_Mildred's Return_
On the same afternoon that Nona and Barbara read the news of Sonya
Valesky's sentence, Mildred Thornton came to Petrograd.
Her return was characteristic of Mildred.
It was a little past twilight and Nona and Barbara were in their shabby
sitting room; they now shared the same bedroom in the new lodgings. Nona
had been crying, and in order to try and make her forget, Barbara was
reading aloud. She had received a package of books and magazines from
Dick Thornton earlier in the day, but this was her first chance to look
them over.
Although endeavoring to listen, in reality Nona's attention was only
pretence. Her thoughts were with the Russian woman whose life had been
so strangely associated with her own. It seemed to Nona that she had
not realized how much she cared for Sonya Valesky until these last few
weeks. She had become like an exquisite older sister whom she might
possibly have had as a companion and friend. Never had Nona been more
conscious of her own loneliness. It is true that she had been more or
less lonely all her life, but this she had taken as a matter of course.
Now in these last few hours she had suddenly been overwhelmed by the
thought.
Apparently their work as Red Cross nurses in Europe was nearly over.
At least, when Mildred finally joined them, the three girls intended
returning to France to spend a little time with Madame Castaigne and
Eugenia. Then Barbara and Mildred would doubtless go back to their
homes in the United States. Barbara would be married in a short time
and Mildred would not wish to remain longer away from her mother and
father. But Nona had no home and no people to whom she might return.
The girl was glad at this moment that there were no lights in their
sitting room save the two candles which were directly behind Barbara's
book. She did not wish the younger girl to guess the extent of her
depression.
Yet it was Nona who first heard the knock at their sitting room door.
Quickly as possible she got up and walked forward to open it, not even
attempting to smooth her hair or to wipe the traces of tears from her
face. Barbara did not glance from the page of her book, both girls were
so convinced that it was only the woman who usually brought them their
dinner at this hour.
When Nona opened the door, Mildred took her by both shoulders and
quietly kissed her.
"Mildred!" It was Nona's exclamation that finally aroused Barbara Meade.
But even then, although Barbara rose to her feet, dropping her book on
the floor, she did not move forward. She let Mildred come and put her
arms around her and kiss her on both cheeks. Then Mildred stood still in
the center of the room and smiled at her two friends.
"Won't either one of you say she is glad to see me?" she asked, with a
mixture of gayety and wistfulness.
By this time Barbara and Nona were both embracing the newcomer at once,
and at the same time attempting to remove her wraps. Under her nursing
coat Mildred was wearing a long sable coat, suitable for a princess, but
neither of the girls noticed it in the excitement of her arrival.
"Where did you come from? Oh, Mildred, what have you been doing all this
time? I have nearly died of anxiety." Barbara protested. "Surely you
could have gotten us some word, if only to say you were alive."
Mildred shook her head. "I couldn't, dear. I have come back to you the
very first moment it was possible. But it is a long story. I can't tell
you all at once. May I sit down?"
At last Nona and Barbara had the grace to observe that Mildred looked
white and tired.
"I arrived in Petrograd about half an hour ago with General Alexis and
his staff and the Russian maid who has been with us ever since we were
left behind at Grovno," she explained, when her friends had thrust her
unceremoniously into their only comfortable chair.
"I told General Alexis that I must find you at once, so we drove to the
United States Embassy and they gave us your address. Then they left me
here. I am dreadfully hungry; can't we have something to eat before I
finish my story?"
"Certainly not," Barbara insisted, "or not until you have answered two
or three more questions. For I am much more apt to die of curiosity than
you are to perish of starvation. How long did you remain at Grovno, and
did the Germans ever capture you? I suppose your general didn't die, if
he escorted you to our humble door. But if he wasn't desperately ill,
why did he have you stay so long in a position of such danger?" And
Barbara ceased to ask more questions simply because her breath had given
out.
At the same instant Nona signaled a warning glance. Mildred was almost
fainting with exhaustion. In these last few weeks she must have passed
through difficult experiences and naturally she could not tell them
everything at once.
"Please go downstairs and ask that dinner be sent up, Barbara," Nona
demanded. "And get soup or milk or something special; if not I'll make
some beef tea for Mildred on the alcohol lamp. Mildred, suppose you put
on my wrapper and lie down until after you have eaten, then we can talk
as long as you have strength for."
And the girls did talk until nearly midnight in spite of Mildred's
fatigue. She was perfectly well, only tired, she insisted, and greatly
excited at seeing Nona and Barbara again.
She had passed through events in these past few weeks such as few women
have ever known. But of course Mildred related what had taken place in a
simple, almost matter of fact fashion. She was so little given to
heroics, or to thinking of herself as a conspicuous personage.
"Yes, they had stayed on at Grovno until almost the hour when the
Germans entered the old fortress. General Alexis had been wounded,
but had not considered his wound serious and would not desert his
post until he had finally accomplished his purpose. For the last
hour virtually only six persons had kept the German army from
entering the fortifications: General Alexis, Colonel Feodorovitch,
two lieutenants and two private soldiers, although the Russian
physician, who had remained with his commander, had turned soldier
toward the last."
"But you don't mean that you continued inside the fort to the very end?"
Barbara demanded almost angrily. "I suppose you were forgotten."
"I think I was at the last," Mildred returned. "You see, at first when
General Alexis discovered that I was the Red Cross nurse who had been
chosen to stay behind, he was angry and insisted that I leave at once.
But by the time he learned of my presence, it was too late to find me an
escort. Besides, the doctor did not wish me to go. There was a Russian
woman, a kind of servant, who was also with us, and did the cooking, I
believe, if we ever ate. Anyhow, she stayed with me and looked after me
when she could, so that I was never actually alone."
"But Mildred," Nona asked, guessing at many details that her friend did
not mention, "how did you finally get away at last? And have you come
directly here from Grovno? Surely the fort did not hold out all these
weeks."
"No, we have been away from Grovno nearly two weeks, I can't remember
the exact passage of time very well," Mildred explained, lifting her
hands to let down the long braids of her heavy flaxen hair, and allowing
the hairpins to drop girl fashion, carelessly into her lap. She was
wearing Nona's kimono, and it is always easier to talk confidentially
with one's hair down, if one happens to have the mass that Mildred had.
The very weight of it was oppressive when she was tired.
"Yes, it was terribly interesting toward the last," she went on,
"although I don't believe even then we were in great danger. General
Alexis is too wise to have permitted that. Everything was in readiness;
all the plans were made days beforehand for our getting away. The
different regiments of private soldiers with their officers continued
to march away from Grovno, and so much ammunition was moved that I think
almost no stores of any value were left. Then the moment finally came
for our own retreat."
To Barbara's intense irritation, Mildred actually paused for an instant
at this point in her story. But she continued almost immediately.
"There was an underground passage outside the fort, leading all the way
to the river. The seven of us at last left the fort together. By this
time General Alexis had almost to be carried, the pain from his wound
had grown so intense. Then every once in a while, as we went on, one of
the soldiers would place a bomb in such a position that it would explode
after we had gone. In this way the underground passage was wrecked, so
there never was any possibility of the Germans being able to follow us.
When we reached the bridge over the river two motor cars were waiting
for us. Colonel Feodorovitch, one of the lieutenants and the two private
soldiers stayed to see that the last bridge over the Styr was blown up.
The other five, General Alexis, his physician, and one officer and we
two women started west in an effort to join the retreating regiments,
who were to come up with a portion of the Grand Duke's army."
"Goodness, Mildred Thornton, what an experience you have been through!"
Nona ejaculated. "Yet you talk as quietly as if it were almost an
ordinary occurrence!"
Mildred shook her head. "It is not because I feel it an ordinary
experience, Nona, but because so much has happened I am overpowered by
the bigness of it. Really, when we got safely away from the fort, the
battle, or at least my share in it, was only about to begin. We had gone
a few miles into the country, when General Alexis became desperately
ill. Unless he could have immediate attention his physician said there
was no possible hope for his life."
Barbara had by this time slipped out of her chair and was sitting on the
floor with her hands clasped over her knees, looking all eyes, and
rocking herself slowly back and forward as a relief for her excitement.
"But you brought your general back with you, Mildred Thornton, or you
said you did. How on earth did you manage about him?" she interrupted.
"That is just what I am going to tell you, because that explains where I
have been and why I have not been able to let you hear from me. Our
Russian doctor ordered our motor car stopped and we entered a Russian
house some distance from any main road. We purposely chose a house that
had been deserted, and there we have been for two weeks, struggling to
save the life of General Alexis. Of course, his wound had been more
serious than he would admit. The wonder is that he is still alive!"
"But he has recovered?" Barbara inquired with her usual unsatisfied
curiosity. "Goodness, Mill, what a heroine you will be, to have nursed
one of the most famous generals in the Allied armies and to have
restored him to health. Won't your mother be charmed!"
Naturally Mildred smiled. The thought of her mother's pleasure in her
distinction _had_ occurred to her several times in the last two weeks.
"Oh, of course I am glad to have had the honor, Bab, because I too think
General Alexis a great man. He is perhaps the simplest man I have ever
known, except my father, and I like him very much. Only he has not
recovered and I have not restored him to health. If General Alexis had
recovered he would never have come to Petrograd, he would have rejoined
his troops. But he was well enough to be moved and Petrograd seemed the
safest place for him at present. Besides, I believe he wished to have an
audience with the Czar."
Barbara again rocked back and forth. "You say 'Czar,' Mill, just as if
you were speaking of an everyday person. Really, I believe you are the
best bred girl I ever saw. Position, wealth, no distinctions seem to
excite you. You just take people for exactly what they are," Barbara
murmured, in reality speaking to herself.
But Nona overheard her. "You are quite right, Bab," she agreed. "Mildred
does not know it, but she has taught me many a lesson on that subject
since we came to Europe. It would be a nicer world if everybody thought
and acted as Mildred does. But what has become of your general, Mill?
Are you to go on nursing him or to see him again?"
"No, to the first question, Nona dear, and yes, to the second. Now I am
so tired I simply must go to bed. I told the doctor and General Alexis
that since he was better, I wanted to come to you. Besides, I was sure
that here in Petrograd there would be so many cleverer nurses than I can
ever hope to be. And I didn't want to stay at the Winter Palace with you
girls here."
"You mean," Nona asked quietly, "that you were invited to be a guest at
the Czar's own palace and you declined?"
Mildred clasped her hands behind her head. "Oh, I thought I told you.
General Alexis is to be at the Winter Palace while he is in Petrograd.
He is very close to the Czar, I believe. As his nurse, of course I was
asked to stay there with him; he is to have his physician and his aides
as well as his servants in attendance. There was nothing personal in my
being permitted inside the Palace. Some other nurse will take my place."
"But the point is, Mildred Thornton, that you refused to stay under the
same roof with the Czar of all the Russias. Never so long as you live
will your mother forgive you."
The other girl flushed and laughed. "I hadn't thought of that, Bab dear.
Please don't tell on me. But we are to be under the same roof with the
Czar some day for a few moments, all of us. General Alexis said that he
wished to have us presented to the Czar and Czarina, if it were possible
to arrange. He seems to feel grateful to me for the little I was able to
do. But please, Bab, don't say that I refused to continue to nurse
General Alexis. I only asked that they get some one to take my place,
who would be wiser."
"Did General Alexis agree to a new nurse for that reason, Mildred?"
Barbara demanded in her driest manner.
But Mildred was too tired for further conversation.
"Oh, he was kind enough to say that I needed a rest more than he
required my services. Am I to have a bed or the cot in this sitting
room?"
"You may have them _all_, Mildred Thornton!" Barbara returned, getting
up on her feet and then bowing until her forehead almost touched the
floor.
"Any human being who is going to allow me to enter the presence of the
Czar and Czarina, has got to be treated like royalty for the rest of her
life."
Nevertheless, Barbara kissed Mildred good night. Mildred whispered,
"Don't be a goose," and then at last was permitted to retire.