was forgotten. Still they pressed on like corpses hypnotized into a sem blance of motion. The snow fell until it seemed to be a solid wall, yet on and on they went. The barometer and the thermometer continued to fall. The very fluid of the eyes con gealed with the bitter cold. It was at this time, in a single night, that 200,000 peopl e froze to death around the city of Nikolayevsk. Then by the end of February, the remnant of the living dead finally reached Lake Baikal. They decided to cross and endeavor to press toward final safety. The 250,000 people left out of the original 1,250,- 000 began to cross the 50-mile ex panse of gleaming ice which covered the lake. It seemed that nothing could exceed the sufferings of those last three months. Yet on Lake Bai kal was the culminating horror of the whole journey. The ice on the lake was a gleaming, glittering floor, smooth and slippery. The cold at tained its zenith as the temperature went to 70 degrees below zero. A howling snowstorm, which froze the very marrow in their bones, was added to the unspeakable tragic scene. Not one soul survived Lake Baikal, and the bodies were left right there until the following summer. Then as the surface ice melted, its entire horrible cargo sank out of sight to the bottom of the lake. A terrible scene to be sure. Man can approach understanding of physical suffering but will never fully comprehend Calvary for here Christ’s agony was not only physical —it was also spiritual. He was sep arated in those moments from Al mighty God that we might forever be with Him in glory. No wonder we should sing “Hallelujah! What a Saviour!” May we say with Paul, “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made comformable unto his death” (Philippians 3:10). 34
racy and children of all ages. Ad miral Kolchak also had an armored train of 28 cars, filled with hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of gold coins. The brave caravan began its unprecedented 5,000 miles trek even as the Siberian winter set in with a vengeance. The cold, which hovered around 40 degrees below zero, increased to 60 degrees. A howling wind and snowstorm, cutting like a sharp saw at right angles, added greatly to the horror and suffering. The road soon A MOTHER'S PRAYER I do not ask for riches for my children Nor even recognition for their skill; I only ask that Thou wilt give them A heart completely yielded to Thy will. I do not ask for wisdom for my chil dren Beyond discernment of Thy grace; I only ask that Thou wilt use them In Thine own appointed place. I do not ask for favor for my children To seat them on Thy left hand or on Thy right; But may they join the throng of heaven Who sing before Thy throne so bright. I do not seek perfection in my chil dren, For then my own faults I would hide; I only ask that we might walk to gether And serve our Saviour side by side. — Phyllis Didrikse became strewn with the bodies of frozen human beings, as well as horses. The falling snow enveloped the tragic corpses at the wayside until they looked like a giant ser pentine wall along the Siberian road. For three months this incredible cavalry continued until one day in February, 1920, they were forced to abandon the valuable gold. At tempting to load it on sleighs their horses soon died off. In order to save themselves, that which was valued
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