But Colonel Robertson had gone to “Vlady,” and his place had been taken by a typical Britisher in the person of Consul Hodgson, who took a correct measure of the situation, and in less than forty-eight hours herded the whole caboose back into their own compounds.  It is surprising that the influence of one virile, definite personality can be so great, and it proves how necessary it is that in this seemingly endless turmoil only the best men should be burdened with the responsibility of our representation.  I started on my mission to the Urals with absolute confidence that, in the absence of General Knox, our interests in Omsk would not suffer so long as they were in the hands of our senior consul.

After infinite trouble with Russian official elements, I started on my western journey on April 5.  The mission consisted of Colonel Frank (liaison officer), Madame Frank (translator), Regt-Sergt.-Major Gordon, in charge of an escort of twenty-two N.C.O.s and men, with one machine gun.  We were now entering the district behind the Ural front.  These towns had not long been cleared of the Bolsheviks, so that it was interesting to discover how far their ideas had gained possession of the minds of the people.  The new Russian armies were rapidly pushing forward.  Their progress had been made more general and persistent since the end of November, 1918, the date on which the Czechs finally refused to take part in the great Perm offensive.  When they read in the English papers of January, 1919, how the Czech, Italian, French, and Allied forces had inflicted defeat upon the Bolsheviks at Perm, it caused a grim smile to pass over the faces of the Russian officers who did the job.  Not a single Czech, Italian, French, or Allied soldier fired a shot after Admiral Koltchak assumed supreme command.  There is one notable exception.  The armoured trains from H.M.S. Suffolk, under the command of Captain Wolfe Murray, continued to fight along the Ufa front well into January, 1919.  Only the intense cold and the necessity of recoupment and re-equipment caused them to retire to Omsk.  The British Navy fighting on the Urals was the only reminder the Russian soldier had that the Allies of his country had not entirely deserted her.

We arrived at Tumen on April 7, and held a fine meeting of the workmen, who seemed quite pleased to hear that the Bolsheviks were not likely to return.  These workmen looked upon the Bolshevik rule as on some horrible nightmare.  They cared for little else so long as you could assure them on this point.  So ghastly was the dream from which they had awakened compared with the flowery promises held out to them that I readily believe “Ivan the Terrible” would have been received at that moment as a saviour.  This was a dangerous feeling which I tried my best to combat, for the excesses of the Bolshevik regime have prepared the way—­and were deliberately intended so to do—­for a return to absolutism.