persons beside Mildred Thornton began dimly to appreciate the possible
conditions. More and more of the munitions of war were hauled away, and
surely this did not look as if the fight were to be persisted in at
Grovno.

Finally, just before twilight the order came that the wounded, with
their nurses and surgeons, were to be moved at nightfall. Whatever
preparations were necessary must be made at once.

Silently small groups of soldiers were already being marched away.

Oh, of course the old guns of the famous fortress continued to belch
forth destruction, and there was no lessening of the front ranks of
soldiers, who were directly attacking the enemy. General Alexis was
merely drawing off the men whom he did not actually need for defense.
Grovno could be protected by a comparatively small number of soldiers
without the enemy appreciating any depreciation in their numbers. For
all the firing was done behind a barricade of walls. So far the Germans
were about a mile away. There would be no hand-to-hand combats until the
fortress was finally demolished.

Even under such dangerous conditions the American Red Cross girls were
relieved to hear that they were to be sent from Grovno. They were also
told that they were not to follow the army. As soon as they reached a
railroad, the wounded and their nurses were to be removed to Petrograd.
There they would find hospitals ready for their accommodation.

So it was to be Petrograd after all! The three girls were not seriously
frightened; indeed, they were less so than at the time of the French
retreat. It was so evident that General Alexis was providing for the
safety of the wounded before the danger time. They would find all the
roads open to them now, while the Germans were being held on the farther
side of the ancient stone walls.

Just after dusk the hospital staff and their patients were ready for
departure. Parties of ten, consisting of seven wounded soldiers, two
nurses and a physician, gathered quietly in the stone courtyard enclosed
by the wings of the fortress. They were then placed in low carts, drawn
by gaunt horses and driven by a Russian moujik, wearing a long blouse,
high boots and a cap with the peculiar Russian peak.

There were no such facilities for transportation in Russia as the
American Red Cross girls had found in France. The motor cars and
ambulances owned by the Russian army were few in number and inadequate
to their needs. These could only be employ