The Washington herald., 1919-04-17

with the famous Order No. /. The mir
acle had happenedt Tsarism, which
enslaved US and thrived on the blood
and marrow OF the toiler. had fallen
Freedom. equality and brotherhood! !!
How sweet were these words to our
ears! We were transported. There
were tears Of Joy. embraces, dancing.
1t all seemed dream, a wonderful
dream. Who ever believed that the
hated regime would be destroyed so
easily and in our own time?
The commandeE read to us the mani
festo. which concluded with a fervent
appeal to US to hold the line with
greater vigilance than ever. now that
we were free citizens, to defend our
newly won liberty from the attacks Of
the Kaiser and his slaves. Would we
defend our freedom? A multitude OF
throats shouted in a chorus, that
passed over No Mans Land and rever-
berated in the German trenches. "Yes,
we will"
Would we swear allegiance to the
provisional government, which wanted
US to prepare to drive the Germans
out Of Free Russia before we returned
home to divide the land?
I'VE swear!" thundered thousa nds of
men, raising their right hands, and
thoroughly alarming the enemy.
Then came Order No. /, signed by
the Petrograd Soviet of workmen and
Soldiers. Soldiers and officers were
now equal. 1t declared. All citizens
of the free Russia were equal hence
forth. There would be no more disci-
pline. The hated officers were enemies
Of the people and should no longer be
obeyed and kept at their posts. The
common soldier would now rule the
army. Let the rank and file elect
their best men and institute commit
tees; let there be company, regimen
tai. corps and army committees
We were dazzled by this shower of
brilliant phrases. The men went about
as II intoxicated. For four days the
festival continued unabated, SO wild
with the spirit Of jubilation were the
boys. The Germans could not at first
understand the cause of our celebra-
ton. When they learned 1t they
ceased firing.
There were meetings, meetings and
meetings. Day and night the regiment
seemed to be in continuous session, lis
tening to speeches that dweIt almost
exclusively on the words Of peace and
freedom. The men were hungry for
beautiful phrases and gloated over
them.
All duty was abandoned in the first
few days. While the great unheaval
had affected me profoundly, and the
first day or two I shared completely
the ecstasy OF the men. I awoke early
to a sense Of responsibility. / gath
cred from the manifestoes and speech
es that what was demanded of us was
to hold the line with much more en-
erRy than before. Wasn't this the
concrete significance for US of the rev.
olution? To my questions the soldiers
replied affirmatively. but had no
power of will to tear themselves away
from the magic circle of speechmaking
and visions. Still dazed, they appeared
to me like lunatics at large. The front
became a veritable insane asylum.
One day. In the first week Of the
revolution. ] ordered a soldier to take
UP duty at the listening post. He re-
fused.
II will take no orders from a baba, -
he snorted. 81 can do as please We
have freedom now
l was painfully stunned Why. this
very same soldier would have gone
through fire for me a week before.
And now he was sneering at me. IL
seemed so incredible. 1t was over
whelming,
'Ha, ha," he rallied. You can 60
yourself"
Flushed with cha grin, I seized a rife
and answered:
Can I? ] will show you how a free
citizen ought to guard his freedom
(To be continued,
Copyright 1879 by Frederick A. Stokes Com
pany. Al Rights Reserved.l