“‘We haven’t disappeared yet, my friend!’ I grumbled, as we turned back in the direction of our underground camp....  ’If we had some shovels it would solve the problem; but the way we’re fixed it looks like a case of starvation or surrender for the whole of us,—­we can’t stay down here indefinitely!’...  ‘Patience, courage, my friend,’ my ‘prisoner’ replied whole-heartedly; ’this is the first time in my life I have been absolutely alone, the first moment in our lives we have been positively FREE!’...  He took a few swift steps and swung around gracefully, like a figure in a dance....  ‘I love the mazurka!’ he exclaimed!...  ’I’d like to have a real pillow fight again with the children!...  We used to have such fun!...  It was about the only time my wife would ever smile!...  I used to tell her that she reminded me of the sad goddesses that stood on the dull red cornices of my Winter Palace looking coldly into space during any of the Court ceremonies....  Really that was true,—­a woman like my wife, in a manteau de cour, a head flaming with the rays of her kokoshnik and supported by that long white veil, DOES resemble an icicle in the Winter Palace!...  But when we are alone!... the Zaritsa is a motherly MOTHER!...  You’ll see....  We have always loved simplicity....  This is our chance....  I never did like the late suppers and high life indulged in by some of my relations....  My greatest dissipation was at the Marinsky when we’d sup between acts and go straight home to bed....  Grand Duke Alexis never wanted to go to bed....  After the theatre he was always primed for another party out at the Islands....  Our motto has always been, “Early to bed and early to rise."...  Had to....  At work early after breakfast till eleven ... luncheon ... to work again at half past twelve until dinner ... back to work until very late at night....  NOW we are hearing of our misguided workmen and soldiers attempting to run the country on SIX HOURS WORK A DAY!...  That would be delightful if they would only devote the remaining hours to recreation and STUDY.’...  My ‘prisoner’ seemed positively boyish....

“His voice was in pleasant contrast to the shrill staccato accents I had heard in that gloomy underground room of the Foreign Office at Berlin....  I could see at a glance that his present attitude was not a pose,—­his simplicity, like his courage and democracy, was GENUINE....  It explains the reason for his composure at THIS VERY MINUTE when a less courageous man would be excitedly running around in circles and making my life miserable by bemoaning our ill luck....  To show the morale of this family of cave dwellers I’ll record this incident:  ‘Be careful about those electric lamps,’ I requested of the ladies.  ‘If they give out we’ll be in darkness.’ ...  ’Then we’ll use our hands and dig ourselves out to daylight!’ exclaimed Maria....  ’WHY can’t we start doing THAT NOW?’ exclaimed Tatiana....  ‘Come on!’ chorused Alexis and his four sisters as they fell to and are now pawing the dirt away from the embankment that impedes our escape....  I’ll have to supervise that work a little, for if these girls continue to pile back the dirt the way they are doing it they may stop up the passage both ways and bury us all alive....”