The Witness by Grace Livingston Hill Lutz (mobi reader android TXT) 📕

Spitfires In To See You,  Either. The Doctor Balled The Office Out Like

Everything For Letting That Girl Up."

Bonnie Tried To Smile Again,  But Only Ended In A Sigh. "Oh,  It Doesn't

Matter," She Said,  And Then,  After A Minute,  "You've Been Very Good To

Me. Some Time I Hope I Can Do Something For You. Now I'm Going To

Sleep."

The Nurse Went Out To Look After Some Of Her Duties. Half An Hour Later

She Came Back To Bonnie's Room And Entered Softly,  Not To Waken Her. She

Was Worried Lest She Had Left The Window Open Too Wide And The Wind

Might Be Blowing On Her,  For It Had Turned A Good Deal Colder Since The

Sun Went Down.

She Tiptoed To The Bed And Bent Over In The Dim Light To See If Her

Patient Was All Right. Then She Drew Back Sharply.

The Bed Was Empty!

She Turned On The Light And Looked All Around. There Was No One Else In

The Room! Bonnie Was Gone!

Wildly The Nurse Searched The Room,  Throwing Open The Wardrobe First!

Bonnie's Shabby Clothes Were No Longer Hanging On The Hooks! She Rushed

To The Window And Looked Helplessly Along The Fire-Escape Out Into The

Courtyard Below,  Where The Ambulance Was Just Bringing In A Fresh Case.

There Was No Sign Of Her Patient. Turning Back,  She Saw On The Table A

Bit Of Paper From The Daily Record-Sheet Folded Up And Pinned Together

With A Quaint Little Circle Of Old-Fashioned Gold In Which Were Set Tiny

Garnets And Pearls. The Note Was Addressed,  "Miss Writroversy Between Bolsheviki And Mensheviki.

In The Mean Time The War-Weary Nation Was Clamoring For Peace. The Army Was

Demoralized And Saturated With The Defeatism Preached By The Porazhentsi.

To Deal With This Grave Situation Two Important Conventions Were Arranged

For,  As Follows: The Convention Of Soldiers' Delegates From The Front,

Which Opened On May 10th And Lasted For About A Week,  And The First

All-Russian Congress Of Peasants' Delegates,  Which Opened On May 17th And

Lasted For About Twelve Days. Between The Two Gatherings There Was Also An

Important Meeting Of The Petrograd Council Of Workmen's And Soldiers'

Deputies,  Which Dealt With The Same Grave Situation. The Dates Here Are Of

The Greatest Significance: The First Convention Was Opened Three Days

Before Miliukov's Resignation And Was In Session When That Event Occurred;

The Second Convention Was Opened Four Days After The Resignation Of

Miliukov And One Day After That Of Guchkov. It Was Guchkov's Unique

Experience To Address The Convention Of Soldiers' Delegates From The Front

As Minister Of War And Marine,  Explaining And Defending His Policy With

Great Ability,  And Then,  Some Days Later,  To Address The Same Assembly As A

Private Citizen.

Guchkov Drew A Terrible Picture Of The Seriousness Of The Military

Situation. With Truly Amazing Candor He Described Conditions And Explained

How They Had Been Brought About. He Begged The Soldiers Not To Lay Down

Their Arms,  But To Fight With New Courage. Kerensky Followed With A Long

Speech,  Noble And Full Of Pathos. In Some Respects,  It Was The Most

Powerful Of All The Appeals It Fell To His Lot To Make To His People,  Who

Were Staggering In The Too Strong Sunlight Of An Unfamiliar Freedom. He

Did Not Lack Courage To Speak Plainly: "My Heart And Soul Are Uneasy. I Am

Greatly Worried And I Must Say So Openly,  No Matter What ... The

Consequences Will Be. The Process Of Resurrecting The Country's Creative

Forces For The Purpose Of Establishing The New Régime Rests On The Basis Of

Liberty And Personal Responsibility.... A Century Of Slavery Has Not Only

Demoralized The Government And Transformed The Old Officials Into A Band Of

Traitors,  _But It Has Also Destroyed In The People Themselves The

Consciousness Of Their Responsibility For Their Fate,  Their Country's

Destiny_." It Was In This Address That He Cried Out In His Anguish: "I

Regret That I Did Not Die Two Months Ago. I Would Have Died Happy With The

Dream That The Flame Of A New Life Has Been Kindled In Russia,  Hopeful Of A

Time When We Could Respect One Another's Right Without Resorting To The

Knout."

To The Soldiers Kerensky Brought This Challenge: "You Fired On The People

When The Government Demanded. But Now,  When It Comes To Obeying Your Own

Revolutionary Government,  You Can No Longer Endure Further Sacrifice! Does

This Mean That Free Russia Is A Nation Of Rebellious Slaves?" He Closed

With An Eloquent Peroration: "I Came Here Because I Believe In My Right To

Tell The Truth As I Understand It. People Who Even Under The Old Régime

Went About Their Work Openly And Without Fear Of Death,  Those People,  I

Say,  Will Not Be Terrorized. The Fate Of Our Country Is In Our Hands And

The Country Is In Great Danger. We Have Sipped Of The Cup Of Liberty And We

Are Somewhat Intoxicated; We Are In Need Of The Greatest Possible Sobriety

And Discipline. We Must Go Down In History Meriting The Epitaph On Our

Tombstones,  'They Died,  But They Were Never Slaves.'"

From The Petrograd Council Of Workmen's And Soldiers' Deputies Came I.G.

Tseretelli,  Who Had Just Returned From Ten Years' Siberian Exile. A Native

Of Georgia,  A Prince,  Nearly Half Of His Forty-Two Years Had Been Spent

Either In Socialist Service Or In Exile Brought About By Such Service. A

Man Of Education,  Wise In Leadership And A Brilliant Orator,  His Leadership

Of The Socialist Group In The Second Duma Had Marked Him As One Of The

Truly Great Men Of Russia. To The Convention Of Soldiers' Delegates From

The Front Tseretelli Brought The Decisionl Of Workmen's And

Soldiers' Deputies,  In Shaping Which He Had Taken An Important Part With

Tchcheidze,  Skobelev,  And Others. The Council Had Decided "To Send An

Appeal To The Soldiers At The Front,  And To Explain To Them That _In Order

To Bring About Universal Peace It Is Necessary To Defend The Revolution And

Russia By Defending The Front_." This Action Had Been Taken Despite The

Opposition Of The Bolsheviki,  And Showed That The Moderate Socialists Were

Still In Control Of The Soviet. An Appeal To The Army,  Drawn Up By

Tseretelli,  Was Adopted By The Vote Of Every Member Except The Bolsheviki,

Who Refrained From Voting. This Appeal To The Army Tseretelli Presented To

The Soldiers' Delegates From The Front:

    Comrades,  Soldiers At The Front,  In The Name Of The Revolutionary

    Democracy,  We Make A Fervent Appeal To You.

    A Hard Task Has Fallen To Your Lot. You Have Paid A Dear Price,

    You Have Paid With Your Blood,  A Dear Price Indeed,  For The Crimes

    Of The Czar Who Sent You To Fight And Left You Without Arms,

    Without Ammunition,  Without Bread!

    Why,  The Privation You Now Suffer Is The Work Of The Czar And His

    Coterie Of Self-Seeking Associates Who Brought The Country To

    Ruin. And The Revolution Will Need The Efforts Of Many To Overcome

    The Disorganization Left Her As A Heritage By These Robbers And

    Executioners.

    The Working Class Did Not Need The War. The Workers Did Not Begin

    It. It Was Started By The Czars And Capitalists Of All Countries.

    Each Day Of War Is For The People Only A Day Of Unnecessary

    Suffering And Misfortune. Having Dethroned The Czar,  The Russian

    People Have Selected For Their First Problem The Ending Of The War

    In The Quickest Possible Manner.

    The Council Of Workmen's And Soldiers' Deputies Has Appealed To

    All Nations To End The Butchery. We Have Appealed To The French

    And The English,  To The Germans And The Austrians.[18] Russia

    Wants An Answer To This Appeal. Remember,  However,  Comrades And

    Soldiers,  That Our Appeal Will Be Of No Value If The Regiments Of

    Wilhelm Overpower Revolutionary Russia Before Our Brothers,  The

    Workers And Peasants Of Other Countries,  Will Be Able To Respond.

    Our Appeal Will Become "A Scrap Of Paper" If The Whole Strength Of

    The Revolutionary People Does Not Stand Behind It,  If The Triumph

    Of Wilhelm Hohenzollern Will Be Established On The Ruins Of

    Russian Freedom. The Ruin Of Free Russia Will Be A Tremendous,

    Irreparable Misfortune,  Not Only For Us,  But For The Toilers Of

    The Whole World.

    Comrades,  Soldiers,  Defend Revolutionary Russia With All Your

    Might!

    The Workers And Peasants Of Russia Desire Peace With All Their

    Soul. But This Peace Must Be Universal,  A Peace For All Nations

    Based On The Agreement Of All.

    What Would Happen If We Should Agree To A Separate Peace--A Peace

    For Ourselves Alone! What Would Happen If The Russian Soldiers

    Were To Stick Their Bayonets