The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1917-12-13
A Russian
Heroine
By F. A.. Mitchell

Anna Pavlovna was a Russian girl
vic lived near the border between
Austria and Russia. Her father and
brothers were in the Russian army
fighting against the Germans and Aus
TRANS while Anna and her mother re-
NAMED in their cabin home %endeavor-
Ing to extract a living from the little
patch Of ground which surrounded it.
There came a time when the Russian
army was driven back past their cabin
and in due time an Austrian army ad-
vanced, taking up the position which
had been held by the Russians. One
day a general, followed by a member
of bis staff. rode up to the cabin. Dis
mounting he went in and looked about
him. Tho cabin had but one story, but
there were three rooms--a living room,
a kitchen and a dining oom Going
into the living room, the general told
his aid to 60 to the generals under his
command and tell them to come to him
for a conference. The aid rode away,
aud presently the generals began to
ride up to the cabin and join their COM
mander in the living room.
1t is nearly always cold In Russia-
that is, where this part of the great
worlds war was going on, and Anna
was directed to make a fire in q big
stove that stood in the room. This she
did, and the aid moved a table In the
center Of the room on which he spread
pNAonc vV1,no hale n 1o1oo oH9o1~~ hnI
joined the commander the door of the
room they occupied vas closed.
For three hours the men talked over
a plan Of attack for the next day.
There was not the trench fighting in
Russia there was In the west of Europe.
and the attack was to be more like sucn
warfare has been in past times.
At 10 o'clock in the morning M Of
the generals was to attack the Russian
right flank. AS soon as reinforce
ments Of the enemy had been drawn
to that point another attack was to be
made on the left flank. This was to be
the main offensive, and the ground IN
that side being advantageous for
the Russians, the attack there was to
be persisted in till the flank was
turned. Then a third bolt was to be
launched on the center.
The commander took a pencil and q
bit Of paper and noted all these points.
no mistake. This paper he gave to the
aid with instructions to make a copy
Of what be had written for each one Of
his suborL mates, that there should be
no mistake through failure of memory.
This was done. Then the commander
called for the paper on which were his
instructions and, that it might not fall
into any one else's hands, opened the
stove door, noticed that the fire within
burned brightly, tossed the paper in
and closed the door. Then the officers
left the cabin and rode back, each to
his own headquarters.
Later In the day Anna went into the
living room to make it tidy after the
occupation Of the officers, who had left
the dirt from their boots. She swept
the floor, rearranged the furniture and.
taking up the sweepings in a dustpan,
opened the stove door to throw them
in. Near the front of the stove lay q
bit Of paper, or rather fragment, for
one-third Of it had been burned. Anna
took the paper out Of the stove and
saw writing ON it. A very little Of the
writing had been burned. It was in
the German language, 30 the girl could
not understand Whist It was, but
though she was only a peasant with
little or NO education, she surmised
that it might be Of importance TO the
Russian military commander.
She showed the paper to her mother,
who, though she could not decipher the
writing on 1t. agreed with her daugh-
ter that It might be Of service to their
countrymen. But when Anna proposed
to try to make her way with it through
tho Austrian lines the woman could not
at once consent, for she knew that II
Anna were caught with It on her she
would be killed at once.
The problem with Anna wss how to
conceal tho paper. She finally decided
to tear of oil but the writing and r1l
it into 4 little ball She would carry
inc O6ll III ucT uO0C0 O0O IL USCSO60Ty
would swallow Il.
She left tho cabin ct nightfan TO try
and steal her way through the hnes.
| She spent much time searching for q
point whore tho line was thin, but
failed to nnd such 4 placa. But the
soldiers slept, and BY crawling through
bushes she eluded them. The patronng
sentries were awake, but she watched
till one Of them had reached the far
end of his beat and passed over it be-
fore he returned. Beyond the camp
sentries were pickets, and these she
succeeded in passing In the same way.
When about midnight she attempted
to pass the Russian ptckets she was
fred at and wounded, but she cried out
in Russian: "Let MI pass. l bring
! news to your general" Then the picket
came to her and helped her In.
She was taken to the headquarters Of
the commander, who was awakened by
her conductor, and after telling her
story she unrolled the paper she had
and handed It to the general. He read
- ooroR,,Iy~ than InOlriwn ~ his uuofch