consequently my rifle again served to nourish me, as well as contributing something to my hosts.  One day there appeared here a trained agriculturalist.  I did not hide because during my winter in the woods I had raised a heavy beard, so that probably my own mother could not have recognized me.  However, our guest was very shrewd and at once deciphered me.  I did not fear him because I saw that he was not a Bolshevik and later had confirmation of this.  We found common acquaintances and a common viewpoint on current events.  He lived close to the gold mine in a small village where he superintended public works.  We determined to escape together from Russia.  For a long time I had puzzled over this matter and now my plan was ready.  Knowing the position in Siberia and its geography, I decided that the best way to safety was through Urianhai, the northern part of Mongolia on the head waters of the Yenisei, then through Mongolia and out to the Far East and the Pacific.  Before the overthrow of the Kolchak Government I had received a commission to investigate Urianhai and Western Mongolia and then, with great accuracy, I studied all the maps and literature I could get on this question.  To accomplish this audacious plan I had the great incentive of my own safety.

CHAPTER VII

THROUGH SOVIET SIBERIA

After several days we started through the forest on the left bank of the Yenisei toward the south, avoiding the villages as much as possible in fear of leaving some trail by which we might be followed.  Whenever we did have to go into them, we had a good reception at the hands of the peasants, who did not penetrate our disguise; and we saw that they hated the Bolsheviki, who had destroyed many of their villages.  In one place we were told that a detachment of Red troops had been sent out from Minnusinsk to chase the Whites.  We were forced to work far back from the shore of the Yenisei and to hide in the woods and mountains.  Here we remained nearly a fortnight, because all this time the Red soldiers were traversing the country and capturing in the woods half-dressed unarmed officers who were in hiding from the atrocious vengeance of the Bolsheviki.  Afterwards by accident we passed a meadow where we found the bodies of twenty-eight officers hung to the trees, with their faces and bodies mutilated.  There we determined never to allow ourselves to come alive into the hands of the Boisheviki.  To prevent this we had our weapons and a supply of cyanide of potassium.

Passing across one branch of the Yenisei, once we saw a narrow, miry pass, the entrance to which was strewn with the bodies of men and horses.  A little farther along we found a broken sleigh with rifled boxes and papers scattered about.  Near them were also torn garments and bodies.  Who were these pitiful ones?  What tragedy was staged in this wild wood?  We tried to guess this enigma and we began to investigate the documents and papers.