The city was quiet-probably never so quiet in its history; on that
night not a single hold-up occurred, not a single robbery.
But the City Duma Building was all illuminated. We mounted to the
galleried Alexander Hall, hung with its great, gold-framed,
red-shrouded Imperial portraits. About a hundred people were grouped
around the platform, where Skobeliev was speaking. He urged that the
Committee of Public Safety be expanded, so as to unite all the
anti-Bolshevik elements in one huge organisation, to be called the
Committee for Salvation of Country and Revolution. And as we looked
on, the Committee for Salvation was formed-that Committee which was
to develop into the most powerful enemy of the Bolsheviki,
appearing, in the next week, sometimes under its own partisan name,
and sometimes as the strictly non-partisan Committee of Public
Safety....
Dan, Gotz, Avkesntiev were there, some of the insurgent Soviet
delegates, members of the Executive Committee of the Peasants'
Soviets, old Prokopovitch, and even members of the Council of the
Republic-among whom Vinaver and other Cadets. Lieber cried that the
convention of Soviets was not a legal convention, that the old
_Tsay-ee-kah_ was still in office.... An appeal to the country was
drafted.
We hailed a cab. "Where to?" But when we said "Smolny," the
_izvoshtchik_ shook his head. _"Niet!"_ said he, "there are
devils.
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