i if
EVENING PUBLIC LEDGER- PHILADELPHIA', MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1919
v:?
MARIA BOTCHKAREVA, FEASANI, SOLDIER AND PATRIOT,
c 1
MAY PROVE TO RUSSIA WHAT JOAN OF ARC IS TO FRANCE
-a
J
5i
' 1'i
Ki
ftl
JLife Story of Woman Proves a History of the Revolution and Appall
ing After-EffectsMrs. Emmeline Pankhurst, Noted English
Suffragist, Speaks of Her as the Greatest Woman of the
Century and Gives Reasons
Russia, Inchoate, Invincible, Agonized, Striving, Rising Colossus,
Has Its Incarnation in Botchkareva Besought All Freemen to
I Liberate Her Beloved Country From the Galling Yoke of the
Invading Germans
" r
Vivid Picture Painted of Peasant Poverty.
Child of Destitute Couple, Her Life One of
Grinding Toil She Resolves al Last to
Commit Suicide
Terrible Hardships of Trip to Siberia Are
Graphically Described At Fourteen,
Continuing Years of Soul-Searing Toil,
She Became Main Support of the Family
half years old, small and very thin, breathless. I told her of thc offer
Published by Trtdcrlck A. Stokes Companr. under the tltti of Tathkn. Copyright. 1910, by Troderlilj A. Stokes Company
INTRODUCTION spirit of this phenomenal rustic, n tremendous issues of the revolution.
T
N THE early summer of 1917 the
world was thrilled bv a news item
from Pctrograd announcing the for-
mation by one Maria Botchkareva
of a women's fighting unit under the
name of "The Battalion of Death."
With this announcement an obscure
Russian peasant girl made her debut
1 in the international hall of fame.
From tho depths of dark RuS-
la Maria Botchkareva suddenly
emerged into thc limelight of mod-
em publicity. Foreign correspond-
ents sought her, photographers fol-
lowed her, distinguished visitors
paid their respects to her. All tried
- .
to interpret this arresting person-
ality. The result was a riot of mis-
information and misunderstanding.
Of the numerous published tales
about and interviews with Botch-
kareva that have come under my
observation, there is hardly one
which docs not contain some false
or misleading statement. This is
partly due to the deplorable fact
that tho foreign journalists who in-
t ...i t. : .i T:
to tho world during the momentous
year of 1917 were, with very few
exceptions, ignorant of the Russian
language; and partly to Botchka-
reva's reluctance to take every ad-
in.(.imii. cfronn. ,nn yoy nnnfi-
dence. It was her cherished dream
... t. i. i . u.-i:r
to have a complete record of her life
--.! i I.--1, r" ,,,.
HWllJuiaviu u uuun. .. .j.
This work is the realization of that
dream.
To a very considerable extent,
therefore, the narrative here un-
folded is of the nature of a confes-
ston. When in tne unitea scales m
the summer of 1918, Botchkareva
determined to prepare her autobiog-
raphy. Had she been educated
""enough to boj able to writo a letter
fluentlv. she would nrobablv have
written her own life-story in Rus-
sian and then had it translated into
English. Being semi-illiterate, she
Zing of this book was this: Botch-
kareva recited to me in Russian the
t.nrv nf hnr life, and I recorded it
Hn English in longhand, making
every effort to set down her narra-
tivo verbatim. Not infrequently I
would interrupt her with a question
ordinary memory. It took nearly a
hundred hours, distributed over a
period of three weeks, for her to
tell mc every detail of her romantic
life. '
At our first session Botchkareva
made it clear that what she was go-
Jtng to tell me would bo very differ-
cnt from the yarns credited to her
in. thc press.. She would reveal her
:..,,f 0if nml l,ro,b- nt, tnr.
pthe first time tho scaled book of
Vrpast This shc did, and in doing
found it necessary to secure tho partisanship and selfish patriotism, ber that only a full clean sweep of tu " "-i-iv " "v-. n-inemoer nuw nujipy my jnou.er unowicr. in mus manner i nisposea
ervices of a writer commanding a Overflowing with gentility and kind- the Germans from our soil can give v " ' and hurrie(I as fast was when father arrived, but this of thc entire bottle. Drowsy and
knowledge of her native language, ncss, she is yet capable of savage you the free Russia you lonir for" ""Z ,, ,pat , thr,oufh happiness did not last long. Poverty weak, I took the baby into my arms
which is the only tongue she speaks, outbursts and brutal acts. Credu- 1c;A Ar ' T t, ' a ,fcst- Sud(1en'i' shc heard the, nnd miscry cut it bhort. My father's and tried to rock it to sleep. But 1
Tho procedure followed in the writ- lous and trustful as a child, she can AU UUN virsh. howling of n pack of wolves. Olga's ,igid nntui.0 asserted itself again, myself began to stagger, and fell
Intended to draw out some forgotten traits a4re illustrate(1 in alm;st XU yitch Frolkov, was born into kf of brcad wa """crcd
experiences. However, one of Bokh- Take away from serfdom at Nikolsko, a village in' the d,rfct "s trampled in the
kareva's natural gifts is an extra- . .. , . "m rovln,n of VoVfrnrnj H ,. Out of breath, and without he
so ruined completely several widely writer to keep the narrative down and was Promoted to thc rank of After the wedding the young cou
circulatcd talcs about her. Perhaps to a strict recital of facts.' It is sergeant. j!0 VC Nikolsko, my father s
the chief of these is the statement really incidental that this record is Returning home at the end of the birthplace, where he had inherited u
the chic: ot tneso is tne statement
that' Botchkareva had enlisted as a
,,,... ., i 4
that' Botchkareva had enlisted as a
... ., i .
h fallen husband Whether his
her. fallen husband, wnetnor tnis
pnifiinr 111111 iruiiu lu war lu uvcniru
invcnuon wS uiu prouu ut nei
vown mind or was attributed to hcr
, joriginally by somo prolific corrc-
.Bponaenv, i uu imi. nuuw. m .iy
event it was a handy answer to the
eternal question of tho pestiferous
Journalists as to how she came to
'be a soldier. Unable to explain to
ino conventional worm mm. pro-
found impulse which really drovo
her to hcr remarkable destiny, she
adopted this excuse until shc had
an opportunity to record thc full
story of her daring life. '
Thi. UnrAr ii.iii nion rxmm'n tinf
distrustful attitude based on mis-
understanding tnat nas uecn mani
festcd toward Botchkareva In radi-
cal circles. When she arrived in
Z Un ted State she was Immedi-
Ml ,. ri.j . . .--..-i .i...
'. tlonary," royalist and sinister in-
' triguer by the extremists. That
' was a grave injustice to her. She
HLPIV I1IL11CU ItH U LUUULCfiUVUlU
is Ignorant of politics, contemptu-
.... . ... ,1 . .
oub of intrigue, ana spiritually xar
and above party strife. Her mis-
s'lon in life was to free Russia from
K the German yoke.
, Being placed virtually in the po-
aition of a father confessor, it was
' wy privilege to commune with the Russian army at the front to the experience, which . she could never but
' i. l -,,, u.iv,. V-ij-N '. L ' ' aL-a'- i.ibditL. r, ;.'. jjaj. ,'L .... . , l iHiM Til . tVfVidMiW ... ...VjatBi
i ,? V 'jffitiXi'ri- n' 'iiiMMBfMHtoVSirffia tfh "mKWBwmi i 'ivSmSmBBIiMlfKii
m iuiK0BFKtKSBtKEtzKHKKKfKBKtKKHflBfBKfKtSMstnBX fc.SliBHBK7BsBWlBHBBVE
. v. mirxinMmmmmBtfmiammrTMMmmimaammK.iiem r
privilege I shall ever esteem ns
Priceless. She not only laid bare
before mc every detail of her nmaz-
5n ,ife that memory could resur-
rcct' but n,so allowed mc to ex-
plore thc nooks nd corners of her
benrt to n Jf" l.hat.n? frIenJ f
ho1rB cr .dld; MnintaininR a crttl-
cal "Wtudo from tttc beginning of
Ur assoc't.on, I was gradually
ojchclmcd b the largeness of her
w,,. , -
BoSEv. M Mmlln
JSSSS". S h the
woman of lhc ccnt Tho Tn
unf c,i . .. t." ,
v.. .. uiiiw nus OUUI1 OI Arc
a peasant girl," wrote a corrc-
spondent in July, 1917; "Maria
Botchkareva is her modern paral-
lei." Indeed, in the annals of hls-
tory since the days of the Maid of
Orleans wo encounter no feminine
figure equal to Botchkareva. Like
Joan oi Arc this Russian peasant
sirl dedicated her life to her coun-
try's cause. If Botchkareva failed
and this 5s Vt problematical, for
who will dare forecast the future
of "ssm7 it would not lessen her
? . " "" UU4 "",ra""-
,st". ag0 ,s no mcasuro of truc
gcnius-
L,ke Joan of Arc Botchkareva is
tnC Symbol Of her COUntry. Can
ihfc be a n,orc f riki" incarnation
f France than thnt conveyed by the
, ' .. muw ...vcyca uy mc
""-." "' "".i uuicimurcva
: n (-,,,)! 4,,JB,. ,
. ,,,. ,Uu , , .. , '.
,.:. rM......i 4 .l. .!...
bdnff nb,e to gcribbc hef own
wvt,o. iiliutatcu IU uiu cxicni. OI
,vkh difllcultVi shc ,B cndowed with
the genius of ,ogic Ignorant of hls.
name
(. and literature, the natural hi.
cidity of her mind is such as to
cad her directly to the very few
fundamental truths of lifV Tirllirim,
with all tho fervor of her primitive
Knnh shn U tnlomr in n -fcl,:r,
behoving a philosopher. Devoted
to her country
untry with every fiber of
her being, bhc is free of impassioned
be easily incited against people and
xnlnBs- mirepia and rash as a
fighter, her desire to live on occa-
sions as indescribably pathetic. In
. "nKar a em do d es al
R V " ' a rncler's cs ot
?",. .1. , "
!,.,.,, H ,. i,au k ,..
tl(m Jn Botchkareva. Know Botch-
kcreva and vou shaji know Russi8(
tbat jnchoate, invincible, agonized!
striving, rising Colossus, in all its
depth and breadth.
It must be made unmistakably
clear hero that the motives rcspon-
sible for this book were purely per-
sonal. In its origin this work is
exclusively a human dnciimpnt n ,..
ord of exuberant life. It was the
purpose of Botchkareva and the
....... " w ura i
valuable not only as a biography of
startlinir nersonalitv. but as a rv.
valuable not only as a biography of
startline- nersonalitv. but as b vpv.
" ' " "
elation o ccrtain Phascs of n mo-
mmtovu pcri0d in human history
- -
' . . , , v' v
Because Botchkareva nlways has
been ftnd BtJ1j .g fctrictl nonparti8an
and bCause 8ho does not pretend to
pnss judgmcnt upon events and nlen(
h reveiati0ns are of nrlmn imnnr!
tancc. The reader gets a picture of
Kcrenaky In nction that completely
efraCcs all thnt has hitherto been
gajd 0f this tragic but typical prod-
uct of tho Russian intelligentsia,
Kornilov, Rodzianko, Lcnine and
Trotsky and somo other outstanding
personalities of the Russian revolu-
tion appear in these pages exactly
"-v " uiu.
Not a single book, so far as I
know, has appeared yet giving nn
accou'nt of how the Russian army at
.i,w....j i 1..1
vitw AviW VM,WVV4 IU HIO ItlWlUHUlli
What was the state of mind of tho
Russian soldier In the trenches
which wns after all the decisive fnc-
tor in tho developments that follow-
.t j....,... ., . ... .1. .. .
ca, aunng mo nrsi oigni monms oi
1917? No history of unshackled
Russia will be complete without nn
answer to this vital question. This
book is the first to disclose the re-
actions and emotions of the vast
and is of cspcclnl value coming from
a veteran peasant soldier of the rank
and file.
Perhaps surpassing all else in in-
terest is the horrible picture we get
of Bolshevism in action. With the
claims of theoretical Bolshevism to
establish an order of social equality
on earth Botchkareva has no quar-
,. she said so to Lcnine and
Trotsky personally. But then came
"cr experiences with Bolshevism in
PmCtiCC' a"d th"C fll0WS n b,00tl-
"?"' "'ff i,.f " 'f ?'
obocracy th"l,n h for(Cr ,n
tho memory of thc reader.
Botchkareva left tho United
States toward the end of July, 1918,
after having attained thc purpose of
her visit an interview with Presi-
dcnt Wilson. She Went to England
and thence to Archangel, where she
arrived early in September. Accord-
i"K to a newspaper dispatch, she
caused the following proclamation to
bo posted in villnge squares and
country churchos:
"I nm n RiiKsinn nra.nnt nml eM.
dier. At the request of the soldiers
ana peasants i went to America ami
Great Britain to ask these countries
for military help for Russia,
The Anies understand our own
mUfnrriinne Dml T ...,, u v.
Anicd armies which camc on, for
tu e t-.i. .. j..- .
thc purpose of helping to drive out
our deadly enemies, tho Germans,
"J "'"""'"I
and not to interfere with our in-
ternal affairs. After tho war is over
the Allied troops will leave Russian
soil.
"L on my own part, request al
loyal free sons of Russia, without
rcferencc to party, to come together,
actinE as one 'with the Allied forces,
who, under the Russian flag, come
to free Russia from the German
yoke and in order to hpln tho now
frco Russian army with nil forces,
including Russia, to beat the enemy.
"Soldiers and peasants! Remem-
w 10rK wt November, 1918.
PART ONF YOUTH"
J
UiAFIfcR I
,y childhood of Toil
TlTY FATHER. Leonti s.m.n.
hundred vcrsts fa verst is hm. ..
thirds of a mile) north of Moscow.
He was fifteen when Alexander II
emancipated the serfs in 18G1, and
remembers that historic event vivid-
!'. heing fond even now of telling
of tbe days of his boyhood. Im-
Pressed into the army in tho early
seventies, he served during thc
Russo-Turkish wnr of 1877-78, and
distinguished himself for braverv.
receiving several medals. When a
soldier he learned to read and write,
. . .. , , .
r he passed through Tcharanda,
a fishermen's settlement on the shore
. n icnaranaa,
a fishermen's settlement on the shore
......
of a lake, in the county of Kirilov,
-within forty versts of Nikolsko. No
, dre.d .. mnu,n, miutr
, nlf nnH h.ri ,v!fi, .. ...
KHn in his pocket, he cut quite a fig-
ure in the poor hamlet of Tchar-
anda. There he met my mother, Olga,
the eldest daughter of Elizar Naza-
rev, perhaps the most destitute
teller of tho place.
Elizar, with his wifo and three
dnughters, occupied a shabby hut
on thc sandy shore of the lake. So
poor was he that he could not af-
ford to buy a horse to carry his catch
to the city, and was compelled to sell
it. far below tho market nrleo. to
a traveling buyer. The income thus
" " """'""n to Keep ine
family from hunger. Bread was
alwaya a luxury in the little cabin,
The soil was not tillable. -Elizar's
if.Hi,iw.if....
. tiwm ... u LIC JllUiV
prosperous peasants in the vicinity
for ten kopecks(a kopeck is normally
half a cent) a day to labor from
sunrise to sunset. But even this ad
ji.i 1 . . ,
muunm money wub noi always 10
be had. Then Olga would be sent
out to beg for bread in tho neigh-
boring villages.
Once, when scarcely ten years old,
little Olga underwent a harrowing
ater reca11 without horror. Start-
' K nomt' Wltn " Daske"ul 0l urcaU
collected from several villages, she
' eart a most slopped ueating. ino
. .... . f ,i ..". ,.
.? V U.' SM 1C" unconscloU3
B
found hersclf a,one The wo,v ap.
parently had sniffed her prostrate
body and gone their, way. Her bas-
cious hurden, she arrived home.
!t was in such circumstances that
my mother grew to be nineteen,,
wbcn sne attracted th'c attention of
onil Frolkov, who was then stop-
nins n Tcharanda on his way homo
from the war. She was immensely
fi"ttcred when he courted her. lie
cven "ought her a pair of shoes for
a Present, the first shoes Mio had
ever worn. This captivated the hum-
b'e OI?a completely, bhe joyously
accepted his marriage proposal.
. . , , .
.small tract of land.
together, and with
". ;., , Sl
". v. j ,. ..,
together, and with great difllculty
uiuy uucu ii.
nonaged to make ends meet. My
two elder sisters, Arina and Sliuia,
were horn here, increasing the nov-
.. nf mv nnrents. Mv fnthcr.
about this time, took to drinking,
and began to maltreat and beat his
wife. He was by nature morose and
egotistic. Want was now making
him cruel. My mother's life with
him became one of misery. She wns
consianuy in iers, .uwuys plenums
for mercy and praying to God.
I was born in July, 1889, the third
S'rl in the family. At that time
many railroads were being built
throughout thc country. When I
was a year old, my father, who had
onco been stationed at Tsarskoyc-
""'"i "" - .." -..
tho capital, decided to go to Petro-
crad to seek work. We were left
without money. He wrote no let-
. On the brink of starvation,
- - . .--.
my mother somehow contrived, with
the aid of kind neighbors, to keep
herself and her children alive.
When I was nearly six years old
n lntlr.r r11110 frnm fntbor iV,n fit
"- 1
he hnd written us during the Ave
years of his absence. He had broken
his right leg and, as soon as he wns
able to travel, naa started home. My
mother wept bitterly at the, news,
was glad to hear from father,
Jfc
1 ! rmrv. .Kfii.s.irTft. . ..ttrfr,,,
U'AQ tnfimmri lint linni. nt t in ininftad . 1. 1. 1 il il ji t if
Maria Doldikurcva as a private soldier
whom she had almost given up for
cad. In spite of his harshness
toward her, s.hc still loved bim.
j,ardl hnd , wh
a fouith child, also a girl, arrived
:.. oul. familv. And there was no
bread in thc house.
From al, pnrt8 of 01Ir scction of
the country peasants were migrat-
ing that year to Siberia, where tho
in all government allowed them large find the culprit. I shall always re
mud. grants of Jand. My father wanted member the whipping I got on that
r pre- to go, but mother was opposed to it. occasion.
However, when our neighbor, Vcrev-
kin, who had left some time pre-
vious for Siberia, wrote glowingly
f the new country, niy father made
llp his mind to go, too.
jIost of thc men wouid K0 aione)
obtain grnntl 0f andk till them,
buj(I homesteads, and then return
qv famjijes. Those of tho
pc.lsants who took theh. famiiies
.,
gQ
that by the time we got to Tcheli-
abinsk, thc last tciminal in Euro-
pea'n Russia, and the government
distribution point, we had not a
-
At the station my father
' ... .... ' .,..
obtained some hot water to make
ten, while my two elder sisters were
sent to beg for biead.
sent w '
Wo were nssiened to Kuskovo. a
hundred and twenty versts beyond
Tomsk. At every station my sisters
would beg food, while father filled
our tea-kettle with hot water. Thus
We cot alone: till Tomsk was
reached. Our grant of land was in
the midst of tho taiga, thc virgin
Siberian forest. There could be no
thought of immediately settling on
jt( g0 my father remained in Tomsk,
while the rest of us were sent on to
Kuskovo. My sisters went to work
,. u,,,i ,i ,.,,ui r.. ....
gtn, strong nnd in good health,
bakC(j brcntj ror a living, while I
took earo of the b(b
.yyn. w" CXpCCt!nff
visitors. She had baked some cakes
... ...
"' Wt ' a Pint ot vodKa,
wwch she put on the shelf. While
e was at work I tried to lull tho
haby to sleep. But baby was rest-
less. Crying incessantly. I did not
. ----.
know how to calm her. Then my
eyes fell on the bottlo of vodka.
"It must be a very gqod thing," I
thought, and decided to give a
glass to baby. Before doing so I
tasted it myself. J was bitter, but
w wl AjKWiSl4 1 m .. 1 ' r. wnjv--" " " -" rWftft T-iJ
T.f'XLmHarffHiMiMf. ..'.. T.UMmiM. . n impfc "s '. r v-n
.j-Mmp, . , i,it,3jLmMam.m mm ! ijnaiwi'i'ifli mr1 ir 1 iniiwitninnii'ii m
' iilnTlMMaii iilTTt 1 1 IMTT ITfTMl n nil i MTTTiri 11
ntod more. I drank
the first cup
and, the bitterness
I having somewhat worn off, I drained
with tho chil(, to thc floor.
Our mother found us there,
scrcamlnir at the ton of our voices.
Presently the visitors arrived, and
my mother reached for the bottle,
only to discover that it had been
emptied. It did not take her long to
Toward winter father arrived
fiom Tomsk. He brought little
money with him. The winter was
severe, and epidemics were raging
in the country. Wo fell sick one by
one, father, mother, then all tho
prs. As there was no bread in the
house, and no money to buy any-
thing, the community took care of
us till spring, housing and feeding
n mirnrlo nil of ns
eseape(1 deathi bul our cIothea had
become rags. Our shoes fell to
pieces. My parents decided to move
to Tomsk, where we arrived barc-
loot and tattered, finding shelter at
a Por inn on thc outskirts of the
,..
town.
My father would work only a
couple of days a week. He was
l"z'. The remainder of the week
he idled away and drank. My sis-
rs serveu as nursemaid, wiuiu
mother worked in a bakery, keeping
the baby and mc with her. We slept
in the loft of a stable, with the
horses stamping below us. Our bed
ws oi straw, inia on me noor,
which consisted of unshnven planks
thrown across logs. Soon thc baker's
wite began to object to feeding an
extra mouth, which belonged to me.
' wna then over eight yenrs old.
wi,., ,in't ,... ...i i,- n ...ri.i
She can earn hcr own bread," she
nrgued.'
u '"" ""- '
' ? ,? T,
tho proprieticss became impatient,
threaten.ng to throw us all out.
Finally father came to sec 1
with the good tidings that he h
sec us,
that he had
f0Und a nlace for me. J wns to care
tn .. fltfn.unar.nM !, i ,nf.i.n f-
.. ..... -,.....-..... ,, .., 4t... ,
my board and eighty-five kopecks n
month.
"If you do well," my father added,
"you will by and by receive a ruble."
Such was the beginning of my
career in life. I was eight and a
I bomchow wa
fc.4.
a.
I had never before left my mother's
side, and both of us wept bitterly at
parting. It was a gray, painful, in
comprehensible world into which I
was being led by my father. My
view of it was further blurred by a
stream of tears.
I took care of thc little boy for
several days. One afternoon, while
amusing him by making tigurcs in
the sand, I myself became so en
grossed in the game that I quarreled
frith my charge, which led to a fight.
I remember feeling keenly that I
was in the right. But the child's
mother did not inquire into thc mat
ter. She heard his screams and
spanked me for it.
I was deeply hurt by thc unde-
served spanking administered by a
strange woman.
"Where was my mother? Why
did not she come to avenge me?"
My mother did not answer my
cries. Nobody did. I felt miserable.
How wrong was the world", how un
just! It was not worth while living
in such a world.
My feet were bare. My dress was
nil in mis. NnhoHv ml in ram
for mc. I was all alone, without
friends, and nobody knew of the
yearning in my heart. I would drown
myself, I thought. Yes, I would run
to the river nnd drown myself. Then
I would go up, free of all pain, into
the arms of God.
I resolved to slip out at the first
chance and jump into the river, but
before the opportunity presented
itself my father called. He found
me all in tears.
What's the matter, Manka?" he
asked.
"I am going to drown myself,
papa." I answered sadly.
"Grcnt Heavens! What's hap-
pened, you foolish child?"
I then poured my heart out to him.
begging to be taken to mother. He
caressed mo and talked of mother's
distress if I left my place. He prom-
ised to buy me a pair of shoes, if I
remained.
But I did not stay long. The little
boy, having seen his m-'u-r punish
me, began to take advan.agc of me,
making life quite unbeai able. Fi-
nally I ran nway and wandered
about town till dnik. looking for my
mother. It was late when a police-
man picke 1 me up crying in the
street and carried me to thc police
stntion. The officer in charge of the
station took mc to his home for the
night.
His houso was rather large. I had
never been in such a house before.
When I awoke in the morning it
seemed to me that there were a
great many doors in it nnd all of
them aroused my curiosity. As I
J
opened one of the doors, I beheld
tho police officer asleep on a
bed
with a pistol alongside of him. I
wanted to bent a hasty retreat, but
he awoke. He seized the pistol and,
still dazed from sleep, threatened mc
with it. Frightened, I ran out of
the room.
My father, meanwhile, had been
informed of my flight and had gone
to the police station in search of
me. no was reierrcu 10 ine ponce
officer's home. There he found me,
weeping on the porch, and took me
to my mother.
My parents then decided to estab-
lish a home. All their capital
amounted to six rubles. They rented
a basement for three rubles a
month. Two rubles my father in-
vested in some second-hand furni-
ture, consisting of n lame table and
benches, nnd a few utensils. With
a few kopecks from thc last ruble
in her purse my mother prepared
some food for us. She sent mc to
buy a kopeck's worth of salt.
The grocery store of the street
was owned by a Jewess, named Nas-
tasia Leontievna Fuchsman. She
looked at me closely when I entered
her store, recognizing that I was a
stranger In the street, and asked
me.
"Whose are youl
i
.
We jUSt
"I am of the Frolkovs.
iiiuvuu iniu mu uuscinciib 111 mu next
block."
11T . .., . , . . , .
"I need a little girl to help me out.
Would you ike to work for me?"
she asked. "I'll give you a ruble a
month and board.
I was overjoyed and started for
home at such speed that by the time
1 got to my moincr i wast quite
,;.,fvf.,.r!1Sa:
from ),e grocery woman.
"But," I added, "she is a Jewess."
I had heard so man1 things of
Jews that I was rather afraid, on
second thought, to live under the
same roof with a Jewess. My
mother calmed my fears on that
score and went to the grocery to
have a talk with the proprietress
she came back satisfied, and I en
tercd upon my apprenticeship to
Naatasia Lconticvna.
It was not an easy life. I learned
to wait on customers, to run er
rands, to do everything in the house
from cooking and sewing to scrub
bing floors. All day I slaved with
out rest, and at night I slent on a
box in tho passageway between the
store and house. My monthly earn
ings went to my mother, but they
never sufficed to drive the specter
of starvation away from my home.
My father earned little, but drank
much, and developed his severe
temper even more.
In time I got a raise to two rubles
a month. But as I grew I required
more clothes, which my mother had
to suPP'y mc from my allowance
iusiusiu iconiicvna was exacting
nnd not infrequently punished me.
But she nlso loved me as though
I had been her own daughter, and
always tried to make up for harsh
treatment. I owe a great deal to
her, as she taught me to do almost
everything, both in her business nnd
.... , T .1
in housework. -
, must have bccn nbout eleven
when in a flt of t T eled
,vith Nastasia Leontievna. Her bro-
ther freauented the theatre nnH nn.
stantIy taked of u , neyer quUe
understood what a theatre was 1ik.
but it allured me, and I resolved
0ne evening to get acquainted with
that place of wonders. I asked Nas-
tasia Leontievna for money to go
there. She refused,
"You little moujitchka (a peasant
woman), what do you want with the
theatre?" she nsked derisively.
..you d d Jewcss;.. j threw
jnto hcr face fitfully, nnd ran out
of the store T wcnt t0 my mother
iltu told" hcr of thc incident. She
was horrified.
"But now hc won't take you back
what will wc do without your
waKes. Marusia? How will we nav
thc rent? Wc will have to go bogging
again." And she cried.
After some time my employer
came after me, rebuking me for
my quick temper.
"How could I have known that
you were so anxious to go to the
theatre?" she asked. "All right,
I'll give you fifteen kopecks every
Sunday so that you can go."
I became a steady Sunday attend
U .--,11- . A .1 ' .
.' . "' V" """" "mng wun
.UH.-IC31. inu piayers, ineir
niiuiiKu ki"'" nu manners or
speech.
Five years I worked for Nastasia
Leontievna, assuming greater duties
with the advance of my yenrs.
Early in the morning I would rise,
open the shutters, knead the dough,
nnd sweep or scrub the floors. I
finally grew wenry of this daily
grind and began to think of find-
itlK other work. But my mother
was sick and futher worked less
and less, drinking most of the time,
He grew more brutal, beating us all.
unmercifully. My sisters were forced
to stay away from home. Shura
married at sixteen, and I, fourteen
yenrs old, become the mainstay of
the family. It was often necessary
to get my pay in advance in order
t0 kecP the family from starving,
The temptation to steal camo to
me suddenly one day. I had never
stolen anything before, and Nastasia
Leontievna repeatedly pointed out
this virtue in me to her friends.
"Here is a moujitchka who
doesn't steal," she would say. But
ono timc- on unpacking u barrel of
suKar delivered at the store, I found,
instead of the usual six susar-
loaves- seven The impulse to take
the extra loaf of sugar wns irre-
sisviuie. mgnt 1 smuggiea II
stealthily out of the store and took
,t l.nm Mv fnthrr wns natnnlslxw!
"What have you done, Marusia?
Take it back Immediately," hq or-
. . T . . V. ,..
the wag not rea rf
LeontIevna's, that the error had been
made nt the reflnery( Then
father consented to Veep it.
(coNTlNUKp TQMOltno
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