“Magnificent!” he said enthusiastically at the conclusion of the test, congratulating me and shaking my hand, “I would not have believed it possible for men, let alone women, to master the training in four weeks so well. Why, we have had recruits here who had undergone three months’ drilling, and they could not compare with your girls.”
He then spoke a few words of praise to the women themselves, and my soldiers were immensely pleased. I proceeded with the General and his suite to Headquarters, where luncheon was awaiting us. He nearly kissed me when he learned that there were no committees in my Battalion, so genuine was his delight.
“Since the committees were instituted in the army, everything has changed,” he said. “I love the soldiers and they always loved me. But now all is changed. There is endless trouble. Every day, almost every hour, there come some impossible demands from the ranks. The front has lost almost all of its former strength. It is a farce, not war.”
We had not had time to begin the luncheon when a telegram arrived from Molodechno, notifying the Staff of Kerensky’s arrival there for luncheon and requesting the General’s and my attendance. Losing no time, the General ordered his car and we drove to Molodechno at top speed.
There were about twenty persons present at the luncheon at Army Headquarters. Kerensky sat at the head of the table. The Commander of my Corps was on my right and another General on the left. During the meal the conversation was about conditions at the front and the state of preparedness for a general offensive. I took practically no part in the discussion. At the end of the meal, when all arose, Kerensky walked up to the Commander of my Corps and delivered himself unexpectedly of the following peremptory speech:
“You must see to it that a committee is formed immediately in the Battalion of Death, and that she,” pointing at me, “ceases to punish the women!”
I was thunderstruck. All the officers in the room strained their ears. There was a tense moment. I felt my blood rush to my head like a flame. I was furious.
With two violent jerks I tore off my epaulets and threw them into the face of the War Minister.
“I refuse to serve under you!” I exclaimed. “To-day you are one way, to-morrow, the opposite. You allowed me once to run the Battalion without a committee. I shall not form any committees! I am going home.”
I flung these words at Kerensky, who had turned very red, before any one in the room had recovered from the shock, ran out of the house, threw myself into the Corps Commander’s motor and ordered his chauffeur to drive to Redki instantly.