ABSTRACT
In the barracks to which we had now come we shared a room with the soldiers’ cook, a Chinaman named Kao Wen Pu, who went by the name of Nikolai among the Russians. Outside the door of the room stood a double guard whose long bayonets contradicted the freedom we now officially enjoyed. In the evening an officer appeared, who by signs and gesticulations succeeded in explaining to us in a convincing manner that it was not desirable for us to pass through the room’s one door. I resided there for two days as Nikolai’s guest, and during that time we became good friends.
