Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-01-31
BY WILLIAM L. WHITE.

SOMEWHERE IN FINLAND-So
here we were, about to hear the story
of the Russian women being driven
in between the front lines by Rus
sian soldiers. That is, if the Fin
nish officer who had seen 1t would
manage to crawl back to our camp
through the cold.
A little woodworking camp stove
made it warm enough inside the
tent, so we could take off our gloves,
and we rested with the battalion
staff, heads propped against our
gas masks. There was a small
hole in the tent wall, and the cold
wind came through it in gusts. The
battalion officers said piece of
shrapnel had torn it yesterday.
They had not had time, they said,
to mend it. Everybody else was too
tired to talk.
So we lay there. listening to the
shrapnel, which was a continuous
rising and falling roar of thunder,
and to the machine guns which
were only about a hundred yards
away and sounded like small boys
rafting sticks along wooden pal
ing fence. Twice the field tele-
phone rang and the major answered
and spoke In Finnish, in a very
alert. sharp tone.
Each time he hung up he would
rest his cheeks on the palms of his
hands-his elbows were on the pine
table-with his eyes closed. The
battalion staff slept, we listened to
machine guns for while and the
telephone rang again.
This time he told us that the out
posts had called in to say it would
take the captain at least an hour
or more to get in. Since we could
not wait that long he would tell us
the story himself.
He said the captain was a most
reliable man. in civil life a chemi-
cal engineer and not given to see
ing ghosts. Morning before last,
the captain had first heard voices
Of women. cries coming out of the
woods where the Russians were,
which was remarkable because that
area had been completely evacu-
ated for miles around-down to
the smallest arm-house-before the
Firms withdrew.
About an hour later the captain
had plainly seen the women them
selves-there was no doubt of it for
they were less than a hundred
meters away-about fifteen of them
but we should not make too much
Of this. or say the captain had seen
more than he really had.
There were Russian soldiers walk
ing right behind the women and
they we're all coming toward the
Finnish machine guns. The Rus
sian soldiers had their bayonets
fixed. but we must not make too
much of this because all soldiers
at the front have bayonets fixed.
No, the captain could not tell
what language the women were
talking because he was too far away
to make out words, although the
sound Of women's voices was plain
But the major doubted that they
could be Finnish, because the
evacuation had been absolutely
complete.
Polish? Perhaps. Perhaps Rus
sian? Maybe the wives Of work.
ers in Leningrad who had grumbled
against the regime being sent for
ward as shield? Maybe women
political workers going ahead OF
the troops to shame them for
cowardice?
To all of these the major shook
his head. He would not say what
he did not know. All he knew was
that his most reliable. clear headed
captain had seen women going
ahead of Russian troops toward the
Finnish lines, and heard plainly
women's cries.
What became Of them? The ma
jor did not know that. either. be-