The ladies of Port Arthur were neither numerous nor much in evidence. The first woman to arrive at the port was the wife of the postmaster, and every Russian in the fortress went to the shore to greet her. The practice was kept up for a long time, but there were comparatively few present when the postmaster’s wife slipped away after the war had begun, for she was one of the first to leave. The first woman who died in Port Arthur, after the Russian occupation, was a Scotch adventuress named Dolly Andersen, who was cruelly done to death in the house of some Jews amongst whom she had fallen, long before any semblance of civil authority had been established. The women most conspicuous latterly were the large troupes of chorus girls brought in for the vaudeville halls, and these artistes were for the most part Jewesses from eastern Europe. No doubt the majority of the officials of all the services saw everything there was to be seen in the _starai gorod_ and China Town too, but only a minority made a habit of riotous living. In Port Arthur, as elsewhere, the majority ordinarily went through their daily duties in humdrum fashion and occupied their leisure in following a simple hobby, visiting their friends, and waiting for the morrow. Very few took keen interest in their work; the really busy people were the commercial men, Russians, Jews, foreigners and Chinese--these men had no time to spare from the soul-engrossing game of money-making. To me the officers and men of both services seemed decidedly apathetic, considering that almost everybody believed that war was probable, if not imminent, and that for weeks past Port Arthur had been visited continuously by special war correspondents from every country. The Russians were insensible to the danger, but not because of their own preparedness to meet attack, for it cannot be said of them that they so conducted themselves in times of peace as to be ready for war if it came unexpectedly. On the contrary, they danced under the sword of Damocles, and set it swinging by sawing at the delicate thread by which it was suspended. And they are the more blameworthy inasmuch as Russia placed in their hands a trust they betrayed, unwittingly it is true, by their fatuous neglect. The handwriting was upon the wall, but they heeded it not, and, like their neighbours the Chinese, who threw up millions of hummocks to impress the foreign invaders with the vastness of their number and consequent invincibility, they relied upon the advertised strength and impregnability of their great fortress to ward off attack and secure for themselves immunity from danger. The authorities really believed that even if Japan did make war upon Russia, the great stronghold of Port Arthur would be one of the last places they would attempt to assault.