Evening star., 1923-12-23

alone with his flock and I led the boyi
to him. Through the best part OF thu
/ night. running and stumbling, we made
! our way to his home.
The old man did his best for US. W.
lay down on the floor Of his little homs
f, before the open fire and stayed there
nervous tension told on US. We were
i'll and wretched, with no plans for ths
future and very little hope.
On the seventh day, dressed in clothes
that were supplied by our shepherd
friend. we bade him good-by and, each
having chosen a different destination
we separated. Only three OF US art
| alive now.
went to a little town in which
lived, doing odd jobs until I got news
of a change Of administration in the
county where my family lived. / dc
not know the details Of 1t. but my late
bolshevik acquaintances had got them
selves into trouble, and an authorized
delegation came from Moscow and the
ringleaders were hanged. As / knew
that no records were kept by the bol.
sheviks OF their so-called legal proceed.
ings, I felt myself quite safe to return
y y = x
WHEN I came back to my family
found my grandmother. lady oi
seventy-two, in prison, and my mother
under arrest. doing compulsory work
Once a day / carried up provisions to
the prisons, and used to time my visits
SO that l could accompany an old lady
wife Of a former secretary of agricul.
ture and controller Of the railroad
whose husband was in prison. Hers
was a really tragic story, and when
compare the hardships through which
our family passed with hers ! see that
God was very merciful to US.
At the time we were making our daily
visits to the prison this old lady had
Just received news Of the death Of both
of her sons, coupled with such awful
details that I simply do not care to
put them down. After a long period
Of suspense in prison her husband was
killed. and she get news that her daugh-
ter had gone through a thing far worse
than death itself.
All this happened to her in three OF
four months time. Naturally it al
fected her brain, and the outcome was
that she set fire to her house. trying
to burn herself to death, as she thought
the sufferings Of burning would expiate
the sin Of suicide.
I was present at the scene OF the
fire. and as the old lady loved and
trusted me, went with a rescue party
to try and get her out of the house
She fatty refused to leave. and while
we we're arguing with her the staircase
burned through, and the only exit left
to us was the window. BY force We
rolled the old lady up in a rug and
lowered her on rope.
1t was hard time, but there were
many comic incidents worthy of rec
ord For an example. j knew an Ole
and dignifed Greek who was living
as the guest of one of my relatives
In one Of the first raids on the house
he was living in the bolsheviks were
supposed to be looking for firearms
and on their round filled their pock-
cts with knicknacks that were lying
about the table. The old Greek
watched them, working himself into
a rage until, losing all control over
his feelings, he told them plainly
thtat they were a pack of thieves.
The commissar ordered him to be
shot. On hearing this the old gentle
man fell into a frenzy and. taking UP
a stick, began beating the commits
sar. Up to this point the scene had
been very amusing. 1t suddenly be-
came grave. One OF the bolsheviks
knocked the old man down with the
butt of a rifle, so saving the dignity
of his leader.
/ don't know what might have
happened IL servant had not had
the presence of mind to tell the in
yaders that such a thing as a wine
cellar existed In the house. After
getting them out Of the room he
gave each of them a glass of water
with some pepper in 1t, pretending
that 1t was alcohol. by that action
turning the wrath of the soldiers
against himself. His life was the
penalty of his faithfulness.
COME friends Of mine were out
~ lawed by the bolsheviks, and any
one seeing them was supposed to
shoot them instantly. Their house
was open to the mob, and as
knew the things that they valued
most and the place where the jewelry
was hidden- Joined in the looting
1t Is one Of the strangest sensations
that 1 have ever experienced. going
In xxyifh h
persons unfamiliar to the surround
ings and trying to get ahead of them
while being one Of them. In this
manner I was able to rescue cart
load Of valuable things that my COM
panions did not understand, and
was made the butt of their jokes
for carrying OF such trash as dis
colored family silver, old pictures
and mellow worn rugs.
During a raid on a house at that
time so much as the finding of an
old cartridge was enough to endan-
I was present on an occasion when
during a raid, the chef rushed into
the room and showed q pistol into
the hands Of the French governess
who Immediately tainted, dropping
the gun. As 1t was Of vital impor-
tance that 1t should not be discov.
cred. her neighbor picked it up and
showed it into the pocket of his
neighbor. At that moment the raid
ers entered the room and began to
search the clothes we wore. This
necessitated the smuggling of the
pistol from one to another, and II
was interesting to watch the faces
one by one, as each person felt the
gun slip into his pocket.
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