the appearance of acting independently, and passing the sentence upon the Tsar's family on their own account The arrangement of the whole affair was left to my brother. He visited the volunteer detachment of the Third International and announced that the local Cheka passed sentence of death on the Tsar and his family, and that on this very day the volunteers could take vengeance on the Tsar for the sufferings of the people. But the volunteers remained silent, and not one amongst them was willing to do the deed. In short, the same scene was repeated as that which took place when the Moscow Soviet desired to have the Tsar executed in Tobolsk. Thereupon my brother, taking with him a number of Letts and Hungarians, went to the Ipatiev house, turned into a prison for the Tsar's family, and informed the Tsar that, together with his wife and children, he was to be transferred without delay to the cellars of the building. The Tsar received the news with indifference, but his family were terrified; they burst into tears, cries, and prayers. My brother succeeded in calming them by saying that the garrison of Yekaterinburg had mutinied, and demanded the death of the Romanovs; that the Soviet had refused the demand, and to save the lives of the prisoners, had decided to lodge them in the cellar. The Empress and her daughters quickly composed themselves and thanked my brother, pressing his hand in gratitude. When the Imperial prisoners were in the cellar, they were informed of their doom, and my
