"HERO" AFRAID OF RATS,

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15900, 24 April 1915, Page 2 (Supplement)

"HERO" AFRAID OF RATS,

RUSSIAN GIRL'S EXPLOITS. The exploits of a young Russian scout, named Vassili, receive prominent mention in Petrograd journals. \fassili, who was a young and active volunteer of animal spirits and a regimental favourite, was first in every bold adventure, and received the St. George's Cross for conspicuous bravery after taking a prominent part in some severe fighting.

Vassili and a party of companions spent the night in a barn, Vassili sleeping on a heap of hay. In the middle of the night the young volunteer awaoke and shouted, "Mamma, there's a rat." Needless to say, the other soldriers laughed uproariously.

"Here's a pretty St. George's hero,'* they shouted, "afraid of a rat." Then, to their great astonishment, Vassili broke into an uncontrollable fit of weeping, could not be consoled, and eventually had to be taken to hospital, where the case was pronounced to be one of hysteria. The patient continued to cry bitterly, and a doctor then discovered that the young hero was a pretty girl of 18 years.

When she at length recovered, she was taken to the commander, who elicited from her the admission that she had run away from home with her sweetheart's papers. "I fear nothing, your excellency, but mice and rats," she said.