The Red Cross Girls with the Russian Army | Page 9

smoothing of his cover the girl turned away. The
Russian peasant is always a devout Catholic, so Mildred realized that

he would wish a priest with him at the end.
She had walked only a few feet from the young soldier's bedside when
an unaccustomed atmosphere of excitement in the ward arrested her
attention.
It would not be necessary for her to summon a priest; some one must
have anticipated her desire. For the priest was even now approaching.
However, he was a familiar figure, passing hourly among the wounded
and their attendants; his presence would cause no excitement.
The next instant Mildred understood the priest was not alone. He was
accompanied by one of the most famous men in all Europe.
Although she had never seen him until this instant, Mildred Thornton
had not a moment's doubt of the man's identity. This was the
Commander of the fortress at Grovno, General Dmitri Alexis, at the
present hour the bulwark of many Russian hopes.
For the past few weeks the Germans had been driving the Russians
farther and farther back beyond the boundaries of Poland and near the
heart of Russia. Here at Grovno the Russian army was expected to
make a victorious stand. The faith of the Russian people was centered
in General Dmitri Alexis.
Unlike most Russian officers, he had always been devoted to the
interests of the common people, although a son of one of Russia's noble
families. But he was known to be a shy, quiet man with little to say for
himself, who had risen to his present rank by sheer ability.
To Mildred's eyes he seemed almost an old man; in fact, he must have
been about fifty. His hair was iron gray, but unlike most Russians his
eyes were a dark blue. As he wore no beard, the lines about his mouth
were so stern as to be almost forbidding.
Mildred knew that he was an intimate personal friend of the Czar and
realized just to what extent he must feel the weight of his present
responsibilities.

Therefore she was the more surprised at his appearance in the hospital
ward.
Except for a courtly inclination of his head the great man paid no
attention to the greetings that were offered him by the nurses and
doctors. Walking down the center of the room he had eyes only for the
wounded men who lined the two walls. Then his sternness relaxed and
his smile became a curious compound of pity and regret.
Mildred found herself staring without regard to good manners or
breeding. Why should this man create such an atmosphere of trust and
respect? She had seen other great generals in the armies of the Allies
before today, but never one who had made such an impression.
General Alexis and the priest paused by the bedside of the Russian boy
who was Mildred's patient.
There the great man's face softened until it became almost womanish in
its sympathy. Slowly and reverently the dying boy attempted to raise
his general's hand to his lips.
General Alexis said a few words in Russian which the young soldier
understood, but Mildred could not. For he attempted to shake his head,
to whisper a denial, then smiling dropped his arms down by his sides.
Mildred made no effort to move forward to assist him, for she did not
feel that she had a place in the little group at this moment. She merely
watched and waited, trying to see clearly through the mist in her eyes.
The boy's broad chest, strong once as a young giant's, but now with a
scarcely beating heart beneath it, quivered with what seemed a final
emotion. The same instant General Alexis leaned down and pinned
against the white cotton of his rough shirt the iron cross of all the
Russias. Afterwards he kissed him as simply as a woman might have
done.
That was all! So natural and so quiet it was, Mildred Thornton herself
was hardly aware of the significance of the little scene she had just

witnessed.
Here in a country where the gulf between the rich and the poor, the
humble and the great was well nigh impassable, a single act of courage
had bridged it.
What act of valor Peter had performed Mildred never knew. She only
knew that it had called from his duties one of the greatest men in
Europe, that he might by his presence and with his own hands show
homage to the humblest of soldiers.
When the simple ceremony was over the boy lay quite still, scarcely
noticing that his general knelt down beside his bed. For his eyes were
almost closing.
Neither did Mildred dare move or speak.
Against the walls the other nurses and doctors stood quiet as wooden
figures, while the wounded