fore the marriage took place he had Martha
baptized in the Russian Church, and changed her name to Catherine.

Now Peter had a bad habit of losing his temper, and getting so angry
that he fell into fits. As he was an absolute monarch and could do
whatever he liked, it was very dangerous for anybody to go near him when
he was angry. He could have a head chopped off as easily as he could
order his breakfast. But he was very fond of Catherine, and she was the
only person who was not in the least afraid of him. She soon learned how
to manage him, and even in his worst fits she could soothe and quiet the
old bear.

Peter was nearly always at war, and in spite of the hardships and
dangers of the camp and battle-field Catherine always marched with him
at the head of the army. The soldiers wondered at her bravery, and
learned to like her more than anybody else. If food was scarce, the
roads rough, and the marches long, they remembered, that Catherine was
with them, and were ashamed to grumble. If she could stand the hardships
and face the dangers, they thought rough soldiers ought not to complain.

Catherine was a wise woman as well as a brave one. She soon learned as
much of the art of war as Peter knew, and in every time of doubt or
difficulty her advice was asked, and her opinion counted for as much as
if she had been one of the generals. After she had thus shown how able a
woman she was, and had won the friendship of everybody about her by her
good temper and her pleasant ways, Peter publicly announced his
marriage, and declared Catherine to be his wife and czarina. But still
he did not crown her.

This was in the year 1711, and immediately afterwards Peter marched
into the Turkish country at the head of forty thousand men. This army
was not nearly large enough to meet the Turks, but Peter had other
armies in different places, and had ordered all of them to meet him on
the march. For various reasons all these armies failed to join him, and
he found himself in a Turkish province with a very small number of
troops. The danger was so great that he ordered Catherine and all the
other women to go back to a place of safety. But Catherine would not go.
She had made up her mind to stay with Peter at the head of the army, and
was so obstinate about it that at last Peter gave her leave to remain.
Then the wives of the generals, and, finally, of the lower officers,
wanted to stay also. She persuaded Peter to let them do so, and the