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diff --git a/old/62947-0.txt b/old/62947-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d85dd1f..0000000 --- a/old/62947-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7801 +0,0 @@ -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 62947 *** - -THE BALKAN TRAIL - - -[Illustration: _From a Drawing by_ GILBERT HOLIDAY. - -‘NOBODY BLUNDERED.’ [_See page 110._] - - - - - THE BALKAN TRAIL - - BY - FREDERICK MOORE - - _WITH 62 ILLUSTRATIONS AND A MAP_ - - LONDON - SMITH, ELDER, & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE - 1906 - - [All rights reserved] - - - - - TO MY FRIEND - - I. N. F. - - - - -CONTENTS - - -CHAPTER PAGE - - I. THE BULGARIAN BORDER 1 - - II. THE ROAD TO RILO 15 - - III. THE TRAIL OF THE MISSIONARIES 34 - - IV. SOFIA AND THE BULGARIANS 49 - - V. CONSTANTINOPLE AND THE TURKS 68 - - VI. SALONICA AND THE JEWS 82 - - VII. THE DYNAMITERS 105 - - VIII. MONASTIR AND THE GREEKS 134 - - IX. ACROSS COUNTRY 159 - - X. USKUB AND THE SERBS 183 - - XI. METROVITZA AND THE ALBANIANS 212 - - XII. THE LONG TRAIL 228 - - XIII. THE TRAIL OF THE INSURGENT 246 - - XIV. ON THE TRACK OF THE TURK 262 - - XV. THE LAST TRAIL 277 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - ‘NOBODY BLUNDERED’ _Frontispiece_ - _From a drawing by Gilbert Holiday_ - - COUNTING ANIMALS AVAILABLE FOR MILITARY SERVICE _To face p._ 6 - - ON A FRONTIER BRIDGE ” 10 - - THE AMAZON } - } ” 12 - THE MASCOT } - - THE ROAD TO RILO ” 20 - - A BULGARIAN BLOCKHOUSE } - } ” 24 - THE BRIDGE OVER THE STRUMA: TURK AND BULGAR } - - RILO MONASTERY: GRACE BEFORE GRUB ” 28 - - FATHER COOK AND THE BRIGAND ” 32 - - BULGARIAN PEASANTS, SAMAKOV ” 36 - - BULGARIAN INFANTRY ” 48 - - THE CATHEDRAL, SOFIA } - } ” 54 - THE BRITISH AGENCY, SOFIA: A DEMONSTRATION } - - A VIEW OF SOFIA, VITOSH IN THE BACKGROUND ” 58 - - ON THE MARKET PLACE, SOFIA ” 60 - - DOGS OCCUPY THE PAVEMENT; PEOPLE WALK IN THE STREETS } - } ” 70 - THE TURKISH BARBERSHOP } - - CONSTANTINOPLE: MOSQUE OF YÉNI-DJAMI ON THE BOSPHORUS ” 74 - - A HAMMAL AND A LOAD OF PETROLEUM TINS ” 78 - - THE WALL AND BEYOND, SALONICA ” 86 - - THE ANCIENT ARCH OF CONSTANTINE, SALONICA ” 90 - - THE TURKISH BUTCHER ” 92 - - JEWS } - } ” 96 - JEWISH WOMEN } - - ASIATIC SOLDIERS: ‘REDIFS’ } - } ” 106 - WAITING FOR DYNAMITERS, SALONICA } - - THE WRECK OF THE OTTOMAN BANK } - } ” 116 - ENTERING THE DYNAMITERS’ DEN } - - EXILES, SHIPPED WEEKLY FROM SALONICA ” 126 - - ON A MACEDONIAN LAKE ” 136 - - A GREEK ” 142 - - A BIT OF OLD MONASTIR ” 148 - - ORTHODOX PRIESTS ” 154 - - CAPTIVES ALBANIANS, BULGARIANS ” 166 - - TURKISH WEDDING FESTIVITIES ” 168 - - A GYPSY MINSTREL } - } ” 170 - A TURKISH TRUMPETER } - - OUR ESCORT FORDING A STREAM ” 172 - - ‘8 CHEVAUX OU 48 HOMMES’: ALBANIAN RECRUITS ” 184 - - GRAVES OF DEAD COMMITTAJIS } - } ” 194 - THE OLD TURKISH SEXTON WHO LIVED IN A GRAVE } - - THE HORSE MARKET } - } ” 198 - SWEARING TO A BARGAIN } - - ALBANIAN WOMEN ” 210 - - THE ALBANIAN AND HIS KULER } - } ” 220 - ALBANIAN } - - A GROUP OF ALBANIANS ” 222 - - WAYFARERS AT A ROADSIDE FOUNTAIN: TURKS ” 228 - - IN A MOUNTAIN VILLAGE: BULGARIAN PEASANTS DANCING THE HORO ” 236 - - THE TURKISH QUARTER: DJUMA-BALA ” 242 - - RUINS OF KREMEN ” 244 - - A TURKISH BAND LEAVING MONASTIR } - } ” 252 - BASHI-BAZOUKS } - - TURKS ON THE MARCH ” 256 - - TURKISH TROOPS ” 260 - - VLACHS ” 266 - - ‘HELL HOLE,’ KRUSHEVO ” 274 - - THE MACEDONIAN ” 280 - - COMMITTAJIS OFF DUTY ” 292 - - - MAP OF THE BALKANS ” 296 - - - - -THE BALKAN TRAIL - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE BULGARIAN BORDER - - -Men of position are proud and prejudiced. In humble Sofia, where there -is little pretence, the judge of a supreme court, whose salary was -72_l._ a year, declined an offer of double that wage to serve me as -interpreter. An officer in the army, and other Government officials to -whom I made approaches, displayed similar pride and lack of enterprise. -I was bound for the border, and the only individuals willing to -accompany me were two fallen stars of feeble age, in circumstances of -despair; and at last I was obliged to choose between these luckless -linguists. One was an anarchist, light of head and heavy of heart, the -other a bankrupt viscount with a bad eye. I selected the nobleman, but -a word for the anarchist; he is dead. - -He was a very dirty anarchist, with long, shaggy, unkempt mane, and -a hungry, haunted look. He wore a silk-lined frock coat of ample -capacity, a pair of trousers of doubtful suspension, shoes in which -his feet flapped, a silk hat of bygone glory, no collar, no cuffs. He -was of small stature, but his outfit had been created for no little -man. A wonderful ‘gift of gab’ had he; in a few moments I knew his -whole history. He had acquired his knowledge of English in the States, -where in the ’sixties he had served (probably soup) with the Stars -and Stripes when the Stars and Bars were in the field. But--and the -veteran is unique in this regard--he could not procure a pension from -the United States Government. Nevertheless he loved my country. He had -never gone hungry there, while he had often felt the pangs in Bulgaria. -What had Bulgaria done for him? Even the clothes he was wearing had -been given him by an Englishman. For his country’s neglect of her -travelled son, he had acquired the Irish complaint, he was ‘agin’ the -government.’ He was for sending Prince Ferdinand to the hereafter, and -favoured the fashionable dynamite bomb. He was a simple soul; before -he could execute his plot he was sent to eternity himself--though not -quite hoist by his own petard. He was shot, one bright summer evening, -in the public park in front of the palace. Old Barnacle had not known -David Harum’s precept, ‘Do unto the other feller what he would do unto -you--but do it furst.’ - -Barnacle was an honest man, and he would have been faithful; all he -needed to make him generous was a little success. I knew him well -before he died. But in selecting my interpreter I felt compelled to act -on the principle that a clever crook is sometimes a safer companion -than an honest simpleton. - -The man with the bad eye proved to be a character with a most romantic -past, a Continental count who had fallen from his high estate, but -still a man of good taste--particularly for food. He, too, had been a -soldier; he had commanded a company of cavalry in the Russo-Turkish -war, and could still, in his age, ride me out of my saddle. But he was -a Jew, and wisely, as time has proved, did not return after the war -to the land of his birth. He was not a dragoman by profession, there -was nothing servile about him. An English correspondent would not have -tolerated his patronage. But in America, a man and his master, and a -master and his man, equal pretty much the same thing; and we have heard -that things which are equal to the same thing are equal to each other. -No serious class prejudices hampered me, and I was content to permit my -man to be my companion in a land where I could communicate direct with -so few. - -The Count had Bulgarian, Turkish, and Russian history, as well as all -the languages of Europe, at his fingers’ ends. In view of his many -accomplishments I agreed to pay him six francs a day and his living and -travelling expenses. But this was not all my man got from me. - -The price of a good lunch in London will keep two men for a day in -Balkan country, but I did not know this when I commissioned the Count -to provide a hamper of food for the first days of our journey. Three -loaves of bread, a hunk of Bulgarian cheese, some dried lamb, and -two bottles of native wine cost him more of my money than twice the -quantity would have come to in London. After the investment he dined at -the ‘Pannachoff.’ I sat behind him unnoticed and watched him consume -three times as much food as an ordinary man. - -His string of names did justice to his characteristics, Isaac -Swindelbaum von Stuffsky. He was a real count: Isaac Swindelbaum was -all his card bore; an impostor in his predicament would have flaunted -the title. He was called ‘count’ to his face and a ‘Russian spy’ -behind his back. But he was not the latter, he was too poor. Until the -correspondents came, he had lived on the meals and the drinks which -tales of his exploits in the war that created Bulgaria won him from her -officers. - -When a man has no visible means of support in either Bulgaria or Turkey -he is always labelled Spy. In Bulgaria the term is one of reproach, but -in Turkey spies are looked up to and envied as among the only regularly -paid servants of the Sultan. But the officers of Sofia knew that my man -was not a spy. They said he was an emissary of Russia simply because he -insisted that the great Slav country and Austria, allies for reform, -were sincere in their desire to bring about peace in Macedonia, which -none of the officers believed. - -It was a run of only forty kilometres from Sofia to Radomir, but -it took our train half the day to cover the distance. Radomir is -the terminus of the railway to the south, and about half-way to the -frontier. Only one mixed goods and passenger train makes the trip to -and from Sofia each day, and the line is not very profitable. If the -Turkish Government would allow a junction railway to be constructed -from Uskub or Koumanova up to Egri-Palanka, this road would then be -continued to meet it, and all Bulgaria as well as Macedonia would reap -a benefit. But the Turkish rulers like not civilising institutions. - -Our train stopped now and again to pick up some peasant’s pig or -waited ten minutes for a late passenger, and we had opportunity to see -something of the villages at which it stopped. At one little town there -was a striking scene. It was early in March; the snow on the Balkans -had not yet begun to melt, and the peasants were still clad in their -sheepskin coats. Before a low _khan_ (a caravansary) were two cavalry -officers and several private soldiers; and all about surged to and -fro white-clad, furry peasants leading horses of all breeds and in -all conditions--nags which had never eaten other feed than grass, and -well-groomed, blooded beasts, bred from the special stables maintained -by the Government for the purpose of improving the native stock. The -officers were counting animals available for military service in case -of war, and the peasants had come from miles around, eager to have -their horses tried and graded. - -As a result of this fair, riding horses were not to be hired when -we arrived at Radomir; so we negotiated for one of the customary -cross-country conveyances, cast-off city carriages of all designs, -drawn by numerous nags. The drivers told my Count that were he not -with me they would get thirty francs a day from me. I should have -thought that charge cheap. But, despite my price-elevating presence, -my dragoman brought them down in the end to regular fares. This Jew -of mine saved double his wage every day, and though he swindled me -whenever he had an opportunity, no one else had the chance while he was -with me. - -But the bargain took a long time to strike. For an hour he wrangled -with these drivers, who seemed to have formed an anti-American trust. -At last I entered the negotiations, and demanded what all the talk was -about. - -‘I’m saving money for you,’ the Count informed me. ‘I’ve got them down -to twelve francs.’ - -‘Good! then hire a team and we will start.’ - -‘I’ve just hired this man,’ said the Count, and he proceeded to inform -one of the clamouring coachmen that he was engaged. The delighted -driver dashed off to get his team, and in a few minutes a jingle of -bells announced his return with the coach. It was a most dilapidated -vehicle, patched and strengthened with many pieces of rough plank and -bits of rope; but they were all alike. - -I had particularly fancied a four-horse team, the horses all abreast as -in a chariot, but this hired by the Count had only three. - -[Illustration: COUNTING ANIMALS AVAILABLE FOR MILITARY SERVICE.] - -‘I think we had better have four horses, Count,’ I suggested. ‘We have -a long drive before us, and I don’t like moving slowly.’ - -‘I have already engaged this man, sir. He asks only twelve francs a day -and guarantees to get us over the mountains in the best time possible.’ - -‘What’s the price of a four-horse team?’ - -‘They ask fifteen francs.’ - -‘Well, I think we can afford twelve shillings for a conveyance, four -horses and a man, Count!’ - -‘But I have already engaged this man, sir.’ - -‘Count, we will take a four-horse team.’ - -The Count expostulated, and I had to repeat. It was then I discovered -that there was something of the Rob Roy in my old Jew. He would rob me -because, as he informed me later, Americans were rolling in wealth, but -he was going to do the right thing by a peasant. - -‘But I have hired this man, sir,’ he said again. ‘We shall have to pay -him if we take another.’ - -I told the Count to give him half a day’s wages, which he did, and the -peasant nearly collapsed with surprise. - -The drive over the mountains to Kustendil consumed six hours, so we did -not arrive there until long after dark. - -My advance had been telegraphed ahead from Sofia, and soon after -breakfast next morning I was waited on by the governor of the district -and all his staff in a body. The governor had instructions from the -Minister of the Interior to facilitate my journey in every way, and was -ready to do anything he could to aid me. I expressed my appreciation of -his kindness, and promised to avail myself of it if necessary. There -was method in this hospitality: the Bulgarians are not ordinarily so -polite. - -The arrival of an American correspondent was a great event in -the little town, and hard on the heels of the governor came two -English-speaking Bulgars, college graduates respectively of Princeton -and the University of West Virginia. One of them was a magistrate, -the other a minister acting under the direction of the American -missionaries. Politically the magistrate and the governor were enemies, -and the officials, all members of the Orthodox Church, were none too -friendly with the Protestant preacher. The courtesy between the parties -was stiff and measured. When the governor and his staff took their -leave, the minister and the judge commandeered me for the rest of the -day to talk over old times in America. We went over to Fournagieff’s -home, a plain building with whitewashed walls of stucco, a low door, -and a narrow, ladder-like staircase leading up to the mission-room. -There we hunted out a book of college songs, and all three sang old -Princeton airs for an hour to the accompaniment of an American melodeon. - -Fournagieff’s father was among the refugees from Macedonia who were -then in Kustendil, having come across the border to escape a search for -arms in the Raslog district. I could not get the old man to admit his -association with the _Committajis_ (committee-men), but I think there -is no doubt that he was a local _voivoda_. At any rate, the Turkish -officials suspected him of being a chief, of organising and arming the -peasants of his village, and planned to subject him with others to an -inquisition; but a friendly Turk warned him of the prospective arrival -of troops and advised escape. Old Fournagieff’s Turkish friend supplied -a testimonial vouching for his loyalty to the Padisha, which enabled -him to pass over to Bulgaria by the bridge on the Struma, and saved him -the hardship and dangers of climbing the border Balkans between Turkish -posts. - -Kustendil is not a favourite place of refuge, and there were few -fugitives here; but the town suits the purposes of the insurgents, and -rightly has a bad name among the Turks for breeding ‘brigands.’ The -mountains in this district are wooded and rugged, and an infinitely -larger and more vigilant force than the Turkish Government maintains -on the frontier is necessary to close it to the committajis. There -were several bands in Kustendil at this time, preparing to cross into -Turkey, and the leaders of one called at the hotel and invited me to -accompany them. I should see everything in Macedonia, they said, if I -went under their guidance, whereas, if I trusted myself to the Turks, -I should see only the beauties of the land and none of its horrors. -I questioned these fellows as to the conditions of the scheme, and -learned these: I should have to travel by night and keep closely -hidden by day; I should have to wear the peasant garb peculiar to -the district in which I was, and raise a beard to hide my foreign -physiognomy; I should have to live on the coarsest of native food and -sometimes go without any; I should not be allowed to talk to anyone, -for the band could not take along my antique interpreter. - -I was very anxious to see one of their fights, I said, and I asked if -they would have one within a reasonable time. - -Certainly, came the reply; they could have a small one whenever I liked. - -I was much tempted to the adventure, but afraid to trust myself to the -tender mercies of these ‘brigands,’ and mildly told them so. This gave -the leader an idea. - -‘Would you like to get rich?’ he asked. - -‘I would,’ I replied. - -‘If you will permit us to capture you, we will share whatever ransom we -obtain.’ - -Before I could reply the Count delivered his advice, which it suited me -to follow. The Count did not like the idea of the brigands taking me -out of his hands. - -[Illustration: ON A FRONTIER BRIDGE.] - -While I was entertaining the committajis the governor returned to the -khan to invite me to luncheon, and entered my room unannounced. I -expected to see a hurried scattering of my guests, but none of them so -much as changed countenance. The governor took them in at a glance, -but otherwise completely ignored them. At this time the Bulgarian -Foreign Office was declaring emphatically that every effort was -being made to prevent the passing of bands from the Principality into -the sovereign State, so it rested with the governor to make excuse for -the inactivity of the law in this case. The governor gave explanation -at his table. He said he knew every one of the insurgents who were in -my room, and that they were all bogus warriors, not worthy of arrest. -None of them had ever been to Turkey. They belonged to the External -Committee, and they took good care to do no internal work. - -While strolling through the town with my Count at a later day, there -appeared a band of some twenty unarmed insurgents under arrest. One -gendarme had charge of the whole party, and took little heed of their -scattering. They were on their way to Sofia. They had just come back -from Macedonia after hiding their arms in the mountains, and had -come down to the town to surrender. If they allowed themselves to -be arrested, I understood, they received free transportation to the -capital, where their names were recorded and they were set free on -parole; whereas, if they avoided arrest, they were compelled to walk to -wherever they would be, for none of them possessed sufficient money to -pay railway or coach fare. - -They were a mongrel crew, only one clean ‘man’ among them, and that a -woman. They looked as if they had seen service. Their outfits covered -a wide range of variety, and were much torn and tattered. A few had -military overcoats with many patches, some wore native cloaks of -broad black and white stripes, and others were wrapped in blankets -like American Indians. The woman had no greatcoat, but her uniform -was warmer and in better condition than those of the men: the patches -were perfect. She carried a needle and thread, but only one kind of -medicine, though a red cross decorated her arm. She caught my eye at -once, and I sent the Count into the band to ascertain if she would -honour me with an interview. My man went up to her with the blunt and -burly manner he was wont to wear, grabbed her by the arm, and explained -his errand in a word. This, I can imagine, is what he said: ‘Come with -me; an American correspondent wants to hear your story!’ The whole -band, including the single guard, stopped, wheeled round, and followed -the bad-eyed Count and his captive. They gathered about the girl and -me, and prompted her memory whenever it failed on points of detail. - -We sat on two empty wine casks in front of a peasant’s khan, and I took -notes as the Count drew from the Amazon an account of her adventures -beyond the border. - -This band had been in the enemy’s country for about six months, in -which time they had had five fights, and she estimated that she herself -had killed and wounded no fewer than eight Turks. While she talked she -crossed her trousered limbs and drew a dagger from her legging as a -Scot would from his sock. She tossed the weapon about and caught it -dexterously by the handle, and told me how she marched with her -brothers-in-arms fifty miles and more a night. - -[Illustration: THE AMAZON.] - -[Illustration: THE MASCOT.] - -In the daytime they rested at the summit of some lonely mountain -which commanded a length of road and a breadth of valley, and from -these ‘crows’ nests’ in the height descended by night to ambush small -bodies of Turks or swoop down on little towns, attempting the total -destruction of the garrison and the last male Moslem therein. This -woman had no mercy on Turks; she said they had slain her mother, her -father, and all her brothers in one day. She was a soldier of fortune; -revenge was hers, and hope for Macedonia. In concluding her remarks -the lady drew a phial of arsenic from her trousers-pocket and informed -me that the poison was for the purpose of taking her own life in case -of capture by the Turks. I took her photograph, with and without her -companions, and the whole band shook hands with me and resumed their -march to the railway terminus. - -This was the only female fighter I encountered on my tracks through -the Balkans, but there are many with the bands. A missionary told -me an interesting story of one, which throws light on the strange -mental workings of some of the insurgent chiefs. The missionary met -the Amazon, a pretty young woman about twenty, wandering along a high -road near Samakov. The girl asked the way to the town, and told the -following story: She had been betrothed to a young man who felt called -to the service of his country. She threatened her lover that if he -joined a revolutionary band she would go with him. Both firm in their -purpose, they both joined the band, and for several weeks fought side -by side. But the girl was not able to stand the hardships, and the -heavy work soon began to tell on her. She began to lag behind the -others on the hard night marches, and would not have been able to keep -up at all except for the assistance of her strong young lover. Finally -the voivoda called the man before him and delivered himself thus: -‘Committajis have their work to do and cannot be hampered with women. -The woman must be left behind to-night, but you must continue with the -band.’ The man protested, entreated, threatened, but all to no avail. -That night the insurgents started, leaving the woman to an unknown -fate; the man refused to accompany them. The chief did not hesitate to -order the recognised punishment, and his men, though they liked the -young man well, did not hesitate to execute the command. - -The youth was taken into a secluded dell, from which he never came -forth. The girl listened, but no sound escaped. The report of a gun -might have attracted Turks. - -She found his body later, stabbed, and buried it in leaves. The -insurgents punish with death; they have no prisons. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE ROAD TO RILO - - -A representative body of Bulgarians assembled at the khan on the -morning of our departure from Kustendil. Several army officers, who -were staying at the khan, rose early and ate a five-o’clock breakfast -with us; a deputation of committajis arrived before we had finished -the meal; at six o’clock the missionary and the judge appeared; and a -mounted officer and two gendarmes drew up before the door; peasants on -their way to the fields, and meek and miserable refugees, for want of -something better to do, gathered to see the strange foreigners depart. -Everybody was anxious to be of service to us, and ready at a word to do -anything we required. But the judge and the minister managed to secure -all of my few commissions, because they, speaking English, did not have -to wait like the others until the Count interpreted my wants. I had to -arrange several minor matters, such as the forwarding of telegrams and -letters, and to send some of my luggage back to Sofia, because we had -discharged our shandrydan at this point, and would proceed down the -frontier mounted. - -While I was engaged stuffing a toothbrush, a box of Keating’s, a -couple of pairs of socks, and other absolute necessities into my -saddle-bags, the Count, ever busying himself with money matters, went -to the _khanji_ and requested the statement of our account. Now, the -innkeeper was a Greek, and, true to Hellenic principles, he had charged -us all and more than he had any hope of getting. He tried to put the -Count off and get a settlement from me. But my Jew was not to be thrust -aside by any mere Greek. - - -When Greek meets Jew. - -The _khanji_ informed the Count--after much insistence on the part -of the latter--that we owed him a sum of several napoleons (I do not -remember the exact amount). - -‘What!’ exclaimed the Jew. ‘Let me see your book.’ - -The Greek passed over a much ear-marked memorandum book in which -he had kept the record of the number of nights we had slept at his -hostelry, and what we had eaten. We had been charged three francs per -night per cot, while two officers who shared a room with us and had -like accommodation, were paying less than a franc apiece; two francs -fifty for each meal--for which the Bulgarians paid less than a third -as much--and a franc a flagon for the Count’s wine, correspondingly -high for the native vintage. My man began to talk to the _khanji_ in -loud, loose language, which let the entire assembly know of the Greek’s -crime. The officers, the committajis, and even the ordinary natives -became indignant at this ‘attempt to impose on a foreigner,’ and in a -body joined the Count in abusing the garrulous Greek. The Greek stood -his ground in a manner worthy of his ancient forefathers, and declined -to take one sou off his bill, arguing that I should pay at the rate at -which I was accustomed to paying. The foreigner, he contended, should -not profit by native prices, but the native should profit by foreign -prices. Good reasoning. I offered to ‘split the difference’ between -native and foreign prices. The Greek agreed, but the sum to be paid -figured out too much to meet the approval of the Count, who left the -khan most disgruntled, because, he said sorrowfully, ‘It hurts me to -be cheated; and even if it suits you to throw away money, I would have -you refrain from lavishing it upon Greeks, who do not appreciate it, -and puff themselves up with pride at having successfully swindled me!’ -My old Jew assumed more the _rôle_ of manager than man, and I did not -dislike him for it. While I acted on my own judgment in matters of -more or less importance, I always listened to his counsel, for it was -generally good, and I took no measures to suppress him. - -We made so early a start from Kustendil that the governor was unable to -be present; but he sent a representative to wish us a pleasant journey -and to offer me an escort of gendarmes. - -‘Isn’t the district safe?’ I asked. - -The question was offensive. Everybody generally responded to my -inquiries in one breath, but this brought a dignified silence over the -assembly; only the official person, the governor’s representative, -replied: - -‘Every district in Bulgaria is perfectly safe. You can travel anywhere -in our land as securely as you can in your own.’ - -‘Then of course we need no escort?’ - -‘But there is danger,’ interrupted the Count, unconsciously blinking -his bad eye. ‘The route which we are taking is seldom travelled, and if -we encounter border patrols we shall arouse suspicion.’ The Count knew -what the company of gendarmes would mean in foraging, and to old Von -Stuffsky the grub was the thing! - -The gendarmes were fairly well mounted, but the only animals that we -could obtain were two tiny pack-ponies full of tantalising pack-train -habits. They were strong little beasts, and could travel all day -without showing fatigue, but it was impossible to get them out of a -pack-train gait, and under no circumstance would they travel side by -side. After the Count had struggled desperately with his little brute -for quite an hour, he borrowed one of the officer’s spurs, and we all -halted while he sat on a rock and fastened it to a foot; for had we not -waited, the Count’s animal, having no other to follow, would have taken -him back to its stable. When the old man mounted again his temper had -cooled, and instead of giving his pony a vicious kick, as I expected, -he brought his heels together gently but firmly. The horse lifted a -hind leg and kicked viciously at the bite. But this did not rid him of -the annoyance, so he turned his head around and sought the insect with -his teeth. For this he got a kick in the nose, and then began to learn -what the spur meant. - -The price for the hire of the ponies was absurd, a franc a day apiece; -and we paid another franc a day for a boy to go with us and care for -them. This boy was wise; he came along on foot. - -From the crest of the first high hill Macedonia came into view. The -land sweeps on as one; there is no line to mark where Occident ends and -Orient begins; but somewhere down there the order of things reverses. -Here, where we stood, the Mohamedan is the infidel; across the valley -the Christian is the _giaour_. - -We took a course generally along the Struma, as near the border as -we could pass without being halted by frontier guards. We kept to -the north bank as much as possible; when compelled, because of bad -ground, to take the south side, we did not lose sight of the river, -for there was no other line to keep us within the border. There was -no high road on our route, and for many miles not even a footpath. We -had no guide, and neither of the gendarmes had been over the route -before. Consequently we had often to retrace our steps and make long -détours, sometimes for miles, when we happened to get into a ‘blind’ -cañon or meet the edge of a mountain side too steep for descent. Once, -while following the river (which was generally fordable), we came to -a gorge less than a hundred feet in breadth, through which the water -poured swift and deep, and on both sides the mountains rose almost -perpendicularly. We could not venture the horses into the seething -waters, nor was it possible to get them up the steep slopes, so we -were obliged to make our way back up stream until we found an incline -gradual enough to climb. - -It was often necessary to dismount and make our way on foot. For -several miles we followed a footpath seldom more than two feet wide, -high up on the side of a steep, rocky mountain. Fortunately the ponies -were cool-headed and sure-footed. On one such ledge we overtook a -committaji pack-train making its way towards the frontier from Dupnitza -with ammunition and provisions for a band. We hailed the insurgents and -accompanied them to an apparently deserted hut with a little wooden -cross at its top. When we came in sight of this place the voivoda gave -a long, loud whistle, and two men appeared. Where were the others? We -were all disappointed to hear that the band had had a good opportunity -to cross the border the evening before, and had gone back into Turkey -without waiting for the supplies. - -We ate lunch at the insurgent armoury, and had a contest at -target-shooting after the meal. Some of the insurgents were very good -marksmen, but the gendarmerie officer hit more ‘bull’s eyes’ than any -of us. - -[Illustration: THE ROAD TO RILO.] - -For hours before we came upon this hut we had not passed a single -habitation, and for quite a while after we left it the mountains were -completely deserted. It was just the place for a brigand camp. Most of -the country through which we passed this day was not only uncultivated, -but almost entirely barren; dwarfed shrubs grew in patches here and -there, but no woods did we pass in the whole twelve hours’ track. - -In the afternoon we came upon a faint footpath which led in our -direction. After following it for half an hour, we found it change -abruptly into a waggon track, though no farmhouse or ploughed field -excused this sudden transformation. The road began at nowhere, but led -down to the river again, through it, and up to Boborshevo, where we had -planned to spend the night. We found our boy already established at the -khan; he had outstripped us early in the day. - -We were all weary and dusty, and ravenously hungry, but the khan’s -larder contained only a huge round loaf of brown bread, a few bits of -garlic, and the materials for Turkish coffee, which I had not yet come -to regard as fit to drink; nor did it seem possible to obtain much -else in the village. We despatched the boy to make inquiries, and he -returned with the information that each of four peasant families could -supply a loaf. Not a very promising outlook for supper! I asked if the -villagers ate nothing else themselves, and learned that they lived -practically by bread alone. They have generally a bit of cheese or an -onion with which to flavour the bread; but meat or fowl or eggs they -indulge in only on fête days. - -But our gendarmes assured us that we should get a supper, and presently -the meal came bleating through the door. It was allowed to stop in the -café for a few minutes, where it cuddled up to the Count, while the -_khanji_ sharpened his knife. Then the poor little thing was dragged -back into the stable, and in about half an hour a smoking stew was set -before us. - -This town afforded about the worst accommodation we had yet found, but -it provided a wandering minstrel. All the creature could do was laugh; -but his laugh was incessant and infectious. We gave him supper, and -he returned again in the morning for breakfast, whereafter I took the -preceding photograph of him, which by no means does justice to the -breadth of his grin. The cap which he wore was made (he told us) by an -insurgent in a band with which he had travelled as a mascot. It was an -extra large committaji cap bearing the committee’s motto, in the usual -brass design,‘Liberty or Death.’ It lacked, however, the skull and -crossbones sometimes worn. - -The _khanji_ at Boborshevo apologised for the bill he presented at -our departure. He had stabled and fed nine of us, including the four -ponies, and our indebtedness came to a grand total of eleven francs! -The khan-keeper was a Bulgarian. - -It is interesting to observe that a Turk swindles you to demonstrate -to himself how much more clever he is than is an ‘infidel’; a Greek -swindles you because he desires your money; while both Turk and Greek -declare the Bulgarian too stupid to cheat. - -We expected to find a high road leading out of Boborshevo, but if there -was one it did not lead in our direction. The only road towards the -east was another waggon track which again crossed the Struma. By this -time we had come to feel as much at home in the water as out of it. We -had at first shown consideration for our boy by taking him across the -river on one of our horses, but we both got tired of this, and he soon -struck his own course, invariably arriving at appointed meeting places -an hour or more before us. We met him at Kotcharinova this day at noon, -resting at the village fountain and making a meal of bread and lump -sugar. He declined a piece of lamb, saying that to eat meat two days in -succession would make him ill. - -To the south of Kotcharinova, less than half a mile, is a border post, -where the casernes of the respective forces stand on the opposite -shores of the narrow Struma, and the Bulgarian and Turkish sentries -pace side by side, bayonets fixed, at the centre of the bridge. We -made a détour to Barakova (such is the name of this post), leaving our -escort to await us on the road to Rilo. There was no difficulty in -securing from the Bulgarian officer permission to visit the Turkish -side, but we were halted for a quarter of an hour at the magic line -while the Turkish sentry called the corporal, and the corporal called -the sergeant, and the sergeant went and waked the commandant, who -first peeped out of his window, then rose, dressed, and came to fetch -us. The first remarks of this smartly uniformed officer, who spoke some -French, were in the nature of apologies for the Turkish part of the -bridge; a _Graphic_ artist, with whom I visited Barakova a year later, -described it as ‘made of holes with a few boards between.’ - -The half-dozen fezzed soldiers whom we saw from the bridge were fine -specimens of men, and at a glance compared favourably in uniforms and -arms with the Bulgarians. I was curious to go through their camp, but -the officer would show me only his own room. The Turks possess no -military secret unknown to the European, but they are all afraid he -might find one in their camps. - -‘It is quite absurd,’ said the officer at Barakova, as, seated on his -rough divans, we sipped his coffee; ‘it is quite absurd for the foreign -journals to say that Turks commit atrocities. We are a highly civilised -people, and our Padisha is a most enlightened and humane monarch, and -it is ridiculous to accuse him or his army of doing a single barbarous -deed. Now, the Bulgarians are barbarians, and, naturally, it is they -who perpetrate all these massacres and other horrible crimes. - -‘Tell me,’ continued the Turk without abatement, ‘are sections of -America still barbarous? I read of blacks being burned at the stake.’ -Clever Turk. - -[Illustration: A BULGARIAN BLOCKHOUSE.] - -[Illustration: THE BRIDGE OVER THE STRUMA: TURK AND BULGAR.] - -More than a year later I returned to Barakova from the Turkish side -and asked the same Turkish commander for permission to visit the -Bulgarian barracks; but he had many excuses to offer. Perhaps the -Bulgarian garrison would not like us to visit them unannounced; it was -against all regulations for anyone to step across that border without -a passavant which could not be issued nearer than at Djuma-bala; if -anything should happen to us while on the Bulgarian side, the Padisha -would be seriously grieved at his (the officer’s) having permitted us -to go over into Bulgaria. But we had despatches to forward and letters -to post, and vented upon the Turk three hours’ persistent persuasion, -when finally he consented to take us over the bridge himself. Six other -officers accompanied him, and our interpreter was detained in the -Turkish barracks as a hostage. There was no other way than to deliver -our letters to the Bulgarians in the presence of the Turks, and the -moment was awkward for all parties. - -Shortly after leaving Barakova we got the first view of Perim Dagh, -a celebrated high peak in Macedonia, renowned among the Bulgarians -as the mountain from which Sarafoff issued his call ‘to his -brothers’--Sarafoff and St. Paul!--to come over into Macedonia and help -him! - -This was a more productive district than that through which we had -passed the day before; the land was generally tilled and settlements -were comparatively numerous. And after passing Rilo Silo (Rilo -village), where the long climb to the monastery begins, the way leads -through a dense forest which covers the mountains. - -The road to Rilo is by the side of a rapid brook, which has its source -somewhere in the wild woods far above the monastery, up under the line -of perpetual snow. It tumbles for more than twenty miles over the small -boulders, and between the big ones, down, down, down to the village; -this, at least, is as far as I know it tumbles, from having followed -it. On both sides of the brook rise the Balkans, the crest of the range -to the south forming the border-line. From Rilo Silo to Rilo Monastery -there is but one pass through these mountains, and in this gateway to -Turkey stands the Bulgarian blockhouse shown in the preceding picture. -In spite of the fact that it was yet winter, the leaves on the trees -were thick enough to keep the rays of sun from the road, and there -was a chill under the grove which soon caused us all to unpack our -greatcoats. As our elevation increased, the air grew yet colder; the -brook took on icy rims, icicles clung to the bigger boulders, and -snowdrifts lodged by the side of the road. We dismounted one by one, -for the slow up-hill pace of the horses afforded no exercise, and we -needed more warmth than our coats would give. The gendarmes, as I have -said, were better mounted than were the Count and I, but on foot we -had the advantage of them. Their horses had always to be led--and did -not lead as well as they drove--while our pack-ponies, ever content to -follow pace, could be turned loose, and would follow the other animals -as tenaciously as if tied to their tails. - -The sun had long dropped behind the mountains--though the day had -not yet gone--when we emerged from the forest into a clearing, and -the first view of the great, bleak, deserted-looking monastery broke -suddenly upon us. The heavy gates were swung back, grating on their -rusty hinges, and a long-bearded, black-robed priest came forth to -welcome us. The gendarmerie officer had telegraphed from Rilo Silo that -we would arrive that night, and the hospitable monks had got our rooms -warm and ready, and prepared a splendid supper for us. - -There was no fireplace or stove in the room which was allotted to me, -but a broad, tiled chimney came through the wall from an ante-room. -A queer little dwarf--not a monk, but long-haired and bearded like -them--who occupied this room, was assigned to the task of waiting on us -and stoking the fire in the oven. - -The Rilo Monastery is a great rectangular pile four storeys high, -built of stone around a spacious courtyard. On the outside a height -of sheer wall is broken by small barred windows only above the second -floor, and two arched gateways below, one at each end of the place. -The old convent was built for siege. Within, facing on the courtyard, -are broad balconies, quite a sixth of a mile around. The chapel stands -in the centre of the court, and beside it there is an ancient tower -and dungeon dating from mediæval times. Although the foundation of -the monastery is very old, most of the present structure and the -church date from only 150 years back. At one time it sheltered several -hundred monks, but the number has dwindled away until to-day there are -but fifty or sixty there. The old abbot said ruefully that since the -Bulgarians had become free they are not so willing to enter holy orders -as they were when under the Turks. Naturally; this monastery, for some -reason, was always exempt from ravage by Turkish troops, and to enter -it was to find safety for body as well as soul. The greater part of the -building is now usually unoccupied, and its vast, bare rooms have a -most desolate appearance. - -The painting of the place is most peculiar. Outside the stones are -left their natural colour, but the courtyard walls are whitewashed and -striped with red. The balconies and the overhanging roof, the rafters -of which are visible, are almost black from age. The place would be -magnificent were it not made hideous with atrocious frescoes, which -might have originated in the mind of a Doré and must have been executed -by a schoolboy. The pictures covering both the outer and inner walls -of the chapel, which stands in the centre of the court, are grouped -in pairs or sets, and portray side by side the after torments of the -wicked and the bliss of the good. Many of the sleeping-rooms are -likewise decorated in a manner conducive to nightmare. - -[Illustration: RILO MONASTERY: GRACE BEFORE GRUB.] - -There is a museum at Rilo of old Bulgarian books, icons, and other -church relics, of all of which the monks are very proud. Many of the -books were saved from destruction at the hands of the Greek priests -in their late attempt to Hellenise the Bulgarians by obliterating their -language. There are presents from the Sultans, and some articles of -intrinsic value. - -I was much interested in a retired brigand who lived at the monastery, -and invited him and a committaji sojourning there to join us one -evening at supper. We were a strange gathering that sat down to the -monks’ good fare that memorable night. There were many monks, in -flowing robes and headgear like stove-pipe hats worn upside down. -In the centre of this sombre assembly was our party: the brigand, a -powerful mountain fellow who had worn his weapons day and night for -thirty years; a desperate revolutionist engaged in directing the -passage of bands across the Balkans; a border officer who had been -picked for his nerve and judgment to serve on the Turkish frontier; my -Count and myself. - -It took much persuasion and many glasses of the monks’ good wine to -make the brigand tell us of his adventures; but when he had fairly -begun he went into most extravagant detail and gave us substantial -demonstration of how he had done his many deeds of valour. He took his -yataghan and wielded it about him in a desperate manner as he told -us of how, when surrounded on one occasion, he cut his way through -overwhelming numbers of Turkish troops; he drew his dagger at another -period and crept stealthily along to slay an adversary by surprise; -and he stretched himself full length on the floor and aimed his rifle -over imaginary rocks when giving an account of what he considered the -narrowest escape he had ever had. - -He and his band had been forced by a body of Turks up a mountain side -at the back of which was a yawning precipice. Half of his men dropped -behind rocks and held the Turks at bay while the others took off their -long red sashes and tied them together into a rope, by which all but -four managed to escape by sliding down the chasm into a thickly wooded -valley below. The brigand told us that he had chopped off the heads of -Turks with a single blow, and had to his credit in all seventeen dead -men. He was an Albanian--a Christian Albanian--which accounts for the -record he kept of his killings. - -Everybody at the monastery but myself was accustomed to such narratives -as these, and no one else--not even the holy monks--showed the least -emotion at the bloody recital. It was purely for my benefit. - -Towards midnight the conversation turned to combats to come, and both -the officer and the committaji assured me there would be no lack of -blood-letting as soon as the snows melted. Ammunition was going across -the frontier nightly, and preparations for the revolution were being -prosecuted vigorously under the very noses of the Turkish authorities. -But it was necessary in some districts, where the Government officials -were keenly on the alert, to adopt curious means of getting arms -into the towns. The insurgent told this story of how a supply of -dynamite bombs was got into Monastir. A funeral parade started from an -ungarrisoned village near by, and marched into the town to the solemn -chant of a mock priest, attired in gilded vestments, and acolytes -swinging incense. Mourners, men and women, followed the corpse, weeping -copiously. The Turks did not notice that the dead man was exceptionally -heavy, and required twice the usual number of pall-bearers. The -insurgents buried their load in the Bulgarian cemetery with all due -dust to dust and ashes to ashes. The local voivodas were apprised of -the fact, and the following night a select delegation robbed the grave. - -There were no refugees at Rilo on the occasion of my first visit. -Several months had elapsed since the search for arms in the Struma -and Razlog districts, and the fugitives who had come to the monastery -to escape this inquisition in Macedonia had now moved on to the towns -and villages further from the frontier. But six months later, when -I returned after the revolution in Macedonia, the place was crowded -with refugees. There were nearly two thousand quartered in the main -building and in the stables and cornbins round about, and more were -arriving daily. Some reached the monastery driving a cow or two, and -others leading ponies and donkeys heavily laden with all their poor -possessions; but many came with only what they carried on their backs. -The special burden of the little girls seemed to be their mothers’ -babies, borne in bags strapped to their backs. - -Some of the young mothers bore between their eyes peculiar marks which -attracted my attention. They were crosses tattooed there. They told me -that these life marks were for the purpose of preventing the Turks from -stealing them; but I am of the opinion that the sign of the Cross would -not prevent a Moslem from taking a Christian woman. - -A caravan of pack-ponies arrived at Rilo every morning, bringing bread, -which was supplied to the refugees by the Bulgarian Government. Besides -this they received soup from the monastery once a day. - -The kitchen at Rilo is quite worthy of description. It is on the ground -floor, but above it there are no other rooms. Its walls go up to the -roof. The fire is built in the centre of the room, on the floor, which -is of stone, and the smoke rises a hundred feet and escapes through -a round hole about a foot in diameter. The refugee soup was boiled -in a huge iron cauldron, suspended by chains over the fire. So large -was this pot that the cook had to stand on a box to stir the boiling -beverage, which he did with a great wooden spoon almost as long as -himself. At noon the refugees gathered in the courtyard with earthen -vessels, and as the names of their villages were called they came up -to the pot, and the old grey-bearded cook dished out a big spoonful -of soup to each mother, and a monk handed her a loaf or more of bread -according to the number of children she had. - -[Illustration: FATHER COOK AND THE BRIGAND.] - -The native costumes of the Macedonians are of the gayest colours, -and this midday scene was beautiful as well as pitiable. But there was -a night scene at the monastery which was even more fascinating. There -were two companies of infantry also quartered here, and as there was -no hall to spare for use as mess-room, they were obliged to eat their -meals in the open courtyard. A few minutes before the supper-hour -pots of stew or soup, or other army rations, were set in a row on the -stone pavement. When the call to mess was sounded the soldiers fell in -behind the pots, each with half a loaf of bread and a tin spoon, and -stood facing the chapel. The drums beat again, and with one accord the -line of yellow-coated men doffed their caps. Their officer, likewise -reverencing, pronounced the grace, and the company made the sign of the -Cross three times in drill regularity. The men then seated themselves, -eight round a pot, and began their meal in the golden light of pine -torches fastened to the great pillars which support the balconies. - -In the Balkans the Christian call to mass is beaten on a pine board. -The hours of prayer are regular at Rilo, and the time of day is told by -the shrill tattoo. The next lap of our trail was long, and we rose and -saddled horses at the call to six o’clock mass. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE TRAIL OF THE MISSIONARIES - - -From Rilo it is a day’s track to Samakov, a primitive, dreamy town, -full of frontier colour and character. A mosque and a Turkish fountain -still do duty in the market place, and many times a day Turks come to -the fountain to wash before entering the mosque to prayer--just as they -do across the border. But over there the Christian drawing drinking -water makes way for the Moslem to wash his feet, while here the Turk is -made to wait his turn like any other man. Samakov is much like other -border towns, built largely of mud bricks, roofed with red tiles, -crowned with storks’ nests. It possesses, however, one distinctive -feature. - -The largest American college in South-Eastern Europe, outside of -Constantinople, is here. It is conducted by the American missionaries, -and educates most of the Bulgarian teachers employed in the Protestant -schools throughout Bulgaria and Macedonia. It is something more than a -theological institute; it is also an industrial school, patterned after -those most successful in the United States, where boys learning trades -may earn part or all of their tuition. The carpentering department and -the printing press are both conducted at a profit, which is credited -proportionately to the boys who do the work. In the girls’ school the -duties of home and life are taught, as well as book knowledge, and some -of the young women are trained for the positions of teachers in the -smaller mission schools. - -The Bulgarians owe much to the American missionaries, both directly -and indirectly. For one thing, the Americans have excited, without -intention, the jealousy of the Orthodox Church, which has undoubtedly -assisted in keeping the priests active in developing their own -educational institutions. It was not until the American missionaries -opened a school for girls in their land that the Bulgarians began to -educate their women. But that was many years ago, before Bulgaria -became a quasi-independent State; now the State schools afford every -advantage the Americans can offer--except the American language. - -The Bulgarian Government attempts to administer justice to all -denominations and to maintain religious equality before the law, and -the Government comes fairly near to this aim. The Greeks complain that -Greek schools are not subsidised, but Turkish schools are maintained -by the State. It is due to the freedom of religious opinion existing -in Bulgaria that the missionaries have become so closely allied with -the Bulgarians, for in no other Balkan country, except perhaps Rumania, -is there the same liberty of thought. The Servian Government prohibits -by law all proselytising to Protestantism. The Greeks--though they -welcomed the aid and sympathy of the missionaries in the Greek war -of independence--have since enacted laws which make the teaching of -‘sacred lessons’ in the schools compulsory, lessons of a character -which the missionaries refuse to disseminate. The Sultan would not -tolerate the missionaries in his dominions if they attempted to convert -Mohamedans, while the few Turks who have deserted Mohamedanism have -mysteriously disappeared. And it has been found almost impossible to -convert Jews. So the missionaries are left only the Bulgarians on whom -to work. Their schools and churches are open to other nationalities in -both Bulgaria and Macedonia; but, for the double reason that they are -institutions of Protestants and of Bulgarians, very few of the other -races ever seek admission. - -But the Bulgarians do not appreciate the work of the Americans; indeed, -those who are not converted distinctly rebel against what they term -the ‘Christianising of Christians.’ I have said that the Government -was just in religious matters; the members of the Government, however, -are not. Government officials (adherents of the Orthodox Church, or -they would not be elected) make it difficult for the missionaries to -extend their work, by delaying necessary permits and privileges as -long as possible; and they favour members of the Orthodox Church in -making appointments to public service. The unfortunate missionaries -are, therefore, between the devil and the deep sea; for while the -Bulgarians resent being the subject of missions, the Turks accuse the -Americans of propagating a revolutionary spirit amongst the Bulgars. Of -the latter, however, they are not directly guilty, though the education -of a peasant naturally tends to fire his spirit. - -[Illustration: BULGARIAN PEASANTS, SAMAKOV.] - -But there was one occasion when the American missionaries came to be -important instruments of the Macedonian revolutionary cause. This was -in the notorious capture of Miss Ellen M. Stone, a certain feature of -which, not correctly chronicled at the time, makes a most interesting -narrative. - -Early in July 1901, a party of Protestant missionaries and -teachers--among whom Miss Stone was the only foreigner--left the -American school at Samakov and crossed the Turkish frontier to -Djuma-bala. From Djuma they proceeded into Macedonia, without an -escort, considering that the party, numbering fifteen, was too large -to be molested. Towards nightfall of the first day out the travellers, -growing weary, allowed their ponies to straggle, as the Macedonian -pony is wont to do. At dark the cavalcade began to ascend a rugged -mountain in this disorder, and rode directly into an ambush laid for -the Americans. It was an easy matter for the brigands to ‘round-up’ the -whole number without firing a single shot. The brigands had no need for -the other members of the company, being Bulgarians, and sent all of -them on their way except Mrs. Tsilka, whom they detained as a companion -for Miss Stone. - -The sum demanded for Miss Stone’s ransom was twenty-five thousand -Turkish liras, slightly less in value than so many English pounds. The -American Government took no effective measures to secure the release of -its subject, and it was left to the American people to subscribe the -ransom money. In a few months the sum of sixty-eight thousand dollars -(fourteen thousand five hundred pounds Turkish) was collected, and the -American Consul-General at Constantinople went to Sofia to negotiate -the ransom. But in Bulgaria he was annoyed by the people and the press, -and hampered by the Government, and he soon found it impracticable -to pay the money to the brigands from that side of the border. The -Orthodox churchmen had no sympathy for the American evangelist and -treated the affair as a grand joke, while the Government sought to -prevent payment of the ransom on Bulgarian soil, lest it should be -called upon by the United States at a later date to refund the amount. - -At the end of five months from the time of the capture, the -Consul-General (Mr. Dickenson) had accomplished only an agreement -with the brigands that Miss Stone should be set at liberty on payment -of the sum collected in lieu of the one demanded, and he returned to -Constantinople and transferred the work to a committee appointed by the -American Minister on instructions from Washington. - -According to accounts sent to the newspapers at the time by -correspondents who, with many Turkish soldiers, dogged the footsteps -of the three men who formed the ransom committee, these gentlemen, -Messrs. Peet, House, and Garguilo, after travelling over hundreds -of miles of wild mountain roads, doubling on their tracks sometimes -daily in their search for the brigands, finally despaired of paying -the ransom in gold, sent the gold back to Constantinople, secured -bank-notes in its stead, and paid two agents of the insurgents in -paper money at a cross road when they (the committee) managed to -escape the vigilance of the Turkish soldiers for a few minutes. But -the correspondents were sadly duped, for necessity and the committajis -demanded that they should be placed in the same category as the Turks, -and regarded as dangerous characters. - -If a member of the committee could tell this tale it would make a -most readable volume, but the committee is bound by a promise to the -insurgents to keep secret certain details, and I am able to give only a -bare outline of the adventure. - -I first learned that the original accounts of the ransoming were -erroneous from Mr. Garguilo, whom I met one day at the American -Legation at Constantinople, of which he is the dragoman. He was proud -of having defeated some worthy men among my colleagues and the Turkish -police at the same time. He told me bits of the story which whetted my -curiosity, and I resolved to run it to earth. - -Before I left Constantinople I called on Mr. Peet at his office, the -headquarters of the American Mission Board, and, in the course of a -conversation about the Stone affair, added a few more facts to those -Mr. Garguilo had given me. It was my good fortune, not long after, to -meet Dr. House at the American mission at Salonica, and I took the -opportunity of discussing the affair with him. And as I proceeded -through Macedonia I encountered many others of the principal actors -in the little drama. I came upon Mr. and Mrs. Tsilka at Monastir; -then the Turkish officer who had been detached to follow the fourteen -thousand five hundred pounds of gold; and later, in Bulgaria, I found a -member of Sandansky’s band, the band which had captured Miss Stone. The -brigand was the most communicative of all these principals, and I got -from him some details which the ransom committee had been sworn not to -divulge, for fear lest punishment should be meted out by the Turks to -the town which played the important part in the delivery of the ransom. - -On Mr. Dickenson’s return from Sofia the ransom committee left at once -for the Raslog district. The brigands at this juncture had become -indignant at the long delay in the payment of the money and had -broken off negotiations with the Americans. The first work of the new -committee, then, was to re-establish communication with the insurgents, -and, in order to let the brigands learn that they were on their trail, -the news of the fact was disseminated broadcast throughout Bulgaria and -Macedonia, and also sent to the European press, which the revolutionary -organisation follows closely. This eventually accomplished the desired -effect, but also caused an increase of the number of correspondents on -the trail of the committee. - -For nearly a month the committee moved from town to town through the -snow--for it was now winter--faring on the coarsest of food, sleeping -in comfortless khans and undergoing many hardships, but meeting with -no success. Trail after trail drew blank. On one occasion word came -that two frontier smugglers, captured by the Turks, had professed to -having seen Miss Stone and Mrs. Tsilka’s baby strangled, and could -take the committee to the graves! There had been several other reports -that the brigands had wearied of waiting for the ransom and had killed -their captives, but none so detailed as this. The Turkish authorities -at the point from which this evidence came were anxiously petitioned -for further facts. Another examination of the smugglers was made, and -the following day a telegram announced that they were altering their -testimony. ‘The alterations’ completely denied the first statement, -without even an excuse on the part of the smugglers for having -concocted it. It seems the Turks had asked them for information of -Miss Stone, and the frightened smugglers had replied in the Macedonian -manner, according to what they thought their questioners desired to -hear. - -After a while the committee broke up, Messrs. Peet and Garguilo -establishing themselves at Djuma-bala and Dr. House going to Bansko, -the most rebellious town of a most rebellious district, ‘to conduct -a series of missionary meetings.’ Dr. House was the only member of -the committee who could speak Bulgarian and converse direct with the -brigands, and his action was severely criticised by the correspondents. -As the journalists saw the case, here was a member of the committee, -the most valuable man because of his knowledge of the brigands’ -language, wasting valuable time preaching Christianity to Christians, -just when his every effort should be devoted to the task of freeing -the two unfortunate women and a new-born babe, who were suffering -untold tortures in some sheepfold high in the snow-covered mountains. -But the correspondents were not aware that Dr. House had escaped -their vigilance and that of the Turks, and, under the guidance of an -insurgent disguised as an ordinary peasant, had visited a delegation of -the brigands; nor did they know that further negotiations for paying -the ransom were proceeding along with the revival meetings at Bansko. - -After Dr. House had got into touch with the brigands the money was -sent for. Mr. Smyth-Lyte, of the American Consulate, conveyed it from -Constantinople. Two cases, containing fourteen thousand five hundred -gold pieces and weighing four hundred pounds, were delivered to him -from the Ottoman Bank, where the ransom fund had been deposited. The -bullion was sent under proper guard to the railway station, where a -special car was awaiting it. Two kavasses were sent with Mr. Smyth-Lyte -from the bank, and these bodyguards always slept on the money. At -Demir-Hissar, where the train journey ended, Mr. Smyth-Lyte was met -by a Turkish officer, who informed him, in polished French, that he -(the officer) was the humble servant of Monsieur the Consul, for whom -the Padisha had the greatest concern. Monsieur’s commands, he added, -would be fulfilled even to the death of the officer and twenty trusty -troopers who were under his command. The Turk was suave and smartly -dressed, and the trusty troopers non-communicative and very ragged. - -A rickety brougham was ready to take the American and the money to -Djuma-bala, a two days’ journey. The two packages of gold were loaded -into the doubtful conveyance, the troopers formed a cordon about it, -and the journey was begun. But the party had hardly got fairly upon the -road when the severe pounding of the gold as the carriage bumped over -the rocks, carried away the floor, and down went the boxes. There was -a halt and an attempt to patch up the vehicle, but it was useless. One -of the pack-horses accompanying the soldiers was unloaded and the gold -strapped on its back; but the packages were of unequal sizes, and would -persist in finding their way under the stomach of the hapless brute. At -last the two kavasses, who were well mounted, were each called upon to -carry a box, and in this way the money was got over the mountains. - -More troops fell in as the way became more dangerous, until the number -of the escort reached a hundred. Some of the cavalry men went far -ahead to scout, especially through the great Kresna Pass, where a -handful of men could ambush an army; and others dropped back far behind -the cavalcade to cover the rear. But the journey was made without -mishap, and late at night of the second day, Mr. Smyth-Lyte arrived at -Djuma-bala, met there Messrs. Peet and Garguilo, and delivered over his -precious charge. Early next morning he set off on the return trip with -his kavasses and a guard of half a dozen men.[1] - -On the arrival of the money at Djuma there was a general concentration -of correspondents, Turkish soldiers, and spies about it. The committee -was no longer the subject of attention; the money was now the thing. -If they kept close to the money, reasoned the correspondents and the -soldiers, they were bound to be in at the ransom. The correspondents -had no other interest than to get the news, but the soldiers were bent -on getting the brigands. The Turkish Government had no idea of allowing -the bandits to reap their golden harvest. - -So it came to be the task of the ransoming committee to separate the -gold from the correspondents and the soldiers, apparently a hopeless -one. Every correspondent present was a man of sharp wits and almost -untiring energy. Each of them had a dragoman always watching the Turks -who surrounded the gold. The Turkish spies kept their eyes on the -soldiers, the committee, and the correspondents alike. - -The committee would decide at a moment’s notice to leave a town for a -visit to some mountain village, telling no one; but the soldiers were -always with them, ostensibly guarding them from other brigands, and the -tireless correspondents were on their track before the dust had settled -behind their horses. - -After a while Messrs. Peet and Garguilo, bringing the money, came to -Bansko and there settled down with Dr. House, who was still preaching -to the Bulgarians. The committee secured a private house to live in, -and in one room stored the gold. Here a long rest took place. The -correspondents railed against the committee, accusing it of laziness -and love of comfort; but they, too, grew indolent and took their -ease at their khan. At first they, with the Turks, dogged the very -footsteps of the three men of the committee, but after a week of this -they grew weary, for the ransoming committee were wont to walk far -daily ‘for exercise,’ and loiter aimlessly on cold and unattractive -mountain roads about the town. It was not probable that the brigands -would venture very near to a village so heavily garrisoned and -patrolled as was Bansko, and to watch the gold soon became sufficient -for the correspondents. Had any of them put himself to the trouble of -ascertaining what Mr. Garguilo’s habits were when comfortably ensconced -at the Embassy at Constantinople, he would have discovered that any -exertion whatever is distinctly foreign to that gentleman’s daily -routine. - -At the end of a month, to the intense surprise of everybody, a -messenger came from Constantinople, travelling in all the state -which had dignified Mr. Smyth-Lyte’s journey. With great ceremony the -two boxes of gold were delivered to him. There was no mistake about -them; they were the same two boxes. They were still bound tight with -iron bands and they still weighed four hundred pounds. One hundred -soldiers escorted them back to Demir-Hissar. There they were carefully -placed aboard another special car, and two kavasses ate and slept on -them until they were safely delivered back to the Ottoman Bank at -Constantinople. - -A few days later the committee started on its return to the railway, -with a small escort and only one correspondent. The others considered -that for the present the affair was over. - -At one place on the route Mr. Garguilo and Dr. House managed to leave -their escort and the correspondent a little behind. The soldiers and -the correspondents had lost interest now. At a cross-road they stopped -and waited for their trackers. When the correspondent came up Mr. -Garguilo told him that ‘the deed was done.’ - -On the ground there were several torn envelopes, such as a bank would -use to cover notes. A few days later Miss Stone, Mrs. Tsilka, and the -baby were ‘discovered,’ in a village near Seres. Two of the committee -met and escorted them to Salonica. - -It is obvious how the story that the money was paid in paper came to -appear in the English and American press; but the money was not paid in -paper. - -When Messrs. Garguilo, Peet, and House took their daily walks about -Bansko they went out with heavy packages of gold concealed under -their coats, and they returned with a like weight--but not of gold! -Each night they removed a certain amount of the money, and on their -return would place the lead in the bullion boxes--the vigilant guards -about the house all unconscious that the gold was going. Finally, -the fourteen thousand five hundred pieces had been delivered to the -brigands, whom the committee-men met on their walks, and four hundred -pounds of lead filled the boxes. - -The return of the boxes to Constantinople with all the pomp and -ceremony attendant upon the transport of treasure was not without an -object. It was necessary to keep the fact that the ransom had been -handed over a complete secret until the captives were released, in -order that the Turks should not get on the track of the brigands. A -promise that every effort should be made to throw the Turks off the -trail was demanded by the brigands, as was an injunction of absolute -secrecy concerning also the place and manner in which the money was -paid. - -But the time is past when the secret need be kept, and the brigands, -now off duty between revolutions, are spinning this yarn, along with -accounts of other adventures, to admiring friends in Sofia. - -The money which the revolutionary organisation secured by this capture -went a long way, I am told, in preparing the uprising of 1903. The -insurgents say that they expected the Government of the United States -to exact from the Sultan the price of this ransom, thereby making the -Padisha pay for the arms used against himself. But this has not been -done. - - * * * * * - -We went to prayer meeting at Samakov at the invitation of the American -missionaries, and took with us several officers of the garrison. -The missionaries prayed fervently and at length that the Macedonian -insurgents might be turned from their wicked ways. The prayer annoyed -one of the officers, and, to my embarrassment, he rose and stalked -out of the chapel. The others agreed with the missionaries--to a very -limited extent--that the measures of the committajis were ‘often too -drastic.’ - -The entire Bulgarian army is in sympathy with the work of the -insurgents, and not the least enthusiastic with ‘the cause’ is the -little mountain battery at Samakov. It is proud of the short cannon, -carried in three parts on the backs of pack-ponies, and it is proud -of its proficiency at handling them. The entire battery got out one -morning and took us up into the mountains to show us how the guns -worked. The Bulgarian army has been preparing for many years to fight -the Turks. - -[Illustration: BULGARIAN INFANTRY.] - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -SOFIA AND THE BULGARIANS - - -We drove back to Sofia in a small victoria drawn by four white ponies -with blue beads around their necks and a diamond-shaped spot of henna -on each forehead. Patriotism was running high in the country at -the time, but the Bulgarian colours are red, white, and green. The -decorations were in deference to the ‘Evil Eye.’ - -We came down the long valley to Sofia and entered the town at twilight, -making our way to the Grand Hôtel de Bulgarie. The shops grew from -peasant establishments where cheese and onions and odd shapes of bread -were spread on open counters, to emporiums where French gloves and silk -hats were on sale. Electric cars became numerous, double lines crossing -each other at one corner. Here a sturdy gendarme raised his hand for us -to stop; he was not as large as a London policeman, but he carried a -sabre at his side. The chief of police explained to me later that the -weapon was not for use, but simply to impress the other peasants, who -would have no respect for the brown uniform alone. - -At the head of the main street we came to a solid drab-coloured, -rectangular building, surrounded by high, drab-coloured walls. The -massive iron gates were wide open, and before each paced two sentinels. -This was the palace of the Prince. Just beyond the palace was the hotel. - -Several army officers in uniform were standing before the Bulgarie as -we drove up, and one hailed me in this familiar manner: - -‘Well, how goes it? I see you are from “the land of the free and the -brave.”’ - -He knew who I was; strangers are conspicuous in Sofia, and their -presence becomes known quickly. There was to be a military ball at -the officers’ club that evening, and I was invited forthwith. The -‘American,’ as this officer was called, waited at the hotel until I had -dressed, and, after dining with me, took me to the dance. - -The scene was very like that at a military hop in any civilised -country. The officers looked martial in their simple Russian uniforms, -and the ladies were tastefully but modestly dressed. There is no wealth -in Bulgaria--not a millionaire in pounds in all the land--and the -officers of the army live on their pay. Many members of the Government -and other state officials were at the ball, wearing ordinary evening -dress with some few decorations. - -It is said of the Bulgarians that they dislike foreigners, which is -true to an extent. Their attention to me on this occasion is to be -accounted for in the observation of an historian, that they are ‘a -practical people and their gratitude is chiefly a sense of favours -to come.’ I was the special correspondent of an important newspaper, -and they were anxious that I should sympathise with their cause. They -adopted no surreptitious means of making me do so; they went straight -to the point and demanded my attitude. I intimated that I had come out -to the Balkans to take nobody’s side; I had come ignorant even of the -geography of South-Eastern Europe, and intended to withhold my judgment -until I had seen the question from more sides than one. They granted -that this was fair, and remarked that an honest man who was not a fool -must perforce become a bitter partisan on the Balkan question. - -The day before my departure from Sofia (on this first occasion) I -excited the suspicions of a local journalist by declining to declare -my sympathies. The reporter intimated that in his opinion a newspaper -like mine would hardly send on such a mission a man who was quite as -ignorant as I professed to be! They are bold, these Bulgars. - -This journalist was my undoing. I did not see what he wrote about -me until I returned to Sofia, a few weeks later, and found myself -completely ignored by the very Bulgars who had been most attentive. -Officers who had toasted me when I started for the frontier would not -return my salute; newspaper men who had interviewed me now slunk by -in the street, and statesmen and politicians barely nodded when I -lifted my hat. This was undoubtedly deliberate; the Bulgarians could -not have forgotten me so soon. I sought my friend the officer who spoke -American, and inquired of him if he knew in what way I had offended his -fellow-countrymen. He did not hesitate a minute. The _Vitcherna Posta_, -he informed me, had shown me up. The paper had discovered that I had -come out to the Balkans pledged to support the Turks, and my pretended -ignorance was simply a bluff. The proprietor of my paper, who would -probably condemn another man for accepting a monetary bribe, had been -bought with a paltry decoration from his Sultanic Majesty. No news but -such as was favourable to the Turk and hostile to the Bulgar would be -published in my paper. In proof of this statement the ‘Vampire Post’ -called attention to the fact that I had paid frequent visits to the -Turkish Agency before my late departure. - -The young officer did not tell me this in the offensive manner of a -candid friend; he delivered the accusations straight from the shoulder, -and on concluding offered me a native drink, as if I could have no -mitigating argument; he was satisfied of my guilt, but when he was in -America my countrymen had treated him well. - -‘The Bulgarians are not very politic,’ I observed; to which the officer -assented and signed to me to drink, implying by a gesture: this -disagreeable explanation is over, but you are my guest. - -The Sofia journal had mistaken me; I was not the correspondent of -the paper whose proprietor had been decorated by the Sultan. Nor were -the numerous visits I had paid to the Turkish Commissioner due to any -but legitimate reasons. The Sultan’s representative, indeed, accused -me of making a suspicious number of calls on Bulgarian officials and -of receiving too many revolutionists at my hotel; and when I applied -to him for permission to proceed to Macedonia I found many visits and -much persuasion all of no avail. He had an antidote prepared for me, an -immediate trip to Constantinople, where the diplomatic atmosphere is -sympathetic with the Sultan. Thus, by trying to maintain the friendship -of both Bulgar and Turk, I had incurred, at the very outset of my -mission, the hostility of both. - -The Bulgarians are suspicious people. They excuse this trait in -their character by explaining that they lived under the Mohamedan -for five hundred years. This is their favourite excuse for all their -sins. But they have also acquired at least one of the Turk’s good -points; they are dignified and can control themselves; they seldom -lose their tempers and generally act cautiously. They are somewhat -obstinate, which is a Slav characteristic, and this, with a childlike -sensitiveness due to their youth as a nation, makes for pride. - -An Englishman who spends any length of time among the Bulgarians -generally likes them. The strong strain of barbarism in the Bulgar -finds sympathy in the breast of the Britisher, and the Bulgar’s -respect for the ultra-civilised chord in the other man also wins its -reward. The Bulgar never approaches an Englishman, who, he knows, -resents approach; he never becomes friendly, fearing a rebuff; and he -maintains for ever a dignity and distance in the presence of the stony -one. Now, the Bulgar doesn’t know it, but this is exactly the way to -gain the esteem of the Englishman, who recognises a diamond in the man -who can cut him. - -The Bulgarians are most anxious for the favour of Great Britain. They -aspire to become a great nation and to annex the conquerable territory -to their south. They see that their friends, if they have any, are the -Western Powers, and not Austria and Russia; and ‘their gratitude is -chiefly a sense of favours to come.’ - -When a voivoda is killed in Macedonia a high mass for the repose of -his soul is celebrated the next Sunday or fête day at the cathedral in -Sofia. Small boys, hired by the revolutionary committee, hold crayon -portraits of the dead heroes, draped in mourning, for the people to see -as they enter church. After mass the congregation gathers in the vast -open space before the cathedral to hear addresses by members of the -revolutionary committee, who sometimes speak from the cathedral steps. -The speeches are generally quite sane, often contain advice to foster -British friendship, but never suggest the release of Russia’s hand. - -[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL, SOFIA.] - -[Illustration: THE BRITISH AGENCY, SOFIA: A DEMONSTRATION.] - -At the conclusion of one of these meetings I accompanied a crowd -to the British Agency. On their way they passed the Italian Agency, -halted, and gave three cheers. In front of the Lion and the Unicorn the -shouts were loud and prolonged. A silence followed, and they waited -for an acknowledgment. But, of course, his Majesty’s representative -could not acknowledge a demonstration hostile to Turkey, a State with -which the British Government was at peace. The Bulgarians finally -moved off, and made for the residence of the Russian. There, the crowd -seemed undecided; some were for cheering and passing on, others were -bent on seeing M. Bakhmetieff. The Russian, unlike the English agent, -responded promptly, and spoke from his terrace in his own tongue--which -is sufficiently like Bulgarian to be understood by a Bulgarian crowd. -He told them that Bulgaria must bide Russia’s time, that Russia was the -friend of all Slavs, and Russia would eventually come to their aid. - -Bulgarians of intelligence and education put little faith in the -promises of the present Russian Government. But Russia holds a fast -grip on the masses of the people; the peasants are grateful for their -deliverance, and many of the politicians are open to bribery. - -But the model of the Bulgarians is by no means the great Slav country. -They can boast of having attained in a quarter of a century a liberty -which the Russians have not yet secured. The institutions of Bulgaria -are liberal in principle, and often in practice; the constitution is -democratic. The suffrage is extended to every male adult, as a result -whereof seven Turks represent the Mohamedan districts of the Danube -and Turkish border in the Sobranjé, and sit among the other deputies -without removing their fezzes. - -The Bulgarians are anxious to be classed with people of the West, and -they strive hard for civilisation, though a streak of Eastern origin -sometimes displays itself. Once I was asked a significant question by a -boy who had spent several years at an American mission school. - -‘The English papers,’ he said, ‘often assert that we are not civilised. -Will you tell me what constitutes a state of civilisation?’ - -I hesitated. - -‘Is it a man’s education?’ he asked. ‘It is not our fault if we have -not education; we are learning as fast as we can. It cannot be that -clothes make the man. It may be the result of your religion; but I -wonder if England is more religious on the whole than Bulgaria is. -We hear of horrible social crimes there that never occur here. And -our politics is no more corrupt than that of America, which sends -us missionaries. We are accused of having national jealousies and -ambitions. England is certainly not free from the former, and if she -is no longer ambitious, it is simply because her aspirations are all -achieved.’ - -I was unable to define civilisation. - -When Bulgaria became independent, Sofia was a very dirty town, without -a street paved with anything but cobble stones, and with but one house -of any pretensions, the Turkish ‘konak.’ To-day, besides a palace and -a parliamentary building, there are a national bank, a post office, -a military academy, several vast barracks, and many other Government -buildings. There are parks and public gardens where bands play on -summer evenings; new streets and avenues have been laid out, and some -of the narrow ones of Turkish times have been widened; substantial -shops and hotels mark the business quarter, and modern homes the -avenues. Still, Sofia reminds one of a lanky girl whose spindle shanks -and lean arms have outgrown her pinafore. The dwellings, by setting far -apart, try to reach out the long new avenues and cover the gawky child, -but in places she is absolutely bare. - -One day I drove out along one of the avenues to call on a Cabinet -Minister. The coachman drew up at a modest cottage, whose greatest -charm was an ample garden. I repeated the name of the Minister, and -looked dubiously at the coachman. - -‘Touka, touka’ (‘here, here’), he said, so I entered. - -A little girl, the Minister’s daughter, responded to my rap and invited -me in. The servant was cooking. - -Not far from here were the humble homes of two painters and a sculptor, -upon whom I often called. They were instructors at the National -Institute of Art, of which Ivan Markvitchka is the head. - -But the streets of Sofia have not altogether parted with the past; -there are many touches of the old Turkish times left. Many of the -shops are dark, low, and dingy, though the shopkeepers no longer block -the pavements with their wares and sit cross-legged among them. An -ancient Turkish bath and an old mosque stand side by side in front -of the market place on the principal trading corner. The bath is not -attractive in appearance, but the water is excellent--brought by -pipe from a boiling mineral spring in the mountains a few kilometres -distant. The place is closed to the public on Mondays, when the -garrison of Sofia is scrubbed. Detachments of a hundred men arrive -hourly, each with a towel and a bar of brown soap; three-quarters of an -hour later they are turned out clean. - -Compulsory service in the army has been a great training to the -Bulgarian peasants. The natives of Macedonia bathe as they marry, only -once or twice in a lifetime. A child is not washed when it is born for -fear of its catching cold, nor when it is baptized, for oil is used at -this ceremony. - -An open letter from a Greek priest to the American missionaries -concerning the use of oil instead of water at the baptismal office, -demonstrates the Macedonian prejudice against water--except for -internal use. The priest defended the use of oil on the score that, as -a result of oiled christening, the Macedonian peasants, though they -never wash, carry with them no foul odour, as do peasants baptized with -water. - -[Illustration: A VIEW OF SOFIA: VITOSH IN THE BACKGROUND.] - -Behind the mosque and the bath is an open space which resembles an -empty lot, except on Fridays. Friday is both the sabbath of the -Turks and the market day of the Bulgars, but the police are never -called upon to prevent a clash between the two. Once a week the capital -is crowded with peasants assembled from every village within a radius -of twenty kilometres. Fellow-residents of the same broad, sunny plain -in which Sofia lies come trooping in, clad in lighter clothes than -those worn by the mountain men from Vitosh. They begin to gather on -Thursday evening, and long before the next day breaks the space is -covered with sacks of corn, strings of onions, bunches of chickens, -baskets of eggs, buckets of cheese, bolts of homespun cloth, bleating -lambs, and squealing pigs. - -The peasants, young and old, men and women, walk to market. Only pigs -and babies are carried. The carts and the pack-animals are too heavily -laden to carry their owners; and, besides, every individual afoot -can carry something more. One sympathises with a pretty girl dressed -in holiday costume, a red rose in her hair, carrying a pig over one -shoulder, over the other a dozen chickens strung up by the feet. One -sympathises with the pig and the fowls also, for these poor things have -been carried with their heads hanging for probably three hours. The pig -is slung by one or both hind legs, with a lash tied so tightly that -it entirely stops the circulation, and may cut through the flesh to -the bone. The girls always laugh on their way to market, and the pigs -always cry. Of course the pigs are laid down now and again along the -route, when the happy girls take a rest, but they arrive in Sofia with -their eyes popping out of the sockets. These pigs which the girls carry -are little pigs, but huge hogs are hung in the same manner at the sides -of laden ponies. - -On various occasions I pointed out this wanton cruelty to prominent -Bulgarians whom I knew, and generally got some reply about the five -hundred years the peasants had spent under the Turks. Where was the boy -who asked me what the English word civilised meant? - -The Bulgarians are careful of their draught animals. This, perhaps, -they have learned in their term of subjection to the Mohamedan. It -is a common sight in summer to see a girl in holiday attire, with -a long-handled dipper throwing water from a puddle on to the backs -of sweltering buffaloes as they move slowly past, dragging a heavy, -creaking cart. In the winter each buffalo has his blanket. - -The peasant girl weaves the cloth for her own clothes, spins the -threads on her long marches to town, and saves her earnings for brass -belt-buckles, bracelets, and other ornaments. Her bracelets often -weigh over a pound, and her belt-buckle sometimes measures ten inches -across. Her hair is far below her waist, but it generally changes in -both texture and colour considerably above. The lower portion resembles -horsehair. When such an appendage is spliced on to the maiden’s own -locks, the proud possessor spends hours making the combination into a -score of thin plaits, which she spreads out across her shoulders and -loops together at the end. - -[Illustration: ON THE MARKET PLACE, SOFIA.] - -The bazaars of other capitals in the Near East are filled with cheap -German and Austrian imitations of native jewellery and dress, but Sofia -is freer from this pollution. - -There are few Jews in Bulgaria as compared with the number in the -border State of Rumania; the Jews cannot thrive on the close-fisted -Bulgars. The Jews who live among them are fairer in business -transactions than their co-religionists anywhere else in the Balkans. -I had an interesting experience with an old Israelite one day. He was -selling key-rings, among other trinkets, on the market place, and I -stopped and took one. I held up a franc by way of asking the price, -and he said, ‘Franc,’ and held up one finger. The ring was a common -affair and not worth so much, but I needed one badly, and, being unable -to argue over the price, I gave up the franc and proceeded to adjust -my keys to the ring. The old Jew was embarrassed. He had clearly -expected me to bargain with him. He looked at the franc and then at -me, undecided whether to do the honest thing or pocket the piece. As I -started away he touched me on the arm, drew a greasy old purse from a -deep pocket in a baggy pair of trousers, and finding a fifty-centime -piece, pressed it upon me. - -But while the Jew who has elected to remain among the Bulgars -has had to surrender some of his principles of gold-getting, the -Bulgar at horse-trading is a brother of the world fraternity of -stock-dealers. One bright market day, when the streets were crowded -with peasants and the European garb was almost obliterated, I went with -a fellow-correspondent to buy a horse. We were not long in finding a -satisfactory animal, but the bargaining was a tedious process. The -owner of the horse was a simple old peasant, but he was assisted in the -deal by the mayor of his village, an independent person of some thirty -years, dressed like the other in homespuns and sheepskins. - -The old peasant gripped the bridle of his horse as if someone were -trying to rob him of the animal, and followed the very words of the -deal as they passed from one man to the other. After a long wrangle a -price was finally agreed upon, and the money was produced in the form -of Bulgarian bank-notes. - -A gleam of joy came over the old man’s face when the currency was first -laid in his hands, but it died away almost instantly, giving place to -one of hopeless bewilderment; he could not count so much money. He -asked my friend if he was not swindling him, and then he asked the -mayor, and again and again they each counted the notes over. It was -pitiable. He said he had received many pieces of paper from Turkish -‘effendi,’ and they were never worth anything (the Turkish army has a -way of giving paper promises for goods and labour). - -‘You are no longer a Turkish subject,’ said the mayor. - -He finally loosened his grip on the bridle, but as he delivered over -the animal a last pang of fear struck his heart, and he turned hastily -about in search of something. Spying me at a little distance off, he -came shuffling towards me as fast as his old legs would carry him. I -had left the scene and gone over to inspect the buffaloes lying quietly -covered with their masters’ coats of goats’ hair. The old peasant made -his way among the beasts to where I was, and thrust the roll of bills -at me, pleading something in Bulgarian. The mayor shouted to him that I -did not understand Bulgarian; but I understood the old man, and tried -to put his mind at ease as to whether he possessed three hundred good -gold francs. - -The older peasants of Bulgaria are nearly all illiterate, but State -schools teach the younger generations to read and write. Many of the -older inhabitants understand the Turkish language; the younger Bulgars -are learning French. - -They are building a national opera-house in Sofia, and strangers are -always taken to see the work. At present there is only one playhouse -in the town, a Turkish theatre. One evening I was invited by Boris -Sarafoff, the Macedonian leader, to be one of a box party to witness a -performance at this place. It was during the war in the Far East, and -the other guests of the insurgent were a Japanese and a Russian who -happened to be in Sofia at the time. Gathered from the four corners of -the earth, it was natural that no two of us thoroughly agreed on any -one point, but each was tolerant of the others. As for Sarafoff, more -anon; here, ‘the play’s the thing.’ - -Our box cost the sum of five francs; it was the best in the house with -the exception of the royal box. There were seats to be had for twenty -and standing room for ten centimes. The building was a rough wooden -barn, rather rickety, whitewashed inside. From the single gallery hung -hand-painted works of art only equalled by the mural decorations at -Rilo. The pictures were grotesque and ludicrous. They portrayed the -absurdities of the Turk, his peculiar way of doing things, and his -chronic inclination to rest. The band, which vied with the pictures -in keeping early arrivals in good humour until the curtain rose, -was composed of a fair young lady who beat the drum, a bald bass -violinist, a stout matron who blew the cornet, and two or three normal -musicians--all led by a youth of not more than fifteen. The work of -the band, however, was more artistic than that of the painter, which -was well for it, because the music was not included in the price of -admission. When the play began the beauty who beat the drum left her -instrument to pass a plate among the audience in the same manner that a -collection is taken in church. But this was not the only collection to -be made. Between the acts the actresses appeared by turns in the house. -After the band the leading lady had first draught on the audience. The -lady who simply walked on got the last pull--and got what she deserved. - -The plays presented at the Turkish theatre are all comedies. The -language employed is Turkish; the principal characters are Turks; -the actors are Armenians. The leading man is a splendid actor. His -impersonation of a Turkish pasha, with all that functionary’s suspicion -and corruption, was done with such extravagance, and yet such delicacy, -that the Jap, the Russian, and myself, as well as Sarafoff, were highly -amused. - -The Turk is the subject of much of the Bulgarian’s humour as well as -his wrath. He is to the Bulgar very much what the Irishman is to the -Englishman, the funny as well as the exasperating man. The Bulgarian -peasants are usually on the best of terms with the Turks in their land. -They generally treat them with fairness and consideration. But on -occasions insurgent bands which have met with defeat across the border -have avenged themselves on Mohamedans in Bulgaria. But such slaughters -happen with less and less frequency, and on an ever-diminishing scale. -Except for individual slaughters, none has taken place for more than -ten years. The Government is jealous of its case against the Turk, and -has been most zealous in its efforts to prevent murders of Mohamedans -ever since the day Prince Alexander, on ascending the new throne, -visited the mosque of Sofia in token of respect for the religion of his -Turkish subjects. On the whole, the Mohamedan in Bulgaria is better off -than his brother in Turkey, who, except that he holds the position of -the man with the gun, suffers under the Ottoman rule almost or quite -as much as does the Christian. Nevertheless, there is a continuous -exodus from Bulgaria of Turks and Pomaks (Bulgarians converted to -Mohamedanism) to the land where the Mohamedan rules. And when these -Turks pack their goods and chattels and start to trek, they do not stop -until they have passed beyond the Bosphorus. They seem to think--as -many men have thought for many years--that the day of Turkish power in -Europe will soon be past. - -The Prince of Bulgaria is a shrewd monarch, but he is not much loved. -There are parties which think Prince Ferdinand too subservient to the -Russian Government, and parties which think him too independent of the -Czar; parties which think him ambitious, and say that he would be a -king, and still others which say he cares too little for the man in -the sheepskin coat to risk his princely crown in a military venture. -I went down, by special invitation, on a private train, to see his -Highness cut the ribbon that stretched across the newly finished port -of Bourgas. After the cannon had signalled the fact that the harbour -was open to the commerce of the world, Prince Ferdinand turned from -the end of the pier and strode back towards the shore, shaking hands -and chatting a moment, with, as I thought, everybody. When he came -to me I extended my hand as I would to Mr. Roosevelt, but the Prince -stood still and fixed me with a withering glare. Another correspondent -acquainted with us both came to the rescue and presented me to the -Prince. The Prince mustered his English, which he said he had not -employed for many a year, and conversed with me in my own tongue for -quite five minutes. But he did not apologise for his rudeness. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -CONSTANTINOPLE AND THE TURKS - - -The Count could claim no country. Both Russia and Bulgaria denied him; -and the man without a passport is contraband in Turkey. My pockets -were full of smaller articles of the forbidden class, and my shirt was -packed like a life-preserver. Austrian military maps and weighty books -on the Balkans, a Colt’s and cartridges, and many rolls of kodak film, -which might be taken for sticks of dynamite--these things puffed up my -person. - -The Customs inspectors entered the train at Mustafa Pasha, and, -perceiving my plight, subjected the baggage to a scandalous search. -They turned out every bag, ran their hands into the shoes, undid the -balls of socks, and even lifted the linings of an extra hat; but all -they found was a Bulgarian art journal containing a few pictures. As -I replaced my mauled garments one of these fiends poked his fezzed -head into my compartment again. He handed back the Bulgarian journal, -saying, with approval, ‘Allemand, monsieur.’ The magazine was printed -in German. - -Strange things are contraband in Turkey--salt, because there is -monopoly in the land; firearms, though they are sold openly in the -streets; novels such as the ‘Swiss Family Robinson,’ because the -dog is named Turk; dictionaries containing the words ‘elder’ and -‘brother,’ as Abdul Hamid usurped the throne from his elder brother; -and works of chemistry containing the term H_{2}O, which could but mean -Hamid-Second-Zero. - -Another baggage inspection takes place at Constantinople, but this is -only for the purpose of extorting backsheesh. I paid a mijidieh to -the chief inspector, claimed to be German, and took my bags through -unopened. - -The approach to Constantinople by train is over a long, marshy plain. -Occasional camel caravans lumber along the road beside the tracks, -and cranes, pelicans, and storks rise majestically and sail away as -the train passes. The outskirts of Constantinople are repulsive. The -train passes down a narrow street between rows of miserable dwellings, -many no larger than drapers’ boxes, roofed with flattened petroleum -tins; and at the base of the decaying walls of the city, excavations, -closed with more petroleum tins, form the kennels of indolent gypsies. -The entrance to Constantinople by train is not attractive. To see its -glories one must come up the Bosphorus. - -Constantinople is almost an antithesis of Sofia. One is a country -town, small and new; the other is an Imperial city, great and old, -with palaces and paupers, masters and slaves, and squalid barbaric -splendour. It is a world capital, whereto all Christian countries send -their Ministers, to vie with each other for the favours of an Asiatic -monarch who rules by their discord. It is a place where many races -meet and morals fleet. ‘No city in the world, not even Rome, has more -personality.’ - -With the Golden Horn and the Sweet Waters of Asia at her feet, with -her mighty mosques and towering minarets, marble palaces and treasure -stores, Constantinople would seem a glorious city. But this is not the -impression one obtains. - -Within the city, to the unaccustomed eye, the horrible sights eclipse -all others. The place is foul, and suffering, hungry creatures, human -and animal, are pitiable to behold. The streets, except in front of the -palaces and embassies, are seldom cleaned, and if one ventures out of -doors on wet days he must wade through sloughs of filth. - -Beggars, purposely maimed, and with ‘incurable diseases, including -laziness,’ beset one on every side; mangy, starving dogs, lying on the -pavements, are so numerous that pedestrians must take the roadway; and -pitiable beasts of burden labour painfully along under fearful burdens. - -A Turk, in his way, is most humane towards animals, and it is the Jews -and the Christians who treat them badly. According to Western ideas, it -would be a kindness to put the unhappy dogs of the imperial city out of -existence; but the Turk reasons differently--what Allah has given life -should live at Allah’s will. - -[Illustration: DOGS OCCUPY THE PAVEMENT; PEOPLE WALK IN THE STREETS.] - -[Illustration: THE TURKISH BARBERSHOP.] - -In a street in Constantinople one day, I saw a miserable puppy rolled -over by a carriage. Its hips were crushed, and it seemed to suffer -agony. I went to a drug store near by and fetched some chloroform, -but on attempting to administer it, a powerful _hoja_, who evidently -knew what it was, put his hands on my shoulders and gently thrust me -back. He informed some of the bystanders of my intention, and they -lifted their hands and pointed towards heaven. They recognised me as a -foreigner. Had I been a native non-Moslem they would not have been so -gentle. If a native Christian kills a dog he is sent to prison--unless -he subscribes a sufficient bribe to the court’s revenue. - -Very often the Mohamedan’s charity takes the form of a distribution -of food to the dogs, and the narrow streets are sometimes blocked -by an enormous pack catching bits of bread from the hand of some -penance-maker. But the garbage from the houses is the only certain -source of subsistence that the dogs have. They know to a minute the -time of day each family throws out its refuse, and if you pass along -the streets in the early morning you can mark the houses which have not -yet rendered up their daily quota by the canine crew waiting before the -door. - -The dogs of Turkey are more like wolves in appearance than domestic -animals, but they are perfectly harmless. They rarely find -sufficient food, and seldom taste meat, which may account for their -gentleness--but their want of proper nourishment has no effect upon -their lungs. Between them and the firemen night is made hideous in -Constantinople. As certain as the setting of the sun one’s slumbers -will be disturbed before the dawn by a most unearthly screeching--even -worse than that of the London firemen--accompanied by the high-pitched -yelps of countless dogs. - -The Turkish fire department is a curious institution. Modern machinery -cannot be brought into Turkey except by bribing the Custom-house. As -it profits officers of the Government nothing to bribe themselves, the -municipal fire brigade is still equipped with the primitive hand-pump. -Electricity, like steam, is also barred, and the alarm system is -distinctly original and truly alarming. From the ancient tower of -Galata and from the Seraskier Tower in Stamboul, watchmen keep a -look-out for fires. When one is discovered half a dozen swift runners -grab long, sharp spears, descend several hundred ruined stone steps -through the darkness slowly with the aid of a tallow taper, dart out -into the crowded streets, and scatter in various directions, shouting -at the tops of their voices and stabbing dogs. They make a tour of the -mosques, from the minarets of which the volunteer firemen are called -to duty. Meanwhile guns have begun to boom on the Bosphorus, and in a -short time the streets are swarming with frenzied creatures, dashing -along like maniacs, shrieking hideously, and also prodding dogs out of -their way. - -It is not an uncommon sight to see these strange firemen come down the -streets from a five-mile run with nothing on but a pair of pants, -or perhaps a skirted vest--sometimes only a fez; and then you will -see others dressed like soldiers marching in a leisurely and orderly -manner. The energetic individuals are the volunteers; the others are -members of the regular ‘paid’ fire department. - -The ambition of every chief of volunteers worthy of the name is to -bring his brigade to the scene of the conflagration first, as the -reward of the first arrivals is the choice of the plunder. Should he -find there is no loot to be had, he searches out the owner and bargains -with him while his band prepares to pump--if a satisfactory price can -be agreed upon. This work must be done hurriedly, of course; not that -there is any danger of the ‘paid’ brigade arriving before the fire is -out, but other volunteers are pouring in; competition grows rifer, and -rows and fights with rival crews more and more furious. Finally, the -‘paid’ department does arrive, and the volunteers are driven from the -ruins like hungry wolves from a carcass. The ‘paid’ firemen will accept -no gratuities; they are soldiers of the Sultan, and have many months’ -salary due to them. - -Many regiments of the garrison of Constantinople, however, are well -paid, for they constitute a part of that vast organisation maintained -by Abdul Hamid for the express purpose of his own safety. This, indeed, -seems to be the first purpose of the whole Turkish Government--the -safety of the Sultan, for which Mohamedan and Christian of the -Imperial Ottoman Empire suffer alike. The difference in the attitude -of the ‘infidel’ and that of the ‘faithful’ is simply that one resents -the needless hardships inflicted upon him, whereas the other sits and -suffers, resigned to the will of Allah. The word ‘Islam’ means ‘I am -resigned.’ The Sultan is recognised as Mohamed’s vicegerent on earth, -and to his will all faithful followers bow. - -The Padisha, however, does not appear to accept the doctrine of -fatalism with the same good grace as do the faithful of his Mohamedan -subjects. Extraordinary precautions are taken for his safety. At a -_Selamlik_, or public visit to a mosque for prayer, which I attended, -Abdul, who professes to the Mohamedan belief that no bullet could -pierce his flesh until the moment prescribed in the Great Book, came -to worship surrounded by a bodyguard so solid that the ball of a -modern rifle could not have reached him through it. His escort arrived -running, massed about his victoria, the hood of which is said to be -of steel. In former years foreign guests, for whom Ambassadors and -Ministers would vouch, were permitted, in a pavilion crowded with -detectives, to see this ceremony. But since the recent explosion of -an infernal machine in the neighbourhood during a _Selamlik_, this -privilege has been abolished. An army corps, gathered from every part -of the variegated empire, surrounded the palace. - -[Illustration: CONSTANTINOPLE: MOSQUE OF YÉNI-DJAMI ON THE BOSPHORUS.] - -Constantinople is full of stories about precautions within the -walls of Yildiz Kiosk. It is said that the Sultan tests his meals on -his servants before he touches them himself, and, for obvious reasons, -his favourite dish is _œufs à la coque_. A tale from his harem gives -it that, one day when his nerves were unusually unstrung, he drew his -revolver and with his own hand shot a wife who caused his suspicion -by a sudden change of posture. It is told that an American lady who -pointed out to the Sultan a way by which he could be assassinated -received a handsome present, and it is well known that there is an army -of spies employed solely to run down plots against the Sultan’s life. -These unprincipled servants often find conspiracies where they do not -exist, often only in order to display to their master their activity, -and again for the rich rewards such ‘discoveries’ bring. - -Once in Paris I met a Greek who had served for two years as a private -secretary at Yildiz. Greeks and other non-Moslems occupy many posts in -the Sultan’s service where cleverness and an understanding of European -character are imperative. This particular Greek incurred the Sultan’s -suspicions, and was clever enough to escape from Constantinople. I was -indeed glad to get the opportunity to talk with a man who had been of -the Sultan’s household, and many of the tales I had heard, which needed -proof, I repeated to him. He said they were mostly true--in principle. -He did not believe that the Sultan had faith in one word of the Koran; -certainly he was no fatalist. The Greek went on to say that while the -Sultan is crazed on the one point of plots against his life, he is -remarkably clever at handling men. He seems to have an uncanny power -over men. When they first meet him they are surprised at his sanity -and his gentility, which is a good beginning; and he gradually weaves -his web of influence about old and tried ambassadors. The only people -who have been thoroughly equal to him are the Russians; they play his -own game. They have played on his weak point and made a treaty with -him--according to this gentleman--guaranteeing his throne to him for -the rest of his life in return for certain privileges which allow them -to take inventory of his estate. ‘Après moi, le déluge!’ But the Sultan -is not quite all of his Government, and for the others the entire -indemnity for the war of 1878, as it is paid in annual instalments, is -set aside--so my informant says--for distribution at Constantinople. -The Palace and the Porte probably receive from Russia retaining fees -larger than their salaries. - -I happened to be in Constantinople again at a time when the Russians -were meeting with defeat in Manchuria. The town was much interested -in the contest, and the Turk in the street, who is ignorant, was -rejoicing in his dignified way at the reverses of his country’s enemy. -But suddenly the Russians turned the tables and won several astounding -victories over the Japanese, and the Moslems were unhappy. This is -how it happened. ‘The Palace’ had discovered that the sensibilities -of the Russian representatives in Turkey were being tried severely by -the reports of their defeats in the Far East, and that individual of -marvellous imagination, the Turkish censor, was put to work to lighten -their distress, which he did most generously. - -According to the press of Constantinople all is ever serene throughout -the imperial Ottoman dominions, everybody is always lauding the -Padisha and praying for the safety of his good and gracious Majesty. -Persons who are interested in the provinces subscribe to European -papers, and have them brought in by the foreign posts. During my first -stay at Constantinople thousands of troops were being shipped to -Salonica daily, but as this fact would hardly accord with the sublime -declarations of the Ottoman newspaper, they were embarked only after -nightfall, when the inhabitants are mostly behind barred doors. - -I presented a letter from the Turkish Commissioner at Sofia to a -certain Turkish Minister, whose name I must not mention, and was -ushered into his presence alone. The letter, I was told, recommended me -highly as ‘a friend of the Turks,’ though I protested my neutrality; -and I understood that I would receive good treatment at the hands of -the officials and get all the news. What I wanted was permission to -cross Macedonia beyond the railway. - -‘Why do you desire to make this trip?’ asked the Turk. ‘It is -dangerous, and the accommodations are very poor. If you will remain -here you may come to me daily and I will tell you the truth about -everything that is going on in the country.’ - -Of course I declined this. - -The Turk puffed at his cigarette and sipped his coffee, thinking for a -few minutes; then he turned and regarded me. Until then I had thought I -had an honest face. - -‘You can make thousands and thousands of francs out of the Turks,’ said -the Minister. - -I pretended not to take him. - -‘Thousands and thousands of francs!’ he repeated impressively. - -‘And what would I have to do?’ I asked. - -‘Write the truth,’ the Turk replied softly. - -‘It is not necessary to pay me to do that,’ I responded. - -His Excellency said that a telegram would be sent to the Vali of -Salonica instructing him to permit me to go where I would. A _teskeré_ -would be issued to me here viséd for Salonica. I thanked the Turk, but -I felt that I should not be allowed to go very far. - -During the course of my interview at the Sublime Porte I received a -cup of delightful coffee, but it was the most expensive cup of coffee -I ever drank. I had not provided myself with sufficient small change -for a visit to the Turkish Government building. On my departure after -the interview his attendants were lined up in the corridor like the -servants at a French hotel. I was stripped of my silver and copper, and -when I had given my last _metaleek_[2] I hurried out of the door. -But, unfortunately, I did not take a carriage, and I had hardly got a -hundred yards down the street when a little old Turk, who proved to -be the man who had given me the coffee, touched me on the arm, and -said, ‘Effendi, backsheesh.’ This coffee-man followed me a quarter -of a mile further to the nearest shop, where I changed a lira and -gave him his tip. My dragoman explained that unless I distributed -backsheesh liberally the Minister would never be in to me again, and, -thinking perhaps some day I might have to make another call upon him, I -‘squared’ myself with his doormen. - -[Illustration: A HAMMAL AND A LOAD OF PETROLEUM TINS.] - -Unfortunately, on each occasion that I have made the journey from -Constantinople to Salonica I have been pressed for time, and could not -await a steamer to take me through the Dardanelles. The train makes the -trip three times a week, leaving Constantinople at night. - -About twelve o’clock the first night out a Turkish officer opened -the door of my compartment, which I had had to myself up to this -time, and entered with a beaming smile and a grand salaam. This was -extraordinary; the Turks are generally more dignified or else more -subtle. My travelling companion, I saw by his attire, was a pasha. - -There was not the detachment of troops usually arrayed at the station -to do honour to a general about to start on a journey, and three -young officers, very likely his adjutants, who were the only friends -to see him off, seemed unnecessarily depressed. But the general had -mirth enough for the company, and up to the moment the train left he -spun yarns and cracked jokes to the torture of the others, who tried -loyally to affect amusement. When the third bell sounded for the train -to resume its progress the pasha shook hands warmly with his young -friends through the window; they pressed their cheeks to his in Turkish -fashion, then gave him the low Turkish salute due to his rank. The old -man turned to me with a smile, and asked by a sign whether I would have -the window closed. I shrugged my shoulders, meaning ‘suit yourself,’ -and asked my companion if he could speak French. ‘Turk,’ he replied, -meaning only Turkish. I cannot describe exactly how we made each other -understand, but before we lay down to sleep I had told him I was an -American correspondent, and had learned that his medals were in token -of distinguished services in the Russo-Turkish war and elsewhere, and -that his destination was Tripoli, which means exile. - -When I said, ‘Padisha?’ with a questioning look, he signified by a -benign glance upward and a lift of two fingers to his lips that not a -doubt must be entertained as to the Sultan’s goodness. After a moment -he placed the Sultan in a spot and drew a circle about him. ‘Espion,’ -he said, pointing to the circle, and turned up his nose. - -In the morning the pasha’s orderly brought him a fresh water-melon, -which he broke in two, giving the larger portion to me. At Dede-Aghatch -he gave me a cordial hand-shake, and directed me to a place for -breakfast; then he stepped into a carriage, which was waiting for him, -to take him to the ship in which he was to set sail to his doom. - -In covering this same route a few months later our train passed a -‘special’ stopped on a ‘siding.’ Aboard it was a staff of officers, -their orderlies and servants. Sitting on the bench in the station yard, -complacently sipping coffee, I recognised the Vali of Monastir. He, -too, was now billeted for exile. - -Among the many demands of the Russians at the assassination of their -Consul at Monastir was the displacement of this Vali. The Sultan -will comply with any demands the Russians make in earnest, but he -has certain punishments which his subjects seek to win. To be exiled -without the privilege of seeing Constantinople ‘for the last time’ is -disgrace, but to be condemned _via_ an audience with the Sultan spells -‘Thou good and faithful servant,’ and brings a substantial post in -Asia, away from the interference of ‘infidel’ Powers and carrying with -it a lordly pension. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -SALONICA AND THE JEWS - - -When ‘the voyager descends upon’ the Grand Hôtel d’Angleterre at -Salonica, his attention is first drawn to the regulations as to the -manner in which he shall conduct himself during his sojourn at the -grand hotel. These regulations are printed in gaudy letters in Turkish, -in Greek, and in French, and hang in gilded frames on the walls of each -bedroom in the most conspicuous place. A literal translation from the -French is in part as follows: - - 1. Messieurs the voyagers who descend upon the hotel are requested to - hand over to the management any money or articles of value they may - have. - - 2. Those who have no baggage must pay every day, whereas those who - have it may only do so once a week. - - 3. Political discussion and playing musical instruments are - forbidden, also all noisy conversations. - - 4. It is permitted neither to play at cards nor at any other game of - hazard. - - 5. Children of families and their servants should not walk about the - rooms. - - 6. It is prohibited to present oneself outside one’s room in a - dressing-gown or other negligent costume. - - 9. Coffee, tea, and other culinary preparations may not be prepared - in the rooms or procured from outside, as the hotel furnishes - everything one wants. - - 10. Voyagers to take their repast descend to the dining-room, with - the exception of invalids, who may do so in their rooms. - - 11. A double-bedded room pays double for itself, save the case where - the voyager declares that one bed may be let to another person. It - is, however, forbidden to sleep on the floor. - -I should explain that no insult is meant to the French on the part -of the hotel management by employing their language as one of the -mediums of instructing its many-tongued guests in proper deportment. -The management realises that of all Europeans Germans are most in need -of lessons in deportment; but the hotel, for some reason, is rarely -afflicted with Germans, and French is understood by all the people -of the Near East of the class that patronise a hostelry like the -d’Angleterre. - -There are several hotels in Salonica which will not permit guests to -sleep on the floor. - -Salonica is the metropolis of Macedonia, and an important commercial -centre. It is the Thessalonica of old, built by Cassander on the -site of ancient Therma, and named by him after his wife, a sister of -Alexander the Great. It is older than Constantinople, and has a history -which just falls short of being great. Xerxes and his hosts camped on -the plains between Therma and the Axius, now the Vardar, and the view -of Mount Olympus across the bay inspired him to explore the course -of the Peneus; and a short time before the Peloponnesian War the -Athenians occupied Therma. - -Thessalonica fell into the hands of the Romans, became the chief city -on the Via Egnatia, and disseminated Christianity among many of the -Slavs, Bulgarians, and other peoples who came down from the north and -the east. - -It became a free city and then a part of the Byzantine Empire, and was -finally sold by a Greek emperor to the Venetians, from whom it was -captured in 1430 by the Turks. - -High up in the Turkish quarter of Salonica--which rises in a long slope -and then in steps from the sea--is a queer little Greek monastery -dating back unknown centuries. It was there when the Turks came; for -history records that the monks within its walls were treacherous to -their fellow-Christians and sold the city to the Mohamedans. Under the -courtyard of the monastery runs the aqueduct which supplies Salonica -with water from the mountains, and supplied Thessalonica five hundred -years ago. It was access to this, a certain means of reducing the city, -that the monks of Chaoush (such is the name of the monastery) bartered -when the Mohamedans besieged Thessalonica, for certain privileges to -be granted after the conquest. The Turks have kept their bargain to -this day, but Chaoush has not flourished. Time has moved the Christian -quarter down to the sea, and the monastery is surrounded to-day by -houses with latticed windows. - -Once, when searching for this monastery with a fellow-countryman who -conducted the mission at Salonica, I happened to open by mistake the -gate of a Turkish yard. There was a rapid covering of faces by an -amazed assembly of females. Discovering our error, we closed the gate -and moved off; but veiled women, stones, and innuendoes were soon upon -our heels, and our retreat in order shortly became an utter rout. -Happily the unfortunate error occurred at an hour of the day when there -were no husbands at home, and the women themselves were not in attire -to follow us far. - -I loved to ramble up through the Turkish quarter of Salonica where -the native ‘infidel’ fears to tread. There is a charm about using -the liberty one’s country commands. I generally stopped at a Turkish -café on the route, and sat out in the narrow street on a stool with -a cup of coffee on another before me, the subject of curious regard -by mollahs and hojas in their long cloaks, and other Mohamedans of -little work. Once at one of these cafés, with an English boy whom I -picked up at Salonica for interpreter, I got into conversation with -a harmless-looking Turk on the subject of wars and the Powers; and I -learned from him that the Moslems are going to rise again, and will not -stop in their conquests until they have subdued the world. - -‘Abdul Hamid is a great prophet, infallible and invincible,’ said the -Turk. - -He pointed to three old warships in the harbour (whose machinery had -been sold to a second-hand junk dealer years ago) as specimens of the -means with which the work was to be accomplished; and it was useless to -tell him that even the British navy was superior to that of his Sultan. -He pitied me for my exceeding ignorance of history, because I thought -the Turks had been defeated in the field several times; they had never -been defeated! - -His culminating remark had a touch of pathos in it. He was a -hungry-looking individual himself, and was glad to get the two -piastres we gave him for showing us the way to the wall. ‘The hosts of -the Padisha,’ he said, quoting, I judge, some mollah, ‘are the most -powerful force in the world; but unfortunately they have not enough to -eat.’ - -This ignorance is due to the teachings of the mollahs, from whom the -young Turks derive, directly or indirectly, all of their knowledge. -While I was in Salonica an order came from Constantinople to purge the -library in the military school, and as a result all reading books, -including modern histories which dealt with the decline of the Turkish -Empire, were destroyed. - -[Illustration: THE WALL AND BEYOND, SALONICA.] - -We often went up to the Turkish quarter, but never learned the road to -the gate. But with a few words of Turkish, which one must naturally -pick up, and many signs, we could generally manage to get coffee and -directions. We always halted at the gates, and, supplied with stools -by the _café-ji_ there, sat and rested for half an hour, watching -the children come to the fountain with jugs for water, the women -slip noiselessly by, covering their faces with special care at spying -us, and the men pass through the eye of the needle hunched up on -under-sized asses. Truly a Biblical scene, though the characters were -Mohamedans. - -There is a great dignity about the ruling race, the man for whom all -others step aside, who drinks first at the fountain and removes his fez -nowhere. He is not loud or voluble, and seldom loses his temper. When -he is provoked he does not squabble, but strikes. - -The Christian natives of Salonica are generous in warning one of -dangers outside the walls, of brigands and revolutionists; but we -often strolled through the gates and over to the barren hills beyond, -encountering Turks, Albanians, and Bulgarians, perhaps insurgents, -without mishap. - -The hills were especially attractive in the afternoon, cooler than the -closed-in bay below, and pervaded with a quiet in delightful relief -from the ceaseless babble of swarming Levantine tradesmen down in the -town. At sunset hour we found a favourite spot on the edge of a steep -declivity with only a broad expanse of plain between us and the purple -mountains of Thessaly. The sun dropped into a dip in these and left the -sky for an hour rich in Oriental colouring flaming from behind. To the -south a stern bit of the old wall on the precipitous corner of a rock -was silhouetted, and we could never tell whether we preferred this in -or out of the picture. That is a true test of quality, when either -of two things is preferred as it happens to be at hand; generally the -unpossessed is the desired. - -Tourists do not come to Macedonia, but if they did they would find -a show that no other part of Europe can produce. Not only is the -comic-opera stage outdone in characters, in costumes, and in complexity -of plot, but the scene is set in alpine mountains on a vaster scale -than Switzerland affords. But to pass all these--for the play comes -in in the course of the book, and scenery baffles description--there -are relics of the ages that would interest many a man who has already -travelled far. Salonica is said to be richer than any city in Greece in -ecclesiastical remains, and its ancient structures, for the most part, -have borne well the ravages of time. There are many great edifices, -built by the Romans during their occupation and by the Greeks in their -time, and a minaret at the corner of each denotes the purpose it serves -to-day. - -There is a mosque of St. Sophia at Salonica, built, like its great -sister at Constantinople, during the reign of Justinian, and with a -history also marked by the wars of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. -But a fire of four years ago and an earthquake more recently have -wrecked the place, so that it is no longer used. The Rotunda, now the -Eski Metropoli Mosque, was built by Trajan, after the model, though -on a smaller scale, of the Pantheon at Rome, and was dedicated by -him to the rites of the mysterious Cabiri. It is circular, the dome -unsupported by columns. The whole of the interior is richly ornamented -with mosaics which seem to have belonged to the original temple, as -nothing about them divulges adjustment at Christian hands. - -One of the best preserved models of ancient Greek architecture -extant is said to be the Eski Djuma Mosque. In the porch are several -Doric columns, and within the building is a double row of massive -columns with Corinthian capitals. There are ‘The Church of the Twelve -Apostles,’ and the mosque of St. Demetrius, whose shrine within is -revered by Moslems and Christians alike. - -Between the Rotunda and the sea is the site of the Hippodrome, where -Theodosius, the last of the Emperors who were sole masters of the -whole Roman Empire, caused to be committed one of the bloodiest of -massacres for which Salonica is famous. Although a zealous follower -of Christianity, and commended by ancient writers as a prince blessed -with every virtue, his moderation and clemency failed signally on this -occasion. In order to chastise the people for a movement in favour -of a charioteer very popular among them, and who had been arrested -at his order, the inhabitants were assembled at the Hippodrome under -the pretext of witnessing the races, and then barbarously massacred, -without distinction of age or sex, to the number of seven thousand. - -At the end of the main street, which once formed part of the Egnatian -Way, stands a triumphal arch generally supposed to have been raised -in honour of Constantine, to celebrate the return from his victory -over the Sarmatians. The supports are faced with white marble highly -wrought, representing a battle between Roman troops and barbarians, and -a triumphal entry into a city. The arch was repaired and plastered over -some years ago in a painful manner, with no regard to conformity with -the supports. - -The doubt which encompasses the history of every ancient place in -Salonica finds its climax in the spot where St. Paul preached. There -are no fewer than seven of these, and the Christian who would stand -where the Apostle stood has to make a long pilgrimage of mosques and -synagogues. The main street of Salonica, which once formed part of the -Via Egnatia, is lined to-day with curious little shops like boxes, ten -or twelve feet square, and often smaller. The floors are all up off -the ground from two to three feet, and the keepers need no chairs. The -customer stands on the narrow pavement, and the man within reaches -for what is wanted from where he sits on crossed legs. He is a most -indifferent salesman, and one may take or leave his wares without -drawing a word from him. A large percentage of these little places -are weapon shops, where belt-knives from six to eighteen inches in -length are made on the premises, and also gaudy pistols of tremendous -bores. Second-hand English revolvers are in the collection, strung -across the opening, and brand-new Spanish models. The prices of the -foreign weapons are high, and when one asks the reason, the explanation -is given that they are all contraband, and the Customs officers -have to be paid large sums for passing them. These arms dealers will -sell to anyone who will buy, Turk, Jew, and Christian alike. The -Government places no restriction on the sale of arms to non-Moslems: -the regulation is that they shall not possess them. - -[Illustration: THE ANCIENT ARCH OF CONSTANTINE, SALONICA.] - -This is also the street for native shoes, which are manufactured on the -premises. The most common foot-gear, worn by every Balkan people, is -the ‘charruk.’ It is something more than a sandal, for it has a cover -for the toes; it is a slipper pointed like a canoe bow, and closely -resembles an American Indian’s moccasin. It is made of skin with hide -lacings, which are wound high up a pair of thick woollen stockings, -worn like leggings over the trousers. The Turk often wears these, but -seldom do his women. The Turkish woman’s favourite footwear is a cross -between a sandal and a clog. It is simply a wooden block the shape of -the sole of a shoe, and an inch or more thick, with nothing to hold it -on the foot but a strap across the toes. A European cannot keep them -on his feet, but the Turk manipulates them with marvellous dexterity. -Their great convenience is the rapidity with which they can be shed, as -this has to be done on so many occasions throughout the Turkish day: -at the hours of prayer, and on entering the presence of superiors, -and, obviously, whenever it is desired to sit comfortably, for a Turk -is most uncomfortable if he is not sitting on his feet. These clogs -are hacked with a hatchet out of solid blocks of wood, and even the -shoe in high favour with the Consular kavass, a red thing with a huge -black _pompon_ on a turned-up toe, is manufactured by the squatting -shopkeeper. - -In this street one is not shouted at, or dragged bodily into the shops -if he stops to look at a display of wares, as he is in Greek and Jewish -quarters. This is the business street of the man who opens his shop and -sits still till Allah provides the trade. - -Certain classes of shops in Salonica perambulate. - -The cart has to be largely dispensed with in most Turkish towns, -chiefly because the streets are paved. This is not the case in -Salonica; the paving is comparatively good there; but the Macedonian -has got into the habit of providing for roads paved with cobble stones. -Over the backs of asses and sure-footed mountain ponies the butcher -has an arrangement of carving boards, and cuts off a lamb chop or a -roast at his customer’s door. One has to rise early to see the heads -still on the lambs, for they are great delicacies, and go first, and -when roasted the unbounded joy of the native cracking the skull and -picking out the tasty bits is nauseating in the extreme. The entrails -of animals are also relished; they are eaten as the Italian eats his -macaroni. - -[Illustration: THE TURKISH BUTCHER.] - -The milkman, generally a Tzigane, does not drive the cow through the -streets, but brings the milk slung over an ass, in a skin, one end of -which he milks at order. A small Jew, with a huge fez and a man’s coat -which reached almost to the skirt of his dress, was a daily nuisance -on Consul Avenue. I suppose he dragged his four-footed draper’s shop -down the aristocratic foreign thoroughfares to show off his father, who -dressed in ‘Franks,’ but whose bellow was distinctly Levantine. - -In summer months the two-footed lemonade stand would be a pleasant -encounter were it not so numerous. But as it is generally an Albanian, -it does not pester one to buy: it simply requires one to get out -of its road. It carries a shelf in front with half a dozen glasses -stuck in holes, a copper pitcher in its hand with water for rinsing -glasses after Christians have used them, and a curious reservoir of an -over-sweet drink on its back. If this receptacle has not many little -metal pieces to jingle upon it, the gaily garbed Albanian keeps up a -tapping with two glasses as he advances down the street. - -Most of the men of Macedonia wear a form of skirt, but especially in -Salonica does the new arrival feel that he has landed among a race of -bearded women. The most picturesque dress to be seen in Salonica is -that of the Southern Albanian. It is a sort of ballet skirt, like that -of the Greek ‘Evzones,’ a white, pleated thing about the length of a -Highlander’s kilt. But the Albanian is more modest than the Scot, and -wears his stockings to a proper height. - -The skirted man most in evidence, however, is the Jew, and his skirt -is indeed a marvellous garment. It resembles a dressing-gown made of -some bed-curtain or sofa-cover material. It is plain in cut, dropping -straight from the shoulders to the heels, but of the most wonderful -designs in cotton prints. On the Sabbath day, which the Jew observes -devoutly, he adds to his costume a long Turkish sash, and also, -regardless of the weather, a greatcoat of a good black cloth lined with -ermine. One would hardly suspect these thrifty Israelites of undue -vanity, and yet for no other reason than to enhance their personal -beauty do they suffer this oppressive garment on the hot Saturdays of a -Salonica summer. - -The Jewish girl dresses in ‘Franks’ until she is married, but at her -wedding she receives as a dowry an outfit of clothes fashioned after -those her mothers have worn for countless generations. This is an -expensive trousseau, and is calculated to last all her life, for she -is not to be a burden to her husband in the matter of dress. The most -costly garments in the wardrobe are a fur-lined greatcoat--almost -a duplicate of her husband’s--and the covering for her hair. This -latter is in the nature of a tight-fitting green cap, with a border of -probably red and a chin-strap of still another colour. The cap extends -to a long bag behind, in which her braid of hair is stuffed. On the end -of this bag a square of several inches is worked in pearls, wherein -lies the value of the cap. In skirts the women, like their husbands, -go in for gaudy cotton prints. Their waists are cut exceedingly high. -In the back the skirt falls from somewhere between the shoulders, but -in front a short white blouse is visible, which is cut for street -wear (and worn winter as well as summer) almost as low as a European -lady’s ball-dress. It becomes difficult for me to give further details -of this feminine attire, so I respectfully refer curious ladies to the -accompanying photograph, which, though snapped for the character it -presents, also portrays a specimen of these curious gowns. - -I believe that formerly the Hebrew religion required the women to hide -their hair and the men to wear dresses, but to-day these customs are -continued by them from habit, for economy, and with a purpose. Their -purpose in dressing alike is to look alike, as it is dangerous in -Turkey for a non-Moslem--or even a Moslem--to rise above his fellows in -either wealth or position. The Sultan considers it a danger to himself -for one of his subjects to grow powerful, and he maintains a staff of -levellers who have various means of reducing the man who dares to rise. -The successful Turk is exiled; other subjects are dealt with in other -ways. - -I once had occasion to send a report to London that a number of -dynamite bombs had been discovered by the police in the office of a -Bulgarian merchant just opposite the British post office in Salonica. -The Turkish authorities took care to let the foreign correspondents -hear this news. It was some weeks later that I learned how the bombs -got so near the British post office. The business of the Bulgarian -merchant, whose name was Surndjieff, had been prospering noticeably. -The merchant received notice one day that a certain sum--say, one -hundred liras--was required of him by the police. He had paid all his -legal taxes, and, being a stubborn Bulgar, he refused to subscribe the -blackmail. A second demand, in the form of a warning, was sent to him, -and still he took no heed. One morning he arrived at his office and -found his door unlocked. Everything within seemed undisturbed, however, -so he set about his duties. In about an hour a detachment of gendarmes -arrived with an order to search the premises, and the very first drawer -opened by the officer in command contained a dozen ‘infernal machines.’ -Of course the Bulgar was arrested at once and incarcerated in the White -Tower, to escape from which cost him several hundred liras in bribes to -gaolers and others. - -Now, the Jew’s property is no safer at the hands of the Turkish -officials than is that of the Christian, and yet the Jew is a loyal -supporter of the Turkish Government. But there are reasons for this -loyalty. The Jews of Salonica, like most of those of Constantinople, -found a refuge in Turkey from the Spanish Inquisition, and if they -have not liberty in the Sultan’s dominions, they have at least equal -rights with Christians. Their position is even, perhaps, better than -that of the Turk, who indeed is one of the greatest sufferers from -the oppression of the Turkish Government. The Turk is the ruler of -the land and the privileged person, and the Jew has learned never to -defy his authority. But what cares the Jew who makes the laws so -he may make the money? He has learned to outwit the Turk and to take -care to let the Turk take unto himself that credit. This would not -satisfy one of the Christian races, who all have scores to pay and -ambitions to realise; their gratification at defeating the Turk would -only be complete if the Turk suffered the knowledge of the fact. The -coveting of Macedonia by the Christian races in and about Turkey is -another cause for the Jews’ support of the present administration; for -under Greek, Serb, Bulgar, and Rumanian the Jews would not occupy the -position of most favoured subjects. - -[Illustration: JEWS.] - -[Illustration: JEWISH WOMEN.] - -Most of the Jews of Salonica wear the fez, but some of the wealthy -ones, who would enjoy their wealth, have acquired the protection of -foreign Powers, and dress in European clothes. Viennese and Parisian -styles and makes of clothes are not too good for them, and they travel -to Austria and to France regularly in the warm months of the year. - -The Hebrew boy is generally educated in his father’s shop, but the girl -is often given a good schooling, which raises her in mind and morals -far above the man she marries--which is sad. Among the various large -foreign schools at Salonica there is one for girls conducted by the -British Mission to the Jews. It affords a means of learning English, -which makes it a most popular institution; and it is within the reach -of all classes, because pupils are taken at whatever they can afford -to pay. But while the school has been conducted for many years, and -an old Scottish missionary (who has recently died) preached to the -scholars for half a century, there is yet to be recorded a single -convert to Christianity. The old Scotchman once told me that he thought -a good share of the blame for his failure was due to the example his -own countrymen set. He said he hated to go into the street when the -British fleet was in the harbour because he was invariably asked by -some Israelite if he wanted to convert them to ‘that’--pointing at a -drunken sailor. A drunken man is rarely seen in the streets of Salonica -except when a foreign fleet is in the bay, and the ‘drunks’ are most -numerous when that fleet is British. - -The hundred and one bootblacks (all Jews) who infest the cafés of -Salonica, and swarm about the hotels to pester the unfortunate inmates -as they emerge, are in great glee when an Englishman appears. They -mistook me for an Englishman, but whenever I sought to disillusion a -native on this score, I was told ‘England, America--all the same.’ The -Jews all speak a few words of English, learned, no doubt, from their -sisters. - -‘When comes the English fleet?’ is the first question a bootblack puts -to an Englishman. - -‘Do you want the English fleet to come to Salonica?’ I asked. - -‘You bet!’ They must have acquired this from the American missionaries. - -‘Why?’ - -‘English sailor get much bootshines; pay very well. Ten shillin’ me -make one day--English sailor very much drunk always.’ - -Jews are always very fond of music, and they fill the cafés-chantants -of Salonica on Saturday evenings. Extracts from ‘Carmen,’ ‘Traviata,’ -‘Faust,’ and like operas were being rendered by a small troupe of -Italians at one of these places, to which the entrance fee was two -piastres--about fourpence. But this was beyond the price of the -populace, and the masses flocked to another place of amusement a little -further down the quay, where no entrance fee was charged, and by -purchasing one cup of coffee you could sit and hear the music the whole -evening. Here there was a French artist whose répertoire was known by -the whole town, and the audience made it a rule to shout for the songs -they desired to hear. A certain duet about dogs and cats, in which the -lady meowed and a sickly looking male partner barked, was the Jews’ -favourite recital. Late one Saturday evening, when the singers stopped -for a cue, the Jews in the audience began to bark, which was the -recognised signal for the dog song. But there were a number of Greeks -in the audience who wanted the lady to sing alone, and they set up a -call for one of her solos. The respective parties attempted to shout -each other down, which raised an unearthly din in the neighbourhood, -and soon resulted in a pitched battle. But the cry of ‘Soldiers’ -brought the conflict to an abrupt termination, and before the gendarmes -arrived both the Jews and the Greeks were scurrying for their homes as -fast as their legs could carry them. - -The Jews are rigorous observers of the fourth commandment in so far as -they themselves are concerned. Under no circumstances will one of them -do a stroke of work on their Sabbath day. But they have no scruples -against enjoying themselves by the labour of others. The small boats in -the bay are owned entirely by the Jews, and all the week they hustle -for Christian and Turkish patronage. But on Saturday evenings in summer -they indulge in the hire of Christians and Turks to row them up and -down the city front on the smooth water of the bay. - -The various Sabbaths in Turkey are somewhat annoying to the traveller. -On Fridays the Turkish officials will not _visé_ passports or issue -_teskerés_; on Saturdays the Jews refuse to shine your boots; on -Sundays the Christian shops are closed. But neither the Turks nor the -Christians observe their days of rest with the same rigour as the Jews -do. Though it is impossible to get a _teskeré_ from the Turkish Konak -on the Turkish Sabbath, a note waiving the necessity of the document -can be had for a consideration. We all know the Christian is not an -over-strict observer of Sunday. - -Salonica is unfortunate in possessing a colony of each of the -Macedonian races. Besides Turks and Jews, there are many Greeks and -Albanians, some Bulgarians and Servians, and a few Kutzo-Vlachs -(Wallachians) and Tziganes, and still another people peculiar to the -town. One is struck in Salonica by the beautiful Mohamedan ladies who -walk along the streets with their veils thrown back; and it impels one -to think that the woman who pulls her veil down when she sights a man -must necessarily lack beauty. Not so; one is a Turk and one is not a -Turk. - -The handsome females who wear the Turkish garb, but do not always -cover their faces, are a peculiar sect of Jews alleged to be converted -to Mohamedanism. They live, like all the other peoples, distinctly -to themselves, not even associating with the Turks; and while they -are too few to have a national entity, they carry on, nevertheless, -their little feuds with the Jews. Their story is this: Some centuries -ago a Jew of Salonica, by name Sebatai Sevi, declared himself to his -people as their long-promised redeemer, and won a certain following. -He is an example of power making jealous his monarch. At the Sultan’s -order he was conveyed to Constantinople and taken into the Padisha’s -presence. His plea was heard, but found no credence at the Palace, -and the false prophet was given the alternative of death for himself -or conversion to Mohamedanism with his entire flock. The Government, -no doubt, granted all the assistance Sebatai needed to ‘persuade’ his -followers to make the change, and it was soon accomplished. But, unlike -Christians converted by pressure or force to the religion of the Turk, -these Jews have not become fanatics. Indeed, they are quite luke-warm -about the religion, and it is supposed they profess Mohamedanism simply -for safety, and practise Sebatai’s religion in secret. They never marry -outside their own sect, not even with the Turks. There is a story of -long standing to the effect that the little circle of Dunmehs (for this -they are called) once subscribed a purse of 4,000_l._ to purchase the -pretensions of a Turkish pasha to the hand of a fair maiden of their -colony. - -The Dunmehs are the richest people, on the whole, in Salonica. With -their Hebrew instincts for business and their position as Mohamedans, -they have a decided advantage over the other peoples. They fill -largely the _rôle_ of Government contractors, and secure many of -the plums in the gift of the administration, which it is impossible -for non-Moslems to get, and for which the Turks are too indifferent -to trouble themselves. The Dunmehs make a speciality of purchasing -the rights to gather tithes, for which they often pay more than the -legal value thereof. These rights they divide into small sections and -dispose of at a profit to the actual collectors of taxes. The tithe is -legally one-tenth of the crop, but as it is measured by the collectors, -supported by a guard of Turkish soldiers, it generally assumes larger -proportions, sometimes attaining to a quarter, and even a half, of the -peasant’s harvest. And there is no resource for the peasant against -this unjust confiscation, as the first law of the Turkish court is the -Koran, which, as interpreted, provides that the word of a Christian -shall not offset that of a Mohamedan. - -But army and other contracts, for which the payment is forthcoming from -the Turkish Government, are not often sought by the Dunmehs. These are -left to Turks with influence at the Palace; for influence at the Palace -or at the Porte is necessary in order to secure any payment from the -Turkish Government. Ismail Pasha, an Albanian in the high esteem of -Abdul Hamid, and with many friends among the Palace clique, is the only -man in Salonica with courage enough to undertake Government contracts. -And his daring is proportionately rewarded. - -This man’s history is worthy of recital; it reads like that of a -self-made millionaire. He was born of poor but dishonest parents, and -educated himself--dispensing with the arts of reading and writing. He -began life as a _khanji’s_ boy, learned there how to rob the wayfarer, -and attained, at the age of eighteen, a competency in a brigand band. -Step by step, as the men above him died off (sometimes by indigestible -pills, and sometimes by falling backward on the knife of an ambitious -subaltern), Ismail became a leader. In this capacity he did his work -so well, striking terror to the heart of both Turk and Christian, that -his ability was recognised by no less a person than Abdul Hamid, who -saw in him a man of exceptional ability. This self-made man was invited -by the Sultan to Constantinople, there decorated, given the title of -Pasha, and sent to Salonica with the high commission of first-class -spy, assigned to the task of reporting to his Padisha the doings of the -governor of the vilayet. - -Now, an official in Turkey always knows his spy, and the spy always -knows that his man knows him. The spy and his man, of course, are -always together, and they become the most intimate friends. Naturally, -the man seeks ever to please his spy, which in this case makes Ismail -Pasha virtual Vali of the vilayet. He dictates the names of the police -who shall be employed--and naturally has a preference for outlaws; -kaimakams and other officers of districts hold their places at his -pleasure; and Government contracts are awarded to Ismail Pasha, be his -bid high or low. Ismail is the trusted ally of Abdul Hamid, and is -permitted, therefore, to grow rich and powerful. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE DYNAMITERS - - -On the occasion of my first visit to Salonica one of the American -missionaries took me over the town sightseeing. When we came to the -local branch of the Imperial Ottoman Bank, a modern bank building of -quite an imposing appearance, my fellow-countryman said he had heard -that ‘the committee’ were going to dynamite the place. But this was -no news to me, for, on alighting at the railway station, the Greek -porter of the Angleterre had told me of this project of the insurgents, -giving it as a reason why I should stop at his hotel instead of at -the Cristoforo Colombo, which stood just beside the bank; and the Jew -bootblacks while shining my shoes had discussed the coming ‘outrages’ -and had told me several exact days on which they would take place. A -revolutionary plot so widely known could be little more, I thought, -than a work of native imagination, and, as the missionary held a -similar view, I lengthened not my stay in Salonica to await the -event. I was in search of exciting ‘copy,’ and without the slightest -solicitude for that I left behind, took my way to the interior of the -country. During my absence the authorities raided a Bulgarian khan -in the neighbourhood of the bank, which rumour fixed upon as the bomb -factory of the committajis; but they discovered no insurgents and no -dynamite. The real factory, however, was not a hundred feet away, and -when I returned from my excursion inland I occupied a room in the -Hôtel Colombo which directly overlooked it. It was, to all outward -appearance, a little Bulgarian shop in a narrow, unpretentious street, -and the shopkeeper and his customers were only simple, dirty peasants. -I often watched the Bulgars enter and leave the place, but so little -did I suspect their real character that only three days before their -attack I deserted Salonica again for the Albanian district. - -The Jewish bootblacks had fixed upon Easter as the day for the -dynamiting: that was a Christian festival, they knew. But the Easters -of both calendars came and went without disturbance--though the -garrison of the town was augmented on every ‘appointed’ day, to be -ready to suppress the ‘rising’ of Bulgarians in an expeditious manner, -while every Bulgarian barred his door lest the suppression should come -without the dynamiting. It was after many appointed days had passed by -without mishap, and most of the Asiatic soldiers had been withdrawn -from Salonica and sent to join the army for the penetration of Albania, -that the promises of the insurgents were at last fulfilled. Someone has -said ‘Fools lie; wise men deceive by telling the truth.’ - -[Illustration: ASIATIC SOLDIERS: ‘REDIFS.’] - -[Illustration: WAITING FOR DYNAMITERS, SALONICA.] - -All of the special correspondents--gathered like vultures in -Macedonia to prey on the harvest of death--knew of the prediction for -Salonica; but correspondents flock together, and we all followed the -leader to Uskub with our hawk eyes set upon Albania. And there we were, -in Uskub, when the dynamiting took place. The news reached us about -noon of the morning after the event. Instead of eating luncheon, I got -a travelling bag ready and boarded the south-bound train at half-past -two, with one other correspondent--an Englishman. Happily, we were not -rivals: he represented a London daily and I was working for America: -otherwise we might have resented each other’s presence. As it was we -rejoiced together at having a clear start of twenty-four hours on the -others, for there is but one train to Salonica each day. - -By nightfall the Englishman was bored by my conversation and I was -bored by his, and, having nothing to read, we stretched ourselves out -on the seats of our compartment and went to sleep soon after dark. -It was in this condition that we arrived in Salonica at half-past -ten o’clock; but nobody woke us, and we slept on. The few other -passengers--all Turks, as Bulgarians were restricted in travelling at -the time--left the train quietly and repaired to a khan across the -road to spend the night. The train hands, frightened Christians, lost -no time in ‘shunting’ the train, and after placing it on a ‘siding’ -a quarter of a mile from the station, deserted it, us included, and -joined the Turks in the crowded café. - -About midnight I awoke and wondered where I was. It gradually dawned -upon me that I was aboard a train, and I rose and looked out of the -window. Every light was out: they must have been extinguished from -above or we should have been discovered. I could discern, indistinctly, -in the faint light of a new moon, a waving line of high grass on both -sides of the train, and here and there a low, thick tree, but not a -house was visible. I woke the Englishman. Towards the city, usually -aglow with little lights from the water’s edge all the way up to the -wall on the hills, only a few dim lamps now shone. The gas main to -the town had been cut by the committajis the night before, and they -had also attempted, in their dynamite revel, to destroy a troop train -not far from the spot where ours now stood. We knew that the railways -were patrolled everywhere and doubly guarded in the vicinity of -Salonica, and there was little chance of our getting out of the train -without being seen. We also knew that the Turk is averse from taking -prisoners on any occasion, and naturally supposed that the deeds of the -dynamiters--for many of whom they were still hunting--had not tended to -lessen this Mohamedan characteristic. But to remain in the train and be -discovered in the small hours of the morning by some excited Asiatic -seemed a greater danger, and we decided to take to the open at once. -Whereupon we gathered our bags, quietly opened the door, jumped to the -ground and scurried through the high grass in the direction of the -town. Fortunately we escaped from the train without detection. But we -had gone hardly a hundred yards when a Turkish shout went up that was -both a challenge and an alarm. We saw the Turk who gave the yell, for -the moon was behind him, but I am sure he only heard us. He was near -a tent, and the first to respond to his call for assistance were his -companions from within. Six of them rolled out from under the canvas in -their clothes, rifles in hand, and in a minute more there were twenty -others by his side, all jabbering high Turkish. We had dropped our bags -at the challenge and thrown up our hands, but still they did not seem -to see us. They evidently thought we numbered forty--the usual size of -an insurgent band--and it took us some time to convince them that we -were only two Englishmen. - -‘_Inglese Effendi_’ was the extent of our Turkish, and this we shouted -to them with every variation of accent we could contrive, trusting -they would comprehend our meaning in one form or another. I had not -forgotten in the excitement that I was an American, but neither had I -forgotten that the Turks consider an American a peculiar species of -Englishman, and the situation was such that I was willing to forgo -detail in explanation. They located us at once from the noise we were -making, and, as soon as they had loaded and cocked their rifles, spread -out single file like Red Indians, and wound a circle about us--keeping -at a safe distance from our dynamite. During this manœuvre an animated -discussion took place as to whether--we judged--it were not better to -shoot us first and find out afterwards whether we were Bulgarians -or not. This process was boring, for our arms were growing numb, -and yet we dared not lower them. They shouted to us a score or more -questions, but we could understand not a word. And we, concluding our -Turkish had failed, tried them with English, French, and German, and -the Englishman (who was the linguist) in a rash moment discharged a -volley of Bulgarian. It was well for us then that these soldiers (as we -learned later) had arrived from Asia Minor only a few days before, and -knew not even the tone of the insurgents’ language. They had understood -one variation of our ‘_Inglese Effendi_,’ and though they could not -imagine what ‘English gentlemen’ were doing on a railway line beyond -the city in the dead of night, there was one among them willing to take -the chance of capturing us alive. But the bold fellow was not without -grave fears, as the manner in which he performed this task amply -demonstrated. All guns were turned on us: - - Rifles to front of us, - Rifles to back of us, - Rifles all round us, - But nobody blundered. - -The Turks signed to us to keep our hands up. We could lift them no -higher so we stood on our toes--to show how willing we were to comply -with all suggestions. Then the brave man who had volunteered to take us -prisoners made a long détour and approached us from behind stealthily, -lest we should turn upon him suddenly and cast a bomb. I was made aware -of his arrival at my back by a thump in the spine with the muzzle of a -loaded and cocked rifle. The finger on the trigger was nervous--if it -was anything like its owner’s voice--and I dared not even tremble lest -the vibration should drop the hammer of his gun. I being thus in my -captor’s power, the other Turks approached. One unwound the long red -sash from his waist and with an end of it bound my hands. Meantime, -the Englishman had been surrounded, and two curly-bearded fellows, -gripping his hands tightly, dragged him to my side and bound his wrists -with the other end of the red sash. Our proud captor then seized the -centre of the sash, and, carefully avoiding our baggage, led us away -to the camp in exactly the same manner as he would have led a pair of -buffaloes, and the other soldiers followed, jabbering, at our heels. -Our captor’s tugging pulled the sash off my wrists, but I held on to -it and pretended I was still shackled, considering the fright it would -give the Turks to discover me mysteriously at liberty again. - -We were kept but a few minutes at their camp, then taken through the -railway station, now deserted, across a road to the Turkish café where -the other passengers and the train crew were spending the night. It -was a peaceful spectacle we entered upon, but we soon disturbed the -composure of the Christians in the place. The train crew was stretched -out on the floor snoring lustily, and the passengers, because of their -race, sat on the tables, their feet folded under them, occupied in -sucking hookahs. Our dramatic entrance, on the ends of the red sash and -surrounded by ragged soldiers, did not distract the Mohamedans from -their hubble-bubbles, but the snoring ceased immediately. - -We pounced upon the conductor before he was on his feet, and through -him, by means of French, explained to our captors who we were and -how we happened to be in the train, and demanded our release. But -the Asiatics threatened the Christian and he slyly deserted us and -slunk out of the door. The passport officer, who records arrivals, -a Mohamedan, took it upon himself to relieve us of the bondage of -the red sash and returned it to its owner, whereupon he brought upon -himself a storm of abuse from the Asiatics, and he too deserted us. -One by one all the Christians escaped to the next khan, taking their -snoring with them, but leaving the curly-bearded Anatolians and the -‘bashi-bazouks.’[3] These Turks remained perched on the tables, our -only company through the whole long night, apparently without a thought -of a thing but their gurgling pipes. Indeed, not even the occasional -sound of an explosion in the town caused them so much as to lift their -eyes. - -The soldiers knew now that we were foreigners, and did not attempt -to re-bind our hands, but they continued to keep us prisoners with -the object of securing ransom money. Had we been subjects of their -Sultan we should probably have had our pockets searched, but, being -foreigners, our persons, at least, were favoured with a grudged respect. - -We refused persistently to comply with their demands for money, until -they became violent. When they had given our bags ample time to -explode, one of the Turks fetched them to the café, but declined to -surrender them unless we paid him. Even this we refused to do. Hereupon -one truculent fellow whipped out his bayonet and shook the blade in -our faces, at the same time drawing a finger significantly across -his throat and gurgling in a manner that must have been copied from -life. This realistic entertainment so impressed me that I rewarded -the actor with all the small change I possessed, about six piastres. -The amount did not satisfy him by any means, for he explained that he -desired to divide the money with his companions, but I dreaded to show -them gold, and handed over an empty purse--my money was in a wallet. -Then they put pressure on the Englishman, but he flatly declined to -reward them and pretended to prefer the alternative they offered. Bold -Briton! they turned from him in disgust and proceeded to fight over the -shilling I had given them. The individual who had drawn his bayonet -carefully replaced it in its scabbard and slung his gun by a strap -over his shoulder before entering the fray. And not once did he or any -of the others use a weapon, though they punched each other’s faces -viciously--not, however, disturbing the bashi-bazouks on the tables, -whose rhythmic suck of the hubble-bubbles could be heard above the -irregular sounds of the brawl. - -The fight concluded and quiet restored, the Englishman got writing -materials out of his bag and proceeded to take notes for despatches. -But this proceeding did not meet with the approval of our guards. The -truculent individual walked round behind him without a word, and drew -his bayonet again. This time he was truly alarming, for he was alarmed -himself. He suspected that we were making a report of the treatment we -had received. Now this Englishman was none other than ‘Saki,’ author -of ‘Alice in Westminster,’ a man who would write an epigram on the -death of a lady love. In a few minutes Saki’s mind had risen above all -earthly surroundings in search of an epigram on a capture by Turks, -and he was oblivious to the presence of the Asiatic hovering over him. -Perceiving my friend’s unfortunate plight, I came to the rescue, shook -him back to earth, and persuaded him to destroy his papers. We could do -nothing the rest of the night but sit and study the Turks and listen to -the rhythmic gurgles of the hubble-bubble pipes. - -Early in the morning two army officers arrived and came into the khan -for coffee, and we appealed to them in French to relieve us from -the tender mercies of our tormentors. But they sipped their coffee -unaffected, and informed us that the soldiers were not of their -command. Indeed, these Asiatics seemed to be of nobody’s command! Up -to the hour they took it into their heads to return to the railway -station, no superior officer came near them. It was about six o’clock -when they departed, leaving us without ceremony. There were already -cabs at the station, bringing passengers for the early train, and one -of these took us into the city. - - * * * * * - -The streets of the city, usually crowded at dawn, were still deserted -by all except soldiers when we entered. There were sentinels seated -cross-legged at every corner, who rose and unslung their guns as -our carriage approached--the dynamiters had gone to their work in -carriages. But we were not halted on this ride, for we had a Turkish -driver who served as a passport. We drove first to the hotel named -from America’s discoverer, but finding it had been put out of business -by the same explosion that destroyed the bank, we went back to the -Angleterre. After a wash and breakfast we at once set about gathering -an account of the events of the past two days. It was difficult, -however, to move through the town, Asiatics challenging us at every -turn, and we sought out the British Consul for assistance. - -We arrived at the Consulate just as the Vice-Consul, accompanied by the -Consular kavass, was starting on an official tour of investigation. -This was an opportunity we could not afford to miss. We attached -ourselves to the Vice-Consul, and the gentleman protested. But he was -courteous in his objections to our company, and we remained with him. -His great solicitude was to know the exact number of the slain on both -sides, a fact which concerned us less than graphic accounts of the -fighting; for it is a duller story to say a thousand people were put -to the sword than to give in detail the way a single Christian died. -H.M. Vice-Consul was a careful young man, with little confidence in -correspondents. He evidently thought it would be useless to provide -us with accurate information, and took no trouble to point out to us -that the slaughter had not assumed the proportions of what might in -Turkey be called a massacre. He seemed to concern himself chiefly with -priming himself to contradict in his official despatches the gross -exaggerations wherein we would undoubtedly indulge; and in view of his -services to us we were both sincerely sorry to disappoint him. - -The dead were all now removed from the streets, though the routes taken -by the carts in which they were collected could still be traced to the -trenches by clotted drippings of blood and bloody wads of rags on the -roads. The Consul led the way to the Bulgarian cemeteries in the hope -of being able to count the corpses, but the last spadeful of earth was -just being shovelled into the long graves as we entered the gates. We -could only, therefore, estimate the number. We paced off the dimensions -of the excavations, and, taking the word of the Turkish official that -the bodies were laid but one row deep, estimated that there could not -be more than twenty in a trench--and, as far as we knew, there were -but three trenches throughout the city. - -[Illustration: THE WRECK OF THE OTTOMAN BANK.] - -[Illustration: ENTERING THE DYNAMITERS’ DEN.] - -From the cemetery we followed the Consul to the site of the Ottoman -Bank and passed with him through the cordon of troops which surrounded -the ruins. Workmen were busily engaged uncovering a tunnel under the -street leading from a little shop opposite to a vital spot beneath the -bank. The little shop was that which I had watched so often from my -window in the Hôtel Colombo. The peasants I had seen enter and leave -the place had been, many of them, insurgents in disguise. The stock -displayed in front was only a ruse to cover the real merchandise, which -had come all the way from France and had been passed by the Turkish -Customs officials on the payment of substantial backsheesh. We were -told that ‘special’ customers of this shop went away nightly with heavy -baskets, now suspected of containing the earth excavated during each -day. It is said to have taken the insurgents forty days to cut the -tunnel, by means of which they were able to blow up the bank. - -The soldiers were preparing to break into the den of the dynamiters, -and we waited in the street to see what they would discover within. -They were compelled to enter first by a side window, because the iron -front of the place was stoutly barred. They made an opening large -enough for a man to pass through, and two of them climbed in cautiously -with lighted lanterns. I do not think they expected to discover any -Bulgarians, dead or alive, within--nor did they--but they feared to -tread on dynamite. They found a sword of the pattern in use in the -Bulgarian army, and a wooden box with a small quantity of dynamite, -and a basket containing a strange assortment of other things. They -passed these trophies out of the window and permitted us to examine -them. In the basket were several yards of fuse, a few pounds of steel -lugs for making bombs more deadly, a bottle half full of wine, a hunk -of native cheese, and a string of prayer beads. The dynamite, in the -shape of cubes two inches thick, was carefully packed in cardboard -boxes, on the covers whereof were instructions for use printed in three -languages--French, English, and German, in the order named. - -There is some irony in the fact that the explosives supplied to the -insurgents by France did most damage to citizens of the country from -which they came. The revolutionary attack on Salonica was directed -primarily against Europeans and European institutions, ‘as a threat -and in punishment for the non-interference of the civilised nations -in behalf of the Christians of Macedonia.’ The Imperial Ottoman -Bank is owned and conducted largely by Frenchmen and Italians, the -_Guadalquivir_ belonged to the Mesageries Maritimes Company, and -against these institutions the insurgents accomplished their most -successful dynamite work. They began the eventful day with an attempt -to blow up a troop train leaving for the interior, crowded with -Anatolian soldiers. An ‘infernal machine’ was placed on the railway -track over which the train was to pass in the early morning, but it was -timed to go off a few minutes too soon, and exploded before the train -reached the spot. - -Their next exploit was more cleverly contrived. It was the destruction -of the French steamer. A Bulgarian, describing himself as a merchant, -and possessing the requisite _teskeré_ for travelling in Turkey -duly viséd, took second-class passage for Constantinople aboard the -_Guadalquivir_, and went aboard with his luggage a few hours before the -ship sailed. He inspected the steamer, pretending mere curiosity, and -learned that the state rooms amidships were allotted only to passengers -holding first-class tickets; whereupon he paid the difference in -fare and shifted a heavy bag into a cabin nearer the engine-room. A -few minutes before the ship weighed anchor the Bulgarian hailed a -small boat and went ashore, ostensibly to speak to a friend on the -quay, leaving all his baggage behind. But he did not return, and the -ship sailed without him. She was hardly in motion, however, before a -terrible explosion amidships wrecked the engine-room, cut the steering -gear off from the wheel-house, and set the vessel afire. The concussion -was of such violence that it is said to have shaken the houses on the -quay, nearly two miles away. The engineer and several firemen were -severely injured, but no one was killed. Another vessel in the harbour -went to the assistance of the _Guadalquivir_, rescued the crew and -passengers, and towed the ship back into port. There was a suspicion -of foul play, but the cause of the explosion was not definitely fixed -until that night. - -Crowds soon collected to watch the ship burn, and grew until at evening -the whole town was on the quay--little suspecting that this was the day -for the long-promised dynamiting. The plot was well planned. - -An ‘infernal machine’ placed under a viaduct which carried the gas main -over a little gulley, exploded promptly at eight o’clock, and this was -the signal for the general attack. Before the lights of the city had -finished flickering, a carriage dashed up to each of the principal -open-air cafés along the water-front, and several drew up before the -bank. In each of them were two or more desperate men, who in some -cases jumped out and threaded their way to the midst of the wondering -crowds, before hurling their deadly missiles. They made for the places -where their bombs would do damage among the foreign element and the -most prominent citizens, and attempted to throw them into the thickest -groups. But the people, already alarmed, were on the _qui vive_, and -few of the explosions in the cafés did really effective work. The -Macedonians are well drilled in scurrying into their houses, and, -recognising the attack at last, they did not linger till the troops -came. The dynamiters tried to catch some ‘on the wing,’ but a bomb is a -poor weapon for use against the individual. - -The proprietor of the Alhambra personally pointed out to us the holes -made in his curtains and his stage, and gave us pieces of shell he had -gathered in his yard; but two tables and three coffee-cups and one man -was the complete record of the destruction wrought at his establishment. - -Dynamite requires confinement to be thoroughly effective. The -destruction of the Imperial Ottoman Bank was thorough. The Bulgarians -who had this work in charge were evidently the pick of the band. Four -of them alighted from their carriage in front of the building and -several others behind it. Those attacking the front, in the guise of -gentlemen, succeeded in getting near enough to the two soldiers on -guard to overpower them and cut their throats. Then they began casting -bombs at the windows. The other insurgents entered the courtyard of the -Hôtel Colombo and hurled bombs into the doors of the German skittle -club, a low building at the back of the bank. While these two divisions -of dynamiters were at this work, and their confederates were elsewhere -attacking various places, the charge beneath the bank was set off. -A vast hole was rent in the rear wall of the building, the skittle -club was demolished and the front of the Hôtel Colombo shattered. The -manager of the bank, who lived above the offices, escaped with his -family before the building succumbed to the fire, and all but one of -thirty Germans who were in the skittle club at the time got out with -their lives. - -The explosions of the bombs caused the wildest panic everywhere, but -they seem to have been remarkably ineffective. They were thin-shelled -things (I have seen several), some three and some four inches in -diameter, with a hole for loading. The shells and the dynamite were -imported separately and put together in various places in the town. -The insurgents appear to have had little knowledge in the manipulation -of the bomb other than what was contained in the printed instructions. -In some cases--in the mountains--they have blown themselves to pieces -while loading shells. - -The dynamiters escaped in most instances. After doing their work they -sought cover, leaving the excited soldiers to wreak their vengeance on -the unarmed Bulgar. This is a part of their system, that those who will -not join them shall suffer for their weakness. But in one place the -insurgents were trapped, and a pretty fight took place ’twixt dynamite -and rifle, for the account of which I am indebted largely to the wife -of a missionary, who witnessed it through the blinds of one of the -mission windows. - -The American Mission at Salonica is one block--an Oriental block cut -by crooked streets--away from the spot where the Ottoman Bank stood. -It was opposite an antiquated Turkish fort, and next door to the -German school. On the other side of the school is a little house with -a broad balcony overlooking the schoolyard. This little house was one -of the insurgent rendezvous, though unknown and unsuspected. About half -an hour after the explosions at the bank, while the little party of -Americans watched the burning bank from the back of the mission, bombs -began exploding, seemingly almost under their door, at the side of the -house. The American property was not the object of the attack; it was -directed against the German school. The insurgents had, apparently, -waited until the troops from the fort were drawn off to other parts -of the city before beginning their job. They threw their bombs from -the balcony down at a corner of the building, where they exploded. The -detonations were deafening, but the whole damage to the school was less -than that which a single bomb would have wrought if put into one of the -rooms. - -But the fort opposite had not been left entirely deserted, and a few -minutes after the first report it opened fire from the battlemented -walls. The Turks were soon reinforced by two detachments of troops -which came up from opposite directions. One force, in the darkness, -mistook the other for insurgents and fired into them. For more than two -hours the fight continued, during which probably forty bombs exploded -and hundreds of rifle cracks rent the air. The missionary’s wife told -me she had seen the Bulgarians light their fuses in the room, then dash -out on the terrace and throw the bombs into the street below. Several -times the Turks attempted to rush the place, but the street was narrow -and stoutly walled, and whenever they came up the Bulgarians dropped -bombs into them and drove them back. Towards the last the insurgents -staggered out and only dropped their bombs. As they lit the fuses the -Americans saw one of them bleeding from a wound in the face, and the -other from the chest. Finally the defence ceased, and the Turks charged -the little fortress successfully. They battered in the door and -dragged out the garrison, both undoubtedly beyond earthly suffering. - - * * * * * - -Several of the dynamiters went up with their bombs; some were killed -by the soldiers in the streets during the night, but a majority (I -was told by an insurgent) got out of the town safely before morning -and made their way, singly and severally, to join other bands in the -mountains. - -Early the following morning the Turkish population came down from the -hill in a body, yataghans in hand, ready to clear out the Bulgarian -quarter. But Hassan Fehmi Pasha, the Vali of Salonica, had anticipated -this descent of the ‘faithful,’ and himself drove out and cut them off -and persuaded them to leave the work to the soldiers. A house-to-house -search of the Bulgarian quarter was begun at once, and every male -Bulgarian of fighting age was hounded out. They had barred their doors -and hidden themselves in the darkest corners of their houses. But the -bars did not defy the soldiers’ axes, and their hiding places were -generally shallow, and practically the whole male population was locked -up in ‘Bias Kuler’ (White Tower) and the prison in the wall. No women -were arrested in this ‘round up,’ but one was shot in the streets. The -reason, it is said, was that her figure was padded with dynamite bombs. - -Just two months prior to this general incarceration of Bulgarians -a general amnesty had taken place. The Sultan by a single Iradé -reprieved all Bulgarian prisoners. The prisons of European Turkey were -thrown open, exiles were brought back from across the seas and set -free. Political and criminal offenders were treated alike. Brigands -returned to the mountains, petty thieves to the cities, and insurgents -to revolutionary bands. Among the last was the chief of the ‘internal -organisation,’ Damian Grueff, who returned from Asia Minor to resume -supreme command of the committajis. This was one of the features of the -Austro-Russian ‘reform’ scheme. The Sultan evidently desired to begin -it with a grand display of beneficence, perhaps foreseeing the result -of this liberality. The British Government, at any rate, appreciated -the error of the act and protested against its being executed; but -Great Britain had given a mandate to Russia and Austria to do in Turkey -what one of them cannot do at home, and what both are seriously doubted -of honestly desiring. - -Almost as absurd as this general amnesty were the general arrests -which now followed the ‘Salonica outrages.’ Not only was the Bulgarian -community of Salonica put behind bars, but an attempt was made to -extend the wholesale incarceration throughout Macedonia. This proved a -failure for two reasons: the Turks could not catch the revolutionists, -and they had not gaols enough to contain the unarmed Bulgars. When the -gaols were filled with ‘suspected’ peasants extraordinary tribunals -were created in the several consular towns to judge the prisoners. I -visited one of these while ‘in session.’ The building was a shanty in -the outskirts of the town; it had been whitewashed for this function. -The usual cellar (an excavation under a Macedonian house) served to -hold the prisoners in waiting. A score of them, manacled, were brought -from the gaols every morning, and choked into this dark hole, whence, -one at a time, they were unchained from their partners and sent up the -ladder into the court. Three dreamy looking Turks and two corrupted -Christians (a feature of the reforms) tried the peasants. There were -no witnesses--at least not when I was present--and the case seemed to -go for or against the prisoner as he himself could persuade the sleepy -judges of his innocence. The judges never asked a question; the whole -evidence, _pro_ and _con_, was drawn by one Turk in a shabby uniform, -who stood before the handcuffed prisoner, questioned him, and then -advised the judges--still sleeping--of his testimony. Judgment was by -no means summary; it was not ‘Who are you?’--‘Ivan Ivanoff.’--‘Guilty!’ -Every Bulgar had an hour or more to talk. So slow was the process of -these courts that another amnesty took place before they had tried half -the prisoners. Nevertheless, the number of condemned was large, and for -many months the weekly steamer which conveys political prisoners into -exile was crowded on touching at Salonica. - -[Illustration: EXILES, SHIPPED WEEKLY FROM SALONICA.] - -The week we spent at Salonica after the dynamiting bristled with -incident. The days we devoted to gathering news and material for -‘letters,’ and the nights we put in ‘writing up.’ In making our -rounds of the town it seemed that every sentry would have his turn -challenging us, and the Turkish post office insisted on searching me -before I entered, and relieving me, for the time being, of my pistol. -Even at night we were not free from the investigation of the now -cautious authorities. Every patrol passing the Angleterre would rouse -the house and ask why the candles burned at so late an hour in the room -we occupied. We had just time each day to swallow a hasty dinner at the -little restaurant opposite the hotel when the ‘all in’ hour, sundown, -arrived. But we took a supper of _yowolt_ (a kind of curdled milk) and -bread to our rooms to eat at midnight. At six o’clock each morning -we were on our way to the railway station to hand our despatches to -the Consular kavass. Of course we could trust none of our ‘stuff’ to -the Turkish telegraph or post offices. For one thing, no report was -permitted to pass the censor which did not in all cases describe the -insurgents as ‘brigands,’ and this word throughout a despatch would -lend a false colour to it. There is, besides, no assurance that either -a letter or a telegram will ever reach its destination through the -Turkish institutions; and so we had deposited a sum of money with the -telegraph operator at Ristovatz, the Servian frontier station, and sent -our despatches to him by either of the messengers who take the mails of -the English, French, and Austrian post offices to the frontier daily. - -One morning, after we had worked all night and got to bed only -after delivering our despatches safely into the hands of the French -messenger, a skirted kavass with a tremendous revolver, we were rudely -awakened at nine o’clock by a continuous booming of cannon in the -harbour. We knew it was a foreign fleet, and had rather looked forward -to its arrival, but we were perfectly willing to have it stay away -altogether rather than come at this hour. It boomed on and on until -there was nothing for us to do but get up and go to see how many -warships and whose they were. We dressed and went up on the broad -terrace of the Cercle de Salonique, to which the American Consul had -given us cards. There we breakfasted and watched them sail into the bay -under Olympus, still snow-capped, standing higher than the cloud line, -his smaller companions tapering off to his right and left. - -There was a coarse rumble as the heavy chain of the first warship, -an Austrian, followed its anchor to a bed. For a week we watched -the Italians and the Austrians rivalling each other in this naval -demonstration. An Austrian, then an Italian; then three Austrians, -three Italians--at the end of the week nearly a score of foreign ships -swung on their anchors in two parallel lines, the torpedo boats close -in to the shore and the big ships in deeper water. Neither nation could -let the other appear the stronger in the eyes of the Turks or, more -particularly, the Albanians. - -The Turkish flagship, which has swung at anchor in the bay of Salonica -for the past ten years, floats an admiral’s colours. The admiral had -been warned that there would be a naval demonstration in the bay, but -his Government had not informed him that every ship that entered would -salute him. In consequence he was unprepared to fire some hundreds -of guns, and his ammunition was soon exhausted; so he gave orders to -switch his flag up and down twenty-one times to each foreign ship, and -for a week the Star and Crescent rose and fell at the Turk’s hind mast. - -All the peoples but the Mohamedans had rejoiced at the arrival of the -foreign ships, but they were all disgusted with them before they left. -The Bulgarians had thought they would all be released from prison, -otherwise the town would be bombarded; the Jews had thought the sailors -would hire their boats to come ashore; the Greeks had thought the -officers would dine nightly at their hotels; and the Tziganes had made -their children learn enough words of French to beg for small coin. - -‘The English float no come?’ asked a Jew bootblack of me with a glance -of disgust at a group of Italian sailors passing. - -‘What’s the matter with these fellows?’ I inquired. - -‘Never get drunk so much as English. Got no money anyhow.’ - -During the week of sentinels and excitement at Salonica the wife of one -of my friends at the American mission died. I had known them only a few -months, but I was the only other American in the town, and was asked to -be one of the pall-bearers with several of the English residents there. -The Vali sent down a detachment of troops to prevent any disturbance, -and they accompanied the funeral to the English cemetery to protect a -number of Bulgarian women who wanted to follow the remains of their -friend to the grave. It was a strange sight--the parade of these -peasants whose husbands were dead, in gaol, or in hiding, following -the hearse through the semi-deserted streets afoot, surrounded by -fezzed soldiers. After them came a train of native hacks, in which the -European community followed. - - * * * * * - -The town was resuming its normal quiet and we began to inquire for -excitement elsewhere. The Englishman in some way got a tip that trouble -was brewing in Monastir, and he and I made ready to disappear one -morning, leaving the other correspondents in the dark as to where we -had gone. It was now necessary for him to secure a _teskeré_--I already -possessed one and needed but to have mine viséd. On application to his -Consul for this document he was advised to designate himself ‘artist,’ -as the word ‘correspondent’ always shocks the Turk. (The correspondent -represented the _Graphic_.) But the Turkish official must have a reason -for everything, and the first question of the dignitary who drafts the -passports was, why an _artiste_ desired to go to Monastir. - -‘To see the country--among other things,’ said the Englishman. ‘I -understand it is very fine.’ - -‘The country is magnificent,’ replied the Turk, ‘but the café-chantants -are all closed now.’ - -The café-chantant _artiste_ was the only artist known to this -enlightened official. - -We had thought that all the live insurgents had left Salonica and we -were going on their trail. But one desperate dynamiter had remained -in town, and was doomed to die before we left. He chose the hour and -place himself: about two o’clock of the day before we left, within a -stone’s throw of the Angleterre. It was a rainy day, and we--the whole -corps of correspondents--were lingering over our lunch at the time, -idly speculating on ‘What next?’ when several shots rang out almost -in front of the place. At the first everyone jumped up, expecting -either a dynamite attack on ‘Europeans’ or a massacre of Christians. -We were both. But the firing stopped almost the instant it had begun, -and we moved towards the door. There the crowd hesitated for a moment, -but those--of us behind--forced the front file out into the street. -Curiosity soon got the better of fear, and three minutes after the -shooting we were ‘on the spot.’ - -It was only seventy yards up the street from the Hôtel d’Angleterre. -The body of a boy some eighteen or twenty years of age lay pale and -lifeless in a gutter half full of dirty water. There was a short pause -before anyone ventured to approach him; there was an infernal machine -under his coat. Then a black soldier went up, felt the body carefully -and relieved it of an iron bomb and two sticks of dynamite. He had no -sooner done this than two other Asiatics approached the body, and one, -with blood trickling down his face, set upon it with the bayonet, -muttering Turkish--curses, I imagine--through his clenched teeth. -Before he had struck many blows, however, an officer caught hold of his -sword arm and violently pushed him back; and for a moment there was a -rapid argument, followed by a tussle. The other white soldier raised -his gun, butt downwards, to smash in the victim’s face, but the negro -thrust him back too. In a few minutes four soldiers and the officer -came and dragged the body through the mire across the street, and the -now freed Asiatic, with drawn bayonet, unable to control himself, began -again his curses, and dealt three blows at the stomach of the victim -trailing through the mud. Then he put his bayonet between his teeth and -took hold of the feet, and helped to throw the dead Bulgar upon a Jew’s -cart standing by. The old Jew drove off rapidly; he had cut a cabman -out of a job. - -The slaughtered youth was said to have come from a small town up the -railroad. He was a Bulgarian school teacher. In his attempt to blow -up the telegraph office (this was his object) he went down to the -place dressed as a European. He loitered about his goal, which aroused -suspicion, and when he collected his courage and started to enter, one -of the sentries at the door challenged him. The young man, holding a -paper in his hand and feigning indignation, is said to have exclaimed, -‘Let me pass! I want to send off this telegram.’ The guard answered, -‘I must search you before you go in.’ Here the young Bulgar thrust -his hand into his pocket for a bomb, but before he could withdraw it, -the stalwart guard, who was twice the size of the Bulgar, grabbed him -by the throat, threw him on his back, and sent two balls into him. A -letter was found on the boy’s body stating that he had successfully -carried out one piece of dynamiting and hoped to accomplish this. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -MONASTIR AND THE GREEKS - - -The train to Monastir is very slow: it takes the best part of a day to -go about a hundred miles. The conductor, somewhat of a wag, informed -us that, as the natives are accustomed to paying for transportation -by the hour, they would probably drive if the railways charged more -than the carriage-man’s rate per hour. But this is not the only reason -the journey consumes such a length of time. Wherever there are two -ways between towns the track invariably takes the longer. This, we -were told, is due to the fact that while the Sultan seeks to limit -the number and the terminal lengths of railways in his dominions, the -Sublime Porte sees fit to subsidise these undertakings of foreign -companies according to the mileage covered. - -Our train pulled slowly out of Salonica at 8 A.M., and dragged slowly -into Monastir at 5.45 P.M., half an hour late in spite of the liberal -time-table. The trip, however, was most interesting. There is a line of -old Roman watch-towers along the coast, dilapidated things resembling -Roman ruins in England. They are now inhabited by Turkish frontier -guards, to whom Greek smugglers must pay tribute in order to bring in -goods duty free. Behind these towers, across the bay, stands Olympus. -The historic mountain, already forty miles away, is still to remain -in view until we cross the Vardar Valley and burrow into the hills. -We had got to know Olympus well, and looked upon him as a sort of -sentinel of civilisation here on the border ’twixt East and West. The -old fellow had carried us back to schooldays, and jogged our memories -of the ancient Greeks. Of course, we appreciated his company on this -journey inland, and admired the majestic manner in which our old -friend travels. He goes along with the train just as the moon does; -passing over minor objects, towns, forests, and insignificant things, -and keeping steady pace with you, until a close range of unworthy -hills suddenly cuts him off from view. Distance lends enchantment, but -proximity makes importance. - -After leaving the plain the train begins to climb over a watershed, -and gradually winds a tortuous way, up, up, up to the snow and the -clouds. In a few hours the line is a succession of alternating tunnels -and bridges--passages through the mountain-tops and spans across the -chasms. At every tunnel’s mouth and at every bridge was a little group -of tents and brush huts, from which ragged guards emerged to get the -bag of bread the train dropped off. A sea of mountains rolls away on -all sides. On the nearer slopes rectangular carpets of yellow corn and -red and white poppies spread out at irregular intervals. On the second -line the fields are less distinct. Further off the mountains blur out -into blue and grey, and finally mix colour with the clouds. Shortly -after midday the train threads the eye of a high peak and emerges in -sight, across a far valley, of Vodena--Watertown. It does not descend -to the plain and climb again, for that, besides being impracticable, is -the most direct route to the town. Around the mountain sides the train -winds for an hour through more tunnels and over more bridges, but in -view, when in the open, of a score of slender silver ribbons trailing -down a precipice that falls abruptly from the town’s edge. Passing back -of Vodena the track crosses the mountain streams, which tumble through -the streets of the town on their way to the fantastic falls. - -Not the least of the charms on this road to Monastir is Lake Ostrova, a -mountain bowl of clear green water. The train does not cross the lake, -for again that would be too direct; it circles the shore at the base -of the mountains, taking, of course, the longer way round. To bridge -a Macedonian lake is like putting a pot-hat on an American Indian. It -is a legend in the Caza of Ostrova that the lake rose suddenly from -springs about a hundred years ago; and perhaps there is some truth in -the record, for at one end, on an island just large enough to hold a -mosque, stands a lone minaret--all that remains, it is said, of a once -populous village. There is always incentive for wild imagination in -Macedonian mountains. Several regiments of Albanians were camped at -the village on the shore of the lake, and every man of them gathered at -the station to meet our train. A field of white fezzes swept away from -the car window in every direction for a hundred yards. When Albanians -appear Slav peasants often suspend business. Generally fresh trout, -‘still kicking,’ are to be had at Ostrova station, but this day not a -single native ‘dug-out’ was drawn up on the beach. - -[Illustration: ON A MACEDONIAN LAKE.] - -Aboard our train was an Albanian bey returning with his little daughter -from a pilgrimage to Mecca. Friends were gathered at several stops -to greet him. They threw their arms about him and pressed faces with -him, but none of them noticed the girl. She was a marvel of beauty, -probably ten years of age, and yet, of course, unveiled. Her hair, -which hung in a single bunch under a soft blue homespun kerchief, was a -rich auburn--though the roots of it were black. Her finger-nails were -likewise dyed with henna. She wore richly figured bloomers, like the -gypsies, and a loose, sleeveless jacket of blue over a white blouse. We -told the Albanian his child was pretty, which caused him to exclaim in -alarm, ‘Marshalla!’--May God avert evil! It is bad luck in Turkey to -receive a compliment. - -We asked the Albanian if he had many children. ‘One children and three -girls,’ was the reply. - -At Monastir we surrendered our _teskerés_ to a Turkish official, to be -retained until we left town, and took a carriage to the Hôtel Belgrade. -This is the only hotel in the town; the others are all khans. In spite -of the immortal William, there is much in a name. By its presumption -the Hôtel Belgrade got the patronage of both the correspondents and the -‘reformajis’--as the reforming officers and officials were derisively -dubbed. There were some queer characters among us. A ‘special -commissioner’ of the _Daily News_ took his mission so seriously that -he never smiled, and always wore a silk hat. The other Englishman -suggested an opera hat for cross-country travel, in the hope that his -compatriot would spring it in the company of an Albanian and get shot. -An Italian official of the Ottoman Bank had taught himself English, -and was enraptured when we arrived. It was with much pride that he -addressed us at supper. But we did not recognise the language, and -expressed in French our unfortunate ignorance of foreign tongues. ‘That -is your own tongue,’ said the Italian; but even of this we understood -not a word. The man drew a pencil from his pocket, and on the back of a -letter wrote: - -‘I am speaking English.’ - -We were astounded. - -‘Perhaps I do not pronounce correctly,’ he wrote next. ‘I have learned -the noble language from books.’ - -The hilarious Englishman gave the unhappy Italian his first lesson at -once. He took the pencil, and wrote: - -‘Always pronounce English as it is not spelt; spell it as it is not -pronounced.’ - -The Italian was an earnest student, and soon made progress. Before -we left the hotel he was interpreting to the proprietor for us. One -day the Englishman asked if there was any chicken on the bill of fare. -The Italian conversed with the proprietor for a few minutes, and then -informed us that there was ‘a kind of a chicken.’ - -‘What kind of a chicken?’ chirped the Englishman; and the special -commissioner of the _Daily News_ almost smiled. - -‘It is a--what do you call it?--a goose, sir.’ - -The Italian went with us to the bazaars one morning to look at some -rugs, but he took us only to second-hand dealers, until we protested. - -‘We do not want old rugs,’ we said. - -‘Oh,’ said he, ‘you want young ones.’ - -The Hôtel Belgrade was, as you might imagine, kept by a Servian. It -was a most depressing place--except for the amusing Italian. Its bare -board floors were regularly scrubbed, and we seldom found extraneous -things in either the food or the beds. Nevertheless, there was a bad -smell about the place, from the garbage in the street, and much noise -from miserable dogs in front of it, which came for the garbage. The -front door was braced with stout props, which were set in place every -evening soon after twelve o’clock, Turkish, this being sundown; but -the doors of the rooms were without bolts. The steep staircase was -lighted with smoky kerosene lanterns, the bedrooms were supplied with -tallow candles. The dining-room was a gruesome place. Life-size prints -of King Alexander and Queen Draga stared down from the badly papered -walls. This was before the assassination of the monarchs; but after the -event (which called me to Belgrade) they hung there still. There was no -sentiment in the matter; the proprietor simply possessed no portrait of -King Peter, and was not prepared to lay out money for new pictures. - -At the open door to the yard stood a smelly ram that had become -bow-legged from its own weight. It was so fat it could hardly waddle, -but it was never required to walk further than the length of a short -rope. The unfortunate animal was afflicted with the capacious appetite -of both goat and pig; it was able to eat anything and continually. -And everybody fed it. It got the uneaten vegetables from the ‘potage -légumes,’ fins of the fish if there was ‘poisson’ on the menu, bits of -daily lamb; even the stumps of cigarettes thrown in its direction were -promptly swallowed. Some of us protested to the proprietor, and offered -to buy the creature if he would have it killed. ‘What!’ exclaimed -the horrified Servian; ‘kill my luck? Stomackovitch has brought good -fortune to this house for eleven years!’ The bow-legged ram with the -insatiable capacity had been tied in the hotel yard ever since it was a -frisky lamb. - -I became disgusted with the hotel, and tried the khans; but I had -run out of Keating’s. I had made friends with the missionaries (one -needs no introductions in Macedonia), and by frequent visits at the -mission I found that they were in the habit of having waffles for -breakfast, Indian corn for dinner, and home-made biscuits for supper. -These attractions of the American home were irresistible, and I -applied to Mr. and Mrs. Bond for permanent board and lodging. Now, the -missionaries are Puritan people, and while more than anxious for the -society of a fellow-countryman, they hesitated at taking me, fearing -that perhaps I was afflicted with evil habits; so before adopting me -the dear old people put me to a test. - -‘We allow no strong drink in this house,’ remarked Mr. Bond. - -‘So I perceive,’ I replied. - -‘Do you smoke?’ - -‘I can do without tobacco quite easily.’ - -Condition three was a compromise. ‘We do not send for our post on -Sundays,’ said the missionary. - -‘I can go for my own letters.’ - -‘You attend service?’ - -‘I do.’ - -The room I got for my goodness was on the first floor. It held a big -downy bed, wherein one could roll about without danger or discomfort. -There was a rug on the floor, on a washstand a china wash-bowl and -pitcher instead of the petroleum tin with faucet in the _khan_ yards -for guests who wash. My window looked out on the garden and over the -red-tiled roofs of the town, covered with storks’ nests. - -The residence was situated on the border between the Turkish and the -Bulgarian quarters. Round the corner, in the upper room of a large -wooden building, was the church; and in the next street was the girls’ -school, conducted by two American women with the assistance of several -Bulgarians educated at Samakov. - -The number of people in the congregation was less than a hundred. They -were all Bulgarians, with the exception of one family of Albanians. -The school was quite prosperous, having several grades and boarding -pupils who came from a hundred miles around. Among the scholars were -Greeks from Florina, and Vlachs from Krushevo, as well as Bulgarians -and Albanians, all, of course, Christian girls. The school was a sort -of select seminary for the better classes. - -Tsilka, husband of Mrs. Tsilka, his wife, and ‘the brigand baby,’ born -in captivity, lived near our house. Tsilka assisted Mr. Bond in his -duties, and Mrs. Tsilka taught at the school. They both spoke English -quite well, and the accounts they gave of the long captivity and the -ransom were extremely exciting. It was never dull at the mission. -There was always something interesting going on. My visit began in the -height of a panic. Rumour, which stalked rampant after the Salonica -outrages, planned trouble for Monastir on the following _fête_, St. -George’s Day. The Vali, under instructions from the Governor-General, -got his garrison in readiness to combat an attack by dynamiters, and -the civilian Mohamedans, being in an ugly mood, prepared to assist -the soldiers. No attack came from the Bulgarians, but the promises of -trouble were fulfilled nevertheless. Turks all ready, it required -but a signal to start them to work. The signal came in a row between a -Turk _khanji_ and a Bulgar baker over payment for a long due account. -The Bulgar died, and the mob of bashi-bazouks slaughtered some forty -other ‘infidels’ before being dispersed by the soldiers, who at first -assisted them. - -[Illustration: A GREEK.] - -Then came the panic. Christians closed their shops and barred their -doors, and the streets were deserted except for Mohamedans, who, one is -led to believe, would shoot a foreign _giaour_ as quickly as they would -a native infidel. The Vali sent a soldier to escort the Englishman -and me, being _giaours_, on our daily trips through the streets. The -trooper was given us for protection from the Bulgarians, but we kept -our eye fixed upon him, for he was an armed Mohamedan. - -There was also a guard assigned to duty at the mission. This was a -youthful Turk, who brought with him a strip of matting in lieu of a -prayer rug. He came one morning at nine o’clock, and nine o’clock next -morning found him still at his post. We discovered the poor fellow -weeping, and asked the cause. He had been posted here to guard the -mission, and told to remain until relieved. His task was severe, as -he had brought no food. The missionaries fed him, and he remained -twenty-four hours longer before another soldier came to take his place. -The object of putting a guard in front of the mission was twofold. -One day he arrested a peasant who came to the mission with a bundle -and went away with a large piece of brown paper neatly folded in his -hand. This piece of paper, in which the economical peasant had brought -back my week’s washing, was the evidence produced against him. It was -carefully saved, and shown to the Vali. The washing-list was written -upon it. - -To go about the town at night was thrilling. The patrols and sentinels -had orders to arrest--and later to shoot--any man discovered on the -streets without a lantern. Several times we were invited to dine at -the Consulates, and the Consuls sent their kavasses with a lantern to -escort us. As we proceeded down the streets the challenges would come -from a hundred yards away, and our Albanian trusty would reply in a -deep commanding tone. Even our own guard would jump to his feet on our -return as the light of the lantern turned the corner of our narrow -street. If nightfall overtook ox-teams or buffalo-carts within the -city, the horned beasts were unyoked where they were, blanketed and -fed, and their masters slept in the carts. It was uncanny stumbling -into munching beasts at night. - -Sometimes, when a fight had taken place in the neighbouring hills, -a line of cavalry ponies, led by their masters, would pass down the -cobble-stone road back to the mission bringing the wounded soldiers -into the caserne. Often the men were mortally wounded and had to be -supported on the backs of the stumbling ponies. This was a gloomy -spectacle. It was peculiar to the night, for the Turks never brought in -their wounded till the streets were deserted; they are sensitive over -losses. - -During an anxious period in Monastir there came around an anniversary -of the Sultan’s accession day. The streets were beflagged with Star -and Crescent, and Turkish designs in night-lights were arranged on the -hills. The day before the celebration long lines of soldiers made their -way from the camps and casernes to the various town ovens, each with a -whole lamb, dressed ready for baking, in a huge pan on his shoulder. -It was a curious sight to see these preparatory parades pass down the -streets with the potential dinner. This, indeed, was the only parade to -honour the Padisha, for on the anniversary day itself all ‘infidels’ -braced the bars behind their doors, and Mohamedans remained in their -homes by order of the Vali; and only a doubled guard remained in the -streets, to be ready for an insurgent surprise. At night we left the -house and crossed the street to the school, and after putting out all -the lights--a precaution of the ladies--climbed to the top of the house -to see the illuminations on the hills. Not a sound was to be heard over -the entire city. - -But no matter how intense the quiet in Monastir, there was always one -hour of the day when a fearful row raged. That was the hour the British -Consul took his daily walk. The Consul was a Scot, McGregor by name, -who owned a British bulldog and employed an Albanian kavass. The latter -is common to Consuls, but the bulldog was a novel and disturbing -element. As the fatted pup strode the narrow streets between his -master and his master’s man, a wave of protest from the native canines -followed in his wake. The native dog, like the native Mohamedans, is -averse to permitting an outsider within his sacred precincts; but, -unlike the Turk, the dog is not required to brook the insult in peace. -Whenever a protracted dog-fight passed down the semi-deserted streets, -’twas known that the British Consul was out for his daily walk; and -when the disturbance came towards the mission, the hired girl was sent -to put the kettle on for tea. - -There were always visitors at the mission, and sometimes they were -peculiar people. One morning a forlorn native appeared at the door -with a dejected wife and two miserable children; they stood in a -row, salaaming submissively with their thin hands crossed upon their -empty stomachs. We went out to inquire their business, and heard the -following not unusual story. The man was unfortunately a Bulgarian, and -for that crime had been cast into prison in the general incarceration -of his race. During his confinement his shop had been plundered by -bashi-bazouks, and now he had nothing to live on, and nobody would give -him work. (It was a case of ‘No Bulgars need apply’; men who employed -Bulgarians were suspected of sympathy with the insurgents.) This Bulgar -had called at the mission--here he showed some embarrassment--to -see how much money he would receive if he and his family became -‘Americans’! This missionary explained that the Protestant Church -did not offer pecuniary inducements and other mundane rewards for -converts, as did the Greek, Bulgarian, Servian, and Rumanian Churches, -and told him that he would not become an American if he chose to join -the Protestant Church. The missionaries had a British relief fund at -their disposal at this time, and out of it gave the man a couple of -mijidiehs. He was made to understand, however, that this beneficence -was a gift, pure and simple, and in no way meant as a bribe to induce -him to leave the Orthodox Church. It is difficult for the Macedonian to -see why men give up comfortable homes in happy countries to come out -and live in a land like theirs. - -On another occasion we received a visit from a more enlightened -Macedonian. He, too, was a Bulgarian, so he said; and in the same -breath told us that he had two brothers, one of whom was a Servian and -the other a Greek. This peculiar phenomenon, prevalent in many parts of -Macedonia, here came to my notice for the first time. I was puzzled, -and asked how such a thing was possible. The Macedonian smiled, and -explained that his was a prominent family, and, for the influence their -‘conversion’ would mean, the Servians had given one of his brothers -several liras to become a Servian, while the Greeks had outbid all the -other Churches for the other brother. - -One day Mr. Bond filed a despatch at the telegraph office which -brought us a call from the police. A reunion of the missionaries of -European Turkey was taking place at Samakov, and the Monastir staff, -thinking it unwise to go to Bulgaria at this particular moment, sent a -message to the assembly reading ‘Greetings in the name of the Lord.’ -The telegraph clerk accepted the despatch and the money. Three days -later a gendarme called at the mission to ascertain who this Lord was. -Mr. Bond explained to him at length, but the Turk was suspicious, and -carefully cross-examined the missionary. He wanted to know particularly -if the Lord for whom this telegram was being sent, and who must -therefore be in Monastir, was either a Russian or an Austrian. When -the missionary informed him that the Lord had been a Jew, the Turk was -surprised, but went away without further inquiry. Next day, however, -he called again, and asked if Mr. Bond would kindly put the statements -he had made in writing for the _bimbashee_. The missionary wrote out -a brief statement, pointing out that the Koran mentioned the Man in -question. But the telegram was never sent, nor was the payment for it -ever refunded. - -[Illustration: A BIT OF OLD MONASTIR.] - -Quite as subtle was the reasoning of the censor when a number of -quotations from the Bible, which it was desired to print on Easter -cards, were submitted to him. The censor required a thorough -understanding of each passage before he would pass it. Receiving this -he gave the missionaries permission to publish all the texts except -one--that of ‘Love one another,’ this precept being contrary to -the policy of _divide et impera_, by which the Sultans have defeated -the Christian peoples, both subject races and Great Powers, for many -generations. - - * * * * * - -On a short visit to Florina I once secured an abundance of first-hand -evidence of the manner in which the great Greek propaganda in this -district is conducted. - -I went to Florina without authority, in the company of the stout Mr. -Reginald Wyon, correspondent of the _Daily Mail_, with the object of -getting through to Armensko, the scene of a recent massacre. Just -beyond Florina the Turks turned us back, and took us, at our request, -to the residence of the Greek Metropolitan, where we hoped to get some -information of the affair. The Metropolitan was reputed to be the -most violent propagandist in the Monastir vilayet. He had recently -made an extended tour through his district under the escort of a body -of Turks, exhorting all recalcitrant Christians to return to the -Patriarchate, warning them of massacre if they remained Bulgarians, -and assuring them, on the authority of the Vali, immunity from attack -by Turkish troops if they became ‘Greeks.’ In fear of punishment and -hope of reward whole villages of terrified peasants swore allegiance to -the Patriarchate, and their names were duly written in a great book. -Armensko was one of the villages visited. - -For thus counteracting the work of the Bulgarian committees, and also, -according to the insurgents, for serving the Turkish Government as a -chief of spies, the bishop was condemned to death by the ‘Internal -Organisation.’ - -At the time of our arrival the bishopric was garrisoned with Turkish -troops. There were probably forty curly-bearded, hook-nosed, ragged, -greasy Anatolians--the same fellows, as far as one could see, who had -held us up one night at Salonica--quartered in the house. They had -possession of the lower floor, and their mats were spread throughout -the vast hall, and a large room at one side resembled an arsenal. The -Asiatics lolled about the steps and slept in the hall, and barely moved -for us to pass. We picked our way among the reclining forms, climbed -the steep steps, and stalked through a broad bare corridor, where our -footfalls sounded like thunderclaps, to a reception-room, of which the -only furniture was several small round coffee-stools. The walls were -hung with Turkish rugs, of an indifferent quality, behind the usual -divans, which were part of the construction of the building. The Turks, -as is their way, and the other occupants of the house because the -bishop was taking a siesta, walked the bare boards shoeless. It was not -necessary to inform him of our arrival. A tousled head poked itself out -of a door ready to say something a bishop shouldn’t, but, spying us, -jerked itself back. We were required to wait fifteen minutes for his -holiness to don his robes. - -Then he appeared in a flutter of excitement. Pouring out -unintelligible apologies, he rushed up to my fat friend, being the -elder, threw his arms around him, and smacked him twice on each round -cheek. I saw I was to be treated likewise--there was no hope of -escape--so I bent to the ordeal, to save the bishop the trouble of -mounting a stool in all his robes. After he had finished with me the -loving soul stooped and gave even the little dragoman four resounding -kisses. - -The Metropolitan was a man of about sixty years of age, with pronounced -Hellenic features. His beard and hair were almost entirely grey, but -both were full and abundant still. He wore no hat, and his long hair -was drawn straight back and done in a knot, like a woman’s. - -The bishop was alive to opportunities, and the unexpected arrival of -two newspaper correspondents was a great chance for him. It quite -caused him to lose his dignity for the time being in an effort to -do the cause he espoused a service. He explained the presence of -the soldiers below; he had received a letter from the insurgents -telling him they would kill him unless he desisted from thwarting -their diabolical propaganda. Then, as a preliminary to a lengthy -discourse on Bulgarian atrocities, the bishop cautioned us to believe -every word he said. Indeed, we could take his word as we could that -of an English gentleman, and we could publish everything he said, -even if the committajis slew him for it. The old man here paused, -at our request, for the interpreter to translate his remarks, and -while interrupted, he called several attendants and despatched them -in different directions--two to the Greek school for ‘professors,’ -another to the kitchen for coffee and jelly, and still a fourth on -another mission--all for our enlightenment and material benefit. Then -he resumed his lecture, during the course of which the professors began -to arrive, and with them came also a member of the Greek community, -who, the bishop proposed, should lodge us that night. The professors -joined the bishop in blaspheming the Bulgars, but our host-to-be only -substantiated accounts of atrocities at the appeal of the others. -Three little girls, who had to be dressed, were sent into the room. -They courtesied as they entered and kissed our hands. These were the -orphans of a man who had been assassinated by the committajis because -he refused to contribute to their revolutionary fund. These ‘brigands’ -had murdered several priests in the district, mutilated their bodies -in a shocking manner, and laid them in the high-roads or before their -churches as a warning to their compatriots. No punishment, said the -Metropolitan, was too severe for such fiends, and, questioned by us, he -declared that he informed the authorities whenever he learnt that there -was a band in the district. - -We asked the bishop for some information of the affair at Armensko, but -this was not in the line of his discourse, and he evidently did not -care to complicate the Balkan question for our uninitiated minds. The -great question was the Bulgarian propaganda. He dispensed with the -massacre as a ‘mistake of the Turks; they should not have done what -they did,’ and returned to the insurgent question. - -We took notes of the Metropolitan’s remarks, but he was dissatisfied -that we should permit any to go unrecorded. Finally, as we started to -leave, the old man said, with a touch of resentment in his voice, ‘I -wish _I_ knew English; I would write letters to the _Times_ and let the -world know the truth.’ - -We went home with the Greek to whose tender mercy the bishop had -consigned us for the night. A meal was already served when we arrived -at his house, and his daughter, a pretty girl about twelve years of -age, attired in her newest native frock, stood ready to wait on us, -trembling at the honour. But the old man drove her from the room, -closed and bolted the door, and cautiously approached our dragoman. -‘Tell the Englishmen,’ he said in a whisper, ‘that the bishop is a -terrible liar!’ - -The interpreter was an English boy, whom we had picked up at Salonica, -and the peasants were not afraid to talk to him, as they would have -been to another native. It was obvious that the old man had more to -say, but we put him off until we had eaten. Then, again carefully -ejecting his gentle offspring, he proceeded to inform us that the -father of the little orphans we had seen had joined an insurgent band, -and then informed the bishop of the band’s plans; and the bishop -had transmitted the information to the authorities. The traitor was -discovered, hence his death. When the Metropolitan was in Armensko, -the Greek said, he told the people that if the Turks came they should -go out and meet them and tell them they were Greeks. The Turks came, -the peasants went out to meet them, but the Turks did not give them -time to announce their national persuasion. - -The troops who destroyed Armensko were commanded by Khairreddin Bey, -a man already notorious for his methods. According to a report of the -committee, the Turks had met a body of 400 insurgents at Ezertze and -been defeated. At any rate, the Turks turned back towards Florina, and -on their way passed through Armensko, a village of about 160 houses. -Without warning they fell upon the inhabitants, slaughtered about 130 -men, women, and children, and plundered and burned the houses. Some -Roman Catholic sisters of charity, who conduct a free dispensary at -Monastir, secured permission from the Governor-General to proceed to -Armensko and relieve the wounded. They arrived a week after the affair, -and found as many as sixty living creatures huddled together in the two -churches, the Greek and the Bulgarian, which, though plundered, had not -been destroyed. The human bodies had all been buried, but the carcases -of burned pigs, horses, and cows were still lying among the ruins, -decomposing and befouling the atmosphere. The sisters, whom we saw -after their return, said that some revolting crimes had been committed -upon the women. They gave the foreign Consuls at Monastir details of -the affair, and the Governor-General was indignant, and permitted them -to go to the relief of no more massacred villages. - -[Illustration: ORTHODOX PRIESTS.] - -The sisters brought the survivors to Florina, and those severely -wounded they took on to Monastir. The peasants were all the same -people; the same blood coursed through their veins, and they spoke the -same language, a corrupted Bulgarian, their vocabularies containing -some Greek and many Turkish words; but some were ‘Greeks,’ and some -were ‘Bulgarians.’ The ‘Greeks’ were received by the Greek hospital, -but admittance was refused those who had rejected the offer of the -Metropolitan of Florina to become ‘Greeks,’ and there was nowhere else -to take them but to the Turkish hospital. - -The subjects of the Sultan do not love one another. - -The rivalry between the racial parties--they cannot be defined as -races--works death and disaster among the Macedonian peasants. -Bulgarian and Greek bands commit upon communities of hostile politics -atrocities less only in extent than the atrocities of the Turks. -Sometimes Servian bands enter the field. - -But the propagandas also greatly benefit the people. The Bulgarian, -Greek, Servian, and Rumanian schools--tolerated by the Government -because they divide the Macedonians--give the peasants an education -which they would not acquire at the hands of the Turkish Government. -In the large centres the ‘gymnasiums’ offer the inducements of higher -education, and in some cases music and art, for which professors are -brought from Budapest and Vienna. Children are often supplied with -clothes, boarded, and lodged without charge. - -All this effort is to possess the greatest share of the community -when the division of the country comes. As far as the peasants are -concerned, I believe it would make very little difference whom the -country goes to, as long as the Government is liberal and equitable. -Indeed, I found sympathy with the Bulgarian cause among many Greeks, -Vlachs, and Servians, simply because the Bulgarians are fighting the -Turks. - -The Greek clergy and other propagandists worked hard to influence us. -They brought documents to prove their contentions. But figures lie in -Turkey. A little thing like figures never bothers one of the ‘elect’; -a Turk can supply official documents proving anything--a map coloured -red as far as Vienna, or a census of the population showing more -Mohamedans in the land than there are inhabitants. And the other races -to some extent copy the Turk. Some of the Greek partisans contended -that the major part of the country was peopled by Greeks, but wiser men -explained that many members of the Greek community spoke Slav languages -and Vlach, but that they are Greeks, nevertheless, because their -sympathies are Greek. - -‘The inhabitants of Normandy are not British,’ they said. - -‘But is not this sympathy unnatural--the work of your clergy, by means -not wholly righteous?’ - -They said the adhesion of the other races to the Patriarchate was -entirely natural; the Bulgarians converted artificially with brigand -bands. - -The Greeks fear that an autonomous Macedonia--for which the Bulgarian -committees are striving--would be annexed by Bulgaria, as in the case -of East Rumelia. The Greeks, therefore, support the Turks, until such -time as Macedonia becomes Hellenic. They have been at work for a -century converting the country. Before the creation of the Exarchate, -when there was but one Orthodox Church in European Turkey, they strove -to destroy the Bulgarian language, abolishing it from the schools -and churches. When the new Church was established they stamped it -schismatic; and many Bulgarians were afraid to leave the old Church, -and remain to-day faithful to the Patriarchate--and members of the -Greek community. - -Some Greek partisans claim also the Servian communities of Macedonia -because the Servians have no autocephalous church, and all Greeks claim -the Vlach communities. - -The Kutzo-Vlachs, or Wallachians, are a people akin to the Rumanians. -They speak a language similar to that of the Rumanians, evidently a -Latin tongue. The kingdom of Rumania claims these people, and conducts -a propaganda among them to retain them, in the hope of securing -territorial compensation--a corner of Bulgaria, perhaps--at the -division of Macedonia. - -Until 1905 the Vlach churches were also under the direct control of the -Patriarchate; but Rumanian influence at Constantinople then obtained -their independence. The Greeks contested the separation violently, -and sought to prevent by force the installation of the Vlach clergy. -Rumania, not being contiguous to Turkey, was unable to give battle -with armed bands, and declared a civil war upon Greece. Diplomatic -connections were severed, trade treaties abolished, and Greek shipping -in the Danube was severely taxed. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -ACROSS COUNTRY - - -Travel in Turkey is severely restricted. If a native succeeds in -obtaining a _teskeré_, or the _visé_ thereto, necessary for making a -journey, there is still the deterring danger of arrest on suspicion -at his destination or _en route_, in spite of his papers. If he is a -non-Moslem he is suspected of nothing worse than being a revolutionist, -and is only set upon by polite police officers; but if he be Mohamedan, -he is required to deal with the spies of the Sultan. I once witnessed -in Salonica the impressive military funeral of a pasha who had been in -high favour at Court. So highly was the pasha esteemed that the Sultan -sent one of his own physicians, a Greek, from Constantinople to attend -him--though, incidentally, the doctor arrived after the pasha’s death. -But the unfortunate Turk had not possessed sufficient of Abdul Hamid’s -confidence to secure for him permission to visit Constantinople--for -which he had applied several months before--in order to have an -operation performed there by competent surgeons. - -Foreigners fare better. They may travel to the limits of the few -railway lines without serious annoyance--if they confine their stops -to Consular towns. To enter the ‘interior,’ however, permission is -seldom given, and Europeans (in Turkey the name includes Americans) -are never allowed to leave the railways without an escort. Only on -one occasion did we get away from the railways with the consent of -the authorities. This was at the instance of a certain Consul, a man -who demanded things and got them. The journey was across a section of -Macedonia from Monastir, the terminus of one railway, to Veles, an -intermediary point on the north-and-south line. As might be supposed, -the country was comparatively quiet at the time, the crops were being -gathered, and the authorities informed us (the Englishman and me) that -all insurgents had been ‘suppressed.’ - -We rode out of Monastir perched high on Turkish saddles, at a dizzy -distance above our diminutive steeds. At first we sought to secure our -lofty positions by a tight grip of the reins, but they pulled on curb -bits, and so tortured our poor little ponies that we soon sacrificed -our pride, gave the animals their heads, and ‘gripped leather’ until -we learned to balance. Just outside the town our escort, six mounted -men, awaited us and fell in with us without so much as a salaam. They -were the usual ragged beggars, much patched where they sat, tied up in -places, and generally off colour. Across their faded chests stretched -many yellow stripes--in lieu of gold braid--which designated them of -the corps of _Zaptiehs_. Three of them wore shoes of the regulation -order issued by the Imperial Ottoman commissary department, but the -others were more fortunate. Of these latter two possessed native -woollen stockings and charruks, and the third had a high boot on one -foot and a shoe and leather legging on the other. The leather legging -hardly met about the calf to which it was applied, and lacing was -necessary to fill a slight breach, while the boot was large enough -to admit a long, flute-like cigarette-holder, a tobacco-pouch, and a -flint. The fezzes of this brigade were the one uniform thing other than -their guns; they were all good, possessed tassels, and one even showed -signs of having been pressed at a not far distant date--unlike those -which sat upon Christian heads. - -We discovered early that our escort were very poor horsemen. They did -not seem to understand their animals; for though the ponies they rode -could have been managed without any bit at all, yet they all kept a -heavy hand on a cruel curb. The ponies were small, and had none but -natural gaits, and the short trot was most uncomfortable unless one -rose in the saddle. This the Zaptiehs were unable to do. In consequence -the horse suffered. Two at a time they took turns at riding with us -at a steady trot, while the others galloped and walked alternately, -thereby covering the same distances we did in the same time. - -A ride across Macedonia affords a wealth of interest. Your escort is a -study in Turk; every peasant you meet is a new picture; the mud-brick -houses of the Christians and the Mohamedan _chiflics_ are curious and -picturesque, and you must stop at times and absorb the scenery. You can -sympathise on a journey like this with the small boy who cried because -he had so many sweets he could not eat them all. Our route the first -day lay through open country, and our escort was therefore quite small. -We traversed the length of the Monastir valley and stayed the night -at Prelip. It should be a happy, prosperous valley, for Nature smiles -on it, but it is desolate and almost deserted. The cornfields hug the -towns, and the villages hide themselves in obscure corners of the -mountains. The ‘high road,’ a waggon-track, which we followed, skirted -one village and passed through another, but they were made up of such -huts as brigands would not stoop to enter. A sheep-dog, big framed and -thick coated--but a bread-fed, skinny animal, with an uncertain lope -and an unsound bark--came at us. One of the Zaptiehs drew his sword -and gave it a trial swing at a low bush near his horse’s feet; but a -peasant came crying after the dog, and called the brute off before it -got within reach of the Turk’s blade. This was a Turk of less religious -fervour than his fellows. - -The Zaptiehs smoked continually as they rode, and rolled cigarettes for -us. They gave us lights from their cigarettes, but only the irreligious -fellow would accept the same favour from us, for which I asked the -reason. ‘They will not take fire from a giaour,’ he said. - -The insurgents had boasted that the crops would not be harvested this -year, but the corn and the tobacco were already on their way to -market. We passed Christian caravans which took the fields to give us -the road, and Mohamedan carts which made us give them the right of way. -The former were unarmed and most meek, doffing their dejected fezzes -and standing abject with hands clasped on their stomachs as we passed. -The others, down to the half-grown boys, carried pistols and guns, and -bore themselves like a ruling race. The Turks, however, appeared to be -as poor as the Christians, and once two veiled women, gathering their -faded rags about them, even to covering their henna-tipped fingers, -came up to our horses to beg. Nevertheless, their husband, riding a -dwarfed donkey, carried a revolver. - -The lot of the animals in Macedonia is similar to that of the people. -The one survives on grass as the other lives ‘by bread alone.’ -The peasant lies down to sleep at night in his clothes, and the -heavy-saddled pack-animals are relieved only of their loads. The long, -latticed saddle, reaching from before the animal’s shoulders to his -haunches, is seldom removed. It becomes in time an integral part of the -animal, it conforms somewhat to his shape, and he gives way in places -to its lines; and when it does leave a back it often brings hair, -and sometimes skin, with it. The animals are not pegged out or tied -together when the caravan halts. The system practised is to lock their -fore feet with short-chained iron cuffs, or else to tie them with a bit -of rope. There are various means of propelling the beasts of burden, -but only the carriage-driver uses the Western lash. A donkey is -generally sat upon sideways, not astride, and continually beaten with -the heels; the horseman wears heavy spurs; the driver of pack-trains, -oxen and buffalo teams, carries a pointed stick or a staff with a nail -in the end. These last instruments are gently pressed against the hind -quarters, and the pressure is kept on till the animal attains the -required speed. - -The buffalo, which is a heavy creature and unable to acquire speed -rapidly, lifts his long, snake-like tail and veritably twists it about -the tantalising stick. These pitiful-eyed, straight-necked, knock-kneed -creatures are larger and more powerful than the ox, and the buffalo cow -gives considerably more and richer milk than the domestic variety. But -the buffalo is an exceedingly delicate creature, and requires constant -care. His hair is long, but thin and scant, and he is addicted to early -baldness on the back. In this condition his skin resembles the hide -of a rhinoceros. When the weather is warm he drags his slow way along -the roads, covered with soft, slimy mud. The driver walks beside him -with a crude, long-handled dipper, and at every puddle replenishes the -supply of cooling mud. In the winter the black beast maintains the -same measured pace, but then he wears a different covering. His thick, -coarse blanket protects him from the cold--a thing of broad stripes, -brown and white, made of the same material of which his master’s cloak -is woven, spun by the peasant wife, probably in the same piece of -cloth. - -At several places at which we stopped the peasants came to us to -ask medical advice for themselves and their animals, and we were -exceedingly sorry that we could not prescribe for either; for their own -ideas of doctoring border on superstition, and seem to follow the plan -of killing pain by pain. At one village we witnessed (and protested -against) the treatment of an unfortunate horse which had, by strange -mishap, swollen to an abnormal size. A stout cord was put around its -tail close to the root and twisted with a stick until all circulation -in the tail was stopped. Then, when the appendage had become numb, -a wire nail was driven into it in four places. The horse died of -complications, including lockjaw. A horse which, at a stage of the -journey, carried our luggage, possessed but one ear. We asked what had -become of the other, and were told that it had been cut off piece by -piece to cure repeated fits. - -There is often to be seen in Macedonia, especially in the Monastir -district, a thing resembling a big bird’s-nest built on stilts. -The nestling wears a soldier’s costume and carries a gun. He is a -field guard, an institution of the Government designed to ‘protect’ -Christian peasants from ‘brigands,’ Albanian and Bulgarian. This he -often accomplishes by becoming a member of a band of the former. The -Governor-General will show you yard-long petitions stamped with many -tiny seals, the marks of the peasants, pleading that no Christians be -put to guard them, as the Austro-Russian reform scheme provides. The -signatures to these petitions are not secured in the general way, by a -Turk with a loaded gun; they are _bona fide_. The peasants really do -not want the protection of a half-hearted Christian, who has probably -never before handled a gun, and who will only bring disaster upon them. -The Turkish guard is a contemptuously tolerant creature. His band is -strong enough to defend the peasants from other marauders, and so -long as they pay the annual tribute of so many sheep or goats, and so -much grain, there is no other call upon them--except for the needs of -the bird in the nest. The committee’s agents, when laying their cause -before Europeans, will designate this bird a vulture, and tell you how -he exacts maidens of the peasants; but the Greeks, who claim to be the -enlightened people of the country, explain that this, to a Macedonian -peasant, is not what it is to an Englishman or an American. There are -always two sides to a question. - -Though the revolution had not yet occurred, and the peasant population -was still engaged in peaceful pursuits, the country swarmed with -soldiers. Cavalry and infantry patrols, Turks, Albanians, and Asiatics, -passed us by. Occasionally we met a guard with handcuffed prisoners, -Bulgarians and sometimes Albanians. Now and then a member of our escort -would meet a long-lost friend, and the old comrades would drop from -their horses and embrace each other, pressing cheeks first one side and -then the other. We were yet an hour off from Prelip when the white -tents about the town came into view. Soon we came to the cornfields. -The corn was ripe and glowing under the slanting rays of the evening -sun, and here and there red poppies had wandered in to stud the golden -fields. Once the road led by a milk-white field, most innocent in -appearance, but covered with the deadly blooms of opium. Many houses on -the edge of the town, and some in the narrow streets, were hung from -roof to ground with strings of tobacco leaves, changing colour in the -sun. - -[Illustration: Albanians. Bulgarians. - - CAPTIVES.] - -When we entered Prelip the natives were gathered at their gates -preparatory to withdrawing for the night. It was too late for -Christians to follow, and the Turks are too dignified to do more -than bestow a casual glance at any traveller. But in the morning our -appearance caused a commotion in the town. Greeks left their shops, -Bulgarians deserted the market-place, Vlachs followed us with their -pack-animals, Jews and gypsies came after us, the one to sell, the -other to beg of us; men, women, and children joined in our train. They -followed us until we crossed a narrow street, at the other side of -which only a few veiled women were visible; then the whole throng came -to an abrupt stop. - -‘What is the matter with the crowd?’ I asked one of our guards. - -‘They are like the dogs,’ he replied; ‘they have their boundaries. At -this street begins the Turkish quarter.’ - -We walked on through the quiet, clean, Turkish quarter and came upon -a group of bashi-bazouks, who had been called into service as village -guards, squatting by the roadway smoking. They were kind enough to -rise and permit me to photograph them standing. This was rather an -exceptional case; the Mohamedans generally resented my camera. A gypsy -minstrel, a thing of shreds and patches, on his way to a wedding feast, -protested that the Evil Eye would be upon him if I took his likeness, -but I ‘snapped’ him while he argued. It would have been unkind to -inform him. - -We then followed the Tzigane to the wedding, of which, of course, we -were permitted to witness only the street celebrations, those of the -male side of the house. This took the form of an almost uninterrupted -dance to the monotonous music of two reed flutes and two crude bass -drums. The flutes had a range of about three shrill chords, and the -drums had two notes apiece. With the right hand and a heavy stick the -drummers beat a slow, steady boom, while with a lighter stick in the -other hand they kept up a rapid tattoo. They played by ear, of course, -and the strain of a single bar of music went for hours. Monotony is -bliss to the Mohamedan. A long mixed line of men gave the dance. There -were Turks with red fezzes, Albanians with white skull-caps, soldiers, -and bashi-bazouks. The leader of the line, swinging a red handkerchief, -led the way round a circle formed by the crowd and set the figures, -which varied little more than the music. The dance was evidently -copied from the Bulgarian _horo_. Sometimes the leader withdrew in -favour of the second man, and now and then a man in the line would fall -out, to have his place filled sooner or later. But on went the dizzy -dance to the doleful sound all the afternoon. - -[Illustration: TURKISH WEDDING FESTIVITIES.] - -My companion trounced a Greek barber at Prelip, and I had my hair cut -by accident. We had begun to look like Bulgarian insurgents, with full -crops of hair and unshaven faces, and, resolving here to abolish the -dangerous likeness in so far as our beards were concerned, we repaired -forthwith to the nearest barbers’. The Englishman chose a Greek -barbershop, and was shaved by a man with a characteristic nose of large -proportions. At the conclusion of the ordeal he inquired the price, and -was told that he owed the sum of two piastres. He handed the Greek a -mijidieh, which is worth nineteen piastres in Prelip, and received five -piastres in change. At this the Englishman protested, and the Greek -yielded up another small coin. But more than this no gentle persuasion -could move him to give. Among the crowd which had gathered to see the -‘Frank’ shaved was one accommodating individual who spoke a garbled -French. The Englishman enlisted his services to make known to the man -with the nose that, unless he produced the proper change forthwith he -would have his olfactory organ promptly and vigorously pulled. This had -no effect, and the threat was put into execution, to the wonderment and -increase of the crowd. But nobody protested, and the Greek produced -another insignificant coin. Again the interpreter was employed, and -again without result. So again the Englishman laid his hands on the -Greek, and this time so ill-used the poor man that he handed the key to -him and told him to help himself with piastres from the money drawer. -The Englishman took the proper change and departed. - -My experience was less thrilling, but the disfiguring was of me. I -discovered a Turkish barbershop, consisting of a Turk and a towel, -a cane-bottomed stool, and some utensils made in Austria. The shop -occupied the narrow pavement with the dogs, out of the way of the -pedestrians. After shaving me with a heavy weapon, the Turk held up a -formidable pair of scissors by way of asking if I wished to have my -hair cut. For the moment I forgot that a shake of the head in Turkey -means ‘yes,’ and a nod means ‘no’--and I shook my head. I was rescued -from the wall against which I had been reclining during the process of -shaving, and straightened up for the purpose, I thought, of having my -hair combed. But the Turk, with a single clip, took off a large bunch -of hair, and left me, without alternative, to be barbered in the latest -Prelip fashion. - -The Turk does a great many things in an opposite way to which we -do them. He writes backwards; the conductor on the horse-car at -Constantinople and Salonica punches the tickets for the station at -which one gets aboard instead of that to which he is destined; the -wood-sawyer rubs the wood on the saw, which he holds between his -legs; the sailor, feathering oars, turns the blades forward instead of -backward; the officer salutes the soldier. - -[Illustration: A GYPSY MINSTREL.] - -[Illustration: A TURKISH TRUMPETER.] - -In the interior of Macedonia it is not necessary for the authorities -to preserve the same show of order that is required in Consular towns, -and our escort for the next stage of the journey came to the khan for -us. There were a score of Zaptiehs in the charge of a fat but ragged -sergeant, who gave me his name but could not write it. This is nothing -extraordinary; one of the foreign officers of the reform scheme told me -he had found but two sub-lieutenants in the whole Kossovo vilayet who -could read and write. - -For several hours the road led along the sides of a stream winding -between two ridges of mountains. The mountains were said to be infested -with insurgents; this was a part of the country through which Sarafoff -operated. Turks’ heads peered down at us, and silently assured us -that the road was overlooked for miles beyond. Studded over the steep -slopes, wherever a great boulder protruded far enough for a footing, -soldiers were suspended between us and the clouds, which the mountains -often pierced. Despite this survey of the route, five of our men -straggled out to the front, the foremost a mile in advance. As we -would descend one steep slope we could see the vanguard climbing the -next. Whenever we came to a blockhouse, always pitched on the highest -peak, one of the garrison would bring us cool water from the nearest -fountain. - -The road was good for many miles; it had been constructed only a year -before. But the contract had not called for bridges, so bridges there -were none, and it was necessary for us to ford every stream. But a few -months after this excursion a war-scare set the Government to honest -work, and this and several other excellent roads, most of them leading -towards the Bulgarian border, were hurriedly completed. Millions to -retain, but not one cent to maintain. - -Not a single village did we pass this day, only one lone wayside khan. -Macedonia is sparsely inhabited. Once we came over the crest of a hill -and descried a gathering of twenty or thirty men far down in a valley -below--a little island formed by a split in a thin stream. It took us -an hour to get to the island, which lay in our route, and meanwhile -men mounted their horses and rode away into the mountains, and others -appeared from unseen places and came to the meeting. This was too open -a spot--visible from any of the surrounding hills--for brigands to -divide spoils; nevertheless the business was illicit. We got off our -horses and penetrated the crowd. In the centre sat a Turk with two -sacks of cut tobacco. This he was selling direct to consumers, without -paying the tax levied by the Turkish Regie. We filled pockets for two -metaleeks--a penny between us--and proceeded on our way up the opposite -mountain-side. - -[Illustration: OUR ESCORT FORDING A STREAM.] - -This was a hard day’s ride. It would not be exact to say that we were -in the saddle ten hours, for we dismounted and walked over many steep -mountains, but we were on the road from six in the morning until -six in the evening, allowing two hours for halts. We passed through -the camp of an Anatolian regiment pitched beside the vast caverns of -Veles, dropped down the Vardar, and crossed by the only bridge in view -of many primitive wooden water-wheels. The bazaar began at the bridge -and ended at a Turkish khan, at which we alighted. There was but one -sleeping-room in the khan, and this chamber was equipped with six cots -filled with loose cornshucks in lieu of mattresses; there was no other -furniture in the room. We wanted to take the room and pay for all six -beds, but the landlord preferred to accommodate two Turkish friends, -and offered to let us have the other four beds. - -We washed at the tap of the inevitable petroleum tin in the stable, -and the proprietor’s son brought us clean but exceedingly rough -towels. After our ablutions we repaired to the front of the house, -where a dozen or more Turkish officers sat sipping coffee. The ranking -man among them, an Albanian, rose as we appeared, and addressed us -in French. A Turk would not have spoken without some substantial -motive. The Albanian asked where we had come from, where going, how -old we were, whether married or not, as rapidly as he could put the -questions--which is polite in Turkey. We both understood that this -was all in good taste, as was also the noise the other officers -made drinking coffee. It was difficult for the Englishman, however, -bound by the heavy fetters of British restraint, to reply to this -interrogatory readily and with any marked show of pleasure, and quite -impossible for him to sip his coffee in the manner of the company. -But, having come in contact with many queer people in the course of my -travels, I was experienced in such a situation, and not only answered -all the Albanian’s questions with alacrity, but put them straight back -to him, and while he was speaking I sucked coffee and sighed heavily -after each mouthful as though in the height of bliss. This display -of good manners met with a cordial reception by the Turks, and they -invited us to dine with them at the officers’ mess--an exceptional -invitation. - -We went with them to their quarters in a clean Turkish house, off a -narrow street half covered by the extended second storey. We climbed -a bare, ladder-like staircase and entered a small, unpainted room -with many rugs on the rough boards. There was a long, covered thing -like a mattress on one side, stretching from end to end of the floor, -and a high divan, likewise stretching the length of the wall, on the -other side. I was weary, and the long cushion offered more excuse for -reclining, so I dropped myself upon it; but the other man got upon the -divan and let his feet hang. We looked foreign to the place, I know; -for when the officers were seated there were many pairs of shoes on the -floor, but ours were the only feet to be seen, and ours were the only -bare heads. Once in a while a Turk would remove his fez and rub his -head, but generally the red cap sat somewhere on the skull of its owner. - -A strong native drink, which changed colour like absinthe when water -was added--mastica it is called--was served by a Bulgarian boy, who -shed his shoes at the door and entered in stocking feet. One of -the officers made the boy tell us what good masters the Turks are. -Radishes, sliced apple, roasted monkey-nuts, and a delightful little -Turkish nut were served and left in the room an hour before dinner. The -Englishman and I ate heartily of these, for we were ravenous, and it -was well that we did. When the meal came on we all drew around a small -wooden table. Six of us sat in so many chairs, and the others stood -around behind us, and reached over our heads for their food. We were -each supplied with a hunk of bread, a fork, a spoon, and a towel, but -no plates were distributed. One dish at a time was placed in the centre -of the table, and removed when it was empty. The meal varied from -stewed lamb to little squares of lamb toasted on sticks, going through -five courses of lamb. Then there was fruit and coffee. There was wine, -and five of the Turks drank it; devout Mohamedans do not. - -At this meal I failed in Turkish manners, even as the Englishman had -done previously. We were all required to stick our forks and spoons -into the single dish and dig for ourselves, and when the meat was gone -to sop our bread in the gravy. But we were both continually withdrawing -our forks as another man advanced his, which the Turks did not -understand. Of the first few courses we got very little, but then the -Albanian caused the officers to give us a two minutes’ handicap at the -succeeding dishes. - -After dinner there was Turkish music--which was not pleasant. The reed -flute played in the Turkish street harmonises with the character of -the country, and is not unattractive; but in a close room its monotony -is inclined to put the weary travellers to sleep. The low wail of a -Mohamedan priest calling the ‘faithful’ from a minaret is ‘like the -sighing of the pines,’ but the whine of a Turk at close quarters, -accompanied by the facial contortions necessary to his nasal chant, is -conducive to bad dreams. We had our revenge; the other man retaliated -with ‘Alice, Ben Bolt.’ - -Several of the officers escorted us back to the khan through the silent -street, answering the challenges of the night patrols. - -Two dark figures, which followed us from the officers’ quarters, -entered the khan behind us and stretched themselves on the floor -before the door of the general sleeping-room. There we found them when -we emerged in the morning; they proved to be two soldiers to whom -the authorities had assigned the duty of ‘shadowing’ us. They told -us, with much amusement, of how they had lost us the night before. -Arriving at the khan about nine o’clock, they were informed that we -had ‘disappeared’; the _khanji_ had not seen us leave with the Turkish -officers. This alarmed the soldiers, and they started on a search for -us. They were about to report our disappearance to headquarters, when, -coming to the Turkish quarter, they heard strange sounds never before -perpetrated in Veles. This was the song of ‘Sweet Alice.’ - -In the morning a negro merchant arrived at the khan from Istip and -told us of a fight ‘in progress’ at Garbintzi, a little village about -eight hours’ ride to the east. We had intended to take the train that -afternoon for Uskub, but the chance of seeing a fight caused us to -change our plans. We gathered as much hurried information as we could -about the route, hired a Turkish guide, and set off for Garbintzi -before noon. We planned to go unescorted, but this was not to be. -Our guide, in pursuance of police orders, had informed the Konak of -our sudden change of destination, and the _kaimakam_ despatched four -Zaptiehs to accompany us. We were surprised that they permitted us to -proceed. - -Being anxious to reach the scene of the combat as quickly as possible, -we rode rapidly over the mountains, and came to Istip about six o’clock. - -An officer came up as we entered the town and greeted us like long-lost -brothers. He was a Turk, and had a mission to perform. He informed -us that the kaimakam had received a telegram from Veles advising him -of our approach, and instructing him to see that we were treated in -a manner befitting our exalted positions. The only place they could -offer such worthy guests, who had so honoured Istip with a visit, was -the kaimakam’s own house. The kaimakam, I may explain, lived above the -gaol. - -We were presented to the kaimakam, and the official congratulated the -Englishman on belonging to that great race which had so long befriended -the Turks. To me he said he thought it wonderful that a great New York -paper would send so youthful a man so many miles on so important a -mission. - -‘How old are you?’ he asked. - -‘Twenty-five,’ I replied. - -‘You look eighteen.’ He did not ask why I wore no moustache, probably -fearing it was because I could not. The Turk is a gentleman. - -Information had evidently been given by our escort that we carried -revolvers, for two officers entered the room through a door at the -back, drew up chairs, and seated themselves immediately behind us. But -we did not attempt to shoot the kaimakam. Another officer, perhaps the -spy attached to the governor, also entered and occupied a seat beside -his quarry. - -Then the kaimakam brought his compliments to an end and sat silent. -Nobody spoke for forty seconds. We sought to end the uneasy interview, -and informed the kaimakam, what we were sure he already knew, that we -were on our way to Garbintzi. - -‘The fight is over; the troops have just returned,’ he informed us. - -‘That is unfortunate,’ I replied, ‘but as we have come this far I guess -we’ll visit the scene.’ - -But the kaimakam guessed we wouldn’t. - -‘I have orders,’ he said, ‘to prevent you from going any further. You -must return to Veles.’ - -We suggested that the Governor-General was making a mistake; if we were -not allowed to visit Garbintzi we must conclude that the reports that -massacre and arson had accompanied the fight were true. The Englishman -added that, if the Turkish version were based on fact, it would be -well to let us verify it. But the kaimakam shook his head; he had his -instructions. - -We left the house extremely disappointed, and on the way to the -khan--for he had said nothing about putting us up--began to think out -a plan for getting to Garbintzi. We went to our guide, and, feigning -extreme dejection, instructed him to saddle, and be ready himself at -eight o’clock next morning; we were going back to Veles. An officer -visited us during the evening to ascertain what time an escort should -be ready to take us back. The information we gave him agreed with that -we had given the Turkish guide--which had been imparted to him. Putting -the question to us was only a point of politeness: the horses were -being watched. - -We rose at five o’clock next morning, dressed hurriedly, and went to -the stables. Two soldiers had slept there, and one set off at a run to -the Konak. But the hour was early for the Turks, and we got out of town -without a soldier on our heels. - -We passed the sentinels on the border of the town and rode hard in the -direction of Veles until we had passed out of sight of a blockhouse -which stood high on a hill a few miles beyond, and would, no doubt, -report that we had fairly gone by towards the railway. It was a ride -of barely ninety minutes from Istip to Garbintzi by road; with a good -hour’s start, we calculated that we could get there before being -overtaken, even though we went by a roundabout route. But we did not -reckon with our guide. When we called a halt and asked him if there -was not a road over the mountains to Garbintzi, he was frightened. He -answered that there was a way, but the road was bad, and it would take -four hours to go by it from the spot where we stood. - -‘Lead us over it,’ we said to the dragoman, who repeated the words to -the guide. - -There was a parley of ten minutes, during which our nerves were at high -tension. Every minute we expected to see a troop of cavalry coming -after us. At last we got the information. ‘He won’t go.’ There was no -time for argument, when it had taken so much time and all the Turkish -which we had heard to convey that fatal negation. - -‘How much does he want?’ the Englishman demanded. - -‘He will not go at any price,’ came the reply. ‘He has a wife and -children depending on him, and an officer has been to him last night -and told him that he should lead us to Veles and nowhere else.’ It was -no use arguing. We turned our horses’ heads towards a village of some -ten houses a few miles off, half way up a mountain side. The dragoman -followed. The guide would not leave the road to Veles, literally -following instructions. - -It was Sunday, and the peasants were all in their brightest clothes. -They were dancing a _horo_, but our appearance among them broke up -the festivities. Every man, woman, and child in the village collected -about these queer travellers. They understood the dragoman’s Bulgarian, -as was apparent by the state of alarm into which they fell. Not for a -hundred liras, said the headman of the village, would one of them guide -us over the mountains. - -‘Why?’ I asked. - -‘Why!’ came the answer, ‘the man who should take you over those -mountains would be shot by the committajis, for we have refused to -arm. Were the Turks to find out that one of us had left here without -a _teskeré_, and taken you to see a village which they had destroyed, -they would come and do the same to this place.’ - -‘Please leave us,’ they begged, as we still argued, ‘and get away -before the Turks see you.’ Several old women began to cry. - -We returned to our guide, our last card played, and said demurely, -‘Lead us back to Veles.’ - -We made our way slowly, and waited at the next khan for a cloud of -dust on our trail to develop into a troop of cavalry, who kept a close -cordon about us for the rest of the journey back to the railway. - -Defeated we had been, but we had learned a lesson in the ways of -the Turk, who thinks his intelligence is superior to that of a mere -‘giaour.’ - - - - -CHAPTER X - -USKUB AND THE SERBS - - -After our attempt to evade the authorities we were closely watched -until we left Veles, the police, as is their way, pretending to -wait upon us only for our convenience. When we departed two mounted -gendarmes accompanied us to the railway station, though we needed no -protection, and a careful sleuth, with painful politeness, assisted us -in taking tickets for Uskub--an unnecessary courtesy--and went with -us to the train to see, he alleged, that we secured a comfortable -compartment. There was only one first-class compartment in the train, -and this was occupied by a well-dressed officer whose trousers had been -pressed inside out. The Turkish gentleman stood not upon ceremony, as -does his admiring British contemporary on such occasions; he introduced -himself before we had taken our seats, immediately inquired our life -history, and soon divulged what purported to be his. He was no other -than Hamdi Pasha, of Albanian extraction, the youngest general in the -Turkish army, so he informed us, on his way to the Bulgarian border, of -which he was military inspector. - -It was raining heavily when we arrived at Uskub; nevertheless, a -picked company of Nizams (regulars) was drawn up in honour of our -travelling companion, and presented arms as the train pulled in. The -pasha alighted, saluted, and, with us on either side of him, sharing -a great white umbrella, proceeded to the Hôtel Turati. Then the -bedraggled band struck up one of several Sousa compositions which have -been Orientalised for the Ottoman army, and the company marched away -through the slush, doing the German ‘goose’ step, acquired from the -Kaiser’s officers in the Sultan’s service, which showy effort spattered -the mud on civil pedestrians on both sides of the narrow street. - -Behind the soldiers straggled several hundred Albanians, raw Redifs -(first reserves), who had come up on our train in cattle-cars -marked in bold letters, in a language they knew not of, ‘8 CHEVAUX -OU 48 HOMMES.’ And behind the Arnauts trailed a score of prisoners -protesting violently at being driven to gaol through the mire. These -were Christians impregnated with the sense of free men’s rights. They -were attired in ‘Francs,’ fezzes, and handcuffs--with the exception of -one, a priest, who wore only the manacles in common with the others, -apparently the conductors of a Bulgarian gymnasium temporarily out of -business. - -Before the school teachers paraded a grinning gypsy bearing on his back -a bundle of old muskets. - -‘See, see!’ said the pasha. ‘They were captured in arms. There are the -guns.’ - -[Illustration: ‘8 CHEVAUX OU 48 HOMMES’: ALBANIAN RECRUITS.] - -But a foreign Consul, wise in the ways of the wily Government, told -us that this gypsy and his parcel of rifles was the ostentatious -advance guard of every detachment of Bulgarian prisoners. The manœuvre -was designed to deceive those representatives of the Powers and -newspaper correspondents who were particularly prying. - -Uskub is a stern place with a breath of the mountains upon it. It -is but an eight hours’ journey from Salonica, but, thanks to the -restrictions of travel and intercourse, wholly free of a Levantine -atmosphere. It is peopled principally by Arnauts--as the Turks call the -Albanians--and Slavs, both men of character, though their morals are of -a peculiar code. These Albanians and Slavs are natural enemies, and of -the Slavs again there are Bulgarians and Servians, not good friends. -The Kossovo vilayet, of which Uskub is the capital, has been described -as a prolongation of Albania, Servia, and Bulgaria. The provincial -delimitations of Turkey were undoubtedly designed with a view to -encompassing under the same administration as many hostile elements as -possible. - -The differences between the Servians and the Bulgarians of Macedonia -are almost entirely a matter of education. The two races have long -since forgotten the enmity of their ancient emperors, and in five -centuries of similar suffering under a mutual monarch they have at -heart but one desire. They have become assimilated to an extent in -these ages, and in some sections it is difficult to determine one -from the other. Their language, here where the two races blend, can -be spoken of as one. They have duplicate religions, similar ideas, -identical customs. The peasants dress alike, and only the partisans and -propagandists are distinguishable by their attire. A European cut of -clothes is worn by those who attend the Bulgarian gymnasium, while a -military jacket attests the adherents of the rival school. - -At one time, prior to 1878, the territorial ambition of the Servians -and that of the Bulgarians did not clash. The Servians aspired to a -confederation of all Serbs, hoping for the annexation of Bosnia and -Hertzegovina and a union with Montenegro. But the Treaty of Berlin -gave a mandate to Austria-Hungary to occupy two Turkish provinces -peopled by Serbs, thereby severing the two Serb States apparently for -all time. Servian nationalists were horrified at this injustice, and -frenzied attempts were made to undo this act of the famous treaty. But -all efforts were unavailing against the power of the great neighbour, -and in desperate fear of being shut in from the sea for ever, a petty, -dwarfed State, the Servians turned from the Adriatic and faced the -Ægean, and sought to acquire a right of way by that route to the world -at large. - -Notwithstanding the fact that in Macedonia only what is known as Old -Servia--that section of Kossovo between Uskub and Servia proper--is -extensively peopled by Serbs, Servian patriots laid claim to all the -Slav elements in the districts to the south, straight away to the -coast, arguing that the Bulgarians, originally a Tartar people, had -been assimilated by the Slavs. The Servians spread their schools -beyond the territory rightly theirs, establishing gymnasiums in -Salonica and Monastir to compete with the Greeks and Bulgarians in -converting the population. But below Old Servia, only purchased support -of their cause was forthcoming from the people, and nowhere south of -Uskub did the Servian campaign seriously worry the two big propagandas. - -This business of cornering communities is expensive, and little Servia -would hardly have been able to cast her claims so far except with -monetary aid from one of the ‘interested Powers,’ and the support -of that Power’s agents in the distressed land. When the Bulgarians -began to show an independent spirit, and diplomatic connections with -Russia--which assumed the form of a dictatorship on the part of the -boasted liberator--came to be severed for a term of years, that -‘interested’ Power adopted Servia as its ward, and is still at work -disciplining the other little country that dared to dispute its honesty -of motive. Russia among the Balkan States does a work similar to that -of the Sultan in Macedonia; she aids the weak to rival the strong, -fosters their jealousies, and maintains a dominant influence on the -distress she begets; and, unlike the Sultan, she does this in the guise -of Christian sympathy. - -In Uskub the Russian Consul, for ever attired in military greatcoat and -Muscovite cap, and always accompanied by a brace of stalwart bodyguards -bristling with weapons, snubs the retiring little Bulgarian agent, and -on all occasions bestows his pretentious patronage upon the Servian -representative. It was at Russian suggestion that the Servian schools -adopted a distinctive uniform, after the manner of Russians in Finland -and in other lands they have hoped to Russify. - -The Austro-Russian accord on Macedonian affairs resembles a thieves’ -alliance--without that saving grace, however, the proverbial honour -that exists among thieves. For centuries these partners of the present -have been loitering around the gates of the European estate of the -Ottoman gentleman with the many wives and the torture-chamber. One of -these interested neighbours has been in the habit of rushing in to the -rescue whenever a Christian cry escaped the Bluebeard’s window--always -attempting to get away with something; the other, not so daring, but -quite as designing, waited without the walls and made his burly rival -return the booty or compensate him (the other) under threat of the -police. Three years ago this worthy pair allied agreed to rob the house -no more, but planned to enter--and reform it!--and received a mandate -so to do from the European Powers. But, in spite of the pretensions -of these confederates, neither has forsaken his pet policy, which is -directly opposed to that of the other. While the gallant Russian is -engaged advocating the cause of the Serbs, his Austrian ally-in-reforms -is diligently at work advancing the interests of a rival race. - -The Roman Catholic church at Uskub, a feature of the Austrian -propaganda, was decorated one dusty summer day with garlands of -mountain flowers and many flags. A vast Mohamedan banner floated from -one side of the Christian belfry and an equally large emblem of the -Dual Monarchy from the other; and strings of little flags, alternately -Turkish and Austro-Hungarian, streamed away from the tower to the high -mud walls about the churchyard. Over the door, where only the Catholics -who entered could see, hung a large print of Francis Joseph much -bemedalled, and none was visible of Abdul Hamid. - -It was the feast of Corpus Christi, and the Englishman and I, attracted -by the Albanians converging upon the place from all directions, -betook ourselves to witness the celebration. The darkened church -was aglow with many candles around the crucified Christ, and the -fourteen ‘stations of the Cross,’ set like little chapels about the -churchyard, contained life-sized pictures of the Saviour’s labour to -the Crucifixion. During the indoor service the Albanian women, veiled -like their Mohamedan sisters, occupied one side of the church, and the -men the other. In the pew of honour sat the Austrian reformajis in -full feather, the brilliant uniform of Count de Salis, chief of the -gendarmerie contingent, relieved and glorified by a Salonica frock-coat -covering the venerable person of the Christian Vali, who sat next. -This decrepit representative of the Sultan was playing a game similar -to that of the gaily garbed gendarmes. He was selected by the Porte -several years ago as a co-governor with the Turkish Vali because -of general incapacity and indifference to affairs. His duties were -ostensibly to reform the province, but he was incapable of performing -them or he would not have received the appointment. This day he was -displaying the Christian sympathy of his Sultanic master, just as the -Austrians flaunted their religious zeal before the Catholic Albanians. - -At the conclusion of the indoor service on Corpus Christi day, priests -and people left the church chanting, each carrying a lighted candle, -and made a tour of the ‘stations,’ kneeling and praying a few moments -at each. Little flower-girls, dressed in gayest _shalvas_, preceded the -procession scattering rose-leaves. Two proud Albanian boys swung the -incense lamps, and four others bore a panoply of silk over the heads of -the priests. First behind the priests came the Count and the Christian -Vali, and then followed the Austrian Consul and other Austrian officers -and the people. The ordeal of kneeling in the grass was trying to -the trousers of the Count and painful to the rheumatic limbs of the -venerable Christian Vali, whom the Count was required to assist to his -feet on each occasion. - -It was a windy day, and the candles, borne gingerly at arm’s length, -sputtered, and spattered the gorgeous uniform and the ample frock-coat. -The delegates at their divine duties, wore on their faces, I must say, -most unholy expressions, and at the conclusion of the ceremony the poor -old Christian with the fez presented the appearance of having eaten -his supper without stuffing the end of a napkin in his collar. Religion -and politics make an unhappy mixture; they war within one like custard -and cucumbers. - -The presence of two unsympathetic newspaper correspondents, standing -by at this ceremony, appeared to annoy the official party, and for -some time after that ‘the two English correspondents’ (of whom I was -one) were severely snubbed by the Austrian officers. An imaginary but -effective barrier was thrown across the middle of the dinner-table, -dividing the Englishmen and the Russians from the Austrians and the -Jews, mostly Vienna correspondents. - -But there came a day when the latter, overwhelmed by curiosity, were -forced to fraternise again. - -A strange female of daring demeanour, unheralded and alone, appeared at -the hotel. Her species had never been seen before in Uskub. Her skirt -was shockingly short, and contained a hip-pocket, from which the blued -butt of a Colt’s 44 protruded. Her hat was a duplicate of mine, and all -her other garments were more like a man’s than a woman’s. Fast on her -heels arrived the ubiquitous policeman with his compliments and his -veiled demands for information. She possessed a _teskeré_, and gave it -to him, but he was not content with this, and would have her passport -with its big red seal. - -‘Not much, my fine feller! You can have Abdul’s rag all right, all -right, but this here document belongs to your auntie.’ - -The gentle police understood her not. Nicola, the Albanian waiter, -attempted to interpret. He spoke a little French, but this was of no -avail. The Turk called in a miserable Christian (she must be Christian) -who spoke, besides Turkish and Albanian, Bulgarian, Servian, Rumanian, -and Greek, but not a word of any kind had he in common with the curious -stranger. - -‘Of what use are all my tongues!’ he exclaimed piteously, as he was -kicked out by the Turk. One of the Russians offered his services. -His accomplishments comprised all the languages of Europe, including -English. No use. ‘The woman who speaks no human language,’ he called -her; and the name clung to her. - -Nicola saw that the fearful female belonged to none of the known -races, so when she appeared at dinner he seated her with ‘the -English.’ She recognised me at once, and Austrians, Russians, Jews, -and the Englishman, who hailed from Yorkshire, seeing that I was -able to converse with the lady, at once made use of me to present -their compliments and make gentle inquiries. The pragmatical Russian -subsequently developed his witticism, and dubbed me the superhuman -interpreter. - -Between meals the unknown prowled the town carrying a small black box -with a covered eye, which flapped at every native she met. Tziganes -fled madly down the roads, Albanian women took fright, covered their -faces and scurried into their houses, and even the Turk of habitual -immobility suffered a rude shock to his equipoise. - -Now, the potting of a peasant and the hold-up of a native in the -crowded streets are episodes which do not disturb the tranquillity -of Uskub, but the visit of an apparition from Mars is an event which -does not take place every day. The stranger stalked through the -covered bazaar, putting the place in a panic for the time being, and -climbed the steep hill to the citadel, where the army practised at -range-shooting without cartridges--an economy in ammunition. There -she marched boldly up in front of the line of soldiers blinking at -far-off targets through the sights of empty guns, aimed the eye of her -black box at them, and snapped it. The triggers fell with a unison of -clicks never before accomplished on the rifle-range. An officer of -the garrison, who had been educated in Germany, and was accustomed -to strange sights, emerged from the barracks at a pace Turks seldom -acquire, and established for ever his reputation for bravery by -ejecting the interloper. The artillery barracks was next to receive -the spook, who was caught in the act of aiming her spell-box at the -cannon. She was taken into custody by the commander himself, the troops -refusing to obey orders, and detained until a fast rider could find -the Vali and learn from him whether this were not an Austrian spy in -disguise. - -This was too much for the Turks; business was already at a standstill, -and the garrison completely demoralised. The Vali ordered out his -state coach forthwith, and with four outriders in the shape of trusty -troopers unafraid of man or superman, made his way to the British -Consulate. The preliminary compliments were cut unusually short, and in -less than ten minutes the governor of Kossovo got to business. - -‘It will be shot, O exalted Consul,’ said the Vali, ‘if it roams -at large another day. I have assigned police to follow it for its -protection, but I fear even they will be powerless to preserve it. Can -you not persuade it to depart?’ - -The Consul tapped his head and rolled his eyes, after the manner best -understood of the Moslem, and the Moslem heaved a comprehending sigh, -expressed his gratitude, and took his departure. - -Next day all Uskub knew that it was mad, and Moslem and Christian alike -bowed low in holy reverence as it passed. - -‘Well,’ said my countrywoman, after she had shaken hands with Russians, -Jews, Austrians, and English, coming last to me, ‘you can bet your -sweet life I ain’t sorry I hit on somebody in this benighted land who -can speak plain United States.’ - -Uskub is ordinarily a quiet and sober town, and well might it be; it -is nestled in a valley of death. Tombstones are always the prominent -feature of a Turkish town, but Uskub resembles an oasis in a desert -of dead. Acres of them in general disorder, a few erect but mostly -toppling or fallen, surround the town and stretch long arms into it; -they flank the main road and dot the side streets, and far out into -the country lone deserted stones stand where no man’s hand has been -for ages. The sight is gruesome, and one’s mind is wont to picture the -many massacres that have made this sea of silent slabs. But a large -proportion of the graves are those of Mohamedans, and history records -no general slaughter of them since the battle of Kossovo, more than -four centuries agone. This is the explanation--Christians plant bones -on top of bones, but the six feet of earth allotted to the dead Turk -generally remains his until Judgment Day. In many Turkish towns you -will find streets turned out of their natural course to leave the grave -of a Turk undisturbed. - -[Illustration: GRAVES OF DEAD COMMITTAJIS.] - -[Illustration: THE OLD TURKISH SEXTON WHO LIVED IN A GRAVE.] - -The old sexton of a cemetery in Uskub, who lives in a cave burrowed -under the ground like the abodes of those he watches, was in a terrible -dilemma after the American adventuress had snapped his photograph, -because she, a giaour, tramped back to the road over the resting-place -of believers. - -On one side of the Hôtel Turati is a Turkish cemetery, and not -far behind it is a Christian burial-ground; and almost daily a -funeral procession passes the hotel to one or the other of these -burial-grounds. The body of a Turk is borne on a litter on the -shoulders of his friends, each of them taking a turn for a few minutes -as pall-bearer. If the deceased was very popular, and the distance from -his home to the grave very short, there is a continual commotion about -the corpse, friends giving place rapidly to one another as the body is -borne along. - -The Christians do not carry their dead on their shoulders, but they, -also, convey the corpse on a litter to lower it into a wooden coffin -in the grave. Priests precede the funeral parade on foot in full -vestments, chanting as they march, and the friends follow the body, one -carrying the coffin-lid. - -A strange sacrifice for the dead takes place quarterly in the Christian -cemetery. The peasants gather from far and near bringing cakes and pans -of boiled wheat, of the best they can afford, and place them on the -graves of the dead. Candles are stuck about the food and tinsel paper -cut in fine shreds arranged over it. Priests pass from grave to grave -praying with the peasants for the souls of the departed, and sons of -the priests, who serve as acolytes, swing censers. At the conclusion -of the ceremony the sacrificial food is distributed to the poor--or -rather the poorer--and lazy gypsies gather with many naked babies at -the borders of the cemetery. - -Leaving the ceremony the foreigner is beset by these beggars, -especially the naked urchins. They follow one to the gate of the hotel. -One brat is too large to go unclad, according to the requirements of -decency regarded by the Turks, so his mother’s apron is tied around -his waist. But he hopes to elicit a piastre by cutting capers, one of -which is a somersault. As his arms and head go down the single garment -drops over them, and the high half of his anatomy is exposed like the -double-headed dolls in the Strand. But we give them nothing. We have -seen these fellows count their day’s collection, and knowing the day’s -wages of a field labourer in Turkey to be infinitely less, we give to -the latter. The Tzigane maims a brat, and by its begging the family -is supported. And it is the fool Christian who gives; it is a part of -his religion to pay by ‘charity’ the way of deceased souls through the -golden gates. - -A round and ragged brown urchin who blacks boots before the hotel and -swallows the money he receives, bettered his position one day through -the favour his funny face had found with the foreigners at the hotel. -On calling for the bootblack one morning he appeared leading a blind -beggar. But nobody patronised him now, and the two departed jabbering -viciously. Next morning the brat was back again with his blacking-box, -shining boots and swallowing small coins. - -There is a Tzigane quarter in every large town in Turkey, and it -generally stands somewhere near the circle of graveyards. It is -always the most squalid quarter, holes in old walls, shanties made of -flattened petroleum tins, caves in hillsides, serving the gypsies as -abodes. They are a filthy people, and a burden to the community. They -seldom till the soil, object to work, and live for the most part by -begging or stealing. They stand alone in the world as a people without -a religion, and their primitive instincts lead them to follow the -natural bent of man to prey upon others. They came into Europe on the -heels of the Turk, and remained in some of the countries from which -he has been compelled to recede. In one of the Balkan States they are -exempt from military service, as they cannot be held to routine; in -the others they are generally assigned to duty in the bands because of -their talent for music. - -Across the old stone bridge, on the road that leads up to the citadel, -are many curious booths. A questionable character of doubtful race sits -Turkish fashion in one the size of a draper’s box, before him a pot of -writing fluid, several wooden pens, some slips of common paper, and a -pepper-box of sand, also a constant cup of coffee, a tobacco-box, and -a flint. Natives pass up this hill to the market place behind the old -fort, and on market days the man of letters is very busy. Christians -do not patronise his talents, for in every Christian community, thanks -to the propagandas, there are several peasants who can read and write; -but Mohamedans, faithful to the wishes of the Padisha, abstain from the -corruption of education, and thereby make the letter-writer necessary. - -A veiled lady presents a letter at the booth. - -‘From whom?’ asks the sage of cipher. - -‘Our husband,’ the veiled lady replies. - -‘“Most beloved of my wives,”’ the flattering fellow begins to read, ‘“I -am well. I wish you are well. The weather is well. The buffaloes are -well....”’ Here the wise man studies the document closely, and asks: -‘What is your husband’s name?’ - -‘Almoon, effendi.’ - -‘Ah, yes; Almoon.’ - -[Illustration: THE HORSE MARKET.] - -[Illustration: SWEARING TO A BARGAIN.] - -The woman pays two metaleeks. - -A few weeks later the same woman appears with another letter. - -‘From whom is it?’ again the question. - -‘Our husband,’ again the reply. - -‘“Most beloved wife,”’ by way of variation, ‘“the weather is well. I am -well. I wish you well.” What did you say your husband’s name is?’ - -‘Almoon.’ - -‘Ah, yes; Almoon. Your husband’s writer does not form his letters well.’ - -The woman pays two more metaleeks. - -Some time later she returns again. The intelligent man of letters -recognises her this time, and employs his trained memory. - -‘“Most beloved of my wives,”’ he begins, ‘“I hope you are well. I -am----”’ - -‘Effendi,’ the woman interrupts, ‘this letter, I think, is from my -sister.’ - -‘Ah, you should have told me!’ - -Another hole in the wall, the keeper clinking coin--no doubt as to his -race, he deals in money. He charges a piastre (twopence) for changing a -lira, but silver coins are bought by him at current value. In Turkey a -gold piece seems to have no fixed value; but actually it is the price -of silver that varies. In Constantinople a pound Turkish is worth 103 -piastres, in Salonica only 101, but in Uskub it brings 105, and in -Monastir 107 or 108. Obviously the thing to do is to buy silver coin -in Monastir and sell it in Salonica. Imagine getting twenty-three -shillings in change for a pound in Liverpool, twenty-two in Manchester, -and twenty in London! - -Over the opening of a larger booth bunches of blood-coloured skull-caps -hang by long black or blue tassels a foot or more in length, resembling -at no great distance the scalps and scalp-locks of Red Indians. White -Albanian caps and Turkish fezzes are also on sale, and a row of heavy -brass blocks, like closed mouth of cannon, line the front of this -formidable-looking shop. These last are presses for fezzes, which are -put in shape for two metaleeks. - -Lemonade booths, faced with rows of huge bottles containing green, -red, and yellow drinks--limes, blood oranges, and lemons corking the -respective bottles--and other permanent shops line the hill road and -flank the covered bazaars. But the real fair is held only once a week -on the open space above, where the Turkish garrison performs its silent -target practice. - -Tuesday is the market day in Uskub, and the scene behind the ancient -fortress above the Vardar, in view of the surrounding country for -many miles, is alone worth going to Turkey to see. The vast hilltop -is littered with native goods for sale or exchange, and crowded with -men and women in gay and gruesome garbs. Albanian shepherds and their -lean dogs mind flocks of fat-tailed sheep, their spectral wives, -in faded ghost gowns, sit selling hand-worked waistcoats of gaudy -hue; Christian peasants who have come afoot or on asses or driving -primitive ox-carts, display all sorts of country commodities, from new -grain to ice (in the summer time) from the white peaks in the distance; -Turks have a little rough lumber (there is not much in Macedonia); and -Turkish soldiers, among the most ragged men in the concourse, dispose -of horses, old boots, hunks of bread, gathered--who knows how? Tziganes -are always on the horse market. A photograph shows a bargain being -made, a third man, a Turk, swearing a Bulgarian and a gypsy to an -exchange of cows. - - * * * * * - -Our defeat at Istip had not been forgotten. Since then we had awaited -only a reasonable excuse for taking a reasonable risk. One of the -Austrians came in with the account of a combat between a Servian band -and a Turkish regiment, which had taken place two days before at a -spot in the mountains above a hamlet named Pschtinia, several hours’ -ride towards the Bulgarian border. This was justification for breaking -the Turks’ cordon about us. Our papers had sent us many miles at heavy -expense, and we must have exclusive news. Better reading, to be sure, -is the cool, considered report of reports written at headquarters, -but the true correspondent always prefers to date his stuff at the -firing-line. - -To assure ourselves that we were taking no unnecessary risk, that there -was no chance of securing permission to seek the scene of this fight, -we called on the Governor-General, who had duped and deceived us many -times--no doubt to his quiet satisfaction, though he was always too -much of a gentleman to display delight in our dilemma. - -‘Ah,’ said Hussein Hilmi Pasha, as we sipped his coffee, ‘you went to -Istip, and were prevented from visiting Garbintzi. I sent orders to -turn you back. As I have often told you, effendi, it is dangerous in -the interior; one cannot say where a “brigand”’--his excellency meant -a Bulgarian insurgent--‘may be lurking to shoot the European. I have -letters from the chiefs threatening to kill a consul. As you know, they -hope to make trouble for us with the Powers.’ - -‘But, excellency, you may give us an escort.’ - -‘Even with escort one is unsafe. They can fire at you from a mountain -side high up above. They are fiends, these brigands; they do not care -if they are killed themselves.’ - -‘But we were permitted to cross a most lawless section of the country, -and were stopped only when we sought to visit the scene of a fight. -Surely, your excellency, this is a mistaken policy on your part; we -must gather that there is something to hide from correspondents.’ We -had put down this argument before. - -‘There is nothing to hide. Come to me, and I shall tell you the truth -about all affairs. But I can permit no more travelling in the interior.’ - -The same old story. We left the pasha’s presence pretending -disappointment. But his threat of Bulgarian ‘brigands’ did not disturb -us, and we were willing to take the chance of encountering Albanians. -We were going to Pschtinia. The game was not difficult; it required -simply coolness and courage and a knowledge of the ways of the Turk. -The Englishman possessed sufficient of the first two requisites, and I -had dealt with the Ottoman authorities for more than a year. - -Late that evening we sent our dragoman for a Turkish coachman, and -hired him to be on hand the following morning at nine o’clock, Turkish -time, to take us to Kalkandele, an Albanian town about the same -distance off as is Pschtinia, but in the opposite direction. We knew -the native coachman’s ways. - -A jingle of many bells announced the arrival of our carriage next -morning at ten o’clock Turkish (about 5.30), the hour at which we -planned to leave. The bells were for the purpose of warning other -vehicles coming the opposite way along steep roads, but they would also -have the effect of disturbing sleeping guardhouses and apprising them -of the fact that we were bound on a country journey. The danger of -collision was the minor risk, and we ordered the driver to relieve his -ponies of their noisy necklaces. The Turk protested, and commenced to -discuss the matter, but there was no time for argument. Having got the -bells safe under a seat, we told him to drive to Pschtinia. - -‘You hired me to go to Kalkandele.’ - -‘We have changed our minds.’ - -‘But I have told the police you were going to Kalkandele.’ - -Exactly; and without doubt the first guardhouse on the road to the west -had instructions to turn us back. - -Our Turk soon learned that we were no meek and native Christians, and -rather than lose his job altogether he obeyed our commands. We drove -quietly through the deserted streets, the ponies’ hoofs pattering -softly in the thick cushion of dust, the lucky beads on their harness -rattling, one wheel of our shandrydan maintaining a rhythmic creak--but -no one speaking. Drowsy patrols who had fallen asleep by the wayside -looked up from the corners as we drove by, but our Turk on the box -served us as a passport. Even the guardhouse at the far side of the -Vardar was content to let us pass at this sleepy hour, seeing that our -team was not equipped with country bells. We passed under the barracks -observed only by the sentinel on the crest of the cliff, who blinked -his heavy eyes and stared stupidly down like a waking owl, his head -swinging a mechanical half-circle as we came into view and passed out -again. A mile and a half through a million gravestones, stretching -from the crooked roadway on either side across the sweep of a broad -plateau--this was nerve-racking. We were in full view from the citadel, -the barracks, the Konak, and several minarets--a black beetle crawling -along a crooked chalk line drawn through a never-weeded prairie of -white stone stalks and sheaves. We urged the driver to lay on the lash -and crawl quicker, and we took turns in casting sly glances behind. -But the end of this drear graveyard came at last. We switched sharply -on a waggon trail to the left, and plunged into the hills, in a stroke -clipping dreamy Uskub from the scene. We breathed freer; we were fairly -started on our journey long before the guardhouse on the road to -Kalkandele had given us up and reported our failure to pass their way. - -From time to time our driver became unruly, slowing his pace and -refusing to use his whip, protesting that his horses would not last -to Pschtinia at the rate at which we were going. We promised to let -him give them a long rest at our destination, to drive back to Uskub -at his own pace, and to raise his fee a mijidieh, all of which, with -occasional promptings, kept the horses to their fugitive gait. Our -rattle-trap dashed through the cornfields, terrified the peasants in -their harvesting, drew the shepherds’ dogs, and scattered grazing -sheep, rolled down the mountain sides, making desperate swerves, and -climbed up empty, assisted by its passengers. We passed Albanians and -Bulgarians, who may have been brigands and insurgents, and questions -were asked our driver, but he was out of temper and did not stop -to reply. We made Pschtinia at eleven--the wonder, only a trace -broke!--the Turk in a rage, and the sweat pouring from his panting -steeds. - -We chuckled at the expense of Hilmi Pasha, and drew visions of -his wrath; he would permit us to see no more of the interior for -ourselves. We grew bold here and planned to march on foot across -Macedonia, from Uskub east to Djuma-bala, and from there on the -Bulgarian border to Drama near the sea, a distance, all told, of three -hundred miles, and you shall see whether we carried out this resolution. - -The inhabitants of Pschtinia, many bandaged and limping, gathered -round us and kissed our hands, thinking we were foreign Consuls come -to inquire into their grievances. After the fight the Turks had passed -through Pschtinia on their way back to barracks at Koumanova, stopped -and beaten the peasants for having harboured the insurgents (which they -protested they had not), and carried off the headmen to prison at the -town. The old men insisted on showing us the welts on their backs and -bruises on their legs, inflicted by the Turks with heavy sticks, and -said that the villagers worst mauled had been taken to Koumanova to the -doctor, and were now in the gaol there. - -When we had eaten of the eggs and brown bread, and drunk of milk -provided by different villagers, we climbed to the battlefield with two -guides who had escaped mauling. It was a forlorn place for a last stand -against overwhelming odds--a vast gravel dome, barren but for dwarfed -yellow shrubs, and out of sight of every human habitation, even the -village it sheltered. The band had been discovered some distance to the -north, and chased by an ever-increasing pack of pursuers until driven -to bay at this high peak. The insurgents attempted evidently to reach -a forest on a neighbouring height, but the Turks cut them off before -they could reach it. Little piles of stone a foot high, showing the -haste with which they had been thrown together, were still standing, -behind each a dark brown spot, a bloody rag or two, a scattering of -empty Mauser cartridge-cases. On the slope of the dome we picked up -Martini cases. ‘Turk,’ said the peasants. That was evident. The calibre -was stamped in Turkish characters. Holes in the pink earth, with bits -of cast iron firmly embedded in the rock, marked the places where the -dynamite bombs had struck at the last charge, when the soldiers stormed -the crest and the end of the insurgents was a matter of seconds. - -Some time after the soldiers had withdrawn, and the dome was desolate -again, a few peasants ventured to the top. They found the bodies of -twenty-four Servians, battered and disfigured, and completely stripped; -the Turks had taken away their own dead. Not so much of value as an old -shoe remained on the battlefield. The next day the strong outfits of -the insurgents, which had come from Belgrade, were sold by the soldiers -on the market place at Koumanova. The peasants of Pschtinia rolled the -bodies in coarse striped buffalo blankets, carried them down to the -village, and buried them in the cemetery, the village priest performing -the burial service. A rough wooden cross was raised over each grave. -The villagers said the soldiers came back to Pschtinia and tore the -crosses down; but they reared them again when the Turks were gone. - -‘Are you Servians?’ we asked the peasants. - -‘Bulgarians, effendi.’ - -‘Then this band was an enemy to your party?’ - -‘But they were Christians.’ - -On descending to the village we found our Turk already harnessing his -team. He had been fed, and so had his horses, and they were all in a -more tractable mood. The villagers, hale and halt, gathered around our -carriage as we prepared to start, and poured forth their blessings on -our Christian heads. Several small boys brought us dirty little fried -fish, about two inches long, as a parting gift. We took the fish, -rewarding the young villagers, and, as we crossed the stream, deposited -the smoky carcases whence they had been drawn wriggling an hour before. - -Our driver took us home by a different route, more direct, he said, -with a great ‘something’ to see. He had noted that the Englishman -gave backsheesh, and was wont to put us in his countrymen’s way. He -himself belonged to the world-fraternity of cab-men, whose instincts -vary nowhere, East or West; but his cousin, to whom he took us, was a -Turkish peasant, a man who, when the spirit of war is without his soul, -is as true a gentleman as Occident or Orient produces. - -In crossing a trackless moor to the road that led where our Turk would -take us, we lost the road, and for an hour wandered aimlessly till -we met an armed man with a woman who covered her face at sight of -us. The armed man asked the usual questions of our Turk, and gave him -directions. - -It was five o’clock when we arrived at a great wall of mud bricks, -infinitely higher and better built than those surrounding the average -Macedonian dwelling, but dilapidated and showing long want of care. -The walls enclosed a vast irregular area, and entirely obscured the -view within. We drove round wondering and asking questions of our -Turk, which he ignored with a smile. Finally, we approached a high -gate designed after the fashion of that leading to the Sublime Porte. -Our driver stood up on the box and began a hallooing, which burst like -trumpet blasts on the still surroundings. It was some time before -a far-off answer came over the walls. The call and the reply were -continued, the latter drawing gradually nearer, and after some minutes -a man spoke through a keyhole not less than five inches high. Our Turk -descended from the carriage-box, was recognised by him within, and told -to wait until the key was fetched. We then peered through the keyhole, -and after a brief interval spied the inmate returning from the house -toiling under the weight of an iron key of robust diameter and a foot -and a half long. - -The huge oak gate was swung back, and we entered, greeted with a -dignified salaam and a shake of the hand. There are no social classes -among the Turks across which the hand-shake is debarred. Deference is -shown superiors only in the salaam, a pasha receiving a lower bow with -an extra twist of the hand than that given a bey, and a bey a lower dip -of hand and head than a bimbashee, a bimbashee than an ordinary mortal -effendi. - -The Turk who welcomed us was the keeper, and, with his wife, the only -occupant of this vast estate, the empty home of an exiled bey. The -house was shown to us by both the keeper and his wife, who, though, -of course, a Mohamedan woman, wore no veil. The house was handsome -for this part of the country, but depleted even of furniture. The -only pictures on the walls were common paintings on the plaster now -cracked and falling. The harem, where marble divans for five wives were -built in nooks, was filled with newly harvested grain. A bold rooster, -the only lord of the manor, cackled to half a dozen happy hens and -scattered the corn. We helped the keeper eject the usurper and his -feminine following. - -A bridge, resembling the Bridge of Sighs, led out of the harem into the -dwelling of the exiled lord, bare like the other house. We climbed the -creaky, dust-covered stairs to a turret at the point of the roof, which -overlooked the surrounding walls and afforded a view of the encircling -mountains. A brilliant southern sun was setting in an Oriental sky, and -a train of three buffalo teams, silhouetted in the glow, crept along -the sky-line. - -[Illustration: ALBANIAN WOMEN.] - -Late in the evening we passed through the long cemetery and entered -Uskub. Lights were out for the night, and patrols paced the streets. -We were halted several times, but our driver’s Turkish rang true, and -we proceeded to the gates of Hôtel Turati, where, after much knocking, -Nicola roused from his slumbers and removed the bars. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -METROVITZA AND THE ALBANIANS - - -‘Listen, my brothers! You must be ready for the Holy War. When you -hear for the second time the voice of public crier Mecho, gather great -and small, of all ages between seven and seventy, and range yourselves -under the banners. Those who have blood debts have nothing to fear. God -and the country pardon them. The Seven Kings[4] are banded together, -but we do not fear them, nor would they frighten us if they were -seventy, or as many more.’ - -The clans agreed upon a _bessa_, or truce, blood feuds were declared -off for the time, and the Albanians of Jakova, Ipek, and other -districts neighbouring Metrovitza banded together, great and small, of -all ages, to combat the reforms imposed upon the Sultan by the Powers. - -The feature of the reforms which gave them most offence was the mixed -gendarmerie. The British Consul at Uskub had suggested that it would be -sheer slaughter to create Christian police among the Albanians. But the -arrogant Russian, who at that time played first fiddle in the _opéra -comique_, opposed this view, probably for no other reason than that it -was English; and the Turks, who make game of mad methods, agreed to the -Austro-Russian demands with alacrity, and sent six Servian gendarmes to -Vutchitrin. - -The public crier made his second call. Albanians to the number of -several thousand foregathered and visited Vutchitrin. But arriving -there they found the Turkish kaimakam had sent the sorry Serbs away to -a secret place of safety. - -This was not a dire disappointment for the Albanians; they projected -bigger sport for the following day and kept the peace during the -night. Early next morning they set forth for Metrovitza, a short -march, to fulfil a promise, made a year before, to destroy the newly -established Russian Consulate. But, over-confident and swaggering with -pride, they boasted openly of what they would do, and when they came -to the Consular town they found the roads blocked with infantry and -covered by cannon. The Albanians halted, and the chiefs went forward -to parley with the Turkish commander: they were faithful followers of -the Padisha, doing only what he would desire. But the Turk could not be -moved, and threatened to fire if the Albanians advanced. - -The Albanians did not believe that the Sultan’s soldiers would fire on -the faithful, and when the whole force had gathered they marched boldly -upon the town by two roads at the same time. They were met by a volley -from the troops, and, much cut up, retired. A body of them occupied -an old mill across a little stream which bordered the barracks, and -fired upon the garrison from there until shelled out. Then the whole -number, after collecting their dead--with the tacit permission of the -Turks--withdrew to their own towns. But the Russian Consul was not to -escape. - -The garrison of Metrovitza, which was largely Albanian, sympathised -thoroughly with the Albanian effort that had failed, and, indeed, every -Mohamedan did. The Government had got more than it bargained for. The -garrison was sore and sullen, and when the soldiers gathered at the -cafés in the evening, it was to deplore the day’s work and to speculate -upon the Padisha’s will. - -At one café a fanatic dervish, after working his hearers to frenzied -pitch, exclaimed, ‘And is there not a single Mohamedan who will rid us -of this giaour?’ - -‘I will,’ said a piping little voice. - -‘You! Oh, no, you will not!’ said the dervish scornfully. - -‘I will,’ repeated the other. - -He was a soldier who had been in the fight, a slim, sickly fellow with -a sad visage. I saw him on trial at Uskub. - -The next morning M. Stcherbina, attired in Russian uniform, followed -by a Cossack, two heavily armed kavasses, and a troop of soldiers, -officers, and officials--the Turks doing honour and service against -their convictions--went out to inspect the line of battle, the plan -of which, it was alleged, the Russian had directed. As the Consul in -great state passed, the sentinels presented arms--which the Russians -exact of the Turks. One Mohamedan, required thus to degrade himself, -lowered his gun quickly as the Consul passed before him at a distance -of three paces, and without waiting to aim, fired a fatal ball into the -‘infidel’s’ body. Then, flinging away his gun, the soldier started at a -mad pace down the slope, over the rocks toward the mountains of Albania. - -The Consul’s retinue, surprised for a moment, were soon after the -fugitive, firing fast; but he travelled a hundred yards before they -wounded him. The Cossack claimed, and no doubt fired, the telling shot. - -At his first trial the murderer was condemned to prison for a term -of fifteen years. Strange to say, Abdul Hamid is averse from capital -punishment. But the Russians were not satisfied with this sentence -and demanded a new trial; and at the second hearing, at Uskub (a mock -affair with the verdict pre-determined) the soldier was condemned to -death. Before he was executed the White Czar pardoned the murderer of -M. Stcherbina! But a few months later, not only the murderer of M. -Roskowsky, Russian Consul at Monastir, but also a soldier who stood by -and saw the deed done, and made no attempt to prevent it, were hanged -at Russian command. - -The ways of the Turk and the ways of the Russian are wonderful and -similar. - -The display of the Russian dead was truly Russian. The body of M. -Stcherbina was placed on a bier in a goods car, lined and completely -covered with mourning, on each side and each end an immense white -cross. This moving catafalque was dragged from Metrovitza to Salonica, -met along the route by Servian and Bulgarian clergy and such Consuls -as would participate in the demonstration, and opened for services at -the chief stations. At Salonica the body was laid in state in a new -Bulgarian church, from which there was a great parade to a Russian -man-of-war, Consuls all participating, Turkish soldiers and officials -doing honour. - -The object of these proceedings seemed to be to impress Turks, -Christians, and Jews alike with the power of Russia. Alas! for the -power of Russia, the Japanese war soon followed, and its result -delighted Turks and Jews and many Christians. - - * * * * * - -From Constantinople came a commission of holy men with gifts from -the Sultan and arguments from the Koran to conciliate the injured -Albanians. But they would not be reconciled. Abdul Hamid had kept them -armed for generations for his own purposes, had chosen his bodyguard -from among them because of their faithfulness, and now no amount of -backsheesh, or multiloquence about their transgressing the will of God, -would bring them to terms. They were going to fight. So the Albanian -soldiers were brought out of the Albanian districts and replaced by -purely Turkish regiments. More Anatolians were brought over from Asia -Minor in vast numbers, and mobilised at Verisovitch. - -Those who knew the Turkish Government doubted that actual -hostilities against the Albanians would take place. But Russia was -pressing--threatening a naval demonstration with the Black Sea -fleet--and the Sultan fought his faithful friends. - -Two small encounters took place. Of course the Albanians, badly armed -and without organisation, were easily defeated. The chiefs were made -prisoners and taken to Constantinople, where they were decorated, -probably pensioned for life, and made altogether better off than they -had been hitherto. - -It is supposed that the Sultan ‘fixed’ his Albanian bodyguard before he -sent an army against their brothers, for had not his own safety been -secured, it can be taken he would have preferred war with the ‘Seven -Kings.’ - - * * * * * - -Metrovitza, being on the railway, was accessible without the permission -of Hilmi Pasha, and an Englishman, a Dane, and I went up to see the -battle ground. We were invited to visit the Russian Consulate, and -found a Russian kavass awaiting us with a bodyguard of soldiers. - -It was not a far walk from the station to the Consulate, which we -recognised from a distance by the tremendous tricolour that floated -from the balcony, drooping to within six feet of the road beneath. The -Consulate was situated between the barracks and a camp of Turkish -soldiers, and on several sides, immediately about the house, were small -detachments of picked troops. - -First to greet us as we entered the door was the Cossack, in bushy -busby, blue dress with large white spots, brown sleeves, leggings, and -many weapons. He was a moth-like creature, hair, beard, and skin the -same sickly pallor, and eyes of a dull blue. The kavasses--generally -swaggering--looked sheepish; they were Albanians--traitors, in their -countrymen’s eyes. But the Consul, M. Mashkov, late of Uskub, was full -of fire, actually pugnacious, and, so he told us, ready to die in his -country’s service. - -A telegram arrived a few minutes after we did, containing a warning -that the Sublime Porte had received a letter from the Bulgarian -committajis, informing the Turkish Government of their intention to -assassinate another Russian consul. The object of this telegram--the -origin of which is obvious--I am at a loss to understand, but such -warnings to consuls come constantly from the Turkish Government. - -‘They have killed M. Stcherbina,’ said M. Mashkov; ‘they may kill me; -but they cannot kill the Russian Consul!’ - -The Dane asked the Consul if he really thought he would be -assassinated, and M. Mashkov replied, ‘I expect to leave Turkey as M. -Stcherbina did. If the Albanians do not kill me, the Bulgarians will.’ - -But I am glad to record that our entertaining and generous host--whose -ideas and sympathies, I regret, do not agree with mine--was soon -transferred to Egypt, and got away from Turkey alive. - -We tramped over the battlefield in the same manner that the dead -Russian had done, with Russian kavasses and Turkish soldiers for our -protection, and a Turkish officer who spoke French as a conductor. We -resembled a Russian commission, and the sentinels rose from the ground -and saluted. Every time we passed one the sins of my life all came back -to my mind. - - * * * * * - -Albania is the most romantic country in Europe, probably in all the -world. It is a lawless land where might makes right, and parts of it -are as forbidding to the foreigner as darkest Africa. In the country -around Ipek, Jakova, and Prisrend, and even Kalkandele, the homes of -men are strongholds built of stone, with no windows on the ground -floors, and those above mere loopholes. At the corners of a village or -estate are _kulers_, towers of defence, from which the enemy can be -seen far down the road. - -The first law of the land is the law of the gun, as it was in the Wild -West. But the country is more thickly populated than was the American -border in the old days, and men have banded together in clans for -offensive and defensive purposes. - -There is no education in Albania--the Turks have kept the country -illiterate--and promises have come to be bonds. It is because the -Albanians keep their word that Abdul Hamid has chosen them as his -bodyguard. But the Albanian has no regard for the man he has not sworn -to, and, though the petty thief is despised, it is considered brave -work to kill a man for his money. - -Albanian customs are dangerous to break, and are handed down the -generations unwritten as sacredly as are feuds. Some strange customs -exist. To compliment an unmarried woman, for instance, is provocation -for death. A blood enemy is under amnesty while in the company of a -woman. A woman may shoot a fiancé who breaks his betrothal or call -upon the young man’s father to kill him. If a man commits murder, and, -flying for his life, enters the house of another, friend or foe, he -is safe. This is the case, even if he takes refuge in the house of a -brother of the man he has slain. He may not remain there for ever; but -for three days he can live on the best the house provides. When that -time is up, he is shown on his way. Twenty-four hours is given him to -make his escape; after that the _bessa_ is over and the blood feud -begins. - -In their national dress the Albanians of the North are always -distinguishable. The men wear baggy trousers, usually white, tight -fitting to the ankle. Down each side of them and over the back is a -broad band of rich black silk cording. Very often a design in rich red -tapers down each leg to the knee. A broad sash (over a leather belt), -between trousers and shirt, serves as holster for pistol and yataghan. -A short, richly worked waistcoat reaches down to the top of the -sash, but misses meeting across the chest by six inches. The costumes -differ considerably in various parts of Albania. In Southern Albania -the men wear pleated ballet skirts like the Northern Greeks. - -[Illustration: THE ALBANIAN AND HIS KULER.] - -[Illustration: ALBANIAN.] - -For headgear the Albanian generally wears a tiny, tight-fitting white -skull-cap which looks in the sun like a bald spot. Some wear caps of -Ottoman red, from which a rich, full, flowing silk tassel of black or -dark blue falls to the shoulders. - -The cut of the hair is peculiar. The men of one section will have -their heads closely shaven, except in one circular space about an -inch across. The single tuft curls down underneath the cap like a Red -Indian’s scalp-lock. Others will shave the top of the head where the -cap rests. There is reason in this; as the Mohamedan seldom removes his -fez, the heat over the head is thereby equalised. There are a dozen -other cuts, none of which beautify the Albanian; nevertheless, he is -always of striking appearance. - -The Albanians are of pure European origin. They are tall, -broad-shouldered men, with fine faces. They are quite unlike any of -the other people of Macedonia, even speaking a totally different -language. While nothing definite is known of their origin, it is more -than probable that they are the descendants of the ancient Illyrians, -who once occupied all the western side of the Balkan Peninsula, and -were gradually driven to the mountains of Albania by the successive -invasions of Greeks, Romans, Slavs, and Turks. - -Albania has never been wholly subdued or civilised. It was partially -conquered by Servian princes in the Middle Ages, and under them -attained a certain civilisation; but at the Turkish conquest it -relapsed into a wild state. - -The majority of the Albanians have become Mohamedans, chiefly -because the religion carried with it the right to bear arms and -other privileges. In ‘Turkey in Europe,’[5] there is an account of a -characteristic Albanian conversion. Until about a hundred years ago the -inhabitants of a certain little group of villages in Southern Albania -had retained their Christianity. Finding themselves unable to repel -the continual attacks of a neighbouring Moslem population, ‘they met -in a church, solemnly swore that they would fast until Easter, and -invoked all the saints to work within that period some miracle that -would better their miserable lot. If this reasonable request were not -granted, they would all turn Mohamedan. Easter day came, but no signs -from saint or angel, and the whole population embraced Islam.’ Soon -afterwards, the change of faith was rewarded; they obtained the arms -which they desired, and had the satisfaction of massacring their old -opponents and taking possession of their lands. - -Northern and Southern Albanians are quite different peoples. The -Ghegs and the Tosks they are respectively called. The Tosks are less -turbulent than their Northern brothers. They are ruled by beys, or -hereditary landlords, in a feudal manner. These beys owe an allegiance -to the Sultan. They receive their titles from the Turk, and unless they -do his bidding to the modest extent he demands, a means of getting rid -of them is found. - -[Illustration: A GROUP OF ALBANIANS.] - -In the North, however, there is not this handle to whip in proselytes. -A Catholic propaganda is protected by Austria, and, with the exception -of one clan, which is all Catholic, every tribe contains both -Mussulmans and Christians. This demonstrates that there is little -fanaticism among them. The clan is stronger than the religious feeling. - -It would be difficult for the Turks to carry out there the custom -of disarming Christians. But the Ottoman Government has secured the -loyalty of Christian as well as Mohamedan Ghegs by allowing them -to pillage and kill their non-Albanian neighbours to their hearts’ -content. They are ever pressing forward, burning, looting, and -murdering the Servians of the vilayet of Kossovo. The frontier line of -Albania has been extended in this way far up into Old Servia. Even the -frontier of Servia proper is not regarded by these lawless mountain -men. They often make raids into the neighbouring State, as they have -done into Bulgaria when quartered as soldiers on that border. - -The Albanians have overrun all Macedonia. They have found their way in -large numbers as far as Constantinople. But beyond their own borders -and the sections of Kossovo from which the Servians have fled, -they are held within certain bounds. In many Albanian districts the -Albanians are exempt from military service, but large numbers of them -join the Turkish army as volunteers. They enlist for the guns and -cartridges. - -The Albanian looks down on the Turk. You insult an Albanian and -compliment a Turk if you take either for the other. An Albanian seldom -wears a Turkish fez. Even in the Turkish army the low white skull-cap -is his head-covering. - -Sometimes the Albanians show very little regard for their Turkish -officers. Once at Salonica I saw a company refuse to board a train -because some contraband tobacco had been taken from them by the -officials of the foreign monopoly that exists in Turkey. But the Turk -is different; he is fanatically subordinate. On several occasions I -have seen Turkish soldiers stand like inanimate things while their -officers pulled their ears, punched their heads and kicked them. - -If they thought their Padisha in earnest the Turkish private and -peasant would never resist a measure of reform. But the Albanians have -always resisted reforms for the reason that reforms would interfere -with their privileges. - -The disarming of the Albanians is indispensable to reforms in -Macedonia. The establishment of law courts in Albania was one of Hilmi -Pasha’s additions to the Austro-Russian scheme of reforms! If this -reform is ever applied, both parties in a case will go into court with -all their weapons, and the result will be--no matter which way the -verdict goes--the death of the judge. - -Of late years attempts have been made by educated Albanians residing in -Bucharest and in Italy to create an agitation for Albanian autonomy; -but these movements have had no effect as yet on the Albanians; the -Turks are too clever at their control. Should a leader appear among -them who threatens organisation or civilisation, an emissary of the -Sultan arrives with gifts and decorations. If the chief is not venal, -he is enticed or taken secretly by force to Constantinople, where he -may be given authority over a district or province which will more than -compensate him for his loss, but where he can work the empire no harm. - -There is no free Albanian border state, as with the Greeks, the -Bulgarians, and the Serbs, and the Turks are able to prevent the -Albanians from becoming educated. There are Catholic schools in -Northern Albania and Orthodox Greek in Southern Albania, but the Turks -deny the very existence of the Albanian language. The publication of -Albanian books is prevented and Albanian schools are suppressed. A few -years ago some of the wealthier inhabitants of a certain town started -a school to teach their children their own tongue. One evening the -professor disappeared. He was stolen by Turkish soldiers, deported, -and imprisoned. He was held for eight months without trial, and then -as arbitrarily released. He received the usual Turkish shrug of the -shoulders when he asked the reason for the outrage. This was at Cortia, -where the Turk’s rule is not merely nominal. - -The position of the Albanians in Turkey is unique. It is in the power -of the Turks to subdue and govern them; but the Sultans have preferred -to give them licence and to keep the strip of Adriatic land they occupy -a lawless barrier against the West. There is no railway across Albania, -there is only one place along the coast at which ships stop, and the -foreigner is forbidden by both Albanian and Turk. The Turk protests -that he cannot afford the European safe passport across Albania, and -the Albanian has been taught to suspect every European as a spy come to -reconnoitre for a foreign Power. - -A few men from civilisation have been to the heart of this romantic -country. In order to get there safely it is necessary to acquire the -friendship and the confidence of the chief of a clan, and to get from -him a promise of safe passport. Only on one occasion, it is said, did -anyone trusting himself to an Albanian chief lose his life. The man, -with all his escort, was killed by the members of a hostile clan, and -to this day a blood feud lasts as a result. - -To take the risk of entering Albania without reason seemed foolhardy, -and as we never had adequate excuse, we left the Balkans without -fulfilling our earnest desire to cross it. We touched the country, -however, from the east and from the west, and encountered Albanians -everywhere in Macedonia. - -We sailed down the Adriatic from Trieste, bound for Greece, the -mountains of Albania often visible, and we touched, among Italian and -other ports, at Hagio Saranda. The place has as many names--Albanian, -Turkish, Slav, Italian, German--as it has houses. The Austrian-Lloyd -steamer dropped anchor in the bay, and several queer, unwieldy -row-boats--small barges--came up alongside for a few boxes of Austrian -goods. The ship lay at anchor an hour, and we went ashore. The same -cringing, unarmed Christians, the same swaggering Albanians, the same -suspicious officials and ragged soldiers. The Turks bowed politely as -we landed, and asked questions. We were going down the shore to take a -bath. - -‘This is a small town, effendi; we are sorry there is no bath here.’ - -We were not searching a Turkish bath, and we explained by signs that we -were going out to swim. - -‘But, effendi, you have not sufficient time.’ - -We knew we had. - -The argument lasted some time longer, until we broke off rudely, -leaving the officials talking. They did not stop us, but ordered all -the soldiers to follow and see what our object really was; and they -stood behind bushes and rocks from which they could watch us, and also -cover any insurgents with whom we might have rendezvous. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -THE LONG TRAIL - - -There was excuse for us to cross Macedonia. Twenty-five thousand -peasants from Turkey had taken refuge in Bulgaria, and no correspondent -had personal knowledge of the state of affairs that caused this -exodus. The Man of Yorkshire and I got together again and appointed a -day to start on the journey we had planned long since. We instructed -Alexander the Bulgar to appear on the morning with a pair of socks in -his pocket. Alexander had the temerity to ask the reason for luggage. -We gave him no hint. Alexander was not safe enough to be trusted with -the secret. Again we hired a carriage with a Turkish driver to take us -to Kalkandele; and again we succeeded in getting out of town while the -Turks dozed, bound in an opposite direction. - -To Egri-Palanka, the frontier town at which we proposed to leave the -carriage and take to our legs, was a two days’ journey. We spent the -intervening night at a lone khan, miles away from any other habitation. -The Turk protested, and attempted to draw up at a Turkish blockhouse, -but by vigorous methods we got the horses past this danger spot at a -pace which did not give the Turkish officer time to make up his mind. - -[Illustration: WAYFARERS AT A ROADSIDE FOUNTAIN: TURKS.] - -Stable for beast and stable for man were one and the same at the khan, -and the Turk declared the Christian food unfit to eat. We had eggs -which had seen better days, gritty black bread, and goat’s milk with -wool in it. Alexander and the Turk consumed a quantity of heady wine -and advised us to do so, but we liked not the stuff. Supper over, we -stretched ourselves out for the night, one upon the table, the rest -on benches, the other alternative being the floorless ground. There -were no rugs for us to lie on and no covering, and no one thought of -undressing. - -We had hardly laid ourselves down in this unholy place than the -‘plagues of Egypt gat about us.’ Even across the table from which -we had supped half an hour before they came at us in battalions. -Alexander and the Turk, insensible with drink, groaned and tossed, but -snored nevertheless; sleep, however, was impossible for us. We shook -ourselves, unbarred the doors, and escaped to the still high road, -which we paced most of the night. It was too cold to sleep. - -Through the windows we saw the sleepers by the dim light of a taper, -tossing and fighting. This was some comfort to us. - -‘I’m glad,’ said the Man of Yorkshire when Alexander the Bulgar emerged -much scarred from the battle of the night, hundreds of the enemy lying -dead upon the expanse of his sturdy chest, ‘I am glad all was not -peaceful with you and the Turk.’ - -‘You mistake,’ said Alexander; ‘we slept profoundly.’ - -‘Why, we saw you tossing all night long, and your groans were pitiful.’ - -‘Ah, monsieur, we drank well at supper; and though the arms moved and -the mouth talked the eyes remained closed.’ - -After vast deviations to ford streams and avoid bridges, we arrived at -Egri-Palanka. As we expected, a smiling police officer awaited us on -the outskirts of the town. Our escape from Uskub had been discovered, -our direction traced, and instructions to turn us back had been -wired on. After many gracious bows and compliments, the policeman -invited himself into our carriage, and never again left us until we -left Egri-Palanka. He conducted us to the khan, where he was joined -by several gendarmes. The polite chief introduced us to the others, -announcing that they were for our service and safety, and we all -salaamed and shook hands. - -After a meal, a wash, and a short rest, we went, followed by the -gendarmes, to visit the gypsy quarter, the kaimakam, and other sights. -When we left the town to climb to the Bulgarian monastery a troop of -soldiers suddenly appeared to augment our following. The Englishman and -I could have outstripped the ill-conditioned Turks in a mile, but it -was part of the game we were playing to pretend to despise walking, and -we stopped a dozen times to rest, feigning fatigue. - -The high road to Uskub was without a crossing, and when we departed -the following day, bound back the way we had come, the authorities -of Egri-Palanka seemed relieved and assured. Considering our foreign -susceptibilities, our escort did not surround us; it followed at a -distance of half a mile. - -We pulled up the hood of the carriage--not because of the sun--and -hustled the driver. At every stiff hill we got out, to relieve -the horses and to get a sight of the party in the rear. They were -suffering, apparently, from the pace we were setting. It was extremely -hot, and we left them further and further behind. After an hour of this -we were quite a mile in the lead. - -We had packed our few effects in shape to sling over our shoulders, -one sack for Alexander. At a convenient bend in the road we halted -our shandrydan, passed Alexander his pack, and handed a letter to the -driver. The letter was to be delivered at Uskub that night without -fail, and upon the presentation of it he was to receive his fare. Had -we paid him he would have gone to Palanka again to pick up another -load. This much through the mouth of the equally bewildered Alexander, -who was then dragged from the box and hustled through three acres of -standing barley before he knew what had got him. - -It came off! How we slogged through that corn and down into the valley, -looking back, with the perspiration streaming off our faces, to see our -driver toiling away through the dust, presenting a large and discreet -carriage hood to the unsuspecting escort. Presently a kindly hill shut -out the road, and we struck our route by the map and the sun. - -Three or four miles up the road the driver would come to the military -post already mentioned, where he would halt to feed his horses; the -escort would overtake him, and he would tell of our flight. A couple of -hours was the most we could count on before the pursuit was started. - -What a day of dodging roads and skirting villages, of scrambling up -perpendicular mountain sides, and peering for Turkish patrols on the -red line of high road below! It was fun the first day. We made a wager -of a mijidieh, the optimistic Man of Yorkshire betting that we would -not be caught before the night. I lost. I was glad to lose--the first -day. We renewed the wager for the following day. - -We spied a snug, secluded little village--Christian, because there was -no minaret--and dropped down to it at dark. It was Servian, and the -Servian schoolmaster gave us supper and shelter. - -‘The peasants think you are Bulgarian,’ he said. - -‘Committaji?’ we asked. - -‘Yes,’ he said. - -We told the schoolmaster to persuade them we were not. - -There was little danger that they would bring the soldiers down upon -us, knowing the habit of the Turk to visit vengeance upon the town that -harbours committajis. But we learned that there were three families of -Turkish peasants living in the village, and this, indeed, alarmed us. -It was quite on the cards that they would trot over to Kratovo, half an -hour away, and come back with a cheery gang of Anatolians or Albanians, -whose habit in dealing with insurgents is to fire the house in which -they are and shoot them as they emerge from the flames. - -So we sent our compliments to the Turks (Mohamedans must be treated -with deference) and requested them to call; which they did, and were -convinced that we were not Bulgarians. Nevertheless, we spent a most -uncomfortable night. We lay on the rough gallery rolled in rugs, -watching the fireflies and listening for the ‘fire brigade,’ falling -asleep from dead weariness and starting out of it at every sound. - -We got away from the Servian village early the following morning, -taking a guide for the direction in which we were bound, but not -divulging our destination. We shook him off when we got the lay of the -country and were certain of our maps again. - -About noon we dropped, as intended, into the monastery of Lesnova. We -sat down by a fountain in the courtyard, the brown-timbered structure -enclosing three sides, and over the mud wall on the fourth stretched -the valley into the blue distance. A palsied beggar in a filthy state -devoured food like a ravenous wolf, washing it down unchewed with -great gulps of water. The old abbot who came out to greet us said they -could do nothing for the man’s ailments; there are no doctors in the -country, and folk who become ill die. - -Here we got the first news of events which had driven the Christian -peasants to Bulgaria. The story was the same we had heard so often -before; nothing new except the details of tortures. Of these there are -sufficient in later chapters; for this, the adventure of our long trail. - -The monks gave us a good meal, and we slept for an hour on a -comfortable divan, for we were footsore already. The soles of my boots -and those of Alexander’s--whom we had now come to call ‘Sandy’--had -gone, and we were driven to native _charruks_--which, from their -absence of heels, caused me to walk as on eggs for many miles, and made -my insteps very sore. The Englishman’s clumsy foot-gear outlasted mine -by many hours; still, I do not believe in British boots. - -Shortly after one o’clock we were on the climb again, up a decent path -for once, which led over a big hill towards the town of Sletovo. A -delightful town it appeared, as we looked down from behind a bush at -the top of the hill. It was surrounded by tents, with even barracks -to add a charm. The first sight of us from one of those tents by any -intelligent soldier, and our trekking was over! By great luck a trail -led off to the right, which seemed to skirt the tents entirely, and -we picked our way cautiously down it, concealed by a shoulder of the -hill. At the bottom the trail turned straight into the town. There -was another path somewhere to the right leading away; but how to get -to it? Just as we had made up our minds for a dash through some corn -we came on the connecting link, a dry watercourse, and we were soon -on the circular tour. But now, while keenly watching the tents to the -left, an ancient tower--probably of Roman antiquity--appeared on our -right front. Outside this, with his rifle leaning against the wall, -squatted a sentry, dirgeing a dismal Oriental lay. He was not more than -two hundred yards off, and commanded a view of our heads and shoulders -above the corn; but there was nothing for it except to go ahead. I am -confident that I watched that songster with one eye and the town on the -opposite side with the other. For five minutes our fate hung on the -balance. Our hats were unmistakable; no one but a man from civilisation -wears anything with a brim to it in that part of the country. Once his -dull eye was caught by our headgear we were booked. But the amiable -creature sang on, his mind probably back in Anatolia; and we dropped -out of sight to the next stream and took a big drink. - -Late that afternoon a few drops of rain came down, a delightful -sensation to the parched and dusty ‘foot-slogger’; but presently this -increased to sheets of water driven before a cold wind, and for half -an hour we clung, soaked, to the slimy face of a bank, with little -mud waterfalls dribbling down our necks. Then the storm blew over. -The path, awkward at any time, was like a switchback skating-rink, -down which we slid and staggered with horrible swoops and marvellous -recoveries, to a boiling yellow torrent below, about as fordable as the -Mississippi in flood. We had hoped to do a greater distance this day, -but neither of us was sorry--though neither of us admitted it--that -we had to seek shelter on this side of the stream. There was an -attractive-looking place near at hand, but a forbidding minaret stood -high above the poplars; and we pushed on to the first Christian village. - -We had slogged for two days, travelled for four; we were sore in every -joint and muscle, wet to the skin, and chilled to the bone. We began -to lose temper with each other, and vented our feelings upon Sandy. We -spoke seldom, except at meals, when our spirits revived, and in the -fresh hours of the morning. Now we were sour and snappish, and each -disagreed with whatever the other proposed. The constant strain and the -heavy marching were beginning to tell on our dispositions. And we had -hardly begun our journey. I was sorry I lost the bet. Perhaps the other -man was too. - -[Illustration: IN A MOUNTAIN VILLAGE: BULGARIAN PEASANTS DANCING THE -HORO.] - -The headman of a Bulgarian village received us with the hand-shake that -is the sign of friendship. He thought we were insurgents. They were -harbouring one in the village. Sitting on a wooden platform under the -low thatch of his roof, we pulled off our wringing things to the last -stitch, half the village looking on, absorbed and unabashed. Clad in -our ‘other’ shirts (which were fortunately dry), we scrambled through -the stable to an opening through which we could discern a fire -burning. Our host’s wooden sandals were not easy to keep a balance on. -With smarting eyes I groped through the smoke towards the ‘window,’ a -two-foot hole for chickens in the wall on the ground level, and sat, -feet outstretched towards the wood fire in the middle of the hard earth -floor. By degrees I made out the hostess hanging up our garments to -dry. The other man crawled towards me, and we sat coughing and blinking -at the native bread-making. A flat, round, earthen dish was made red -hot on the fire, then taken off and the dough slapped into it. A lid -was then buried in the embers, and, when hot enough, put on the top of -the dough. This primitive oven turns out a fine crust, but the middle -of the loaf is very pasty. - -Sandy now appeared with an armful of wet things, and hung the hats on -a bundle of clothes and wrappings by the fire, which began to squeal. -We discovered that this was the youngest member of the family, fast -approaching a score in number. - -After the row had died down we gathered that our ‘room’ was prepared. -This consisted of the usual mud floor and walls, with a straw mat and -home-made rugs to sleep on, and a couple of red bolsters. Here we -sprawled and supped under the interested eyes of a donkey and a bundle -of torch-lit natives who squatted outside the door. - -In the morning our toilets caused much amusement. The assembly--which, -for aught I know, watched us through the entire night--was much -puzzled over what it seemed to think was an attempt on my part to -swallow a small brush greased with pink paste. It broke into a general -laugh when I parted my hair, being sure I was combing it for another -reason. - -One of the patrols which was sent out after us--we learned -later--arrived at this village an hour after we left; but the peasants -had no idea whither we had gone. - -The torrential stream had subsided into a babbling brook when we forded -it, about eight o’clock, and boldly took the high road to Kotchana. We -were weary of rough mountain paths, and kept this course until within -dangerous proximity of the town, then struck off into the fields--this -time rice fields. It was the season when the fields were flooded, and -the only way across was by the tops of the embankments, which held us -high to the view of anyone in the neighbourhood. We had gone too far to -retrace our steps when we discovered we were in Turkish fields. We came -suddenly to a dry patch of ground. A score or more Turkish women, their -veils slung back over their shoulders, their loose black cloaks laid to -one side, were working the ground in their gaudy bloomers. At sight of -us there was a wild flutter for veils--but not a sound. - -We maintained our well-drilled blankness of expression and passed on, -soldiers three, single file. I was in advance breaking through the -weeds when I stumbled upon the husband of the harem. The bey was lying -supine upon his back in the grass, a great umbrella shading his face. -The rotund gentleman grunted, and slowly opened his eyes. He seemed -uncertain for a moment whether I was man or nightmare, but when I spoke -he knew he was awake. He scrambled to his feet, drew a great, gaudy -revolver, and levelled it full in my face. Of course I did not pull -my gun. I fell back, shouting quickly, as I had done on a previous -occasion, ‘Inglese, Inglese effendi.’ Alexander to the rescue! That -worthy, from a covered position in our rear, informed his Majesty the -Mohamedan that we were English, as I had said. That we were foreign -Christians was evident from the fact that we carried arms. The old -Turk seemed rather ashamed of the fright he had displayed, and, slyly -tucking his revolver into his red sash, stepped to one side and bowed -us the right of way. - -This day we encountered many pitfalls. How we escaped one after -another seemed so incredible to the Turkish authorities, when we were -finally rounded up, that they seriously suspected we had come by an -‘underground’ route. - -We were afraid that the bey would hurry into Kotchana and inform the -authorities that two strange Franks had passed, but as long as we could -see him he still maintained his post, watching his women work. About -three hours later, however, while we were enjoying a refreshing and -much-needed wash in a cool mountain stream, Alexander keeping watch, a -cavalry patrol of half a dozen men came up at full gallop. We had just -time to duck behind a sandbank, almost beneath their horses’ hoofs. - -Towards midday Sandy waxed mutinous. He was a most submissive servant -while we travelled like gentlemen, but his spirit rankled under the -dangers into which he was led like a lamb. ‘If you are killed,’ he -would frequently remark, ‘your parents will receive much money, but -what will the Turkish Government give my poor mother?’ We had not been -fair to Sandy. - -In skirting Vinitza the boy lay down in a corn patch and refused to -budge. The soles had again gone from his shoes, and now the soul could -go from his body. He was resigned; all Bulgarians must be martyrs. The -Turks could take him. - -Threats availed nothing; pleading was of no use. Finally we took his -pack and carried it as well as our own, and promised to get a horse -for him, by pay or intimidation, from the first unarmed Bulgarian we -encountered. On this condition he struggled to his feet. Poor Sandy! -the worst, for him, had not yet come. - -The peasants along our route this day were numerous, for it was -market day at Vinitza, and we had no difficulty in hiring a horse -for Alexander. Then, however, we became too conspicuous. We gathered -fellow-travellers to the number of probably fifty, both Bulgars and -Turks, who asked the usual innumerable questions. Sandy, in spite of -all admonitions, would tell all he knew to whoever asked. We heard -him say ‘Skopia,’ ‘Palanka,’ ‘Kratovo’ in his soft Slav way. We cussed -Sandy, and he lied. He said he had not told them whence we had come. -But he knew no more than the natives whither we were bound! - -A party of Turkish peasants, much armed, spurned Sandy, and would speak -with us direct. When they discovered their dilemma their tone became -surly and insulting. - -We passed through a long, narrow defile most fragrant with honeysuckle -and wild roses, and occasional cool breaths from the pines on the -slopes above came down to us. A sense of peace pervaded the place, -and, growing accustomed to our company, we enjoyed the relief of a -comparatively good road and no towns or encampments. But the pass came -to an abrupt termination, and there at its mouth sat a band of twenty -soldiers! For a few minutes things looked rather nasty, but our British -and American passports, with their huge red seals, were so impressive -to the ignorant soldiers that they feared to lay hands on us. They -asked whither we were going, and we replied, ‘Towards Pechovo.’ But on -falling behind the next hill in that direction we deserted our peasant -following and struck off on our own route. - -This was the longest day’s track we made. We covered thirty miles -in ten hours; during which our midday meal was off a loaf of bread -bought for a metaleek from a peasant Turk. I gave him a piastre and he -insisted on giving me change. - -We encountered a Bulgarian who lived on a hillside about an hour off, -joined him, and wended our way to his hut for our last night in hiding. -I owed the Man of Yorkshire still another mijidieh. - -We slept in the open, under a tree; the hut was too full. - -We rose very early in the morning and started off on three miserable -ponies gathered by our host from neighbouring mountain men. We had -hardly proceeded two hundred yards when we were challenged by a Turkish -post. A dilapidated blockhouse stood at the foot of the hill on which -we had slept, and our slumbers would not have been so peaceful had -either we or the Turks known of the others’ presence. The soldiers were -unofficered and could not read, and an attitude of assurance, supported -by our red seals, again passed us on. - -The man who accompanied us to bring back the horses had just returned -from Bulgaria, whither he had fled leaving a pretty wife and six small -children. - -‘Brute!’ observed the Man of Yorkshire. - -‘Ah, well! One can always get another wife!’ said Sandy. - -The mountain men had been able to give us only bread to put into our -packs, but as we skirted Tsarevoselo, the peasant--who could enter -the place without being noticed--went in and procured two large lumps -of sugar. Sweetened bread and cool water from a fall made our lunch; -after which we plodded on, until an hour after nightfall we entered -Djuma-bala. - -[Illustration: THE TURKISH QUARTER: DJUMA-BALA.] - -‘How long do you give the police?’ asked the Man of Yorkshire. - -‘Fifteen minutes,’ I replied. - -The first of them arrived in five. - - * * * * * - -We had done half our journey--the hardest half. We were certain of the -rest. We expected some difficulty with the Turks, and we had much. - -Sandy disappeared. We knew where to look for him. We went to the -gaol and demanded his release. And the Turks released him. They were -positive that he was the committaji who had brought us through their -country, and they refused to let him proceed with us. After discussion -by wire--which required several days--instructions came from our old -friend Hilmi Pasha to send us back, without our Sandy. But we refused -to go without Sandy. This deadlock lasted for a week. Meanwhile we -telegraphed to the British Consul-General at Salonica, signing the -telegrams in one instance ‘Moore and Booth,’ in another ‘Booth and -Moore.’ Translated into Turkish the signatures arrived at the Consulate -‘Mor-o-bos’ in one case, ‘Bot-o-more’ in the other. We were known to -our friends by these names thereafter. - -The Consul visited Hilmi Pasha (who was then in Salonica), and got -permission for us to proceed with our dragoman. Hilmi had some hard -words for us, the least of which were ‘Ces vagabonds!’ - -We received a telegram in Turkish from the Consul, and took it to -the kaimakam for interpretation. The kaimakam read, ‘Monsieur Boot -et Monsieur Mo-ré, you may depart for Drama, as you desire, but your -interpreter must be left behind.’ - -We felt somewhat sick. - -Another telegram to the Consul-General. - -The reply came at midnight. In the morning we took it to a Christian. -We told him nothing of the kaimakam’s interpretation of the first. He -puzzled over the characters for a few minutes, then wrote in French, -‘Telegraphed to you yesterday, Hilmi Pasha gives permission to proceed -to Drama and take interpreter.’ - -We went back to the kaimakam. He offered us chairs, but we declined to -sit. He offered us cigarettes, and we declined them. - -‘Kaimakam Bey,’ said we, ‘we are going out of here to-morrow morning -and our interpreter is going with us. Good-morning.’ - -We turned on our heels and left without salaaming to the bey or to any -of his sitting satellites. - -The kaimakam jumped to his feet and followed us to the door shouting, -‘Ce n’est pas ma faute, messieurs. Ce n’est pas ma faute!’ - -An hour later an officer who had been attached to us during our sojourn -at Djuma was ushered in by Sandy. He came to present the kaimakam’s -compliments and to say that by a strange coincidence the permission we -sought had just arrived from the Governor-General. - -[Illustration: RUINS OF KREMEN.] - -We rode away from Djuma-bala with a large escort, and made our way -slowly through the wildest and most beautiful mountains I have ever -seen. We worked around Perim Dagh to Mahomia; spent a night at Bansko, -where Miss Stone had been ransomed; passed through the ruins of Kremen, -the scene of a wicked massacre; dropped down the river Mesta by a -long-untrodden path; crossed a trackless lava formation of many miles -that resembled a vast boneyard of giant skulls and scattered skeletons. -The trail was hard, and it took four days to get to Drama. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -THE TRAIL OF THE INSURGENT - - -The Consuls and two newspaper correspondents cordoned at the storm -centre received comprehensive and accurate reports of what was -happening in the surrounding country through a secret emissary of -the revolutionary committee. This envoy extraordinary, pleading his -cause before the foreign representatives at a hostile capital, was -a man of nerve, resource, and careful judgment, as well he had to -be. Besides his other accomplishments, he had a knowledge of three -European languages, French, German, and Italian, and was therefore -able to translate the official insurgent reports from the original -Bulgarian into languages understood of the Consuls. The contents of -these periodical papers were a record of recent activities on the part -of both insurgents and Turks. Combats and massacres were located, and -where possible the numbers of killed and wounded were given. The final -report was a summary of the summer’s work. It announced the razing, -partial or entire, of 120 villages, and stated that 60,000 peasants -in the vilayet of Monastir were homeless. Illustrating the report was -a map which had been drafted by a skilled hand and manifolded by -machine; a key in the corner explained the meanings of the different -intensities of colour in which the villages were marked, from white, -indicating total escape, to black, total effacement. - -The dissemination of such information during the ‘general rising’ -defeated the designs of the lawful administration, and, of course, the -Turkish police were hard on the trail of the enemy in their midst. -Hitherto it had been the practice of the Governor-General (who, like -us, had left Uskub for more active fields) to inform foreign consuls -only of such serious disorders as he could not hope to keep from -them. Until now the number of casualties on the Turkish side in any -single combat had been limited to ‘three killed and two wounded,’ and -the Imperial Ottoman reports invariably defeated the ‘brigands.’ Now -the limit of losses had to be raised, because of consular scepticism -as to their accuracy, but still no record of defeat at the hands of -the insurgents was ever permitted. Insurgent bands seldom numbered -more than a hundred; nevertheless, his Excellency Hilmi Pasha would -occasionally announce a loss to them of several hundreds. Invariably -such a ‘destruction of brigands’ proved on unofficial information -to be a massacre of non-combatants. It annoyed the chief officer of -reforms exceedingly that foreign consuls and correspondents should give -credence to the reports of the insurgents in preference to those of his -office. His worry, however, was only on the score of effect in Europe; -the tacit implication as to his veracity disturbed his excellency -indeed very little. - -A square-jawed Servian of some six-and-twenty years, dressed as a -European with the exception of the fez, entered the Hôtel Belgrade -for a cup of coffee--one act which never attracts suspicion. The café -of the distinguished hostelry was otherwise deserted except for the -Englishman and me. The stranger seated himself near us, looked us over -while he sipped his coffee, then addressed us cautiously. - -‘You are English correspondents?’ he inquired in a low voice in German. - -‘We are,’ said my comprehending companion. - -‘I have a confidential communication to make. Will you take me to your -room?’ - -We went to the Englishman’s room, and the Servian explained his -mission; whereupon he opened the door and called in a boy, not over -fifteen, clad in a Greek gabardine, and carrying a basket of eggs. - -This was our first meeting with the agent of the revolutionary -committee. Of course, the papers meant for us were among the eggs. - -For many weeks thereafter the envoy extraordinary and his youthful -first secretary delivered the incriminating documents, but seldom twice -in the same manner. - -One day we received a message asking us to meet the insurgent at a -certain house within the hour; the case was imperative. We made our way -to the place indicated, and there received the revolutionist’s report -with the map already mentioned. The man apologised for being unable -to bring his final paper to us, and continued, ‘I must not be seen in -the street to-day. They have my brother. They came to the house this -morning while I was out and took him. The boy found me, and warned me -not to return. For me it is fortunate that my work here is done.’ - -We never saw the Servian committaji again, and do not know that he -eluded his pursuers; perhaps they were too close on his trail. - -Monastir was thronged with Turkish warriors, Albanians, Anatolians, -and European Turks, soldiers and bashi-bazouks, hale men and halt men; -a one-armed soldier and a hump-backed dwarf carried guns, Turk and -Turk alike. The vast barracks was overcrowded, tents stretched across -the parade ground, otherwise seldom utilised, and climbed high up the -mountain behind the caserne. The military hospital was surrounded -by tents. A certain subdued delight fills the breast of the gentle -Turk, and renders the combative Albanian loyal to the Padisha, when -the native _rajah_ gives cause for castigation. There is glory for -Mohamed in the despatch of an infidel, and material profit in the -plunder reaped.[6] Nearly a hundred thousand Albanian and Turkish -soldiers were crowded into the Monastir vilayet to ‘repress’ the ‘armed -insurrection,’ and such resident Mohamedans as were not called to the -colours sharpened their yataghans and joined unorganised in the work of -the army. - -With this force on the warpath the town became quiet. Such Bulgarians -as had not gone to the mountains became Greeks or Servians, and for -a time the race disappeared from the streets. Greeks and Vlachs also -kept close to their houses, and some days only soldiers selling plunder -held the market place. The army commandeered the better pack-animals -and teams as they appeared on the streets, paying for them in paper -promises--in consequence whereof all fit animals were soon kept -stabled. Honest toil ceased, and only the labour of the struggle -continued. In the early morning, before the town stirred, detachments -of troops started for the mountains with many pack-ponies, each laden -with four ample tins of petroleum. At night, when Monastir was still -again, the pack-ponies came back--bringing in the wounded of the Turks. - -The revolutionary committee had declared the ‘general rising’ of -the peasants with less than ten thousand rifles of all patterns,[7] -a meagre force with which to contest the Ottoman authority, and a -poor result for the price that had been paid in men and morals. The -insurgents had been gathering arms for several years. Many murders -had been committed in Macedonia in the forced collection of levied -assessments, and some had taken place in Bulgaria; many massacres of -innocent peasants had been brought about in the Turkish search for -arms; many insurgents had given their lives fetching the arms from -friendly and hostile frontiers.[8] - -The high chiefs of the committee never expected to defeat the Turks -with their inadequate force of untrained peasants; their purpose was to -provoke the Sultan to set his soldiers upon the Christians. They were -willing to pay the lives of many thousands of their brother Macedonians -for the accomplishment of their desire--the country’s autonomy. They -were fanatics. The Turks called them Christian fanatics, but it was -not only the insurgents who were frenzied; probably 40,000 men, women, -and children, the entire population of many villages, went to the -mountains unarmed. This was the general rising. And all the Bulgarians -who remained in their villages, and many other Macedonians, gave their -whole sympathy to the cause of the committajis. - -The revolution was declared in the vilayet of Monastir, among other -reasons, because of a specific design upon the Greek communities. You -have seen in a previous chapter how the Turks at repression recognised -no difference between Greeks and Bulgarians, massacring both alike, -even though the Greek clergy had some assurance that Bulgarians alone -would be ‘repressed.’ The insurgents understood the Turk better. They -laid deliberate plans to draw him down upon the communities of hostile -politics. By capturing lightly garrisoned towns whose inhabitants -adhered to the Greek Church, putting the Turkish soldiers to death, -they drew the Turks in force to the retaking of these places, whence -they (the insurgents) would cautiously withdraw, leaving the ‘Greeks’ -to the vengeance of the Mohamedans. They argued that measure must -be met by measure; Greek priests converted by threatening Bulgarian -peasants with the Turk. - -A storm of protest came from Athens, directed chiefly against one -Bakhtiar Pasha, simultaneously commander of the most bloodthirsty body -of soldiers and the most rapacious band of bashi-bazouks, who put to -the sword and the torch both exarchist and patriarchist community. -With the support of ambassadors of the Powers, the Greek Minister at -Constantinople demanded the immediate relief of this general from -his command ‘in the interest and honour of the Turkish army’; and -the Sultan, always tractable under pressure, promised to punish the -offending pasha. Forthwith the deviceful monarch despatched a special -messenger from Constantinople to Monastir, bearing congratulations and -the Order of the Mijidieh in diamonds for Bakhtiar the Brave. - -But there came a day when Abdul Hamid kept a promise. Two ‘Greek’ -towns, Nevaska and Klissura, were captured by insurgents and the -Turkish garrison put to death. Some time elapsed before the Turks -saw fit to retake the towns, and during the interval the Sultan was -persuaded not ‘to further alienate Greek sympathies.’ - -[Illustration: A TURKISH BAND LEAVING MONASTIR.] - -[Illustration: BASHI-BAZOUKS.] - -At the approach of a strong body of Turks the insurgents retired, and -the soldiers entered the town in military order, blades sheathed, and -leading no asses laden with petroleum.[9] - -But massacre and the burning of villages continued, and refugees -entered Monastir in large numbers, some coming in alone, others -travelling in companies. Several hundred women and children who arrived -from Smelivo, one of Bakhtiar’s ‘victories,’ were driven back from -Monastir by troops, though without further reduction of their numbers. -The news of this came to the Consuls in a very few hours, and the -Austrian, who was most active, visited the Governor-General at once and -protested; whereupon the survivors of Smelivo were allowed to enter -Monastir. - -One day a woman among the refugees went to Herr Kraal and asked him to -obtain the release of a son, whom she had thought dead, but had seen -alive in the custody of certain Turks. The Consul caused his dragoman -to ascertain where the boy was kept, and on learning the exact house, -he called on Hilmi Pasha and stated the case. His excellency was -horrified at such a charge against a Turk. For what purpose would a -Mohamedan steal a Christian child? The Consul gave the Governor-General -the location of the house, and threatened to send his dragoman and -kavasses to release the child unless the police were put to the job at -once. An Austrian dragoman accompanied the Turkish police; the boy was -found and restored to his mother. - -There was a Greek in Monastir known as a professional redeemer -of stolen Christians. Through the instrumentality of the Greek -Vice-Consul, Jean Dragoumis, this curious character and I were brought -together. I ascertained from him that he had, in a period of twenty -years, participated in the rescue of seventeen of his compatriots. Most -of them were girls and women stolen by force or enticed from their -own homes by Mohamedans. The most recent instance of this fortunately -infrequent practice occurred, the native alleged, during our presence -in Monastir. Two small boys were brought into Monastir by a Turkish -soldier and ‘offered for sale on the market place’ along with other -plunder. A subscription was raised among some Greeks, according to -my informant, and the children were ‘purchased’ from the Turk for -four mijidiehs. ‘Since Herr Kraal has protested,’ said the rescuer of -Christians, ‘orders have been issued that no more stolen children -shall be brought into Monastir.’ Jean Dragoumis himself, a splendid -young Greek, interpreted for me on this occasion. - -It is always difficult in Turkey to know just what is true and what -is false. Even the peasants will attempt, for one consideration -or another, to impose upon the stranger. Sometimes they invent -or embellish incidents simply for vain notoriety, and again with -deliberate intent to prejudice your sympathy. The refugees who came -into Monastir from the surrounding country told some terrible tales. -They told of dead lying unburied by the roadway, where they had been -shot for no other reason than their race--which was undoubtedly -true. They told in many instances of dogs gorging upon the unburied -dead--which is quite probable; the hungry, bread-fed dogs of Turkey -would devour any flesh. They told, in one case, of children having been -thrown alive into a burning lime-kiln--which is possible. They told of -women having been flayed alive--which I do not believe; it is not in -the Turk’s nature to inflict lingering torture. - -My companion and I saw among the refugees in the Greek hospital a -woman whose shoulder had been almost severed from her body with a -single sword slash; another woman whose hand had been cut off with a -sabre--the arm, she said, had held her infant, which was hacked to -pieces at her feet. We saw a small boy who had been shot through the -head, and a small girl who had been stabbed in several places. These -were the most cruel of many cases in the hospital. - -On one occasion we succeeded in entering the Turkish civil hospital, -where there were a number of wounded Bulgarians. In a women’s ward, -where bandaged heads and limbs were in plain evidence, the dutiful -doctor, a Greek, informed us that his patients were all suffering from -‘feminine complaints.’ - -‘But,’ we said, ‘some of them appear to be wounded.’ - -‘Oh, a few,’ replied the loyal servant of the Sultan, ‘must have -attempted to commit suicide. They were found with wounds.’ - -At the barred door of a prison ward, through which we could see -bandaged men, we were told, for variety, that this was the ‘accident’ -ward. We inquired what comprised accidents. - -‘Some fell out of trees, others amputated their own arms while cutting -wood.’ This deviceful M.D. was indeed worthy of the Sultan’s service. - -Towards the close of the revolution a Turkish proclamation addressed to -the peasants in the mountains was placarded throughout the vilayet. It -read, in true Ottoman fashion, in part as follows: - -[Illustration: TURKS ON THE MARCH.] - -‘There is no need to mention how much his Imperial Majesty the Padisha, -our benefactor and enlightened master, desires the prosperity of -the country and the welfare of all his subjects without exception, -sacrificing sleep and quiet day and night, thinking how to perfect his -lofty purposes, and therefore commands the execution of certain -benefits. Everywhere courts are approved and established for the -preservation of the rights of the people; for the guarding of faithful -subjects and the execution of the laws bodies of police and gendarmes -are enlisted; for the saving of life and property guards are appointed; -for the spreading of education schools are opened; roads and bridges -are constructed for the people to carry food and merchandise; as also -are begun everywhere various other needed benefits, and for this end -part of the local income is apportioned.’ - -(‘I have the honour to transmit herewith a translation of the -proclamation to the Bulgarians,’ ran the official report of the British -Consul covering this document. ‘The list of reforms accomplished is -purely illusory!’) - -‘But some evil-minded ones,’ continued the proclamation, ‘not wishing -the people to be benefited by these favours, and regarding only their -own selfish interest, deceive the inhabitants and commit various -repulsive transgressions. There is not the least ground for the -lies and assurances with which the Bulgarians are deceived. All the -civilised people of Europe and elsewhere regard with horror their -deeds, which destroy the peace of the land, and everywhere--with great -impatience--the suppression of these enemies to peace and order is -awaited. The Imperial Government observes with sorrow that many people -still rebel notwithstanding that until now, because of its great -mercy, it has proceeded with marked clemency toward the agitators. -But since the Government cannot coolly see the order of the country -destroyed and the peaceful population subjected to murders and other -evils, it categorically orders the commanders of the troops, wherever -they are sent, to disperse and kill _most severely_ the disturbers -and their followers who still remain in rebellion. Therefore, for the -last time, the Bulgarians who have been deceived and have left their -fireside and their trades are invited to return to their homes and -villages, and those who do not return and run towards the mercy of the -Imperial Government will be punished and _destroyed in the severest -fashion_.’[10] - -The rebels did not run toward the mercy of the Imperial Government, -but many of them, because of their privations with the bands and the -approach of winter, began to return from the mountains to their homes -or the sites of them, seeking on all occasions to avoid the Turkish -troops. I heard an account of how in one instance a party of some -forty men and a hundred women and children received a message from a -detachment of the army promising them safety if they would return to -their village, and with this specific assurance they ventured back. -They were met on the way by the Turks, and the men were manacled and -marched away towards Florina, where, the Turks said, their names would -be recorded and they would then be set free. About half-way to town -they met a larger body of soldiers, commanded by a superior officer, -who demanded why Bulgarians had been made prisoners. No adequate reply -forthcoming, the ranking man gave orders that the peasants should be -put to death forthwith. The troops set upon the handcuffed men, slew -them, and decapitated their bodies. The headless bodies, so the story -goes, were thrown into the stream. What became of the heads none could -say. - -(A photographer at Monastir has, in former years, taken many pictures -of Turkish soldiers and officers standing behind tables on which were -laid the battered heads of Bulgarians and other ‘brigands.’ But heads -are no longer brought into Monastir, and the photographer has been -forbidden to display all pictures of this nature. I was able, however, -to procure some.) - -On a visit to Hilmi Pasha’s office soon after this incident I took -occasion to mention it to his excellency. He was completely ignorant of -the story, and asked me for details. - -‘No, no, Monsieur Moore,’ he declared when I concluded; ‘none of the -Sultan’s men would do such a deed.’ - -‘But your excellency,’ I said, ‘I know that the Metropolitan of Florina -called on the kaimakam and requested him to have the bodies drawn out -of the water and buried. The main facts of the story cannot be denied.’ - -‘Where did you say the Bulgarians were from?’ asked the Governor. - -I consulted my note-book and told him. - -‘There is no such place.’ - -‘Perhaps I have not pronounced the name properly, but the act of -treachery remains,’ I contended. - -‘Ah, yes,’ said Hilmi, ‘the town was ----;[11] I recollect now. -Monsieur Moore, Turks never lie. With your pronunciation and the -error in the figures you gave I did not recognise the affair. There -were sixty Bulgarians killed, not forty. But the deed was not one of -treachery; it happened two days before the Sultan granted pardon to the -rebels.’ - -The inspector-general volunteered some further information on other -affairs, notably that of Krushevo. At first the Turks contended that -the insurgents had burned and pillaged the Vlach town. Now Hilmi Pasha -informed me that bashi-bazouks had done the work. ‘The officers,’ he -said, ‘tried to keep them off the heels of the army, but they were -many, many, and while occupied fighting the insurgents the troops -could not prevent the bashi-bazouks from plundering. I have had thirty -bashi-bazouks arrested, and I have just received a report from one -of my officers stating that four thousand animals, which were driven -off by the bashi-bazouks, have been returned to the inhabitants of -Krushevo.’ - -This statement was both an important admission and an interesting -announcement, and I sent it at once to the _Times_, for which I was -now correspondent. But a few days later on visiting Krushevo I was -compelled to contradict his excellency’s information as to the -return of stolen cattle. - -[Illustration: TURKISH TROOPS.] - -In spite of the efforts of the authorities to suppress the news of -what was happening, and to gull the correspondents, we were able to -collect much valuable information, and through the Consular post to get -our despatches safely to the Servian frontier, whence they were wired -to London uncensored. When the Governor-General learned--_via_ London -and Constantinople--the nature of the reports the correspondents were -sending through, he was much disturbed, and sought to frighten us out -of the country. He sent a communication to Mr. McGregor informing him -that he had received a letter from the committajis announcing that they -intended to assassinate a British consul, a British correspondent, -or an American missionary. The Consul--I use his words--considered -this ‘a step taken by the authorities in order to cast suspicion -on the Bulgarians in the much more likely eventuality of a Turkish -outrage,’ and ‘consequently reminded Hilmi Pasha that, whatever the -nationality of anyone guilty of a crime against a British subject, the -responsibility of the Imperial Government will be the same.’ - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -ON THE TRACK OF THE TURK - - -A rude shaking roused me from my slumbers at the early hour of -4.30 A.M., and I discovered myself in the clutches of a tremendous -Albanian, a skirted fellow wearing wicked weapons. His remarks were -unintelligible to me, but he presented a card containing a few words in -bad English. It was from a consul, a man who gave me much assistance, -and read: - -‘Be ready for ten o’clock Turkish; an Albanian which can be trusted -shall bring horses, and you shall be taken to Krushevo.’ - -I surrendered. - -This was the morning after my interview with Hilmi Pasha, at which -I had received the Turkish version of the Krushevo affair. Was I to -defeat the Governor-General again? - -My dragoman and I were ready when the guide arrived, and in less than -eight hours we were ‘taken to Krushevo.’ - -The Monastir Valley was almost deserted. Bridges were down, and we -forded the rivers. Occasionally parties of soldiers and bashi-bazouks -were potting at something, perhaps at peasants. Near Krushevo we -passed Turks on the road, some carrying short adzes and axes in their -sashes, as the Albanian wears his yataghan; others bore hand-pumps of -reed. - -Our difficulties were not serious. We traversed the long plain without -mishap, and began at noon to climb the tall mountain to the Vlach town -in the sky. - -A party of Albanians drove pack-animals to the ruins of a Greek -monastery half-way up the mountain, to gather the petroleum tins, still -lying about the walls. There were tracks of the Turks everywhere. Here -a company had camped, there a battery had been posted, across a fissure -in the mountain Adam Aga’s bashi-bazouks had divided booty; barricades -of stone where the tents had been, earthworks for the guns, the carcase -of a stolen ass, killed to settle dispute between Moslem claimants. -There was trace of the insurgents, too; a dozen Turkish graves on a -level bank, around them a score of black ghosts, the wives of the slain -officials. - -We reached the ruins of the guardhouse at the high point in the road -and dropped into the wrecked town; there was not a moment to lose. Our -stay in Krushevo was of doubtful duration; how long we could avoid the -clutches of the garrison was a question. There was yet daylight, and -the use of the camera might be restricted to-morrow. A Turk saw me hand -over my tired horse and anxiously unstrap my kodak. He knew what it -was, and told me not to use it. But this took a minute to translate, -and my instrument but a second to snap. He was a mild-mannered man, and -instead of taking me in hand himself, he set off to the kaimakam for -instructions, and I plunged into the wreckage, lost to him for an hour. - -Natives in long gabardines and fezzes emerged from holes and hollow -walls and followed me. A young girl spoke English; she attended the -mission school at Monastir. A Vlach home from Rome to marry also spoke -English. He and his sweetheart had survived, though they had lost -everything they had. The insurgents had made him pay fifty pounds -(Turkish), for which he held a paper note redeemable with interest by -the Principality of Macedonia! Another Vlach invited me to his home, -which the Turks had not visited till the petroleum gave out; it was, -therefore, only pillaged. - -The doors were splintered where the adzes had been applied. The -house was bare, stripped of every rug. A rough wooden table had been -constructed of a barn door and blocks of wood. The younger members of -the family were sent scurrying to the neighbours. From one came a bowl, -from another two iron forks and a spoon, which had been saved from the -Turks. We got a supper, all eating from the big bowl, the family with -their fingers. - -We spent the night here. It was a memorable night. - -The house stood high upon a rock and overlooked the area of hollow -walls. Ruined Vlachs slunk in through the night, sat with us on the -balcony, and, whispering, told us the tale of their city. In the dim -light of a crescent moon they pointed out the Konak where the Turks had -been killed, the woods above where the spies had been executed, the -Greek school which the insurgents had used as Government offices, and -‘Hell Hole,’ still containing bodies. - -Once the Vlachs stopped abruptly and changed the subject to England. -What sort of a place was Angleterre? - -‘A pretty good place,’ I replied, ‘but you should see America.’ - -‘They are the same country.’ - -I reverted to Krushevo. - -The Vlach who spoke English interrupted: - -‘The man who has just arrived is a spy.’ - -The Vlach traitor knew he was known, and looked sheepish. He did not -remain long, and I got the rest of the account that night, making notes -in the dark. - -This is the story of Krushevo: - -Just after midnight on the morning of August 2, 1903 (this was the -day that the general rising was proclaimed), a rattle of rifles and a -prolonged hurrahing broke the quiet of the peaceful mountain town. Some -three hundred insurgents under ‘Peto-the-Vlach’ and four other leaders -had taken the town by surprise. In the little rock-built caserne were -fifteen Turkish soldiers, and in the Konak and private houses were ten -or twelve Turkish officials and their families and a few soldiers. The -inhabitants of the town were Christians, Wallachians (or Vlachs) in -the majority, and a colony of Bulgarians. The soldiers were able to -grab their rifles and escape from the caserne, killing eight or more -insurgents as they fled. The night was black, and a steep, rocky slope -behind the building lent an easy exit. The Turkish telegraph clerk -likewise escaped; but the Government officials who were in the town -died to a man. The kaimakam was absent on a visit to Monastir. - -After surrounding the Government buildings to prevent the escape of the -Turks, the insurgents broke into the shops and appropriated all the -petroleum they could find. This they pumped on the Konak, the caserne, -and the telegraph offices with the municipal fire-pump, and applied the -torch. From fifteen to twenty Turkish soldiers and officials were shot -down as they emerged from the flames; but the women and children were -given safe escort to a Vlach house, with the exception of one woman and -a girl who fell as they came out. Whether they were shot by accident or -intention on the part of a committaji is not known. - -The flames spread, and a dozen private houses and stores were burned -with the Turkish buildings. Some, I believe, were set afire to light -the Konak and make certain the death of the Turks. - -In the morning the insurgents placed red flags about the town and -formed a provisional Government, appointing a commission of the -inhabitants, consisting of two Bulgarians and three Wallachians, ‘to -provide for the needs of the day and current affairs.’ Without -instruction all the inhabitants discarded the fez. - -[Illustration: VLACHS.] - -Three chiefs of bands were appointed, a military commission, whose -duties were drastic. Their first act was to condemn to death two ardent -Patriarchists who had spied for the Turks on the organisation and -preparations of the local committee for insurrection in the district. -The men were made prisoners, taken into the woods, and slain. - -On the first day the insurgents made a house-to-house visitation -and requested donations of food, and later required any lead that -could be moulded into rifle balls. More bands arrived, and a number -of Bulgarians and Wallachs of the town joined the insurgent ranks, -altogether augmenting the number to over six hundred. They began at -once to raise fortifications, and made two wooden cannon such as had -been used in the Bulgarian revolt of the ’seventies. The cannon were -worthless, and were left to the Turks, who brought one of them into -Monastir. - -On the second day the men of the town who possessed wealth were -summoned to appear before the military commission. A list had been made -(the information given by members of the organisation whose homes were -in Krushevo) of the standing and approximate wealth of each ‘notable’ -in the community. As these headmen appeared before the triumvirate a -sum in proportion to his means was demanded from each. No protests -and no pleading affected the commission, and in every instance the -money was forthcoming within the time limit. More than 1,000_l._ was -collected in this way, and in exchange was given printed paper money, -redeemable at the liberation of Macedonia. - -On the following Sunday the priests of both the Greek and the Bulgarian -churches were ordered to hold a requiem for the repose of the souls of -the committajis who had fallen in the capture of Krushevo. Detachments -of insurgents were present, in arms, and gave the service a strange -military tone. Open-air meetings were held on the same day, and the -people were addressed by the leaders of the bands. - -During the ten days of the insurgent occupation sentinels and patrols -saw to the order and tranquillity of the town, and no cruelties were -committed. Business, however, was paralysed. The market place was -closed and provisions diminished; and attempts to introduce flour -failed, the emissaries to the neighbouring villages being stopped by -Turkish soldiers and bashi-bazouks, who were gathering about the town. - -The news of the capture of Krushevo reached Monastir August 3, but not -until nine days later was an attempt made to retake the place. By that -time three thousand soldiers, with eighteen cannon, had been assembled. -About the town, also, were three or four thousand bashi-bazouks from -Turkish villages in the neighbourhood. - -When the guns were in position on favourable heights above the town, -Bakhtiar Pasha, the commander of the troops, sent down a written -message asking the insurgents to surrender. The insurgents refused, -and an artillery fire was begun. Most of the insurgents then escaped -through a thick wood which appeared to have been left open for them, -but some took up favourable positions on the mountain roads leading -into the town, others occupied barricaded buildings in the outskirts, -and resisted the Turks for awhile. Two of the leaders, Peto and -Ivanoff, died fighting. - -Peto-the-Vlach was a picturesque character. He was thirty-five years -of age, a native of Krushevo. He had been fighting the Turks for -seventeen years. He was made prisoner in 1886 and exiled to Asia Minor. -But benefiting by one of the frequent general amnesties he returned -to Macedonia, rejoined the insurrectionary movement, and led the -organisation of Krushevo and the neighbouring district. - -At a conference of the leaders immediately prior to the Turkish attack, -Peto declared that he would never surrender his town back to the -oppressor; the others could escape if they would, the Turks could not -again enter Krushevo except over his dead body. With eighteen men who -elected to die with him, he took up a position by the main road and -held it for five hours. It is said that he shot himself with his last -cartridge, rather than fall into the hands of the Turks. - -The natives put on their fezzes again, and a delegation of notables -bearing a white flag went out to the camp of Bakhtiar Pasha to -surrender the town. On their way they were stopped by the soldiers -and bashi-bazouks and made to empty their pockets. Further on more -Turks, whose rapacity had been less satisfied, demanded the clothes -and shoes they wore. Arriving at headquarters of the general, situated -on an eminence from which there was a full view of the proceedings, -the representative citizens, left with barely cloth to cover their -loins, offered a protest along with the surrender. Bakhtiar had their -clothes returned to them, and told them he could do nothing with ‘those -bashi-bazouks’--though beside him sat Adam Aga, a notorious scoundrel -of Prelip, who had brought up the largest detachment of bashi-bazouks, -and with whom, subsequently, Bakhtiar is said to have shared the -proceeds of the loot. - -The Turks entered the town in droves ready for their work, rushing, -shouting, and shooting. The bashi-bazouks knew the town, its richest -stores and wealthiest houses; they had dealt with the Vlachs on market -day for years. They knew that the Patriarchist church was the richest -in Macedonia. The carving on the altar was particularly costly, and -there were rich silk vestments and robes, silver candlesticks and -Communion service, and fine bronze crosses. They went to this church -first. Its doors were battered down in a mad rush, and in a few minutes -it was stripped by the frenzied creatures to the very crucifixes. Then -a barrel of oil was emptied into it and squirted upon its walls; the -torch was applied, and the first flames in the sack of Krushevo burst -forth. - -The Greek church was on the market place among the shops. The Turks who -were not fortunate enough to get into the church went to work on the -stores. Door after door was cut through with adzes, the shops rifled of -their contents, and then ignited as the church had been. Two hundred -and three shops and three hundred and sixty-six private houses were -pillaged and burned, and six hundred others were simply rifled--because -the petroleum gave out. - -Some of the inhabitants escaped from their homes and fled into the -woods. Turks outside the town met them and took from them any money -or valuables they had, and good clothes were taken from their backs. -A few pretty girls are said to have been carried off to the camps of -the soldiers. But the Turks were mostly bent on loot. The people who -remained in their homes were threatened with death unless they revealed -where they had hidden their treasure. Infants were snatched from their -mothers’ breasts, held at arm’s length, and threatened with the sword. - -Krushevo, with its thrifty Wallachian population, was the wealthiest -city in Macedonia. It was not many hours’ ride from the railway -terminus at Monastir, and, for the purpose of making this journey, -many of the Vlachs possessed private carriages. There were pack and -draught animals and cattle to the number of many thousands. The Turks -appropriated these, drove off the cattle in herds, and loaded the -spoils from the stores and homes in the carriages and carts, and on the -backs of the Vlachs’ pack-animals. Seven thousand animals were taken by -the Turks--and not one went back. - -This work went on for forty-eight hours. The first night was -demoniacal. Three hundred houses were in flames, and dashing in -and out among them were yelling fiends, firing rifles, slashing -Christians who happened to be in their way, fighting among themselves, -breaking in doors, splashing oil and firing houses, loading waggons -and pack-animals. Money, jewellery, silver plate, linen, furniture, -bedding, clothes, carpets went away to the Turkish villages in the -neighbourhood. - -Vlachs are rich and thrifty, Turks indolent and poor. They are pleased -when the Sultan issues orders to suppress giaours. - -Krushevo was built on rock in a slight depression in the top of a -range of mountains. The houses were constructed solidly of stone, with -thick slate roofs all cut from the mountain-side. Hilmi Pasha had -explained to me that the ‘unfortunate’ conflagration was caused by the -explosion of shells, which, he argued, any civilised nation would have -employed in capturing the town. Every house in Krushevo was ignited -individually. The gates of six hundred houses which suffered only -pillage bore the hacks of adzes and axes. Soldiers and bashi-bazouks, -holding hands--as Turks do--still lurked about with their adzes in -their belts. On the walls, most of which still stood, stains of -petroleum trailed down. I entered one house through which two cannon -balls had passed. But there was not a mark of flame as a result. - -The sacking of Krushevo made a deep impression in Monastir, where -the news soon arrived, and instructions came back to the Turkish -commander to secure a paper signed by all the townsfolk declaring that -the work had been done by the insurgents. A few of the inhabitants -signed from fright, but most of the Vlachs were not intimidated. -The Governor-General concocted a story to tell foreign consuls and -correspondents. - -A strange fact which puzzled many was that, with the exception of the -Bulgarian church, no section of the Bulgarian quarter was plundered. -It was said by the Greeks--who tried by every means to incriminate -the insurgents--that the leaders of the bands bought immunity for -the Bulgarian inhabitants by a payment to Bakhtiar Pasha of the -money they had collected from the Vlachs. But this widely circulated -statement, which went out from Athens, could hardly be true. That -such a negotiation could have been conducted at such a moment is -hardly probable. The ranks of the insurgents were largely filled by -Wallachians; the insurgents had lost two hundred men in resisting the -Turks; it is doubtful that the leaders could have got alive to close -quarters with Bakhtiar Pasha; and most doubtful of all is that the Turk -would have respected any terms made with the committajis. The reason -that the Bulgarian houses were not entered is either that the Turks -dreaded dynamite or that the poorer Bulgarian quarter was not worth -plundering; perhaps both these reasons applied. It was well known to -the Turks that the Bulgarians, who are small farmers, sheep raisers, -and labourers, were miserably poor; while the Wallachs, who travelled -as far as Salonica, were mostly merchants and comparatively well to do. - -The soldiers, having captured no insurgents, made prisoners of 116 -innocent Vlachs, chained them together, two by two, and marched them to -Monastir, taking along a wooden cannon as evidence of their guilt. On -the road they brained five men. The surviving prisoners were at once -released, through consular intervention, I think. - -After remaining in the woods for two days the terror-stricken people -who had escaped from the town began to return. They found bodies of -their relatives and friends lying about the streets, Turkish dogs, I -was told, gorging upon them. The people sought to bury their dead, -but that was not generally permitted. With some exceptions the bodies -were gathered by the soldiers and thrown into shallow trenches in the -streets. But this was done with no thoroughness, and three weeks after -the recapture I saw in a dry canal, which ran through the town under -many of the houses, thigh bones and backbones, ribs, and skulls, picked -clean. Many of the inhabitants had hidden in this partly covered ‘hell -hole,’ and some, driven out by chills and the pangs of hunger, had been -shot on emerging. - -[Illustration: ‘HELL HOLE,’ KRUSHEVO.] - -The drug store of the town had been sacked and burned, and the doctor -who owned it had been killed. A young and less efficient medical man -was left alone to care for 150 wounded. The Roman Catholic sisters at -Monastir applied to Hilmi Pasha for permission to go to the relief of -Krushevo and take medicines. But they had told foreign consuls and -correspondents what they had seen at Armensko, and Hilmi replied, in -Mohamedan fashion, ‘Those who will die, will die, and those who will -live, will live.’ - -I attempted to enter some of the Bulgarian homes at Krushevo, but they -were still tightly barred. The inmates pleaded with me to pass on lest -the Turks should come after me and punish them for telling tales. But -the Vlachs were bolder; they besought me to enter and see the havoc -the Turks had wrought, to see the wounded women, children, and infants -lying on the floors, their injuries barely tended, the wounds of many -mortifying, as the stench told too well. And men, women, and children -died from wounds not vital. - -Each evening at sundown the awful stillness of Krushevo was shocked by -three long-drawn, triumphant shouts from a thousand throats. They were -Turkish cheers at evening prayer for Abdul Hamid, the Padisha. - -We were mounted ready to leave Krushevo when a native woman came out -of the crowd bringing a small boy. She went up to the interpreter and -spoke to him in a whisper. - -‘She wants you to take the boy back to Monastir,’ said my man. ‘She -says no native is allowed to leave Krushevo, and she wants to get her -boy to a safer place.’ - -‘We can’t do that,’ I replied. I was apprehensive about the journey -back. - -But the woman wept, so I took the boy, and she kissed my hand. He -was about eight years old. He had no luggage but a loaf of heavy -bread, and he wore but a single garment, a gabardine. He sat quietly -behind my saddle and did not bother me much, and towards sundown we -reached Monastir safely. The horses picked their way slowly over the -rough cobble stones. As we wound into a side street the grip about me -loosened, and I turned to see the youngster slip down from the horse. -He waved his hand to me and ran like a hare down a narrow lane. - -‘That is all right,’ said the dragoman, as we went on our way to the -mission. - -We never saw the boy again. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -THE LAST TRAIL - - -Late in September, when the snows began to fall upon the Balkans, the -insurgents called a conference, and Damian Grueff, the supreme chief, -and many of the high chiefs of the Internal Revolutionary Committee, -met on Bigla Dagh. About six hundred committajis were gathered with the -voivodas. A triple line of sentinels cordoned the mountain, and for ten -miles in every direction outposts watched the roads. - -The fighting season was over. The revolution had not accomplished its -purpose; all it had brought about was a beggarly extension of the -Austro-Russian reforms. But there was no use continuing to fight. The -peasants were beginning to return to their villages--or the sites of -them--and what arms they still possessed had better be taken from them -and stored in safe hiding-places for another year. - -The organisation was reduced to a winter status, Damian Grueff -remaining in active command of some sixty bands of a thousand men in -all. The other insurgents were parolled until summoned again. - -The committajis had hoped that the ‘general rising’--or, rather, the -suppression which they foresaw for it--would cause the Powers of -Europe to make Macedonia autonomous. They put most of their faith in -the sympathy of Great Britain, and in this they made no mistake--though -Great Britain has tried for a long time to sympathise with the Turks. -At the wanton suppression of the feeble rising it was the British -Government that advocated the delivery of the province from Turkish -control. Austria and Russia, on the contrary, and especially Russia, -urged upon the Turkish Government the necessity of a rapid and thorough -repression of the rising, and warned Bulgaria early and often against -entering into the conflict. - -It was announced during the revolution that the Russian Czar and the -Austrian Emperor would meet, together with their Foreign Ministers, -at Murzsteg; and to this conference the Bulgarians attached much hope -until it was declared from Vienna and St. Petersburg that the interview -of the Emperors would in no way alter their Macedonian programme. - -The programme was altered, however, as a compromise with Lord -Lansdowne. The British Foreign Minister, with support from the -Governments of Italy and France, proposed to the Austrian and Russian -Foreign Ministers, while at Murzsteg, that Macedonia be placed under -the control of a governor-general independent of the Sultan and -responsible to the Powers alone. The Austro-Russian alliance objected -to this, but, in spite of previous declarations to the contrary, agreed -to extend their scheme of reforms. - -The Murzsteg programme, as the new scheme is known, provided for -the appointment of two civil agents, one Austrian and one Russian, -to ‘assist’ Hilmi Pasha; for the appointment of foreign officers to -reform the Turkish gendarmerie; and for taxation, financial, and other -reforms. The two most interested Powers would have employed only -Austrian and Russian officers to reorganise the Turkish gendarmerie, -but Italy and Great Britain insisted on participating in this work, and -each of them, as well as France, sent a contingent of five officers and -a chief to Turkey. Germany, in consideration of the Sultan, who opposed -this reform desperately, declined to detail a staff. - -The Russian civil agents (the first was withdrawn) have both been men -with Russian ideas of government. The Austrians (the first of whom -died) have been without sufficient support from Vienna. Hilmi Pasha -remains absolute governor of the Rumelian provinces, and the second -Austro-Russian programme remains at this writing, April 1906, little -more effective than the first. Except in the district of Drama, where -the British officers operate, there is little change in the condition -of Macedonia. Soldiers and civil officials, left unpaid, continue -their work of plunder and extortion, murders are numerous, and minor -massacres take place from time to time; the insurgents maintain -their organisation, skeleton bands continue to roam the country, and -occasionally fights occur. - -During 1905 Lord Lansdowne again pressed for effective measures of -reform. The Italian and French Governments again gave him some -support. Towards the end of the year Austria and Russia ‘invited’ the -other Powers to participate in an international naval demonstration to -wrest from the Sultan financial autonomy for Macedonia. The British -Foreign Office at once agreed to participate, and proposed that the -demonstration should exact also effective reforms in the judicial -administration of Macedonia, but the two most interested Powers again -opposed whole-hearted measures. Germany advised the Sultan to accede, -but would send no ships. - - * * * * * - -After the conference on Bigla Dagh, the voivodas, with their bands, -separated, bound in different directions on various missions. Boris -Sarafoff, with ninety men, dropped south from Bigla Dagh around Florina -to convey news of the revolution’s end to certain other bands, and -to gather arms from the peasants. The band were destined ultimately -to return to Bulgaria, 120 miles away; but they were doomed to cover -several times this distance, spending thirty-four days, on the march -back to the free land. - -They now avoided encounters with the Turks, travelled by night and -rested by day. At the limit of each revolutionary district the band -were met by a guide, who conducted them on to the next. They found the -local organisations, disarmed the ‘irregulars,’ and secreted the rifles -and munitions. They dropped almost due south, passing along the crest -of the mountain range to the east of Lake Presba, which Bakhtiar -Pasha’s forces were then ‘driving’; but Sarafoff, with several other -bands, slipped through and proceeded in safety down around Florina, -then up across the Monastir-Salonica railway, and north by a zigzag -trail past Prelip to the Vardar above Kuprili. - -[Illustration: THE MACEDONIAN.] - -At the side of the Vardar runs the railway from Servia to Salonica, -utilising the cuts the water has made in centuries of flow through the -mountains. At every mile-post along the railway was a military camp or -a blockhouse. Here was the first failure of the organisation. - -The local guide did not appear at the appointed meeting-place, and the -band waited in vain. What happened to the peasant was never known, but -shortly after the appointed hour several voices were heard. Lest the -party who were approaching should be Turks, the insurgents took the -precaution to remain silent. - -The voices became distinct, and the insurgents were relieved to hear -the Bulgarian tongue. One of Sarafoff’s lieutenants, named Detcheff, -also an ex-Bulgarian officer, was sent out to meet the newcomers. A -call of ‘Halt!’ was heard, and in quick succession the crack of several -rifles. Detcheff did not return. - -The number of the enemy was evidently small, and they took themselves -off hurriedly in the direction they had come. The band were much -attached to Detcheff, and hotheads among the men were for following the -Turks; but Sarafoff, seeing the folly and danger of this, led them off -at once towards the river, travelling fast to escape possible trackers. - -It was difficult marching in the dark without a man who knew the -ground, and the insurgents dared not light a match to look at a map. -Suddenly the band came to the edge of a yawning chasm. A stout rope -which they carried was unrolled and slung around a tree, both ends -trailing down the precipice. Two by two, one on each line of the rope, -the men dropped down to a watercourse below. Then one end of the rope -was pulled, and the other went up around the tree, and fell. The rope -had to be saved. - -The insurgents arrived at the river before morning, but did not dare -to cross without a survey. They laid themselves down on an elevation -covered with a thick growth of shrub, speaking only in whispers -throughout the next day. It was a tantalising day, for every half-hour -a patrol of Asiatic or Albanian soldiers would pass at a languid -pace--and an enticing range--along the railway below. The hiding-place -of the band overlooked the river and the railway for about a mile in -each direction, and, with the aid of Austrian military maps, Sarafoff -planned his crossing and the route to be taken thereafter. - -To the south, about half a mile away, was a camp of half a dozen -tents guarding a bridge; to the north, about a quarter of a mile, was -another, of tents and brush huts. Almost immediately below the band was -a narrow, walled waterway which carried flood-water from the mountain, -down under the tracks into the river. The waterway was now dry. - -The night train passed south about nine o’clock. Then the Turks relaxed -their vigilance. And there was about two hours left before the moon -rose. As soon as the puff of the engine had died away in the distance, -two strong swimmers descended to the river with the rope and fastened -it securely from one shore to the other. This done, they returned and -informed the chief, and one by one the men climbed down through the -culvert and launched out into the stream. Arriving on the opposite -bank, they scurried into the woods. Four of the men, more fastidious -than the others, took off their clothes to make the passage, and -attempted to hold them, with their guns, over their heads. The Vardar -is not very deep, but its current is terrific, and all four, finding -that they needed both hands to the rope, lost their clothes. This -quartet arrived at the point of reassembling dressed in cartridge -belts; but they had saved these, their guns and dynamite bombs. Very -like Kipling’s warriors who ‘took Lungtungpen naked!’ The other men -suppressed their laughter at the discomfited group only because of the -dangerous proximity of the camp to the north, and made up between them -costumes for the shivering four. - -The last man to cross the stream loosened the rope at the other side, -and two others pulled him over; and the ‘trek’ was immediately renewed. - -Before day dawned, the insurgents drew up at a sheepfold on a -mountain-side. The barking of the dogs woke the old shepherd, who, -discovering the nature of his guests, roused his sheep and drove them -out; and the insurgents crept in under the low brush roofs on to the -warm straw. The insurgents took two sheep and roasted them whole for -their evening meal. - -One morning, by accident, the band lay down to rest within two hundred -yards of a vast camp of soldiers. At sunset, the Mohamedans offered up -the three evening cheers for their Padisha, and the insurgents uttered -three curses upon ‘his Sultanic Majesty.’ - -It had come to be known to the Turks that Sarafoff was making his way -to the Bulgarian border; a reward was offered for his head, and cavalry -patrols were sent out to intercept him. But it was not difficult to -elude these, for the cavalry could not leave the roads; and it broke -the monotony of the days in hiding to watch the patrols pass on the -highways below. - -It is generally with the bands to fight or not to fight; but sometimes -they are surprised by the Turks. Sarafoff and his band succeeded in -eluding the troops until they arrived in the neighbourhood of a little -town named Bouff, where, being worn out with a week’s hard marching, -they elected to rest for thirty-six hours. - -The first day was uneventful, but as the second began to dawn on the -heights one of the pickets, a boy of fourteen, rushed into camp with -the news that the Turks were entering the little valley in which the -insurgents were camped. The boy had hardly delivered this news when a -picket from the summit of the ridge to the east rushed in breathless, -and announced that soldiers were climbing the slope on his side. And -from various other points soon came sentries with similar information. - -The insurgents were about their chief in an instant to hear his -command. Sarafoff had studied the lie of the land overnight, and it -required but a moment for him to decide upon his plan of battle. - -The band were occupying the base of a narrow ‘dip,’ one end of which -was closed by an insurmountable wall of sheer stone, and the other -now blocked by probably two hundred Turkish soldiers. Another body of -Turks, perhaps three hundred strong, were already coming over one of -the two mountain crests. The other slope--the only way of escape open -to the band--was so steep as to be impossible of ascent except by aid -of the low bush that covered it. The surprise was complete, and the -trap was tight. - -There was a huge rock, lodged half-way up the open mountain-side, -which would offer some protection. Sarafoff picked eight men from his -band and started for this boulder, leaving the others, in charge of a -lieutenant, to lie low in the bushes until he and his party attained -the eminence. By climbing fast and taking the shelter of the shrubs, -the nine men got to the rock with the loss of but one of their number. -Not until then did they return the fire of the Turks, now descending -the opposite slope. As soon as the main body of the band heard the fire -of their comrades, they scattered, and started to pick their way up -around the rock to the summit of the peak. It took them two hours to -make the ascent, and during this time some of the Turks wound around -to the right of Sarafoff’s position on the boulder, and a few got far -above him to his left. Between these two raking fires the place would -have been untenable had not the insurgents above kept these parties -of Turks replenishing their numbers every minute. When the Turks -succeeded in picking off three more of Sarafoff’s men, leaving him now -but four--though all of the other insurgents had not yet reached the -point of the peak--he vacated the boulder. The four men scattered, as -the others had done, and scurried up the ascent. All five succeeded -in gaining the little fort at the top, and, without waiting to take -breath, dropped beside the main body, and took up the fusillade which -these had already begun. - -While waiting for Sarafoff, the band had been surrounded. The heights -were a mass of broken boulders which afforded protection to their -enemies as well as to the insurgents. Only one spot, to the south, -was smooth and bare, and this space the Turkish commander took the -precaution not to occupy, for two reasons. First, his men would have -been picked off as fast as they filled it, and the sacrifice evidently -did not appear to him to be necessary; secondly, the opening acted as -a bait for the hard-pressed insurgents, tempting them into the passage, -on each side of which soldiers were massed in strong force. Sarafoff -surmised that this was a trap, and, while realising the hopelessness of -his position, chose to fight it out where the lives of the band would -cost the Turks dearest. - -Until ten o’clock the Turks, certain of success, made no attempt -to storm the position. They had taken up secure places behind -rocks, and keeping up a desultory firing, they awaited the arrival -of reinforcements, for which they had sent to a near-by town. The -reinforcements came--for the sake of speed, in the shape of cavalry -and artillery. The cavalry could not get into action because of the -roughness of the ground, and was deployed as a patrol to prevent any -other band which might be in the neighbourhood from coming to the -relief of Sarafoff. The artillery could not be brought into close -quarters for the same reason, but it was posted on an eminence quite -within range. - -Shortly before noon the cannon opened fire. The target was rather small -and decidedly indefinite, and for nearly an hour the shells went over -or fell short of the insurgent position; but when the artillerymen -finally succeeded in getting the range, the flying splinters of shell -and stone meant certain death to anyone who dared to put his head -above the rocks. The insurgent fire slackened under this hail, and -the Turkish commander, evidently supposing that the band had been -materially reduced in number, ordered an assault from all sides. The -cannon fire was discontinued for fear of working slaughter among the -charging soldiers, and the Turks came forward to the attack, dodging -from rock to rock, and closing in on all sides--except in the space -purposely left open. Sarafoff ordered half of his men to lay down their -guns and prepare their dynamite, and cautioned the others to make -every rifle shot strike its mark. He himself, expecting a hand-to-hand -encounter at the last, laid aside his gun, drew his sword, and strapped -it to his hand. The riflemen did their work well. Turks fell on every -side; but on they came! When the foremost of them got to within twenty -yards of the little fort, the insurgents began to throw their bombs. -The Turks have a terror of the dynamite bomb, and these ‘infernal -machines’ checked their advance for a time. At a lull in the din there -were repeated shouts from the Turks in Bulgarian (which many of them -speak), ‘Lay down your arms and surrender, Sarafoff! the Padisha is -good, and will surely pardon you!’ But the leader had no thought of -allowing himself and his men to fall alive into the hands of the Turks; -his knowledge of how they respect promises to ‘infidels’ precluded any -idea of his accepting the tempting offer. - -It was now after one o’clock. If the band could hold out until -nightfall, there was a slight chance for some of them to cut their way -through the Turkish lines with bombs; but the Turks would certainly -make any sacrifice to storm the position before dark--the great -Sarafoff was cordoned and would not have another opportunity to escape. - -The day was inclement, and thick, black clouds hung over many of the -mountains. Perhaps the Turks longed for one of these to break from its -hold on another peak, and float over to this, for they abated their -fire when a dense, all-enveloping wreath followed this course. Sarafoff -judged that they would storm his shelter in the protecting mist, and -laid his plans accordingly. At the moment that the blackness was -complete, the insurgents began again to cast their dynamite, and kept a -zone about their little fortress hot with exploding shells. The Turks -waited until this cannonade should conclude; but while they waited, -all the insurgents dispersed except Sarafoff and fifteen of his men, -and, each acting for himself, dashed for the open space left by the -Turks with such precision. A pistol was loaded for each of the wounded -men who could not escape, in order that they might blow out their own -brains; and then, lighting the last half-dozen bombs with long fuses, -to hold off the Turks yet a few minutes, Sarafoff gave to the men who -had stayed with him the order to fix bayonets and follow those who had -gone before. - -When night fell, less than fifty men of the original ninety gathered -together in the dense forest on the far side of the mountain appointed -as the place of meeting. They were blackened from smoke, and down some -of the drawn and haggard faces streaks of blood were trickling. Their -throats were parched, and they were famished with hunger, and a few of -them were off their heads with fatigue and excitement, and had to be -gagged. - -They all lay as quiet as mice throughout the night, and the next day -two of the most innocent-looking members of the band, stripped of their -insurgent paraphernalia, and in the garb of ordinary peasants, went -down into Bouff for food. - -When they got to the village, they found it had been visited with the -vengeance of the Turks. On returning to garrison, the Turkish soldiers -passed through Bouff and murdered a few old men and defenceless women -whom they found there (the other inhabitants being still in the -mountains). They fired many of the houses and pillaged the town, and -there was very little of anything valuable left. There was much coarse, -uncooked flour scattered about, and some Indian corn, and of these -commodities the two insurgents collected as much as they could carry -and returned to their comrades. - -At nightfall of the day after the fight the band resumed their march. -The insurgents filed out of the woods in a long, single line, the local -guide leading, and made their way to the edge of the next revolutionary -district, where the chief thereof was awaiting them. They replenished -their spent supply of ammunition from the secret stores of the -villagers in the mountains, and proceeded on their way. Their course -now was to the north-east, and they made tracks for their destination -as straight as the Turkish camps and patrols would permit, arriving -without further adventure at the friendly frontier. - -The Turkish guard would certainly be on the watch for the band, so the -leader decided to cross the border close to one of the smaller posts, -where, he judged, the patrols would be less active, not expecting such -audacity. He selected a passing place within earshot of a blockhouse, -which could be seen plainly in the moonlight. A sentinel sat in Turkish -fashion before the door, wailing a doleful dirge through his nose, -a way Turkish sentinels have. To the time of the Turk’s music the -insurgent band filed over the border, guns loaded and cocked, bayonets -fixed, and arrived in Kustendil, whence to Sofia their march was a -triumphant procession. - - * * * * * - -I received orders late one evening to proceed at once to Sofia -and prepare to accompany the Bulgarian army, which was mobilising -on the Turkish frontier. I was glad to get this order, and obeyed -instructions, though I knew there would be no war. The British Consul -then secured a _passavant_ for me, by which I was described as a man of -a round figure and black moustaches. In a civilised country my identity -would have been challenged, but the instrument passed me over the -Turkish border. - -The streets of Sofia were crowded with committajis, in brown uniforms, -fur caps, white woollen leggings, and sandals. They were mostly members -of General Tzoncheff’s committee who had fought along the Struma. -Later, bands from Grueff’s organisation began to arrive. There were -several leaders who had been prominent in the revolution. I sought -the count again, and, with my old interpreter, spent many hours among -the insurgents. They were generally to be found at the cheaper cafés, -sitting over the rough tables recounting their adventures. It was at a -café that I got the story of Sarafoff’s Trail. - -These soldiers of fortune had become indifferent to everything but -revolution. They did not care how they looked or what they did, and a -worse gang of beggars I never saw. Pride had flown. Work! Not they. -They are hunters of men. - -[Illustration: COMMITTAJIS OFF DUTY.] - - - - -APPENDIX - - -THE MACEDONIAN COMMITTEES - -The following information regarding the Macedonian Committees was -contained in a letter from General Tzoncheff to me. There are some -eliminations, but no alterations in the text.--F. M. - -‘The beginning of the revolutionary movement goes back to the years -1893-94, but its real, substantial work began from 1895. At this -time there were already two organisations--one in Macedonia, which -was revolutionary; the other in Bulgaria, which was legal, open -organisation. - -‘By the very nature of things the legal organisation in Bulgaria -became the representative of the Macedonian cause before Europe. In -accordance with the revolutionary organisation, the legal one worked up -the well-known principles for an autonomy, which were proclaimed by a -memorandum to the Powers and to the Press in 1896. - -‘The revolutionary work was carried on by the two organisations in -harmony until the year 1901, each organisation acting in its sphere -for the same object. Though separated in their way of action, the two -organisations were, in fact, one and the same. The members of the one -passed into the other, as the needs and the circumstances dictated. -All the Macedonian leaders have belonged and participated to the two -organisations. Thus Deltcheff from 1899 to 1901 worked conjointly and -signed the resolutions of the High Macedonian Committee under the -presidency of Boris Sarafoff, who was chosen by us. - -‘In 1901 the harmony was destroyed. Sarafoff and the other members -of the committee, including Deltcheff, encouraged by the extreme -popularity of the cause, gave a revolutionary impulse to the legal -organisation in Bulgaria by acts which were very compromising. The -murder of the Rumanian professor, Michailyano, in Bucharest, and other -deeds brought Bulgaria to the verge of a war with Rumania. The public -opinion in the principality, in the Balkan States, and in Europe was -excited. We asked Sarafoff and the other members of the committee to -retire, and thus to save the situation. But Sarafoff could not at that -time realise how grave the situation was, and refused to quit the -committee. Several intrigues were invented with the object to represent -the split as of a character of fundamental principal differences. New -elements, chiefly the extremists or the anarchical current, supported -Sarafoff. The Bulgarian Government, under the pressure of the European -diplomacy, especially of the Russian, gave its full support to the -disunion in the organisation. - -‘The union between the different revolutionary currents brought -about during the last insurrection was again broken up. Now we -have three revolutionary currents--ours, Damian Groueff’s, and the -so-called anarchical current at the head of which stand B. Sarafoff, -Sandansky, and others. With the current of Damian Groueff we have -not any fundamental differences, but much with the anarchical. This -last current is not at all a disciplined organisation; its members -act nearly independently. Some of them--for instance, Sandansky and -Tchernopeeff--during the last two years have made deeds in Macedonia -which have brought great calamities on the population and have -alienated the sympathies of the civilised world. Their aim is to throw -terror and anarchy in the country and make life impossible for the -inhabitants. Lacking discipline and well-defined objects, their members -often go to extremes, which are very injurious to the cause of the -Macedonians. - -‘During the last months efforts were made for an understanding between -us and Groueff. The foundations for the understanding are even laid -down. If these efforts succeed fully, we hope then to have a strong -revolutionary organisation which will be able to put down all the -pernicious and demoralising elements in the Macedonian movement -and use all its power to attain the object and the desire of the -Macedonians--establishment in the country (of) a civilised government -and administration, which will open to its inhabitants a free field for -progress, civilisation, and economical prosperity. - -‘The immediate object is not and will not be an insurrection. In the -first place the present political situation in Europe is unfavourable -for such an action; and in the second place our interest dictates -that time and freedom should be given to the Powers to fulfil their -promise for a good government, and, if they fail, that the Christian -world should see that this failure is not due to the Macedonians, but -to the ineffective measures of the diplomacy. And then to tighten the -organisation and to give a strong impulse to the movement, so as to be -ready for another struggle, when the political situation permits and if -the reforms fail.’ - - - PRINTED BY - SPOTTISWOODE AND CO. LTD., NEW-STREET SQUARE - LONDON - - - - -FOOTNOTES: - - -[1] I am indebted to Mr. Smyth-Lyte for this section of the narrative. - -[2] A foreign-made metal coin, worth about a farthing. - -[3] A Turkish term denoting civilians, in contradistinction from -soldiers. - -[4] The number is probably an error of public crier Mecho. - -[5] By ‘Odysseus.’ - -[6] An inscription on the blade of a yataghan possessed by the author -reads: ‘Open the door to me in both worlds.’ - -[7] The figures were given me by Boris Sarafoff. - -[8] Not all the munitions of war secretly brought into the country came -through Bulgaria. Certain insurgent leaders who spoke Greek without a -foreign accent worked in Greece, purchasing arms with the connivance -of the Greek authorities under the pretext that they were leaders of -Greek bands, hostile to the Bulgarians; and much dynamite was imported -through the Turkish Custom-house at Salonica. - -[9] Beside this record of the Turks stands a most dastardly deed on -the part of the insurgents. Retiring from Nevaska a party of them -laid a diligent trail to a spot in the mountains where they carefully -prepared a lunch, poisoning the _Mastica_ with arsenic, and leaving -several bottles of it on the ground, to appear as if the band had left -hurriedly at the approach of the Turks. This was told me in person by -Tchakalaroff, the voivoda who led the band. - -[10] The italics are the author’s. - -[11] I have lost the name. - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: - - - Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. - - Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. - - Extensive research revealed that the Map of the Balkans does not exist - in this edition of this book. - - The list on page 82 is described as a partial list; items 7 and 8 have - apparently been excluded and do not appear in any available edition - of this book. - - The city of Prilep is referred to as Prelip in this book and the - original spelling has been retained. - - Damian Grueff is sometimes referred to as Damien Grueff in the - original. His actual name, Damian Grueff, has been standardized in - this eBook. - - In Chapter V, paragraph 3, the chemical symbol for water is depicted - as H_{2}O. - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Balkan Trail, by Frederick Moore - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 62947 *** |