s of the advance and rear-guard, who enrich themselves at
the expense of the unfortunate soldiers." A number of these great
chiefs, whose infamy was evident at the end of the war, since they
had shown themselves incapable of dealing with the foreign enemy,
had distinguished themselves by the ferocity they exhibited in
quelling internal troubles. As to the military doctors, the
greater number of them went into the campaign only for commercial
gain. Among the nurses who accompanied them, aside from those who
were real heroines of goodness and devotion, there were many who
prostituted themselves shamefully.

Corruption, carelessness, disorder, and cowardice are shown on every
page of this story, as well as the terrible suffering endured by the
wounded in the hospitals. The wounded were the real martyrs of this
frightful campaign.

* * * * *

Veressayev, like all of his heroes and heroines, wants to help the
people, and for this reason he gets in touch with the revolutionists
who consecrate their work to political and social regeneration,
under the various titles, "narodnikis," Marxists, Socialists,
idealists and so on.... Which of these does he prefer? We do not
know. We find the influence of Marx in his ideas, but we cannot
affirm that he is an absolute Marxian. It seems as if Veressayev,
troubled by the innumerable divergencies of opinion, asks himself
secretly: "Will this war lead to the unity of opinion and program,
so necessary for victory, or by its quarrels will it only retard the
harmony so much sought after?"

It is not discussion that will finally lead to unity, but rather
life itself, with all its realities.

It would be most interesting to read a sequel to the three famous
novels of Veressayev--"Astray," "The Contagion," and "At the
Turning"--in which he would give us the psychology of his former
heroes under present conditions. To-day, the people are not
"astray"; the field is big enough for every one to find the place
that best suits his ideas, tastes, and temperament. Dr. Chekanhov,
if he were living now, instead of being maltreated by the people,
would certainly be their well beloved champion, and perhaps
represent them in the Duma; the timid Tokarev, in spite of his
aversion to the ideas of the revolutionists, could find a place in
the liberal party of the Reforming Democrats, or at least among the
Octobrists; the unfortunate Varenka would not be worn out by her
work