Maid of Baikal: A Novel of the Russian Civil War

“To those who accuse me of reaction for favoring the return of factories and workshops to the people who built them, I say the time has come to repair the damage from Bolshevik excesses. To those who accuse me of socialism for transferring farmland to our men who till the soil, I say that Russian peasants and workers are now even less socialistic in outlook than they were under the tsar. Today they work harder than ever and demand from others no more than they have rightly earned. In the new Russia, hard work will be rewarded and its fruits protected. For one does not strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. And while Bolshevik agitators promise a workers’ paradise in the distant future, the new Russia offers honest and realistic promises that one can redeem during his own lifetime.”

“Good lad, he has them back now,” McCloud said under his breath, as if the speech were a sports contest. “Now to bring them safely home…” And he leaned forward and craned his neck, the better to see and hear.

“The good news I bring today is that, with the return of private property to private owners, Russians can reasonably expect to develop that sense of responsibility and pride which well-tended property has always engendered, ever since settled life began. For the Russian loves the soil with all his heart and soul. Our folk songs are filled with affectionate descriptions of it. Plow and harrow are more than mere wood and iron. They are living things, personal friends.”

Few listeners had ever seen Kolchak’s personal side, and they warmed to it quickly. Even Ned felt his eyes glisten with unexpected tears.

“So now, on this first, and likely last, anniversary of my entry into Russian political life, I urge you to take an active part in shaping Russia’s future. God wishes, and therefore I believe, that in this terrible civil conflict, the side most deserving of victory shall prevail. If we follow His commands, and do our duty to Him and to one another, ours will be that side, and He will lead free Russians to ultimate triumph, to a lasting peace and to a great and prosperous future. Thank you. And God save Russia.”

The uproarious applause that greeted the Admiral’s final words exceeded anything that Ned could have imagined. Mark McCloud seemed to be the only person in the packed hall who took the speech, and the riotous ovation, in stride. Indeed, he appeared to have drafted his syndicated article about the speech before even hearing it. For upon leaving the theater, he carried the dispatch straightaway to the telegraph office, having made only minor revisions to its text on the way. When Ned asked whether McCloud had seen an advance copy of the speech, he denied it at first, before conceding at last that his sources had revealed many of its key points to him the day before.

“If you liked it, wait till you hear the old man’s speech at the cemetery this afternoon. Believe me, the folks back home will go wild over it!” he boasted over lunch.

When they arrived at the burial ground late in the afternoon, Ned was impressed by the simple dignity of its design, with row upon row of whitewashed wooden crosses laid out in serried ranks on a gentle slope overlooking the Volga. But, upon taking his seat, Ned found a printed slip in the program stating that Zhanna, Maid of Baikal, would be delivering the main oration in place of Admiral Kolchak. And once again, the journalist did not appear surprised. Perhaps Ned might also have learned about the change, had he not been too busy that week to visit Zhanna again. All at once it dawned on him that McCloud’s invitation might not have been as spontaneous as he had supposed.

“You knew Zhanna would be speaking, didn’t you?” he accused the journalist.

“It’s my business to know these things, laddie,” the older man replied without raising his eyes from the program.

“And inviting me here wasn’t just your idea, was it?”

“Not exactly,” he conceded with a disingenuous smile. “Zhanna wanted to make sure you’d be here.”

The Maid’s turn to speak came late in the program, after a team of Orthodox priests performed the formal consecration of the burial site, and after a series of Russian dignitaries addressed the audience. While Ned expected a generally religious theme to the Maid’s speech, he had little idea of its specifics. As a result, the latter half of her address took him completely by surprise.

“Now let me speak to you of my beloved Russia,” she declared. “More than ever, in these times of trouble, the world needs a healthy Russia. But the Russia it needs consists not only of a land and its people but of something I call ‘Holy Russia,’ for it is this Russia that represents our spiritual wealth. Holy Russia is rooted in the faith of the Holy Orthodox Church, as practiced for nearly two thousand years. It connects us to the stream of Russian saints dating back to the ancient Christian martyrs, monastics, and hierarchs.”[46]