eck. It was about five o'clock in the
afternoon, pitch dark of course, and our Russian driver who, clad in
reindeer skin and hood, resembled for all the world a polar bear on the
front of the sled shouted meaningless and unnecessary words to our two
horses to speed them on their way.

"All sexes and ages look alike in these reindeer parkis. We were in a
semi-covered sled with narrow runner, but with safety skids to prevent
it from completely capsizing. At the foot of every Russian hill the road
makes a sharp turn. For a solid week we had been holding on at these
turns, but finally had become accustomed, or perhaps I should say
resigned, to them. Going down a long hill the horse holds back as long
as he can, the driver assisting in retarding the movement of the sled.
But on steep hills, where this is not possible, it is a case of a run
for life.

"Our horse shied sharply at a sleeping bag which had been thrown from
baggage sled ahead. The safety skids could not save us, but made the
angle of our overturn more complete. Kirkpatrick, several pieces of his
luggage, and an abnormal quantity of hay added to my discomfort. His
heavy blanket roll, which he had been using as a back rest, was thrown
twenty feet. The top of the sled acted as an ideal snow scoop and my
head was rubbed in the snow thoroughly before our little driver, who was
hanging on to the reins (b-r-r b-r-r b-r-r) could hold down the horse.
It was not until an hour later, when our driver was bringing in our
baggage, that I discovered that our lives had been in the hands of a
thirteen-year-old girl.

"After a trip of this sort one becomes more and more enthusiastic about
his blanket roll. Sleeping at all times upon the floor, and occasionally
packed in like sardines with members of peasant families all in the same
room, separated only by an improvised curtain, we kept our health,
appetites and humor.

"A small village of probably two hundred houses. The American soldiers
have been in every house. At first the villagers distrusted them. Now
they are the popular men of the community with the elders as well as
children. Their attitude toward the Russian peasant is helpful,
conciliatory, and sympathetic. One of these men told me that on the
previous day he had seen a woman crying on the street, saying that their
rations would not hold out and they would be forced to eat straw. The
woman showed me a piece of bread, hardly a square meal for three
persons, which sh