door, two of them kept always
within a short distance of the Czar himself.

The Czarina was a beautiful woman, tall and dark, but looking infinitely
sad. The girls could not but remember having heard how frequently she
suffered from a melancholia so severe that it was almost akin to an
unbalanced mind.

She now murmured a few words to the three girls and then reseated
herself. Barbara hoped profoundly that the distinguished audience
would soon be over. Of course, this meeting of the Czar and Czarina was
perhaps the most extraordinary honor that had yet been paid to any
American Red Cross nurses in Europe. But like other honors, it carried
its discomfort. For Barbara had not the faintest idea what she should do
or say, when she should stand up and when sit down. She had never
imagined herself a large person before, but now she felt so awkward that
she might have been a giant. Yet really there was but one thing for her
to do: she must merely keep still and watch what was taking place.

Actually the Czar, Nicholas II, was talking pleasantly with Mildred
Thornton, and Mildred was answering with her usual quiet dignity.

The Czar looked older than Barbara would have supposed from his
pictures. But then the war may have aged him. His close-cropped brown
beard with the tiny point was turning gray. And he had large, full and,
Barbara thought, not particularly intelligent eyes.

At this moment he moved toward a small table and picked up what appeared
like a medal.

Barbara eyed it curiously. She could not hear what the Czar was saying.
But she saw Mildred turn suddenly white and appear to protest. Then the
two men, General Alexis and the Czar, actually smiled at her. The next
moment the Czar pinned a cross on Mildred's white dress.

Without realizing what she was doing, Barbara pressed closer until she
stood in front of Nona and Lieutenant Orlaff. This time she distinctly
heard the Czar say:

"I take pleasure in presenting you, Miss Thornton, with the Cross of St.
George, which is only awarded for special bravery. Only one other woman
has been presented with the Cross of St. George since the outbreak of
this war. She is Madame Kokavtseva, a colonel of the Sixth Ural Cossack
Regiment, who has twice been wounded while leading her men. She is
called our 'Russian Joan of Arc.' But there is a courage as great as
leading troops to battle. This valor, it seems to me, you showed in
remaining to the last at the ancient fortress