Hunted by the Bolsheviks
The White Devil's Mate. By Lewis Stanton Palen. (Bodley lead. is. Od.)
Tuts book is a sequel to The White Devil of the Black Sea, in which Mr. Palen describes the adventures of a Russian Tsarist officer during the Bolshevik Revolution. In reviewing that book, the publishers of the present volume remind us, we said. " Bullets are spattering, blood is flowing, insults arc being exchanged on almost every page. The White Devil' himself is hardly credible—he is so fearless, so lively, so lucky, another Scarlet Pimpernel '—but more than Mr. Palen vouch for his existence."
The present volume does not perhaps quite come up to that standard of thrill. It is the account of the same events, but seen this time from the point of view of the " White Devil's Mate - a young Russian princess who shared his adventures. There are a few chapters at the beginning of the book on pre- revolutionary Russia. The couple were on their honeymoon in the fatal month of February, 1917, and heard of the Tsar's abdication in Kiev. Here is the account of how a young Russian officer of the nobility was struck by the news :-
" Not withstanding all the talk of the past week and the fact that we should have been thoroughly prepared, the announcement. overwhelmed us. The Tsar had abdicated for himself and the Tsarevitch, after which Grand Duke Michael, the next in line, in turn abdicated in favour of the Provisional Government. As I hurried into the dining room in response to his call, I knew something was quite wrong with Serge ; in fact, I believe he was very near to madness that day."
After the Revolution the couple escaped to Orenburg, a town in the Urals, in which they joined the Cossacks in attempting to stave off the Bolshevik advance. They did not, however, retreat eastwards before the Bolsheviks, but staved in the town after its capture and then returned to Moscow in disguise.
" And then, when the prize of freedom to go where we would in the city was just within our grasp, I came close to nullifying all our efforts by calling to Serge in French. as ho was-allowed to pass through the exit barrier ahead of me, to secure a droskv for use while I was undergoing examination. ' Ah, what is that ? snapped a Jewish commissar, who sprang up beside me with a fierce expression on his face. ' What is that ? ' I threw back at him with as much of a challenge and looked impudently straight into his eyes. feeling that only impudence could save us then. ' Do you not understand Lettish . And I thought you were a Lett. !' As the Letts were
very much• respected by Bolsheviks for their cruelty, I felt sure I could reach him in this way. ' Excuse me, Tovaristch Madame. I did not hear you clearly,' he apologised and shouted ;
Let the Tovaritscir through,' gallantly offering.me his hand and leading me out into the street to deliver me over to my astonish husband."
In Moscow they lived a hunted and persecuted life, as the Bolsheviks were continually raiding their house and searching for evidence against them (the princess's husband was deeply engaged in counter-revolutionary activity) and they decide(' to escape to the south and fight in the White army berme Yalta. Finally they were taken on board a British destroyer and carried to Constantinople, when the Bolsheviks took the
Crimea. The book is exciting and gives remarkable pictures of a country in the throes of profound social revolution.
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