Page:John Feoktist Dudikoff - Beasts in Cassocks (1924).djvu/60

 Bishop Alexander put a few dollars into my hand, adding that Archbishop Eudocimus, who was sent by the Holy Synod to take Platon's place was expected in a few days, and that I would get my money in full. I was puzzled and asked what Bishop Eudocimus had to do with my money. Alexander explained: "It makes no difference because your money is on deposit in the Mission Bank, and you have nothing to fear."

After waiting and suffering great privations for eight months, and still no trace of the new Bishop Eudocimus, I again applied to Bishop Alexander. I complained that it seemed an age before Bishop Eudocimus would appear. "Well, then," he retorted, "if you can't wait, go to Russia."



I was frantic because I was left penniless. I needed some money. I finally made up my mind to wait a short time and then go to Russia. I made known my resolve to Dobroff, who advised me to wait for the new Archbishop: "We are at war with Germany and Austria now. It is not money you must think about but the salvation of your Fatherland. Your money won't be lost. If you can't get it now, you will get twice the amount after the war is over." But in the meantime, how was I to live without money?

I have my first citizenship papers and was unwilling to have them become ineffective. I therefore sought advice from Yuri Bakhmetyev, the Russian Ambassador at Washington. He, in turn,