“What the devil!” a couple of them muttered under their breath. I proceeded very coolly to pay the fifty roubles to the peasant, and thereupon to dismiss him, to his great amazement. “I shall get to the city all right from here,” I informed him. “The deuce you will!” blurted out the officer in charge. “Who are you?” “Why, can’t you see, I am a Sister of Mercy,” I answered impatiently. “Where are you going?” “I am going to see General Kornilov,” I said, laughing. The officers were getting furious. “You will not go a step further,” the chief officer ordered. “Oh, yes, I will,” I announced emphatically. “You are arrested!” was the reply. I burst out laughing, while the officers turned white with fury. “Don’t you recognize me? I am Botchkareva,” and I threw off my head-dress of the Sister of Mercy, revealing my own self. The officers gasped, and then immediately crowded round me congratulating me and shaking me by the hand. Kornilov was notified by telephone of my arrival and of the joke I had played on the sentries. “How do you do, little sister?” he greeted me laughingly when I was brought to his headquarters. The story of my arrival and of the way I had got through the lines amused him very much. He looked very thin and somewhat aged, but as energetic as ever. I reported to him that I was sent from Petrograd by General X and other officers, for the purpose of ascertaining his plans and exact situation. I also informed him that the Bolsheviks were making big preparations for an attack against him, that I had seen eleven cars with ammunition at Zverevo, and that the blow was planned to take place in a couple of days. Kornilov replied that he knew of the impending offensive and that his condition was precarious. He had no money and no food, while the Bolsheviks were amply supplied with both. His soldiers were deserting him one by one. He was cut off from his friends and surrounded by enemies. “Was it your intention to remain with me and join my force?” he asked me. “No,” I said, “I could not fight against my own people. The Russian soldier is dear to me, although he has been led astray for the present.”