“Why, can’t you see, I am a Sister of Mercy,” I answered impatiently.
“Where are you going?”
“I am going to see General Kornilov,” I said, laughing.
The officers were getting furious.
“You will not go a step further,” the chief officer ordered.
“Oh, yes, I will,” I announced emphatically.
“You are arrested!” was the reply.
I burst out laughing, while the officers turned white with fury.
“Don’t you recognize me? I am Botchkareva,” and I threw off my head-dress of the Sister of Mercy, revealing my own self. The officers gasped, and then immediately crowded round me congratulating me and shaking me by the hand. Kornilov was notified by telephone of my arrival and of the joke I had played on the sentries.
“How do you do, little sister?” he greeted me laughingly when I was brought to his headquarters. The story of my arrival and of the way I had got through the lines amused him very much. He looked very thin and somewhat aged, but as energetic as ever.