th barbed wire and our
surrounding blockhouses we were confident that we could withstand a
regiment trying to advance over that long field of snow; but the danger
lay along our tenuous line of communication.

The plight of the Yankee soldier in North Russia fighting the Bolsheviki
in the winter of 1918-19 was often made the subject of newspaper
cartoon. Below is reproduced one of Thomas' cartoons from The Detroit
News, which shows the doughboy sitting in a Toulgas trench--or a Kodish,
or Shred Makrenga, or Pinega, or Chekuevo, or Railroad trench. Of course
this dire position was at one of those places and at one of those times
before the resourceful Yanks had had time to consolidate their gains or
fortify their newly accepted position in rear of their former position.
In a few hours--or few days at most, the American soldier would have dug
in securely and made himself rudely comfortable. That rude comfort would
last till some British officer decided to "put on a bit of a show," or
till the Reds in overwhelming numbers or with tremendous artillery
pounding or both combined, compelled the Yanks to fight themselves into
a new position and go through the Arctic rigors of trench work again in
zero weather for a few days. The cartoonist knows the unconquerable
spirit of humor with which the American meets his desperate situations;
for he puts into the soldier's mouth words that show that although he
may have more of a job than he bargained for, he can joke with his
buddie about it. As reserve officers of that remarkable North Russian
expeditionary force the writers take off their hats in respect to the
citizen soldiers who campaigned with us under conditions that were,
truth to say, usually better but sometimes much worse than the trench
situation pictured by the cartoon below. With grit and gumption and good
humor those citizen soldiers "endured hardness as good soldiers."

[Illustration: Cartoon; two soldiers in a trench surrounded by snow,
with shells exploding all around. One is reading a newspaper with the
headline "Peace Conference News: After War Labor Problem". He remarks to
the other soldier "Well, Bill, we certainly got a job after the war."]

XIV

GREAT WHITE REACHES

Lines Of Communication Guarded Well--Fast Travelling Pony Sleighs--Major
Williams Describes Sled Trip--A Long Winter March--Visiting Three
Hundred Year Old Monastery--Snowshoe Rabbit Story--Driving Through
Fairyland--Lonely, Thoughtful Ride