here the latter were kind 
 and paternal always. Those who among the peas- 
 antry had had to do with the great household had 
 been treated like children of her house by the old 
 Princess Marie-Alexandrovna. She had loved them 
 and felt responsible for their happiness. Her own 
 grandfather's mother had been a peasant woman, 
 married to the village priest, and had lived in 
 poverty until her son became Prime Minister. Then 
 he and she were made vastly rich by his sovereign's 
 gratitude. Among the family portraits at Bou- 
 romka hung that of this old peasant woman, in her 
 
52 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 national dress, with a pleased smile upon her face; 
 perhaps because she found herself thus placed among 
 the great lords in uniform, and the fine ladies in 
 court dress. Old Moses-Kouzmitch and Uncle 
 Peter, who were still respectively the retired butler 
 and the eldest gardener, dimly remembered Speran- 
 sky himself, when in their childhood they had served 
 his daughter, as they had later his granddaugh- 
 ter, the Princess Marie-Alexandrovna Cantacuzene. 
 This second woman was the one they all had adored, 
 for she had cared for her peasantry with her 
 own hands during the cholera epidemic of the six- 
 ties, when all over the province the people had died 
 like flies, save only on the fair domains of Bou- 
 romka. There she had built a great hospital. She 
 herself had stayed in it for many weeks among the 
 ailing, giving them drops and pills, which helped to 
 cure the scourge. They had refused to take rem- 
 edies from the government doctors, because rumor 
 told these men were sent to give the poor serfs 
 poison, so even if they escaped the cholera, they 
 would die of something else. Memory held many 
 anecdotes of Princess Marie-Alexandrovna. She 
 had allowed her peasants to marry as they liked, and 
 had treated them always gently, as no one had ever 
 done before. All those who had served her were 
 devoted to the house. She had lived at Bouromka 
 through her whole lifetime, save when now and then 
 she made a short trip to Italy or to Odessa, and once 
 or twice had gone to court at St. Petersburg. The 
 money drawn from her lands had been mainly spent 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 53 
 
 on them. Her boy, and only child, had been brought 
 up at Bouromka, and he had loved the place and 
 studied the people and their needs like his mother. 
 Before he went off to Odessa's university, the old 
 Princess had asked the Emperor to allow him to 
 bear the name and title of her own grandfather, 
 Speransky (who had been the priest's son, and be- 
 came the greatest man of his time). This favor was 
 granted by imperial decree, and the young Prince 
 Cantacuzene became Count Speransky also. He 
 went out into the world then to study, married 
 and had children, while Bouromka's vast steppe- 
 lands, its forests, and its three large villages were 
 still administered by his mother till her death. She 
 faced many complications at the abolition of the 
 serfage, also the problems which had come up as 
 results therefrom. Heavy taxes and the freed peas- 
 ant's work in house and field must be paid for, but 
 the brave old woman had not despaired. She had 
 labored on, using the small sums of which she could 
 dispose for improvements on the place, and for her 
 boy; also to help her people still, though she no 
 longer owned them, except in their voluntary al- 
 legiance. In the eighties the old lady died, and was 
 deeply mourned by a devoted people, who ever since 
 venerated her memory. After her death the young 
 Prince with his French wife came back to reign in 
 Bouromka, but he himself was of fragile health and 
 lived only a few years. His share in the estate's 
 development consisted mainly of some handsome ad- 
 ditions to the chateau, and of farm-buildings put 
 
54 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 up on the newest lines. The people were fond of 
 him mainly for their remembrance of his youth, 
 which had been spent among them at his mother's 
 side, so they spoke of him and his kindly ways, 
 and wept sincerely when he was laid near Marie- 
 Alexandrovna, on the hilltop by the picturesque 
 church which they two had built together. Both 
 these people had managed to avoid the fate which 
 overtook most Russ an proprietors after the emanci- 
 pation. In spite of the necessity of paying heavily 
 for labor, they had kept clear of debt. It had been 
 but small compensation the government gave for 
 the serfs' value, and for the property given these 
 (which for us consisted of a half Bouromka's land). 
 The change meant a great loss in acres and in 
 " souls" to the ex-masters, but by careful living the 
 Prince, like his mother, left to his heirs estates free 
 of all mortgages, with a contented populace, full of 
 affectionate gratitude, living upon them. 
 
 The French Princess brought many theories from 
 her country with her, also immense energy. With 
 conviction she took hold and pressed upon her Rus- 
 sian people reforms and developments such as she 
 had seen in her own land. Under her direction 
 much was done and with great effort, to bring the 
 peasants forward. New instruments and seeds, 
 new plants and trees, new blooded cattle, new build- 
 ings, much new machinery, a distillery, and a mill 
 marked her road through life. The servants coming 
 from the village to work in the cMteau were intro- 
 duced for the first time to real beds, with sheets 
 
NIKITA AND LISA, VALET AND MAID AT BOUROMKA. 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 55 
 
 and pillow-cases, instead of sleeping on the stoves 
 or under the tables in kitchen and pantry. They 
 were taught to do work regularly, methodically, 
 thoroughly, and all together, as an organized ma- 
 chine, and to keep the great house really clean; 
 while the lands were cultivated as they had never 
 been before; and, though the place lost some of its 
 charm of Slav ways, and though the national cos- 
 tumes almost disappeared, and perhaps also the 
 villagers loved the chateau somewhat less and drifted 
 away from the intimate patriarchal relations of the 
 past, there was real progress about one, and a new 
 stirring, and, as the Princess would proudly say: 
 "Bouromka was more civilized and almost like 
 abroad." In the village the inhabitants remained 
 truly Russian, happy-go-lucky and casual, almost to 
 the point of tragedy. The usurer exploited them, 
 and they were lazy and helpless both in their fields 
 and homes. They felt it was easier to do nothing 
 on borrowed money, and to drink, than to follow 
 the chateau's example and grow prosperous. So 
 the 1905 revolution found a shiftless, helpless, inert, 
 benighted crowd, upon which it seemed to have 
 small effect. It was too far from railroads or fac- 
 tory centres to have ever talked politics or built up 
 political ideals. After the arrival of certain prop- 
 agandists, who formed a village committee and 
 urged the peasants on, they held meetings and 
 listened with dull ears to promises, and to tirades 
 about their misery, which was real enough, judging 
 by the aspect of the town. There was no uprising 
 
56 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 however, at Bouromka, in 1905, and our three vil- 
 lages lived through the troublous epoch with only 
 some few hot-headed, discontented men to show for 
 it. Cossacks who, having come to police the prop- 
 erty, settled down with happy Slav illogic among 
 our villagers as friends, chose Bouromka women for 
 wives and remained for good, and that was about all 
 we knew of the first revolution. But elsewhere dis- 
 turbances, which were much greater, had shaken the 
 government into various new measures, making for 
 advance and reform, and our district profited by 
 these. Since the emancipation in 1861 all land of 
 the peasantry had belonged to their communes, or 
 "Mir." Now it was divided up among individuals, 
 in terribly small plots, of course, but still each was 
 owned outright, and could be bought and sold, or 
 cultivated by the man to whom it belonged. Our 
 people realized the advantage of this personal pos- 
 session immediately, and some who wished to en- 
 large their fields worked and saved and bought out 
 others, who, not loving the country, but caring for 
 other things, went with their acquired capital to the 
 large cities, to work in shops and factories. Some- 
 times they even emigrated to far-away Siberia, to 
 acquire there new interests and a broader atmosphere. 
 Their going made agricultural workmen rarer and 
 put up wages for those remaining at home. This 
 was all to the peasant's advantage, of course, for we 
 proprietors felt inclined to hold our people as best 
 we could, especially such of them as showed intelli- 
 gence, trained or untrained, and we gladly paid the 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 57 
 
 new prices. We could use to advantage on our 
 estates men with modern ideas and capacity, so 
 we encouraged the new development by every 
 means in our power. Thus it came about that one 
 leader in the villagers* "revolutionary" group be- 
 came our head machinist and was paid city wages 
 and given a cottage in our courtyard. From being 
 called "Thou" he became "Mr. Tiltzoff," and he 
 took tea on occasions with the superintendent (who 
 before had looked down upon him), since in the new 
 order of things he was one of the mainstays upon 
 whom our administration leaned. There was an- 
 other man, handsome and of a high-bred type of 
 face, Afxentieff , who, with flaming eyes and old Greek 
 features, had the grace one meets with often in Little- 
 Russia, while he doffed his cap as if he were at 
 court. He could make his men and cattle do any- 
 thing. A natural eader he was, though he drank 
 on occasions, and could neither read nor write. He 
 had the reputation of being "very red," but he had 
 shown up splendidly once at a fire, when organizing 
 the arrangements for life-saving; and again, when 
 there had been a marsh to deepen and turn into a 
 lake in the park grounds, he had forced men and 
 horses to do work supposedly impossible, by the sheer 
 strength of his will-power. We had admired him, 
 though we were told of his defects. Considering 
 his qualities to be greater than the faults, my hus- 
 band used his influence to try the young man in a 
 serious post of responsibility, and to gradually pro- 
 mote him to the position of head of the farm stock 
 
58 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 and second in command for the agricultural work on 
 the estates. Proud of his place and of the implied 
 confidence, Afxentieff had thereafter proved himself 
 admirable at his work. 
 
 Ten years later, when the war came, when no vodka 
 and fair pay had made the village rich, the place 
 and our people were good to look upon as never 
 before. Though many of the best men were mobil- 
 ized as soldiers, they returned on leave occasionally 
 and brought back news which educated the mul- 
 titude. This little corner learned something of the 
 outside world, through tales of East Prussia, Poland, 
 and Galicia, where the soldiers fought and saw many 
 sights of interest, and where they grew to know a 
 civilization more advanced than was that of their 
 home. Meantime, also, the women of the village 
 were learning much, and could do a man's work on 
 our lands or on theirs. They handled their family 
 incomes, decided the daily questions of their own 
 and their children's lives, they guided their house- 
 holds and learned to spend money at will for food 
 or ribbons, for furniture and clothes. The Austrian 
 prisoners who worked among us had been educa- 
 tional elements also in many ways, while the great- 
 est influence of all was that of Batioushka, the new 
 young village priest. He had come with his wife to 
 Bouromka just before the war, had not yet grown 
 tired with age nor inert with discouragement, and he 
 worked and lived among his people, teaching them 
 not only to pray and confess their sins, but also to 
 build up their fortunes and their health and spirits. 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 59 
 
 He trained them even to amuse themselves, which 
 they had never done before; and he put a new in- 
 telligence into their heads and a new zest into their 
 bodies. Houses grew better, food more varied and 
 healthier, and the village life was busier and gayer. 
 But even with all this there was still a long distance 
 to travel before our semi-Oriental country could 
 catch up with the western parts of Europe. 
 
 Then came the winter of 1916-17, when vague 
 rumors reached us from the North of factory hands 
 who were striking in the cities, of lack of food there; 
 and even of misery at the front, where the soldiers 
 were not being well fed as heretofore, and where 
 discontent was rife over the hard life, while am- 
 munition was still wofully lacking because of bad 
 transportation. And who was to blame ? asked the 
 people ; and the answer always was, The government. 
 Had not the strong German party, with the Em- 
 press and her proteges in charge, done many wrong 
 things? They had sent the Czar to the staff, one 
 heard, and had driven the Grand Duke away; he 
 who loved the people and knew about making war. 
 . , v . It was said by Peter or by Ivan, who re- 
 turned on leave, that a man had visited their 
 regiment and had told how he knew all of what 
 occurred in Petrograd. It was quite true, some 
 ministers were trying to sell us to the enemy, while 
 the soldiers fought and died; and some others at 
 court were writing to the enemy's government, and 
 provisions were being deliberately kept from the 
 firing-line. There was each day less bread and meat 
 
60 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 in Petrograd, said this wise stranger. Almost no 
 food or fuel reached the poor in the capital, though 
 those who stole from the people lived in the greatest 
 luxury. One could see how things were going, since 
 even here in the village tea and such small luxuries 
 were becoming scarce. Later on came " travellers " 
 to the village, who were "wise," and who knew 
 what was occurring in the world, they said ; and they 
 remained on a few days, fraternizing with the peo- 
 ple, reading "red" newspapers to them, and saying 
 many curious things; among others that the Ger- 
 mans were not really bad, but much like us; that 
 soldiers might fight battles and yet between times 
 be friends with the enemy, and even exchange pro- 
 visions occasionally across the trenches, receiving 
 coffee and other excellent things for loaves of the 
 black bread which wearied our men. What was 
 bad was the German Government, and the Kaiser; 
 but had we not troubles with our own government 
 and the protected few at its head ? It was impos- 
 sible that one's Czar should know what happened 
 everywhere, or how many there were who cheated. 
 He could not possibly see everything. Now the 
 government was selling bonds for a new loan, and 
 one of the "strangers" said he knew there was no 
 more gold to pay for these, so the paper would be 
 good for nothing and the peasantry had better not 
 buy it. Of course, he added, officers, police offi- 
 cials, and the bureaucrats would say one must do 
 so; but such men were all in league, and had 
 always been ready to exploit those who were be- 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 61 
 
 neath them. They did not even want our masses 
 to know reading, nor have any comforts; and now 
 they were down on the Duma, which would soon be 
 closed by proclamation from above. The people 
 were strong, however, at last, and were learning to 
 understand, so the tyrants must beware. Thus 
 through the months villages, even far away in the 
 provinces, were prepared by agitators for what was 
 to come, and when at last one day in early March, 
 1917, they heard of the revolution they were far from 
 surprised. In Bouromka the people took it very 
 quietly, and felt at first no difference, only they 
 hoped to see a mending of their troubles. Isolated 
 as our peasantry had been, living in one of the 
 richest provinces of Russia's black-earth district, 
 they felt the general misery perhaps less than did 
 the rest of Russia. Their individual ownership of 
 property had made for conservatism, and well- 
 being was also fostered by the instruction we had 
 helped to give them during several years previously. 
 Every effort had been made to put the best pos- 
 sible advantages allowed by the government within 
 their reach, even to the extent of a new school and a 
 small public library, which under the protection of 
 the village church, helped the younger element 
 vastly. It was difficult to do much in this line 
 though, as the ministry of education allowed no 
 books put into the hands of the peasantry, except 
 such as were approved by their own censors. The 
 regular schools were either under the same authori- 
 ties or supervised by the church, and were all that 
 
62 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 was primitive in their programmes; but the people 
 improved greatly in spite of these difficulties, and 
 both Bouromka's schools overflowed with children, 
 who were clean and better dressed than ever before. 
 On the whole, the inhabitants of our villages were 
 sensible of their progress, and were contented and 
 quite unambitious politically, and also they were sus- 
 picious of new doctrines. They seemed entirely un- 
 interested as to the Emperor's abdication, much to 
 our ^surprise, and equally so as to the rest of the 
 revolution, save only the right they now felt given 
 them to govern themselves by a committee. They 
 proceeded at once to elect one, showing great com- 
 mon sense in their choice of members. It really rep- 
 resented the best elements of their group. What 
 delighted the people most was to hear that they 
 "were free," whatever that conveyed to them; and 
 that they were to have all the lands. From where, 
 they asked, was this to come? Should they take 
 over to themselves the estate of Bouromka totally, 
 with its riches in cattle, and stud, and farms ? . . . 
 Should they divide it among themselves? They 
 had some hesitation about this, since they wished 
 the proprietors no harm, they said, and had always 
 lived well with the latter. Besides, how would it 
 be divided? Ivan, who is a ne'er-do-well, must 
 not have as good ground as Dimitry, who is thrifty; 
 and then, which would take the meadows, which the 
 forests, and which the agricultural steppe-lands, 
 with their black earth ? If the house and park were 
 to be divided, too, who could live in such a palace, 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 63 
 
 for the whole village could not find room within its 
 walls ? And a rumor came which was very disturb- 
 ing, saying that they alone would not be given 
 Bouromka; but that, from the North and East, 
 where the earth was poor, would come people to 
 our rich provinces of the Ukraine ; and that we must 
 subdivide equally with all of these. Dimitry, who 
 had saved and had bought as much as fifteen acres 
 only last year, and those other fifty men or more of 
 the village who owned anywhere now from twenty 
 to one hundred acres each, must throw in their 
 fields too for the general subdivision. In short, all 
 the country would be parcelled out, till every one 
 in Russia received his small legal share of ground to 
 cultivate. . . . No, this was a mistake, and quite 
 impossible, said our group of well-to-do peasants; 
 how could men not "ours" think of appearing here 
 in Little-Russia and swamping us, and take away our 
 hard-earned profits ? By what right, when we had 
 striven and saved, and each created his small for- 
 tune? "If it was so, then let things stand as they 
 are, and let our Princes keep their land, and we each 
 ours; and we will go on with our work. . . ." The 
 committee said workmen must be better paid, so 
 higher wages were demanded and conceded, and 
 for the moment land remained undivided, at least 
 in this corner of Russia. As far as the rest of the 
 country went I cannot say, but the administration 
 of the Bouromka committee was most reasonable, 
 and was advantageous for every one, as it decided 
 all questions with great fairness and common sense, 
 
64 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 and the members showed themselves very conser- 
 vative. Michael- Petrovitch, the head intendant-of 
 the estate, was adroit and blessed with great ca- 
 pacity for handling men, and by his diplomacy 
 through six or eight long months he managed to 
 live with his own people in peace and perfect un- 
 derstanding, to sow and reap and sell our harvest, 
 and to put things in order for the winter. Faith- 
 fully he served in this his employers, as he had al- 
 ways done before. 
 
 The autumn of the year 1917 brought great 
 changes. Just as Michael-Petrovitch thought all 
 was well the Bolsheviki took over the government 
 in Petrograd, and the Ukrainians took over Kief. 
 To Bouromka came, one day soon afterward, a new 
 committee from outside, preaching fiery red doc- 
 trines. It was composed of a delegate or two from 
 the factory workmen's Soviet at Poltava, together 
 with student and Jewish propagandists, and they 
 settled down for some time in the village. They 
 preached to the peasants the oppressions which all 
 the world had practised till now on the poorer classes, 
 and the millennium which at last was dawning for 
 these in Russia. Our people were coming into their 
 own, but they must rise up and punish the masters, 
 who so far had kept every good thing to themselves. 
 They would conquer here and then send ambassa- 
 dors out, to carry the new gospel into other coun- 
 tries, and give to those the same liberty as would 
 exist at home. . To prove their good faith, the 
 agents had brought with them vodka in large sup- 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 65 
 
 plies, as a gift. Before, this had been the people's 
 solace, they said, and it had been suppressed by the 
 upper classes only to deprive the poor. Also they 
 had brought gold. Strange gold, not with our 
 home double-headed eagle and the usual stamp of 
 the Russian Emperor's face, but with curious Gothic 
 words and signs we had not known before. The 
 people wondered as they listened to the strangers' 
 tale, for it seemed this gold was sent to them by 
 their brother republicans, across the frontier. At 
 first they took it with suspicion and showed it to 
 the elders of the village; these in turn heard from 
 Rabinovitch, the village Jew, that whatever the 
 stamp, it was certainly good gold, and worth more 
 than even the old-regime paper money, not to 
 mention the small, miserable "kerenki" scraps 
 of provisional-government money. The vodka the 
 strangers brought was also found excellent. One 
 felt wanned up, stronger and braver for drinking it. 
 Some of the women protested, and Batioushka for- 
 bade; but the men said the women knew nothing, 
 and Batioushka wore skirts also and did not count. 
 What could he judge he who had never cared for 
 it? They, who had returned after three years at 
 the front, knew well that vodka was a pleasant 
 thing, and they had tasted little of it in the hard life 
 on the fighting line. It was, indeed, fine to be free 
 again of the discipline in trench and field. True, 
 their officers and they had been together for three 
 years, fighting Germans and Austrians, hating them, 
 striving, and dying; often with empty stomachs, 
 
66 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 almost constantly with empty guns. ... It was 
 very strange and difficult to understand the great 
 changes. . . . When their call had first come, they 
 had been rushed off and put into regiments. They 
 went under fire at once, and what a fire with ter- 
 rible sufferings from gas, and cold, and heat, and 
 lack of care ! Food, munitions, clothes, letters from 
 home, and everything else had been lacking, or 
 came always late. . . . Yet they had believed in 
 the Grand Duke and his greatness, and he was at 
 the staff. He wished them to hold on still, and to 
 fight the enemy for their country's sake and that 
 of their own hearths, as well as for the Little Father, 
 their White Czar; and many times the things they 
 patiently expected did arrive somehow finally; and 
 with these were sometimes little gifts from home, 
 even things the wives had cooked, or knit, or sewn. 
 . . . Rolled bundles were sent, too, containing a fresh 
 change of linen, with tobacco or sugar, and now 
 and then a knife or book, or a bit of gay soap or a 
 colored handkerchief. These were from the officers* 
 wives, while the officers themselves clubbed together 
 occasionally to give their men warm woollen things, 
 or better food, when in some town near by provisions 
 could be bought. If ammunition was lacking, the 
 officers were as sad as their men, and they had 
 talked to the latter as to their own children, encour- 
 aging them to hold on with what they had against 
 the enemy: sticks or stones or bricks, but generally 
 guns remained unloaded. . . . Officers and men had 
 stood together, were wounded or killed, and fell like 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 67 
 
 flies during the slow retreats. During these times 
 refugees fled inward toward the centre of the coun- 
 try, while our troops had held the lines in spite of all 
 disadvantages to give opportunity for this. Then 
 slowly the armies had ceded, mile upon mile, of a 
 land which was being set on fire as they quitted it. 
 Fields with vast grain crops, chateaux, forests, parks, 
 towns, and villages were one vast sheet of flame, 
 sacrificed to prevent the enemy profiting too much. 
 The whole world seemed a burning hell to march 
 through, in the summer of 1915. A shrieking horde 
 of misery drew back before the foe. The Grand 
 Duke had been furious at the necessity of this suffer- 
 ing, and he had demanded the severest punishment 
 for those who caused it; but nothing had happened, 
 except that the Grand Duke himself had been sent 
 away. This went to show, the soldiers said, it was 
 no good to complain since, whether great or small, 
 one would only be beaten for it. Things went from 
 bad to worse forever after, and, as the months 
 passed, officers couldn't help their men as much; 
 perhaps because, as they said, they were too poor 
 themselves. All life at home had grown expensive, 
 and those who came out to the front in the last 
 mobilizations had been much older men, or else 
 young boy recruits. These brought reports of 
 wickedness and cheating in certain high circles, of 
 troubles ever greater among the lower classes, and 
 of the revolution which was promised soon. . . . 
 
 Then it came, and they heard the Emperor had 
 quietly left his crown and throne and given over 
 
68 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 his power to the people. In the army officers were 
 now to command only with the consent of their sol- 
 diers. The soldiers were to have committees and 
 to decide everything, even as to their obedience 
 to military plans. They had the right now to de- 
 bate upon these and to discuss, until they under- 
 stood them. Many agents at once had circulated 
 among the troops, pointing out how the officers 
 would hate all this, would dislike to have their power 
 taken from them, and would not willingly accept the 
 soldiers as their "comrades." In many battles, one 
 must admit, the officers had shown immense bravery. 
 They had thrown themselves forward in recent 
 charges, often quite alone, hoping their men would 
 be carried along by old habit, and they had been 
 assassinated thus in quantities at Tarnopol, or so 
 Nikita had related to the village when he returned 
 from there. In his regiment, he said, out of thirty- 
 seven officers, thirty had been killed; and in Dimi- 
 try's regiment, in the same battle, twenty-seven out 
 of thirty had been left upon the field, while not a 
 soldier had died, save perhaps a very few from stray 
 bullets. The ranks had stood still or had fled ; and 
 some of those new fellows, who called themselves 
 high priests of the revolutionary ideals, had even 
 laughed or jeered when the older veterans wished 
 to follow and to help their lieutenants and their 
 captains, who were being shot down like helpless 
 dogs. . . . Possibly it is just for each new govern- 
 ment to make some group or class into martyrs ? . . . 
 But it was hard for our lieutenant, said Dimitry. 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 69 
 
 He was but eighteen, and had always been kind and 
 ready to help his men ; and he had thought of them 
 always before stopping to think of himself. Still 
 the Bolsheviki agents seemed very wise . . . and 
 they could read! They said it was surely so: that 
 now was come the time when the soldier was free. 
 There were many of our men at the front to fight 
 Germans, the agents proclaimed ; and the enemy was 
 ready for peace anyway. He could never reach our 
 provinces before the end of the war. It would 
 be much better, therefore, if those troops who came 
 from Bouromka, or from farther East, went home 
 and helped "protect the revolution" there, and or- 
 ganized free government, with committees such as 
 they had seen in the army. . . . Besides, all the 
 land was to be divided very soon among the peas- 
 ants, and, who knows? the village elders might 
 arrange that the best bits go to themselves in 
 others' absence? Surely, therefore, there was no 
 time to lose in leaving the war; and even if the 
 officers thought differently they could not audibly 
 object, nor could they punish desertion, since one 
 of the new laws said most clearly that soldiers were 
 now free to obey or not, according to their own 
 judgment. . . . Truly it was now a good time to 
 be alive! . . . So, with illusions freshly poured 
 into them, the village men had returned to quiet 
 Bouromka, riding on the tops of cars part way, and 
 for the rest in first-class carriages, there sleeping in 
 the corridors and on the platforms. One night, 
 some said, they had taken possession even of a re- 
 
70 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 served compartment, smashing its windows to get 
 in; and there some women and two children slept, 
 who had been at first greatly frightened. But the 
 soldiers explained to them there was no place else- 
 where on the train, and that they would not disturb, 
 only they wished to travel and had found no other 
 means. One had sat on the floor, and two more on 
 the upper berth, from which they had brought home 
 as gifts to their wives the pillows, blankets, covers, 
 and the sheets ! During the trip they very much 
 enjoyed talking with the women travellers and telling 
 them of their life under fire; and they played with 
 the children and received apples and biscuits from 
 these, because they had brought water for tea, or 
 had helped amuse the young boy, a nice child, they 
 said, like many in the village. . . . Finally they 
 arrived at Palmyra station, and came from there on 
 foot for over fifty versts, sleeping in the fields under 
 the stars. It was good to feel one wouldn't be 
 awakened by a bomb, said the deserters, and to 
 know that very soon these fine acres would be all 
 theirs. They had found the village quiet, somewhat 
 discontented to be doing without tea, sugar, and 
 other luxuries, but otherwise much as of old. Only 
 a committee of the elders existed, and were govern- 
 ing since the spring. . . . With Batioushka and 
 the Prince's head intendant, they were managing 
 everything, about like in olden days. . . . This must 
 be changed quickly and surely; and also, it would 
 need much time and trouble to bring back into 
 their proper places the village women. All of them, 
 Matrona and Warka, Louba and Sonia, and even 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 71 
 
 mild E vdoxia were not to be recognized ! . . . Dressed 
 
 in fine clothes, ordering about the Austrian prisoners, 
 smiling and powerful, capable and wasteful, talking 
 much of their new right to vote ! It was so amaz- 
 ing that the recently arrived lords and masters for a 
 time quite lost their capacity of action. Then each 
 one got his breath again, and did as he saw fit 
 within his own house. Vania had knuckled down 
 and worked under his Louba's orders, while the Aus- 
 trian had remained in the house, and become his 
 friend. Dimitry had soon put out the intruder, and 
 had Sonia well in hand; while the others had made 
 arrangements between these two extremes, accord- 
 ing to their mental and their physical capacities 
 for handling so delicate a situation. . . . They all 
 told of their experiences at the front, and of what 
 the wise men had said; and the elders understood 
 that this must be all quite true, since the informa- 
 tion the agents had given them was all "printed on 
 paper"! These "rules," the men said, had been 
 read out to the soldiers from the papers, but pri- 
 vately, of course; because the officers must not yet 
 know of the great promises for the future. Some- 
 times one did feel sorry for one's officers, and for 
 the proprietors, also, who were like those of Bou- 
 romka; yet it was only justice, and the wise agents 
 explained that some good people must suffer, since 
 so many of their group had done harm ; and after all 
 even the best had joined with the worst to deprive 
 peasants and soldiers of their rights and hold them 
 down. 
 It was very shortly after the soldiers returned from 
 
72 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 war that the outside committee settled in Bouromka. 
 Ready-made by the chief Soviets at Poltava, with 
 vodka, gold coins; also printed papers, prepared to 
 read at meetings, which latter were held daily. 
 Speeches were made. The peasants were told, till 
 they clearly understood , r how they had been wronged ; 
 and then suddenly one day the student, who had 
 possessed a silver tongue, cried to his audience: 
 "Come, if at last you are convinced, come with me 
 and we will go to the distillery now; attack and cap- 
 ture it, and drink the vodka of which you have 
 been deprived too long. It is a cold night, and our 
 supply here is finished. What is there, will be 
 warming when you have drunk as much as you 
 wish; and afterward you may bring back a cow or 
 two for the children of the village, who shall thus 
 have better milk; and you shall take the chateau's 
 oxen also, to plough your fields. These oxen are 
 no longer, even in name, the Prince's, but are strictly 
 yours now by legal right, to take and keep.*' The 
 men hesitated, but vodka was again passed about 
 and soon infused daring. It was a fine moonlight 
 night, so the walk to the farm courtyard was tempt- 
 ing and easy. A hundred or more of the bravest 
 spirits were moving in that direction shortly, sing- 
 ing a wild chorus, led by the enthusiastic, wise 
 strangers. Afxientieff heard the rumors and the 
 noise, and he rushed to meet the crowd of rowdies 
 at his locked courtyard gate. He called on a work- 
 man or two who were up on night guard duty, and 
 he sent a hurried message to our intendant-in-chief , 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 73 
 
 who lived at, the other courtyard, a mile off. Be- 
 fore the latter could arrive with help there appeared 
 a disorderly throng of peasants, shouting, crying, 
 swaying as they marched; and though Afxientieff 
 made an attempt to harangue them, and his white 
 face and blazing eyes did make the front ones hesi- 
 tate, he had been swept aside very quickly by the 
 paid leaders, while the rollickers pushed on and 
 broke in the distillery door, in spite of its locks and 
 of the government seal upon it. Then the village 
 men, frantic with the alcohol's odor, as it fermented 
 in the vats, precipitated themselves to quench their 
 thirst, first from the small hogsheads, and then even 
 from the vats themselves. They drank deeply, 
 until they fell down, completely unconscious and in- 
 capacitated. It was then the leaders acted. They 
 rolled quickly a number of barrels into the court- 
 yard and out into the road, where a wagon was 
 waiting to cart this precious fluid (their best ally) 
 away to their village headquarters. They looked 
 about, and one said to the others: "Much breakage, 
 no respect for seals, the second intendant injured, 
 the vodka stolen, and the men who have succumbed 
 are our creatures hereafter." And another an- 
 swered: "Yes, the owners may retaliate; that would 
 be advantageous; for when the feeling is as good as 
 here our work is much too slow and expensive." 
 "True," said a third. "I had hoped we could at- 
 tack the other courtyard and perhaps even the 
 house to-night; but now we must wait, for these 
 swine are so slow and stupid; and besides they are 
 
74 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 dead drunk and cannot even move." Just then 
 they all started as if frightened. Had some one 
 overheard their remarks, which were spoken low 
 and in German ? But it was not so; it was a man 
 lying on the edge of the vat, who had lost his bal- 
 ance and had fallen into the fermenting spirits. 
 There, all unconsciously, he was drowning, yet none 
 of the leaders stretched out a hand to save him. 
 They merely looked, shrugged their shoulders, 
 yawned, and turned away to walk back to their 
 quarters at the village. 
 
 Within a week another raid occurred, on the re- 
 mains pf the distillery, and, strong in the artificial 
 courage the vodka gave the crowd, it had then in- 
 terviewed Michael P6trovitch at the intendant-in- 
 chief 's own house. They had confiscated, in spite of 
 his protests, all the cattle, the horses, the machine- 
 shops, and the stables, with their supplies of im- 
 plements and harness, wagons and fine carriages. 
 These were the people's too; and would be given 
 over to them very soon by the government law; so 
 they were merely anticipating, said the wise men 
 who led the wreckers. In the machine-shops Tilt- 
 zoff and his few helpers had resisted, while at 
 the stables and the stud, the old coachman and a 
 few faithful servants had done likewise; but with 
 the same results as when Afxientieff had been swept 
 aside at the farmyard a week earlier. Our protectors 
 were only about twenty in all, and there were many 
 more than that of the village hotheads, some of 
 whom were growing into first-class revolutionary 
 
BJEVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 75 
 
 leaders. The three or four strangers were clever 
 inspirers of action, and were spokesmen ready with 
 quick replies for every protest of the intendants. 
 So all gave way before the rule of the strongest, and 
 there was a sudden wish expressed to visit the 
 chateau. This was done immediately. The an- 
 cient collections of arms, as well as the cupboards 
 containing our modern guns used in the shooting 
 season, were handed over to the "committee" by 
 the head house-steward. They were carted away 
 for safe-keeping in the village ! The various cup- 
 boards and the wine-cellars of the chateau were all 
 sealed, and clothes with books and everything else 
 necessary to the family's life were thus left locked 
 up in comparative safety; but were, of course, no 
 longer attainable by their ancient owners ourselves. 
 The intendant, his wife, and their fourteen children 
 were left tranquil in their home, while the house- 
 keeper, the majordomo, and various other ancient 
 servants were allowed to remain in their rooms in 
 one wing of the chateau, till it should be decided to 
 what use the immense place could be put : whether 
 that of a house of public amusement or a school. 
 During two or three months this question was daily 
 brought up for discussion at the village meetings. 
 The leaders recommended complete destruction, and 
 said that it would be great trouble and work to keep 
 such a vast building heated. The village elders, 
 with their peasant's common sense, advocated leav- 
 ing the house as it was: "One must leave something 
 to the Princes, and the house is nothing to us, since 
 
76 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 we have the land already and all that goes to make 
 it rich. Besides, their clothes and dishes are their 
 own in all justice, for the new law speaks only about 
 the land. And then, who knows? these wise men 
 talk well; but perhaps they make mistakes; and 
 some day we may hear of different rules again. 
 The Princes may return and ask what has been done 
 with their palace, and clothes, and other things. 
 If all is lost, we may well be punished for stealing. 
 Yes, truly, better we leave the chateau alone." 
 There were some timid spirits, who already trem- 
 bled as to the results of their present bravery. 
 "We know," they said, "now it is all take and 
 enjoy; and soon after it will be restitution and pay- 
 ment called for; and we shall be beaten then!" 
 "Who can beat you now? for this is a republic," 
 cried the leaders. "Naturally, naturally; we have 
 heard that. First come people and say to us: be 
 for an autocracy, it is great in strength, and the 
 sovereign shall love and care for his people, and all 
 will be well; and we sing the anthem and cry hurrah, 
 and are for an autocracy. And next comes some 
 one who says: be for a republic, and it will be well, 
 for the land shall belong to the peasants, and they 
 will grow rich and great; and he teaches us a song 
 which is of liberty, and tells us every one is singing 
 it on the streets in Petrograd; so we learn that new 
 song, and cry hurrah and seize the land. Yet, who 
 knows? Perhaps we may still be unhappy, for 
 even now our grain is taken forcibly from us, when- 
 ever it is found, and we are paid in dirty paper slips 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 77 
 
 without value. We have less food and comfort 
 than before. . . . Later maybe some man will 
 come and tell us there is a republic with a Czar 
 in Petrograd, and then we shall again cry hurrah, 
 and learn the song of that King, and we will both 
 own the land then, and also be taken care of by our 
 Princes, and that would be best of all!" 
 
 Even with the vodka's help and the foreign lead- 
 ers' best persuasions, it took some time to accom- 
 plish their errand of complete political and economic 
 debauchery, where previous good relations between 
 proprietor and peasant were against them; and 
 especially where all the heads of departments on 
 estates came from the latter class, and so under- 
 stood their own people well. After five or six 
 months' residence in Bouromka the strangers won 
 their way, however, to the weak spots of their audi- 
 ence's simple understandings, and they paid for this 
 popularity by encouraging every vice and abuse 
 which was latent in our village. 
 
 One evening finally, in the spring of 1918, as 
 darkness descended, the ancient majordomo and 
 old " grandmother Anna Wladimirovna," the house- 
 keeper, were having tea together in the latter's 
 comfortable sitting-room, when across the distance 
 of the park a noise reached them something be- 
 tween songs and buzzing and the tramp of many feet 
 far off. "A meeting," said Moses Kouzmitch. . . . 
 "Louder than usual; they have been drinking again," 
 answered our tranquil housekeeper; and they dis- 
 cussed for the five-hundredth time the revolution 
 
78 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 from their own view-point: "All these fools know 
 nothing of what they talk about," said the old man. 
 "What need have they of more than the good God 
 and the Czar have given them ? and when they shall 
 have done away with all the high-born people, who 
 will they serve, I would like to know? and steal 
 from comfortably ? and who will care for them ? . . . 
 Speransky and all of our seigneurs here have helped 
 each one of us who was intelligent or capable of 
 moving forward, and I for one (who am eighty- 
 three, and wiser than the false prophets these mad- 
 caps run after), I tell you, Anna, who are young 
 and but sixty-five, that I will not serve in the house 
 of peasants become rich, who cannot read or write ! 
 I know little of the Czar and the government; but 
 we are well off here, and when I was in St. Peters- 
 burg, fifty years ago, with our Princess Marie 
 Alexandrovna, I saw many others who were as con- 
 tent as we are. When one has lived in our aristo- 
 cratic palaces, one knows the difference well between 
 them and such a house as even rich Dimitry of the 
 village would keep." "Moses Kouzmitch, I who 
 was head nurse to all their small Highnesses, know 
 well you tell the truth; and each of us who have 
 been dressed, and warmed, and fed, and who have 
 pretty cottages in the village to retire to, and a sure 
 pension to live upon, feel as you do; but the new 
 generation has gone quite mad and realizes nothing ! 
 Why, even the nieces and nephews whom I feed 
 always from the chateau pantry, and send provi- 
 sions to of the best in my storerooms, are that un- 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 79 
 
 grateful they would pull this roof down over our 
 heads if they could. . . . Strange, that noise; is it 
 not approaching ? Listen !" And going to the win- 
 dow, she drew the curtain open and looked over 
 the valley, which held the park with its great trees 
 and its crystal lake, now reflecting the full moon. 
 A vast noise filled the little room as she opened its 
 window and leaned out; and as she turned again it 
 was with a rapid movement not usual to her fat 
 body. "Heaven help us, Moses Kouzmitch; run 
 and shut and bar our door, while I telephone Michael 
 Petrovitch. It is a great crowd coming up the 
 SpSransky-Alle'e, and the procession is illuminated 
 by torches, and they are singing; but not good songs. 
 It is as if they were all crazy ! Thank heaven, the 
 valuables are sent to Kief since long; and all that 
 silver, too; but my pearl brooch and gold earrings 
 and watch, what shall I do to hide them? In my 
 mattress, perhaps ? or only in my pocket with my 
 keys ? Who ever would have thought that I would 
 live to see and hear such things? But, of course, 
 Michael P6trovitch will quiet these people and put 
 them in their place. " And she disappeared, frown- 
 ing, down the corridor toward the telephone. Old 
 Moses Kouzmitch, somewhat hard of hearing and 
 dull of mind, went off nodding and muttering to the 
 door; but he reached it only in time to meet the 
 intendant, who had long ago realized the storm was 
 brewing, and who came running, followed by Tilt- 
 zoff, Afxientieff, and his other lieutenants. Even 
 Kalaschnikoff, head of the huntsmen and kennels, 
 
80 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 came with his long whip, and Bibikoff the veterinary, 
 and the old coachman Dimenti, with a certain num- 
 ber of other men true to their responsibilities, arrived, 
 ready to measure their wits and strength against 
 the strange committee's power. In a few minutes 
 the crowd was on them, with shouts and threats and 
 snatches of song, nearly all swinging torches. 
 "Come to burn the bourgeois house!" they cried. 
 . . . Some already tottered from vodka, while others 
 were as yet only red of face and thick of voice. 
 Shouting first: "Tyrants !" and "This is all ours !" 
 they finally joined in the cry of: "Give us the cellar 
 keys, or you shall be burned with the palace which 
 you have served !" Long parley; the leaders egging 
 on the muddled-headed mob ; the intendant with his 
 men and the village priest and elders trying to keep 
 their people within bounds. With great presence 
 of mind "grandmother Anna Wladimirovna " an- 
 nounced calmly that she had lost her keys last 
 week, and in proof she turned her pockets inside 
 out, so all could see that they were quite empty. 
 Then the crowd was told by Michael Petrovitch that 
 the cellars had been sealed by the village's own revo- 
 lutionary committee long ago, and even were the 
 keys here, it would not be the law for him to open 
 the iron door. . . . But his wish for peace and 
 his tact were of no avail that night against the in- 
 flaming words and the alcohol his rivals distributed, 
 and soon the great iron doors were broken in, and a 
 wild orgy was under way in the cellar and in the 
 courtyard; while a chosen few, less helpless from 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 81 
 
 drink than the others, found occupation in system- 
 atically destroying first its furnishings, then the 
 house, throwing the former into the courts and gar- 
 dens, where paintings, china, bronzes, and wood- 
 carvings lay in dismal heaps, and embroidered 
 silken rags or fine carpets served to light bonfires. 
 Before the morning a greater flame than these 
 went up, and the ancient picturesque pile, which 
 had been the proud chateau of the old regime, had 
 died ! . . . 
 
 The sun came up and shone on a sad mass of black- 
 ened walls, gray ashes, and broken treasures watered 
 everywhere by rivulets of rare vintage were strewn 
 about. In the midst of all this lay many wounded, 
 while numerous others were lying merely sleeping 
 off the effects of their party of the night before. 
 Afxientieff had a bleeding arm and hand, Tiltzoff a 
 swollen face where a heavy blow had fallen, and the 
 intendant was all black from smoke, as he spoke 
 with them in a low, hoarse voice: "I have been able 
 to save so little in the confusion," he said. "Only 
 some papers and a few small things. What will the 
 Princes think?" And the other two replied: "You 
 have fought bravely, Michael Petrovitch, and you 
 will be condemned by these hooligans to sure death 
 for defending all this, and have done your best. 
 Go you, therefore, with your wife and children to 
 the district town near by, and remain there at Zol- 
 tonosh. We are old revolutionaries of 1905, and 
 we will remain in our places here, since, alas, these 
 fools are our own families and friends. We will do 
 
82 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 all we can to save what is left of the property; 
 faithfully we promise it. You shall report to the 
 Princes, and then send us their orders, and we will 
 do everything to carry them out." And so it was. 
 Even until now these men have stayed at Bou- 
 romka in the two courtyards, representing the old 
 owners' interests, as against their people, and trying 
 to carry out what the intendant ordered. Of late 
 they have obtained some restitution of goods which 
 were stolen. Anna Wladimirovna luckily was spir- 
 ited away from the fire of that evening's attack, and 
 has lived since in her own cottage, which is all that 
 remains to her of past grandeur. She continues to 
 scold her nieces and nephews for having no more 
 provisions from the chateau by their fault, and she 
 repeats constantly the tale of her last tea with 
 Moses Kouzmitch, and of the poor old fellow's 
 death on that same night. A heart-stroke carried 
 off the ancient, snobbish, but devoted old serf; who 
 could not adapt himself to the idea of all his world 
 becoming insane! As for the German Bolshevik 
 leaders who had brought about the ruin, they stood 
 awhile looking on that night, till toward morning 
 one of them gathered the others in a group. "At 
 last, our work is done here," he said, "and we had 
 better go; for who can predict what these dullards 
 may think of our success to-morrow, when they 
 finally come to? We start on our road at once, 
 then, and shall be far away before another day. 
 We can demand double pay for the months spent 
 here, I think; for our task was truly one of the most 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 83 
 
 difficult in all this land of idealists and fools; and 
 we have done it well at last." 
 
 And so, when they came to, late next day, the 
 people had lost their foreign leaders; and were at 
 great pains to remember what had occurred, and 
 just why the chateau lay now in ashes. In their 
 own group many were ready, however, to take on 
 the r61e of the men who had just sneaked off; for 
 they felt now a gulf existed between the ancient 
 proprietors of the land and themselves; too wide a 
 gulf ever to be bridged again. Some were troubled 
 greatly at finding how things stood. It was worse 
 for the people than ever before, in certain ways, 
 since they must live on through the summer and the 
 harvest-time, and they were not prepared to do so 
 without guidance. They had no organization, and 
 the peasants who would gladly work for money 
 under earlier arrangements, would not work for love 
 of labor now any more land than was actually of 
 use for their own needs. Yet at hand, confiscated by 
 the village, were many of the fine implements and 
 horses of the ex-proprietors, and the earth was there 
 though on it no fields of winter wheat had been pre- 
 pared. None were even ploughed, and six precious 
 months were lost, with neither food, nor grain, nor 
 ready money to show. The Austrian prisoners had 
 long since fled, and our own men, returned from the 
 war, refused to work at all. Every one was master 
 now, free to rest, and sleep, and drink whenever he 
 pleased ; and every one felt more inclined to govern 
 than be governed. Meantime the days passed, and 
 
84 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 it was late spring. Delegates from the city Bolshe- 
 viki and from Kief's new Ukrainian government 
 came through the village, ordering peremptorily the 
 peasantry to give grain from their slender stores to 
 feed the starving towns. The people hid what they 
 could, and sold only what they were obliged to, for 
 the worthless money; then they worked in the 
 fields haphazard, being forced to it only by a fear 
 of famine. The fine implements were mostly spoiled 
 already, since protecting sheds and repairing shops 
 had been burned, and their new owners had not 
 seen to protecting them from the late winter snow, 
 or springtime thaw or rain. The men and women 
 and their animals were equally exposed to wind and 
 weather, and they went untreated now when ill. 
 Many were ailing or run down physically, as they 
 were mentally, morally, and materially. All the 
 riches of the country had been theirs in those first 
 days of revolution; but sloth and dirt and drink, and 
 lack of knowledge as well as lack of organization, 
 were laying health and fortune of a whole race in the 
 dust, taking all savor from its triumph, all con- 
 fidence and hope from much discouraged hearts. 
 Vodka, their first enemy, was their false friend again 
 now, dragging our people lower with each day, while 
 the enemy's agents were always passing through the 
 village, ready and able to lead the simple peasant 
 on to his destruction. Suddenly one day it was 
 learned the Germans were settled in Kief as official 
 masters, and then it came about that squads began 
 to scour the country for grain and other provisions 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 85 
 
 with which to feed themselves first, and even for 
 enough to send back into Germany. What they 
 could the peasants still kept back secretly; the rest 
 was confiscated. 
 
 Open resistance was impossible, for the victims 
 were both threatened and often whipped, and they 
 knew that other villages round about that had dared 
 fight the German tyranny had been burned, while 
 the inhabitants were butchered wholesale, or even 
 gassed ! Tortured with such inconceivable cruelty, 
 necessarily one bowed down to the fresh despotism, 
 hideous as it was. During the months of Teuton 
 occupation a vast retrograde movement was in- 
 augurated in the provinces of the Ukraine. The 
 "national" Hetman, General Skoropadsky, who was, 
 alas, a Russian, joined Von Eichhorn's government, 
 and helped the latter to carry out his policy, making 
 only one condition that the rights of the landed 
 proprietors in the Ukraine should be enforced 
 against their own peasantry and against the Bolshe- 
 viki. So it turned out that for the safety of their 
 personal fortunes, some few of the nobility in Kief, 
 through Skoropadsky's bargain, were tempted into 
 aiding the Huns. These latter, who elsewhere in 
 Russia were paying Bolsheviki to destroy the upper 
 class and create anarchy, were in Kief and its environs 
 punishing the peasantry and helping the top strata. 
 Our enemies' calculation was simple enough. From 
 the Ukraine they needed grain which the peasants 
 had, and as it was a country near their own frontier, 
 they also preferred to keep law and order and our 
 
86 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 class organization as it had been; also they had 
 found the Ukrainian Hetman with a military force 
 ready to join them. In the rest of Russia they per- 
 fectly realized that every one with understanding or 
 education was against them; so they had turned to 
 the worst groups to carry out their designs, and had 
 cynically counted on being always strong enough 
 to make order later, when it should suit their con- 
 venience to do so. 
 
 Our peasants did not follow out the arguments, 
 but they found it natural, traditionally logical and 
 just to be beaten into semislavery after they had 
 taken by force what did not belong to them. This 
 had always been their fate so far in history. . . . 
 So now, under German tutelage, they ploughed and 
 sowed obediently, and harvested the grain-crops, 
 driven into it by whip and insult. The grain went 
 partly for the German dictators' benefit and partly 
 for that of the old proprietors. . . . This last 
 share was paid into one or another of the banks of 
 Kief, and the ex-owners of the land were officially 
 notified of their credit. As to the peasantry who 
 had worked this year as never before since the 
 Dark Ages, they were given a mere pittance. 
 Oppressed and miserable, hopeless and inert, save 
 under the lash, besodden when free from punish- 
 ment, the villages lost again their fair coquettish 
 beauty. The inhabitants' clothes were torn, their 
 boots and harness worn out or requisitioned (for the 
 victors needed all the leather in the country), and 
 the cattle and horses became as thin as the people 
 themselves. All were fair prey to illnesses. Old 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 87 
 
 scourges which had been almost eradicated with 
 care, had reappeared; tuberculosis in various forms, 
 and many other maladies, claimed numerous victims. 
 Yet, at the end of the autumn, the enemy had suc- 
 ceeded in making our peasantry pay heavy taxes, 
 and also levies in money and grain had been made 
 by their agents. Into the bank at Kief, by order of 
 the new conquerors, went eighty per cent of the value 
 of live stock and implements which had been wan- 
 tonly destroyed. Also the peasants had officially 
 returned the lands to the old proprietors, and had 
 paid rent down, for two years ahead, on such fields 
 as they wished to keep for farming. This was done 
 to prove, the peasants fully admitted, that they had 
 stolen lands and' cattle, and that they had no rights 
 and no longer any pretensions to these riches. 
 When, as in our case, the proprietor's family was 
 absent, due official notification of what had been done 
 by the German-Ukrainian administration of Kief was 
 sent to them. We were notified, for instance, that 
 we could obtain this money from the bank at any 
 time convenient to us, and that the valuation of our 
 stock and implements for the refund had been made 
 by our own intendants. So it was the Germans 
 hoped to make themselves acceptable in the con- 
 quered province, at least to the aristocratic element, 
 and, alas, in some cases they were only too successful 
 in this. In the late summer Von Eichhorn was assas- 
 sinated by a young Russian, and within a few weeks 
 the same fate supposedly overtook Skoropadsky. 1 
 
 1 Skoropadsky's murder was officially annouced, but was later con- 
 tradicted non-officially. 
 
88 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 Both were dead, in spite of the pomp and military 
 protection with which in Kief they had surrounded 
 themselves. Rapidly the artificial organization dis- 
 integrated, till within a few weeks chaos reigned 
 everywhere, worse than ever before in the villages 
 and small towns. 
 
 It was a reaction against the enforced German 
 discipline of the previous months, and certainly 
 in all this misery our people roused one's pity 
 by their helplessness, though much of the trouble 
 was of their own creation. From being overdis- 
 ciplined and undereducated they had been plunged 
 without preparation into a riot of riches and vodka, 
 backed by a fiery propaganda. No wonder that all 
 boundaries were at once broken down and they 
 destroyed themselves and us. After this short orgy 
 the prophetic vision of the peasant who asked 
 4 ' When shall we be beaten ? " had verified itself fully, 
 with the German armed dictatorship. And now 
 that is also past, and the peasants sleep away 
 their winter days, waiting what calamity will strike 
 them next, and wondering how they can defend 
 themselves. 
 
 Already the Bolsheviki have begun an invasion 
 of the Ukraine from the north and east, since in 
 their other strongholds food is exhausted. . . . 
 From the southeast, Cossacks announce that they 
 will overrun the country and establish order accord- 
 ing to their ideas. . . . The peasants have a little 
 grain and firewood left, but no clothes save rags, 
 which were once so gay, and they are barely living, 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 89 
 
 barely holding out as yet, with small hope of help ! 
 They are fighting cold and vodka, disease and under- 
 feeding, lack of medicines and of the doctors whom 
 they themselves have driven away. They are pay- 
 ing the heavy contributions levied by each new 
 conqueror in turn, and mentally they are brutalized 
 to silence, but are frantic as driven beasts in their 
 fear of what each day may bring. So far the poor 
 mujiks have not given or received the least promise 
 of better things. It was little news one heard 
 through the winter months from Bouromka, even at 
 the best of times, as our post never came more than 
 four days a week, and was brought by horses from 
 a railroad-station fifty miles away; but we know the 
 people, semi-armed, are rising in our village as in 
 those round about, trying to resist the anarchistic 
 tyrants who are now exploiting them. For the rest, 
 their ferocity of destruction has long since worn it- 
 self out. Feeling crushed, the peasants sought re- 
 venge, first on those whom the false prophets told 
 them were to blame, then on the latter themselves, 
 when their prophecies proved wrong, and finally on 
 the tyrants who abused them in the terrible German 
 reaction. Undoubtedly, they had thought the Ger- 
 mans and ex-landowners were in league to force res- 
 titution from them. While there was certainly some 
 justice in their paying for what they spoiled or stole, 
 and in their being made to admit that what they did 
 was wrong, at the bottom of their minds I think 
 the feeling must exist that they have not altogether 
 deserved the punishment given them, for not they 
 
90 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 alone are responsible for the troubles. Undoubt- 
 edly, they are tormented occasionally trying to find 
 a way out of the difficulty, and I can imagine 
 Batioushka and the elders meeting at the priest's 
 tiny cottage near the church, and their discus- 
 sions of the dismal past, and of all the ground 
 that has been lost to the poor village which lies 
 spread out in placid sunlight at their feet. The 
 elders have probably lost hold of the situation, 
 and one can hear them sigh heavily as they utter 
 their complaints. "Batioushka, we have been 
 truly in the dark, but it has not been our fault. 
 Who could foretell and who could sufficiently pre- 
 pare us for the great feast of our liberty ? Of our 
 people so few were educated, and our patriotism 
 was for the 'hata' and the township, and perhaps 
 even for this province; but it went no farther, since 
 we know nothing of the rest of Russia, save that our 
 religion was for the White Czar. If we had more 
 learning, we would have made better arrangements 
 for the new government. Surely the latter will still 
 come to us when this black night of the terror is 
 finished ? It will be a long time till then, and full 
 of pain, perhaps; but at last one might hope the 
 rich and the poor, the great and the small, would 
 join with one another and create a new country on 
 the foundations of our present disappointments." 
 "In spite of all the trouble, I am for the revolution," 
 answers Batioushka, "glad the old regime's ail- 
 ments and sins have been destroyed, though that 
 ancient government encouraged us and made us 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 91 
 
 richer as a class than we priests shall ever be in the 
 future. But religion itself will not suffer, and who 
 knows ? the old and the new, the Orthodox, Catholic, 
 Protestant, Mohammedan, and even the Jew, shall 
 perhaps be equal one to the other before the law, 
 some day, and the church will preach joy and healthy 
 living instead of gloom and punishment. We must 
 plan a new education for our young priests to arrive 
 at this, and for our doctors and all the teachers of 
 the people. Russia must clean its house, and it is 
 possible these tragic years are eradicating the bad 
 as well as the good in us, and teaching us much 
 which we never would have learned save by our 
 present experiences. The new regime will be born 
 a child, young and weak, and can only slowly grow 
 up; the future is bound to the past by instincts 
 and ideals, loves and hatreds, which are inherited. 
 . . . But some of the traits of our nature, in fact 
 most of them, were always very beautiful. . . . We 
 shall be great yet, I think. . . . Listen, you who 
 are the elders here, and then teach your children to 
 believe that we are down now to our lowest depths, 
 for we have been in German hands. For centuries 
 we have been ill-used by this same enemy, given only 
 their crumbs of civilization, and obliged to bow 
 down to them, and now their agents have been here 
 among us, imparting to us all sorts of lies, both as 
 to our allies' wickedness and as to our revolution's 
 power; and all this was told to a people wearied and 
 worn by war. Why our allies did not tell us their 
 side of such questions, I do not know, for we were 
 
92 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 far away from them, alone to fight all the battles on 
 this side of the firing-lines, and we suffered and lost 
 much more than they. . . . More than three mil- 
 lion of our men were killed, and two more millions 
 have died of starvation or disease. When upon all 
 this came the revolution, with the Germans ever 
 ready to teach us the full meaning of it, we natu- 
 rally fell prostrate in their hands. . . . But see, 
 already there are those preparing to rise again, 
 and fighting as their ancestors of the steppes did 
 in the Dark Ages against the Asiatic hordes who 
 came to oppress them. The enemy's squads were 
 ill-received in summer, and now it is even worse 
 for the Bolshevik's representatives who come to 
 tyrannize. Maybe with time and thought our 
 men shall again turn their minds to honest work, 
 and will grow up to understand that liberty to do 
 and responsibility for what is done must go together; 
 also, that national funds must not be squandered, 
 since they are nothing else than the money we our- 
 selves pay into our state coffers. . . . Perhaps, 
 also, it will come to us that the villages and cities 
 need one another, as do the rich and the poor also, 
 and when this knowledge is accepted, all will be well. 
 It is even near now, since you are all beginning to 
 miss the city's luxuries and the chateau's care, and 
 the money which your honest labor brought you; 
 and you have found out that all of these, vodka 
 and sleep alone cannot replace." The elders slowly 
 nod assent and reply: "True, Batioushka, and if 
 you believe this yourself, that all which is so bad 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 93 
 
 now can at last be overcome, then we shall believe 
 also; and there are others who are tired of the dis- 
 order, and who will join in trying to help. Perhaps 
 there are neighbor villages which will act likewise ? 
 We finally understand now that no injustice of 
 the past can be righted by stealing. . . . Though 
 certainly we have much need of land. . . . The 
 Princes should and must give us some of theirs, or 
 all; but let us try to find a way out of this and other 
 difficulties quietly." Batioushka, full of pity for 
 his flock, is ready to help them in every way he can 
 and believes that the rapidity with which the peasant 
 (with his woman and his child) blossomed in the 
 few years which immediately preceded the revolu- 
 tion, shows of what progress the Russians are capa- 
 ble if rightly led and rightly understood. One 
 was tempted to dream dreams then, and I also am 
 still quite prepared to believe that a race which 
 has thrown off, or absorbed, Tartars and Poles, 
 Norsemen and Mongolians, together with refugees 
 and colonists from all over the world, can still rise 
 up and shake off German foe or Bolshevik traitor. 
 Certainly though, it is a difficult task to rid a coun- 
 try of such a heavy load of misery as the present 
 one weighing on the Slav people, and then to build 
 our national life anew ! . . . 
 
 How it shall be done only the future can show. 
 At present the old people and the children are 
 dying, and the villages need clothes and coverings, 
 provisions and machinery, and every other sort of 
 material help from the big centres, and they cannot 
 
94 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 obtain these since the cities refuse co-operation. 
 So the peasantry holds back its own small stocks of 
 hidden grain, while the townspeople riot for lack of 
 bread, and the whole seething mass, which once was 
 placid Russia, has this fight between urban and 
 suburban groups to add to the other troubles of the 
 frightful revolution. Russia offers to the world the 
 most dismal tragedy which history ever presented ! 
 ... In Bouromka, always far from the beaten 
 tracks of civilization, the priest, though his own 
 rosy plans are in the dust, still labors on and prays 
 among his little group ; and the brave few who have 
 withstood the present time's temptations try to 
 think and plan with him for all the rest, and so to 
 minimize the great harm done. They, like many 
 Russians everywhere, still feel the frenzy of our 
 reign of terror must end in time for the whole nation 
 Prince, Bourgeois, and Peasant to join hands, 
 and to rebuild our country on a new foundation. 
 They know Russia has not yet had its day, histori- 
 cally, and that the disease from which we suffer is 
 not degeneracy, but one caused by wild young forces 
 too long suppressed, and then unleashed suddenly 
 and overfed. With at least one hundred and fifty 
 millions out of our one hundred and eighty million 
 people still so undeveloped that they cannot sign 
 their names, it was easy enough to lead them far 
 astray. Every one helped to do it ; friend and ally, 
 through misunderstanding, no less than our foe 
 through clever , calculation. ... Till now all the 
 civilization given us was by ordering the adoption 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 95 
 
 of certain superficial forms, taken in total from the 
 Orient, or again from France, Italy, or Germany, 
 at the command of some enthusiastic Emperor or 
 statesman. . . . The significance of these forms 
 was never explained to the people, nor were the 
 measures ever modified to suit the Slavs' own nature. 
 Underneath this veneer our people remained with 
 their ancient ideals and primitive desires, a folk of 
 patriarchal times. Finally, when the revolution 
 came, the Slav giant stood up, and dropping his 
 artificial garment, he stretched and shook himself 
 until the whole earth trembled! All the world 
 stood aghast at the result of its own labors, and for- 
 eigners are puzzling their brains as to what shall 
 be done to quench the fire, stop the noise, and bring 
 these wild demons back to law and order again. 
 And while they talk, the delirium gains ground and 
 many things are being burned. All the world risks 
 perishing, and they who would like to preserve in 
 a recognized form their civilization must act soon, 
 or it will be too late. . . . 
 
 As history counts, the time may not be long till 
 our dramatic chapter will be finished, and until the 
 Slav, untamed by the outsiders, may at last tame 
 himself, rise up purified and strong to surprise the 
 world by his own powers for civilization of a new 
 type. Somehow every Russian, whether of high 
 station or low, with whom I have talked, seems to 
 have a prophetic feeling of this coming development. 
 An old prophecy upholds the theory, if one is super- 
 stitious. . . . Made long before the war by Count 
 
96 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 Leon Tolstoy, of whom the Czar, in 1910, had asked 
 one, it announced the coming cataclysm, and it 
 very much upset the ruler then ! The paper was 
 kept for years in his Majesty's secret archives, I 
 heard. In a trance, the old writer, then almost in 
 his dotage, saw all Europe in flames, and predicted 
 such a war as the universe had never known before. 
 After this he said: "The end of that great calamity 
 will mark a new political era for the world. There 
 will be left no empires nor kingdoms, but there will be 
 born a federation of United States; and there will exist 
 four great giant races : the Anglo-Saxons, the Latins, 
 the Slavs, and the Mongolians; and I see a change 
 in religious sentiment, and the church as known 
 now will fall. The ethical idea will nearly vanish, 
 and humanity will be almost without morality; 
 and then a great reformer will arise about the year 
 1925. He will lay the corner-stone of a new religion ; 
 God, soul, and spirit, with immortality, all will be 
 molten in the new furnace, to form a new power of 
 spirituality; and I see the peaceful dawn of a new 
 day at last. . . . And the man determined on for 
 this mission is a Mongolian-Slav already walking 
 the earth. He will be a man of active affairs, and 
 does not realize now the position in history assigned 
 to him by his superior powers." Some Slav to lead 
 the world, and from the north or east he is to come ? 
 Only on the great silent steppe-lands and in the 
 forests of Russia are there any Slavs with a strain 
 of Mongolian blood. Even at this hour of supreme 
 agony there are many of my compatriots, earnest 
 
REVOLUTION IN THE VILLAGE 97 
 
 in their spirit of devotion and self-sacrifice, who, 
 with the instinctive patience of their blood, wait for 
 an occasion when action will be possible, trying to 
 find help and save their race, never losing courage, 
 never losing faith in the cause of a new Russia. 
 
Ill 
 
 "THE REIGN OF TERROR" 
 
 THE first time we heard of Bolshevism by 
 name was at the beginning of May or to 
 be exact, April 20, old style 1917, when 
 an uprising of this ultraradical group in Petrograd 
 threatened to overthrow the first provisional gov- 
 ernment and to establish anarchy in the Russian 
 capital. The Bolsheviki paraded the streets at 
 that time with black banners on which threaten- 
 ing mottoes were printed large, for all to read; 
 and there was much shouting and street-fighting 
 with salvo-firing. It was after several days that 
 the atmosphere again became quiet and normal; 
 and then the peace was obtained only by the sacri- 
 fice of Miliukoff 's position in the Cabinet and the 
 acceptance by Kerensky of the soldiers and work- 
 men's committee as part of the machinery of gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 Such was the official birth of the "Bolshevik" or 
 
 "Maximalist" party, whose name came from the 
 
 word "bolshoi" big because this group de- 
 
 ' 'manded the biggest or maximum of concessions 
 
 from the revolutionary administration's weakness. 
 
 Since its first appearance Lenine was the de- 
 clared organizer and chief of the party. He had 
 
 98 
 
"THE REIGN OF TERROR" 99 
 
 come from Switzerland, direct through Germany, 
 at the opening of the revolution, and had established 
 his headquarters for propaganda in the charming 
 little palace requisitioned by his staff from the 
 frightened ballerine Kshesinskaia, 
 
 An irony of chance placed this cradle of the new 
 doctrine exactly opposite the ancient fortress of 
 Peter and Paul, where in a secluded cathedral lie 
 the bodies of all the Romanoff Emperors, from the 
 great Peter, builder of the church, down to Alex- 
 ander III. I fancy these autocrats must have 
 turned in their graves at the idea of their neighbors' 
 theories and actions. 
 
 The germ of Bolshevism, like much else which has 
 hurt the world of late, came straight from Germany 
 to us; and by the following facts this seems abso- 
 lutely proved. When in July Lenine's headquarters 
 were raided, German gold was found there in large 
 sums; also during various uprisings of anarchistic 
 tendency German gold was found both in the 
 hands and pockets of those who were creating these 
 disorders. In numerous places where specially 
 violent demonstrations took place, German official 
 spies were recognized and caught, disguised as 
 Russians; and all the organization of the Bolsheviki 
 has been so thorough and their movements so care- 
 fully carried out as to preclude these being the re- 
 sult of an effort of our benighted, uneducated, and 
 inexperienced Russians of the extreme lower class. 
 They might perhaps have been capable of some one 
 crime, but were much too helpless to conceive and 
 
100 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 execute a long, complicated, and systematic pro- 
 gramme such as this party has carried out during 
 the past two years. 
 
 Petrograd was not alone in possessing German 
 agents for this special work. All over the country 
 such groups were at work. At Kief my husband 
 was fighting them, and himself had in hand Aus- 
 trian and German papers and gold, while he ar- 
 rested several of the enemy's spies, who in the 
 Ukraine posed as local nationalists. At the great 
 staff headquarters of Moghileff, when came the last 
 mutiny before the provisional government's final 
 breaking up, the commander-in-chief , General Douk- 
 honine, was killed by an Austrian officer disguised 
 in Russian-sailor uniform, whom the general recog- 
 nized and called by name before he fell. In many 
 a village such as our own Bouromka, months after 
 the March revolution when we were still living 
 quietly and on good terms with our village peasant 
 committee a new group of five or six men appeared 
 from outside, bred discontent and trouble, bribed 
 the people with gold and not Russian gold ex- 
 cited them with speeches, and finally fed and 
 inflamed their brains with vodka till they could 
 successfully lead the crowd to excesses which were 
 quite beyond belief. Then the foreign committee 
 members diplomatically disappeared, leaving our 
 peasants to face consequences very hard for them 
 to bear. 
 
 An instance of the unnecessary destruction which 
 was the work of such agents is that of Bouromka. 
 
"THE REIGN OF TERROR" 101 
 
 . . . When our main village was abandoned by the 
 group of outsiders, one of the richest estates in 
 Little-Russia consisting of thirty thousand or more 
 acres of intensely cultivated farm land, in the 
 black-earth section, with meadows and woods, 
 herds of oxen, studs of both work-horses and thor- 
 oughbreds, dairy-farm and forges, shops, buildings, 
 a mill and a distillery, not to mention the value of 
 the chateau and park, with the rare furniture, plants, 
 hothouses, and collections had been by degrees 
 completely destroyed, together with all the farming 
 implements and machinery. This result was accom- 
 plished during a few weeks, while the outside com- 
 mittee men resided at Bouromka. 
 
 After they had finally gone, the frantic, desperate 
 peasants came to their senses sufficiently to realize 
 not only that they had inflicted great wrong on us, 
 but also that they had harmed themselves, by making 
 it impossible to cultivate this land they had an- 
 nexed in total by the committee's advice, since the 
 wherewithal to work the place had been ruined 
 quite beyond repair. Later the peasantry's * ' elders ' ' 
 helped our own intendants to make out the lists and 
 estimates of our losses, and the latter reached the 
 sum of eight millions of roubles, of which one and 
 a half millions' worth in live stock and implements 
 largely were found and returned, or paid for, by 
 some of the less headless peasants. The rest was 
 clear loss. 
 
 And Bouromka estate is but one of many hun- 
 dreds which in Russia have suffered from condi- 
 
102 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 tions created and kept going by German organiza- 
 tion ! It suited the enemy's policy perfectly, almost 
 to abolish us and our peasantry together, and then 
 to step into the richest part of Russia and re-establish 
 law and order. Thus they tried to put the nobility 
 under obligations, and to crush and exploit the 
 humbler classes, drawing on them for both grain 
 and men to replenish their own fatherland's losses 
 in food and labor. 
 
 This system has succeeded in many parts of 
 Russia, where German overlords, in command of 
 everything, are still using our resources either quite 
 openly by requisition, or through their secret agents, 
 the Bolshevik red guardsmen, or even by the cun- 
 ning of politicians exploiting us. 
 
 When a province or a city is crushed and trampled 
 to complete exhaustion, the conqueror's agents at 
 once retire and leave the place to recover itself as 
 best it can, or to die out entirely. 
 
 Long before the opening of the Great War, there 
 were hundreds of thousands of Germans in Russia, 
 as elsewhere. Some few had intermarried with 
 Russians, and their children, born and brought up 
 in our country, belonged to the Orthodox Church 
 and were good subjects of the Czar; but the vast 
 majority merchants, professionals, colonists had 
 remained loyal to their ancient fatherland; spoke 
 German, lived as they had in the old country, and 
 became very prosperous at the expense of their sur- 
 roundings. Technically they took out naturaliza- 
 tion papers in our empire, and they were, of course, 
 
"THE REIGN OF TERROR" 103 
 
 allowed to move about, making observations freely. 
 They were of the greatest service to the enemy, both 
 before and all through the war. 
 
 Afterward, at the revolution, they also did every- 
 thing to further the plans of their head men in 
 Berlin. They were those who largely prepared the 
 ground for the revolution, and who both in the 
 laboring classes and in our army made much propa- 
 ganda. Before the first movement of the revolu- 
 tion (in early March, 1917), these agents in the bar- 
 racks of Petrograd sowed disloyalty and indiscipline 
 among recruits and reserves who made up the gar- 
 rison of our capital. When the crash came, dur- 
 ing the first wild days it was found by officers at- 
 tached to the Duma's committee that the Catherine- 
 Hall delegates of the workmen and soldiers had 
 produced spontaneously and without thought (in 
 the terrible period of general amazement and panic 
 at the turn of events) both the famous " Order 
 Number One to the Army," introducing committees 
 into all military units, and thereby destroying dis- 
 cipline completely on the firing-line, and also the 
 proclamation to the garrison of Petrograd which 
 permitted its members to remain permanently sta- 
 tionary within the city, without ever being sent 
 forward to the front. 
 
 These two measures were brought to the provi- 
 sional cabinet for signing, almost in the first hour 
 of the revolution; and our ministers, either troubled 
 by the many dangers they and the whole country 
 must face, and therefore anxious to placate so power- 
 
104 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 ful a group as were the workmen and soldiers of the 
 empire, or else merely dazed with surprise, affixed 
 their names without serious resistance. Where 
 these two papers came from, and how that seething 
 mass of half-crazy humanity in the Catherine-Hall 
 could produce two such clear, logical orders at such 
 a time, was an inexplicable mystery, except per- 
 haps by inference; since both these papers were 
 immensely useful to the German enemy's cause. 
 
 As a positive fact I know that one officer a per- 
 sonal friend of ours who chanced to be in the capital 
 on sick-leave from the front, and who had rushed 
 with others to the parliament to offer his services 
 in the cause of law and order reported to his chief 
 at once, and later testified to the fact that the only 
 typographical plants working in the town during 
 those early revolutionary days were run by German 
 workmen, who had taken possession of them under 
 German-speaking master printers. He, our friend, 
 was unable to obtain sufficient service to type 
 papers, which Rodzanko had wished printed quickly 
 for immediate distribution, because they were so 
 busy preparing the Number One Order. Captain 
 
 K heard and saw all this himself. He said that 
 
 as fast as the thousands of sheets were ready, they 
 were taken off directly by special messengers, to 
 be delivered to our soldiers at the front, without 
 the knowledge of officers. These messengers were 
 Germans also, or men in German pay. This whole 
 move was attended with rapid and extraordinary 
 efficiency, at a time when Russians of the working 
 
"THE REIGN OF TERROR" 105 
 
 class had gone mad with excitement over their new 
 liberty, and could not have been brought to labor 
 at anything, least of all to go off to deliver papers 
 along the firing-line leaving the amusements of the 
 Petrograd streets. 
 
 Police were suppressed at the frontiers as else- 
 where during the first week of the revolution, and 
 for six days barriers being down, thousands of 
 German agents poured into our country, spread- 
 ing out to points where duty had been assigned to 
 them spying and reporting, organizing propaganda, 
 uprisings, and committees. Within the month, 
 though things looked quiet on the surface, one often 
 felt the fermentation underneath, and the Cabinet 
 members sat insecurely in their places governing a 
 very fluid state. 
 
 The revolutionary preparation by Germany was 
 never sufficiently noticed nor pursued then, and the 
 work of the enemy with the Catherine-Hall party 
 and as printers and messengers speaks in its results. 
 Afterward, with the arrival of new reserves from 
 Germany, the work was at once begun of forming 
 an official group. L6nine was its head, the Kshe- 
 sinskaia house its quarters, and while the leader and 
 his satellites preached their red doctrines to Petro- 
 grad's public as the gospel of the lowly people, their 
 unofficial agents circulated about over the whole 
 country, breaking ground, as it were, bringing in 
 new recruits for initiation and creating discontent; 
 thus they drew together the committees, both of 
 soldiers and of workmen, with the Leninites. Say- 
 
106 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 ing a sympathetic word at the right moment, they 
 were distributing everywhere leaflets of Karl Marx, 
 translated and changed to fit the ambitions of the 
 Russian poor, and they succeeded in inspiring pre- 
 tensions which had never before occurred to their 
 converts. 
 
 By July, 1917, the Bolshevik party had gathered 
 to itself all the discontented elements in the great 
 cities and all the army's rebellious spirits, and there 
 was strength behind it enough to frighten Kerensky 
 and force him to give way. "Land and Liberty " 
 was this group's early cry, which meant little or 
 much, according to its interpretation by conserva- 
 tives or anarchists. 
 
 Count P , who about this time was obliged to 
 
 give up a large Red Cross unit at the front which, 
 through three years of war, had done wonders to help 
 our wounded soldiers, told me his reasons for aban- 
 doning this work. He said: "I tried to argue out 
 the situation with my men, both those who formed 
 my unit as well as those whom we were having 
 treated. The new liberty to them had been made to 
 represent that the stretcher-bearers and the hospital's 
 floor-scrubbers ought to run our whole administra- 
 tion, while the patients were to obey or not our 
 doctor's orders, as they saw fit. Several of the 
 patients had died from eating what was forbidden 
 them, in absolute defiance of directions given, and 
 then the other wounded had proclaimed noisily all 
 this was the doctor's fault, as his medicines were bad. 
 
 "Once I went into the hospital garden and began 
 
"THE REIGN OF TERROR" 107 
 
 to talk with a sanitary who was resting there in his 
 off hour. I still hoped good might come of an ex- 
 planation, if I made it simple enough, so I told him : 
 'See, Ivan, if I sit on this bench and you come and 
 sit by me instead of standing there that to my 
 mind is the new liberty they speak of, where neither 
 you nor I inconvenience one another, and both are 
 comfortable equally; but if you were to tell me that 
 I must get up and you would like to sit on this same 
 place where I am now as well as on your own that 
 would scarcely be fair, since you would be taking 
 away my seat, when you cannot possibly sit in two 
 of them at once/ 
 
 "'Yes, Excellency,' answered Ivan, 'I have always 
 thought this too, till now, and felt content; but the 
 new people say that idea belongs to old times, and 
 the new liberty is for me to keep my place and all I 
 have, and add to it what is yours also; and certainly 
 we find that will be an agreeable arrangement, since 
 there are many things which belong to others and 
 which we want.' 
 
 "So Ivan and I, having worked together over our 
 wounded for three long years, were now separated 
 completely by the new theories which had been 
 poured into his brain, and there was nothing more 
 for me to do but to pack up my things and leave 
 our unit to the care of new masters. Soon the ser- 
 vice would not obey their own elected soldier chiefs, 
 and as funds gave out the whole hospital first ran 
 wild and then fell to pieces; yet the men forming 
 it had been devoted and loyal, and full of fervor 
 
108 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 and energy to help their struggling suffering brothers 
 at the front before the poison reached them. 
 
 "It seemed as if those who had led them astray 
 by such impossible doctrines ought to be punished. 
 The best men became violent Bolsheviki, bent on 
 their own destruction and on ours; and whatever 
 comes to them, they never will be satisfied, since 
 their elusive ideal will always be some steps beyond 
 attainment." 
 
 At least a dozen men and women whom I knew 
 had about the same experience with their Red 
 Cross workers, and these groups disintegrated, as 
 did the army and every other organization in Rus- 
 sia; while little by little during the same period the 
 Bolsheviki gained power steadily. 
 
 Leon Trotzky alias Braunstein arrived in July, 
 and added his strength to the movement. He came 
 from the East Side of New York City, where he had 
 till then been doing useful work among Americans 
 for his German masters and their cause. He ad- 
 mitted being an anarchist, and also that his original 
 name had been Leo Braunstein until he moved to 
 our unfortunate land, when he had taken a Russian 
 name. He probably outshone Lenine in magnetism 
 and eloquence, and was better trained in German 
 methods and more experienced. Certainly whether 
 from that, or because his original home country 
 backed him more suitably, he seems to have injected 
 much greater energy into the agitations which he 
 led and to have organized them better. He was 
 infinitely violent and tyrannical as compared to 
 
"THE REIGN OF TERROR" 109 
 
 other leaders. He promised more, and has shown 
 himself unashamed of using any instrument which 
 offered itself to his hand; and he had already by 
 early November, 1917, gathered enough power to 
 overthrow the tottering provisional government, 
 lock up its ministers save only Kerensky, who ran 
 away! while he, Trotzky, personally assumed all 
 power as tyrant and autocrat. 
 
 This new Robespierre inaugurated at once a reign 
 of terror, or tried to do so, for even with the seizure 
 once accomplished most of his Russian followers 
 still hung back, and with innate idealism expected 
 the millennium immediately to fulfil all promises 
 made, without undue effort or ferocity on their own 
 parts. 
 
 Of course nothing came of this hope, since it had 
 never been in the plans of the originators that their 
 followers should reap any good from their projects. 
 The riches of the country they meant to draw for 
 themselves out of the tempest they were stirring up; 
 and only complete slavery was to be the part of the 
 mujik, whether he hailed from town or village. 
 But he, the victim, must be kept, of course, igno- 
 rant of such plans till he should be prostrate beyond 
 recovery; and to gain that end it was necessary to 
 tempt him onward, over the road he seemed almost 
 loath to follow. Also, the various classes in Russia 
 must all be put irretrievably one against the other, 
 and misunderstandings, when they did not exist, 
 must be created which would carry the groups be- 
 yond possibility of reconciliation. 
 
110 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 Zealously the agents set about this special work. 
 Step by step they carried out a fixed programme. 
 Our people of the lower strata, who were so ignorant 
 they could neither read nor write, naturally wanted 
 all those things which were dangled before their 
 blinking eyes, so immediately they fell an easy 
 prey to Bolshevik machinations. They, who had 
 gone through the terrific years of war, who were 
 very needy in the north, especially of both fuel 
 and food, believed at once any false prophets, who 
 appeared from they knew not where, and offered 
 them shining gold and provisions, and above all 
 vodka, of which they had not tasted for three long 
 years. And then, beyond all this, the newcomers 
 promised there should be a paradise on earth no 
 more work and no more fighting ! All the riches of 
 the world should be had for the mere taking; and it 
 was not stealing and murder they were asked to 
 practise, it was explained, for everything in the new 
 government was to be " nationalized," and belonged 
 to the humble masses, who were both great and 
 good and long-suffering ! 
 
 They were told all that was given to them thus 
 by proclamations was already legally their property, 
 and they had only two duties to perform : to carry 
 out the law by appropriating what was at hand 
 and to "defend the revolution" which meant 
 fighting counter-revolutionary plots and parties. 
 This seemed easy enough ; it only required occasional 
 arrests, requisitions, and now and then the shooting 
 of a suspected bourgeois, with raiding of houses, 
 
"THE REIGN OP TERROR" 111 
 
 shops, and cellars, both public and private. All 
 this was delightful through the excitement and booty 
 it furnished ! 
 
 By degrees, as heads became heated, the whole of 
 the poorer elements became one drunken horde. 
 Even the German directors could no longer manage 
 the mobs except by giving them what they asked 
 for and by promising more and always more. Each 
 day brought new necessities, and to keep their places 
 the demagogues must be forever ready to humor 
 the wildest caprices and to invent new license and 
 new orgies, so thought would be stifled on the part 
 of those whom they wished to hold well in hand. 
 
 This became especially difficult, because so many 
 of the prophecies did not come true; or when they 
 did they proved unsatisfactory. Men who were led 
 to burn chateaux and farms, stock and implements, 
 and to whom the land was given, were not content 
 finally; because after they had the land they could 
 not labor at so much of it merely with their hands; 
 and all the tools and organization for bringing forth 
 its fruits had been done for by the heirs to it them- 
 selves. How were they to draw money from the 
 bare earth alone, be it ever so rich ? They couldn't 
 suffice at the work and, besides, they didn't really 
 want to do it, since part of the new paradise prom- 
 ised had been that no one need labor unless he chose. 
 
 In the factories it was the same; there were at 
 first wonderful days and nights, when the men had 
 stood up to the owners, had talked of their new 
 rights, and taken their freedom when and howjthey 
 
112 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 pleased, meaning naturally a complete holiday at 
 full wages. The managers had protested, then for 
 a time had paid, and had finally gone bankrupt and 
 closed their shops, or simply left them to the man- 
 agement of the strikers. Some owners had fled and 
 saved their lives, others had stayed and been mur- 
 dered, while the buildings and machinery generally 
 had gone up in flames. The factory-hands who 
 wanted to stand by their employers were either 
 driven off or, when they proclaimed too loudly that 
 the conduct of their comrades was outrageous, they 
 were put to death as renegades to their own class. 
 After all this was accomplished and there was 
 time to realize what had been done, naturally no 
 pay was forthcoming, and from cold lodgings the 
 workmen sallied out into the streets, ready for any 
 adventure which might be suggested. Riots and 
 noise, drinking, stealing and knifing, the inspiration 
 was ever present in the thought of all that was to 
 be, but had not yet come true, and in the gnawing 
 hunger at their vitals. 
 
 Of such men the "Red Guard'* was formed, and a 
 more dangerous crowd could scarcely be. Trotzky 
 saw to it they should be kept amused and satisfied, 
 and he paid these men first, and well, with the 
 money which came regularly from the Berlin banks 
 when he could find none nearer home. Disorderly, 
 undisciplined, rackety, untrustworthy, no reliance 
 could be placed on them for any regular service, 
 not even to back up the government's orders, or for 
 maintaining any land of organized life. 
 
"THE REIGN OF TERROR" 113 
 
 Lawlessness was the special occupation of every 
 Bolshevik, who applied his party's doctrines to him- 
 self and to the acquisition of his own personal de- 
 sire of the moment. Any one who disagreed with 
 the new scheme must either flee the country or give 
 way, unless he cared to be shot if noticed. Remain- 
 ing alive meant making oneself as small as possible 
 on all occasions or paying with one's life for attract- 
 ing undue attention. 
 
 As an indication of what the Bolsheviki were 
 capable of in breaking all rules of hospitality and 
 showing treachery even toward foreigners who were 
 in their hands, I need cite but one instance: the 
 experiences of the diplomatic missions, which de- 
 parted from Petrograd at the moment when, after 
 the peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk, German con- 
 querors were to occupy our capital. The actions of 
 the Trotzky-Lenine government were then quite on 
 the Hun pattern. . . . The Japanese and Chinese 
 missions accompanied the American Ambassador's 
 as far as Vologda, half across European Russia on the 
 Trans-Siberian Railroad, while the British, French, 
 Italian, and Serbian missions refused to take this 
 route quite round the world to reach their homes; 
 and they started, with the Bolshevik government's 
 permission, for the Swedish frontier, by way of Fin- 
 land, a trip which should have lasted about thirty 
 hours. They were harassed and held up on the 
 road, in their special trains, for between six and 
 seven weeks, the British being the only mission 
 which finally succeeded in getting to the frontier at 
 
114 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 all ! The others were turned back after this long 
 trial of their patience, and were forced to go to 
 Vologda, where they remained with the Americans 
 until July, 1918 ! 
 
 During four or five months constant discussion 
 continued between the little group of stranded 
 diplomats at Vologda and the Bolshevik government 
 at Moscow. The latter had offered Petrograd to 
 the German masters, and had retired themselves 
 to the more southern capital, accompanied by Hun 
 Ambassadors, who were really dictators. Now they 
 invited and kept insisting on acceptance the 
 members of the foreign missions to join them at 
 their new headquarters. At first they tried to 
 tempt these by offering villas to the missions if they 
 would but come to Moscow, thus recognizing the 
 red government. 
 
 This invitation was steadily refused, because the 
 Allies felt themselves already as near to the Soviet's 
 people as they cared to be, and because if they went 
 farther south they felt at any moment when the 
 occasion rose which might make such action advan- 
 tageous they might be seized and held as hostages. 
 Evidently the object of Trotzky's government was 
 to play off the Allies against the Germans, who were 
 accredited to the Kremlin. The confidence the 
 Teuton Powers felt in Trotzky's word can be judged 
 by the fact that Austria and Germany each insisted 
 on sending to Moscow two or three regiments of 
 their own troops to defend their embassies. . . . 
 In spite of which Count Mirbach was murdered 
 within six months ! 
 
"THE REIGN OF TERROR" 115 
 
 Radek, a member of the Bolshevik Soviet, had 
 come with the invitation to the diplomatic corps 
 all the way to Vologda, and after he returned to 
 Moscow with their refusal the stranded party re- 
 ceived an alarming telegram in the night of July 23, 
 from the Muscovite capital, saying it was unsafe 
 for diplomats to remain at Vologda, and that an- 
 other day might mean escape would no longer be 
 possible ! Thereupon Mr. Francis and his com- 
 panions decided to use immediately the special train 
 which they had kept ready on the track for five 
 months past and to beat a hasty retreat to Arch- 
 angel. They consequently asked for a locomotive, 
 which it had been arranged they were to obtain 
 from the station-master on demand; but the Soviet 
 government heard of this action and made inquiries 
 as to the proposed departure and the destination of 
 the train. The information demanded was sent by 
 the Vologda officials, whereupon Tchitcherin, Minis- 
 ter of Foreign Affairs at Moscow, sent word to the 
 American Ambassador: " Archangel is an unfit place 
 for diplomats to live, and going there means leaving 
 Russia definitely.*' 
 
 The little group left, all the same, for the northern 
 port. They reached it only to find the Soviet rep- 
 resentatives warned of their coming and waiting 
 there with orders from Moscow, which renewed com- 
 plications for some time longer. During this period 
 the diplomats lived through many dangerous hours, 
 and were treated in turn as both hostages and pris- 
 oners. At times, however, they themselves were in 
 command, especially after an Allied fleet landed a 
 
116 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 goodly number of marines. They even made a 
 forced trip to Kandalaksha and returned in time to 
 assist at the overthrow of the Bolsheviki, after 
 which they attended to much of the settling of 
 the Archangel government's policy, upholding the 
 new and struggling provisional officials who lately 
 had been established there. 
 
 It shows the influence of the Germans, if not their 
 absolute control of Trotzky, that they twice de- 
 manded the American Ambassador be banished 
 from Archangel, in support of which demand they 
 made various accusations. Trotzky, cringing to his 
 masters, gave the necessary orders, but these were 
 not carried out, because the Bolsheviki were no 
 longer in charge at Archangel when these papers 
 came, and the American Ambassador remained in 
 possession of the field until November, 1918. Then 
 he left Russian shores by his own decision and 
 because of impaired health. 
 
 One might feel surprise no opposition was at- 
 tempted in the great centres where Bolshevism 
 flourished, but when one remembers how this party 
 came into existence it seems natural enough noth- 
 ing could be organized against it. The enlightened 
 members of society were not only in the minority, 
 but the many requisitions since the first movement 
 in March, 1917, had deprived them of arms and 
 ammunition of every description, while the red 
 rabble owned firearms which had been in factories 
 or arsenals, and even all those used in the army, 
 except such as had been surrendered to the German 
 
"THE REIGN OF TERROR" 117 
 
 conqueror, destroyed or thrown away during their 
 wild routs of the past summer. 
 
 The Teutons, until now, have kept these so-called 
 troops of the Red Guard well supplied with am- 
 munition. I find myself hoping sometimes, that in 
 a gesture of revenge all this ragged and disappointed 
 misery will turn on the German leaders, and serve 
 them with the treatment they so justly merit by 
 the vast swindle they have practised on our crim- 
 inally childish groups. To rouse them the enemy's 
 loathsome game was dressed in fine ideals. Made of 
 Utopian hopes never to be gratified was the sheep's 
 clothing these wolves wore. Little by little they 
 proceeded to debauch their converts till these be- 
 came mere tools the enemy used shamelessly for the 
 destruction and dismemberment of Great Russia, 
 Germany's most powerful foe. This once accom- 
 plished, the Huns were quite ready to turn away, 
 and indifferent as to their victim's fate. . . . 
 
 Even after all these months of the loathsome sys- 
 tem, the monsters who invented it have drawn little 
 good from their infamy; firstly, because the same 
 propaganda they created has rolled back in a great 
 wave upon themselves; secondly, because as yet 
 Germany has been too busy on her western front, 
 and at home, to turn soldiers and officials into 
 Russia in numbers sufficient to take complete pos- 
 session of us, as she would like to do. Also, the 
 Boche has been unable to gather in the quantity 
 of food and labor from our provinces on which he 
 counted; but he still trusts he will manage to remedy 
 
118 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 these points as soon as peace with the Allies is really 
 signed. Then he will have a free hand in Russia, 
 he foresees, in exchange for concessions made to the 
 Allies elsewhere. 
 
 All parties in Germany will be willing to give 
 up everything else, if only Russia remains to them; 
 for none know better than they the real value of our 
 resources and the qualities of our race. They see 
 our unformed, groping millions, as docile material 
 in the hands of their own strong disciplinarians, 
 turning present defeat into an eventual glittering 
 victory for their fatherland. Therefore, while am- 
 bassadors discuss general peace and politicians are 
 settling burning home questions, the enemy can 
 afford to let the pot in Russia simmer down, hoping 
 their agents will keep enough propaganda going 
 and that the disorder they have ordained will con- 
 tinue till they are ready to go into Russia and 
 take complete charge. Whether the Huns have 
 miscalculated in all this or not, time only can 
 show. . . . 
 
 By degrees their schooling is giving results which 
 bear the "Made in Germany" stamp; as, for in- 
 stance, by the recent delightfully frank declaration 
 of Zinovieff, the Bolshevik tyrant at Petrograd, in 
 a speech to his confederates of the Russian capital. 
 Doubtless these men were at a loss to understand 
 why, after having made the peace of Brest- Litovsk 
 with the Huns and become their creatures even 
 fighting the Allies in desultory fashion through a long 
 year of weary misery suddenly the policies of the 
 
"THE REIGN OF TERROR" 119 
 
 People's Commissioners are changed to the point of 
 accepting an invitation sent from Paris to meet and 
 confer with representatives of the winners of the 
 war. These simple citizens of Petrograd cannot 
 comprehend why, while his army is still battling 
 with Bolshevik troops in the northern snows round 
 Archangel, the American President should wish to 
 send them peace messengers and to invite them 
 to a meeting on an island in the southern seas. 
 
 But Zinovieff is cleverer, and he explains at once 
 the statesmanlike point of view ! And his discourse 
 is published in a Bolshevik paper at Petrograd for 
 all the world to read. . . . 
 
 He said: "We have accepted this invitation, 
 which has come to us Bolsheviki unsolicited, because 
 we are poor and need help and provisions of all 
 kinds, which these new allies now tired of fighting 
 us will offer in exchange for certain promises on 
 our part. The promises we shall keep only as long 
 as we are pleased to do so, and then we shall act 
 as we see fit, and treat this agreement as we would 
 any other scrap of paper. There is no obligation 
 to hold to such an arrangement, once it is no longer 
 convenient for us to do so; and meantime we stand 
 to gain those things which we desire, and will demand 
 of the Americans." 
 
 Small wonder that the various other Russian 
 parties showed disinclination to accept the tryst 
 offered, and refused to try healing all Russia's ills 
 by discussing them with Bolsheviki. It would take 
 courage indeed to go as representatives of the Allies 
 
120 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 to the Prince's Islands after ZinoviefFs frank avowal 
 of the Soviet government's intentions ! 
 
 In the hands of plotters such as Trotzky, the pro- 
 fessed ideals of the Bolshevik party have been so 
 thoroughly debased that now, I fancy, the crowd 
 about him is only held by fear, or by a constant 
 appeal to its worst instincts. Religion deep-seated 
 of old in our Orthodox peasant and soldier, and only 
 slightly less so in the city factory-hand of Russia 
 is slowly being killed off. The churches, which held 
 crowds of poorly clad bodies with exalted faces in 
 the first months of the revolution, are empty now; 
 their fagades are disfigured, and their jewelled icons 
 and candlesticks, crosses, and missals are stolen, or 
 destroyed in the melting-pot; the priests have mostly 
 fled, or they hide themselves in misery, and all that 
 was once holy is desecrated. This by what was 
 once the most beautifully devout group of humble 
 Christian worshippers. Before this newest regime 
 appeared, they had brought all their troubles and 
 their joys to the foot of the cross, with a splendid 
 faith, in which they lived, fearing God and loving 
 one another. 
 
 But religion, though forced to burn low, is not 
 quite dead in Russia. In Moscow the old Patriarch, 
 head of our Church, has dared to remain at his 
 post and to live on, helping his flock as best he can. 
 This ancient hero has even boldly bearded the lion 
 in its den, calling it to shame. Escaping murder 
 by some miracle, the venerable man has published 
 a message to the "Council of Commissioners of the 
 
"TftE REIGN OP TERROR" 
 
 People " which is characteristically courageous. He 
 says in part: 
 
 "You who regulate the fate of the people, to you 
 I address these words, as you are preparing to cele- 
 brate the anniversary of your revolution of October, 
 which gave you the power. But the blood you have 
 spilt in a year cries out for celestial justice and con- 
 strains me to address you in bitter words. At the 
 moment when you took possession, promising them 
 peace without annexation or contribution, you sold 
 the people ! 
 
 "You gave Russia a peace so humiliating that you 
 lacked the courage to publish all its articles ! Our 
 country is abased and divided, and as a gauge of 
 the contributions imposed on it, you are secretly 
 paying Germany money accumulated by others than 
 yourselves. 
 
 "You have debauched our national army, and in 
 doing so you have robbed it of its soul the soul 
 which inspired it to so many heroic deeds. You 
 have incited soldiers, till now brave and indomitable, 
 to give up defending their land. You have extin- 
 guished in their hearts the flaming conviction that 
 none can show more love than he who gives his 
 life up for his people. You have substituted for 
 patriotism an inanimate internationalism, and you 
 know well at the same time that the proletarian sons 
 of other nations answered with devotion the first 
 call to defend their nations* frontiers. 
 
 "You have refused to defend our country against 
 
12% RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 the exterior enemy, yet you do nothing but mobil- 
 ize armies; and against whom are you leading them ? 
 . . . You have divided all our people among them- 
 selves and inspired them to fratricidal war; you 
 substitute hate for Christian love; and in making 
 peace you rouse only envy and jealousy ! 
 
 "This civil war you have lighted, you know well 
 can have no end, for you are trying to establish the 
 triumph of a spectre of universal revolution and are 
 sacrificing to it the workmen and the peasants of 
 our land. It was only you leaders who needed this 
 humiliating peace with an outside enemy, so you 
 would be able to carry out your intention of destroy- 
 ing forever interior peace. No one's life is now 
 secure. Innocents are constantly suffering and 
 being killed, without any form of judgment, accusa- 
 tion, or defense. Those whom you keep as hostages 
 and whom you execute in this manner are merely 
 victims of your hideous thirst for revenge for crimes 
 committed by others whom these did not even know, 
 and who were often your own collaborators. All 
 classes of martyrs from army, church, or civilian 
 groups have been accused vaguely of propaganda 
 against your revolution; but no proof of this is in 
 your hands. 
 
 "What insane cruelty on the part of men who 
 pretend to the title of benefactors to humanity at 
 large ! Torrents of blood have not quenched it. 
 You have pushed the people to pillage and to the 
 destruction of . all that was not theirs. First the 
 rich, under the pretense of fighting the 'bourgeoisie,' 
 
"THE REIGN OF TERROR" 123 
 
 then the well-to-do peasants you have sacrificed. 
 You have multiplied the number of mendicants, 
 even while you realized that in deteriorating all 
 these citizens you are bringing the whole country to 
 ruin. Yet you incite continuously all the rough ele- 
 ments of the population to facile and unpunished 
 acquisition of anything which for the moment 
 pleases them; and however you hide your acts under 
 fine names, murder, and pillage, and violence, will al- 
 ways be infamous crimes; and will call down the con- 
 tempt of the world at large, and heaven's ven- 
 geance. 
 
 "And you promised liberty which is a boon 
 when it guarantees safety and happiness, when it is 
 equal and does not turn to arrogance; but this is 
 not liberty which you have given the people, for you 
 have favored the development of the vilest passions 
 in the lowest element of our population, and you have 
 left unnoticed crimes which are unutterable mur- 
 der, theft, and rape. And you oppress all civic free- 
 dom and the dignity of man. When no one dares 
 buy provisions, or rent a room to live in, or travel, 
 without your personal permission, it is not liberty; 
 and when whole families or the occupants of an 
 entire house are thrown into the streets without 
 reason, again it is not liberty. 
 
 "Is it, then, liberty to have our people divided 
 into artificial groups, of which more than the half 
 are preyed upon; and when no one can declare his 
 convictions political or religious sincerely without 
 fear of persecution; is this liberty or tyranny? 
 
124 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 Where is the liberty of word, and act, and press, and 
 faith you promised ? You forbid even the entrance 
 of the Kremlin to the Russian people, whose sacred 
 property it is, and whom even crowned autocrats 
 had allowed to enter always ! You have destroyed 
 the parish, and the schools, and all charitable insti- 
 tutions which have cared and helped the nation's 
 misery in years gone by. . . . 
 
 "I do not even dwell on the breaking up of Rus- 
 sia, yesterday so great and powerful; nor on the dis- 
 appearance of our transportation, the lack of food 
 and fuel, which threaten our cities and even many 
 villages with complete annihilation. The tragedy 
 is but too evident, and the horrible epoch of your 
 regime will remain for long reflected in the souls of 
 our compatriots, where you have replaced the 
 image of God by that of the beast. . . . 
 
 "It is not for me to judge terrestrial power, and 
 all forms of government will have my benediction, 
 if only they serve God in protecting good and ex- 
 terminating evil. . . . 
 
 "To celebrate the anniversary of your seizure of 
 power, end completely the persecution of your neigh- 
 bors, and of other innocents, stop the flow of blood 
 and the violence and the ruins which are now about 
 us, protect loyalty, establish law and order, and 
 give back to our people the peace for which they 
 pray ! If this is not done, you who have raised the 
 sword, shall perish by the sword ! 
 
 (Signed) TIKHONE, 
 Patriarch oj Moscow and of all Russia" 
 
"THE REIGN OF TERROR" 125 
 
 His manifesto was published in Moscow on Oc- 
 tober 26, 1918. But in spite of this old champion 
 of the good cause, every crime in the calendar is not 
 only still permitted but encouraged, while lawless- 
 ness remains the order of the day. 
 
 In Petrograd and Moscow misery for all, with 
 famine, typhus, cholera, and foul air caused by 
 dirt and decay inconceivable, reigns. Water, light, 
 street conveyances, telephones, and other public 
 services have completely collapsed, the brilliant, 
 beautiful capitals stand rotting and helpless through 
 the months. Their show buildings are mostly in 
 ruins, either from bombardments or from sacking 
 by the mobs; food, when obtainable, has reached 
 prices impossible to pay, for I read recently that 
 butter was one hundred and forty-five dollars a 
 pound, and dog-meat ten dollars, while pork at forty- 
 five dollars a pound was snatched at ! 
 
 From time to time from Smolny or some other 
 confiscated palace, where either Trotzky, L6nine, 
 Tchitcherin, or Zinovieff resides in slovenly state, 
 an order is issued, given out in form of proclama- 
 tion to the multitude. Occasionally the latter pay 
 no attention; sometimes they listen and disapprove, 
 then the new law dies at its birth. Once in a while 
 some proclamation captures popular fancy, and then 
 these children of the gutter rush off to play the new 
 game proposed, whatever it may be. 
 
 In spite of starvation, theatres, operas, and ballets 
 are continuously open, with free seats for all. . . . 
 No man does any work. Yet one can't sleep always 
 
126 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 through twenty-four hours during months and 
 months. 
 
 The banks and shops and palaces afforded inter- 
 esting occupation at first, but these are done for 
 completely now; the bigger restaurants and hotels 
 are also closed down, after their cellars were looted 
 and their furniture and windows had been smashed. 
 Possible fun, consequently, has been greatly reduced; 
 and no one could think of work, of course, under 
 any circumstances. 
 
 Labor which must be done is attended to by a 
 small portion of the inhabitants, whose fate makes 
 one's heart ache, for they are the real martyrs of 
 the revolution I mean the ex-officers of our great 
 army. In the capital small squads of them have 
 joined together, and are allowed to earn the pittance 
 on which they manage to keep alive, with the wives 
 and children who are generally dependent on them. 
 One such little band is hewing wood in a courtyard, 
 another is cleaning snow from the main streets, 
 where once they paraded, commanding a marvel- 
 lous army of heroes ; others sweep, or serve cabbies 
 and their friends in the small eating-houses which 
 these frequent. 
 
 An acquaintance of mine, who had fragile health, 
 and was the gay young ex-colonel of a crack body- 
 guard regiment, is so lucky now as to have found 
 a place as salesman in a tiny booth at one of the 
 bazaars. There he measures tape and lace for the 
 old market-women and scrubs the shop for its owner. 
 The latter felt enough pity to take him in and give 
 him protection till death should claim him. 
 
"THE REIGN OF TERROR" 
 
 In his hours of fever, as he tosses on his pallet, 
 perhaps he imagines his strange surroundings are 
 but a nightmare, which will cease with the morn- 
 ing's dawn, and that he will wake to find himself 
 still leading daring scouts in enemies' countries and 
 winning a St. George's Cross which he did during 
 the war or leading a mazurka at a great court ball, 
 as was his wont in still earlier days. Or perhaps he 
 dreams that he is helping one of his soldier's families, 
 since he had always spent his income in this manner. 
 His theory was that as he had no estates with 
 peasants to look after, the men of his command 
 were his nearest responsibility. Instead, it is to 
 scrub floors, shivering and coughing, that he rises 
 again, and patiently, in half-dazed wonder, he asks 
 himself when it will all end. 
 
 The officers who were free to do so fled to one 
 of the several units forming D&iikin's or Krass- 
 noffs volunteer armies. Earlier still they mostly 
 went into the "shock battalions" on the firing-line, 
 and were, if possible, killed. But where a woman 
 and small mouths depended on one, and there were 
 no money and no trains for flight, a man had to 
 stay in some big centre and face the crisis out. 
 Immediately when the Bplsheviki took power the 
 officers were disarmed, their epaulets were dragged 
 off, and their rank and pay were both suppressed, 
 even to the small pensions of such officers as had 
 been wounded, or who had won a St. George's Cross 
 for signal gallantry on the field of battle. 
 
 With every means of living gone, one must tramp 
 the streets to find work, and take whatever offered, 
 
RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 and though the new rulers did not want to labor 
 themselves, they objected to seeing others do so, 
 thus putting them to shame. So here, there, and 
 everywhere the officer was told no room for him 
 existed in the new scheme of life, and he was re- 
 viled and baited, repulsed and humiliated from 
 every side. 
 
 Many fell, faint with hunger and discouragement, 
 on the streets or door-steps, where some pitying soul 
 perhaps would take them in, warm, and wash, and 
 feed them from small secret reserves not yet requisi- 
 tioned; or they would lie unconscious till some adept 
 pupil of the German conquerors passed by and kicked 
 the fallen body into a gutter, putting the officer out 
 of his misery forever with a blow upon the head. 
 
 Avowed and intentional degradation of our peo- 
 ple, after the German model, has been thoroughly 
 practised, so that aside from crushing our religious 
 beliefs the Bolsheviki have quite openly encour- 
 aged immorality, anyhow and everywhere. In at 
 least two cities Saratoff and Vladimir procla- 
 mations issued by the Soviets announced officially 
 the "nationalization of women'* and the adoption 
 of all children by the state. Consequently the com- 
 plete abolition of homes and families, with all the 
 strength, responsibility, and happiness which these 
 may mean to a community, is deliberately aimed at. 
 As no results of this measure's success are yet an- 
 nounced, I feel privileged to doubt whether these 
 newest laws have actually been enforced. 1 I ven- 
 
 1 Since my article was published I have read that these laws were 
 80 unpopular that they had to be repealed. 
 
"THE REIGN OF TERROR" 129 
 
 ture to believe they never will be, since in the gen- 
 eral chaos existing people are apt to do what they 
 please; and Russians of every station whom I saw 
 during nearly twenty years loved their hearths and 
 homes, their mothers, wives, or children with more 
 intense devotion than I have met with elsewhere. 
 Therefore, I think to defend these many a man even 
 in such mad surroundings would risk drastic pun- 
 ishment. 
 
 An ex-member of the ancient national Duma, 
 just escaped to the Crimea from Petrograd, made 
 the following deposition on August 19, 1918: "It 
 was decreed that all persons who were suspected 
 of having communication with the Allies, or any 
 sympathy for their cause, were to be immediately 
 shot, without trial, on the decision of the inquiry 
 committee of the Bolshevik government. After 
 this, arrests and executions in the capital rose to a 
 frightful total. Every night the red guardsmen 
 gathered up crowds of former officers and conserva- 
 tive civilians, and took them to Kronstadt, where 
 part were always immediately killed and part im- 
 prisoned. One officer I knew escaped from there 
 by some miracle, while out of a herd of three hun- 
 dred and sixty persons who were arrested with him, 
 two hundred were executed before his eyes. Some 
 months ago President Uritzky, of the Inquisitional 
 Court, was assassinated, and the Bolsheviki at once 
 took five hundred of the best known citizens of 
 Petrograd and held them as hostages. I was per- 
 sonally among these, and was kept two days by the 
 Committee of Inquiry; then I was thrown- into the 
 
130 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 state prison. The conditions there were dreadful; 
 we were one hundred and forty people in one room, 
 where because of lack of space one could not lie 
 down at all; and we were obliged to live in such filth 
 that we were all covered with vermin. Both cholera 
 and typhus broke out, and as the prison had no hos- 
 pital ward, those who were ill continued among us. 
 By way of medical aid we had the visit of an assistant 
 surgeon, who came through the prison from time to 
 time. A real doctor's services were refused us. We 
 had no medicines, and for food we received a salted- 
 herring porridge twice a day, which was often de- 
 cayed; each man also received an eighth of a pound 
 of bread and a small bit of sugar per day. The 
 most remarkable fact is that though I was locked 
 up for two months in such dramatic conditions, I 
 underwent no inquiry, and no accusation was ever 
 presented against me. It was as if I had been merely 
 forgotten." 
 
 No newspapers are allowed published in the Bol- 
 shevik domains, save only those approved by the 
 Soviet, which constantly show their German train- 
 ing and inspiration. From the Bulletin of the Soviets 
 of December 3, 1918, the following extract is elo- 
 quent of the feeling toward the Allied Powers. 
 Freely translated the article says: 
 
 "Lloyd George, Clemenceau, and Wilson ! These 
 three men are directing their armies to oppose Bol- 
 shevik Russia, which is rightly esteemed by them 
 to be the most dangerous and resisting power in the 
 world to their theories. An Allied navy is now sail- 
 
"THE REIGN OF TERROR" 131 
 
 ing from Constantinople to Sebastopol, probably 
 intending to land troops, and the Allies also think 
 they can attack us from the southeast, through 
 Rumania. The British navy is only waiting to 
 clear out mines from the Baltic in order to throw 
 itself at our red Petrograd. We know quite well 
 a struggle is imminent, and we exhort the Bolsheviki 
 to surround all the north of Russia with an iron 
 ring of discipline . . . that same discipline which 
 bur government abolished some months ago volun- 
 tarily in the cause of liberty. A council of defense 
 of workmen and peasants has been instituted, and 
 the task has been allotted to it of organizing the de- 
 fense of Russia in its struggle with the Allies. Not 
 only the army and navy, but also all matters of 
 commissariat and transportation, as well as of mili- 
 tary industry, must be put into the hands of a 
 military regime that is, a regime of violent labor 
 and discipline. 
 
 "This is being done in accordance with the situa- 
 tion of the country, and is necessitated by the im- 
 perialistic bandits' action that of Lloyd George, 
 Clemenceau, and Wilson ! We are compelled by 
 them to make our country a military camp, as every 
 day the cynicism and the falseness of these conquer- 
 ors' policy become more openly declared. Wilson, 
 who yesterday was an eloquent protector of the 
 liberty of nations and the rights of democracy, 
 to-day fits out formidable forces to bring order into 
 our Revolutionary Russia ! Wilson is the leader of 
 the fight against Russia, while Lenine is the man 
 
132 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 whose strong arm holds the torch of our civilization 
 aloft, to enlighten the whole world !" 
 
 In a Kief Bolshevik newspaper put into my hands 
 I find another equally eloquent but entirely contra- 
 dictory official communication: 
 
 "On November 19, 1918, was held in Moscow an 
 extra session of the Council of the People's Com- 
 missioners" the Bolshevik government "and it 
 was debated how Russia would meet the advance of 
 the Allied troops which is shortly expected. The 
 chief of the Bolshevik armies, Leon Trotzky, rose to 
 announce that the army of the Soviets would prob- 
 ably not be able to withstand the enemies' offensive. 
 'Being so numerous the Bolshevik forces are de- 
 prived of the concentrated strength of organization, 
 whereas the fall of Germany has had the effect of 
 augmenting recently the arrogance of the Anglo- 
 French coalition in a proportiqn difficult of evalua- 
 tion. At this time it suffices that our front should 
 learn some rumor of the approach of an Allied detach- 
 ment for the news to produce immediately colossal 
 disorders in the ranks of our red army, making it 
 almost impossible to persuade our men to battle !" 
 
 I cannot vouch for the truthfulness of all these 
 statements, but only for the fact that the newspapers 
 containing them are really in my hands, sent me by 
 a friend escaped within a month from our sad home 
 country. I am inclined to believe that Trotzky and 
 L6nine must really have much anxiety as to their 
 powers of defense in case of an attack by a proper 
 force, well led; for I personally saw the Bolsheviki 
 
"THE REIGN OF TERROR" 133 
 
 on several occasions fighting, and while they always 
 created havoc, and infinite tragedy lay in their 
 wake, they never carried out their plans, but were 
 easily distracted by some side issue, and showed 
 themselves ready to stop for food or drink, or to 
 throw away their arms and carry off, instead, some 
 booty which captivated their fancies, and which in 
 turn they soon dropped to follow a new scent, or 
 merely because the burden of it wearied them. 
 Never had they organization above, nor obedience 
 below, in their ranks except when they were led by 
 Germans, who frightened them. 
 
 Our people, always childish, have been especially 
 so through their shame and misery. They have 
 shown ferocity only under strong incentive and 
 capable mastery, whereas left to themselves they 
 have been chaotic, noisy, wasteful, wanton, careless, 
 dirty, gluttonous, and many other things which 
 have brought them to their present straits. But 
 never are they by temperament bloodthirsty, nor 
 systematically cruel, as were the French peasantry 
 and citizens of 1792. Victims who have barely es- 
 caped with their lives and they are numerous have 
 been all helped to freedom by some good-natured, 
 unlearned giant, who had been set to guard them; 
 and though Russia has seen torture and death accom- 
 panied by every sort of crime, these have been desul- 
 tory cases, or else were exacted by foreign tyrants 
 and inspired by foreign theories. Many, many of 
 our people were drawn to those first Bolsheviki lead- 
 ers or have since followed the bloody banner because 
 
134 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 the propagandists held out promises of good things 
 of peace, and happiness, and prosperity, and the 
 true millennium, with land and liberty for all. 
 
 The converts saw much in the new doctrines at 
 first to satisfy their craving for ideals, which is never 
 quite eradicated from the mentality of the Russian, 
 of whatever class he may be. They were told all 
 men would be brothers, content and rich; and they 
 saw gold and were treated to food and drink when 
 they were starving. Small wonder they were im- 
 pressed with this apparent generosity and believed 
 in the mirage of good to come; and when the Rubi- 
 con was passed, they found themselves outside the 
 pale and were obliged, they thought, to stay there, 
 or else it was explained the expected results were 
 just beyond the next bend in the road, which seemed 
 so difficult to tread. So they were tempted on. 
 
 Afterward the culprits were either frightened or 
 their sense of morality was blunted, and wrong still 
 dressed as right was dangled before their eyes. 
 Then finally the worst elements came to the sur- 
 face, both in individual characters and in the crowds, 
 and all were dragged, led, and cajoled into the trap 
 of their present misery. 
 
 Many a self-styled Bolshevik among peasants or 
 working people, or among the soldiers I personally 
 have known, has confided to me that he joined the 
 party because "it was either be a Bolshevik or be 
 shot"; and it was promised him he should have all 
 things, after a short period of disorder and trouble. 
 I feel certain many of these men are sorely disap- 
 
"THE REIGN OF TERROR" 135 
 
 pointed now in results, and want a change, but they 
 dare not say it, even in a whisper. ... In the 
 crowds of Bolsheviki I have seen there were, of 
 course, some heavy criminal faces full of brutality, 
 but the vast majority bore the signs of a dull, hope- 
 less misery and of surprise and fear. Mostly there 
 are mere cowed and broken wrecks in the populace 
 which drifts by one on a Russian street; all look 
 beaten and torn by the storms to which they are 
 subjected. 
 
 I have not been alone in noticing these markedly 
 distressing types, for nearly every traveller who has 
 recently come out of North Russia testifies, con- 
 sciously or unconsciously, to the sorrow and deep 
 agony he has recognized. After all, these men and 
 women to whom so much was promised are still 
 hungry, cold, and without homes, even more wretched 
 than before the revolution, for they have lost ideals 
 and hopes and the softness which was the natural 
 atmosphere of life in the old Russia. The beauty 
 of their cities is gone, and their churches are all 
 closed, so that they are shut off even from the out- 
 side frame which brought a ray of warmth and sun 
 into their tragic lives. I am told there is much de- 
 sire for improvement, but no one dares be caught 
 by the present authorities expressing a wish for it. 
 
 One can only hope and pray a change may come, 
 from within or without, before Russia shall have 
 reached the point of exhaustion when rebirth is im- 
 possible. In various corners of the great empire 
 parties seem to be forming to throw off the yoke 
 
136 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 and crush the tyrants and the anarchy, which proves 
 our people have still a vital force and a warm, beat- 
 ing heart. These small groups are, alas, not strong 
 numerically in proportion to their courage, though 
 they are growing; nor are they furnished with the 
 material wherewith to fight. They must get to their 
 feet somehow and be supplied, before they can aspire 
 to crush the dragon who is at large in the fair home 
 domain. 
 
 Will the spirit of St. George and that inherited 
 from Joan of -Arc come to the rescue ? And shall 
 Russia see Columbia's sons also coming to bring her 
 law and order? Or must the Slavs go through the 
 purgatory of German ownership and renew their 
 terrible experiences of past centuries and of Tartar 
 mastery? Even in this last case I know the Teu- 
 tons, as the Tartars, would finally be laid low by 
 our younger, more primitive and stronger, race; for 
 'our Russia is still in its childhood, and has fallen 
 through ignorance into the hands of thieves. 
 
 One wonders where the remedy will be found to 
 cure the deathly ailment. Mostly in the strength 
 of the many worthy men who rose up and from the 
 first moment joined in heroic bands, and who have 
 never ceased their struggle against the terrible odds. 
 Such is Denikin's army. . . . Perhaps aid may 
 come also from outside, since there are many voices 
 among our ancient allies crying out in favor of offer- 
 ing us a helping hand. These would give of their 
 present strength to the prostrate sister, who did her 
 part so grandly in the first years of the war, while 
 
"THE REIGN OF TERROR" 137 
 
 they themselves were weak and unprepared, and who 
 has since paid dearly for her sacrifices in the general 
 cause. Such voices are very powerful ones, and come 
 from men of varying creeds and parties, and as I 
 read their speeches I am filled with hope that succor 
 may be tendered, and that it may be soon ! 
 
 In Paris the great Lloyd George spoke for Russia 
 to his colleagues, and then his plea was upheld by 
 Sir George Buchanan, who had lived in our country 
 for many years as ambassador from his Majesty 
 the King. They know our value well; and here in 
 America there are also men who speak with equal 
 conviction and enthusiasm on the same subject, 
 and who say that our great empire must be saved 
 from further depredation at the hands of Germans, 
 or of the latter's inspired agents ; that such riches as 
 ours must not be left to the exploitation of the world's 
 enemy indefinitely. 
 
 Each man who knows the truth adds his word of 
 warning as to the danger to the whole edifice of 
 Christian civilization from the spread of Bolshevism, 
 and each one most solemnly asserts that if the world 
 is to be protected from the dread disease, then 
 Russia must be quickly helped and saved ! 
 
IV 
 
 THE CRIMEA'S EFFORT-DENIKIN'S 
 ARMY 
 
 MANY months had passed, during which the 
 population of the Crimean coast suffered 
 and gazed wistfully out to sea, when one 
 day, about the middle of December, 1918, an Allied 
 fleet sailed into the harbor of Sebastopol. 
 
 As soon as the flagship had dropped anchor, the 
 commanding officer, British Vice- Admiral Calthorpe, 
 was waited upon by a messenger, who put the fol- 
 lowing official document into his hands : 
 
 "The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional 
 Crimean Government, to the High Commander 
 of the Allied Fleet in Sebastopol Harbor. 
 "In consequence of our recent negotiations of 
 December 9, I have the honor to inform the high 
 commander of the Allied fleet of the following par- 
 ticulars concerning accommodations which can be 
 afforded Allied troops landing in the Crimea, and 
 concerning provisions which will be supplied to 
 them. By the i6th of December the government 
 can install at our capital, Simferopol, 400 men in 
 barracks, and in town-billets 600 more; at Djankoi, 
 300 men; at Eupatoria, 500; at Feodosia, 500; at 
 
 138 
 
THE CRIMEA'S EFFORT 139 
 
 Karasu-Bazar, 300; at Toganasch, 100; and at 
 Perekop, 100. Toganasch and Perekop, which are 
 thirty and sixty kilometres from Djankoi, will neces- 
 sitate transportation; and this the government can 
 also furnish for the number of men designated. All 
 these groups total together 2,800 men, and an equal 
 number can be quartered in Sebastopol itself. 
 
 "The Crimean provisional government will pay 
 for the troops' installation, and will furnish the Allies 
 with firewood and coal. Also the provisional gov- 
 ernment considers itself in duty bound to supply 
 the following provisions to Allied troops : One pound 
 of bread to each man daily; two pounds of sugar 
 monthly; 80,000 bottles of red and white Crimean 
 wine in casks; 4,000 pounds of dried fruits ; 120 litres 
 
 of rum. ,~. ^ TT 
 
 (Signed) VINAVER, 
 
 Minister of Foreign Affairs" 
 
 So it would seem the Allied fleet, on reaching 
 Crimean shores, found an organized government 
 alive in the midst of the general chaos which Rus- 
 sia nowadays represents to the imagination of the 
 outside world. This government was a new-born 
 thing, for when the central provisional government 
 fell at Petrograd, in November, 1917, and the 
 Bolshevik! took over the power in the north, a 
 period of general unrest was inaugurated all over 
 Russia. The whole country was immediately vic- 
 timized by uprisings of various Bolshevik groups, 
 or of "nationalists," such as the Ukrainians, 
 
140 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 Letts, Esthonians, Finns, and numerous Caucasian 
 tribes. 
 
 Stretching into the Black Sea, the Crimean Penin- 
 sula had remained calmer than the rest of our im- 
 mense country. With almost enough resources to 
 be independent, with small, well-to-do cities, a 
 population of comfortable Tartar or Little-Russian 
 peasant proprietors, with a large group of rich and 
 aristocratic refugees scattered in villas along the 
 coast, able and ready to pay well for safety and com- 
 fort it had a better chance of being overlooked by 
 the new propagandists; and as it was on the road 
 to nowhere, it was used neither as a battle-ground 
 nor as a passageway for the various conflicting forces. 
 The Crimea's main fear was of financial misery, 
 an effect of Bolshevik ill usage of northern banks. 
 Also the province suffered from attacks of armed 
 soldiers and sailors, or other criminals disguised in 
 uniforms, who made up occasional parties to steal 
 and kill, and who motored over the country doing 
 what harm they could. 
 
 At first the towns had been very tranquil, and 
 the only signs of the times were the arrests of mem- 
 bers of the imperial family, who lived along the 
 cliffs from Livadia to Tchaire. These unfortunates 
 were threatened, not by the quiet Tartars who lived 
 round them, but by the same hooligan elements 
 vague, torn-off shreds of the rabble in the north; 
 and because money did not come through, the finan- 
 cial establishments in Simferopol, Yalta, Kertch, 
 and elsewhere, necessarily limited their clients to 
 
THE CRIMEA'S EFFORT 141 
 
 the smallest payments. With provision prices im- 
 mensely high, it was a problem how the victims 
 could get on. Thus in dread of daily suffering and 
 in great danger they lived, hoarding their small 
 resources and provisions, worried by rumors and 
 terrified by occasional demonstrations, when villas 
 round about were sacked, inhabitants driven from 
 home, ill treated, and frequently wounded; some- 
 times even murdered on the spot. 
 
 Soon the treaty of Brest-Litovsk and the equal 
 treachery of the German Government and its agents 
 who were Trotzky's and Lenine's representatives 
 brought our country into the enemies' net com- 
 pletely, ended the war, and opened wide the doors of 
 Russia to the Huns. This was in the winter, spring, 
 and summer of 1918. Moscow had a German Am- 
 bassador then, Count Mirbach, who dictated his 
 country's policy to the docile Trotzky, while Skoro- 
 padsky, Hetman of the Ukraine, joined forces with 
 Von Eichhorn, Hun dictator at Kief, and did the 
 latter's bidding. 
 
 In the south our Caucasian peoples, always wild 
 and proud, broke away from this new Russia. They 
 had been held to us before only by the brilliancy of 
 our court, which appealed equally to all of the an- 
 tagonistic mountain tribes, through their love of 
 splendor and of visible power. Other considerable 
 districts of Russia, also secretly encouraged by the 
 enemy, fell off now, believing they were to be 
 really independent and free from tyranny; but they 
 all found themselves immediately absorbed by the 
 
142 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 diabolical German octopus, which stretched cunning, 
 supple arms and gathered in the whole country's 
 riches, whether in grain or in men, repaying these 
 only with empty words and with Utopian promises. 
 Never was there such misery in any nation as in 
 ours through that time, when, unable to gather 
 herself up and reorganize, frantic with fear and 
 suffering, torn with the violence of contending 
 parties and ideas, helpless and prostrate, Russia was 
 all but dying. The various provinces called " inde- 
 pendent countries" were treated as mere colonies 
 by the invaders. Lithuania, White Russia, the 
 Baltic States, Georgia, and the Crimean peninsula 
 were all proclaimed "free," but the latter was the 
 only one which still called itself "Russian" and it 
 alone had not been either mentioned or represented 
 at the conference of Brest-Litovsk. Germany was 
 sending her troops over all the northern country, 
 and also through Rumania into Bessarabia and the 
 Ukraine, while Turkey invaded the Caucasus. Sud- 
 denly, without explanation or excuse, the Teuton 
 soldiers appeared in the Tauride Government (the 
 Crimea), and installed themselves at its capital, 
 Simferopol. They told the people of the Tartar 
 race to rise up and create a national free state. 
 "Were they not Orientals, and were they not living 
 since long under the rule of Russian conquerors? 
 Now at last these were laid low, and it was time for 
 the poor, downtrodden Tartar tribes to form their 
 own government and elect a khan of their own race, 
 putting themselves then under German protection, 
 
THE CRIMEA'S EFFORT 143 
 
 or else joining the kindly Turks, who were their co- 
 religionists." 
 
 Everything was done by the Germans to awaken 
 chauvinism among the Oriental portion of the Cri- 
 mea's inhabitants, while the imperial group of refu- 
 gees was ostentatiously well treated. Their guard 
 of Bolshevik sailors was changed at once for one of 
 ex-officers from the old-regime army, who were now 
 given as their unique occupation the duty of keep- 
 ing safely the Empress- Mother, and the various 
 Grand Dukes. 
 
 Somehow or other, however, this German propa- 
 ganda met with small success. Our officers were 
 glad enough to protect the lives of a group of help- 
 less refugees, who until now had been in danger; 
 and the latter were equally well pleased to be rid 
 of their previous guardians, but both imperials and 
 officers were against the Teuton enemy they had 
 fought valiantly through three long years, and whom 
 in that time they had learned to know so well. 
 They continued to dislike the Germans even now, 
 in spite of the sudden change of front the latter af- 
 fected. It seemed somewhat naive in the Huns to 
 act as they did, and it showed the measure of their 
 own principles for them to think the Dowager- 
 Empress and the Grand Duke Nicolas (and others 
 of that party) could be their allies under any cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 A khan was named Prime Minister Sulkevitch, 
 a Mohammedan Tartar and the natives of Oriental 
 origin about him were constantly caressed and 
 
144 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 courted; but whether from real wisdom or from in- 
 difference, or because they had been content with 
 their previous life as it was, the Crimean Tartars 
 in these new conditions were as inert as the im- 
 perialists, and gave small attention to German flat- 
 tery or advances. Anyhow, they formed only one- 
 third of the population, and they had lived on ex- 
 cellent terms with the Russian majority until now. 
 SulkeVitteh and his German protectors became 
 odious after a short time. There was one great 
 advantage in the Teuton occupation, however. It 
 was that railroad communications with the north 
 were opened and banking operations were possible 
 again, so provisions and money could be arranged 
 for and brought into the Tauride province, while 
 even some few men with interests in the north or 
 the Ukraine could make an occasional trip on busi- 
 ness, or for political reasons. This was the only 
 benefit of our enemy's short reign. 
 
 From January to May, 1918, was a painful and 
 dangerous period. There were uprisings forced by 
 the Germans in many cities ; while villas all the way 
 along the coast were destroyed, the well-to-do pop- 
 ulation slept with loaded firearms within their reach, 
 and every refugee hid or buried the few treasures 
 he had brought south to save. All faces became 
 worn and gray with anxiety; those who could do so, 
 left isolated suburbs and villages and went to the 
 larger towns, where crowded, and in intense discom- 
 fort, they lived on from day to day. Nerves suf- 
 fered terribly from the strain, and men watched 
 
THE CRIMEA'S EFFORT 145 
 
 anxiously over their women and children, trying to 
 keep up courage, to protect the old and delicate 
 from shock, and to educate and bring up young 
 people in circumstances far too abnormal to be 
 healthy. 
 
 Yet the living forces in our Russian race did not 
 die completely out, for as early as last October a 
 meeting of representatives of the municipalities 
 and of the country districts was held, and it was 
 then and there decided to make an effort toward 
 the reconstruction of Russia, beginning in a small 
 way with the Crimea. During the next month 
 until the last of November this movement strug- 
 gled against the government of the Khan Sulk6- 
 vitch, who was still upheld and protected by 
 German troops. When the armistice was signed be- 
 tween the latter and our old Allies in November, 
 the enemy found himself no longer strong enough, 
 nor willing, to support his protege, and Sulkevitch 
 was persuaded to resign from his post in favor of a 
 new local ministry, provisionally formed, which 
 still rules the Crimea, and which hopes for Allied 
 co-operation. 
 
 This ministry declared it took and held the power 
 only provisionally, until such time as Russia should 
 be one state, with a chosen, fixed, and popular form 
 of government. Wherefore this governing group 
 was composed not of Crimean elements alone, but 
 of all the material which could be used for the pro- 
 motion of law and order in the land, without any 
 reference to the previous places of residence, or the 
 
146 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 political opinions of its various elements. A strange 
 conglomeration these men made, if regarded from 
 the point of view of party politics, either in ancient 
 days or in those of the revolution. All were sin- 
 cere, energetic, and capable men, of great ideas; 
 and all were practical patriots, their one present 
 aim being to keep this corner organized and safe 
 for life and property. It was their ambition to 
 create a feeling of love of country, with a small, 
 well-oiled administrative machine, to be ready and 
 at hand on the day when, God willing, Bolshevism 
 and German influence should be overthrown to- 
 gether. Then one might hope to see our Russia 
 breathe again, reborn to a new life under their care. 
 The ministry as formed provisionally was headed 
 by a Prime Minister, Krymm, who represented the 
 Crimea in the first Duma, and later also in the 
 Council of the Empire. Vinaver, Minister of For- 
 eign Affairs, and Nabokoff, Minister of Justice, were 
 both St. Petersburg men, also ex-members of the 
 Duma, and they had been elected to represent 
 their districts in the great revolutionary constituent 
 assembly which never came off. Incidentally, 
 toward the end of the old regime, they had both 
 been appointed members of the Russian Senate, 
 and they had been much in the Crimea in previous 
 years and knew that country well. In the young 
 government Bogdanoff held the portfolio of the In- 
 terior, and he also had held a seat in the Duma for 
 a long time, while since the revolution he had been 
 named Commissioner of the Crimea. These men 
 
THE CRIMEA'S EFFORT 147 
 
 were of the " Liberal Cadet party" in old days, and 
 are all democratic in opinion, though not Socialists; 
 but the latter group also had voices in the new or- 
 ganization, for there was a "Revolutionary-Socialist" 
 Minister of Public Instruction, Doctor Nikonoff, 
 elected also to the unborn constituent assembly by 
 his radical party, and since that miscarried, he has 
 been acting provost of Sebastopol. Bobrowsky, 
 Minister of Public Works, was a Social-Democrat; 
 and Stewen, Minister for Trade and Commissariat, 
 was well known to all the Crimea. . . . Admiral 
 Kanine, in revolutionary times elected commander of 
 the Black Sea fleet, dismissed by Bolshevism, also 
 had a brilliant reputation and career, and he took the 
 portfolio of Marine. Consequently there was no 
 retrograde element, and no Bolshevik, in the Cabinet 
 formed at Simferopol in the autumn of 1918. 
 
 Bark, Ex-Finance Minister, with a group of fol- 
 lowers, had wished early to re-establish some sort 
 of security in the economic world, and he had 
 formed an independent financial committee, for 
 Crimean interests. He was elected its president, 
 and was then asked to hold out a hand through his 
 association to the new effort of government. Gladly 
 this was done, for now, as in old days, Bark is both 
 liberal and patriotic, always quite ready to offer 
 the strength of his own personal power and his 
 association's resources in the country's service. 
 Sazonoff, equally brave, enthusiastic, and broad in 
 his views, consented to go to Paris and represent to 
 the Allies Russia's needs and miseries; he would 
 
148 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 plead for their help, so sorely needed to keep this 
 new effort alive. 
 
 At its birth the young government called upon 
 the inhabitants of the province to uphold it, by a 
 proclamation which, freely translated, read: 
 
 "According to the resolution of the country, 
 state, and municipal councils, the Crimean Govern- 
 ment comes into office at a critical moment. The 
 war is nearing its end, but our immense, united 
 Russia no longer exists, though it had lived for more 
 than a thousand years. Scattered over the present 
 torn-up divisions of the land, bodies of evil-minded 
 conspirators are bringing into existence sentiments 
 of hatred, smallness, and selfishness. They are de- 
 stroying what we had of culture and of law, of right 
 and civilization. 
 
 "In these circumstances, we consider a firm de- 
 cision to restore Russia to be the first patriotic duty 
 of every citizen, and the first task of our whole na- 
 tion. Some few states which have survived or have 
 reformed, are now scattered over the surface of our 
 country. They are separated by long distances, 
 one from the other; but they will be ready to join 
 such a union as we propose when it becomes pos- 
 sible; and inasmuch as Russia's peril is the conse- 
 quence of anarchy and of wild passions, so its res- 
 toration cannot be accomplished without a reign 
 of right, order, law, and liberty in each individual 
 state. All efforts must be directed therefore to 
 this main purpose. 
 
 "This provisional government, in speaking of 
 
THE CRIMEA'S EFFORT 149 
 
 united Russia, does not mean the old bureaucratic 
 one a centralized state built on the oppression or 
 the injury of separate races, conquered and ab- 
 sorbed. It means a free, democratic country, in 
 which the right to obtain culture shall be guaranteed 
 to all classes and nationalities. At the same time 
 this government feels convinced the wealth and 
 welfare of the nations composing Russia can in 
 no wise be founded on their opposition to unifica- 
 tion. A tendency toward separation would make 
 for weakness, and this policy has brought our coun- 
 try to its present pitiful state. It is of the utmost 
 danger to normal life, which we all want restored in 
 the Crimea. Therefore the government appeals to 
 the whole population, of every race and class, to 
 help in its fight with our worst foe, and to support 
 us in the most resolute measures should they be- 
 come necessary; and we rely on an army which is 
 ready to assist us in any way. 
 
 "The government is formed of men well known 
 to all the people, and who must be in permanent 
 contact with the latter. We rely on the confidence 
 of the inhabitants, and we beg to be trusted by them. 
 Therefore until a Diet can be convened, the govern- 
 ment has appointed the Congress of the Country 
 and District Councils to remain in session, and we 
 will be responsible to this body; which in turn will 
 communicate to the government any necessary in- 
 formation as to conditions and opinions among our 
 population. A law as to the suffrage, also one as 
 to the Diet, will be presented to this Congress for 
 
150 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 confirmation immediately on or about December 
 7 and the Congress will then fix the date of the 
 Diet's inauguration. We have been led to this 
 action by discussions held on the i8th' of October 
 and the loth of November. 
 
 "The government takes on itself the procuring 
 of provisions, the guaranteeing of economic progress 
 and security of interests for all branches of the 
 population, and the fulfilment of just desires among 
 the Tartar and every other nationality. 
 
 "The government acknowledges the difficulties 
 of the task it has undertaken, and will use all its 
 powers to solve our many problems. It appeals to 
 the citizens everywhere for support and help ! May 
 pernicious catering to wild hatred pass unheeded, 
 and may murder and other crimes cease; may 
 anxiety, uncertainty, and danger disappear, and 
 may all of us be united in one decision to push with 
 our whole strength to a happy ending the under- 
 taking of our salvation and the restoration of our 
 country!" 
 
 As for the army mentioned in this proclamation, 
 General D6nikin whose record in the magnificent 
 Russian army of early war days was excellent, and 
 who in revolutionary times succeeded to Brusilloff 
 and Korniloff as commander of the southeastern 
 front had gathered about himself long ago a large 
 group of men, all volunteers. Officers driven to 
 desperation by the situation, both on our front and 
 behind the lines, came to him asking only for the 
 chance to fight and die. Soldiers who had grad- 
 
LTEUTENANT-GENERAL DENIKIN, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF 
 THE SOUTH RUSSIAN ARMIES. 
 
 Reproduced from " Siberian Opportunities," a paper edited by the Russian 
 Consul General in San Francisco. 
 
THE CRIMEA'S EFFORT 151 
 
 ually formed their own opinions of the Red Guard 
 of the Bolsheviki came too. 
 
 Little by little these gathered, till Denikin counted 
 200,000 picked men or more. With very shabby 
 and immensely varied uniforms, running from those 
 of the Imperial Guardsmen to bright Cossack dress, 
 the army was clothed ; and they all had thin, drawn, 
 haggard faces, though with determined mouths and 
 eyes. They made up for their other defects of ap- 
 pearance by this grim look. None of them had yet 
 lost their faith in Russia's future, and they turned to 
 Denikin with perfect confidence that he could and 
 would lead them somehow to success. His own 
 personality quiet, strong, and completely brave 
 was that of an ideal commander for such a force. 
 At Yekaterinodar, where the country was friendly 
 to him, and fed and housed his men and horses in 
 exchange for the protection Denikin gave the in- 
 habitants, he had settled his army, and it soon 
 doubled. 
 
 Denikin's sympathy was at once with the Crimean 
 effort, and he promised to the fragile government 
 what help and support he could give. When the 
 Allies came in December and were received by this 
 organization with all the dignity of which it was 
 capable, and while the populace of Sebastopol and 
 Simferopol turned out in welcome, there were many 
 discussions and consultations among the chiefs, 
 much explanation as to recent developments, and 
 also several proposals as to possible future action 
 by the combined strength of the Crimeans arid the 
 
152 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 Allies. The latter were entertained with typical 
 Russian hospitality, and though poor little Simfer- 
 opol has less of brilliancy to offer than had the pal- 
 aces and ministries of ancient days in Petrograd, 
 the national heart behind these fetes beat true, 
 and the quaint semi-Oriental capital made a pic- 
 turesque frame for simple receptions. English and 
 French sailors and soldiers must have gathered in- 
 teresting impressions from their experiences; and 
 they were doubtless pleased to have nothing to do 
 with the Bolsheviki, and no one to fight against 
 upon their landing, as had been necessary else- 
 where on Russian coasts. 
 
 Soon the government decided on a mobilization in 
 the Crimea, to include ex-officers up to the age of 
 forty, if they were able-bodied, and all other men 
 of military age as soldiers. These were ordered to 
 join Denikin's forces, which so far had depended 
 entirely on volunteers. He had largely gathered 
 men of aristocratic traditions from the old crack- 
 guard regiments, and they had gone into his unit 
 as simple soldiers, willingly doing any work in the 
 ranks for what they considered to be the good cause. 
 
 The new Crimean administration also made a 
 calculation of monetary and material losses, at the 
 hands of both German and Bolshevik criminals, in 
 the province of the Tauride for future reference. 
 Another surprise to the Allies when they came was 
 the organization of General Krassnoff at Novo- 
 Tcherkask, who, like Denikin, had drawn a large 
 following of volunteers about himself, and who was 
 
THE CRIMEA'S EFFORT 153 
 
 proving his talent as a leader and administrator of 
 immense energy and power, holding his followers, 
 winning his surroundings, maintaining discipline, 
 and creating another oasis of strength and patriotic 
 organization in the great desert of misery which sur- 
 rounded him. 
 
 Both these generals have moved about in various 
 directions. They have inflicted already several de- 
 feats on the Bolsheviki and on the Germans, but 
 the armies of both are wretchedly poor. Ammuni- 
 tion, uniforms, underclothes, food, supplies of every 
 sort, money to pay troops, transportation for them 
 all of these are lacking; and the units have only 
 their heroism and what the small provincial popula- 
 tion back of them can offer for support. 
 
 When the Allied representatives went recently 
 from their ships to confer with Denikin, at Yeka- 
 terinodar, they were received by the general with 
 the utmost simplicity. There was neither space nor 
 money for official receptions at his headquarters, 
 and he showed nothing to impress the deputation 
 save the evident burning spirit of his soldiers and 
 that of the commander at their head. He spoke to 
 the strangers and said: 
 
 "During the last four years of war, an echo on 
 the Vistula and the Boug Rivers answered to the 
 sound of each battle on the Somme or on the Marne; 
 the triumph of victory, like the keen sorrow of de- 
 feat, was equally felt by all the Allied armies. 
 Though ours were divided from yours by a thousand 
 kilometres, we were rightly linked to you by fra- 
 
154 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 ternity in arms. The Russian army was destroyed a 
 year ago, not by a military or moral, or even tech- 
 nical superiority of its adversary, but only by the 
 Germans* plotting and a blow from behind, which 
 came through the propaganda of anarchists who 
 were the enemies' agents at home here among us. 
 
 "The volunteer army which I command has risen 
 from the ruins of all this; and during the various 
 political revolutions, surrounded by enemies and 
 treacheries, it has continued to fight hard for the 
 sake of Russia. These are conditions heretofore 
 unheard of in military history. This army remains 
 faithful to treaties concluded with the Allies, and in 
 spite of its vast losses and many temptations it 
 has repulsed the hand of the enemy, which it recog- 
 nized was stretched out maliciously. 
 
 "The Germans have taken much bread from 
 Russia, and they have paid for it with ammunition 
 left in Bolshevik hands. These are the cartridges 
 which the red armies have used against us in civil 
 war of late, and our fight has torn off the mask 
 which Germany had worn till recently, though the 
 Teuton policy has been hard on us Russians since 
 long before the war. Our people have much warmth 
 of heart, and they can well appreciate nobility 
 when that exists, even in enemies; and so it was 
 that after the battles of Borodino and of Sebastopol 
 in the past, we became friends with you, the French 
 and the English, and that now we sincerely rejoice 
 in your victory. 
 
 "We believe that present events in Russia are 
 
THE CRIMEA'S EFFORT 
 
 155 
 
 TURKEY 
 
 Territory which has been occupied by Denikin 
 
 but a tragic episode in our history. After this 
 period of commotion, which has been violent and 
 painful, will follow one of calm and of great recon- 
 struction; but our wound will remind us of the past 
 for a long time. As Russia renovates herself, and 
 gathers strength and might, even to complete res- 
 
156 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 toration, she will never forget those who may give 
 her help to-day, and who stretch out their arms to 
 her in her great trouble." 
 
 Such was Denikin's spirit at the end of December. 
 Is it surprising that by the middle of February his 
 volunteer army had pushed back the Red Guards, 
 sweeping the country northward and eastward to 
 Kharkoff and Poltava, and almost to the Caspian 
 Sea, taking 30,000 prisoners? So far all this has 
 been done without help from outside. 
 
 On the southern coast of the Crimean peninsula 
 the nobility also has raised its head again. In spite 
 of the nervous strain of two whole years past, the 
 Empress-Mother, unsurpassed in bravery, again 
 refused the Allies' invitation to leave Russian soil, 
 and decided she would remain until she felt abso- 
 lute certainty as to the fate of her two sons, re- 
 ported assassinated at Tobolsk and at Perm. It 
 seemed her Majesty did not believe in these deaths, 
 and that she inspired all those who surrounded her 
 with faith and courage in spite of many hardships. 
 Crowded into the tiny villa of Ai-todor, living in 
 the most difficult situation financially, the old Em- 
 press remained the same dignified personage as in 
 the days of her glory and riches. 
 
 Many years ago, when I first went, a stranger, to 
 Russia, I was told by some one who had observed 
 her through her reign: "The Empress-Mother is a 
 success always; and were she not a sovereign she 
 would still be a charming and much loved woman." 
 And in the humiliations of the revolution and in 
 
THE CRIMEA'S EFFORT 157 
 
 the months since then, I have often thought how true 
 that judgment was. 
 
 In her young days a universal favorite, she led 
 society, and every one then adored and followed 
 her. Her least caprice was law, because of the 
 charm and gentleness behind it; and in the court's 
 brilliancy she managed to keep together a circle of 
 warm friends, as she created also a beautiful home 
 life within the palace halls. Her widowhood later 
 was full of quiet dignity and charitable work, and 
 though she still kept up friendly and family relations 
 which were altogether delightful, she retired almost 
 completely from court and society life. 
 
 When the storm of revolution threatened and 
 broke, she came from her retirement to warn and 
 try to uphold, then to console, her son who, blinded 
 and inert, arrested and dethroned, needed her 
 greatly while he waited at his headquarters' staff 
 for the decision as to his fate. All she could do 
 was done, and immediately afterward she wound up 
 her affairs and palace home in Kief and took refuge 
 with her two daughters at their Crimean villa of 
 Ai-todor. 
 
 There she lived on from month to month, crushed 
 by the weight of her sorrows, yet refusing the chance 
 of comfortable exile which was early offered her by 
 the first provisional government. Russia was her 
 home, she said, and the Russians were her people, 
 and she would not leave them while there was any 
 hope. Her Majesty's courage never failed her, 
 though she was harassed with anxiety almost un- 
 
158 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 believable for both her sons; and she herself had 
 much to bear personally discomfort and poverty, 
 sometimes insult, and always threats, not to her 
 alone, but also to those about her whom she loved. 
 
 Once an eruption of Bolshevik sailors at six in 
 the morning occurred; they ventured to disturb 
 the Empress-Mother in her bed. Rough men had 
 walked without ceremony into the villa and into 
 her room, ordered her to rise, and refused to retire 
 or to wait till she could slip on even her dressing- 
 gown. Perforce she must obey instantly in their 
 presence, and then must watch them fumbling 
 about among her clothes, papers, and all her small 
 possessions, while she stood in night-dress and slip- 
 pers, shivering. In spite of the disorder they created 
 they had shortly to admit they could find nothing 
 compromising in her baggage. Finally they laid a 
 paper on her desk and ordered her to sign it, saying 
 it stated she was found not to be mixed in any 
 counter-revolutionary plot. She signed "Marie." 
 
 "That is not your proper name. Sign * Marie 
 Romanoff,'" came a stern rebuke, "or you will be 
 made to pay dearly." 
 
 At the end of her patience finally, her Majesty, 
 quietly looking the tough spokesman in the eye, 
 replied: "I know how to sign my name; and on 
 that subject I take no instructions from you. For 
 fifty years I have signed in this same way, and I do 
 not mean to change. If you choose, you can kill 
 me, of course; but you cannot alter the fact that I 
 had my reign out and have not abdicated, so I am 
 
THE CRIMEA'S EFFORT 159 
 
 the Empress-Mother still, and that is my signature. 
 Take it or leave it, as you please." 
 
 The men grumbling took the paper and went out, 
 leaving the Empress-Mother chilled with exposure 
 in her unusually light costume, but quite undaunted 
 and triumphant in the possession of her room. 
 
 Even in exile and poverty she drew round her de- 
 voted friends, who were ready to offer her their 
 purses and their lives; and in captivity and trouble 
 she still was a success. When the Germans came 
 and replaced her Bolshevik guards by a regiment 
 of officers, the Empress smiled gently and sadly on 
 the latter, and won their hearts immediately, giving 
 them new life and hope. From time to time, when 
 allowed to do so by the revolutionary authorities, 
 she received a few of the refugee aristocrats, who 
 gladly came from the Ai-todor environs for an au- 
 dience with their old Empress; and she talked with 
 them and with their daughters, whom they brought 
 to be presented to her Majesty. Her days were 
 spent as normally as possible, holding together a 
 group of ancient associates, and she was apparently 
 not further considered a danger to revolutionary 
 ideals. Had she not fought the retrograde spirit in 
 1916 ? and had she not begged for the banishment 
 of the occult forces ? And also she had implored her 
 son, the Emperor, to join with the liberals in help- 
 ing and loving his country. Even after all she has 
 gone through, she still loyally clung to Russia, and 
 lived on at the villa of Ai-todor. 
 
 There are others such as she among our im- 
 
160 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 perial family, for her two daughters were remain- 
 ing at her side, and farther up the rocky coast the 
 Grand Duke Nicolas and his brother Peter were 
 waiting patiently, hoping always to see their coun- 
 try make good after the storm. Each of their homes 
 had been raided, and the old splendid chief had 
 acted as the Empress-Mother did, and with the same 
 success. 
 
 The Russian aristocrats, though of various types, 
 have stood the test of the revolution surprisingly 
 well; for they have been through much suffering 
 from lack of money and the scarcity and high 
 prices of necessities, also the impossibility of com- 
 munication with their estates, or with the members 
 of their large families, who are scattered over the 
 country. In January, 1918, an uprising in Yalta, 
 as elsewhere, caused many of the nobility, and es- 
 pecially the officers, to be arrested, and some were 
 shot. None of this group knows what has become 
 of dear relatives who were last heard of at the front, 
 or in the cities of the north, and who, one feels, are 
 probably risking their lives daily, if they are not 
 already dead. 
 
 Sympathy with the upper classes (accused of a 
 counter-revolution), like being a member of these 
 classes, was a serious crime in the eyes of the tri- 
 umphant Bolsheviki, and at different times there 
 have been regular persecutions, always accompanied 
 by house-to-house visits, inspections, requisitions, 
 and insults forever renewed. Living on through 
 months of this has been very hard, and yet has been 
 
THE CRIMEA'S EFFORT 161 
 
 stood patiently. One day, about a year ago, ships 
 of the Russian Black Sea fleet appeared on the 
 horizon, steamed as near as possible to the shores 
 in front of Yalta, and bombarded that city and the 
 villas about it for three long days and nights. The 
 inhabitants of the town took refuge in their cellars 
 men, women, and children living through the long 
 hours without food and without fuel, with scarcely 
 sufficient clothes, with no beds to sleep upon, and 
 unable to guess when, if ever, these ships would sail 
 away again, or if the bombardment would be fol- 
 lowed by a descent and a general massacre. The 
 most terrible thought was always that the enemy one 
 dreads is of one's own race and people, a group gone 
 mad with fear and poisoned by false doctrines, all 
 of which were injected by the Germans. 
 
 From outside came no news at all save now and 
 then false, exciting rumors of hope and rescue by 
 the Allies. These raised beliefs only to cast them 
 down again, and make despair the blacker. Small 
 wonder if nerves and health have suffered in a year 
 and more, though the Crimea has been the most 
 protected corner of all Russia. Pride and blood 
 have told, and there have been both marvellous 
 courage and great self-denial shown, and a Christian 
 spirit rivalled by no other race, with patience always 
 both of word and deed toward followers of inferior 
 rank, who lived near the victimized high-bred group 
 to serve them. 
 
 Nobles, officers, members of the former parlia- 
 ments and the old government have saved some 
 
162 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 forms of organization about them still; some school- 
 ing for their children; and what resemblance they 
 could create to a useful, healthy community. Al- 
 ways ready to meet destruction, they have smiled 
 on with brave lips, and though going through so 
 much, scarcely any of them have spoken or thought 
 of vengeance. Each has believed in the future of 
 the race; each one who could, has worked for the 
 good cause of law and order; and the others have 
 merely waited patiently, with what tranquillity they 
 could command. 
 
 Only the other day a letter came to me from a 
 leading spirit in that little colony. After describ- 
 ing sundry measures being taken to help in the 
 movement for self-government by the new provi- 
 sional ministry, and after saying to me something of 
 what had been suffered in the Crimea, the writer 
 goes on to tell me: "Recently I was in Yalta and I 
 saw your people there, who are all well. Your 
 brother-in-law had been north to your country es- 
 tates, and had in person talked to the peasantry 
 with most satisfactory results. I admired him 
 greatly for this, as it is not eight months since your 
 chateau and estates were sacked and burned. . . , 
 There are others here acting in the same way. I 
 am impressed with the general faith shown by all, 
 though I have to admit that most members of the 
 society clan at Yalta seem a little nervous, which, 
 considering what they have lived through during 
 the past year or so, is hardly surprising ! . . . Now 
 the Allies are really here, and I trust ready to help 
 
THE CRIMEA'S EFFORT 163 
 
 us in our effort at government and to back Denikin's 
 army especially. One feels one may almost count 
 on success in holding this province free of the poison 
 already injected elsewhere; and perhaps if we live 
 we may even hope to repulse the dangerous 
 enemies from other districts little by little, thus 
 gaining more ground for law and order and a pop- 
 ular government. But necessarily a long period 
 must elapse before the whole country, under what- 
 ever form of organization, can completely recover 
 its tranquillity and prosperity after all this lost time. 
 Probably many of us will be killed before we are 
 through with the work we are undertaking. But 
 we are far from crushed yet, as vital forces go; and 
 in every direction small attempts at resurrection 
 and constructive work are apparent. You know 
 my personal confidence is indomitable. We have 
 always throughout history stood frightful blows and 
 shown tremendous recuperative power, and we have 
 vast primitive resources at our disposal, both to 
 pay others for their help and to be developed for 
 our own benefit." 
 
 Such letters show there is still life and hope for 
 Russia, and that among those who have lost most 
 no time is being wasted in laments. 
 
 One evening long ago, early in the revolution, a 
 small group gathered in my salon, and they talked 
 of the future and of the new Russia to be built on 
 quite different lines from the old one. To my 
 surprise an officer suddenly said: "We could form 
 again sometime the best of armies; and it will be 
 
164 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 well to have Denikin's force to use as a source of 
 concentrated and creative strength for this pur- 
 pose. If in time our peasantry becomes educated, 
 so much the better; for then as soldiers the people 
 will have gained in patriotism and love for the 
 whole of Russia. We will not then have each man 
 thinking only of his home village as his personal 
 political unit and the one point he is called upon 
 to defend. It has been so until now; and largely 
 because the rank and file knew nothing of geography, 
 could not read or understand. Our peasant soldiery 
 thus stood unarmed against the wiles of any enemy 
 propaganda. To them it was the village and the 
 Emperor who counted; and when the latter fell 
 away, nothing of common interest united the man 
 from one part to the one who was a native of another 
 part of Russia; so our army fell to pieces. 
 
 "Politically in the provinces it was the same with 
 our people, though agriculture usually makes for 
 conservatism in politics. What could the peasant 
 of your Bouromka village care for the trials and 
 tribulations of his brother, who was living on the 
 coast of the Baltic or the White Sea, or in far-away 
 Siberia ? Places they were to him not even familiar 
 in name, since he had never learned geography. So 
 it was that he knew patriotism only in its most 
 primitive form, and felt called upon to defend only 
 his own ' hata ' from oncoming foes. Real love of 
 country must be spread yet, with us, to include all 
 of the race; and our people must become educated 
 and well-governed, till by degrees every one of our 
 
THE CRIMEA'S EFFORT 165 
 
 peasants will be ready to enjoy his share of benefits, 
 and also will do gladly his part in the general duty 
 which must be performed. 
 
 "While this is preparing, we officers, who know 
 nothing of politics or of administrative organiza- 
 tions, can only sit with crossed arms, looking on, 
 or join D6nikin and contribute what we can to the 
 strength of the cause, thus carrying out our share 
 of reconstruction.*' 
 
 The proprietors seem still to have confidence in 
 their humble peasants, too, in spite of the disillusions 
 which have been. Nearly every one speaks quite 
 simply of going back to ruined homes and taking 
 up life there, if not on the same old basis, then on 
 new lines; and where one hears a sharp criticism or 
 a threat of vengeance, it is generally because a for- 
 eign strain of blood runs through the veins of the 
 speaker and puts him out of understanding with his 
 people. 
 
 With the officer, the ex-official, the Empress and 
 the noble, joined also the bourgeois and the peasant 
 of the Crimea in this effort put on foot to reorganize. 
 When the first movement took place in October last, 
 and the present provisional government was formed, 
 it was the lowly people of the country districts and 
 those of the municipalities who worked in with hearti- 
 est sympathy. They had suffered least, of course, 
 from the revolution here in this rich southern prov- 
 ince at least so far and they were probably less 
 disheartened and disillusioned than were the other 
 classes, but they especially wanted to make the 
 
166 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 revolutionary movement a success and to establish 
 its first ideals and principles on a lasting basis. 
 
 To preserve and keep the new-found liberty, 
 which they had all but lost again under the German- 
 Tartar rule, and to avoid the terrible mistakes they 
 had seen made farther north, was a fine ambition. 
 It was for this they acted through their representa- 
 tives, elected at their early meetings, and who stood 
 for the people's own democratic ideals. They, the 
 poor people, promised to uphold and back this 
 provisional Cabinet and Congress in its labor last 
 October. 
 
 Again, in December, it was the people of the city 
 streets and in the city parks and theatres who re- 
 ceived the sailors of the Allied fleet and tried to 
 prove their friendship as best they could, and this 
 spontaneous, frank reception surely had as great a 
 value as was represented by court ball or splendid 
 banquet offered to one King from another in former 
 years ! 
 
 When the announced mobilization took place the 
 poor man and the rich both gladly gave all they 
 could offer to their great cause; and certainly 
 Denikin's army, with aristocrat and bourgeois, 
 peasant and fisherman, Orthodoxy and Islam rub- 
 bing elbows, will stand to the most ardent republi- 
 can for the perfection of democratic patriotism, well 
 combined and organized. 
 
 So with the venture at proper self-government 
 started on the Crimean peninsula before the Allies 
 came, the experiment seemed full of promise from 
 
THE CRIMEA'S EFFORT 167 
 
 within. Since October much has been accomplished, 
 and, as if in answer to the prayer of every sincere 
 Russian, the Allied fleet came to them two months 
 later, apparently ready to uphold them morally and 
 materially. After six weeks we read of the progress 
 of Denikin's army with a glow of triumph. He 
 and his volunteers pushed the hordes of the Red 
 Guard back; and the reading of this news made 
 exiles' hearts in foreign countries beat fast with 
 new-born hope. It seemed to eliminate the danger 
 of this little Crimean province being overrun by the 
 barbarians paid to destroy it. Surely the brave 
 leader with his unit is making good. 
 
 One wonders if the world will be touched to ad- 
 miration by this splendid patriotism? These were 
 men who have refused through all the reign of 
 terror to admit defeat, and who after a year of 
 torture were ready to recreate their country quite 
 anew. They were brave and generous enough to 
 give up without a sign of complaint the traditions 
 they and their forefathers were used to through 
 many hundreds of years; even to lose their fortunes 
 without murmuring, and begin life on a new basis 
 of democratic principles and of legal equality for 
 all their race. 
 
 I, who have been a Russian for many years, 
 though born in this calm American land, would ask 
 every citizen to uphold my adopted people when- 
 ever and wherever it were possible. Denikin and 
 his men are fighting for the cause of all the world, 
 and for its safety, and they need succor mental, 
 
168 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 moral, and material to beat down the powers of 
 darkness. These seem to be threatening every 
 country at the present moment with the poison of 
 doctrines made in Germany to destroy the ideals 
 and civic health of each and every self-respecting 
 race. 
 
 Till help reaches her, the giant Russia must strug- 
 gle onward toward her salvation as best she can, 
 amazing mankind with her strange contrasts of de- 
 fects and virtues. Always mysterious, at this mo- 
 ment our people stoop to the lowest depths in some 
 parts of the country, while in others they soar far 
 up above the clouds. 
 
 "The Crimea Denikin's army," seem words to 
 conjure with; words which when written against 
 the dark background of the terror's story will light 
 the future student to comprehension and sympathy. 
 Now already they mean to exiles a new strength of 
 faith, a ray of hope, together with a better and ten- 
 derer charity. 
 
V 
 THE UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT 
 
 "T TERY soon after the first revolutionary move- 
 ^ ment of March, 1917, the factory hands in 
 Kief began to feel the general fermentation, 
 which was in the air, and which over the rest of 
 Russia was already causing serious uprisings and 
 troubles. Wages rose; holidays, always numerous 
 in the Greek-Orthodox calendar, increased; while 
 work-hours became shorter. There were parades, 
 where red banners with suggestive mottoes were 
 carried, and in the small gardens and restaurants of 
 the city a happy-go-lucky southern crowd fted its 
 new liberty. The dramas enacted in the north were 
 lacking though, and at first the owners of manu- 
 facturing plants, or their representatives, remained 
 in charge of their property as usual, and were un- 
 molested. They felt, however, that things were 
 going wrong, and that their men were becoming 
 restless and unreliable, and might soon be out of 
 hand. 
 
 When I returned to Kief in mid July, 1917, after 
 an absence of some months, I found anxious faces 
 among industrials, and I heard the workmen were 
 less contented, and that there was much agitation 
 below the quiet surface which met a casual eye. 
 
170 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 Most of the great manufacturing plants were by 
 then running in the hands of "committees," and were 
 in a half -hearted way producing very little. Prices 
 of sugar, flour, and all other supplies, in which the 
 Ukraine is ordinarily so rich, were rapidly rising. 
 Only the soft climate and the sufficiency of provi- 
 sions prevented riots, and as every one still believed 
 in the constituent -assembly promised for the early 
 autumn, and considered the present disorganization 
 to be only temporary, stories of such troubles as 
 had occurred were passed about in a good-natured 
 spirit of toleration. I heard many a factory owner 
 tell of his difficulties and his discussions with his 
 own particular group of "tovarishtchy" (comrades), 
 and generally the story was made an amusing one, 
 and showed a keen sense of humor, even when the 
 joke was on the teller. There was, as always here- 
 tofore, a warm, patriarchal, protective feeling for 
 the men underneath, for whom (whatever their 
 actual vagaries) the owners continued to care with 
 paternal solicitude. 
 
 Once, as an after-dinner tale, which kept the 
 salon full of our guests between tears and laughter, 
 a friend told us the following very typical incident 
 as to how his factory's management had been taken 
 over by the "comrades' committee," and his super- 
 intendent sent away, and then recalled and rein- 
 stated by this same group of his workmen. ... "It 
 was about a month ago, when our people first grew 
 restless," he said. "They came to Peter Ivanovitch, 
 my manager, one morning and surrounded the office 
 
THE UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT 171 
 
 of the factory; said they were not going to work any 
 more under him, as it was now time for all factories 
 to be nationalized; that they had been told this 
 only the night before, at a meeting, by some great 
 speakers. The latter had said it was cowardly not 
 to take over the business and manage it themselves, 
 dividing the work and then the profits equally 
 among those to whom it properly belonged. Had 
 not the peasantry been promised the lands? and 
 factories and machinery were in equal measure the 
 people's. This also the speaker had said, and they 
 even were surprised these men had not thought of 
 it by themselves. . . . Peter Ivanovitch reminded 
 them they had never felt any severity at his hands, 
 that he was Russian, and of their own class, pro- 
 moted and educated by the owners; that they had 
 all of them received many kindnesses from the latter, 
 such as hospitals with good care, free of all charges 
 for those who were ill, Christmas-trees and good 
 garments, fuel and provisions in hard times, warm 
 feeling always shown them, and of late raised wages 
 and shortened hours, in accordance with the new 
 revolutionary ideas. . . . All this the committee 
 of workmen admitted, and their spokesman said 
 they had not come to complain, but only to say 
 that now they must be masters of the nationalized 
 factory, and of all its implements, in order to move 
 in the spirit of the times. To give weight to his 
 arguments, the spokesman again lengthily quoted 
 from speeches of various revolutionary orators who 
 had been at meetings attended by him. Peter 
 
172 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 Ivanovitch then asked, by way of delaying his reply, 
 for a few moments in which to telephone me, and 
 the crowd waited patiently in the yard, its leaders 
 in our outside office, while he rang me up and in- 
 formed me of the emergency, of the assembled mul- 
 titude outside, who for the moment were quiet and 
 still childishly confident that everything would be 
 delivered to them at once, according to the proph- 
 ecies of their leaders. He, however, warned me 
 they would probably lose their heads and begin 
 breaking things up at the least sign of resistance. 
 I must decide on the course to follow, and he would 
 execute my orders to the best of his ability. Know^- 
 ing his resourcefulness and devotion, yet not willing 
 to ask an exaggerated sacrifice of himself, I told him 
 he might as well give way and let the men try run- 
 ning our factory, since it would probably save his 
 life and be the best way of making them finally 
 realize how much they and we needed one another. 
 I thought it would be too simple, however, to give 
 the property over to this crowd, just because it was 
 demanded, when we had an excellent case and every 
 right to our own buildings and implementation; so 
 I said I hoped he would at least protest, and tell 
 them I would carry this before the government. I 
 asked if I should come out to him at once by auto, 
 and uphold his authority, and did he need protec- 
 tion ? He half laughed and answered no, and that 
 he would do his best and would try to save the 
 situation. He added he would rather handle the 
 matter alone, if I felt willing to leave it all to him. 
 
THE UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT 173 
 
 Naturally I gave him carte-blanche, and promised 
 all my gratitude for his effort, however things turned 
 out; I would keep the motor at my door, and would 
 be sitting by the telephone in case he wanted to 
 change his mind and call me to the works during 
 the day. But there was no sign. . . . Time passed, 
 and I learned that after much parley and some 
 rough treatment, my Peter Ivanovitch had been 
 put into a wheelbarrow which was found standing 
 in the yard, far from clean, and had been wheeled 
 out of the factory limits and dumped on the high- 
 road. His aids and foremen had been driven out 
 in a herd behind him, and then the workers had re- 
 turned to their acquired estate in triumph and had 
 taken complete possession. 'Nothing is destroyed, 
 though, Excellency,' announced Peter Ivanovitch 
 when he appeared. 'In a week we shall return to 
 our offices, if I know my people.* And though he 
 had a black eye and a scratch or two, he looked more 
 amused than dismal. ... I had less confidence 
 than he, and I began the preparation of a report to 
 the authorities, asking to have my property returned 
 to me. ... I hadn't finished with this, however, 
 when I was rung up one day toward noon. 'Peter 
 Ivanovitch at the 'phone, and will your Excellency 
 drive out to the factory ? You will find me in the 
 office at your service !' I was amazed, and lost no 
 time in joining him. Respectfully, as in old times, 
 the doorkeeper received me and helped me remove 
 my dust-cloak, and as I glanced about I saw the 
 chimneys smoking from our furnaces and heard the 
 
174 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 ordinary whirring of machines. I noticed no change 
 from previous visits, save that a wheelbarrow, 
 freshly painted and covered with red cloth, heavily 
 fringed in gold, stood by the entrance. Peter 
 Ivanovitch gave me his usual quiet smile. His eyes 
 were bright and his color high. 'We have just had 
 a very pleasant procession this morning, Excellency, 
 and my best hope is realized,' he announced as he 
 closed the door of his private office. 'It was as I 
 thought; our men when they took possession first 
 examined the office books, which show what deficits 
 your pocket has sustained in the past months, to 
 keep things going here; they found the cash safe 
 was quite empty. This office was, therefore, a 
 disillusion, except as to the possibilities of establish- 
 ing a comfortable club in it, for the elected heads 
 to sit about in. And the machinery turned out, 
 after trial, to be worse than the office, for it required 
 labor, attention, superintending and expert knowl- 
 edge to run it. The first two requisites our comrades 
 didn't wish to put into their business, and the last 
 ones they did not possess for it, since all the upper 
 expert strata had been driven away with me. To 
 do them justice, they tried hard to live up to their 
 new obligations, and they elected another committee, 
 which has sat here for the past week, while clumsy 
 hands and inexperienced brains blocked our ma- 
 chines with oil and dust, and more and more the 
 whole place became confused. More and more also 
 chaos invaded the little world, which was so used 
 to be cared for out here. It seems the new leaders 
 
THE UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT 175 
 
 were very arrogant, trying to hold their subordi- 
 nates by their pretensions, so the troubles grew, and 
 when last Saturday night there was no money forth- 
 coming to pay the workmen, and no fuel nor provi- 
 sions were to be had from our storehouses, which 
 were empty, the cry arose that our people had been 
 better off before. 'Let us go to Peter Ivanovitch 
 and ask his advice ! He was much better with us 
 than are these lazy louts, who sit here and do noth- 
 ing for us. Perhaps he would be glad to return, 
 when we tell him how troubled we are. He has 
 sprung from among us and has always understood 
 our needs.' So yesterday morning, as I was dress- 
 ing, I heard a great clamoring, outside our house, 
 and there stood a crowd of our workmen in the road, 
 with a small group of spokesmen in front. Looking 
 sheepish and sullen, and evidently humiliated, there 
 were also the leaders in the recent difficulties, and 
 these were being held and derided by their erst- 
 while followers. This seemed to me a good sign as 
 I appeared on our small balcony. 'What do you 
 all want?' I said. 'Peter Ivanovitch,' answered 
 one man, turning his hat and twisting it reflectively, 
 'we have tried for a week the way of the speech- 
 maker's advice, and it was all wrong, though they 
 seemed to know so much from book wisdom which 
 we do not possess, and they had promised us such 
 pleasant things; but we found their plans did not 
 work out well with us. We are unpaid, un warmed, 
 and unfed by these rascals whom we had elected to 
 command us, and now we have come to fetch you 
 
176 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 back, Peter Ivanovitch.' 'But who dares to imagine 
 for a moment that I would consent to return and 
 risk my life among you brigands, when the next 
 strolling propagandist at a street corner who tells 
 you to throw me out again will be obeyed. No, 
 you would have the factory. Go you back to it 
 then, now, and leave me to my rest. I have deserved 
 rest, God knows, after twenty years that I have 
 managed you, and I don't want to ever see you all 
 again. I mean to go far away to other republics, 
 where there is proper respect for law and discipline, 
 and to work there; but never here again among a 
 lot of knaves and fools/ With anxious faces the 
 crowd listened, while the spokesman took up his 
 argument again, told me the many small dramas of 
 the past week, which had piled up into a mountain 
 so heavy it had crushed them all, and how they 
 sincerely wished to be governed again. Every one 
 in the past week had wanted the first r61es, and nat- 
 urally each had had a desire to be of the committee, 
 or at least to superintend some special group, while, 
 of course, none of them had the necessary knowledge 
 or experience for this. It had ended in a fight, and 
 the pretentious tyrants had finally been overpowered 
 and were brought to me now for inspection. 'See, 
 Peter Ivanovitch, how can we obey those who, for 
 all their fine chatter, we found knew nothing more 
 than we ourselves. They sat and smoked all day 
 and played cards; but they did none of the things 
 which you are always busy doing in your office, so 
 we have come back to you. Please, come to us and 
 
THE UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT 177 
 
 direct us as of old.' Considering their helpless 
 ignorance, I felt if these people were to be saved 
 from future impostors and mistakes, I must still 
 keep them for a time uncertain; so they would at 
 least appreciate that I was giving way to their 
 wish by returning. For two long hours I stood, 
 therefore, on my balcony, they begging and offer- 
 ing me new attractions, promising me perfect obedi- 
 ence and devotion, and I holding off, refusing their 
 invitations and showing myself completely indiffer- 
 ent to each added proposition. 'Peter Ivanovitch, 
 only return and set the factory and us in order, and 
 we shall fetch you from here in the best "caleche" 
 to be hired in Kief, and with a fast "troika" to pull 
 it, so all the street will turn and admire as you fly 
 by.' I really thought this very touching, but still 
 held out firmly and answered: 'No, I need no bribes 
 to make me return to my place or undertake my 
 duties; but it is the day of liberty now you say, and 
 I wish only for rest and to be left alone by such un- 
 reliable people as you are/ At last the crowd wept 
 and implored. They could do nothing with the 
 machines, they said, and were lost if the manager 
 and his aids, whom they had driven away only in 
 ignorance, would not return. Would I but state 
 my terms, since nothing they had thought of to 
 propose had moved me ? Though in days gone by 
 they have had the greatest kindness from us, and 
 were naturally in the wrong, now I felt sorry for 
 them, Excellency, for they are not like people of 
 other lands, after all; these are but children in nature 
 
178 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 and in mind, and quite irresponsible for about half 
 of what they do. Thinking they were sufficiently 
 punished, I rose finally, stepped forward, and said 
 to them: 'You are a mass of fools; firstly, not to 
 recognize that we have been most liberal always, and 
 have done and were doing our best to face these 
 difficult times, and to carry you all and the factory 
 through them, without closing down ; secondly, to 
 listen to those propagandists who naturally try to 
 create trouble between us, because they are paid in 
 proportion to the results they can show in the way 
 of destruction and disorder in our land ; thirdly, you 
 have blindly insulted me with your offers of a lux- 
 urious equipage to drive me to my own ancient work 
 place, and by the suggestion of other bribes, as if 
 you did not know me well enough to realize I would 
 refuse. Now, since you have at last learned your 
 folly, and you merely ask me for my terms, I tell 
 them to you, and you may accept or refuse at once, 
 and definitely. If you accept, and then change 
 again later, I shall say nothing to you, but shall 
 quietly depart, leaving you to work out your prob- 
 lems alone. I consent to return to you only be- 
 cause I wish to serve faithfully the master of our 
 factory, who has been a good employer to us all, 
 and because I wish to save those of our machines 
 which you have not yet ruined; even I would help 
 such of you as will work well and are willing to begin 
 anew. My terms are these: You dragged me from 
 my office and ill-treated me, and you drove out all 
 my aids; you were all mobilized for that purpose, 
 
THE UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT 179 
 
 an untidy throng of humanity in your work clothes; 
 you will go home, now, and collect all the men who 
 took part in that demonstration of a week ago; 
 you will all clean up and put on your Sunday clothes; 
 then you will come here in orderly procession and 
 will escort me and those of my party who consent 
 to accompany me back with all due show of honor 
 and respect. You tumbled me into a rough and 
 dirty wheelbarrow when I refused to leave my 
 place; now you will find again that same wheel- 
 barrow, paint it freshly, and drape it with red cloth 
 and gold fringe, and bring it here; I will sit in that 
 in preference to the finest carriage, and you shall 
 wheel me back to my office door. Prepare all this 
 for to-morrow morning. Meantime, return to-day 
 to the factory, and clean the machines, the floors 
 and the courtyards as for a new start. I myself 
 will engage to gather up what foremen I can find, 
 and we will return to our work to-morrow with all 
 memory of these painful days effaced, and will be 
 ready as before to help you to the best of our ability, 
 so we may all do our duty together.* The heads of 
 his audience went up, and with joy and gratitude 
 the men thanked and blessed Peter Ivanovitch for 
 his generosity. Everything was done exactly as he 
 had ordered. Early the following morning the same 
 crowd of the previous day presented itself at his 
 door in gay holiday dress, and with serious faces. 
 The old wheelbarrow in its unexpected finery was 
 solemnly brought forward, and my manager took 
 his seat upon it, with a manner which made it a full- 
 
180 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 fledged triumphal car. With his lieutenants about 
 him, he sat tranquil, while slowly and quietly they 
 all marched to the factory's office door. The place 
 was clean as never since the buildings had been 
 opened, and Peter Ivanovitch on the entrance steps 
 turned and thanked 'his children' in exactly the 
 old tone, whose kindly note had held their affections 
 for many years. . . . 'Luckily, they had done no 
 harm they could not easily undo. By their repara- 
 tion and general cleaning up, and by their readiness 
 to fall into line with their chief's ideas, they felt 
 they had gone back by the same road, to the turn- 
 ing which they had chosen wrong and had begun 
 over again. They are good children, and see their 
 folly, for which, after all, they are not really to 
 blame so much as are those damnable German 
 agents, who are always among us, spreading poi- 
 sonous doctrines. I trust, Excellency,' ended Peter 
 Ivanovitch, 'you will not feel obliged to punish 
 these men further; as while I did not promise, I 
 think they hope for my complete forgiveness of the 
 harm done me, and that they count on my protec- 
 tion to save them from further humiliation. After 
 what they offered me by way of reparation, they 
 believe I will not report their wickedness to you. 
 They have lost two weeks' wages, anyhow, and I 
 think we shall have no further troubles/ 
 
 "I don't quite believe," added the story-teller, 
 "in such Utopian results as my manager predicts, 
 but of course I fell in with his schemes, and for the 
 moment all is going well till the next time some 
 new prophet passes, I suppose." 
 
THE UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT 181 
 
 His anecdote sounded encouraging, as it was 
 related, and the upper classes tried to be light- 
 hearted, anyhow, and to hope that things would 
 mend; but day by day the clouds piled higher on the 
 political and economic horizon, the restless spirit 
 grew, and principles and common sense were sub- 
 merged, largely through the enemy's efforts and ex- 
 cellent organization. Poor Peter Ivanovitch did not 
 live the year out, I heard afterward, but was killed 
 in a riot, while the factory of my story went up in 
 flames late that same autumn. 
 
 In November, 1917, after a week of terrible ten- 
 sion, and after long negotiations, much fighting, 
 rioting and killing in our gay city of Kief, and es- 
 pecially through false play on the part of the Austro- 
 Ukrainians, the latter took complete possession of 
 all power, and then established order according to 
 their own theories. For a time the city was fairly 
 quiet, and the pleasure-loving Little-Russians led 
 their lives unmolested, facing only difficulties of 
 extremely reduced incomes, and extremely high 
 prices on all necessities. 
 
 At once, in the beginning of their triumph, Gen- 
 eral Skoropadsky was elected "Hetman" of the 
 Ukrainian Cossacks. He occupied continuously, 
 the most prominent place held by any Russian 
 in Kief, until his disappearance from the scene, 
 which was after the departure of the Germans from 
 Kief. Just before his election, and before we left, 
 he came to my husband, trying to persuade the 
 latter to remain in the city and undertake with him 
 the adventure which he planned. Of ancient Cos- 
 
182 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 sack lineage, though untitled, Pavel Mihailovitch 
 Skoropadsky represented as blue blood and as fine 
 traditions as any Slav in Little-Russia. His own 
 great fortune and his wife's, and their powerful re- 
 lations, had placed them from early childhood in 
 delightful situations. He had graduated from the 
 Imperial- Page-Corps, been immediately promoted 
 into the first regiment of the empire (her Majesty 
 the Empress-Mother's Chevalier Guards). He had 
 been made aide-de-camp to the Emperor, and hav- 
 ing asked, during the Japanese War, for service in 
 Siberia, he was sent there on a special mission and 
 was awarded the "Golden Sword" on his return. 
 After his Oriental campaign he was at once pushed 
 forward by his court protections, and was given 
 command, first of a regiment of the line, then of the 
 "Emperor's Own Horse Guards," and following on 
 these the command of the first brigade of the Impe- 
 rial Cavalry of the Guard. Always an excellent offi- 
 cer, his attention to questions of service and his 
 bravery kept him (with his name and fortune to 
 help) conspicuously to the fore, and when the great 
 war came, Skoropadsky 's luck was proverbial. In 
 the first battles of the East Prussian campaign, the 
 troops under him won the St. George's Cross for their 
 commander by a brilliant feat of arms. Within a 
 year he had received a division, and soon after tem- 
 porarily was given a corps and promoted lieutenant- 
 general. Fairly tall and well made, with (at the 
 age of forty-three) a face of most guileless expression, 
 extremely blue eyes and light skin and hair, he was 
 
THE UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT 183 
 
 always rather quiet in company and gave an im- 
 pression of simplicity which was entirely false. 
 Among his comrades of twenty years past, he had 
 the reputation of such uncommon adroitness as to 
 have been nicknamed "Foxy-Skoro," and those in 
 his old regiment who knew him best were least fond 
 of him, somehow, though with no definite reason to 
 give for their feeling. I remember at the beginning 
 of the war, he passed a group of us one day, and 
 an old comrade of his said: "Well, whatever else 
 happens, Skoro will come back a field-marshal." 
 "And, if by chance, the Germans were to win?" 
 asked a bystander. "He will be at once placed in 
 the highest court position William has to spare ! . . . 
 No; I don't mean to say he will do anything wrong 
 for it, but somehow the thing will just come about." 
 "Then suppose we have a revolution, by chance?" 
 "Oh, then he will be the modern Robespierre for a 
 while, till the moment comes for him to play the 
 Napoleonic dictator. Of course, he may get killed, 
 for, to do him justice, he always plays his game with 
 courage." It was strange how truly his comrades 
 understood the deep, still nature, and foretold the 
 man's future. Though of the Emperor's suite, 
 after the first provisional government was an estab- 
 lished fact, Skoropadsky became its avowed ad- 
 mirer and friend, and he did much useful work for 
 it at various points, around and before Kief. He 
 was lucky, as usual, in avoiding the firing-line when 
 the great routs occurred on the front. When the 
 Ukrainian propaganda was at its height, he ap- 
 
184 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 peared in Kief on leave, and in Cossack dress; and 
 his family traditions were naturally recalled to the 
 mind of many people, while the old Ukrainian name 
 of Skoropadsky was constantly appearing in the 
 public press. He himself met and cultivated various 
 members of the "Rada," who were duly brought to 
 realize that one of this man's ancestors had been 
 "Hetman of the Ukrainian Cossacks" in early Rus- 
 sian history. Somehow, the suggestion was made 
 that he was the ideal figurehead for the newly 
 formed nationalist army. Skoropadsky in the situa- 
 tion was naturally most anxious to accept the new 
 title and post; yet he somewhat feared the opinion 
 and criticism of his early associates, and of his own 
 class generally. He at once called on a number of 
 people to discover their point of view as to his 
 intentions, and also, if possible, hoping to strengthen 
 his position by persuading them to join in the move 
 and uphold him. In a very few cases he succeeded, 
 but it was a small minority who sympathized with 
 his ideas and ambitions, and he was instead generally 
 criticised. To my husband, in a long conversation, 
 he frankly admitted his views, saying he considered 
 under the circumstances (and since the fall of the 
 imperial and provisional governments) it was up 
 to each man to save what he could for himself indi- 
 vidually. His estates being in Little-Russia, he had 
 embraced the nationalist Ukrainian movement, and 
 he meant to throw all his strength into it, if he could 
 by so doing manage to hold the Cossack force, of 
 which he had accepted the command, and protect 
 
THE UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT 
 
 185 
 
 Crimea and Ukraine 
 
 his lands and those of his class from confiscation. 
 He wanted my husband to join in this good work, 
 throwing all Cantacuzene's influence and pop- 
 ularity into gathering recruits, etc. "But the 
 Ukrainian party is Austrian, built up by enemy 
 money and propaganda, and I have actually had the 
 
186 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 proofs of this in my hands during the six months I 
 have been fighting it," was my husband's objection. 
 Skoropadsky immediately admitted this fact, and 
 went on quite cynically to say that he felt such a 
 detail to be of no particular importance as compared 
 to the chance of keeping law and order, both in Kief 
 and in the provinces round about our city. He and 
 others serving in military capacities, he continued, 
 would have nothing to do with the political side of 
 the Ukrainian movement and would merely be de- 
 fending the country from the anarchy rampant to 
 the north and east. "At any rate, Austrian or not, 
 this is the most conservative effort on foot. I mean 
 to work with it, and, if I can, keep our provinces 
 quiet till I see what the future has in store." "It 
 will be the Germans' arrival very shortly," he was 
 told. "They may delay a few weeks or months, 
 because they know their allies, the Austrians, are 
 in possession here, so they can afford, in complete 
 security, to go on with their organization elsewhere ; 
 but soon they mean to come in here, and to feed on 
 us later, and what will you do then ? " Skoropadsky 
 laughed rather shortly and answered that he meant 
 to work with these also, on certain conditions ! If 
 the Germans came into an orderly and well-policed 
 part of Russia, which was near enough their own 
 doors to be dangerous in a chaotic condition or 
 through its bad principles of government, they would 
 be glad enough to make terms with any conser- 
 vative elements who might be ready to negotiate. 
 He, Skoropadsky, meant to hold on, therefore, even 
 
THE UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT 187 
 
 with the Germans, to a certain extent, and to bar- 
 gain. He said he felt sure many of the nobility 
 would support him and be glad to uphold his policy 
 in exchange for the security he could offer them. 
 He was perfectly cool and decided, and since that 
 day when, for the last time, my husband and he 
 spoke openly to one another and disagreed (as to 
 the Russian aristocrat's duty in the movement), the 
 Hetman Skoropadsky never for a single moment 
 abandoned the course he had set himself. He 
 gathered and drilled troops, who served under him 
 the Ukrainian (Austrian inspired) Rada. They were 
 unable to do much in the way of real work, because 
 all these men were undisciplined and refused to 
 obey his orders about half the time. Often, when a 
 small unit was sent to protect some factory, chateau, 
 or other property, the soldiers out of hand joined 
 with the mobs in sacking, stealing, and destroying. 
 In Kief itself, however, a fair appearance was kept 
 up. The "National Army" paraded sometimes or 
 occasionally did light duty as sentinels, but they did 
 not prevent one or two uprisings which were more 
 bloody than anything before their day had ever 
 been. The worst of these occurred in January, 1918, 
 when, for two weeks or so, the city was bombarded 
 and suffered every misery imaginable. One family 
 we knew sat in an underground cellar then for 
 eleven days and nights, without comforts of any 
 kind, with no possibility of bathing or redressing, 
 and without food other than was brought to them 
 by a devoted old man-servant, who risked his life 
 
188 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 twice daily to feed his masters. Grandmother, 
 parents, and several small children, with all the 
 household's domestics, lived through the siege in 
 this way; but in many other cases a grenade, a 
 bomb, or a shell came and found out hiding, miser- 
 able humanity. Casualties occurred also on the 
 streets in great numbers among those whom hunger 
 or other necessity forced out of doors on short trips 
 about the town, and, as usual, the martyred officers 
 made up a formidable company. The young cadets 
 who were known to have defended the provisional 
 authority in the previous November against the 
 Ukrainians and Bolsheviki were massacred without 
 mercy. Every officer was, of course, suspected of 
 sympathizing with the "Russian" cause, and hun- 
 dreds of these were captured, tortured, and shot as 
 "counter-revolutionists." One boy, whom we had 
 known from infancy, barely eighteen and just pro- 
 moted to his officer's epaulets within a year, was 
 shot in broad daylight as he left his aunt's house 
 for the street ; a rough, who had been waiting, stepped 
 suddenly in front of him in the doorway, and, putting 
 a revolver to his victim's eyes he fired instantly and 
 without parley. There were many other such cases ; 
 about twenty or more of our personal friends were 
 killed under practically these same conditions, 
 merely for being in their uniforms and because of 
 inferred antipathy to the "national" movement. 
 There were no judgments in any cases I heard of, 
 and altogether about two thousand five hundred 
 officers were executed in Kief during that one up- 
 
THE UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT 189 
 
 rising, with the Hetman Skoropadsky commanding 
 the Ukrainian army there ! Several women friends 
 and acquaintances of ours were also wounded or 
 killed in the streets "by accident." Naturally, all 
 who could arrange to do so, fled elsewhere. Enemy 
 spies filled the town and ordered all things as they 
 chose. There were many anxieties and dramas in 
 the lives of the ordinary inhabitants as well as of 
 the refugee nobility of Kief. Small wonder some 
 of them fell into line behind the Hetman, hoping to 
 save whatever they could of their fast-diminishing 
 fortunes and also the lives of those who were dear 
 to them. Help came from no other quarter, and 
 the Ukrainian-Austrian-German authorities repre- 
 sented the only possible chance of safety. A lot of 
 Russian aristocrats held out against the new regime, 
 had the courage to live on in Kief through these 
 months, hoping against hope something would occur 
 to succor them, yet dreading their surroundings and 
 making themselves as small as possible. These paid 
 heavily (in taxes, by bribes, and in all prices of 
 necessities) merely to live unmolested, however 
 poorly, in their homes. Their houses were used as 
 billets for arrogant, uncouth members of the local 
 army. They were subjected to constant requisi- 
 tions; they were allowed no arms, nor defense of 
 any kind, and their days and nights were made hid- 
 eous in a thousand ways; but they stood firmly, 
 nevertheless, by their ideals, bowed down to no 
 foreign mastership, and had only such commerce 
 with the enemy as was necessary with reference to 
 
190 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 payments, reclamations, passports, and such other 
 business. During this time Skoropadsky played 
 well his chosen r61e, was seen moving in state about 
 the city, looked imposing in his full uniform and 
 fine motors, and did all he could to capture and hold 
 the imagination of the populace, with whom he suc- 
 ceeded, at least in so far as to deter them from actual 
 revolt. He had a large number of troops and kept 
 them generally at work, which they enjoyed, so 
 that they were ready enough on occasion to prevent 
 rioting by mobs, since they themselves were satis- 
 fied, fed, clothed, and kept out of danger. They 
 "policed'* the town, and it remained comparatively 
 quiet. They were always glad to make foraging ex- 
 peditions and to bring supplies back from the coun- 
 try districts for the citizens' use. The city populace 
 was a good-natured, gay lot, in general, too, and, 
 though of late it had felt certain discomforts of the 
 times, it never knew the terrible sufferings of the 
 northern metropolis. The people danced and sang 
 on, therefore, and declared their perfect indiffer- 
 ence as to the name or variety of any power 
 which reigned over them. Glad of an excuse for 
 noise and excitement, they now and then, of course, 
 lost their heads in some demonstration and demol- 
 ished a building or broke into a shop. So it was the 
 Ukrainians received the Germans, and later the 
 Bolsheviki, with a festival of bloodshed. The 
 factory districts were full of idlers and ne'er-do- 
 wells who were producing little or nothing. Most 
 of the machinery and buildings had been injured 
 
THE UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT 191 
 
 or destroyed, while the owners, managers, foremen, 
 and experts had nearly all fled or had been killed. 
 It seemed useless to resist the current, and the fac- 
 tory hands or their committees were completely in 
 the saddle. The roughest elements turned burglars 
 or pickpockets, and crimes on the street or in iso- 
 lated houses were of continual occurrence. In the 
 villages round about great animosity was felt against 
 Kief, the city which was requisitioning provisions, 
 grain, and produce of every description. The peas- 
 antry were violent in their hatred of the new system, 
 which they considered both unjust and unpleasant. 
 Occasionally one heard of a foraging party disap- 
 pearing totally, murdered, it was supposed; and it 
 was well known that peasants were still hoarding 
 some part of their meagre supplies, and were con- 
 stantly ready to revolt if only they could feel them- 
 selves of sufficient strength to stand up for their 
 rights. They needed supplies from the towns and 
 factories, and they offered to make trades, but such 
 arrangements were refused, and only an armed 
 peace existed between the urban and country "com- 
 rades," a truce which frequently broke down. 
 
 During the time, Skoropadsky was the represen- 
 tative figurehead of the Ukrainian Government in 
 all military matters and seemed to indicate to a 
 certain extent the nobility's concurrence in the 
 "national" movement; the civilian first r61e was be- 
 ing played by a man named Petlura. He was of the 
 peasantry or of the lower ranks in the bureaucracy, 
 had been one of the uniformed scribes in a govern- 
 
RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 ment office at Kief, and had been mobilized for duty 
 during the war for a staff bureau there, because the 
 mobilization officers had judged he would be of more 
 use to his country with his pen than with a gun. 
 So all the early years of the war he had sat mak- 
 ing out despatches, or writing low-class copy. ... 
 Certainly no one had ever suspected him of having 
 ideas ! He was considered merely an arm with a 
 pen. ... In the revolution he became excitable and 
 less efficient, and attracted attention early through 
 his extreme speeches and by the noise about him. 
 Soon he was forming a group of personal partisans, 
 then he showed cunning, considerable strength, and 
 was mixed up in various agitations; finally he was 
 imprisoned by order of the central provisional gov- 
 ernment during Kerensky's premiership, and was 
 judged, acquitted, and then liberated, while a large 
 mob cheered themselves half mad outside the 
 courts. This mob carried him away above their 
 heads to his lodging, giving him a triumphal proces- 
 sion. He became an enthusiastic "Ukrainian," and 
 was soon the head of the "nationalists" and their 
 idol. Perfectly unscrupulous, extremely adroit, well 
 paid by the Austrians, having nothing to lose and 
 all to gain, he developed tremendously, and ended 
 by holding his own even with Skoropadsky and also 
 against all other would-be leaders. He kept in the 
 saddle and is still in power now with his own crowd, 
 for I read quite recently in an American paper he 
 was leading the Ukrainian armies against Lemberg. 
 But in early 1918, Petlura and Skoropadsky, 
 
THE UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT 193 
 
 hand in hand, stood together awaiting the arrival 
 and orders of their German masters. The latter 
 came, and after the feeblest show of resistance, the 
 conquerors were admitted to Kief and were re- 
 ceived officially by the "nationalists" with all 
 ostensible honors. To give the devil his due, Skoro- 
 padsky's army, of course, could not have resisted the 
 triumphant troops of Von Eichhorn, as the Ukrai- 
 nians were a vague and unarmed horde of uni- 
 formed picnickers. Petlura was not heard from 
 during German occupation, whether because he was 
 paid to subside into insignificance, or because he 
 was frightened into a secondary place; but the Het- 
 man of the Cossacks, General Skoropadsky, ex- 
 aide-de-camp of the Czar, was a rare friend for the 
 Huns, and he was petted and spoiled, and was made 
 much of. He did make a good bargain both for 
 himself and for his class. As he had foreseen, the 
 German conquerors thought the opportunity excel- 
 lent to win the aristocracy over to Teutonic "Kul- 
 tur." Skoropadsky drove about in Von Eichhorn 's 
 motor, held receptions and parades, gave his new 
 chief valuable advice and information as to admin- 
 istrative measures he considered the dictator should 
 take. He obtained (by German consent and en- 
 forcement) for all proprietors of landed estates offi- 
 cial and legal admissions from the peasantry that the 
 latter had lately stolen goods and land not theirs by 
 law, which must be restored to the proper owners 
 again or must be paid for, especially when there 
 had been destruction. Of these sums paid by the 
 
194 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 peasantry much of the money \#ent to the Ger- 
 mans, but thirty per cent really went to the old 
 proprietors (or in their absence was paid into a 
 Kief bank in trust for them). The peasants were 
 whipped and made to work in field and factory 
 again and to hand over what grain they possessed 
 for the use of Kief, but also and mainly for that of 
 the German soldiers. Upon resistance several vil- 
 lages were gassed, and all the inhabitants left dead ! 
 The helpless country population now staggered on a 
 weary road of abject slavery, privation, and punish- 
 ment. In the towns it was the same; banks were 
 kept open, business was done; the factories smoked 
 again, and they turned out goods rapidly; the shops 
 were encouraged to resume their ordinary aspect, 
 and counters and windows were flooded with Ger- 
 man goods, which, after the long lack of them, were 
 bought up with avidity. Whatever scruples they 
 had, it was reassuring to the upper classes to sleep 
 quietly in their beds for a time again and to see 
 their lives and property respected, to regain their 
 lands and factories, and start working or selling. 
 They were living, in a word, under what seemed 
 almost normal conditions, and, even if they owed it 
 to their worst enemy and knew the day must come 
 when the iron grip relaxed the whole edifice would 
 tumble in a heap, they were glad of a breathing 
 space of calm and prosperity. The poor man felt, 
 however, at this time, he was arrayed against the 
 landed proprietors and the capitalists of his own 
 race, who were in league with the Huns and who 
 
THE UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT 195 
 
 were using the* latter's force to crush him, the 
 "moujik." It was a bad situation, and it promised 
 worse ruins for the future. 
 
 Skoropadsky was invited to join the German 
 Emperor at the latter's Grand Staff Headquarters, 
 and accepted, and there his triumph continued. He 
 was courted and praised, and a photograph was 
 circulated about, showing him and William deep in 
 conversation and smiling at one another. I fancy 
 this one man was the only Russian perfectly under- 
 stood and appreciated by the German mentality. 
 Anyhow, his honors at the conqueror's hands lasted 
 till the end, and though he saw Von Eichhorn assas- 
 sinated, he lived on for some time before his own 
 turn came (late in the autumn of 1918). It is told 
 among Russians that Skoropadsky was not assassi- 
 nated at all, but that seeing his game was up he 
 spread the report of his own murder and decamped 
 with the Germans when they retired officially from 
 Kief. 
 
 The fact that comparative quiet and prosperity 
 reigned in the Ukrainian provinces aroused the 
 envy of the rabid and starving Bolsheviki to the 
 north and east. Their cities, like their country 
 districts, were already squeezed dry of possible 
 plunder by the Huns who occupied them, and their 
 chances of recuperation were destroyed by the an- 
 archy these tyrants had inspired and encouraged. 
 Hordes of northern rabble were ready to overrun 
 their own frontiers, driven by frantic misery and 
 dread of the bloody terror they had lived in for 
 
196 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 months past. The climate and riches of the south 
 seemed still sufficiently tempting, and after the 
 Germans' official withdrawal from the Ukraine, the 
 strength of the local administration became insuffi- 
 cient to hold back an invasion. From time to time, 
 therefore, waves of dilapidated humanity overflowed 
 toward the south, and though the Teutons sent out 
 such soldiers as were still left in the province to stiff en 
 the Ukrainian national armies, these were not always 
 able to hold back onslaughts. Various cities on the 
 frontiers of Little-Russia were taken by the red 
 guardsmen and were sacked. Many chateaux and 
 villages disappeared completely, and in some of 
 the latter the worn-out peasantry, glad to change 
 one misfortune for another, if only by way of vari- 
 ety, joined the new conqueror's movement which 
 attacked their own home-land. Twice the gates of 
 Kief were reached by the Bolsheviki: once the city 
 was bombarded and the army of reds repulsed; 
 the other time they entered and held sway in the 
 city by force of terrorism, till finally through ruse 
 they were persuaded to leave. After Von Eichhorn's 
 murder, and the reported murder of Skoropadsky, 
 Petlura remained alone and took supreme com- 
 mand. In order to draw to his standard the most 
 radical classes, whom he feared might join the Bol- 
 sheviki, he inclined his own policies more and more 
 toward Bolshevism. By so doing Petlura's party 
 principles became almost identical with the reds, 
 and the chaos in Kief increased. The leader kept 
 to the name of a separate government, however, 
 
THE UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT 197 
 
 and remained independent himself of Trotzky and 
 Lenine. 
 
 With Von Eichhorn's murder the German power 
 officially came to an end and many of the Hun 
 troops were withdrawn from the Ukraine. This 
 fact and Skoropadsky's disappearance meant for the 
 few conservatives, who had backed this false au- 
 thority for a time, the utter failure of their last 
 hopes. Either they must fly now, or be killed 
 eventually and meantime live in abject fear. Since 
 months back this had been the fate of all the better 
 classes, both in Moscow and Petrograd, while of 
 course there came a great reaction after the repres- 
 sions of the German dictatorship. Though anxiety 
 and uncertainty were terrible trials, life was still pos- 
 sible in Kief, until early January, 1919. At the very 
 beginning of that month (the 2oth of December, 1918, 
 Russian style), the " Council of the Country Dis- 
 tricts and Municipalities" was formed in Kief. The 
 ultraradical groups were therein represented by 
 large majorities, and the council or congress passed 
 the following resolution: 
 
 "The Congress of Country Districts and Munici- 
 palities finds the settlement of a ruling power for 
 the Ukraine is most urgent, and that it should be 
 decided immediately, because of the revolts taking 
 place all over our land. Under the dictatorship 
 there has been much commotion, with some move- 
 ments which were truly democratic, as well as 
 many which were only in favor of absolute anarchy, 
 or were made with an intention of breaking away 
 
198 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 and forming small independent states. The Het- 
 man's government, set up and supported by im- 
 perial Germany, has only deepened the rupture be- 
 tween the Ukraine and Russia, and has allowed our 
 people to be cruelly exploited by the foreign armies 
 of occupation. Being rejected by all democratic 
 elements, this government was maintained by the 
 most reactionary and monarchical group, and it un- 
 dertook violent repression of our peasants and work- 
 men. In the interests of the Ukraine, this power 
 must now be replaced by a purely democratic one. 
 The civil war raging in our country is a great danger 
 to all the south of Russia. It can but lead to the 
 triumph of Bolshevism or to a reaction toward 
 monarchy. 
 
 "This Congress supposes the continuation and re- 
 inforcement of civil war parties in the Ukraine can 
 be prevented only by means of the establishment of 
 a democratic government, which would be ready to 
 enter into open agreement with all groups, classes, 
 and nationalities in the social scale. Only such a 
 government can put an end to the hard consequences 
 of the Hetman's regime and abolish civil war. It 
 will also thoroughly guarantee the national interests 
 of Ukraine, and the latter's union with Russia may 
 possibly later be renewed.*' 
 
 As I read this, it seems vague enough as to its 
 promises of present or future usefulness. The only 
 thing it really has proved is the fact that by all 
 parties at Kief, the nationalists' movement, in 
 spite of two Russian figureheads (Skoropadsky 
 
THE UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT 199 
 
 and Petlura), was acknowledged to be a German 
 intrigue. 
 
 An article in a Bolshevist newspaper says at about 
 the same date: 
 
 "The current of Bolshevism has now passed be- 
 yond the limits of the Soviets in Great Russia, and 
 overflows into the territory of the Ukraine. The 
 provisional government of the peasants and work- 
 men, therefore, make the following appeal: 
 
 "The members of the Central Executive Com- 
 mittee of the Ukrainian Soviets, in complete accord 
 with the revolutionary workmen, peasants, and sol- 
 diers of the Bolsheviki, are now at the head of the 
 communistic Bolsheviki provisional government of 
 the workmen and peasants of the Ukraine ! 
 
 "All factories, materials, banks, trade-establish- 
 ments, mines, and quarries are declared in the pos- 
 session of the working people, and are forfeited by 
 their present owners. All lands, with inventories of 
 their contents in buildings and implementation, 
 must also be taken from the proprietors, definitely 
 and finally, and given gratis to the peasantry. 
 
 "In these measures the revolution advances with 
 strong and formidable steps in its steady march 
 onward!" 
 
 Shortly after this was published it was announced 
 that the Ukrainian Government, with Petlura at its 
 head, was officially recognized by the United States 
 Administration, and I personally read an official 
 telegram, published in the press here in America, in 
 which the State Department at Washington made 
 
200 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 this announcement at the moment when Bolsheviki 
 and Ukrainians were joining one another ! 
 
 The chaos of the north seems to have reached 
 out now through the Ukraine into Galicia, Poland, 
 and even Hungary, where civil war and anarchy are 
 devouring the last signs of law and order. Com- 
 munications have been cut off entirely from Kief, 
 and the last of the nobility who could escape have 
 done so, abandoning their estates, which it seemed 
 scarcely worth worrying over, as these were almost 
 non-existing. Ours among others have, of course, 
 been reconfiscated. 
 
 A last press sheet has come into my hands, sent 
 by a kindly compatriot refugee in the Crimea. It 
 contains a description of most recent occurrences in 
 the Ukraine: 
 
 ''Events here are alarming and important in the 
 highest degree. The south has been now entirely 
 separated from the Ukraine, which has proclaimed 
 its complete independence, and as a republic has 
 set up a new government. 
 
 " After the first revolution, March, 191 7, a Hetman 
 was established by the vote of certain reactionary 
 landowners, and was maintained by German troops 
 in the face of all attacks. Now that the Ger- 
 mans are no longer mixed in the fight, renewed 
 excesses have broken out, the revolt against the 
 Hetman provoking a civil war between his troops 
 and Petlura's. The latter has with great au- 
 dacity established a Bolshevik republic. Petlura 
 is admittedly a partisan (though insisting on inde- 
 
THE UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT 201 
 
 pendent authority) of the northern Bolsheviki, and 
 this is why the latter are at present moving toward 
 Kharkoff. If the two armies should succeed in 
 fusing at this point, we shall see a new disaster 
 threatening all the south of Russia. The railroad's 
 administration furnishes us with the information 
 that an invasion of the Ukraine by Moscow's red 
 armies is inevitable, and that in a few days Khar- 
 koff will be in their hands. The few German troops 
 left in the Ukraine will offer no resistance, of course, 
 nor protection in this movement, neither would the 
 remnants of the Hetman's nationalists be of the 
 least support to any good elements among the local 
 authorities, who might try to preserve law and order. 
 Lacking sufficient resistance, the Bolshevist effort 
 will probably be crowned with complete success." 
 
 Unless some succor comes from outside to aid 
 the D6nikin army, one can count on the proba- 
 bility of the whole of southern Russia going up in 
 flames, such as have already wrecked the north of 
 the empire, and as are now destroying our Ukrai- 
 nian provinces ! l 
 
 In this maelstrom the refugees in and about lassy 
 (Rumania) will also necessarily be caught, after 
 their long and patient wait for deliverance ! They 
 must feel, if they are still alive, that they have been 
 abandoned and forgotten by all of civilization. At 
 the end of December last, when the Allied fleet 
 
 Reports within the last week of April, 1919, would seem to show 
 that Petlura has changed his politics and is now fighting the Bol- 
 shevik invasion with some success. 
 
202 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 dropped anchor in the harbor of Sebastopol, a mes- 
 sage was delivered to them immediately from the 
 members of the lassy conference. It had been 
 written on November 17, 1918, and in part it said: 
 
 "The conference of lassy, which includes rep- 
 resentatives of every political party, with the ex- 
 ception of the extreme right and left (autocratic- 
 monarchists and Bolsheviki), before attacking ques- 
 tions of business have the honor of welcoming their 
 allies! 
 
 "Our delegation is to communicate at once to 
 the Allies the following facts of great importance: 
 the south of Russia is traversing a very painful 
 transition period, while the weakness of local au- 
 thorities (which is the direct result of the German 
 policy and occupation) promises the inhabitants a 
 bloody future, if the solution of its problems are 
 deferred. Only the instantaneous military inter- 
 vention of the Allies could now prevent the uprising 
 of the extreme chauvinist groups, who would lead 
 the country into anarchy and Bolshevism, and would 
 finally abolish all possibility of the Allies attaining 
 later even a necessary base of operation against the 
 authority of the Soviets. 
 
 "To encourage the only Russian army (D6ni- 
 kin's) capable of organized resistance in these 
 parts, the assurance of prompt support from the 
 Allies is indispensable. While awaiting the moment 
 when a considerable unit of troops could be sent us, 
 a certain number of Allied ships appearing in the 
 ports of the Black Sea, with a few detachments of 
 
THE UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT 203 
 
 soldiers in the large cities and at strategical points 
 on the railroads, would suffice to keep up hope and 
 to limit the action of anarchy. This preliminary 
 demonstration should necessarily occur within a 
 few days." 
 
 The French and British fleets arrived in Sebas- 
 topol about six weeks after this message had been 
 written, and received it at the same time as the fol- 
 lowing one; the two being printed together in one 
 (French) bulletin for their perusal: 
 
 Dated lassy, November the igth, 1918. 
 
 "In supplement to the message sent three days 
 ago, we add this further information, which we con- 
 sider it indispensable to communicate to you, our 
 Allies. 
 
 "i. The chauvinist elements of the Ukraine have 
 now organized, in the environs of Kief, a revolt in 
 which, besides the independents, a large number of 
 anarchists and Bolsheviki are taking part. 
 
 "2. This revolt is all the more dangerous, as the 
 conservative Austro-German units of soldiery are 
 breaking up, and are no longer offering any resistance 
 to the invasion of Bolsheviki from the north. 
 
 "3. Such an offensive means the immediate rup- 
 ture of all lines of communication between the 
 Ukraine and the Don River, and in this case the 
 Donetz region, with its great coal-mines (owned 
 mainly by French capitalists), would fall into the 
 hands of the Bolsheviki, giving them sufficient 
 provisions of fuel to run industries and railroads for 
 their own and German benefit. 
 
204 KUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 "It would seem, therefore, indispensable to take 
 the following measures: 
 
 "i. Hasten the descent of Allied troops, in what- 
 ever numbers possible, at Odessa, and occupy im- 
 mediately Kharkoff and Kief. 
 
 "2. Publish a clear and determined proclamation 
 of the Allies' decision to uphold these elements of 
 law and order. 
 
 "3. Warn the German Government that the 
 Allies will hold the enemy's army responsible for all 
 riots in which it takes part, whether by distributing 
 arms and ammunition, or in forbidding to Russian 
 officers' organizations (which, in the face of danger, 
 show themselves still ready to defend law and order) 
 access to the depots of arms and ammunition which 
 are still in the hands of the German troops! 
 
 11 In case such dispositions are not taken immedi- 
 ately, and intervention by the Allies not carried out 
 at present, it will probably require later a greater 
 sized army and military operations of much longer 
 duration to establish quiet." 
 
 Early in January these two messages reached the 
 Allies' hands, and the reply has been surprising! 
 It has consisted of the recognition of Petlura's re- 
 public by at least one of the Allied governments, 
 and by the stoppage of any further effort to uphold 
 the struggling groups in the right-minded south 
 once the English fleet of a few ships was anchored 
 at Sebastopol and after the French had entered the 
 port of Odessa ! 
 
 In consequence of all this hesitation, during the 
 
THE UKRAINIAN MOVEMENT 205 
 
 past few days we have read of the evacuation of the 
 latter city, and its probable surrender to the attack- 
 ing Bolsheviki, together with all its riches in provi- 
 sions; of the capture of KharkofT and other cities in 
 those parts, by the combined Ukrainian and Red 
 Guard armies; of the cutting off of Rumania, the 
 attack of Petlura on western cities, the uprising in 
 Hungary, and the general offering of the richest por- 
 tion of eastern Europe to the powers of darkness ! l 
 
 1 Since this article was written it would seem that Petlura has de- 
 fied the Bolshevists, and that the Allies have decided to recognize 
 and uphold with supplies the Denikin and Crimean movements. 
 
VI 
 
 THE NEW RUSSIAN VIEW 
 
 OUITE recently, in their patriotic desire and 
 effort to save a great cause, the various 
 Russian elements in Paris have joined hands 
 and formed a small " Junta" on the outskirts of the 
 Peace Conference. It consists of four committees. 
 Men of all shades of opinion (from the Liberals of 
 the old, autocratic regime to ex-members of K6ren- 
 sky's last, and most Socialistic, cabinets) have gone 
 into each of these committees whole-heartedly. 
 There is no one who favors the re-establishment of 
 an autocracy, however, and no single Bolshevik. 
 All Russians, the members sitting side by side, are 
 content to have reached among themselves an un- 
 derstanding; and feeling ready to make any conces- 
 sions of their personal opinions for the general good 
 of their country, they really amalgamate. 
 
 On the political committee's list figures many a 
 great name of ancient Russia, with at least one 
 which was of fiery prominence in a successful nihilist 
 assassination plot about fifteen years ago. 
 
 After pulling in different directions for so long, as 
 long a time as the revolution has lasted, Russia had 
 become a tower of Babel, incomprehensible to out- 
 siders or to itself. An American, who met a number 
 
 206 
 
THE NEW RUSSIAN VIEW 207 
 
 of my compatriots as they arrived in Paris to rep- 
 resent the north, south, east, and west of our home 
 country, said to me that each deputation came with 
 a special intention, apparently, of telling the Allies 
 about its own plan for saving Russia, which must be 
 followed exactly and to the exclusion of any other 
 recommended by parties previously on the spot ! 
 No one of these delegations ever represented any 
 official group which had accomplished anything; 
 and each was accredited merely by themselves to 
 uphold their own ideas. 
 
 Recently, quite suddenly, practical common sense 
 and persuasive powers seemed to have grown up 
 among the scattered elements, and rivalries have 
 been reconciled. Still officially unrecognized by the 
 Allies, these Russians have organized three other 
 commissions besides their political committee, pre- 
 sided over by Prince Lvoff, who was Prime Minister 
 of the first revolutionary government. A military 
 commission is presided over by General Tcherbatch- 
 off, who commanded the Russian armies on the 
 Rumanian front in the early years of the war, when 
 he distinguished himself both as a commander and 
 administrator, and where he kept his soldiers well in 
 hand, till long after all other fronts had disintegrated. 
 Thirdly, there is a financial commission, presided 
 over by Monsieur Raffalovitch, who for many years 
 represented the Russian Ministry of Finance at 
 Paris, and who had a most brilliant reputation in 
 his domain. Finally, there is a commission for pro- 
 visioning, etc., headed by Monsieur TrStiakoff, one 
 
208 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 of Moscow's vastly wealthy merchants. Since these 
 groups are now divided up according to their special 
 capacities, and not according to the individual or 
 rival pretensions, with which they came to Paris, 
 they have grown more comprehensible to outsiders 
 and they promise to be useful. They seem prepared 
 for practical team-work when opportunity shall offer ; 
 but when this time will be is still an open question. 
 Certain persons, members of the group, in a private 
 capacity have already attracted attention from the 
 great Allies' ministers who are in Paris, and these 
 men have been called upon to prepare the ground 
 for mutual understanding and even action on the part 
 of Russia and her ex-friends elsewhere in Europe. It 
 is to be hoped that before many months have passed 
 ways and means may be discovered for settling the 
 terrible problems of our salvage and development. 
 
 I asked the most practical and clear-minded Rus- 
 sian I have ever known what was his idea as to the 
 form a successful effort to tranquilize our home- 
 land should take, and I wrote down his reply, which 
 seemed to me more promising than any of the 
 numerous Utopian plans I had heard till then ex- 
 pressed. He was on his way to Paris at the time 
 he spoke, and I found he had in no degree changed 
 his opinion since a day in September, 1917, when we 
 had first talked of the probabilities ahead of us: 
 
 "I begin by saying that, in spite of the terrible 
 experiences we are traversing, I still keep a deep 
 faith in our future; but I think now that the enemy 
 is, at least in part and officially, abandoning Rus- 
 
THE NEW RUSSIAN VIEW 209 
 
 sian territory, it is time party and personal and all 
 other small questions should be laid aside and that 
 we should all unite about one single banner, bearing 
 as our motto merely that we would save and liber- 
 ate our country from the anarchy and destruction 
 caused by Bolshevism. It seems evident the Allies 
 in their own interests would gladly help in this as 
 much as they can, and would feel obliged to let us 
 have the implements and other material help neces- 
 sary for our fight. Perhaps even by occupying cer- 
 tain base positions they would liberate our avail- 
 able military units for active operations. At the 
 same time, I consider essential a first move to re- 
 establish immediately an exchange of produce and 
 merchandise, to organize transportation and com- 
 munication with the outside world, and to oblige 
 our people to take up work again, after the complete 
 pause which has lasted practically since the revolu- 
 tion began. I consider the fight for reconstruction 
 must be Russian, and that through our own efforts 
 we must reach our redemption. Whenever I say 
 this, my friends fall upon me for not loving my 
 country enough to wish for, and ask for the intro- 
 duction of foreign forces and riches which would 
 give immediate results; but I am against leaning 
 too completely on outside strength, as long as there 
 is living strength in our own race. I'm convinced 
 we still possess such vital forces, after observation 
 of the efforts of Denikin and others, with the sup- 
 port of the Crimean government behind them, and 
 there are other local movements of the same kind. 
 
210 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 It seems to me we must gain our knowledge through 
 our sufferings, and our rebirth must come by our 
 own labor and sincere patriotism. I feel satisfied 
 we can and will work out our salvation in perma- 
 nent form finally, though we must necessarily go 
 slowly amid great difficulties and over very danger- 
 ous ground. Certainly we still risk being swamped 
 by new waves of Bolshevism, unless our Allies are 
 brought to see the absolute need of giving us, the 
 liberal elements in Russia, some support, both moral 
 and material! 
 
 "I have always perseveringly believed also in the 
 immense good to be obtained from a better sym- 
 pathy between Russia and your native country, 
 Princess," the speaker added. "And during all my 
 public life, I have, as you know, both advocated 
 and carried out a policy in line with this idea, and 
 have tried to establish closer relations with America 
 in every department connected with my specialties. 
 I still hope some day to realize such a situation. 
 Your compatriots are practical idealists, and I 
 think they will agree with me that it is in the in- 
 terests of both countries if we can manage to stretch 
 out our hands to one another." 
 
 Of old, this thought seemed pleasant even when 
 my adopted country was still an extreme autocracy 
 and America represented all that was divergent in 
 national aspirations. Now, it seems a plan possible 
 to execute when at last the reign of terror shall be 
 over, and when the new Russia will slowly, but neces- 
 sarily, emerge from the furnace in another form, and 
 
THE NEW RUSSIAN VIEW 
 
 will be doubtless very democratic. One begins to 
 see, beyond all the present misery, the dawn of a 
 new day, when, though much of the old charm of 
 our brilliant traditions may be burned away and 
 the fate of many martyrs must be still a saddening 
 memory, we shall find strength to carry high our 
 heads again and shall be faithful to new principles. 
 Many millions strong, only remembering we are all 
 of one great race in spite of past divisions and bit- 
 terness, we shall stand ready to work out our sal- 
 vation, and that of our great land. 
 
 At present one lives in an agony of suspense as 
 the slow and contradictory reports come, and the 
 fever burns higher and higher. One hopes for the 
 best as one hears or reads the Allied leaders' speeches, 
 but one wonders. . . . Will these dictators to the 
 world act now, at last ? Will they uphold and 
 strengthen their great Slav brother in his distress ? 
 He who so generously bled for them all through the 
 first part of the war, and who saved Verdun and 
 Paris then. In its agony Russia calls for help, and 
 already there have been such vast losses and such 
 awful sufferings which better, quicker action might 
 have saved and healed. 
 
 Even at this peace gathering in Paris many pre- 
 cious weeks have passed in vague discussion, with 
 nothing done. 
 
 Meantime the enemy is on the ground, working 
 hard to further his own aims attacking the last 
 defenses of law and order. Will the outlaw win? 
 Or will succor come at the eleventh hour ? . 
 
212 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 Please God, great Russia shall survive; and after 
 her trials she will know who her real friends have 
 been, and will repay her debts to such as have 
 proved true. Slavs can be marvellously grateful, I 
 have often noticed, and our country has the riches 
 of Aladdin to draw forth from forest, hill, and plain 
 for gifts. Those who look on calmly must soon 
 realize that upon the fate of Russia, in this crisis, 
 will largely depend the future prosperity and peace 
 of the whole world. So civilization cannot afford 
 to turn away and pass by on the other side ! 
 
VII 
 KOLCHAK 
 
 A. I am writing (June, 1919) the Peace Confer- 
 ence draws to a close in Paris, and it is with 
 quick-beating hearts that the Russian mission 
 there work on for the world's and their own great 
 cause. Russian refugees about them, or those scat- 
 tered elsewhere over the whole earth, await the re- 
 sults of their representatives' labors and the ver- 
 dict of their Allies, wondering what the latter's final 
 attitude toward our home-land will be. 
 
 Six months has brought about so many changes. 
 Last November, when the armistice was signed, 
 Russia was quite prostrate, bruised and broken; and 
 the red flame of Bolshevism, still fed richly with 
 German gold, obeyed German instructions and con- 
 tinued the enemy's work against the Slavs. D6ni- 
 kin then was fighting hard, holding safe a small 
 oasis toward the southeast of the great steppe- 
 lands. The Crimean peninsula was already recov- 
 ering, but slowly, from a terrible short reign of Bol- 
 shevism, and these two units had joined their modest 
 forces, exchanging protection on the one hand for 
 provisions on the other. There were several more 
 spots where law was still recognized. In the Cau- 
 casus a small space was protected by Krassnoff and 
 
 213 
 
214 KUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 his Cossacks and volunteers; in the north, about 
 Archangel, there was a strong defense backed by 
 the Allies, which had been organized largely through 
 the efforts of the American Ambassador, to uphold 
 Tchaikovsky, the peasant leader. Elsewhere the 
 red terror was being fought vaguely by nationalists : 
 the Finns under General Mannerheim, and the Letts 
 and Esthonians in the Baltic provinces were doing 
 this, while Petlura led Ukrainians forth on the same 
 errand, so he said. 
 
 There was no communication possible between 
 these groups, however, and they knew almost nothing 
 of one another's actions or ambitions. They all had 
 different ideas and plans to save at least the small 
 locality in which each lived from Bolshevism. 
 
 The Crimeans and D&iikin alone kept in their 
 programme the idea of a final gathering together of 
 all the states which once had made up Russia's 
 domain. Perhaps it was because the men who 
 chanced to be in these two groups were refugees 
 from north and east and west themselves, and be- 
 cause they met by accident only in the southern 
 province. As a matter of fact, however, every one's 
 politics were as fluid as was the situation. 
 
 When the conference in Paris opened, delegations 
 were sent out from all these small units, begging our 
 Allies for succor to fight on against the scourge 
 which was devouring Russia. 
 
 Anxious as to conditions they had left behind 
 them, uncertain of what news the morrow might 
 bring; well-nigh worn out from strain, privation, 
 
KOLCHAK 215 
 
 danger, and the agony of spirit which their patri- 
 otism suffered each set of representatives came to 
 Paris with some proposal thought out in ignorance 
 of conditions as a whole. Each insisted his idea 
 was best for saving what was left of our country, and 
 that his alone of all parties was bound to survive, 
 since it had done so thus far. 
 
 Soon there were in Paris representatives of every 
 political persuasion in Russia upholders of the 
 autocracy, who stood aside and were ignored, did 
 not even ask for recognition ; men, hoping still for a 
 constitutional monarchy; liberals, who had been 
 content in the service of the ancient government, 
 but who frankly said they now were no longer for 
 it; other liberals, who had been the frank opposi- 
 tion of our regime in olden days. There were also 
 some of the first revolutionaries of 1917, and others 
 who had opposed these as too conservative from the 
 beginning. Every shade of revolutionist, socialist, 
 and nihilist opinion was represented at the world's 
 great centre. When one reached the end of simple 
 designations one began on the hyphenated party 
 names Social-Democrats, Social-Revolutionaries, 
 Radical - Revolutionaries, Independent - Democrats, 
 and so on. All expected immediate recognition, each 
 one as the best there was in Russia; and every dele- 
 gation hoped to be taken at once into the Allies' 
 confidence. They expected attention, and the grati- 
 tude which they felt was owing them for actual 
 sufferings, and for all Russia's ndble work during 
 the first years of the great war. 
 
216 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 This mass of Slavs, attacking indiscriminately, 
 was of course very puzzling and disturbing to the 
 Allies. In the confusion of the first weeks at the 
 congress, with so many serious questions concerning 
 their own interests weighing on their minds, the 
 various foreign statesmen felt they could not afford 
 time or trouble to solve this problem of an unhappy 
 group of violent partisans clamoring for hearings 
 and for help. 
 
 "It is more than we can understand," they said 
 indifferently; "when other questions are settled, if 
 there are time and money and sympathy left over, 
 you shall have some; meanwhile leave us to the 
 great business of our own particular necessities. 
 First, the League of Nations, secondly, the Germans, 
 must be settled; that is what we came to Paris for. 
 You are as chaotic as your land.'* 
 
 Our Russians thus tossed aside were for the 
 moment dazed, hopeless, and silent. It took them 
 some time to rise from such a blow, when they had 
 come so far and with such complete faith. They 
 only knew they had been fighting, at terrific dis- 
 advantage, the red peril which threatened all hu- 
 manity, while the Allies did not seem to realize this 
 in the safety and glory of a recent victory. So the 
 Russians stood round on the outside, condemned to 
 look on merely at the making of the peace. 
 
 Certain individuals were kind to them, through 
 sheer pity for their sufferings; or remembering how 
 they had carried the entire weight of the war in the 
 beginning, while France was helpless to defend her- 
 
KOLCHAK 217 
 
 self, and the Anglo-Saxons were not ready. Yet on 
 the whole, now, when these old saviors of early days 
 cried out for help, there was none to speak of at their 
 disposal. In black despair Russians foresaw they 
 must return home empty-handed, to watch the con- 
 tinued destruction both of national life and the last 
 remnants of civilization. They had used in many 
 cases their final funds to travel out to Paris, sure of 
 the welcome they would receive; and there was 
 nothing now left for them but slow ruin and death. 
 No wonder deep tragedy reigned in the mentality of 
 every compatriot in Paris ! 
 
 Then there came a sudden change. One or two 
 new men arrived: real statesmen, practical idealists, 
 with a genius for comprehending things when they 
 looked at them; also a genius for organizing. They 
 brought power, fire, and courage into the group; 
 and these sentiments remained fresh and new always 
 afterward, drawing inspiration from such depths of 
 faith and patriotism, drawing persuasive eloquence 
 from such real talent and capacity, they really could 
 not fail. Theirs were long years of experience, too, 
 and theirs a deep confidence in the good common 
 cause. The Allies must and should be made to see 
 their own advantage in standing by a prostrate 
 sister. If the latter were allowed to die there would 
 be no further bulwark between the world and a uni- 
 versal triumph for Bolshevism. 
 
 "No fear!" they told their dejected followers. 
 "The Allies will soon clearly comprehend; only we, 
 the Russians, must get together at once and stop 
 
218 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 moaning; for though we defended the good cause in 
 the early years of war, memory among nations is 
 short; and recently in the name of Russia many 
 crimes have been committed !" 
 
 "First of all, instead of delegations by districts 
 or by political divisions, there must be one mission, 
 with one policy and programme to propose. Russia 
 must present a united front, while the complete 
 eradication of Bolshevism, the utmost liberality 
 toward all races and all parties in the empire, will 
 be our only policy. A clear statement must be 
 offered as to what help is needed; just where and 
 just when it should be given; and as to what pay- 
 ments will be assured the Allies in return. No 
 charity need be asked for, nor could be expected; 
 aid purchased must be recompensed at high rates." 
 
 Immediately almost, out of the small discouraged 
 chaos which in Paris represented confusion and an- 
 archy at home only too well, there now emerged 
 groups of experts, with capable leaders at then- 
 heads. Four committees were formed to which all 
 questions could be referred, by which they could be 
 decided. 
 
 In each of these committees the men best pre- 
 pared for their special work were placed, of what- 
 ever political sect they might be. 
 
 So the All-Russian Mission was born, with a de- 
 partment for politics, one for military affairs, one 
 for finance, and the last one for provisioning. Into 
 these four frames lawyers, soldiers, diplomats, finan- 
 ciers, sailors, ex-members of autocratic or socialistic 
 
KOLCHAK 219 
 
 cabinets, ex-nihilists, and conservatives fitted them- 
 selves, and worked harmoniously, at last, with re- 
 newed enthusiasm for the general good. The meet- 
 ings of the different commissions all ran with sur- 
 prising smoothness, perfect organization existed, and 
 a newspaper was launched to air the Russian news 
 and views. In this sheet were contributions of 
 prime importance. Coming as they did from the 
 best brains, they were much read. Sometimes a 
 Russian penned the articles, sometimes it was an 
 Ally, big enough in heart to understand, broad 
 enough in sympathy to defend us and advise the other 
 Allies in their own best interest to hear our plea % 
 
 When all was ready the leaders of the Russian 
 mission attacked the Peace Conference's head men 
 again. This time with quiet dignity and systematic 
 energy the latter were told of Russia's services in 
 1914, 1915, and 1916. In thrilling words present 
 danger to the world at large from the Lenine- 
 Trotzky propaganda was recalled. Attention was 
 attracted to the heroic groups making desperate 
 efforts even now against the terror, and to their 
 immediate and pressing needs. 
 
 The first answer of the Allies was a hideous blow ! 
 It was the grotesque invitation to all Russian 
 parties, including the Bolsheviki, to a conference 
 on the Prince's Islands, where, under the care of 
 two or three guides appointed by the American 
 President, the situation at home was to be discussed 
 in full, and harmony was to be established by 
 mutual concessions ! 
 
220 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 The necessity of replying to this proposition 
 definitely bound all the Russian elements together, 
 for the question on which they were most beautifully 
 unanimous was the very one put to them. Their 
 refusal was so absolutely prompt and universal that 
 the Allies learned for all time there was no use 
 trying to mix Bolsheviki with any other Russian 
 group. This point was settled at once, and no argu- 
 ment or explanation was ever again attempted. . . . 
 By process of elimination the Allies began to take in 
 why it was Russians had come to Paris. 
 
 And from evil came some good: The Allies fully 
 realized at last there were certain things which we 
 did want, were hoping, waiting, working for; but 
 that a picnic on the Prince's Islands was not among 
 these. 
 
 Certain individual Russians, having personal 
 friends among the Allies, were helped by them at 
 this juncture to obtain interviews with the impor- 
 tant arbiters. The opportunity was given also to 
 some of the most convincing members of our mission 
 to plead their cause through English and French 
 newspapers and reviews. All this was unofficial, of 
 course, for officially no recognition was yet accorded 
 to the greatest people of the Slav family. How- 
 ever, one strong Russian patriot obtained the Allies* 
 promise England's and France's that they would 
 send soldiers to stand behind D6nikin's army, hold- 
 ing what ground he gained ; the French from Odessa 
 to the Crimean peninsula, inclusively; the Eng- 
 lish farther east. With certain military points and 
 
KOLCHAK 221 
 
 various ports held as strategic bases behind them, 
 Denikin and Krassnoff would be free to make long 
 expeditions with their armies in full force. These 
 foreign military units were to be upheld and strength- 
 ened by fleets of Allied ships anchored along the 
 coast of each one's sphere, besides which an Allied 
 expedition, together with volunteer neutral troops, 
 was to join in the movement of Generals Manner- 
 heim and Udenitch against Petrograd; these also 
 being strengthened by ships in the Baltic (among 
 which we heard was an American cruiser). Ameri- 
 can engineers, largely volunteers, were to work on 
 the Murmansk Railroad, which needed repair and 
 care; English volunteers were to be gathered in 
 London for military work round Archangel, to take 
 the place of the American soldiers soon to be with- 
 drawn. 
 
 All went well for a time, and these different bar- 
 gains were being successfully carried out, when a 
 second tragic blow fell: suddenly, without warning, 
 the French evacuated every city and every port 
 they held on the Black Sea. Beginning in the north 
 of their zone of occupation, while Denikin secure 
 in their promise and in the presence of their regi- 
 ments and crews was fighting heavy battles far 
 off in the east, the French walked out of Kharkoff, 
 Nikolaieff, Kherson, Odessa, then abandoned the 
 Perekop Isthmus. All the Crimean peninsula, with 
 great rapidity and without a sign of battle at any 
 point, was also completely evacuated. 
 
 Following on the heels of the French came a great 
 
222 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 wave of civilian refugees. Mad panic reigned, and 
 demoralization was naturally terrible in the com- 
 plete lack of all protection. After this fleeing mul- 
 titude came the Bolshevik hordes, burning, pillaging, 
 destroying, killing. The condition of the trustful 
 Russian populace was indescribable. 
 
 At Odessa, where the evacuation was done pell- 
 mell, refugees so fortunate as to be taken away 
 at all escaped with nothing but their lives. My 
 mother-in-law, a French woman herself, was among 
 those saved in this manner. Letters just come 
 through to us are epic in descriptions and dramatic 
 glimpses of the mad confusion at the embarkation 
 scenes. French soldiers and sailors, with just a few 
 prominent people, escaped, and were taken to Con- 
 stantinople. 
 
 From the Crimea several thousand refugees were 
 carried off from the coast towns by British men-of- 
 war and transports. Leaving their harbors farther 
 east, these came to the rescue in the emergency, 
 and organized the saving of our natives, or such at 
 least as could prepare to leave in the short time 
 allowed. The Empress-Mother and the Grand 
 Duchess Xenia, with the latter's young children, 
 were put on board an English battleship, together 
 with the old commander-in-chief of Russia's ancient 
 armies. Its quota embarked, this ship prepared to 
 start. The Grand Duke Nicolas made inquiry 
 whether all the civilians had been taken from the 
 shore : 
 
 "No, your imperial Highness, they are being 
 
KOLCHAK 223 
 
 evacuated as rapidly as possible, but her Majesty 
 and yourself are of the first ship's load." 
 
 "Then we must remain here, in harbor, at least 
 until every civilian who wants to come is safely off 
 those docks. " 
 
 The officer in charge saluted and instinctively 
 obeyed without discussion. The old Grand Duke 
 stood on deck quietly by the fragile dainty figure of 
 the Empress-Mother. They were safe at last, those 
 two, undaunted still; and all their entourage of 
 British officers and Russian refugees bear witness 
 to their calm, sad courage, and to the way they 
 thought only of saving and of helping others in the 
 crisis. . . . They stood together looking for the last 
 time, probably, on a Russian scene. Both had loved 
 their country well, and had served it with devo- 
 tion, refusing to leave till now; and even now they 
 turned their longing gaze to the blue and purple 
 Crimean shore after the ship weighed anchor, carry- 
 ing them away, until at last the mountains disap- 
 peared on the horizon. After that they retired 
 quietly to their cabins, he and she, who were still 
 very great in their silent misery. 
 
 No one seems to know just what occurred to the 
 French troops, or why their departure was decided 
 upon. Till the last stage of their soldiers' and 
 sailors' occupation of our shores, the French Cabinet 
 was convinced its garrison in Russia was not think- 
 ing of leaving. Even when the news of the evacua- 
 tion reached Paris, authorities at first contradicted 
 the "false rumors." The truth, however, was soon 
 
224 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 only too obvious, and there was nothing to be done 
 but to express regret. Meanwhile, thousands of 
 refugees waited five weeks or more under English 
 care at Constantinople, on the Prince's Islands, in 
 Greece, and at Malta for permission to enter 
 France. 
 
 One of our family writes me: "We are in good 
 hands, and our English hosts here in Malta are full 
 of delicacy and kindness, and refuse all payment. 
 But we count the few jewels and roubles we were 
 able to carry off in our haste, and we wonder when 
 they are spent, what will become of us elsewhere ? 
 I, who am partly French, hope to get through to 
 Paris soon. The Grand Duke, sad but proud and 
 noble always, went on with his group to land in 
 Italy. The Empress-Mother leaves for England 
 to-morrow. She is marvellous in her courage; re- 
 fuses to blame any one for her troubles, or to believe 
 that Russia is lost; and her daughter is like her. 
 They think of every one else. All this will put 
 French prestige at low ebb. Perhaps the Allies will 
 explain?" 
 
 Our mission's good work is most felt, perhaps, in 
 the paragraph of the peace treaty which it is said 
 will grant to Russia in recognition of her service 
 and sacrifices early in the war equal rights with 
 the other Allies as soon as she shall have established 
 a secure and popular government. The same men 
 who obtained this concession to justice hope they 
 have obtained, also, the promise of material supplies 
 
KOLCHAK 225 
 
 in quantity food, implements, raw materials, am- 
 munition, harness, uniforms, clothes, arms, and so 
 on. Of course, all these, if really sold to us, will be 
 at a high price. Arrangements as to man-power are 
 vague; perhaps men are not essentially needed, 
 though, since in spite of her frightful losses about 
 five millions through the war, men still seem numer- 
 ous in Russia. Many are already fighting for lib- 
 erty as against anarchy; many others are return- 
 ing home, who as volunteers have been on the 
 French front since 1917, or who were scattered by 
 the wind of revolution as exiles all over the earth. 
 
 English army units in demobilizing are supplying 
 volunteer recruits, now entering Russian formations 
 through London offices. If I know the sporting 
 spirit and the temper of my own native land there 
 will be adventurous spirits from the United States 
 ready also to lend a hand. For the moment it seems 
 as if German officers and gold were growing some- 
 what scarce among the Bolsheviki, and without these 
 two reasons the reds are not much good at fighting. 
 Everywhere rabble who meet determined troops 
 either turn and fly, or join the liberating units in 
 great quantities, announcing they are overweary 
 of the Lenine-Trotzky tyranny and lack of bread. 
 
 So the Russian mission works on, near the Peace 
 Conference, still not of it; and there has been effec- 
 tive action in spite of many disillusions through the 
 weeks of the long spring. It would seem as if the 
 leaders might well be proud, on the whole, for there 
 are daily reports of Denikin's advances, of the cap- 
 
226 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 ture of various suburbs of Petrograd ; and with start- 
 ling suddenness from the east Kolchak and his army 
 come forward, sweeping all before them, aiming 
 straight for the " Mother River Volga " and the 
 "Holy City of Moscow." 
 
 While he moves into the limelight of history, it 
 seems a good time to look back a little at the past 
 of this remarkable man. Kolchak is still quite 
 young: about forty-five, clean-shaven, with a face 
 striking for its strength and vigor of expression; 
 neither handsome nor ugly otherwise. He is of 
 thin, wiry build, with few but positive gestures, 
 moving quickly. Not much of a talker, what he 
 says commands instant attention; never trying for 
 popularity, he always finds it seemingly. Severe 
 toward what he thinks wrong, he gives complete 
 protection, devoted service to what he thinks is 
 right; always ready to carry responsibility, never 
 mixing in what he considers not his business, a 
 natural leader of men is Alexander Vasiltevitch 
 Kolchak. 
 
 I first heard of him in a rather amusing manner. 
 During the early part of the war the commander of 
 the Black Sea fleet was a fat, elderly admiral with a 
 German name, a prot6g, it was said, of the occult 
 forces at our court. He had arrived at his high 
 position by seniority promotion and court protec- 
 tions; and he and the fleet under him drifted along 
 comfortably, as accident ordained. The Goeben 
 came and attacked, or made feints at attacking our 
 ports at several points; and it was always followed, 
 
KOLCHAK. 
 
KOLCHAK 227 
 
 but never caught, by parties sent after the enemy 
 from Sebastopol's anchorage. Enemy submarines 
 also appeared and disappeared without fear. Mean- 
 while, whenever the liberal party criticised the com- 
 mander, or protested that a change would be ad- 
 vantageous, there was a storm at the imperial 
 palace, and it was said that his protectresses there 
 wept, and said: "Poor old admiral; what will he 
 do ? It is so hard on him ; and, after all, that fleet 
 won't be needed for battle, and he is so popular in 
 Sebastopol!" 
 
 So he stayed on, and the naval officers who came 
 from the south looked grave but remained silent 
 through loyalty. Rumors drifted about, however, 
 of the admiral's conduct being very negligent of 
 duty, to say the least. Tales were told of his fond- 
 ness for genial society life on shore, of the charming 
 parties given in his honor in attractive homes of the 
 married officers under his command. On the other 
 hand, came talk of spies at work among the sailors; 
 of carelessness and lack of drill; of ships not kept 
 up; of the officer in charge, with his German name, 
 not being in any way what he should be. But 
 Sebastopol was far from Petrograd, not many came 
 from there, and almost none who would have courage 
 to speak against the admiral of the fleet. If the 
 situation gave our liberals food for grave thought it 
 was but usual. Were they not always pretending 
 to be anxious and foretelling evil things ? 
 
 The social world of the capital was electrified, 
 however, to hear by chance, one day, of an explosion 
 
228 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 and of the complete destruction and loss of the 
 greatest and newest Russian battleship, Empress 
 Marie. An accident, it was said. First the censors 
 suppressed all news; then, ten days after the event, 
 the story leaked out by degrees and was admitted, 
 with a great deal of rearranging. Details and accusa- 
 tions flew from mouth to mouth. Spies in our great- 
 est harbor; on our newest, finest ship, the only one 
 fast enough to follow the Breslau; just built at war- 
 time prices ! The loss was terrible from every point 
 of view! Then followed attacks on the admiral. 
 He was careless, to say the least, and ought to be 
 changed for some one better able to cope with the 
 situation ! . . . This time, claims were so insistent 
 against him that the Emperor was finally moved to 
 give a half-hearted consent to the officer's retire- 
 ment. The consent was not retracted, in spite of 
 tears and pleadings which his Majesty may have 
 had to face in his home circle. 
 
 The old admiral found that even in easy-going 
 Russia there was a limit to powers of "protection." 
 He left the service, much discouraged that his good 
 intentions were not recognized sufficiently, though 
 the pension awarded him was so large as to make 
 people gasp. His lady friends in the town of Sebas- 
 topol, having gossiped with him before, gossiped 
 about him now over their knitting and their tea; 
 and, making "Le roi est mort, vive le roi!" their 
 motto, they quite cheerfully prepared to receive 
 the new commander of the port. He was young, 
 they heard. So much the better; a younger man 
 
KOLCHAK 229 
 
 would be but the more easily flattered by attention. 
 Certainly their husbands* careers would not be 
 neglected for lack of hospitable efforts on the part 
 of society. They wondered how the new chief 
 would appear ? and prepared, and waited. 
 
 The admiral arrived; or rather, without arriving, 
 as far as the ladies knew, he was simply there. 
 Those who had arranged a reception in his honor 
 were terribly shocked; for one day husbands came 
 home to say they had been on the flag-ship, and had 
 reported to the new commander of the fleet. 
 
 How did he get here ? Why were they not told ? 
 What had occurred? And: "When shall we be 
 able to meet and give our reception to this new 
 strange man?" asked the wives. 
 
 "He flew here. Yes, literally. Stopping his 
 special train outside the town he took a hydroair- 
 plane and flew out to his flag-ship's side early this 
 morning," the husbands answered. "Did not an- 
 nounce his coming because he wanted to see how 
 things were in their natural state. As to the recep- 
 tion, it never will be given. He sent for us within 
 an hour after he took possession. Met us all 
 quietly without much ceremony; gave us to under- 
 stand he considered, after looking about, that there 
 was a lot of work to be done to put Sebastopol and 
 the ships in order; that he meant to do it; and that 
 we were to help him. He said that he would tol- 
 erate no relaxation from the perfection of discipline 
 and service, especially in these war-times and after 
 what had been reported as occurring here with the 
 
230 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 blowing up of the Empress Marie. Then he gave 
 a few orders, which were to the point, and which 
 showed he had already noticed what was most 
 wrong; and he said there would be further orders 
 
 soon." 
 
 "But when shall we meet him ? If he is so young 
 and energetic perhaps he likes to dance. One could 
 arrange a ball in his honor," pursued the anxious 
 women. 
 
 But the husbands said no, most positively; and 
 when hard pressed, they added that just at the end 
 of the conversation the admiral had looked at them 
 squarely and had said he came to Sebastopol for 
 work, not play. In these serious times one must 
 be pre-eminently occupied by one's duty, especially 
 when it consisted of a great responsibility such as 
 he carried. As he had never been a society man 
 and went nowhere, people must not feel offended by 
 his refusal of all invitations. He had heard of Se- 
 bastopol as being very gay, and of his predecessor 
 as having had great social success. Personally he 
 could not do two things well at once, he found, and 
 he had been sent to command the fleet. He heard 
 also Sebastopol was a gossipy place; possibly, he 
 thought, stories circulated about, whether false or 
 true, had put useful information into the enemy's 
 hands? Perhaps also they had done the former 
 commander harm by making him appear other 
 than he really was ? 
 
 "I do not mean ever to go about; I have no ob- 
 jection, of course, gentlemen, to your wives and 
 
KOLCHAK 231 
 
 families living here with you in this town and getting 
 what pleasure is possible from its social life ; but while 
 I am in charge here and responsible I can tolerate 
 no gossip on any official subject. The fleet and the 
 fortress of Sebastopol are too precious to us to be 
 sacrificed by an idle thought risked or expressed. 
 If I hear, therefore, of any stories whatsoever get- 
 ting about, I shall be obliged, as a measure of pro- 
 tection, to banish every woman from within the 
 walls to the suburbs. I should never be able to find 
 out which person had been indiscreet, and should 
 not have time to try." 
 
 Of course the women were amazed. Then realiz- 
 ing the situation, they resolved to play the game 
 with true patriotism, and became the least talkative 
 group in all Russia. 
 
 When I reached Eupatoria, a charming resort 
 beyond Sebastopol, in the summer of 1916, Kolchak 
 had just taken command of the Black Sea fleet in 
 the above manner. Except the one story of his ex- 
 citing entrance on his duties, there was none other 
 which ever passed the walls of the great fortress. 
 The silence was exemplary, and it was said the dis- 
 cipline and the work done were equally so. Now 
 naval officers looked pleased and proud when their 
 branch of the service was mentioned. 
 
 In Petrograd I found, when I returned there, 
 people had been rather startled by the new nomina- 
 tion. Kolchak was so young, and what had he 
 ever done ? Who in society had ever heard of him ? 
 But it turned out that a number of men in posi- 
 
232 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 tions to know had things to tell of Kolchak; of the 
 brilliant showing he had made in the Japanese War; 
 of the golden sword awarded him for bravery at 
 Port Arthur ; of his admirable record since ; and the 
 unadvertised but great intelligence and capacity 
 of the man. We would see that within a year the 
 group of men under Kolchak would become the 
 marvel of our service. 
 
 The next winter I spent in part on the Crimea's 
 southern coast, about three hours by motor from 
 Sebastopol, which still continued a silent city. 
 
 Then came the revolution. Though there were 
 wild tales of hideous barbarity from tCronstadt and 
 other Baltic ports, of massacres and mutinies by 
 our sailors, of tragic death and destruction every- 
 where else where ships existed in the Black Sea 
 fleet the opposite was the case. No one explained 
 the difference except by saying that Kolchak was 
 in command there; and they seemed to consider he 
 was reason enough. No one ever searched for a 
 further one, or worried over what might be happen- 
 ing in the south. 
 
 We were cut off from all communications with the 
 capital for several days at the beginning of the 
 revolution; and our excitement and interest, thrown 
 back upon themselves made us pay special attention 
 to the affairs of our own immediate neighborhood. 
 When the first rumors of events at Petrograd and 
 at the staff reached him, instead of trying to sup- 
 press or contradict them, as many leaders elsewhere 
 thought it wise to do, Kolchak published in big 
 
KOLCHAK 233 
 
 print, covering the front page of the main daily 
 newspapers of his town, a proclamation over his 
 signature. It said in effect this (which I quote 
 from memory) to the citizens of Sebastopol and the 
 members of the Black Sea fleet: 
 
 "The following despatches have reached me": 
 (Here were inserted the despatches speaking of the 
 uprising by the revolutionaries in Petrograd.) 
 
 "If I have further news, it will be at once pub- 
 lished in full for the benefit of the population. At 
 present I have no confirmation even of these rumors. 
 It is the absolute duty of all citizens and all mem- 
 bers of the service to await the future tranquilly, to 
 meet present national occurrences with calm minds; 
 and to devote all their strength and energy to the 
 maintenance of law and order in these days of un- 
 certainty. I fully count on this being done ; and with 
 all the strength at my disposal I will see to the keep- 
 ing of the peace and the protection of life and prop- 
 erty here, so that we may be able to act for the best 
 interest of this district and of all Russia. 
 
 " KOLCHAK." 
 
 On the same day orders were given that several 
 of the larger ships should put to sea at once on one 
 of their periodical search parties for the German 
 cruisers Goeben and Breslau. All these commands 
 were obeyed to the letter; the fortress and the 
 Crimean coast remained perfectly silent and waited 
 without a sign of agitation for further news from 
 
234 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 the seat of government. The whole province was 
 dominated by the strength of a single master mind, 
 and Kolchak's sailors were too perfectly disciplined 
 to think of rebellion. 
 
 Several days later, when telegrams came through, 
 the Emperor's abdication and the establishment of 
 the revolutionary government were accomplished 
 facts, and Kolchak (with his officers and the sailors 
 of the fleet and garrison) immediately and quietly 
 took the oath of allegiance to the provisional revo- 
 lutionary government. After that event, life went 
 on as smoothly as ever in the established grooves. 
 Of course, "committees" were installed at Sebas- 
 topol as elsewhere, but relations between officers 
 and sailors remained excellent, drills and work con- 
 tinued in ordinary routine, and all our part of the 
 country felt safe because of the presence of our sail- 
 ors and their commander. The very element which 
 everywhere else was considered most unruly, here 
 made for general protection. ... I never heard what 
 the admiral said of the revolution. He seemed never 
 to have made a communication to any one on the 
 subject; but there was an impression that, having 
 always been a liberal, even when he loyally served, 
 his country during the old regime, he must be in 
 sympathy with the revolutionary change. At any 
 rate, his sailors adored him now as before. 
 
 When I went north a month after the revolu- 
 tion, I heard in the capital that the Bolshevik sailors 
 at Kronstadt Were greatly displeased by the attitude 
 of the Black Sea fleet. They considered the latter 
 
KOLCHAK 235 
 
 was trying to put them to shame, posing to be better 
 than the " protection of the revolution" required. 
 Soon came a rumor that these red sailors of the 
 Baltic, who had murdered their own admiral and 
 many other officers, were going to send a delega- 
 tion to Sebastopol to instruct the Black Sea fleet 
 committees. One wondered why this was allowed, 
 as the two fleets were quite separate organizations 
 and had never mixed? But the Soviets were al- 
 ready too powerful to be contradicted by the mere 
 government, and the delegation departed on its 
 sinister errand. 
 
 At first there was no result whatsoever, and lack 
 of news from Sebastopol led one to believe all was 
 going satisfactorily. Finally, after some weeks, how- 
 ever, came a day when a short dramatic scene on 
 board the flag-ship ended this part of the admiral's 
 career. Numerous additions to that first delega- 
 tion from the north had by degrees gathered in the 
 Sebastopol fortress, whence Kolchak had no power 
 to expel them, since the "Number One Order" to 
 our troops destroyed his authority in such matters. 
 The red sailors' presence had at last borne fruit, 
 and the committees gathered, asking to speak to 
 their admiral. 
 
 He received them on the deck of his flag-ship 
 and listened while they told of the teachings of their 
 brethren from Kronstadt. There was a new law: 
 that the commanders were to be elected by their 
 subordinates and were not to carry arms. Would 
 he therefore surrender his sword to the committee ? 
 
236 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 Kolchak undid his sword quietly with a quick ges- 
 ture, and holding it still in his hand he made one of 
 his rare speeches; just a few words. 
 
 His sword had been awarded him for his action 
 in defending the home country at Port Arthur. It 
 had been offered him by the committee of the Order 
 of St. George, and was the Golden Sword given 
 for bravery in battle. It was too fine a thing to 
 be handed to a lot of cowards who were afraid to 
 stand up for the principles of their service and the 
 rights of their own unit, but were being tyrannized 
 by bullies come from outside, into doing things 
 they would later regret. . . . His sword was also 
 the badge of his authority, and without it he would 
 no longer command them, nor any one. He had 
 won it on the sea, and to the sea only he would re- 
 turn it; for those who stood before him were prov- 
 ing themselves at this moment unworthy to touch 
 a Golden Sword of St. George ! 
 
 Before they got their breath, with a sudden move- 
 ment he threw the sword he had worn for a dozen 
 years, with its golden hilt and the ribbon of St. 
 George wound round it, far out into the blue water 
 of the harbor. Then he turned his back on the 
 whole group, which stood silent, went to his cabin, 
 had his things packed, ordered his gig and left the 
 flag-ship. The sailors never saw him again, for he 
 took the first train to Petrograd and reported to 
 the provisional government, handing in his official 
 resignation. 
 
 He was followed to Petrograd by two groups of 
 
KOLCHAK 237 
 
 sailors: one made up of the Bolshevik delegations, 
 who returned to tell the Kronstadt Soviet that, 
 after many weeks of propaganda, they had at last 
 been successful in dislodging the inconvenient Kol- 
 chak; the other, a group representing those sailors 
 of the Black Sea fleet who were still sufficiently de- 
 voted to their admiral to bring him excuses and ex- 
 planations. 
 
 It was spread about how he received and thanked 
 these latter men for their fidelity to the fine traditions 
 of Russia's navy and for their thought of him, which 
 he would not forget ; and how he said good-by, with 
 the hope expressed that some day they might again 
 serve together. 
 
 Kolchak after this disappeared from sight. I re- 
 member we were a group of parlor patriots one day, 
 speaking of the admiral's work, how fine it had been, 
 how he had never mixed in politics or intrigues, 
 and had disdained catering to court popularity or 
 looking for favors; how he had been a liberal, and 
 had kept the efficiency of his subordinates and their 
 enthusiasm always at such high pitch; and how he 
 had left his great position and thrown his honors 
 into the sea rather than give way in the slightest 
 degree to encroaching Bolshevism or to the temp- 
 tation to play the demagogue. All this though he 
 had accepted the revolutionary liberty with im- 
 mediate acquiescence. 
 
 "He is the highest type of patriot that we have 
 in Russia, and he is lost to us now when we need 
 him most," said one. 
 
238 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 "No; he is only waiting. When the need is 
 greatest and the time is ripe, with sure instinct he 
 will appear again, his hands unsoiled by degenerating 
 compromise with the terror, which must follow these 
 months of weakness as their last and normal result. 
 We shall all see,'* answered another. 
 
 It seemed for a long time as if something might 
 happen to save the provisional government, which 
 was fast degenerating. Kerensky tried, by giving 
 way constantly to the ultraradical group, to keep 
 his personal popularity, or at least a remnant of his 
 power. Korniloff tried for a return to discipline. 
 Both failed, and soon the Bolsheviki seized the 
 reins, and under German guidance they rode rough- 
 shod over all that was left of prosperity, law and 
 order, national honor and personal safety in Russia. 
 Here and there a few held out for right in the great 
 empire. These, if they were in European Russia, 
 were killed, were driven to the little groups round 
 Denikin and Krassnoff, or they became refugees 
 in hiding. 
 
 On the Asiatic side of the Ural Mountains there 
 was chaos for a long time, 'fhe whole population 
 was merely one vast, shifting, disorderly mass. The 
 peasants out there were a conservative, prosperous, 
 scattered element, at least at first, while the cities 
 were soon crowded to overflowing by an immense 
 wave of fleeing humanity from Russia proper, thus 
 about doubling their population overnight. The rail- 
 roads became completely disorganized by the extra- 
 ordinary traffic, the confusion of authority, and the 
 
KOLCHAK 239 
 
 wholesale requisitioning of cars to house transient 
 populations. 
 
 Bolshevik propaganda had its day of triumph 
 also. Even now, like some legendary dragon it is 
 far from crushed; but it has met in Siberia with 
 definite resistance from various cliques such as 
 roaming groups of Cossacks, foreign colonies, and 
 armed conservative elements, who thought it worth 
 while to put up what fight they could. On the 
 other hand, hundreds of criminals from the govern- 
 ment prisons, together with the German, Austrian, 
 and Hungarian prisoners of war, were freed and 
 well armed by the Soviets. They took the Bolshe- 
 viki's part, of course, with energy, and Siberia be- 
 came one seething polyglot mass of mad confusion. 
 
 It was impossible to those outside even to imagine 
 what was going on in our vast Asiatic territory. 
 One heard of Cossacks under S6menoff seizing the 
 power in one place, while Japanese with Chinese 
 under them seemed to take charge elsewhere. One 
 heard also of Germans dominant, with their Bol- 
 shevik servants doing their bidding, in many locali- 
 ties. Every known race seemed represented, and 
 the whole of Siberia tossed and rolled and shouted ! 
 
 In the autumn of 1918 the newspapers of foreign 
 countries announced that Admiral Kolchak was at 
 Omsk. He had no party, no soldiers, no politics; 
 he was simply there. Soon one heard of a provi- 
 sional All-Russian government being organized, in 
 which he held a modest place, and there was a 
 call to the variegated populations to be reassured. 
 
240 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 There followed orders to elements not Bolshevik, 
 to stop quarrelling among themselves and to join 
 in fighting the red terror with its Germano-Austrian 
 supporters. 
 
 At first S6menoff made difficulties, preferred to 
 lead his Cossacks independently; but he was won 
 over to the government. Then Kalmikoff, another 
 Cossack chief, organized a plot for his own aggran- 
 dizement, failed to carry it out, and came into the 
 fold gladly. For sundry reasons, not only these 
 men but party after party by degrees grouped 
 themselves about Kolchak; and when the first All- 
 Russian government fell, a new one replaced it, 
 with Kolchak at its head. No one quite knew why, 
 except that the ex-admiral seemed the one man able 
 to inspire confidence in all. Having no party, or 
 personal ambition, he was able to unite every rival 
 interest. 
 
 Even so, it has been far from fair-weather sailing 
 for the Omsk government. With almost no money, 
 practically no troops, unreliable transportation, and 
 lack of munitions, the situation seemed well-nigh a 
 hopeless one to face when military action, political 
 moulding, and economic reconstruction at one and 
 the same time were needed. 
 
 But Kolchak the silent found his voice. He com- 
 municated with the whole world beyond Siberia in 
 a great cry for aid and understanding, as he under- 
 took his herculean task. Round him he used vari- 
 ous methods: persuasion or severity alike were 
 good. He found helpers somehow among the dif- 
 
KOLCHAK 241 
 
 ferent parties who were there. In exchange for the 
 protection they foresaw might come to them, they 
 worked in the good cause. 
 
 The Czecho-Slovaks, who had painfully reached 
 Vladivostok to embark for the French front, turned 
 back again by the Allies' orders, and faced the rigors 
 of another Russian winter and of great privations, 
 to bring Kolchak their succor. They were a group 
 of lions in battle, especially because they had 
 learned to know and hate the Bolsheviki during 
 their long, terrible marches across European and 
 Asiatic Russia. There were Russian volunteers, 
 also, mainly ex-officers, who by some miracle had 
 not yet been killed and were refugees. These 
 flocked to Kolchak's banner, organized themselves 
 into an independent unit, all officers, but doing 
 soldiers' work and taking soldiers' rank. There were 
 a few Allied troops as well, especially along the great 
 stretch of the railroad, scattered to guard the gov- 
 ernment's supplies and the precious line of iron 
 communications, from Omsk backward to Pacific 
 ports. Some English did most effective work, 
 while Japanese in quantities were very busy every- 
 where, and certainly proved themselves most capa- 
 ble. A commission under Mr. Stevens undertook 
 handling the railroad problems, and American engi- 
 neers, experts and specialists, under this fine man, 
 have done the best sort of work. An American 
 army contingent was ordered from the Philippines, 
 and arrived, full of enthusiasm and energy, for duty 
 all along the road. Ready to uphold the Allies and 
 
242 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 back the liberal government against the forces of 
 anarchy, these men were frightfully discouraged 
 when, soon after their arrival, they received orders 
 from Washington contradicting their first com- 
 mands and were instead categorically instructed to 
 keep to a policy of non-interference. The United 
 States troops were even withdrawn to the port of 
 Vladivostok, where they looked on inert, hoping 
 and praying they would be taken away or be sent 
 forward again. It is difficult to sit in a country 
 with idle hands and see so much to do, and every 
 one else doing it, when one is strong and generous 
 by nature. In February last it was reported Mr. 
 Stevens said: "It is impossible to assure a good 
 railroad system without the backing of American 
 soldiers for the international board of which I am 
 the head." In May a member of the expedition 
 wrote me, saying he hoped we Russians would 
 realize how much every American who had been 
 in Siberia wanted to help in the great work out 
 there, and that they were all being held back only 
 by orders of the strictest kind from Washington. 
 Knowing the value of this time which was being 
 lost, they had again and again protested; and had 
 sent emissaries to Washington, too, but all to no 
 avail, he added. 
 
 Mr. Holman, in his brilliant, comprehending arti- 
 cle, which will go straight to the hearts of Russians 
 who read it, in The World's Work for June, says: 
 
 "Cut off from Russia and western Europe by 
 the red battle-line, the Siberian people look mainly 
 
KOLCHAK 248 
 
 to America for immediate assistance. That assis- 
 tance was promised them, on a large scale, last Oc- 
 tober, by our War Trade Board, at Vladivostok. 
 Not only were relief measures promised, but also a 
 great loosening up of restrictions on the movement 
 of goods into Siberia. Twenty thousand tons a 
 month of needed commodities were to be sent, ac- 
 cording to official telegrams published over the 
 signature of the Vladivostok representative. De- 
 liveries were to begin in November; co-operative 
 associations and reputable trading organizations 
 were to be dealt with fairly. This gave the Siberian 
 population hope; but in February it was impossible 
 to hear of any shipments that had gone to the in- 
 terior of Manchurian stations, except one train of 
 about eight hundred tons of foodstuffs, sent by our 
 government for distribution among needy Russian 
 railroad employees, and a few articles for relief of 
 the sick and the refugees. Military supplies went 
 westward in increasing quantities; but little or noth- 
 ing filtered through for the civil population to buy, 
 except profiteers' small shipments. Are we to keep 
 our promise ? 
 
 "In the present condition of the country, success- 
 ful operation of the railroad cannot be assured except 
 by American soldiers garrisoning the principal points. 
 'I cannot assure the people a good railroad system 
 without our soldiers to back me up/ said Mr. 
 Stevens to me in February. To turn the railroad 
 back to the Russians to run just now would prob- 
 ably mean a complete breakdown of the whole 
 
244 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 transportation question. That will lead to the 
 downfall of Kolchak and the return to power of 
 the Red Guard government. 
 
 "To recall the American soldiers now in Siberia, 
 before the Russians have found themselves, will, 
 in my judgment, be a serious blow to liberalism in 
 that country; it will be an American sanction to 
 murder and anarchy. If it is right to keep our 
 soldiers there, they should be sufficiently strength- 
 ened to banish the possibility of even minor upris- 
 ings. It is only the smallness of the police forces 
 over there now which makes a single soldier's life 
 unsafe. 
 
 "In assistance also lie our national interests, for 
 we shall profit in a commercial way by the policy; 
 but for trade alone there could be no legitimate 
 ground for occupation and assistance. It is for the 
 good of the Siberian people, just as much as our 
 policy of occupation and assistance was for the good 
 of the Cuban people; and also is for our own good. 
 It is the law of things that those who do good unto 
 others do good also unto themselves. 
 
 "On the Asiatic side of 'over there* is a new com- 
 monwealth longing to be free of Bolshevism, and a 
 people rapidly regaining their stock of common 
 sense. These people will have in time only the 
 friendliest feelings for the Americans who helped 
 them out of their sorrows. That friendliness is of 
 the good-will part of the great international trade 
 that the future has in store for Siberia. That good- 
 will means open opportunities for American rail- 
 
KOLCHAK 245 
 
 road builders, constructors of mines, builders of 
 industrial machinery, grain-elevators, tanners, elec- 
 tric-power plants, and many other enterprises. 
 That good-will means ready sale of American ex- 
 port products when needed, such as agricultural im- 
 plements, woollens, cotton goods, sewing-machines, 
 and toilet articles. But if we were not to profit, 
 there is before us the duty of the big brother a rule 
 of conduct which these days we are applying to 
 Belgium. Why not also to Siberia ? " 
 
 In confirmation of this opinion of Mr. Holman's 
 conies from Paris on May 26 the following telegram: 
 
 "Advices received here report that Bolshevik 
 strikes are greatly hampering the operations of the 
 Trans-Siberian Railroad, on which Admiral Kol- 
 chak is dependent for his supplies. These disorders 
 have been difficult to repress, and the trouble makes 
 the work of the interallied railroad commission 
 under John S. Stevens arduous and unpleasant." 
 
 This is the American's point of view, and it is 
 echoed daily in my mail by those who know the 
 case and who appreciate the good and noble cause 
 of the Omsk government, and what it stands for 
 to all humanity. 
 
 The Russian point of view is more difficult to 
 get at, for the Russians I have seen and heard are 
 with one accord going out there to offer their ser- 
 vices. Not one is coming this way, or has an opinion 
 as yet to express on the American official action. 
 Each and all speak highly of American private 
 citizens' efforts and their understanding of our situa- 
 
246 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 tion. The only way to judge of Russia's desires 
 is by the fact that Kolchak begs for aid; and that 
 the Russian mission in Paris is doing likewise for 
 him; daily and with insistence. 
 
 In every branch of the Siberian Government there 
 is a systematic effort being made to get things into 
 shape, so that the whole life of the country can be 
 inaugurated. Below the government, and uphold- 
 ing it, the co-operative societies, the merchants, the 
 farmers, and the manufacturers are all wide awake 
 to the fact that they must reorganize themselves 
 and reconstruct a national life from the actual mon- 
 strous situation. They are most patriotic and full 
 of good-will, and are flocking to Omsk to get the 
 opinion and instructions of the master mind there. 
 Kolchak, always patient, always strong, and al- 
 ways practical, receives each group and sends it 
 back into its distant province, determined to do its 
 share in the nation's work, and full of faith in the 
 final success of right and justice. . . . 
 
 Now the military forces are moving westward 
 steadily. Perm, Ufa, Saratoff, Ekaterinburg, Oren- 
 burg, the Volga, much of this has been captured al- 
 ready from the terrible red foe; and news reaches us 
 frequently of further success. Kolchak makes fly- 
 ing trips to the fighting front, then in haste returns 
 to Omsk and negotiates with the Allies, or with the 
 various native groups whose demands make his 
 presence there an absolute necessity. He shows 
 himself most liberal toward all parties, with par- 
 tiality toward none. Even the Jews, who heretofore 
 
KOLCHAK 
 
 247 
 
248 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 have not been looked upon with favor by Russian 
 governments, gratefully admit that the ex-admiral's 
 ministry is without prejudice; and they send him 
 large donations in money for the defense of a cause 
 which they feel promises a generous safeguarding 
 of their rights among others. 
 
 As his army advances, the best elements of each 
 conquered province rally round it, and Kolchak pre- 
 sides at conferences of industrials and peasants, or 
 receives delegations of other branches of Russia's 
 people, counselling them to lose no time in helping to 
 set their country in order. He, who was always 
 silent, tells the press nothing of all this; but the con- 
 tented delegations occasionally give their impres- 
 sions, and they put on record how the admiral 
 finds time to think of the problem of each class, and 
 how he shows immense capacity in handling these 
 different units so that each will bring its quota of 
 real strength to the general building up. 
 
 For thousands of square miles Russia is in a con- 
 dition of complete devastation, with enforced stag- 
 nation of work, famine, and misery, just as is the 
 small area of northern France. A crushed, ex- 
 hausted, starving, bleeding people at home is strain- 
 ing its last remnant of strength to rise up and to 
 live. Kolchak is pulling his compatriots to their 
 feet, and they try to stand, dazed and tottering. . . . 
 Will the world listen to their cry, and will it hold 
 out a helping hand ? Or will it turn its head and 
 pass by on the other side ? 
 
 In Kolchak's and the Paris mission's voice, all 
 
KOLCHAK 249 
 
 Russians call to the Peace Conference in Paris and 
 to Allies over the whole world. And the latter an- 
 swer what ? . . . 
 
 They must come to a decision soon, or the Peace 
 Conference will be scattered, leaving half the world 
 at war and wounded still. Their line of action is 
 unguessed at, after eight months of conversations. 
 
 Kolchak asks for recognition. Kolchak prays for 
 help; help now, while the giant, which is Russia, is 
 making a noble effort to kill the whole world's enemy, 
 the Bolshevik, and to sweep him from the earth. 
 
 There is much argument and talk. . . . One hears 
 it unofficially declared that the "Big Four" in Paris 
 think of answering the call and of recognizing con- 
 ditionally this rare man's work. Only he, Kol- 
 chak, must consent to various conditions to giving 
 up the power as soon as he has won the victory, 
 also to calling together a constituent assembly to 
 determine the form of Russia's future government. 
 In this case, it is reported, material help will be given 
 to the Omsk All-Russian government, to Denikin, 
 and to such other groups as there may be found 
 fighting for the same principles; this help, of course, 
 to be paid for in full. . . . 
 
 Kolchak replies that what every Russian wants 
 is the calling of the constituent assembly, promised 
 by the first revolutionary movement, as soon as 
 there is order in the land. He wants it most of 
 all, for he is the weariest patriot of Russia, carrying, 
 as he does, the greatest load of responsibility, doing 
 the heaviest work. And again he begs for help, 
 
250 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 all possible help, in any form the mission in Paris 
 can devise and the pity of nations and individuals 
 can send ! Only let it come soon, otherwise the 
 effort to conquer Bolshevism may break down un- 
 der the strain of waiting and the lack of arms. 
 
 The Russian mission in Paris works as one man 
 now. They hope, and pray, and feel inspired to 
 renewed energies, and every exiled Russian heart 
 beats in complete unison with theirs. They are 
 inspired to renewed energy when they hear that 
 Petrograd may fall into the hands of Russia's true 
 sons again, even though they realize that proud 
 city may be almost a cemetery when they enter it, 
 with famine, typhus, and every other human plague 
 rampant ! 
 
 Surely at last the dawn of a great day of consola- 
 tion is at hand, when Allies who have been indiffer- 
 ent will understand that their interests and their 
 own salvation depend in part upon their charity. 
 
 From a member of Russia's mission in Paris a 
 letter comes to me, dated the middle of May, in 
 which the faithful patriot says: "We have many sad 
 impressions in the present, still, but great hopes 
 for the future. From our Orient our help will come. 
 Behold Kolchak and the mighty fighters round him, 
 how they move forward as surely as the sun; and 
 the Bolsheviki, perhaps no longer commanded by 
 German officers, or paid with German gold, go 
 down at last before the onslaught of our men. Or 
 else in masses .the pseudo-reds even join Kolchak 's 
 armies, and turn their guns against their own com- 
 
KOLCHAK 251 
 
 rades-in- wickedness of a few hours before. Ex ori- 
 entelux!" 
 
 So on to Moscow the patriots move, and when 
 they reach our ancient capital, most holy of all 
 Russia's cities, they will find many among its pop- 
 ulace ready to weep with joy and waiting to kneel 
 upon its streets with icons as the crusaders pass. 
 These, mounting on up toward the great Kremlin's 
 gate, open again the fortress palace to the whole 
 populace. The latter has been banished outside 
 its walls ever since it was used for barracks by 
 Trotzky's red guardsmen, or as a hoarding place 
 for stolen provisions and treasures, which these 
 ruffians seized; but at last real Russians will be at 
 home again, upon the ground they always owned, 
 where even autocratic Czars had made them wel- 
 come. 
 
 I can see in imagination the weird beauty of the 
 splendid edifice, and feel the thrill of the crowd on 
 its great square. The doors of the cathedral once 
 more swing wide as of old, and perhaps the Patri- 
 arch Tikhon will appear upon its steps to welcome 
 his children, come home at last. That day, with 
 his devout people upon their knees, the venerable 
 head of the church will intone a "Te Deum" such 
 as the world has rarely heard ! 
 
 While the prayers of a whole race shall rise in 
 one vast volume there will be certain sons of Russia 
 to whom the nation's thoughts must turn in grati- 
 tude. 
 
 First among these are the martyrs who defended 
 
252 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 Russia's honor early against the red terror's das- 
 tardly attacks and gave their lives in the good 
 cause when help and hope were not forthcoming. 
 Then, the brave little groups who kept the faith of 
 a great race, and who fought on against the peril 
 to the death; as did Denikin's army, or Krassnoff s. 
 Also those patriots merit praise who by thought, and 
 act, and word have upheld Russian interests in the 
 face of indifferent friend, or of intriguing foe, on the 
 outskirts of the Peace Congress; who through long 
 months of waiting and discouragement kept up our 
 hopes, and whose energy never once has failed our 
 nation. Last, but not least, will the thanks of our 
 whole race be due to the group which in Siberia, 
 facing a thousand problems, raised up the sad and 
 tattered banner of Russia and brought it home in 
 triumph to the mother city, Moscow. Their strength 
 gives the final blow to down the treacherous enemy; 
 and at their head the modest figure of their leader 
 stands out as the best type of his people sailor, 
 soldier, statesman, and patriot above all Alexander 
 Vasili6vitch Kolchak. 
 
VIII 
 SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 
 
 REFUGEE reserve officers in the United 
 States are ordered to report to the military 
 attache of the Russian Embassy at Wash- 
 ington for duty at the front," said the American 
 newspaper one morning in May, 1919. 
 
 We read this with dawning hope of things doing 
 again at home. It meant that the battle was to 
 be renewed on a large scale, evidently, since till 
 now the various groups fighting had been but bands 
 of volunteers around Kolchak, Denikin, and other 
 heroes who, struggling against terrific odds, had 
 tried to break up the Bolshevik armies. Now since 
 it was thought necessary to bring back the men 
 (who for one or another reason had gone across the 
 seas), one could consider it certain that new armies 
 were being raised and trained for service, and that 
 this call was to get back all the valuable material 
 which Bolshevism and its persecutions had scattered 
 broadcast over the whole world. 
 
 Rapidly the officers gathered into little groups, re- 
 ported for their orders, and then turned their steps 
 either toward Siberia, toward the Black Sea, or to 
 the north of Russia. Wives were brave over the 
 partings and looked for work, which would support 
 them in exile; or else, braver still, they prepared to 
 
 253 
 
254 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 go out to the home country again and take up their 
 share of the husbands' burdens. It was a difficult 
 choice for many women either way the risks and 
 responsibilities were heavy, and the future was im- 
 possible to foresee. Sad faces and weighted hearts 
 were the rule in the Russian colony. 
 
 My own husband, though outside the classes re- 
 called to service because of his age, and supposedly 
 out of commission because of his old wound (which 
 still greatly and frequently troubled him), became 
 so interested in the movement and the possibility 
 of being useful that he decided to volunteer again. 
 His first application was to the Russian mission in 
 Paris for information as to where the experts there 
 would consider it best for him to go, and at once he 
 received an answer begging him to give his effort 
 to the Siberian side, where there were many sol- 
 diers to be put in shape and few officers to do it, 
 whereas on other fronts there were plenty of good 
 officers already. So it came about that a letter 
 was written to Kolchak, giving Cantacuzene's past 
 history and asking if the supreme commander of 
 the "All-Russian provisional government" would 
 accept my husband's services in any capacity, 
 civil or military. In about six weeks an answer 
 came from Omsk, laconic and to the point: "Come 
 at once.*' Two or three weeks for the making of 
 an outfit, and the necessary time wasted in trying 
 to get accommodations on the earliest possible 
 ship, then finally all was ready. Good-bys as 
 little sad as possible to the children, and we moved 
 
SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 255 
 
 Westward. On the shores of Lake Michigan a last 
 quiet week of sunny days and of nights soft still 
 with the final warmth of the summer's flame was 
 spent, a gentle time when the soul could get its 
 balance and grow stronger to face new dangers of 
 which one knew no detail yet but only felt the 
 weight. 
 
 Days difficult to live, for we forgot the perils just 
 ahead and laughed sometimes, and then suddenly 
 the vision of what threatened left us with a sud- 
 den sob, caught in the throat and stopped. 
 
 The last day and the last hour, and each played 
 up for the other striving for self-possession and 
 summoning a smile to meet a traveller's last look 
 backward. Then for the officer the long trip West- 
 ward, the three or four days' wait at Vancouver 
 for his ship's departure. Finally the heterogeneous 
 baggage thrown on board, sorted and put in safety 
 for the long sea trip. 
 
 Telegrams of adieus, bells and whistles and 
 shouted orders, and the vessel was off, separating 
 our fighter more and more from the shore, which 
 for some time past had been a safe refuge. 
 
 The long trip across the ocean is intensely mo- 
 notonous and very wearing, especially for the nerves 
 of those going into the maelstrom of the Siberian 
 struggle. There are many long hours in which to 
 wonder over the fate awaiting such as are brave 
 enough to offer their service and perhaps their lives 
 on the altar of patriotism. 
 
 The rough sea, high wind, and creaking ship are 
 
256 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 not conducive to a cheerful outlook, and those on 
 board were seasick and easily discouraged. Seven- 
 teen weary days were thus lived through, while one 
 was tossing uncomfortably and straining for a men- 
 tal glimpse of the future. English officers, Cana- 
 dian tradesmen, Japanese and Chinese merchants, 
 also a very few Americans, with a half-dozen or so 
 Russians going back to serve a great many vague 
 second-rate adventurers such made up the com- 
 pany on board. The Russian and the English offi- 
 cers naturally drew together soon after the ship 
 sailed, and formed a little circle to themselves dur- 
 ing the trip, where conversation ranged on politi- 
 cal or on military matters, and advice was offered 
 back and forth as to conditions which had to be 
 met and precautions which had to be taken against 
 dangers of every kind, from Siberian cold and lack 
 of food to political intrigue among allies and Bol- 
 shevik murder and torture. 
 
 The ship Empress of Japan at last drew near to 
 Yokohama's harbor, and piles of nondescript luggage 
 appeared on deck: saddles, canned food, string bags; 
 smart officers' khaki-colored trunks and bags of 
 leather for the Britishers, of patched canvas or 
 wood for the poorer Russians. 
 
 Japan, usually renowned for flowers and sunshine, 
 seemed as gloomy as the travellers' hearts. It was 
 drizzling, cold, slippery; altogether disagreeable 
 and the small group of wayfarers were chilled to 
 the bone while they fought to get their baggage off 
 the ship and through the custom-house. 
 
SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 257 
 
 The hotel was pleasanter: good beds and food 
 made one forget the worst sides of the errand one 
 had come on, while a steady floor and dry clothes 
 helped to better impressions of the future and 
 surroundings. The town proved to be unattractive, 
 so at least my husband felt as he wandered over 
 the stone pavements and peered about: a small, 
 dark, greasy-looking people in dirty kimonos came 
 and went in an endless crowd, perched high on 
 wooden sandals which clapped, clapped with a 
 staccato note on the stones. The noise of their 
 walking pervaded the air, and one couldn't escape 
 it night or day and the queer, pungent smell of 
 the Orient helped to make up an impression of a 
 strange new world. The flimsy houses seemed un- 
 attractive, overcrowded, dirty; and the convey- 
 ances uncomfortable. Altogether discouragement 
 grew as time progressed. Only one thing seemed 
 consoling and that only if one was fond of shop- 
 ping. The silk, shops were a delight. Color, qual- 
 ity, beauty of design, all splendid, as the material 
 fell into graceful folds, iridescent almost, with the 
 richness of their glossy sheen. One hesitated what 
 to choose; one wanted everything; and one ended 
 by buying twice as much as planned, because the 
 polite shopman, anxious to please and to tempt, 
 bewildered his victim into dumb acquiescence. 
 
 The dull, damp chill continued in the air and ate 
 into the vitals, or perhaps it was the feeling that 
 one was moving farther away from those one cared 
 for and from a warm fireplace which was next best 
 
258 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 to home, going out into a world of misery on a 
 crusade, led by a lone hope and a single purpose 
 duty. Patriotism in such a case seemed a dull 
 principle and required a great effort. 
 
 Our officers knew a thrill in entering East Prussia, 
 or Galicia and Hungary, in 1914; and they still felt 
 it when they and their men slowly moved back again 
 in 1915, contesting every inch of the ground they 
 were defending. It took enthusiasm also in 1916 
 to hold the lines straight and even take an offensive 
 against the enemy's full strength. In the months 
 of revolutionary times officers still tried to rally 
 their soldiers, and when the latter obeyed it was 
 only for love of leaders who gallantly continued to 
 fight the Germans before them, the indiscipline 
 about them, and the propagandists behind them. 
 Now it required a new building up of their brave 
 spirit to go in cold blood back into the fight after 
 months of exile and soft living the mere thought 
 of the sights and troubles of Siberia made them 
 shiver in painful anticipations. 
 
 A trip to Tokio for papers and passports, of which 
 apparently one never has enough, and which are 
 never sufficiently vis6d. There Cantacuzene saw a 
 quantity of interesting people some stationary, 
 some the driftwood carried hither and thither on the 
 current of travel. Every one had news to tell the 
 most varied, exciting, contradictory news. Always 
 positive of the truth of each announcement, the au- 
 thors, if doubted, but repeated it the more em- 
 phatically and the louder. 
 
SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 259 
 
 What the head of every government in the world 
 ought to do, what each of these would not do, and 
 what each would, was told by the ambassadors and 
 secretaries of the others. Then there were the im- 
 pressions of all the floating population of travellers, 
 those going to Siberia and those coming out. Ev- 
 ery man saw things differently, and the most amaz- 
 ing part of it was how little each had seen or knew 
 really of the country for which he was so positively 
 recommending policies. 
 
 Unfortunately, Russia was not represented at its 
 best by the Russian group in Tokio. Adventurers, 
 deserters, refugees, vague, frightened diplomats, who 
 had not been able to hold their own. The entire 
 mass lacked cohesion and a head. On the other hand, 
 there were warm friends to Russia to be found 
 men and women who were helping and guiding, en- 
 trying to work up the world's sympathy. Mr. 
 Roland Morris, the American Ambassador, was one 
 of the leaders in this. Amiable, hospitable, and 
 giving an impression of reliability, he gladly re- 
 ceived such people as came to him for some small 
 passport services. My husband saw him thus, and, 
 having letters from mutual friends besides and 
 many interests in common, the two men sat talk- 
 ing lengthily. Cantacuzene stayed on to lunch, 
 glad to get points from this man who so recently 
 had gone into Siberia quite anti-Kolchak, and had 
 returned, after untrammelled investigations cover- 
 ing many weeks, to report to President Wilson that 
 the "All-Russian" government should be recognized 
 
260 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 at once, also supported and upheld in every possible 
 manner. A pleasant message, this, to Russian ears, 
 even if it had borne no fruit. The good opinion of 
 Kolchak was unanimous in the East among those 
 who watched him; and the splendid fight he had 
 put up against Bolshevism was universally admired, 
 as was the way he had handled the complications 
 made for him by conflicting political groups in 
 Omsk, the intriguing personalities in his staff and 
 government, and the troubles brought on by the 
 hesitations and rivalries of our allies, each of whom 
 had given small help but much advice. As one ap- 
 proached, the personality of this remarkable man 
 dominated the horizon more and more, and com- 
 manded a respect, esteem, and admiration which 
 seem universal. 
 
 Curiosity augmented and when the embarkation 
 for Vladivostok occurred there was excitement 
 mixed with fears and doubts. The sun came out 
 just then. A good sign this ! 
 
 As the ship steamed into Vladivostok's harbor 
 every one went on deck, firstly to get a glimpse of 
 the homeland for which one was hungry after eigh- 
 teen months of expatriation. However much they 
 feared to find it changed, to see the poverty and 
 misery of these sad times, still it was good to think 
 of hearing our language, of seeing the familiar types 
 again. Even to eat a "borsh" or "shtchee" with 
 a salted cucumber and black bread will seem an 
 act of patriotism. None of the party of officers 
 on board had ever been this side of the empire be- 
 
SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 261 
 
 fore. All had done their fighting on the European 
 front, so curiosity was keen, and with wide-awake 
 eyes they took in the impressive beauty of the great 
 harbor they were entering. It appeared more 
 beautiful than that of Vancouver, higher mountains 
 rising out of the sea, and the stretch of water much 
 broader. The towering banks are arid and have a 
 severer type of beauty, but the proportions and lines 
 are altogether splendid, and the coloring that day 
 was brilliant with azure, russet, and gold, the light 
 over it all intense. Suddenly from the inner har- 
 bor came a boat to meet the one carrying our men; 
 a Russian Government boat, looking trim and smart 
 and flying at its stern the "flag of St. Andrew." 
 It brought one's heart into one's mouth to see the 
 Russian colors once more in their place ! Eighteen 
 months ago we had left Petrograd draped with torn 
 and soiled red banners. This now really seemed to 
 my husband a promise of new strength; would the 
 impression last? The pretty craft came up close 
 and our officers crowded to the side of their own 
 steamer to watch the welcomers' manoeuvres. Both 
 ships stopped and officials from the smaller one 
 climbed on board the larger to ask questions of each 
 traveller, to examine papers, search for a reported 
 Bolshevik (who naturally was not forthcoming), 
 finally to approve of everything and take themselves 
 off again. The dock was reached soon afterward. 
 With shouts, excitement, good-natured confusion, a 
 hundred orders, and little obedience, but endless 
 intelligent emergency work, a landing was made. 
 
262 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 Every one was ready to lend a hand to strangers. 
 Chaos apparently, but results that were unexpect- 
 edly quick and satisfactory in spite of it. Paradox 
 everywhere Russia, in short, with its old nature, 
 and ways, and mystery, untouched by the experi- 
 ences of the past two years. And one felt warm 
 and at home somehow. 
 
 It was said there were no "izvostchiki" (cabbies) ; 
 then one was immediately found. It was said there 
 were no rooms, but a man to whom one came recom- 
 mended, offered hospitality. A cosey small room it 
 was, with clean bed and dry bedclothes the possi- 
 bility of sleeping, washing, smoking, and of drinking 
 with him his morning tea was offered Cantacuzene. 
 
 The other meals he took out paying forty-five 
 roubles for a light lunch and seventy-five roubles 
 for one dish in the evening ! He was sustaining 
 his second shock having been given the first when 
 cabby asked one hundred and fifty roubles for driv- 
 ing him from the dock to the house and expected to 
 get it. People had told our men of the terrible 
 prices, but it was hard to believe such tales now 
 they began to digest the unpleasant idea that money 
 had no value and that they would probably be forced 
 to buy a flour-sack and stuff it full of bills, which 
 would be handed out rapidly. And the variety of 
 the money ! Every kind of foreign note and coin 
 then paper of several sorts : old-r6gime and K6rensky 
 money, besides all the kinds used in Siberia. One is 
 easily "money poor" instead of "land poor" in such 
 a place. 
 
SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 263 
 
 They lunched and dined in a tumble-down, small, 
 and expensive restaurant; they sat and smoked and 
 thought, listening to the strains of a marvellous 
 string orchestra made up of Hungarians. Ex- 
 prisoners of war, these were now freed, but had 
 no means nor hope of going anywhere. They could 
 only earn a little and life cost much; exchange was 
 prohibitive, and the distance to their home was vast. 
 So, stranded here in a Far-Eastern cabaret, this 
 band of ex-prisoners played out its sufferings and its 
 longings to an appreciative and enthusiastic audience 
 of sad, understanding Slavs, who would gladly aid 
 the poor artists if they could. 
 
 For a day or two Cantacuzene sat about, wait- 
 ing to get passage by the occasional train leaving 
 for the front. He tried to readjust himself and get 
 the atmosphere, he listened to the gossip which 
 flowed toward him in never-ending volumes. Vla- 
 divostok teemed with foreigners, mostly Allies who 
 had been sitting miserably about for months wait- 
 ing for orders to do something worth while. Mean- 
 time they were trying to kill time. The weary 
 hours lagged dreadfully while they sat and looked 
 on, forbidden to lend a hand ! Mischief was rife, of 
 course, and Vladivostok, since the Allies' occupation, 
 vies with Port Said in its unsavory reputationmixed 
 races, bad morals the worst of the East and the 
 West and in such an atmosphere every one degen- 
 erated. Queer tales of misery and of crime were 
 told. The only name unsullied by rumor was Kol- 
 chak's own. No one but admitted his honesty, 
 
264 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 loyalty, devotion, patriotism. Unambitious for any 
 recompense, either in money or position, anxious 
 only to down Bolshevism, then retire somewhere 
 and rest; at his post, above all intrigue and all 
 smallness, strong and brave he is always. 
 
 As for the foreigners, one heard a lot against 
 them, strangely enough more especially against the 
 Americans, who only ten months ago were landed 
 here, and were received with open arms as sa- 
 viors and friends. One was filled with wonder that 
 it should be so, for in old days Americans and 
 Russians have always fraternized and understood 
 each other. Then, listening carefully and sifting 
 down the many detailed stories, one found the gist 
 to be about as follows. 
 
 Nearly a year ago, with many promises, great 
 show of friendship, and fair official words, came the 
 American soldiers. They were received with simple 
 faith in their message and intentions, and they 
 started toward the front "to help." At once almost 
 the counter-order came to them, and back to Vladi- 
 vostok they were obliged to retire, to settle down 
 and cross their arms. Since then, whenever they 
 were asked to act in any matter, they have replied 
 that their strict orders were "not to interfere." His 
 own situation riled the dough-boy, humiliated the 
 American officer, too; some tried to explain what 
 they themselves couldn't understand: the contra- 
 dictory policy of Washington and their own obliga- 
 tory inertia; others tried to cover their shame with 
 peevishness or arrogance, and hurt the natives' feel- 
 
SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 265 
 
 ings doing it. The American salary in dollars, of 
 course, could outbuy poor Russian roubles every 
 time. Whether of girls or clothes or food, the best 
 went to the Americans, while the Russians were dis- 
 dained, till pride rose in rebellion. High words 
 followed and sometimes blows, and hard feeling be- 
 came a settled fact. The situation in its new form 
 was encouraged by third parties, especially by the 
 Japanese, and nothing was done to soften matters 
 by any one. American onlookers as well as Russians 
 
 told that many of General G 's words and deeds 
 
 seemed unfortunate, and that his Chief -of -Staff , , 
 
 took apparently every occasion to do the wrong 
 thing and to add insult to injury. Various Britishers 
 confirmed this view with their testimony. 
 
 Through all the growing discord, however, even 
 now, the American Red Cross personnel has acted 
 in a way to win universal love, gratitude, and ad- 
 miration from the wounded, the ill, and the poor 
 refugees. The officials, doctors, and nurses have 
 gone about like ministering angels, saving Russians 
 from death and misery as much as possible; doing 
 their own and every other person's work, raising 
 hope, sustaining life, trying to bring back health 
 and a smile to vague, emaciated bodies and wan 
 faces. The testimony was universal, enthusiasm 
 never failed whenever this name of the American 
 Red Cross was mentioned. For some unknown 
 reason the Y. M. C. A. agents are not spoken of in 
 the same tone. It is said many of these were en- 
 gaged by the society which they represented among 
 
266 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 Siberians of the worst classes, and that mainly they 
 wore German names and sported German manners. 
 Several people told my husband it was largely this 
 group who had created the prejudice against the 
 American Allies by their pretensions and brutalities, 
 which real Americans were deploring or trying to 
 fight. 
 
 Now and again one heard wild talk among the 
 Russians in Vladivostok, of the possibility of an 
 uprising and the massacre of all foreigners, except 
 the Japanese, who were obsequious and smooth, 
 always vastly polite, and who behaved toward the 
 Russian with a circumspection and tact amounting 
 to genius. 
 
 After two days in Vladivostok my husband left 
 for the front, and as he was starting he had occasion 
 to test the temper of the people. A Polish military 
 doctor pushed into the line of people who were wait- 
 ing for tickets in the station, and took the place 
 ahead of Cantacuzne. The latter at once pro- 
 tested energetically, and after some language the 
 man stepped out of the way, only to shove himself 
 into the line again just behind my husband. This 
 was not tolerated of course by the crowd who, roused 
 by the second attempt at usurping a good place, 
 battered the culprit about a bit. He humbly con- 
 sented to go down to the end of the line, whereupon 
 patience returned as if by magic to the little group of 
 Russians who had been waiting for their tickets 
 so quietly before the incident. 
 
 The train was delayed two days in Vladivostok 
 
SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 267 
 
 after it was loaded, by what were announced as 
 "bandit disorders ahead.'* No one seemed to be 
 able to offer a clearer explanation of the immobility, 
 and, with an indifference characteristic of the times 
 and place, the passengers tolerated waiting without 
 much protest. 
 
 Rumors announced Omsk was being evacuated; 
 but no one believed it. It had been too frequently 
 said before to be treated as serious news. They 
 started at last. As far as Irkoutsk the Trans-Sibe- 
 rian road was well guarded, and quite well ordered. 
 It ran through Semenoff s province, and one had 
 glimpses of capable discipline everywhere in the 
 country commanded by him. It seems he exacted 
 respect for his army, and that the church should be 
 honored, too, and through all this large tract the 
 villages looked fairly prosperous and the prices of 
 necessities were comparatively lower than elsewhere. 
 There were rich pastures, and on them cattle, some- 
 times rather unexpectedly fine animals were to be 
 seen, and one heard there were rich mines of coal and 
 metals in this province; even gold in large quantities. 
 While on the road, among other savory bits of gossip, 
 it was said that the Tcheque, General Gaida, had 
 been paid seventy-five thousand francs to leave the 
 country, as he was giving much trouble. He had 
 accepted the proposition, left Omsk for Vladivostok, 
 and, reaching the latter city, decided to remain on 
 his train and bargain further. He wasn't very suc- 
 cessful at it, and (from "pique," perhaps) he then 
 headed the upheaval which shook political conditions 
 
268 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 at the port, and which puzzled those who looked on 
 from far away. 
 
 When our officers reached Irkoutsk they were told 
 officially of the evacuation of Omsk, and there the 
 train passengers were sorted out. Only people actu- 
 ally going forward on government or army business 
 were allowed to continue their travel; the others 
 were kept at Irkoutsk. From this city to Omsk 
 was another week on the train. 
 
 The cities seemed large and rich through this 
 district in ordinary times. Now they were over- 
 crowded, and gave the impression of possessing quan- 
 tities of inhabitants who, living in box cars all along 
 the railroad, and around the stations, had only 
 such comfort of fuel, food, and clothing as they 
 could manage to gather by their own means, fair 
 or foul. The cities' ancient commerce was being 
 strangled clothes, provisions, and transportation 
 were frightfully needed. Often there were thirty 
 or more people living in one car, and the small stove 
 in the centre burned those who were near and left 
 such as were out of range to freeze. The car in- 
 habitants ran out for wood, and brought back in 
 triumph whatever was handy: ties from the road- 
 bed, broken boards from the snow-shields put up 
 to protect the line, rough, broken bits of cars or 
 houses, also. Food was accidental and very short 
 always. Anything eatable could command fabulous 
 prices. The trains moved with difficulty on the 
 congested rails, where complications were vastly in- 
 creased by the constant changing of the commands 
 
SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 269 
 
 along the road. The seizing of locomotives by a 
 powerful factor was terrible; and the Tchequo- 
 Slovaks had made holding up the outgoing army 
 trains, and also the retreating refugee trains, one 
 of their chief occupations and sports. They had 
 constantly hindered the possible rapidity with which 
 our troops could be carried forward and the effi- 
 ciency with which evacuation of the civilian popula- 
 tion could be accomplished. 
 
 There is much illness among the city inhabitants, 
 and especially illness reigns in these floating crowds 
 along the Trans-Siberian road. 
 
 The train on which my husband was seemed clean, 
 however, and possessed a fair supply of food sold at 
 fabulous prices. It was a train used by the foreign 
 missions usually, and was the best to be found. The 
 management of this train and of the road seemed 
 fair, but the occupants were kept constantly ex- 
 cited by the reports of there being bandits ahead, 
 who would probably stop further progress. 
 
 Approaching Omsk one met many a train of poor, 
 hopeless, helpless refugees; who, with pinched, sad 
 faces and emaciated bodies, moved in a great 
 stream from their small homes at Omsk backward 
 toward Irkoutsk. It had been long days, and 
 weeks, and months, since these people had known 
 the taste of good food or had felt real comfort; and 
 as one saw misery in so many pairs of eyes, one reg- 
 istered a vow to help them with all one's possibili- 
 ties. In vain trying, however, unless one goes 
 beyond the frontiers for the help. Siberia is too 
 
270 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 worn out. Presently, when Omsk was reached, 
 came "official" news of the evacuation taking place, 
 and the English officers talked of the dangers which 
 all would soon be running in Omsk and its environs 
 let alone those of the firing line. 
 
 At Omsk no food, no comforts; complete conges- 
 tion, while the price of living was so appalling one 
 bought nothing. And there was nothing to be found, 
 really, in the shops. The single track of the Trans- 
 Siberian road had often in its history played tricks 
 on us Russians. Now in the dire need of evacua- 
 tion time, everybody did his best, but the Tcheques 
 were more experienced, better armed, and stronger, 
 and they carried out terrible raids on trains and 
 travellers. 
 
 Immediately on his arrival Cantacuzne reported 
 to Kolchak. An appointment was made for early 
 the following morning and the evening was free 
 to unpack, settle, and look around. The hotel was 
 horrid could give only an ill-kept room ten by 
 twelve feet with almost no furniture, and that 
 broken and dirty. The whole on the "Grasnaia 
 ulitza" (dirty street) a most becoming and appro- 
 priate name. One hoped and prayed not to stay 
 long in Omsk ! 
 
 The interview with Kolchak made a great impres- 
 sion on my husband. The admiral was finishing his 
 coffee, while looking out of the window, and he put 
 Cantacuzene down opposite him. He was uncom- 
 monly nice to one whom he felt to be understanding, 
 perhaps, of his habits and life. He complained of 
 
SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 271 
 
 the Allies, also of the Bolsheviki, who were fighting 
 with extra ''punch" just then. 
 
 The reds had put their Chinese mercenary troops 
 in the front lines of the Bolshevik army, had prom- 
 ised to let them rush through our loyal lines, and 
 then give them a rest and some recreation among 
 their own people. All this was a great incentive, 
 naturally, to move forward. The looting, the mur- 
 ders, and torturing counted for little therefore as 
 compared with the asset of pushing out of Siberia 
 and carrying the madness into the Chinese Republic. 
 If this policy succeeds God knows what may occur ! 
 Kolchak said he wished to appeal to America, 
 that by his clamorings he had hoped to bring help 
 in material forms at least: food, clothes, medicines, 
 ammunitions, and arms. "It will help the Ameri- 
 cans themselves to aid us," he announced, "for 
 Bolshevism is the whole world's enemy; and espe- 
 cially that of a democracy such as the American 
 Government is. The necessity of the civilized world 
 hanging together as against red doctrines is obvi- 
 
 ous." 
 
 Kolchak soon had another caller come for orders, 
 and my husband had time to look about. The Ad- 
 miral lived in a tiny house, quite unpretentious in 
 its arrangements, and only the two sentinels at the 
 door marked it, or suggested his rank. The "su- 
 preme commander" had no visible servants besides 
 his "striker," who waited on him without the least 
 ceremony or formality. Not a sign of any luxury. 
 His work hours were from 10 A. M. to 4 the next 
 
272 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 morning, and all day long he bore the intense strain 
 of people constantly coming and going for orders or 
 consultation. Never a moment to himself did he 
 take. He lived quietly with his aides-de-camp, of 
 whom he had several on duty. 
 
 Personally he gave an impression of enormous 
 strength as one met him, or as he sat talking at his 
 desk, leaning forward slightly in his intensity. The 
 rather large square head, face, and shoulders im- 
 pressed one with the man's complete reliability. 
 The eyes and hands were remarkably fine. Though 
 impulsive and quick in manner and articulation, he 
 could be very silent, and was so while listening. 
 He had great magnetism all the qualities and de- 
 fects, in fact, of a man who is very big: honest, loyal, 
 patriotic, with not the least desire to save himself 
 from trouble, danger, or responsibility. Always 
 ready to die, and asking nothing but to go on fight- 
 ing Bolsheviki until the end either his own end or 
 theirs. It was his one ambition and policy. 
 
 The men around Kolchak were those whom he 
 had found on the spot, or those chosen and sent to 
 him by others. They also were willing to go and 
 join in his effort, living in danger and discomfort. 
 There were six of these men more or less prominent, 
 who were Vologodsky, Smyrnoff, Sukine, Handjine, 
 Pepelaieff, Tretiakoff. 
 
 The first of these held the title of President of 
 the Council of Ministers, was a " social-revolution- 
 ary " Siberian, an ex-lawyer of Tomsk, aged about 
 fifty, and was considered honest. He had the dis- 
 
SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 273 
 
 advantage of being more of a talker and less efficient 
 than would be desirable in times like these. 
 
 Sukine, who was the representative of Sazonoff 
 near Kolchak, and Acting Foreign Minister, was 
 clever, though somewhat too arrogant to be pop- 
 ular; and he was also accused by many of being 
 unscrupulous. He was very pro-American. 
 
 Smyrnoff, Minister of Marine, was an honest 
 man, a professional seaman, loyally devoted to 
 Kolchak, with no interest in politics at all and no 
 special following. Handiine, Minister of War, had 
 not been a success as commander of an army, and 
 seemed a vague but amiable quantity who left 
 those under him to do as they pleased. Tretiakoff , 
 a product of civilized life in Moscow and Paris, as 
 Minister of Commerce, played an effaced r61e, but 
 was considered to have brilliant possibilities for the 
 future. He was handsome, accomplished, and aged 
 but thirty years or so. Pepelaieff, also a Siberian, was 
 fairly popular and represented a very liberal ele- 
 ment in the Cabinet. He seemed intelligent and 
 to trust Kolchak sincerely, also to be a man of 
 strength and honesty of purpose, though of small 
 experience in governing. He had had good train- 
 ing, however, in the old Siberian "chamber" or 
 Zemstvos, and he impressed one as a man capable 
 of development. 
 
 Around these principals were large groups of 
 people, intriguing, advising, gambling in sensational 
 news. Most of them had little to do, and as time 
 hung on their hands they got into all sorts of mis- 
 
274 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 chief. It was hard to tell who was with and who 
 was against the government in this crowd, and one 
 saw about each foreign mission a small group of 
 ne'er-do-wells, who watched rivals and reported or 
 advised, always disadvantageously, both the for- 
 eigners and the Russian Ministers. Every one was 
 hard put to it for the wherewithal to live in those 
 times when prices soared, and there were many 
 makeshifts, some of which were rather tragic to 
 watch. The ever-present feeling of the morrow's 
 fate being impossible to foresee, gave a devil-may- 
 care attitude to the general mentality, and among 
 Russians and foreigners moral standards were low, 
 and any form of excitement or distraction was very 
 welcome. There were constant parties in society 
 where men and women played petits chevaux or 
 other games till dawn, because they could not walk 
 home in the dark for fear of attack and theft, or 
 murder even. Every one had faced the emergency of 
 flight or of death frequently, every one might do so 
 again at any moment. Great courage was shown, 
 but meantime: "What can we do but try to forget 
 our troubles and live as best we can?". . . 
 
 After a few such evenings one wearied of their 
 empty noise, and even a dirty hotel room of a size 
 less comfortable than was known elsewhere seemed 
 a haven of rest and independence. On the bed a 
 sleeping-bag made for the front seemed a refuge, 
 since it was uninhabited by any of the vermin found 
 in the bed, and was warm and cosey besides quali- 
 ties greatly to be appreciated. 
 
SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 275 
 
 Admiral Kolchak was altogether wonderful. 
 Quite fearless and unselfish, he spent frequently a 
 few days at the front, inspiring the troops and help- 
 ing the officers and men with advice and example, 
 always simple and utterly brave. Then he re- 
 turned to Omsk, and patiently worked through the 
 heavy length of days and nights, explaining or de- 
 vising the solution of each new puzzle which came 
 up. He was faithful and patient in the face of de- 
 ceptive Allies, who now and then revived his hopes by 
 a promise flung across the seas, but who always fol- 
 lowed these by long silences with no action whatever. 
 Kolchak stood between the devil Bolshevism, on 
 the one hand, and the deep sea of rising discourage- 
 ment and misery about him, on the other. He 
 fought intrigues and poverty, famine and propa- 
 ganda, reactionaries and radicals, while hoping 
 against hope for recognition and relief from with- 
 out and for calm about him. Recognition by his 
 "allies" would have meant a new strength to fight 
 the contradictory elements at home, relief would 
 have minimized the sufferings of the needy refugees 
 and population, stamped out illness and dismal 
 misery, aiding the general morale, and thus giving 
 him arguments with which to quiet complaints. 
 
 But nothing came save smooth words from mis- 
 sions sent to investigate, and one or two promises 
 in writing, which, having warmed the brave man's 
 heart, fell to dust and emptiness, like the ashes of a 
 fire burnt out. 
 
 The smooth and gentle Japanese; the noisy Cos- 
 
276 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 sacks shouting for an arrogant stand; the radicals 
 fearing but resisting these, all threatened periodi- 
 cally to upset the government. Then the needs of 
 his troops: no ammunition, and the reds' armies of 
 Chinese and other mercenaries pressing on us, well- 
 fed and officered largely by Germans, committing 
 worse crimes, leaving worse and more complete 
 destruction, than did "Attila of Hundom." When 
 he went forward there was all the misery of naked- 
 ness and famine to repair; when he moved back, all 
 the frightful complications of caring for thousands 
 of refugees, who retreated with the army in terror 
 of tortures unprintable. 
 
 Holding all the reins, making the whole effort, 
 he faced representatives of Allies who knew his 
 difficulties, yet made no signs of stretching out a 
 hand. Small wonder the man was worn to a point 
 where those who watched and felt his greatness 
 noted with anxiety how ill he looked, and how 
 strained his nerves were becoming. 
 
 An uprising led by a Tcheque in Vladivostok was 
 Allies' work; troubles between " non-interfering" 
 American armies and rebel Cossack brigands, who 
 were supposedly in the pay of a second ally, occurred. 
 Impossible situations and complaints were due to a 
 fourth ally's pretensions. There was lack of am- 
 munition while trains of arms and food were held 
 up by the Tcheques, who wanted locomotives to 
 hasten their own retreat toward the Eastern port 
 of embarkation; train-loads of civilian refugees 
 were held up also in the Omsk evacuation. A gen- 
 
SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 277 
 
 eral massacre was feared since the Tcheques seized 
 locomotives to double the speed of their own de- 
 parture. It was hideous, inhuman ! Yet, instead of 
 the deep fury most men have felt, this eminent hero, 
 in making a short public speech, had said quietly 
 one day, with a wan smile: "The Allies' representa- 
 tives are kind to me, and we get on excellently 
 together. I hope this is a sign that the Allies them- 
 selves like us, and mean to stand with us." That 
 occurred some time ago, and things have gone from 
 bad to worse; but there was no record of bitter ut- 
 terances by Admiral Kolchak. Even in desperate 
 straits he went on fighting, too busy to talk, but 
 showing undiminished courage, and he inspired en- 
 thusiasm in those who saw him act. 
 
 My husband received an order to travel in a car 
 belonging to the train of the Minister of War. 
 There was talk of not evacuating the government 
 from Omsk almost to the last moment before its 
 departure, and the civilians and the military were 
 in a real panic over their danger. 
 
 Kolchak himself was perfectly calm. He didn't 
 want to leave, but there was no chance of defending 
 Omsk successfully, and he gave way to the situa- 
 tion's exigencies. Around Kolchak Janin from 
 France wanted to occupy himself exclusively with 
 the Tcheques and Poles, while Knox of England 
 wanted to mix into and direct all our Admiral's or- 
 ders; and because he was not obeyed he suddenly 
 left in hasty annoyance. There was no American 
 momentarily in the entourage of the leader. The 
 
278 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 little Japanese envoy stayed till the very last, and 
 had been most efficient and helpful, with an excel- 
 lent, respectful attitude toward Kolchak. 
 
 Once their compatriots' trains had passed, the 
 Tcheques refused to guard the railroads. They had 
 also stolen most of the material we Russians had. 
 They were comparatively well armed, while their 
 uniforms had taken the last supplies of Russian 
 cloth; also our final reserves of equipment, guns, 
 and horses had gone to them. No wonder they had 
 made our people hate them for their selfishness and 
 treachery ! Semenoff, who was headstrong and with 
 no thought of what his acts might lead to, was so 
 furious with their action he had stopped the Tcheque 
 troop-trains, one after another, as they went through 
 the province under his command and held them up 
 until all stolen goods were handed over to him. He 
 even turned one whole battery of artillery back to 
 Irkoutsk. 
 
 In leaving Omsk it was almost impossible to find 
 a place in which to travel, primarily because nearly 
 all first and second class cars were seized by the 
 Tcheques for their own use, while only the third- 
 class and the box cars were left for our Russians. 
 Even the hospitals found it impossible to get good 
 cars, or to transport their wounded because of this 
 arbitrary action on the Tcheques' part. The 
 wounded and the typhus patients were largely left 
 behind in the wards for lack of transportation, but 
 as many as possible of the doctors and nurses were 
 removed, because the Bolsheviki were known to 
 
SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 279 
 
 show special cruelty in torturing and martyrizing 
 these, while it was supposed the sick and wounded 
 might be spared. This turned out not to be the 
 case, however, and soon news came to the retreat- 
 ing army that all the poor ill and wounded had 
 been frightfully ill-treated first and then murdered. 
 Officers found by the Bolsheviki wounded on the 
 battle-fields were also invariably subjected to terrible 
 tortures and then killed. 
 
 For days, the Omsk people were packing and be- 
 ing moved eastward with the best of order, rapidity, 
 and a show of discipline quite remarkable under 
 the circumstances. On the last day a panic began, 
 and grew, and then things became more difficult to 
 handle. Confusion reigned. It was impossible to 
 find the car places indicated; every train was con- 
 gested, and instead of a berth with the Handjine 
 party, my husband found himself, after various 
 troubles, assigned to a car which was being arranged 
 for some foreigners. 
 
 Just before they left Omsk an airplane fell, dis- 
 abled, containing a Bolshevik "commissioner" and 
 a young aviator; both were living. They were at 
 once surrounded and the "commissioner" was shot. 
 The aviator was questioned as to what was hap- 
 pening in the red country. He said that all officers 
 who, like himself, had been left in Bolshevik coun- 
 try had been forcibly mobilized at the point of the 
 bayonet. Those with families saw their wives and 
 children taken as hostages and shot on the first 
 sign of the husbands* or fathers 1 abandoning the 
 
280 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 Bolshevikis' firing line. Those who, like himself, 
 had no relations left, saw fifteen of their comrades 
 locked up every time they flew, and in case of an 
 accident which, like the present one, meant he would 
 not return, all those fifteen prisoners would be 
 shot or tortured. 
 
 The case of General R. was one which confirmed 
 this young man's tale. R. had been made chief -of- 
 staff on one of the Bolshevik fronts soon after he 
 was seized in Moscow, while his wife and daughter 
 were put in the hands of a young Hungarian war- 
 prisoner Bolshevist commissioner in a small town 
 near the capital. After some months of service R. 
 decided that not even to save the lives of his dear 
 ones should he go on fighting with the Bolsheviki, 
 and that he must do his duty and make an attempt 
 to get across to Kolchak's lines. He found a faith- 
 ful messenger to carry a warning to his wife advising 
 her to try to escape also and join him. By good 
 chance the Hungarian commissioner was in love 
 with R.'s daughter, so discipline had been somewhat 
 slackened around the women. They did manage 
 to escape, in old peasant garments, just before the 
 sentence passed on them could be executed, be- 
 cause the infatuated Hungarian had removed the 
 guard from around their quarters. Making their way 
 first on foot, then by springless peasant carts, they 
 travelled from Moscow till they found General R. 
 back of Kolchak's lines. There were hundreds of 
 poor officers less fortunate than the general was, 
 who were obliged to leave their friends back beyond 
 
SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 281 
 
 the Bolshevik frontiers, from where no sign had come 
 to them for a year or more. Certainly it was a 
 dreadful situation ! 
 
 Leaving Omsk a Monday morning about eighteen 
 hours late on the schedule of departure, my hus- 
 band's heavy train moved back toward Irkoutsk 
 slowly, because of the congestion on the road. 
 The trip took a week, though the foreigners' train 
 had right of way. From everybody complaints were 
 heard (beginning with the head manager of the road 
 and running down to the last small train official) 
 of the Tcheques' arrogance, selfish pretensions, and 
 brutality. 
 
 Warned of the probable attacks on trains by 
 robbers and brigands with Bolshevik tendencies, 
 our men were considerably bothered by anxiety. 
 As this load was of foreign Allies an armored train 
 was run ahead for parts of the trip, to protect the 
 guests. In the province of Krasnoyarsk a Bolshevik 
 proclamation fell into the hands of the secret service 
 and was shown to my husband. In view of the 
 pretensions of the friends of Bolshevism in the 
 United States (who claim the reds are a popular 
 and democratic party) it may be interesting to quote. 
 This paper appealed to the people to stop fighting, 
 and in proclaiming the anti-Bolshevik leaders traitors 
 to their country it said that there had just been 
 an election of the old Grand Duke Nicolas in Mos- 
 cow, who was consequently now the actual Emperor 
 of Russia with L6nine as his Prime Minister and 
 Trotzky at the imperial war office; also that all those 
 
282 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 who were loyal Russians must attack the trains of 
 troops belonging to Kolchak the democrat. The 
 men who were distributing this document among 
 the peasants carried about with them the imperial 
 standard (or flag) and sang the imperial anthem. 
 They said the new Emperor had all his ancient 
 powers and privileges again ! 
 
 The news also came by telegram, that the Bol- 
 sheviki had attacked Omsk with their Chinese 
 mercenaries in the first line, these being promised 
 ten thousand roubles apiece for taking the city, 
 and the hope being held out to them that they were 
 on the last lap of their campaigning and would be 
 allowed to go home to China once Siberia was won 
 for the reds. It was really enough to make decent 
 men tremble. Imagine the yellow races gone mad 
 with Sovietist theories ! 
 
 On their arrival at Irkoutsk the group Cantacu- 
 zne was with found everything up in the air. News 
 of the uprising under the Tcheque General Gaida 
 at Vladivostok had just arrived, and in Irkoutsk 
 itself a new outbreak of the "social revolutionaries" 
 was just stopped by the arrest of the disorderly men 
 who instigated it. The Tcheques added to the con- 
 fusion by handing in an ultimatum saying that they 
 would like to be transported to their own home, or 
 else the Kolchak regime must be overthrown and 
 a social-revolutionary government be established in 
 its place, under their supervision and protection ! 
 The transportation of the Tcheques was not in 
 Kolchak's hands, as the whole question of the duty 
 
SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 283 
 
 and comfort of these Allies was in the hands of Gen- 
 eral Janin, high commissioner for France, and of the 
 rest of his foreign colleagues. 
 
 One had an impression through all the noise and 
 agitation of imminent changes. It seemed impossi- 
 ble for any man, whatever his genius, to handle the 
 situation of a serious retreat, with no provisions of 
 arms and munitions, food or clothing, and with 
 refugees crowding the land in waves. Various 
 political parties were in opposition, too, and all the 
 foreigners were intriguing and struggling each for 
 supremacy. Some even used treacherous methods to 
 seize the power. With disorder on the one railroad, 
 occasioned by the strain of evacuating an army plus 
 the civilian population, with the arbitrary com- 
 mandeering of trains by the Tcheques for those in 
 whom they felt interested, and adding to all this 
 typhus, famine, cold, and cutthroat prices one can 
 present to one's imagination the tableau of the trip 
 from Omsk to Irkoutsk in early December, 1919. 
 
 My husband personally helped to bury eighteen 
 bodies drawn from a refugees' box car near his own 
 on the road, and he had occasion to see what the 
 horrors of life were for the women and children, 
 crowded promiscuously into these cars, thirty or 
 forty in each. They were without fuel, though 
 forests all around were plentiful, but beyond reach 
 for poor refugees, the snow being more than six 
 feet deep and impassable along the Trans-Siberian. 
 Cars were so dirty, and filled with vermin, that 
 disinfection and burning could be the only remedy. 
 
284 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 Nevertheless, the people lived in them, minus every- 
 thing and with no possibility of either cleaning or 
 airing their quarters. Soap and medicines were 
 totally lacking, and there was no straw to sleep on. 
 The latter was nowhere to be found, even at the 
 price of its weight in gold, had gold been producible. 
 Scenes one must see to believe in their full extent 
 of misery, and which were very strange in this cen- 
 tury of comfort, were being enacted everywhere. 
 
 From Irkoutsk to Vladivostok was a much easier 
 trip. One was farther from the front and minus 
 the refugees, whose trains were slower than the train 
 my husband had taken. One was struck by the 
 extremely good discipline of troops seen everywhere 
 at the stations from Baikal on, through the country 
 under the rule of Ataman Semenoff, head of the 
 Cossacks. The line itself was guarded by Japanese 
 and American troops posted alternately along the 
 route. My husband had met Semenoff on the 
 western front in 1915, when the latter was there as 
 a very young officer, and Cantacuze*ne was greatly 
 interested in the visible signs of his development. 
 He sent his uncle (also General Semenoff, an old 
 schoolmate of my husband) to meet the train at 
 the station of Chita (capital of Zabaikal province, 
 and residence of the Ataman). The general said 
 that his nephew's position was difficult politically, 
 but that they meant to fight to the last extremity, 
 and to help Kolchak beat the Bolsheviki. He asked 
 too for aid from the Americans, through my hus- 
 band's mission, to keep our people alive. On the 
 road between Harbin and Vladivostok was an Amer- 
 
SIBEBIAN IMPRESSIONS 285 
 
 lean engineer, Major C , who, having his private 
 
 car, gave Cantacuzene the first good meal eaten by 
 him in six weeks. The host was one of John S. 
 Stevens's aids and a member of the splendid com- 
 pany of Americans who were doing all possible to 
 help run the Trans-Siberian under great difficulties. 
 Really an admirable and helpful work, carried out 
 in the finest spirit ! 
 
 Arrival at Vladivostok at 5 A. M. The station 
 had been bombarded and was pretty well battered 
 and knocked to pieces, during the Gaida insurrec- 
 tion, a few days before my husband reached the 
 city. In Vladivostok Cantacuzene heard the follow- 
 ing details of this bloody intrigue of the Tcheque 
 adventurer, who had been honored by a command 
 and a military title in our All-Russian army and 
 had turned traitor to his benefactor, Kolchak. 
 
 A proclamation was posted by Tcheques on No- 
 vember 1 6, declaring the regime of Kolchak in- 
 tolerable, and asking that the Tcheques be immedi- 
 ately repatriated to Tchequo-Slovakia, or receive full 
 powers to act in Siberia. This proclamation was 
 posted widely in Vladivostok; also it was published 
 in whole, or in part, by the Vladivostok newspapers. 
 
 Active recruiting by General Gaida social-revo- 
 lutionary elements of soldiers offered to join his 
 cause in an armed uprising against the Kolchak 
 government. ... He was upheld by about two 
 thousand five hundred men. The Tcheques did not 
 rally around their leader, who postponed action for 
 twenty-four hours because of a thunder-storm. 
 
 A Siberian constituent directorate was formed, 
 
286 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 with Yakushoff, prominent in the pre-Kolchak 
 regime, as a leader, with General Gaida as the 
 active military commander. A Zemstvo flag (green, 
 red, and white) was hoisted over Gaida's train in 
 the railway yards, about a quarter of a mile from the 
 railway station. General Gaida opened recruiting- 
 stations near his train, and attempted enrolling both 
 soldiers and civilians. Taking the oath, the re- 
 cruits were given a rifle and an overcoat ; also epau- 
 lets and ribbons of green and white. Major John- 
 son, commanding the International Military Police, 
 visited the scene, and at that time no bloodshed was 
 expected by Gaida's forces. It was believed that 
 such a response would come to the raising of the 
 "banner of revolution'* that overwhelming forces 
 would occupy the railway station, also that through- 
 out the city there would be an uprising of workmen. 
 
 On Monday there was a short, sharp burst of 
 rifle-firing in the railway yards, between the station 
 and a group of trains which included Gaida's own 
 special and luxurious one, but nothing occurred yet. 
 
 The story of who fired the first shot is rather 
 vague, but the tale most credited was about two 
 Tcheque officers, who, with a few men from Gaida's 
 train, had started toward the railway station to look 
 over the ground with a view to bringing a body of 
 men to replace those the All-Russian government 
 kept there for public safety. 
 
 After this first struggle the whole thing crystal- 
 lized at once. General firing began, coupled with 
 rushes of small bodies of soldiers to occupy points of 
 
SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 287 
 
 vantage. Severe fighting followed, and continued 
 until after nightfall. At nightfall the government 
 forces held possession of the station, but Gaida's 
 men drove them out and occupied the station finally, 
 holding it till Tuesday morning. Gaida's chief -of- 
 staff stated that six men were killed and twenty 
 were wounded in taking the station. 
 
 Tuesday morning Gaida's chief -of -staff was quoted 
 as saying to an officer who had gone into the station 
 to get some women away from the danger: "The 
 game is up and we'll take our medicine." 
 
 Six men were sent from the railway station by 
 Gaida to go to Tcheque headquarters and ask that 
 Tcheque forces come to his assistance. (This story 
 was told by one of Gaida's men, wounded and 
 being given medical treatment by the Canadian Red 
 Cross.) The Tcheque troops held aloof, however, 
 and did not go to the assistance of Gaida. 
 
 Some time between two and five o'clock on Tues- 
 day morning Gaida left the railway station. He was 
 captured about five, on the hill above the yards, 
 was marched on foot from the point of capture, up 
 Aleutskaya Street, to the Russian Staff headquarters 
 under armed guard. He had been wounded in the 
 foot, but not seriously. His chief -of -staff was also 
 captured and taken to Russian headquarters. 
 
 General Gaida had been given three days to leave, 
 and it was reported he would leave by steamer that 
 week. He had been turned over by the Russians 
 to the custody of the Tcheque staff. 
 
 A certain number of deserters from the govern- 
 
288 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 ment army who joined Gaida were shot in the rail- 
 way station and vicinity, on being captured by loyal 
 troops, and their fate was an excellent example to 
 others of their type. 
 
 By dawn Tuesday morning the fighting was vir- 
 tually ended and government forces were in entire 
 control of the city, so that there was no difficulty in 
 bringing the wounded from the station and yards. 
 This work continued all day. 
 
 Indications on Tuesday night were that Vladivo- 
 stok would be normal Wednesday and that banks 
 and business houses would be opened. All banks 
 and virtually all business houses in Vladivostok 
 had been closed since Monday the streets unusu- 
 ally quiet. There were no signs of disorder, and 
 the police reported there had been no accidents, 
 no lootings, and no murders during the last three 
 eventful days. 
 
 Embarking again at Vladivostok seemed a tragedy; 
 and to leave all the danger behind one, and go back 
 to comfort and safety, a crime. So many came to 
 ask some slight service of the departing group 
 would some man going toward plenty, sell a suit of 
 clothes, a leather vest, or a pair of boots ? Were there 
 any underclothes or old handkerchiefs to be had for 
 the hospitals where people died for lack of every- 
 thing? Almost all the travellers gave of their 
 slender stores to the still poorer creatures who re- 
 mained behind. Letters were sent by hand to many 
 
SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 289 
 
 a friend or relation living in safe countries, with 
 appeals for help food, provisions, warm clothes, 
 everything so frightfully needed. Sailing brought a 
 lump into one's throat to leave one's country 
 (even to help it) in the depths of misery made one 
 heart-sick; yet there was a mission to be accom- 
 plished, possible aid to be obtained, and my husband 
 was the chosen messenger. 
 
 His trip back was interrupted for a few days 
 in Japan waiting for a steamer and getting the 
 usual papers vised. It was there the news reached 
 Cantacuzene of the change of government and of 
 the new ministry, created on more radical lines with 
 Pepelaieff at its head. Handjine remained Minister 
 of War, and Tretiakoff was given the portfolio of 
 foreign affairs and the vice-premiership, Kolchak 
 remaining at the army's head. The Japanese papers 
 announced with an innocent air: It is reported from 
 authentic sources that all the misunderstandings 
 which were brought about by the Tchequo-Slovak 
 memorandum are considered at an end, and that the 
 most friendly relations exist between the Russian 
 people and the Tchequo-Slovak representatives. 
 
 Two weeks later, having landed in New York, the 
 tragic appeal of Kolchak (perhaps his last to the 
 Allies ?) appeared in the daily papers. It said that 
 the Tchequo-Slovaks had held up his ammunition- 
 trains, sacrificing his last chance of standing against 
 the Bolsheviki before Irkoutsk, also that the same 
 group of Allies had held up the troop-trains and those 
 
290 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 with refugees, in their retreat, until one hundred and 
 twenty sections of our army's transportation (one 
 hundred and twenty thousand soldiers with their 
 poor arms and baggage) had been lost to us; cap- 
 tured and victimized by their hideous opponents. 
 The brave admiral still uttered no invectives against 
 either the Bolsheviki or the dastardly ally who was 
 throwing him into the enemy's hands. He merely 
 stated the facts and called on the Allied nations to 
 remonstrate with the Tcheques putting their treach- 
 ery on record for the world to judge. By the irony of 
 fate, or perhaps with evil intent, this message occu- 
 pied only a corner of the newspapers and was in small 
 print, while in large type and with vivid head-lines 
 stood out the bitter facts of the army and its com- 
 mander cut off from their base Kolchak the brave 
 caught in a trap, and in a situation where it would 
 seem he and the heroes of his army must have been 
 surrounded and crushed. No further news for days, 
 and the silence causes deep mourning in every loyal 
 Russian heart. If these men escape, it will be a 
 very miracle of providential succor. Heaven look- 
 ing down on such courage and such patience might 
 show pity where humanity has remained cold. Not 
 all humanity, however; for among the letters 
 brought to me by my husband from Siberia is one 
 
 from a phlegmatic British officer, Colonel Y , and 
 
 he said: "The situation is most serious, owing to the 
 appalling increase of refugees men, women, and 
 children from Ekaterinburg, Ufa, Perm, the Ural, 
 
SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 291 
 
 and now from Omsk thousands with hardly a 
 stitch on, and in nearly every case what gar- 
 ments exist are made of cotton with the severe 
 weather already set in ! They come in trains, on 
 top of trains, in carts, and on foot, destitute, with- 
 out money or food. People living in warm houses 
 can't possibly realize what this winter will be for 
 the poor people of this country (Siberia). Re- 
 member there is nothing to buy in the way of cloth- 
 ing, and besides the rouble has dropped till it is 
 three hundred and fifty to the dollar. It isn't so 
 bad for the person who has dollars to buy roubles 
 with, but you must understand what it means to 
 the Russian, who, being paid in roubles at the old 
 rate, yet has to buy food and fuel with prices sky- 
 high, or who lacks money altogether. On top of 
 this, disease is rife and there are no medicines. 
 The great heart-rending cry is 'Oh, for some warm 
 clothing' for soldiers, warm underclothes and 
 shirts and socks. For women, outer garments, un- 
 derclothes, in fact everything; children, too, any- 
 thing to warm freezing bodies. Thousands of lives 
 depend on these, so please do what you can for the 
 sake of humanity ! No other form of propaganda 
 can do so much for the prestige of civilization as 
 this. Send wools, flannels. Any materials sent can 
 be made up in our workrooms. We will have the 
 women make their garments, sewing or knitting. It 
 would do your heart good to see how grateful these 
 Russians can be, and are, for what has been done ! 
 
292 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 Russia moans and cries out to the world. She is a 
 living body, and her tortures cannot be looked upon 
 in cold blood as extraordinary. Never before has the 
 world witnessed such an experience in social evolu- 
 tion. Russia is living and every pore in her body is 
 shedding blood." 
 
 In spite of this suffering, our people are so numer- 
 ous, our land has such possibilities of recuperation, 
 our Slav race is so powerful, that Russia is far from 
 conquered. Heroic men are fighting, and will go 
 on fighting; and one may still count on the future, 
 however black the present is. Russia has been over- 
 run with Tartars and with Turks, with Swedes and 
 Frenchmen before, yet it was our people who de- 
 feated Mustapha and the brilliant Charles, even as 
 they did Napoleon. Last August Kolchak called 
 on his allies for help, saying if arms and ammuni- 
 tion did not come, he must retreat. He stood at 
 the Volga then. Now at Irkoutsk he stands. The 
 Bolsheviki are already shouting their victory over 
 the world at large. Kolchak, knowing no one will 
 hear, has ceased to call. But he hasn't ceased fight- 
 ing; and neither have some others. Our driven 
 armies have turned and won before in history; 
 always they have won alone against great odds. So 
 it will be now; one must have faith and hope and 
 even charity, all of which are Russian qualities. 
 With our national patience and insurmountable 
 courage we have sometimes worked miracles in the 
 world's history. To-day Russia's friends, for whom 
 
SIBERIAN IMPRESSIONS 293 
 
 she has offered her life, seem to have deserted her 
 and all is dark. We must believe that Russia's 
 crucifixion will save the world, and her resurrection, 
 following soon, shall prove that her great sacrifice 
 was not in vain I 
 
IX 
 DAUGHTERS OF RUSSIA 
 
 DOWN through the centuries the Russian 
 woman's life has always been in part an 
 Oriental one. The country has been a 
 meeting-ground of East and West, and until great 
 Peter's time, our women's rdle was mainly in the 
 "terem," and they took no part in outside or social 
 life. There were exceptions to the rule, of course. 
 Olga, grandmother of St. Vladimir of Kief, about 
 the year 955 A. D., went on a trip to Byzantium 
 and brought back to her home country its first knowl- 
 edge of Christianity, which she had accepted. Later, 
 in 1469, a Byzantine Princess came to Moscow as 
 wife of Czar Ivan III, and she brought with her 
 scholars, scientists, and artists. This Czarina 
 Sophia was the centre of Russia's intellectual life 
 while her husband's reign lasted. Martha of Nov- 
 gorod led a rebellion against Ivan the Terrible dur- 
 ing this same reign. 
 
 A few other feminine names appear in Russian 
 history, but generally speaking all women lived tran- 
 quilly, behind closed doors and trellised windows, 
 till the end of the seventeenth century. In the 
 Kremlin palace at Moscow, the ancient Czarinas' 
 apartment still exists unless the Bolsheviki have 
 
 294 
 
DAUGHTERS OF RUSSIA 295 
 
 destroyed it arranged as it was in olden times. 
 The rooms are low and vaulted, with deep, small 
 windows placed high in the walls, from which one 
 can look down on the great square below. There 
 are vast colored stoves of valuable faience, and great 
 splendor of decoration on lines recalling the Far East. 
 The walls are colored much as Persian carpets usu- 
 ally are, with dark, brilliant contrasts. Dull gold 
 and silver keep up this impression, as the eye wan- 
 ders to heavy, wrought-metal chandeliers, candle- 
 sticks, and icons, and to the nail-studded chests for 
 jewels and for clothes which stand about. One can 
 visualize with little imagination the rich beauties 
 of ancient days, dressed in heavy velvets and bro- 
 cades, and in soft silks and cashmeres brought from 
 India and China, sitting about at embroidery-frames, 
 or doing other fragile work with lazy fingers, to pass 
 the long hours away. They had slaves to do their 
 bidding, also dancers, minstrels, and dwarfs to keep 
 them amused, and the Great White Czar frequently 
 visited them ; but even so there must have been many 
 a day when bondage weighed heavily; and they all 
 faded young. Some women intrigued in politics 
 through their influence over a powerful husband or a 
 son, but in most respects the wives of great boyars 
 nobles resembled our Czarinas in their futility. 
 
 Peter the Great changed this, as he did much else 
 in Russia. He ordered the women out of their re- 
 tirement and from national dress into French 
 clothes. He gave Western ftes at court, and he 
 made every one take part in his own boisterous 
 
296 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 fun. His wife, Catherine, a daughter of the peo- 
 ple, was made his constant companion; went with 
 him to his wars, and took a share in the work and 
 play of his stirring life at home. When he died it 
 was to her he left his crown, and she reigned for 
 some years, Russia's first Empress in fact as well 
 as in name. After her there was a series of them: 
 Ann, the daughter of Peter's elder brother, who 
 was fat and vague, left no impression on our his- 
 tory; Elizabeth, Peter's own daughter, followed 
 and showed much of her father's temperament, 
 doing a great deal that was fine and constructive 
 in spite of her dissolute life. Last, but not least, 
 greatest and most magnificent of all our sovereigns, 
 the second Catherine reigned and was called " Em- 
 peror." Intellectual, virile, friend of half the phi- 
 losophers of her epoch, her own letters uncon- 
 sciously testify to her high instruction, broad culti- 
 vation, as well as to the vast range of her interests. 
 Past master of diplomacy, she kept all Europe 
 amazed at her feet; and by her military campaigns 
 she added province after province to her domains. 
 She led in her court's gayety, invited artists, writers, 
 players, soldiers, architects, musicians, and scientists 
 to her capital. She gave Russia its finest collections, 
 palaces, and public buildings; decorated its towns 
 with monuments and parks; founded industries, 
 planned cities, made a code of laws which were a 
 wonder of the times. 
 
 She created a university which is still the greatest 
 in Russia and founded the Academy of Fine Arts, 
 
CATHERINE THE GREAT. 
 
DAUGHTERS OF RUSSIA 297 
 
 which even recently, until the revolution, ranked 
 among the first in Europe. She chose for her minis- 
 ters, admirals, and generals the most brilliant men of 
 her^empire, whether they were Princes or peasants; 
 and kept them in their places if she thought they 
 served the country well, even when they dared to 
 cross her own autocratic will. Her wars and her 
 voyages, her ftes and her loves, were many; and in 
 her one existence she lived, twenty times over, the 
 works, deeds, and emotions of an ordinary man. She 
 reconstructed Russia and put it in touch with the 
 outside world; and, in spite of certain vices, her 
 brains and her high aims, with her glory, filled her 
 own contemporaries as they have posterity since 
 with admiration. One travelled over Russia a 
 hundred years or more after she died, and one still 
 found traces of this great personality in the far- 
 thest corners of its provinces. The two capitals, 
 Moscow and St. Petersburg, bore her impress in all 
 the best they held. One was forced to admit she 
 was a superwoman, and that her country owed her 
 memory deep gratitude for the work she expended 
 on it and the love she gave her people, whom she 
 truly understood. 
 
 Catherine died in 1796, and since her time Russia's 
 national life has changed little. Our women only 
 needed to hold the place and powers this Empress 
 had made for them; and society, in and around the 
 court at least, remained most brilliant throughout 
 the nineteenth century. 
 
 The peasant woman's life, on the other hand, was 
 
298 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 narrow to the extremest limit, small and sad. She 
 worked always, and had many children and much 
 misery as her regular portion this even after the 
 emancipation of the serfs in 1863. 
 
 In the upper classes, on the contrary, there was 
 an elite of women highly cultivated and most at- 
 tractive. All through the last five reigns of the 
 Romanoffs St. Petersburg ranked high for its salons. 
 There were also Russian women who made a great 
 mark for themselves in art, in science, or in politics, 
 while many cut creditable figures as secret diplo- 
 matic agents, serving their government well in 
 foreign capitals. Between these two extremes of 
 aristocrat and peasant there were the "intelli- 
 gentzia" and the "bourgeoisie." The first supplied 
 brains of the best quality, which contributed to the 
 country's development, but also from their group 
 came our nihilists and other underfed and over- 
 excited types. Those of the second category lived 
 quiet, sheltered lives, on the contrary, and did little 
 except to care for homes and families, read ro- 
 mances, eat sweets, and talk. It was they who kept 
 the tradition of the " terem " alive to a certain extent. 
 They grew fat early in life, and had neither am- 
 bition nor energy to shine. Whether in society or 
 in their round of home duties they seemed always 
 gentle, placid, and quite uninterested in what oc- 
 curred outside. Mentally, morally, and materially 
 they depended on their men to keep them going. 
 
 When I reached Russia, in 1899, I found the life 
 in St. Petersburg absorbing; and the women about 
 
DAUGHTERS OF RUSSIA 299 
 
 me very new and strange in type, and exceedingly 
 interesting. In my husband's family every one was 
 most cosmopolitan, and I had no typical impressions 
 there at all. My mother-in-law was French, and 
 underscored the value of her own race on all oc- 
 casions. She spent much of her time in Paris, and 
 kept her frame of life on foreign lines. She had 
 brought up her only daughter at home, and had 
 then taken her to Paris with a French governess 
 for the last polishing of instruction. I necessarily 
 turned elsewhere than to our family circle for 
 real Russian experiences. I noticed at once the 
 extreme vim and intense capacity for pleasure of 
 St. Petersburg society, where the extraordinary wit 
 and quickness of repartee, the immense culture, the 
 knowledge of numerous languages, and the large 
 variety of subjects discussed were most striking. 
 Conversations betrayed all this unconsciously, for 
 there was not the slightest pose. There was a kindli- 
 ness, too, not usually seen in social gatherings else- 
 where, with a generosity toward one another and to 
 a stranger in their midst which never failed. The 
 most beautiful and there were many handsome 
 women lacked the attitude of professional beauties. 
 Those who were rich wore Paris clothes with fine 
 jewels, and had palaces where they gave balls and 
 other splendid entertainments. They brought car-^ 
 loads of fresh flowers from the south of France for 
 their cotillons, and fruits from the Caucasus for 
 their supper-tables, in spite of thermometers at 
 thirty below zero. On the other hand, those who 
 
300 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 were poor were dressed by a seamstress at home, 
 wore no ornaments, and lived in a flat ; but they asked 
 their friends to quiet evenings of music or of bridge, 
 simply offering them a cup of tea with dignity. 
 
 Yet never was a difference made between the rich 
 hostess and the poor; each could have and keep her 
 success and her friends. All society would gladly go 
 to the first one's party, then to that of the other, 
 showing an equal pleasure. It seemed as if nothing 
 counted to hold a place in St. Petersburg's charmed 
 circle save intelligence, breeding, good taste, and a 
 generally agreeable tone; with beauty as a secon- 
 dary advantage. If good luck befell any one of the 
 small smart set all her clan rejoiced, while if a sor- 
 row came they wept and prayed together in simplest 
 good feeling, each taking part in the other's trouble. 
 
 In general, these women seemed to me quite dif- 
 ferent from any I had known before, both in men- 
 tality and in looks. At first I could judge only their 
 superficial aspects, but I was struck immediately 
 by their easy-going unhurried ways. No fuss was 
 made in welcoming a stranger. They had no " party 
 manners," but went on quietly with the general con- 
 versation, letting me sit back or join in, whenever 
 I felt like it. Rather casual they were, and some 
 foreigners called them indifferent; but it was hardly 
 that. It seemed to me only a sort of frankness. 
 One began to feel at home while the chat progressed, 
 as if they took one's personality and antecedents 
 for granted. One was soon cordially accepted, and 
 then gradually brought into an intimacy unknown 
 
DAUGHTERS OF RUSSIA 301 
 
 elsewhere, made of close camaraderie and compre- 
 hension, with a complete lack of criticism. 
 
 Once I had indicated that I held certain broad 
 principles in common with them, wide latitude was 
 shown toward individual tastes and ways. No 
 concession was ever demanded from my opinions, 
 which were listened to with amiability and ready 
 interest. About a dinner-table I found there were 
 always so many varying views held on each subject 
 which came up that the talk was most original and 
 animated, and generally very amusing. During the 
 season night after night we all sat up till morning; 
 for balls worthy of the name never ended till five 
 or six o'clock, and seven or eight was the more 
 frequent bedtime hour; yet no one looked fagged, 
 or seemed dull, or ever wanted to go home. A very 
 marked fact struck me : no two hostesses ever gave 
 parties the same evening. There was always a 
 little talk and arranging so every one could enjoy 
 each pleasure as it came, and there were no ap- 
 parent rivalries or feuds. 
 
 The court balls were wonderful six or more given 
 in the season, with the most magnificent palace in 
 all Europe for their background. It was only Rus- 
 sian Czars who could place a party of three thou- 
 sand people in a ballroom without crowding their 
 guests, and who could seat this many at supper 
 in another single hall. The imperial hothouses sup- 
 plied flowers and huge palms, while the food, the 
 music, and the uniforms were all so perfect they 
 were impossible to outdo, The women managed to 
 
302 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 shine, however, in all the light and splendor of the 
 scene. I discovered no one marked type of looks 
 among them. Blondes with Scandinavian blood, 
 whose ancestors had come into the country with 
 Rurik and his Viking brothers; brunettes with 
 Oriental blood, handed down by Tartar ancestors; 
 tall and short, fat and thin they were. Well made, 
 as a rule, they looked healthy but not athletic. 
 Rarely noisy, but generally most cheerful company, 
 I found my new compatriots especially interesting 
 and attractive in facial expression. It was as if 
 with a top layer of simplicity there burned beneath 
 the surface vast possibilities of temperament and 
 emotion, of strength and energy, and of serious 
 brain power as well. They never had had to do 
 anything yet, as they came down developing through 
 the ages; but were it necessary, one felt these souls 
 could and would make good. 
 
 There was a world of sympathy and passion, with 
 a capacity for joy and suffering which was intense, 
 and which lurked always in the quiet, charming faces 
 of Russia's upper-class women. 
 
 By degrees, as I became more used to them, I 
 noticed all this less; but whenever occasion pre- 
 sented itself the traits above mentioned came to 
 the surface at once and played their part in our 
 life. Through the years my admiration for these 
 women grew, as each new turn in our fortunes 
 showed them in a new light. I have never seen 
 greater dignity than my Russian sisters showed, 
 when occasionally they were under the stress of 
 
DAUGHTERS OF RUSSIA 303 
 
 strong emotion. Whether in happiness or sorrow, 
 their great sincerity of heart, intensity and brave 
 directness, brought them up to the sublime; and 
 always they escaped being awkward or melodra- 
 matic. One could approve the course they took or 
 not; but one could not help being carried along 
 with them in feeling, whether one wished it or 
 whether one struggled against the current. No 
 Westerner can realize till he has been among them 
 the latent power of the Slav; neither can any 
 Westerner resist the marvel of these rich natures, 
 which are so soft, so strong, and always fresh and 
 new, with their treasures of deep sentiment. This 
 overflows in the music, art, and literature of our 
 land. 
 
 If Russian parties are attractive, Russian life gets 
 into the blood and makes all else seem tame; and I 
 have yet to meet a foreigner who, having been for a 
 time in the great empire, was not full of regret at 
 leaving, and did not long to return. 
 
 At court functions, especially those where na- 
 tional dress was worn, the mere sight of the women 
 was unforgetable. They looked like their own 
 icons, with their high diadem-like "kakoshniki" of 
 seed-pearls, set with great, barbarous, scintillating 
 colored stones. Long lace veils hanging from the 
 "kakoshniki," priceless heirlooms for the most part, 
 covered the top and back of head and shoulders, 
 so none of the hair showed, a remnant of the Orient, 
 perhaps. An underdress of white satin, hanging 
 straight, embroidered with seed-pearls or rich gold 
 
304 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 and silver, showed down the front of the figure; 
 while the overdress of Renaissance brocade or of 
 embroidered velvet, though decollete quite off the 
 shoulders in court fashion, had heavy sleeves which 
 hung in panels to the ground, making a straight 
 sweeping line from the top. The train belong- 
 ing to this overdress was always so long as to 
 be quite hopelessly unmanageable as it swung out 
 upon the floor. Usually heavily trimmed with 
 fur (sable predominating in the room), these trains 
 were embroidered exquisitely by the patient fingers 
 of our cloistered nuns. Old India or Persia fur- 
 nished patterns. One, I remember, of pale rose 
 velvet, was covered with great sheaves of Easter 
 lilies in natural size and color, seemingly bound to- 
 gether with diamond chains; another chef d'ceuvre, 
 of soft gray, had a complete peacock represented in 
 all its glory, tail spread out upon the train, with the 
 bird's narrow, graceful head and body climbing up 
 the wearer's slender waist. The dowagers usually 
 wore rich, plain velvets which, though made in 
 Russia, resembled much those of the palmy days of 
 Venice and Genoa in the early fifteenth century. 
 
 One rubbed one's eyes, weary from the riot of 
 color and the flash of precious gems. They seemed 
 a dream of fairy-land, those fe*tes at court, and the 
 classic beauty of the young Empress made her a 
 perfect central figure in the gorgeous grouping round 
 her. She had such height and carriage as fitted 
 her for the splendid things she wore, and she loved 
 to deck herself in cloth of gold or silver, studded 
 
DAUGHTERS OF RUSSIA 305 
 
 and trimmed with jewels. She wore more of these 
 than could any one else, yet she never seemed 
 weighted down or overdressed. Physically she was 
 the ideal sovereign, moving with great majesty or 
 standing in statuesque pose among us. The beauty 
 of her features and coloring was unmarred by the 
 tragic expression which always lurked both in the 
 large blue eyes and in the severe but well-drawn 
 mouth. She rarely spoke, and always looked bored 
 and intensely sad; but merely for its decorative 
 quality her presence was beyond all praise, and one 
 thinks of her as part of the historic tableaux now 
 forever past and gone. 
 
 In their homes the Russian women seemed to me 
 at their best. On their country estates they led, 
 till 1914, an active life, for the owner's wife always 
 took charge of certain parts of the administration, 
 besides attending to the vast household with its 
 numerous departments smoking the meats, pre- 
 serving the vegetables and fruits, and making the 
 native wines being the least of these duties. The 
 woman managed the hothouses, the vegetable, fruit, 
 and flower gardens, she attended to the barnyard, 
 the dairy, and the splendid poultry, and had the 
 lace and carpet factories, the carpenter-shops, and 
 so on, under her complete control. Often when the 
 husband did not care for farming, or was engaged 
 in some outside military or civil career, his aristo- 
 cratic lady even handled all the business of estates, 
 and showed herself an expert in agriculture, the breed- 
 ing of stock, and everything connected with running 
 
306 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 from fifty to a hundred thousand acres, upon the 
 income of which whole families must live. All this 
 was taken as a matter of course, and there was no 
 fuss made over it, nor any looking for praise from 
 outside. 
 
 The charities handled by our women, the indus- 
 trial schools, and all the thousand and one occupa- 
 tions which came from the effort to develop their 
 people kept these female landowners immensely 
 busy, yet I scarcely know of any one of them who 
 struck me as being rushed or too preoccupied to 
 sit down for a friendly chat. 
 
 Those who did not read all the good publications 
 coming out in three or four languages could be 
 counted on one's fingers; and every one had as a 
 matter of course read and digested the classics of 
 standard literature from many countries. I found 
 the older American writers were well known, and the 
 most varied moderns from Mark Twain and Jack 
 London to William James were digested and appre- 
 ciated, remembered and quoted. It is not sur- 
 prising such women were attractive companions, or 
 that home life was delightful. 
 
 "The mother" was always the centre of the home, 
 and spent much time in apparent freedom from care, 
 sitting behind her tea-table, knitting; while, with an 
 air of its being casual, at certain hours of each day 
 husband, children, and the intimate friends who 
 had grown into the household, found opportunities 
 to bring to her their problems, their troubles, or their 
 joys, certain of sympathy and understanding. One 
 
DAUGHTERS OF RUSSIA 307 
 
 had invariably a feeling of warmth and hospitality, 
 however modest was the lodging, however simple the 
 fare; and one wise old lady told me once gently: 
 ' ' I don't like it abroad, because there no one has what 
 we have that is, time for friendship." 
 
 I fancied that my Slav compatriots could love 
 more, and better, and longer than do other races 
 of women, because they had more time and had 
 better learned the science of life and the enjoyment 
 of quite simple things. No other people whom I 
 had ever seen gave their lives such a full, rich note 
 of meaning, or got so much out of it as did our 
 upper class until the war. 
 
 Nowhere either have I observed women grow old 
 with such smiling contentment. A clever Italian 
 once said after he had spent a season in St. Peters- 
 burg, when I asked him what he had most liked: 
 
 "The old women, without a doubt; they are so 
 comprehending and so fresh at heart. They mellow 
 into age like fine old wine, which gives one strength 
 and courage to go on oneself toward time. There 
 is no dryness, no bitterness; and they are clever 
 and in the movement, and unaffectedly interested 
 in everything. I find them quite adorable! No 
 wonder they keep large groups of relations, friends, 
 and devoted servitors about them. They have 
 gathered these through long lives. They are your 
 most wonderful feature, for it is not difficult to be 
 attractive when one is young and beautiful; but to 
 attract at sixty /or seventy, and hold admiration 
 without a sign of effort or of aid from dress one 
 
308 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 cannot quite seize the art ! It is an innate national 
 trait to be like this, I believe." 
 
 I found this to be so; and by degrees I decided 
 it was the sincere, deep sympathy they had toward 
 all humanity and all work and effort. They loved 
 their neighbors as themselves, and kept a ready 
 hand outstretched; and they truly forgave others 
 as they hoped to be forgiven what sins lay on their 
 consciences. Not many these, and none which came 
 from meanness. There seemed very little straining 
 at life's harness, somehow. In Russia "marriages 
 of convenience 1 ' were never much the fashion, so 
 young couples started out with a fair chance for 
 happiness at home; divorce was difficult and much 
 frowned upon until the war, so if the hearth was un- 
 happy the pair either tried to swallow their situation 
 and make no moan, or else one heard vaguely of 
 Jeft-hand romances which lasted through the years 
 and turned with time into softened tender friend- 
 ships. Sometimes I noticed, on the contrary, that 
 such alliances ended in renunciation and sacrifice 
 to duties of hearth and home. 
 
 The light-headed, cold-hearted flirtations for 
 amusement, and from boredom, such as one sees 
 almost universally in other gay societies, seemed al- 
 most totally lacking, or at any rate were rare ex- 
 ceptions, and, though occasionally things really went 
 wrong, I can think of no single case where deep sen- 
 timent was lacking. There always seemed a seri- 
 ous excuse for the lapses from law and convention. 
 Strangely, also, society was generally very tolerant 
 
DAUGHTERS OF RUSSIA 309 
 
 to such culprits as there were in its midst, and showed 
 them more sympathy than blame. Pity for the 
 woman was expressed, and understanding help was 
 ready and was given invariably. This trait seemed 
 to me one of the most winning qualities to be found 
 among my compatriots. 
 
 The war demolished the old severities completely 
 and divorce then became an easy thing, with the 
 church's consent; but the high-bred group had 
 largely scattered by that time, and what social units 
 renascent Russia will show, or what will be her 
 accepted standards, it is difficult to surmise. 
 
 In our lower classes, who were always quite un- 
 educated and had lived for generations in the dark, 
 the women seemed fully to do their share in carry- 
 ing the general burden. They kept home and chil- 
 dren, got on well habitually with the good-natured 
 giants they married, and worked hard under their 
 mothers-in-law's orders, in patriarchal fashion. 
 Generally each woman obeyed both parents and hus- 
 band, and loved and reared a large family until she 
 faded, very young, as the Orientals do. But I found 
 they became transformed creatures if brought into 
 a better atmosphere. Such girls as came into our 
 household as maids and nurses, or in other positions 
 for service, showed intelligence, devotion, and touch- 
 ing gratitude. One wanted to give them aid, one 
 felt; and not only to them, but to all their kind. 
 However, it was not possible for any small group 
 to bring about the immense changes in our laws 
 that would have been necessary to develop the peas- 
 
310 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 antry; so when we gave our village people personal 
 care and work to do, or when we helped them 
 through a bad year now and again, we reached the 
 limit of our possibilities. It was very striking to 
 see them so grateful for little things they received; 
 and their unbelievable quickness to respond to any 
 advantage offered was winning and encouraging. 
 
 When the war came, in one great wave the women 
 rose to meet the situation. Without exception they 
 gave their men, for the mobilization was general: 
 fathers, sons, lovers, brothers, husbands all were 
 leaving, and yet the work of these men, whether in 
 village or on estate, must go on or national produc- 
 tion would come to a standstill, and armies and 
 population would both lack food. Every woman in 
 Russia realized the government could supply noth- 
 ing to our armies but the bare necessities of war. 
 . . . There were neither nurses, nor doctors, nor 
 medicines, nor Red Cross supplies of any kind; 
 there were no warm clothes for the soldiers and ref- 
 ugees, no underclothes or overcoats, not even enough 
 boots to go round among the troops. Misery and 
 suffering beyond all calculation stared the people 
 and the fighters in the face; and the powers above 
 were swamped by demands they could not meet. 
 
 The women rose then to their full height, and 
 carried through individually and collectively real 
 miracles of organization. No labor was too heavy, 
 no strain too great. The lazy manner of old was 
 replaced by one of suppressed fire, as brains and 
 bodies, which till then had known but pleasant 
 
DAUGHTERS OF RUSSIA 311 
 
 things, worked twenty hours in the twenty-four. 
 Everywhere there were rapid preparation, sudden 
 efficiency. Within a month flying columns of first- 
 aid units were on the firing line, while back of it at 
 every chateau and in every city palace a hospital was 
 improvised and offered gratis to the local adminis- 
 tration, with volunteer nurses and doctors waiting in 
 their places. 
 
 In St. Petersburg, as in the country, every motor 
 was given and used in Red Cross work; and homes 
 too small to use as storehouses or hospitals were 
 turned into shops producing clothes and bandages. 
 Sewn and knitted comfort lay piled up in every salon, 
 rows of hospital beds and furniture stretched across 
 ballrooms; sewing-machines whether one or fifty 
 of them hummed in every house. Conversation 
 was reduced to the news, military and political, 
 and to the discussion of ways and means to treat 
 problems which cropped up. To face these was not 
 easy, for there were few able to teach or lead. Al- 
 most no one knew anything; largely we had to feel 
 our way, and it was hard to judge what thing was 
 most needed, when so much was being called for. 
 All one had was given without counting and with- 
 out stint; jewels were pawned to pay for Red Cross 
 trains and other practical small things. Faces went 
 white and strained; and the passion in the eyes, 
 dormant of old, was all alight. It took the outward 
 form of exalted sacrifice. . . . 
 
 I read here once on a begging poster: ''Give till it 
 hurts ! " and I thought of the Russian women in those 
 
312 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 early days of the great war and for three long 
 years afterward when they gave and gave, and 
 pared down their own lives, but never seemed to feel 
 it even, as time and money, hearts and souls, went 
 into the great movement. In the largest houses 
 meals were cut down to one dish or two; dresses 
 were not renewed, and every one walked in the snowy 
 streets those who before had owned rich motors. 
 One sitting-room only was generally kept heated, 
 and great reception-halls became mere warehouses; 
 or if all these were warm, it was because the wounded 
 and convalescent were living there. Every one re- 
 sponded to the calls, to the extreme limit of his or 
 her possibilities. Perhaps this great overstraining 
 was one reason why, when deeper troubles came, the 
 population was no longer able to hold out against 
 them and broke down. 
 
 The war went on for weeks, and months, and years ; 
 some women physically suffered a collapse, others 
 mentally or morally could not stand the strain, with 
 the constant wear of work, the intense anxiety as to 
 home conditions, and the agony of slow retreats 
 and frightful losses at the front. Yet most of these 
 patriots went on mechanically with their duties, 
 though their figures wore to shadows of what they 
 had been before. 
 
 After about a year of war a new type of woman 
 appeared among us: Amazons who did men's work 
 in field and stable, farmyard and street, and who 
 did it well, making men's wages easily. In the 
 country these developed rapidly, and handled many 
 
DAUGHTERS OF RUSSIA 313 
 
 duties never thought of before in their connection; 
 and the new phase promised much for the future of 
 woman's power in the land. Many daughters of 
 the soil also tried soldiering, even early in the war, 
 especially those from our mountain districts who 
 possessed magnificent physiques. I was in the 
 Caucasus in the summer of 1916, and I found the 
 small town where I spent two months had sent a 
 contingent of fifty women to the front, who were 
 fighting as volunteers, while another unit, equally 
 large, was preparing to leave. 
 
 They usually engaged themselves as men, and 
 often their sex was not recognized during long ser- 
 vice. One case like this came to my notice, which 
 seemed especially striking. Several wounded sol- 
 diers from a single regiment were brought into a 
 hospital back of the firing line one day. Among 
 them a tall, slim young chap was discovered by 
 nurses and doctors to be a woman. Badly wounded 
 she was, and her comrades whom the surgeon ques- 
 tioned seemed greatly surprised to learn the secret 
 of her sex, which she had guarded perfectly through 
 much hard fighting and several months of life in 
 camp or in the trenches. They said she had never 
 shown the least fatigue or the slightest tremor of 
 fear; had been always the first to volunteer for any 
 dangerous duty, and was the fiercest warrior in the 
 regiment when the battle was on. They could 
 hardly believe the news. 
 
 When she was well enough to speak herself, she 
 told the head sister her story. Young and strong, 
 
314 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 a Caucasian tribeswoman, she had remained at 
 home at first and let her men go out to war. The 
 Germans had killed her father, her husband, and 
 her three brothers in the first six months. Then 
 she felt she must kill Germans to revenge her own 
 family thus wiped out; so she had gone to the near- 
 est recruiting station, given a false name, and as 
 they were in a hurry drafting the new men they 
 made no physical examination of any one who 
 looked as strong as she. The tale she told that she 
 had lost her identification passport was accepted 
 and she was given a soldier's paper without question. 
 She went forward to the training-station. 
 
 " After that it was smooth enough sailing, for I 
 had always handled a gun, and could ride and walk 
 and shoot with the best, and was used to our rough 
 mountain life and camping. Only, sister, I must 
 get well now quickly, and return to my duty to 
 revenge my dead and shoot more of the enemy !" 
 
 There were a lot of such girls and women in the 
 ranks sometimes thirsting for revenge, sometimes 
 following a husband or a lover. The general testi- 
 mony was to their splendid pluck and endurance. 
 I never heard any criticism of their conduct, nor 
 could fault be found with the discipline they showed. 
 
 Aside from these female soldiers there were many 
 women in more normal r61es, living constantly, dur- 
 ing three years, out on the firing line. Great ladies 
 stayed with the troops and turned their newly 
 hardened, blackened hands to doing chores; risking 
 their lives daily to bring the wounded back toward 
 
DAUGHTERS OF RUSSIA 315 
 
 home and help. They established long lines of 
 first-aid motor-cars, and were generally supporting 
 these machines from their own purses. Aristocrats 
 were ably seconded by their sisters from every walk 
 in life, as they all struggled shoulder to shoulder in 
 the great cause. Ex-beauties of the court and their 
 own maids were wearing the same khaki, doing the 
 same fine work saving mankind; and among the 
 groups scattered up and down the front one saw 
 artists, courtesans, peasants, or bourgeoises, with 
 the nobility, giving faithful service in nurses' dress. 
 They all did without beds or sufficient food, and 
 they worked night and day to feed and clothe the 
 soldiers before battle, and to gather, transport, and 
 care for the wounded afterward. 
 
 Hundreds of these sisters won medals of St. 
 George, and some had several successive grades 
 awarded them for repeated gallant services. One, 
 the head of a flying column, whom I had known 
 well in Petrograd's gay days, as a fragile belle at 
 many a ball, seized an enemy's boat moored to a 
 river bank and ferried it back and forth for two long 
 days and nights under German fire, carrying pro- 
 visions and munitions going and the wounded on her 
 return trips. 
 
 Another Red Cross sister, who had been attached 
 for some time to a certain unit of troops on the 
 Polish front, volunteered and went into battle with 
 a company of infantry sent forward to capture some 
 trenches. The fight was especially deadly; every 
 officer in the small band was shot before the last 
 
316 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 trench was reached. The sister and her stretcher- 
 bearers, with the young student doctor attached, 
 had helped all those they could. The officers had 
 been stretched out, and when possible made com- 
 fortable, but not one of them was able to stand or 
 to give orders; and still there remained that last 
 trench to take. In the emergency this woman, 
 seizing a sword, rushed to the head of the small 
 waiting band of soldiers and, shouting the order to 
 charge, with her veil and skirt flying, she led the 
 way! 
 
 Of course every man followed her. With tre- 
 mendous enthusiasm the trench was captured, and 
 the little Red Cross sister had time to realize the 
 victory was won before she dropped dead, her heart 
 pierced by a German bullet. 
 
 With deep reverence the men carried her body 
 back to safety. Later she was given a military 
 funeral, and because she had already received the 
 whole series of decorations given to women she was 
 now awarded a man's decoration for her man's 
 work, the Officers' Cross of the Order of St. George, 
 which was laid upon her coffin by the committee of 
 that order. I was told at the time her honors were 
 unique; as much so as her actions meriting them 
 had been. 
 
 Back of the lines all over Russia, each in her quiet 
 corner, other women worked, and prayed, and worked 
 again ; and perhaps their patience and the way they 
 faced the gathering difficulties through those hard 
 months of 1914, 1915, and 1916 were no less fine 
 
DAUGHTERS OF RUSSIA 317 
 
 than was the action of their sisters who accompanied 
 our armies. 
 
 I was always hearing of their courage in the field 
 and their power of making a little go a long way to 
 help the men; also of the inspiration which the 
 women gave. It was all the soldiers ever received 
 in the way of care and comfort, for from first to 
 last the government could do nothing in this line 
 at all. There was never even a question of mak- 
 ing trenches livable, or of the possibility of giving 
 proper uniforms ; and, of course, no one thought of of- 
 fering a pleasure or distraction to either the officers 
 or soldiers who, during three years, strove to hold 
 our frontiers in the common cause. They had no va- 
 cations from the firing line, even, save ten days once 
 in each three months; and that was only thought 
 of in the second year of war ! All the money we 
 women could scrape together went for absolute 
 necessities which the authorities could not provide; 
 and the latter felt they had every reason to be proud 
 if they managed to supply just munitions and black 
 bread in sufficient quantities to keep such huge 
 armies as were needed on a battle-line two thousand 
 miles in length ! The government was not success- 
 ful always in giving even so much to its sons, and 
 misery was always great. . . . No wonder German 
 propaganda sowed its seeds on fertile ground ! 
 
 When the revolution came every woman rejoiced; 
 for high and low, in each stratum of the nation, its 
 daughters had been discouraged by the complete 
 helplessness of the autocratic regime in facing war 
 
318 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 problems. To every fireside the new theories brought 
 fresh hope and courage. Those farthest from the 
 capital kept these longest, but, after the third or 
 fourth month of liberty had passed, illusions faded 
 out all over Russia. The women began to wonder 
 what their duties could be in the conditions of 
 growing disorder. Some soon faced a business 
 crisis, with the wrecking of homes, the arrest, mar- 
 tyrdom, and murder of their sons, husbands, broth- 
 ers, and fathers, while they heard insults never-end- 
 ing addressed to all they held most dear. 
 
 Others faced the breaking up of their war-work 
 organizations. All saw their fortunes by degrees 
 crumble, and the ancient frame of life blow down. 
 Worn and weary, racked in soul and body, they 
 watched the slow disintegration of our whole na- 
 tion's fabric through the German propaganda and 
 the growing movement of Bolshevism. It was 
 amazing how the test was stood. The peasant 
 women in the villages everywhere fought vodka and 
 disorders, which gained ground in spite of them. 
 
 In the upper classes the women leaders of the 
 revolution preached true liberty and against blind 
 tyranny with all their strength. The venerable 
 Catherine Breshko-Breshkovsky forgot her age 
 and her thirty years of prison, and travelled about 
 calling to arms in the crusade against anarchy. 
 Then she went to live near Kerensky at the Winter 
 Palace, of which he had taken possession, doubtless 
 hoping to uphold that demagogue's failing will. 
 Many other women worked and spoke, hoped and 
 
DAUGHTERS OF RUSSIA 319 
 
 believed, to the eleventh hour, loath to give up their 
 fair ideals born of the revolution. 
 
 The action of Maria Botchkarova was, perhaps, 
 the most marvellous of all. A peasant, with a cruel 
 life behind her, a soldier in the front ranks since 
 the war began, she realized in the early months of 
 the revolution how the monster anarchy was threat- 
 ening Russia's safety and honor. Without hesitation 
 she acted, and by her own personal effort alone she 
 created, drilled, and conducted into battle that 
 wonderful organization, the "Women's Death Bat- 
 talion." The members of it took an oath to save 
 our national honor or to die. They made it their 
 business to be such an example as men might well 
 be proud to follow. To me this group collectively 
 stands in our history on a par with that single heroine 
 of France, Joan of Arc. They suffered for the lack 
 of all material things, but never complained; they 
 withstood the test of ridicule and all temptations, 
 as they did also the taunts of prejudiced onlookers. 
 
 First they fought against the Germans at the 
 front, and were killed like flies because the regi- 
 ments on each side broke and fled, leaving these 
 women to face a bloody fate. Their ranks were 
 reformed at once then, and companies were filled 
 out with fresh volunteers. Again they threw them- 
 selves into the m16e. Against terrific odds they 
 stayed there, fighting, dying, till they were called 
 away for a still rougher and more tragic duty. 
 K6rensky, the people's idol once, could no longer, 
 after October, 1917, trust his own guardians about 
 
820 RUSSIAN PEOPLE 
 
 the Winter Palace, so he ordered back the women 
 from the battle front to protect him. And they did 
 so faithfully until the end. 
 
 The crash came, and the mob of Bolshevik sol- 
 diers attacked the palace of the ancient Czars, 
 become Kerensky's home and offices under the new 
 regime. The troop of women stood their ground 
 there firmly. Hour after hour, day after day, 
 through that time of chaos and of blood, they de- 
 fended the last citadel of law and order. 
 
 The fight continued till nearly all were sacrificed 
 and they were too few to cover more than one 
 entrance to the great building. Long since, Ke- 
 rensky the dictator had fled, leaving his defenders 
 to their destiny, while the other ministers, braver 
 than he, remained, only to be arrested in the 
 council hall. Still Botchkarova's company rallied 
 again and again. At last but a few women were 
 left; and they had nothing more to hold, for the 
 mob had seized the palace's rear doors and entered 
 it. All was over, and the Bolsheviki took up the 
 government in triumph. 
 
 The leaders of the first March revolution have 
 long been exiles abroad, begging Allies for their as- 
 sistance in the great cause of Russia's liberty, and 
 waiting in patience for the rebirth of our land. Such 
 women as were the "femmes des halles" in Paris, or 
 the Rosa Luxemburgs of Berlin, are conspicuous by 
 their absence in our country throughout the present 
 reign of terror. 
 
 Undoubtedly, like others, Russian people have 
 
DAUGHTERS OF RUSSIA 321 
 
 many faults, but throughout their history, and as I 
 have known them, our women seem soft and gentle 
 creatures, utterly feminine. Orient's heat and north- 
 ern snows, the vague broad steppes and the closed-in 
 forests, low Baltic marshes and high pinnacles of 
 Caucasian rock each is reflected in the Slav's great 
 mystery, each has contributed something to her 
 nature. When her present trials are over, and she 
 comes at last into her own, it will be seen what late 
 experiences have done to mould the riches of her 
 nature. She has learned only from suffering and 
 sacrifice throughout the centuries, and yet has 
 labored on and has accomplished much. How she 
 will blossom when at last the sunlight shines upon 
 her, is a question for the future to prove. 
 

 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW 
 
 AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS 
 
 WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN 
 THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY 
 WILL INCREASE TO 5O CENTS ON THE FOURTH 
 DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY 
 OVERDUE. 
 
 tsiOV 271940 
 
 
 v'.r -**<; 
 
 
 i, ] 
 
 ,, ontl 
 
 
 2S^< J 
 
 
 
 
 HSC'D U3 
 
 
 Iftki i n W$ 
 
 
 Wr* ' '^' 
 
 
 
 
 _i - . 
 
 
 F r~ ^- r~* i \ / n~ i^ 
 
 
 i&Ct.lVED 
 
 
 OCT20'67-apM 
 
 
 L <f. 
 
 
 
 
 JAN 14 1987 , 
 
 1 
 
 2-li 
 
 
 k^r^ 
 
 Aifm nii*r Fffl ? 2i *o"7 
 
 
 
 
 
 LD 21-100m-7,'40 (6936s) 
 
7233 1 
 
 GENERAL LIBRARY -U.C. BERKELEY 
 
 eoooaainm 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY