He was, like all Russian officers of the old type, rather dandified and a little too immaculate and perfumed to please an American, but he was a Georgian and, like most of his race, so exceptionally handsome with his dark eyes and olive skin that you had to forgive him his overfastidiousness. He had spent a lot of time in Babushka's quarters at the Winter Palace and I had known him quite well. As we walked through the lobby I was surprised to see one of Kerensky's aides standing in a corner with his arms folded and looking tragically funny. We went straight to the Hotel Europe, where the American Red Cross had its headquarters, in search of a Red Cross doctor.
I came back into town with a Bolshevik who is very close to Trotsky. On the particular morning that I want to tell about, when I arrived at Smolny I found one of the officials very ill. I think this remarkable way they had of facing the music was one of the greatest reasons for their success. "Well," he said, "they (meaning the Bolsheviki) have all the force of arms on their side and we have, after all, only the moral force."Īt Smolny they were frank enough, often thoroughly discouraged, never overrating their victories or underestimating their defeats. He stroked his beard and looked serious, righteous almost. Now, the other night you told me that the prisoners in Peter and Paul were being massacred and I went way out there at two o'clock in the morning and found them sleeping peaceably in their beds." "At home," I said, "a politician wouldn't do that he would really be afraid to tell a reporter a deliberate story. Once I went to Mayor Schroeder and complained. When I investigated I invariably found their statements untrue or at least ridiculously exaggerated. The Committee on Saving the Country and the Revolution sat in continual session and outdid any American advertising agency I ever came across.
I had passes from both to go around the city and get into all the battles I wanted to. Six Red Months in Russia: Ch 23 Six Red Months in Russia by Louise Bryant CHAPTER XXIII:ĮVERY morning after the Bolshevik coup détat I used to call at Smolny and at the City Duma.
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