bed, apparently without saying my prayers. "And thou, dost thou not say thy prayers, Little Hawk (sok61ik)? " As for them, they prayed long and fervently, standing up facing the east most of the time, but very frequently dropping to the ground with startling suddenness and touching the floor with their foreheads.
Next morning I found favour with them again by photographing them all in a row in front of the hut where we had passed the night. It took a long time before they had arranged themselves to their own satisfaction with drawn swords in front of the camera, but at last they were satisfied, albeit a trifle hurt at first because I could not give them the " sneemki " (photographs) there and then.
After drinking some tea I and my companions set out again, and late that night we reached the house of an old general of the Don Cossacks, who delighted my heart by telling me that I was now at the extreme front — a fact which I had already discovered, however, from the continual rumble of cannon and the crackling of musketry — and that a big fight was going on a few miles off. Even while he was talking, a young Japanese cavalryman was led in prisoner, and in order to give the Donsky general a high idea of my utility, I forthwith attempted to converse with him. His name was Sakimoto, he came from Marga-Uchi, Inaga, and had been captured in a neighbouring village, which he and about a dozen other scouts had entered. The Cossacks had rushed the village, but all the Japanese had escaped save our friend, who told me to ask the " seokwan " (general) not to cut his head off. When the general heard this, he swelled visibly with benignity,
and, beaming on the prisoner like a father, he declared that Russians never put prisoners to death, etc. etc. Hearing some of the Russian officers using the word geisha, the prisoner told me that if they did not kill him he would bring back from Japan any number of geisha they wanted — very beautiful geisha too. In spite of this he was evidently convinced that he was going to be put to death, for nothing could be sadder than the look in his dark eyes as he gave me the military salute before being taken away. His last words were a request to feed his horse, which had been captured with him, and which had not had anything to eat since morning. The old Cossack leader was much affected when he heard this, and issued immediate directions for the horse to be fed.