CHAPTER XXIX

Cholera in Russia--I hurry back to Roumania--I am put in quarantine on the frontier and liberally disinfected--The soldier guard aims his gun at me--My Jewish room-mate and her obtrusive husband--She plays “Patience” whilst he prays and expectorates--I get my release and send a military expedition in search of a mirror--Miss R---- tries to escape from Russia--Her companion, a German engineer, develops cholera--The terrified peasants place them together in an empty cottage--The German dies--She finds, when after a terrifying experience she reaches Bucarest, her hair is snow-white.

As is pretty well known, cholera has never yet been entirely stamped out of Russia. Roumanians are naturally on the alert lest the dread disease should be introduced into their country, and, thanks to the excellent arrangements made by them on the different frontiers, cholera has never yet succeeded in establishing itself on their side. I happened to be in Russia one autumn when the cholera was pretty bad. Frightful tales were brought in as to what was taking place in the next village--“people dying by the score, numbers being buried in one common grave,” and so forth. Whether they were true or not, these stories frightened me so that I determined to leave at once and try to re-enter Roumania. The journey through Russia was anything but pleasant, all the railway carriages reeking of disinfectants. On arriving at the Roumanian frontier, the train was stopped on the bridge over the Pruth close to the little village of Ungheni. We were received by the doctor and a number of officials, one of whom at once demanded the keys of our trunks. Everything was pushed into an enormous stove, and steamed there for fully twenty minutes. We were then conducted to our apartments. Four or five peasant cottages had been cleared of their inhabitants, and were placed at the disposal of the travellers. I shared one of the rooms with a lady and her children. Every morning a soldier entered with a bottle (_vaporisateur_) of disinfectant and liberally besprinkled us and our clothes with it; so thoroughly was it done that my clothes reeked of the stuff for months afterwards. Towards mid-day another soldier presented himself with the menu from the station restaurant. Not knowing Roumanian very well then, I had no choice but to point to some dish on the menu; and whether it were fish, flesh, or fowl, it had to be eaten. If I had refused it and chosen another dish, I might have fared still worse.

We were guarded by soldiers and attended by soldiers. Indeed, so very strictly were we guarded that, one day going a few paces beyond the range marked out for us, a sentinel actually aimed his gun at me. After that, thinking discretion the better part of valour, I overstepped the limit no more. I was obliged to stay in quarantine for five days, paying two francs a night for my bed, and providing myself with food also. The lady who shared my room at the beginning left after two days, and her place was taken by a Jewess who arrived from Russia with her husband. They were a most amusing couple. She sat on her bed all day playing at “Patience.” He in the corner of the room, with a hand-towel over his shoulders in lieu of a praying shawl, recited the prayers for the day, every now and then turning to expectorate, and most probably calling down blessings on the Christians. The husband was lodged in an adjacent room with another traveller, but was constantly coming in to ours to visit his wife. One morning he came at such an early hour that I had not finished dressing. I was very angry, but controlled myself as well as I could. After a few minutes he went back to his own apartment to fetch something, only to return almost directly. But I had been quicker than he. In those few moments I had barricaded the door. His disgust was great when he found he could not get in, and quite plainly I could see his form silhouetted on the white window-blind as he took his revenge by putting his fingers to his nose. His wife looked stolidly on at all this byplay, but made no remark. She made no attempt whatever to interfere with me; so I was free to dress at my leisure, and then, and not till then, did I open the door. At the next visit of the doctor I complained to him about the too frequent visits of the Jew, so he promised that I should not be annoyed again.

When finally the day arrived that I was free to continue my journey, I felt that I should like to look into a mirror before setting off. But no such thing was to be had in any of the houses. Finally, after diligent inquiries prosecuted through the soldiers, I learned that two gentlemen who occupied a little cottage not far off were the lucky possessors of such an article. The soldier was at once despatched with a polite request for the loan of the mirror. It was at once granted, so I was able to see how I looked after five days’ quarantine. Soldiers accompanied us to the station, and saw us safely into the train; but our passports were not restored to us till we had arrived at the town of Jassy _en route_ for Bucarest.

On one of the frequent occasions when cholera became epidemic in Russia, a young English governess with whom I had some acquaintance met with one of the most tragical experiences I have ever heard of.

Miss R---- accepted a holiday engagement with a family in Russia at some distance from the border, and as it was her first visit to that country she looked forward to it with the greatest interest and pleasure. For a time all went well, but at length cholera broke out in the neighbourhood and spread alarmingly. Poor Miss R---- was terribly frightened. She was the only foreigner in the place with the exception of a German engineer who was engaged on some important work in the district, and who, she soon found, shared her nervousness. The two decided to leave, but the family with whom she was living thought that such a course would be a very foolish one, and sought to dissuade her from it.

Finding her still determined, her employers placed practical obstacles in the way. The place was situated very many miles from the nearest railway station, and they refused to supply her with a carriage or a vehicle of any sort. The German was for a time no more successful, but at length he did obtain a _karutza_, and the two set out upon a journey that was destined to have a ghastly termination.

They had scarcely reached the first village when the German fell ill, his symptoms clearly indicating cholera. Overcome with horror, Miss R---- abandoned any attempt to proceed to the station, still many miles away, and sought help in the village. It was a practically hopeless quest. She knew no word of the language, and the villagers, terrified of the cholera, would have nothing to do with her or her sick companion. The latter knew a little Russian, and at length in response to his solicitations the two were shown to an empty cottage on the outskirts of the village, and here they took up their quarters. What a situation for a young English girl! Left in a remote Russian village, alone, save for the companionship of a sick stranger of another race, and without the means of making known her wants even if the villagers had been able or willing to assist her!

Food and water were thrust through the window, but no other help whatever could be obtained. There was no doctor in the place, and she had no means of even appealing to her late employers. Faced by this terrible situation, Miss R---- braced herself to meet it and acted as an Englishwoman might be expected to act. She did her best for the German engineer, but the poor man, lacking medical attention or even drugs or restoratives of the simplest kind, was doomed from the first. He rapidly grew worse, and after a day and a night of terrible suffering, which his unhappy attendant could do little to mitigate, he died.

Miss R----’s situation, alone with the dead body, was scarcely better than it had been before, and she became resigned to the worst that could befall, feeling assured that the villagers would not help. What was her surprise, however, when, upon finding out that her companion was dead, they so overcame their fears as to take the body away and bury it!

Two days later--having apparently conferred amongst themselves in the meantime--they brought a _karutza_ to the door and invited her by signs to enter it. She was then driven to the railway station, and eventually reached Bucarest in safety. When she encountered her friends there they uttered exclamations of surprise and even of horror, for the hair of the young girl had turned completely white.

It was the greatest mercy that Miss R---- succeeded in getting through to Roumania in safety, as the Russian peasants often become quite crazy when cholera is about. They accuse the doctors of fostering the disease for their own ends, and often refuse to have their sick attended to. In one district they worked themselves up to such a pitch of madness that they attacked a hospital, dragged the patients out of bed, forced them to return to their own homes, and completely put to rout both doctors and nurses. Needless to say, numbers of deaths occurred in consequence of these terrible acts. Cholera is never really stamped out in Russia; it is usually hanging about the remote villages, and it takes toll of a certain number of lives every year.