"But why are we to be sent back to Petrograd?" Nona also demanded, frowning a little in her effort to grasp the situation. "What reason was given; have we failed in any duty or service since our arrival at Grovno?" Nona went on, sitting up, while two spots of color appeared in her cheeks. "Please, Mildred, don't be mysterious. Tell us where you received your information and why we are to be sent away so ignominiously?"
Mildred Thornton shook her head in quiet reproach. She was not so impatient nor so unreasonable as the other two girls.
"I am waiting to tell you," she returned. "The other afternoon I was sitting alone in the little Russian church when General Dmitri Alexis came in. On leaving he chanced to discover me and asked me to walk with him for a few moments. You know I told you I had met him the day he came into my hospital ward to decorate the dying soldier?" Mildred added.
This time her companions only nodded, not wishing to interrupt.
"Well, it was General Alexis himself who said that he wished us to go back to Petrograd. It was not that he felt the fortress at Grovno would not be able to hold out against the German attacks, but that a soldier should be prepared for any emergency. In case Grovno should fall, or General Alexis decide it wiser to retreat and join another portion of Grand Duke Nicholas' army, he does not wish us at Grovno. He says that the Russian Red Cross nurses have the right to remain with their own soldiers, but that we are Americans and with us the circumstances are different. He does not intend that harm shall befall us. So I am afraid we have no choice in the matter. As soon as the order comes from General Alexis we must be ready to leave at once. One can scarcely dare disobey the commander in chief," Mildred concluded, with regret in her tones.
"Certainly not," Barbara added with emphasis.
Then for another moment Nona Davis continued gazing thoughtfully at Mildred.
"I suppose I ought to tell you, Mildred, you and Barbara both, that I am not sorry we are to go to Petrograd; indeed, I am truly glad. Because I had intended to try to get permission to return there alone. You know I told you of Sonya's arrest, but I did not tell you that I intend to do all that I possibly can to befriend her. She seems to have no one who cares what becomes of her so far as I can find out, except her two old servants, Katja and Nika. I may not be able to do much, but I have written Eugenia, asking her to lend me some money and to forward it to the American Ambassador at Petrograd as soon as possible. I would like to leave almost at once. You see, I don't know what has become of Sonya, nor when her trial may take place."