had replied that any inconvenience was outweighed by the great honour conferred upon her house by the presence of officers of the French Army.  It would not be polite to the glorious French Army to repeat Madame Pastrokoff’s reply.  It only shows how stupid it is to send to foreign countries any but the best men to represent a great and gallant nation.  I naturally reminded Madame that she was a Russian, living in her own country, under her own Government, and she must report the case to the Russian authorities, who would doubtless provide accommodation for the French Mission if necessary.

The Pastrokoffs, coupled with the vivacious Madame Barbara Pastokova and her husband, were among the most homely and interesting people it was my pleasure to meet in the Urals.  If you have never been in Russia you know nothing of hospitality; you only squirm around the fringe of the subject.  The hospitality of our friends at Perm was truly Russian, and I was sorry when we had to leave.  M. Pastrokoff told me of the following incident of the early relief of Perm from the Terrorist.

General Pepelaieff’s army was stretched along the railway from Perm towards Vatka, the junction of the Archangel Railway.  The temperature was over “60 below,” the men were without clothes, thousands had died from exposure, and other thousands were in a ghastly condition from frost-bite.  There was little or no hospital accommodation, and the Omsk Ministers were deaf to all appeals for help, they being more concerned as to how they could shake off the Supreme Governor’s control than how best to perform their duty.  In the early days of February the feeding of the army became a pressing problem, and still the Omsk Ministers remained silent.  On February 10 Pastrokoff received an imperative order to appear at General Hepoff’s office.  At 11 A.M. he arrived to find nine of the wealthiest citizens of Perm already collected.  Looking out of the windows they saw a full company of Siberian Rifles surround the building with fixed bayonets.  The general entered the room and sat at his table, they remained standing.  Looking at, and through, each one separately, he delivered this cryptic speech:  “Gentlemen, I have brought you here to tell you that out on the railway between you and your enemies lie the remains of our brave army!  They have little clothes, but plenty of wood, so their fires may prevent their bodies from being frozen, but ten days from now there will be no food, and unless food can be secured, nothing can prevent their dispersal or starvation.  I have determined that they shall neither disperse nor starve.  The Omsk Ministers have forgotten us, the Supreme Governor has given his orders, but these paltry people who ought to assist him do nothing.  We must do their work ourselves.”  Reading down a list of the necessities of his army he said:  “You gentlemen will produce these things within ten days.  If on February 21 these supplies are not to hand, that will be the end of everything so far as you ten gentlemen are concerned.”