AMONG THE DON COSSACKS 25 



so fond of, the man they looked up to as a true friend, 

 the man they could go to in any kind of trouble, and 

 who always not only lent them a sympathetic ear, but 

 stretched out the hand of friendship and helped remove 

 whatever obstacle was in their way, if, I say, these 

 men surmised that the manager was a Jew, they never 

 in any way made us feel it. They all felt too great an 

 admiration for the Christlike kindliness of the man; 

 and this they soon had additional cause to value. 



That very winter diphtheria broke out among the 

 children in one of the villages about three miles from 

 our estate, and in a few days nearly all the children 

 were victims of the terrible pestilence. The ignorance 

 of the peasants was unbounded. The only doctor they 

 had was a quack, who lived many miles away. As soon 

 as my husband heard of the trouble, he drove to the 

 stricken village. He found no quarantine whatever. 

 The sick and the well, young and old, slept in one large 

 bed in the one room, where also were herded for pro- 

 tection from the bitter cold the new-born calf and 

 lamb, the ducks and chickens, all huddled together 

 as was quite customary. And the windows were 

 kept tightly shut! The stifling air and the condition 

 of the room may be imagined ! 



The first thing my husband did was to drive over 

 to Yiesk, the nearest town, which was very fortunate 

 in having a physician it could call its own. This man 

 was a true friend of the peasant and the poor laboring 

 man. He was the leading spirit of every progressive 



