"NEECHfiVO" 141 



I asked to be allowed to have one of the soldiers to help me ; 

 but General Ermolin ordered that no one was to give me 

 any assistance. Even when I asked one of the officers who 

 was standing by, to lend me a cane which he had in his hand, 

 General Ermolin rudely said to him : " Don't let him have it," 

 and the officer of course obeyed in the usual submissive 

 manner. I accepted with studied indifference the false 

 position in which I was placed, and fooled around until it 

 was time to go to lunch, determined to give them no amusing 

 show. 



I went back to my room sick and depressed, with a pain 

 in my chest and anger in my heart. I lay down on the 

 camp-bed trying to think what I ought to do, when the 

 soldier servant who looked after me, came into the room. 

 He seemed so grieved and tried so hard to make me 

 understand that he was sorry I was ill, that I jumped up, 

 patted him on the shoulder, returned his pleasant smile, and 

 said, " Neech&vo" which, being freely translated, means, " All 

 right, my hearty," and is the great consoling phrase in Russian 

 for every misfortune. This soldier's sympathy was the best 

 medicine I ever had, and a rest on the following Sunday 

 completed the cure. 



I put in a lot of good work the next Monday and Tuesday 

 on a soft piece of ground in the open while the General was 

 at home nursing his tooth. It was a miserable task having 

 to show good breaking to these officers, who were hopelessly 

 indolent and had no desire to learn anything about horses. 

 They were all right to talk to, to drink with, or to play cards 

 with ; but as to horses, my ! 



The General turned up on the next morning, and again 

 the wild horse of the first day was produced. He was sup- 

 posed to have been the worst horse they ever had at this 

 brigade. As he was big and very strong, he had been the 

 leader of his wild companions on the steppes, and was con- 



