26 ADVENTURES IN IDEALISM 



undertaking in that town and had become a devoted 

 friend of my husband's, who knew that he would find a 

 responsive chord in the doctor's heart. He had no 

 trouble in bringing him back at once, with all the neces- 

 sary medicines. They separated the dangerously sick 

 from those who could be saved, and together they did 

 whatever could be done to prevent the spread of the 

 malady. Of the twenty-two children in this village, 

 only seven survived. 



A week later my husband started a course of lec- 

 tures on "Health and Sanitation," the doctor friend 

 helping him with material for the lectures. A collec- 

 tion was taken up from all the families in the neighbor- 

 ing villages, and a supply of necessary drugs was pur- 

 chased and installed in each. 



Exceedingly interesting were these two years we 

 spent far away from civilization, but in close touch 

 with people for whom we could do so much. There 

 was work for me to do, as well as my husband, for 

 while he was away lecturing and talking to the older 

 folk, I taught the youngsters reading and arithmetic. 

 There was no school anywhere within miles. 



A few glimpses of the standards and character of 

 the people among whom we lived may be in place here. 

 They were a mixture of Letts and of Don Cossacks, 

 freely intermarried. Often, on Sunday afternoon, my 

 husband and I would sit on the steps of our bungalow, 

 and several neighbors, with their families, young and 

 old, would join us. I remember one Sunday afternoon, 



