33.  The following entry seems to dovetail in: 

“The walls of this old cistern promise very little assurance for our escape....  Still the cistern has its uses in circumstances like these....  We KNOW, at least, that some kind of human beings are not beyond our voices if we decide to call for help....  But WHAT KIND of help?...  That is the question....  Last night, as I stood on the floor of the cistern I heard an amusing conversation....  A voice overhead was growling; ’I’m as certain as I’m alive that the loan of $250,000,000 has been made by Japan to those fiends who have escaped,—­and I KNOW they have the GOLD, for why have those trucks disappeared?... so it is worth while to keep up this revolution until we get our hands on some of it if we have to follow them all the way to Vladivostok.’...  ’That rumor has been floating around for the past week,’ another bass voice grumbled, ’and I’m inclined to think it is all a game of bunko to divert attention from the pile of 600,000,000 the gang have smuggled into Omsk.’...  ‘Nonsense,’ grunted the other; ’haven’t we a thousand eyes at Harbin who know about the Chinese Eastern deal?’...  ’Well, the only thing to do is to keep this hell in a constant bubble until we get the stuff at Omsk or the coin Japan has sent to this CREMATED FAMILY here!’...

“...  ’Cremated, Ha!  Ha!... why, did you notice those stoves in the house?...  They’re not big enough to burn up a good-sized dog!...  My judgment tells me that that whole squad of double-crossers are in league with that skunk of a “Captain” who pretended to be a friend of Comrade Trotsky.’...  ’Well, we made a mistake when we endorsed that BURNING lie,—­we are ALL in for it NOW, and the only way to get out of it is to STAY IN IT and lie it out to the end—­’....  ‘UNLESS—­’ ’Unless what?’...  ’Unless the Lett who pretended to do the killing is taken out and SHOT!’...  ’Oh, give him a little more rope and he’ll hang himself!’...  When I related this conversation to my ‘prisoner’ he was very much amused....  ‘This is a real adventure!’ he smiled.  ’We’re like Tennyson’s Light Brigade, with cannons in front, and cannons behind us and brigands on every side of us, thirsting for our blood,—­these fellows are certainly not Russians!’...”

34.  Then we have this entry: 

“I have noticed all day that the family is gradually succumbing to the ravages of hunger and thirst....  If we call for help it will mean a FIRING SQUAD for sure....  The criminal crew who have already reported our death will HAVE to KILL us to make good their boast....  So we must stay here and silently watch one another collapse from day to day....

“...  My prisoner says he is willing to give himself up if his death will enable the rest of us to escape....  The girls will not listen to such a proposition,—­they are all agreed that they would rather organize themselves into a little platoon and FIGHT IT OUT if we can ever get out of this cistern....  It indicates a mighty good spirit,—­but that gang outside would have us strung up in the twinkling of an eye....