pledge to return to work, and wanted to know what I proposed to do if they did not do so.  I answered that after having taken up arms against us they could expect no mercy, and that if they did not obey my orders every leader I could find I would shoot.  The teacher inquired if I would allow the men to be called together for consultation by their prearranged signal at the works.  I agreed, if they came without arms.  Soon after, the most awful sound came from a huge buzzer.  It was now midnight, and the air was rent by a wailing sound that grew in volume, to die away into a world sob.  Every Britisher there was affected in some peculiar fashion; to myself it was like nothing so much as a mighty groan from a nation in distress.  Colonel Frank, my Russian guide, philosopher and friend, ran from the table when the sound began, and paced the car in evident anguish, and as it died away exclaimed, “Poor Russia!” and I had felt the same thought running through my mind.  All my men expressed themselves in similar sentiments and as never wanting to hear it again.

My business was to get out of the place as quickly as possible, but to leave the line safe.  The small militia force was quite inadequate to deal with a population fully armed.  Hence I ordered the surrender of all arms by the inhabitants, and allowed twelve hours in which this was to be done.

Six A.M. arrived, and my officers reported all men at work except eight, and these reported later and asked forgiveness, which was readily granted.  I then informed the management that I intended to call a meeting of the men and hear their grievances.  The management tried to dissuade me from my purpose, but I at once ordered their attendance in the headquarters of the works at 10 A.M., when I would hear the men’s complaints.  Promptly to time the work finished, and the men crowded to the spot selected.  A British sentry with fixed bayonet and loaded rifle stood on either side as I sat at the table, while others were placed in selected positions about the building.  I called the managers and heads of all the departments first, and warned them that I had been forced to take this trouble into my own hands, that I intended to settle it, and that if they interfered with the men in any way, either by harsh measures or victimisation, I would place them under court-martial just the same as I would any workman who prevented the smooth working of the railway; in fact, they being presumably more intelligent, would find no mercy.  This information caused quite a commotion amongst all concerned.  I asked the men to state their grievances.  The first workman said he had no economic grievance; his was political.  He had been told the Allies were counter-revolutionists, and as such should be destroyed.  Two or three protested against this, and said they came out on economic grounds.  They said their objection was to piece-work.  I tried to get a statement from them that their wages were low, but they would not consent to this, admitting that their pay for the same work was five times what it was in 1917.