In the Russian Ranks Part 19

Meeting with no success indoors, I searched about the outhouses, and tried to knock down a fowl. The Germans had killed all those that were tame enough to be caught; but in the barn, on the roof of which I had lain hid, I found a quant.i.ty of wheat, stored in bulk, and of this I ate as much as I could; and filled my pockets for future occasions; and when the fowls went to roost at evening I wrung the necks of several of them and cooked them on the still glowing embers of the house. I also found a saucepan or two, and boiled a quant.i.ty of the wheat, which enabled me to give the children a meal. By this time the little ones had gained full confidence in me, the youngest one particularly so, who toddled about, chatting to me, no doubt wondering why I did not reply in a language she could understand. The boy was terribly unnerved, and the woman I could do nothing with, until towards night, when I made her get up from the body on which she had lain all day, and pulled her into the barn, where we slept all that night, lying on old sacks--at least the children and I slept. The poor woman was moaning when I dropped off, and still moaning when I awoke in the morning.

Before retiring I dragged the bodies of the three men into an outhouse, and covered them over with sacking, of which there was plenty stored in the barn. I then closed the door to prevent the dogs getting at them, and looked round the place, which had been, I should think, the home of a well-to-do small farmer.

In the morning I thought the best thing I could do would be to take the children to a house I could see about two miles across the country, and which seemed, so far, to be intact. I contrived to make the woman understand what I intended to do, and we all started together, she carrying the boy, and I the little girl. It took us quite an hour to reach the place, on account of the infirmities from which we suffered; and one of the elder girls was lame from the kicking she had received the previous day. I saw that she had a bruise the size of a tea-saucer on her little body. When the day of Peace comes, will the Great British Nation treat as a man the author of all this cruelty and wickedness? I shall blush to be an Englishman if it does; or if British soldiers are brought out to salute the Villain when he is forced to surrender.

At last we reached the house, which I found occupied by six females, three of them young girls, and two lads. The woman I had brought with me suppressed her moans and sobs to explain matters to these people; and some hot tea and bread and b.u.t.ter were given to me; but the women, who were evidently in a terrified condition, pushed me out of the house, and made it plain that they wished me to go. They were afraid of the consequences of the Germans coming and finding me on their premises. So I kissed the little girls and went.

As I pa.s.sed on to the road I saw the hussars (I believe it was the same party) riding over the country about a verst away; and I lost no time in getting into some hollow ground, which was a marsh, with a brook running through it.

I had with me about a peck of boiled wheat, which I carried in a roughly made bag; and a bill-hook, which I thought might come in handy if I had any more personal encounters with William Hohenzollern's murderers. I would at least spare myself the fate of being shot like a dog by these wretches.

I was compelled to walk some distance over an open country this day, until I reached some stone quarries, in which I hid, and where I remained several days on account of the pain I suffered, which rendered walking impossible. During this time I lived on the boiled corn I had brought, and the remains of a fowl, cooked at the burnt farm.

On the second day I pa.s.sed in this quarry I saw six Cossacks, and began, joyfully, to make my way towards them, endeavouring to attract their attention. I had not got a hundred yards, when I saw nearly twenty German cavalrymen ride out from behind some buildings and charge the Cossacks. For some reason, which I could not perceive, the Cossacks seemed unable to escape. They made a gallant fight, but were soon exterminated. The Germans made no attempt to take prisoners: they butchered the six Russians, losing two dead and two wounded of their own number. I distinctly saw them plunder the dead; and then, after helping their injured men on horseback, ride away.

At nightfall I crept out and visited the dead bodies in the hope that life might be left in some of them. It was useless. They were all fine men; but had been fearfully disfigured. One man's face was slashed to pieces; another had his skull split down to the eyes. Both the Germans had been slain by lance thrusts. There was also a dead horse lying by one of the men.

I hoped that some of the firearms had been left behind. In vain I searched: not even a pinch of tobacco remained in the pockets of any of the men. Even the ear-rings had been torn from the Cossacks. Many of these, and other Russian soldiers, wear golden ear-rings.

I went on to the buildings from which the Germans had ridden out. The house was deserted; and although it was not burnt, the brutal invaders had completely wrecked the interior, smas.h.i.+ng furniture, gla.s.s and pictures. The place had been occupied by persons of a superior cla.s.s to the peasant-farmers; and I noticed some female fancy-work lying on the floor of one corner of a room.

The whole of this district, though not deserted by the people, was in a cowed state; the peasantry, and especially the well-to-do cla.s.ses, were afraid to show themselves during daylight. Many had fled to the towns and villages, and a good many had been wantonly murdered. The Poles are a brave, generous people, and my heart often bled for them. Their sorrows, eclipsed by those of the equally brave Belgians, and dimmed by being more remote in point of distance, are not, I think, fully realized in England; especially as they are defended by one of the largest armies in the world. But that army, large and powerful as it is, has not been able to defend them from the tigerish brutality of their foes. They have suffered terribly--the word is not strong enough. The wanton miseries inflicted upon them have been h.e.l.lish. I have long known the Germans as an arrogant and extremely sensual people, and their learned scientists as the most determined modern opponents of Christianity; but it is one of the surprises of my life to see them sink so low in the scale of humanity--to use a hackneyed but expressive phrase. I could not have believed that the German nation would bathe itself in blood.

At this house I sc.r.a.ped together a few fragments of food, and got a couple of blankets, which I much needed: for the nights, though generally clear and bright, were frosty and bitterly cold. I returned to the stone-quarry, for I was afraid to sleep in the house.

The moon was now about full; and when the sky was not cloudy, it was so light at night-time that I could see for miles across the country; and I noticed that there were more people moving about than I saw in the daytime. I could not guess at their business, as there were no shops near that I could discover. Some, in one or two hamlets I had approached, were looted and wrecked; and the proprietors were gone.

Probably the people about at night were on the prowl for anything they could pick up: for although I obtained a little food at some farms, as I have mentioned, such population as remained in the country was starving.

I remained in the quarry until the 30th of April in the hope that the condition of my feet would improve. I was forced at last, by starvation, to make another move forward. I waited until night, and then hobbled along the road with the aid of a rough crutch I had contrived out of a forked stick. I was so exhausted and pain-racked that I had to sit down and rest every few hundred yards, and probably I did not travel more than five miles during the whole night. During this time I pa.s.sed through a small village, in the street of which I met the night-watchman: for this antiquated inst.i.tution still survives in Russian rural districts. He stopped and questioned me; but he was a silly, good-humoured old soul, much too old for his work, and though I did not understand a tenth of what he said, and could not reply to a twentieth of it, I had no difficulty in getting away from him.

I was more fearful of the soldiers. Besides a few cavalry scouts, I saw a company of infantry marching along the road. I kept out of their way, as I could not tell whether they were Germans or Russians; and it was too risky a business to approach near enough to make sure. The fact that they had several prisoners with them made me think they were more likely to be foes than friends. That some small military movements were taking place in the neighbourhood was proved by the occasional sound of rifle-firing which I heard in the distance.

The snow had now entirely melted; but there was ice every morning, which thawed as the sun gained power. In the middle of the day the weather was often quite hot; but the ground dried very slowly, and there were often dense fogs which troubled me greatly, as they came up from the ground at night, just the time I wanted to be moving: and on one occasion I lost my way, and went miles astray. I had not much difficulty, though, in getting set right when such accidents happened. I would repeat the name of the place I wanted to the first peasant I met, and he would point in the direction I was to take. Some of the country-people would readily communicate with me; others would avoid me as if frightened.

All through the 1st May I lay in a hole which I excavated in the bank of a brook, and hid with bushes when I was in it. I saw n.o.body at all on this day, and the only sounds I heard were the ringing of some bells and a few distant shots.

Most of the fields I pa.s.sed over were sown with corn; but sometimes I came to gra.s.sland; and there were extensive stretches of marshy ground, which was often already covered with sedge high enough to completely hide a man. As, however, it was growing in several inches of water, under which there was an unlimited quant.i.ty of mud, taking cover in it was attended with much discomfort. I was forced into it, perhaps a dozen times a day, by the appearance of cavalry scouts and suspicious-looking individuals. If I found a brook running in the direction I wished to take I generally followed its course for the sake of the cover its bushes afforded. Once I pa.s.sed five or six hours hiding in a hollow willow-stump.

There was a lot of wild-fowl sheltering in the sedge, chiefly wild ducks, and water-hens. I succeeded in catching a few of the water-hens; but the ducks eluded the stones I was continually throwing at them; and though I saw a hundred rabbits and hares, I succeeded in knocking over only one hare. I required these animals for food; but having obtained them I was for a time puzzled how to dress them, as I was afraid to make a fire in the open. At last I cooked them at the stove of a deserted house. Bread I had literally to beg; and I entered six or seven farms and cottages before I obtained a small supply.

I used to show a few kopecs and point to my mouth, an antic, or pantomime, that was at once understood. The people would shake their heads to intimate they had no food to spare; and one woman held up a poor little pinched baby to show how hardly pressed they were. In some cases I believe the people thought I was a German, as I could not speak more than a few disjointed sentences of their language. Finally, however, I obtained about a pound of unleavened bread, for which the money was refused.

In this way I ultimately arrived near Ostrolenka, in such a state of exhaustion and suffering that I could scarcely drag myself over the ground. I was found, and made a prisoner of, by some Russian cavalry, and taken into the city, which is, also, a third-cla.s.s or, at most, second-cla.s.s fortress. Here I was handed over to the civil police and promptly put in prison. That night, however, a medical man examined my feet, which were afterwards dressed by a male nurse.

The next morning I was taken before a magistrate, and while trying to explain to him the cause of my plight a Cossack officer came forward, and at once put matters right. I had only a dim recollection of having seen this man before; but he did me the honour of having a better remembrance. Unfortunately, I could not understand all that he said to the magistrate; but the effect was magical. Everybody in the court had an immediate interest in me, and I was at once taken to a hospital where wounded soldiers were being attended to, and treated in every respect as an officer. By this time I was quite ill.

Two or three days afterwards a doctor who could speak English was brought to my bedside, and to him I gave a detailed account of the recent experiences I had pa.s.sed through, and begged him to apply to the proper persons to have me sent home, as I was unfit for further service.

He promised that he would do this; and I was vexed at the delay that ensued, as every day I seemed to grow worse. I do not say that I was not well nursed and looked after; but I must admit that I have no great confidence in Russian doctors--nor, indeed, in any foreign medical men.

Ostrolenka was full of troops, but I did not learn to what corps they belonged. The forts which defend it would require a considerable number of men to man them properly; and I do not think the place could hold out many _hours_ before such artillery as the Germans use in their siege operations. The old "carronades" of Nelson's days were sometimes called "smashers"; much more appropriate is such a name to the monster howitzers which the Germans use to smash up their opponent's defensive works; and yet I am not one of those who are appalled by the destruction effected by huge guns. Modern forts are not strong enough, and are not constructed on the principle which is best calculated to withstand the battering of Krupp's huge ordnance; but they may be made of sufficient strength to defy any guns. In a compet.i.tion between forts and guns, forts if properly constructed and defended must win. By "defended" I mean so placed that they cannot be subjected to direct fire. This can always be done. For if they cannot be placed on elevated ground, they can be sunk in it; and my experience is that a gun sunk in a pit is the most difficult of all marks for an artillerist to hit. In fact, I do not think it can be done, except by a chance shot, and chance shots do not win, or lose, fortresses.

CHAPTER XXVI

MY LAST DAYS IN RUSSIA

The suggestion was made that I should remain at Ostrolenka until I was cured; and as it was obvious that this would mean a long time I declined the intended kindness, and begged to be sent home at once. Accordingly I was furnished with pa.s.ses, and a free permit to travel, and sent to Bialystok on the 10th May. Although this place is only eighty versts from Ostrolenka, it took the train a whole day to reach it. We were continually being run into sidings to permit troop-and store-trains to pa.s.s. Troops were being hurried to the front in thousands; and Bialystok was crowded with what appeared to be a whole army corps.

The authorities were too busy to attend to me, and I lay in the station all night. The next morning a police official took me to some barracks, where I was well fed and my injuries attended to. On the 12th I was taken in an ambulance to the Grodno-Vilno terminus (there are five railway termini in Bialystok) and put into a train full of wounded soldiers bound for Petrograd. The distance to Vilna from Bialystok is about 170 versts: it took us thirty-nine hours to perform it.

I left the train at Vilna; but there was n.o.body there to help me in any way. Officials looked at my paper and pointed this way and that, but gave me no real help. I had to go into the town to purchase food and a few necessaries. The city was even more crowded by troops than Bialystok. It is another great railway centre; and to all appearance soldiers were arriving from all parts of the vast empire. Many of the regiments were Siberians.

While in the streets I was interfered with a good deal by the police; but my papers were always found to be satisfactory. English gold created much amazement among the tradesmen; but I succeeded in pa.s.sing several sovereigns.

On the 15th I bought my own ticket to Riga; but I did not succeed in finding a train to that place until the morning of the 16th. From Vilna to Riga is about 200 English miles. I entered the train early in the morning. There were only four pa.s.senger-cars: the remainder, a dozen, or fourteen, in number, were goods vans and trucks. In the carriage I selected, the only pa.s.sengers were three men and a woman.

I was so tired that I went to sleep soon after I had sat down, and when I awoke the train was just starting. It was then nearly evening, so we had been standing outside the station nearly all day. I dozed at frequent intervals: and so did the train: that is, it stopped, on an average, about every half-hour; but very seldom at a station.

When morning broke I eagerly looked out of the carriage-window. The prospect was a wide plain, with only odd trees on it, and houses scattered about between two villages. I had no idea of our locality, but had hoped we were nearing Riga. Of this, however, there were no signs, and I muttered my disappointment. My fellow-pa.s.sengers looked at me curiously, but did not speak. So far I had not heard the sounds of their voices, and I have noticed that foreigners on a journey, as a rule, are not more talkative than English people.

Two hours later we arrived at Dunaburg, which is a large town and a considerable railway centre. It was crowded by soldiers; and field artillery were entraining in large numbers. Two pa.s.sengers got out of the carriage here, and six others entered; but when we started again I do not think there were more than twenty people in the whole train. The population of the country was evidently not fleeing coastwise.

We were backed into a siding and kept there six hours. During the night we were more often stationary than moving, and at daybreak on the morning of the 18th were still only crawling along the line. At several small stations the train was stopped to be overhauled by police officials. They closely questioned all the pa.s.sengers. When it was discovered that I could not speak much Russian, I was at once, and very roughly and rudely, hauled on to the platform; and my papers read and reread several times; and vised by a police officer. Then I was permitted to re-enter the train, and proceed on my journey.

As we ran slowly onward I saw several large encampments of troops in the fields by the side of the line; and hundreds of men were being drilled and exercised. Many of them had so awkward a bearing as to suggest that they had had no previous training: and I saw sufficient, during my stay in Russia, to show that the State is too poor to embody and instruct the whole of her male population. I do not believe, indeed, that more than half the conscripts are trained. This would not be an unmixed evil if the men were selected, as they are supposed to be, and the most fit draughted to military service; but I think there is a great deal of subst.i.tution, rich men finding subst.i.tutes. This cannot be otherwise than bad for the service.

We arrived at Riga at midnight on the 18th, and I was again subjected to the usual police examination and cross-questioning. Here, however, I found several officials who could speak English quite fluently, and so I had no difficulty in making my wishes known, but was given the disquieting a.s.surance that there was no prospect whatever of my being able to leave the Baltic.

It was rapidly becoming a matter of life or death for me to get home. I was so ill and exhausted that I could only stand with difficulty; and my funds were running so short that I could bear the expenses of living at an hotel for only a few days. Having received permission, therefore, I went down to the wharves with a policeman to look for a boat, the regular packets having ceased running.

I do not think that my further movements can have much interest; but I may just state that all I could do at Riga was to persuade a fisherman to run me over to Gothland for the sum of twenty roubles. The little voyage of about 200 miles was commenced on Thursday the 20th May, and was performed in much trepidation for fear of the German cruisers, several of which were reported to be in this part of the Baltic--I do not know on what grounds. We saw nothing of them; and arrived at Slitehaum soon after daybreak on the 23rd, the winds having been against us during a great part of the voyage.

At Slitehaum I took the train to Wisby, after some trouble with the local officials, the inevitable thing, it seems to me, in all Continental travel. My papers, contrary to my wishes, had been retained by the Russian police at Riga; and they had given me a pa.s.sport which did not seem to be quite satisfactory to the Custom-house officer at Gothland. He was much exercised in mind by the lack of the usual impedimenta of a traveller, and accepted my explanations with palpable suspicion. After a delay of four hours, he permitted me to proceed; and on reaching Wisby I took the Swedish packet-boat to Stockholm.

At Riga I had persuaded the police to enter me on the pa.s.sport as an American: not quite a straight-forward thing to do, perhaps, but a _ruse de guerre_ which, I think, the circ.u.mstances in which I was placed fully justified.

I am not a prophet, nor am I going to set myself up as one. I do not know how long the war is going to last--_it depends on circ.u.mstances_.

If the Germans get the run of corn-growing Russia, and the Allies generally do not materially increase their _go_ and their _forces_, it will last for years. Properly set about, it might end with this year. It is not being properly set about. I do not presume to say what military action should be taken; but the supply of Germany with food and material is of the first importance to her, and should be put a peremptory stop to. There are those who will argue that, because Germany sinks neutral s.h.i.+ps, it follows that the neutrals who suffer must necessarily be Germany's enemies. This is a mistake. The idea entertained is that "accidents will happen," and the sufferers believe that in the end, Germany, or Britain, will recompense them. I exempt the United States from this att.i.tude; but their case is peculiar. In the first place, they are very anxious to keep out of European complications: they have also a large German population, including those of Teutonic extraction; and some of those highly placed in America have Germanic tendencies and sympathies.

I will not enter further into the political aspect of this Great War: and concerning the military outlook I have but to note that the British losses alone amount to a far greater number than the entire English Army consisted of on the day war broke out, to convince every thinking man that we are in a very serious position: and that the fate of this vast empire cannot be left to weak drafts erratically raised, which, however heroic their bravery, are not powerful enough to meet the situation with a full a.s.surance of that victory without which no sane Englishman ought to be satisfied. To put 500,000 men into the field, and keep their numbers up to 500,000, cannot possibly have the same effect as putting 1,000,000 face to face with the enemy in the first place: and 1,000,000 cannot have a _fourth_ of the striking-power 2,000,000 would have. There is a progressive ratio in the numbers of a military force: a fact that is too often overlooked: and bringing them up in driblets can only result in their being beaten in detail. One strong blow has more real efficacy than a dozen weak ones; and in military affairs the full force should be used at the very commencement of hostilities.

At the moment of writing Germany is gaining ground, not losing it: and her own territory is absolutely free of invaders. While this state of things exists, no man, expert or otherwise, can predict the ultimate end of the war. A single _accident_ might have very wide-reaching and very terrible effects.

From Stockholm I went to Gothenburg; and there decided that my best way of reaching England was to take a pa.s.sage on a Swedish ice-s.h.i.+p which I found to be on the point of sailing for Gravesend. However, when we got off the Dogger Bank we ran amongst a fleet of Hull trawlers; and I forsook the Swede for a British fis.h.i.+ng-boat, which landed me at Hull, "stone-broke," in more ways than one. I was almost too ill to stand; and when I arrived home I found my house empty. Not one letter of the many I wrote while in Poland reached my family; and one I posted in Sweden did not reach England until three days after my own arrival in my native land. My wife supposed that I was a prisoner in Germany, or dead; and few of my friends expected to see me again. One of the first I went to in search of my wife did not know me, so ragged and woebegone was my appearance. A little rest has done wonders towards restoring my usual health and strength; but I am given to understand that it will be a long time before I am able to use my feet; and some sharp twinges of rheumatism from which I suffer indicate that old boys are not quite so fit for campaigning as young ones. I hope many of the youngsters will take the hint.

There has been some suppression of the names of places and localities in this book, and a few other precautions have been taken in its construction. It must be remembered that the war is far from over yet, and that there is an obligation on all writers to be careful not to deal too freely with facts and incidents of some kinds. It may be scarcely necessary to mention this; but in case a certain amount of reticence may be noticed in a few places, it is as well to give a reason for it. I am not a practised writer; and I have, in some matters, followed the advice of those who are better qualified to judge what should, and what should not, be put into a book. But I have told my own tale, and told it in my own way; and I hope it will be found to merit some attention as the unvarnished story of an eye-witness.