We arrived in Reval late on Tuesday night, the 9th. I was handed a
package containing my two volumes of diary and all my kodak films, which
thanks to Litvinoff had been sealed with Government seals and confided
to a courier who kept them in his charge until we were over the
frontier.
I have written my diary all these weeks as trustingly as though I were
in my own home, never foreseeing any difficulties of departure. My trust
in Providence is always justified.
The next day I went to the British Consulate. Mr. Leslie (no relation)
made me extremely welcome. He said that he had heard of me from H. G.
Wells, and that until then he had not known I was in Russia: I had
(reproachfully) not addressed myself to the Consulate on my in-going
journey. I found that he had a Henry James cult, and had read everything
Henry James had written, including the two volumes of letters. He gave
me his bathroom for an hour and a half, invited me to luncheon and then
arranged for me to stay the remaining two days in Reval with a most
hospitable English couple, Mr. and Mrs. Harwood, who lived in a
beautiful villa on the seashore. There I was overwhelmed by kindness.
I also learned with some curiosity and interest the politics of
Esthonia, the half-Bolshevik conditions of things, and the history of
the Baltic Germans, their settlement in Reval and their forced
departure. It is an amusing but complicated little side-show.
During my stay in Reval I had to go several times to the Soviet
headquarters at the Hotel Petersburg. It amuses me to recall my
bewildered impression of last September. This time when I went I felt
thoroughly at home. Not only did Comrade Gai take a great deal of
trouble for me, but Gukovski received me as a friend.
On Thursday morning the coffins arrived from Moscow by courier, as
promised by Litvinoff, and I had a fine game of dodge. Gai sent them on
a lorry to me at the British Consulate just when I had left, and they
returned to the Hotel Petersbourg while I was chasing after them to the
British Consulate. Finally I got them down to the quay, but they were
not allowed on board because there was not the required official paper
from Moscow. Had the ship left as she was supposed to leave at midday,
they certainly would not have been on board, but there was a storm
brewing so the ship delayed sailing a day. When Gai had finally sent me
the necessary paper, I sought out the Captain and begged him to have my
cases put somewhere especially safe. “They contain the heads of Lenin
and Trotsky,” I exclaimed. The Captain looked awfully impressed and
pleased, so pleased that I added “plaster heads--and breakable.”
“A plaster head of Trotsky--and breakable? Come on! let us break
Trotsky’s head,” and he made towards it threateningly, much to the
amusement of the onlookers.
My departure from Reval was most carefully and kindly superintended by
my late Bolshevik hosts, whose representatives in Reval and also
Professor Lomonosoff and his staff did everything in their power to be
kind and attentive.
We are on our way now to Stockholm, I find the same Swedish banker, Mr.
Aschberg, on board who went across with us in September. He is in charge
of a cabin full of gold. He takes good care of me and I am glad to find
a friend. I am told the food on board is very bad, but I think it is
marvellous.