"Russia is wide," said Ian.
"Wide and bungling! With a little order, a little honesty we should have been in Berlin long ago. God! How they ran from the Lakes of Masuria! How they scuttled like geese before our Cossack spears! And then our supplies gave out, and none were forthcoming, Oh, the Empire is a prey to a horde of thieves. Many defeats await us yet. By the way, you spoke of your country house and your lady mother and your forests, when in Warsaw. What of them?"
Briefly Ian told him.
"Ay. The same story everywhere. And I thought I'd be coming to you with German booty," he remarked sadly. "It made my heart bleed to see the fugitives. But you may be glad your womenfolk got safely away. And what will you do now?"
"Fight. Won't you take me in your regiment?"
"Regiment!" the other echoed bitterly, beating his chest "I am the regiment."
"Not all gone?"
"Killed, wounded, gassed, a few prisoners, and you have the lot."
"But you'll reconstruct?"
"Ay. That I will. If there's a Cossack left I'm game."