Here in Russia conditions were different from what they were at the British headquarters in Cologne. Our new-found friends wished to feed us, but, although they were officers and privates combined, there was nothing for us to have except bread and tea. Usually on this front, I believe, it is possible to get extra food from Finland. We had struck an unlucky patch, for everything was used up ; so we undid our bags, unloaded our stock of ham, butter and cheese, and some fourteen of us sat down to what was for our friends a very sumptuous repast. After this some officers arrived from Petrograd, chief of whom was the chief officer of the whole Petrograd district, Comrade Rachi. He heard all we had to tell him about ourselves and agreed to take us to the Finnish headquarters at Petrograd until he could get word from Moscow what to do with us.
We had three hours to wait for a train, so entered into a discussion about the revolution, terrorism and violence generally. None of them accepted my view about violence ; all understood the Tolstoyan position, but were confident it could not be applied. Not one would agree that there had been outrage and murder for murder's sake. All agreed that here and there private vengeance had been taken and outrages committed, and all had
