German is understood pretty
widely--but it is absolutely forbidden now to be spoken under penalty of
a 3000 rouble fine. In all the hotels there is a big notice put up in
Russian, French, and English in the public rooms "It is forbidden to
speak German," and just at first it added rather to the complications of
life not to be able to use it.
VII
OUR WORK IN WARSAW
In two or three days' time after our visit to the Empress we were off to
Warsaw and reported ourselves to Monsieur Goochkoff, the head of the Red
Cross Society there.
We received our marching orders at once. We were not to be together at
first, as they thought we should learn Russian more quickly if we were
separated, so two of us were to go to one hospital in Warsaw, two to
another. My fate was a large Red Cross hospital close to the station,
worked by a Community of Russian Sisters. I must say I had some anxious
moments as I drove with Sister G. to the hospital that afternoon. I
wondered if Monsieur Goochkoff had said we were coming, and thought if
two Russian Sisters suddenly turned up without notice at an English
hospital how very much surprised they would be. Then I hoped they were
very busy, as perhaps then they would welcome our help.
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