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i9I6] THE EMPRESS ALEXANDRA
gave her an expression of morbid tension. Her eyes
were intensely sad. Her Majesty spoke to me first
about matters relative to the work of the Red Cross
and to that of our Stockholm Committee. Then she
asked me whether I had taken the necessary measures
so that the goods sent by the Red Cross to our prisoners
of war should not be indefinitely delayed at Haparanda
(the Swedish frontier). " Madam, I have made inquiries
on the subject, and they prove that the Swedish
Red Cross does all in its power to get the goods
across the frontier without hindrance, and to send them
further!"
The Empress took up a photograph lying on the
table and passed it to me : " But all the same, Monsieur,
here is a photograph showing a huge stock of goods from
the Red Cross piled up in the open air at Haparanda."
" I know that photograph, Madam, I have been shown
it before; but that pile of cases which Your Majesty
sees there are not goods from the Red Cross, but postal
packages in transit that Sweden kept back for months
at the frontier by way of reprisal. Your Majesty is
well aware that every case and every bale from the
Red Cross is marked with a Geneva cross quite large
enough to come out in this photograph; now Your
Majesty will be good enough to observe that it is not to
be seen on the cases shown here."
The Empress took the photograph and examined it
carefully. "That is true," she said, replacing it on the
table.
After that she turned the conversation to general
questions concerning politics and the war, and she laid
great stress on the seriousness of the situation which—
abroad as well as at home—called for the greatest and
most unceasing straining of efforts. "Alas! So few
people here seem to realise the gravity and the dangers
of the hour; there are some houses in Petrograd where
they even dance! " added Her Majesty, emphasising the
words. Soon after I was graciously dismissed. The
audience made a somewhat unfavourable impression on
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