Note 56 — Chapter XV · THE REVOLUTION—THE ABDICATION OF NICHOLAS II.

Professor Fiodorof, realising that every hour’s delay meant less chance of averting imminent disaster, went to find General V——, who was one of the most prominent members of the Czar’s staff. He found him perched on a ladder engaged in fixing a nail in the wall on which to hang a picture. Fiodorof told him his fears and begged him to see the Czar at once. But the General called him a “revolution maniac,” and, picking up his hammer, continued the operation which had been interrupted by his tiresome visitor.