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142
WHAT I SAW IN RUSSIA


although he is not a good lecturer, that is, he speaks in a low voice and with very little animation, that great audience listened for over an hour while he delivered his lecture in a voice which it was difficult to hear in almost any part of the hall ; but so intent were they that during the whole period one might have heard a pin drop. This audience was almost entirely working class.

The road which lies along the outside of the inner walls of the Kremlin, is I think, the most crowded with people in Moscow. I have crossed it at all hours of the day and night, sometimes on foot, nearly always in a vehicle, and have always found a large number of people about. On Sundays it appears to be a kind of parade, even during the severe weather which prevailed while I was there ; and once more I am bound to say that I saw no sign of the terrible depression which other people appear to have seen.

One other example : on the day I visited the prison in which Mr. Keeling is interned, our car broke down through bumping into a great hole in the road. It looked as if we should be obliged to walk the remainder of the distance : the driver, Fineberg and myself did our best to shift the machine. We were surrounded by a crowd of people of all ages, and I had a good look at these. They were just the same curious crowd that would gather