The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-08-23
CHS RESERVED
[ALL RIGHTS
BY HAWLEY SMART,
CHAHI Elk Al-A.
MADAMOISELLE IVANHOFF.

little before CnrlslLlas al eNet4b A@A
occurred which DR.. Lynden had foreseen as
likely. and which he had predicted might
count for a good deal in increasing the
prospects of peace, should it happen. haTs
had capitulated, its gallant defenders hay
ing at last been starved into submisslon
Mouravieff had chung to his prey with the
tenacty of bull dog, and his perseverance,
had been at length rewarded. The utter
failure of Oman Pascha to come to the re~
lief of Sir Fenwick Williams gave rise to
much angry feeling both at home and in
the Crimea. There was pre- 7alent idea In
the English army that the defenders OF
Kars had been politically sacrificed, aud
that had the hands OF the Turkish general
not bsen tied, the defense would not have
been in vain and that he could have com
PEELED the Russians to raise the siege before
the garrison was reduced to extremities.
Be that as it may, the Russians could now,
at all events, point to the capture of Kars
as set~off to the loss of Sebastopol. There
are people to this day of that way of think
ing, and who still believe that salve to Rus
sia's honor had much to say to bringing the
war to q conclusion.
With the spring came councils and con-
gresses, much diplomacy and many pro-
tocols, the first result of which was the con-
clusion of an armistice. With the spring,
too, came much drilling and smartening up
of regiments that perpetual trench duty
had made slovenly Of appearance. Field
days on a large scale became of constant
occurrence, and the whole army speedily
resumed the appearance it might have
worn had it been brought together in Eng
land, only with a workmanlike look about
it that old campaigners could thoroughly
appreciate. Advantage was taken of the
armistice by officers on both sides TO visit
each others lines, and here the English,
thanks to the Unsuitable restlessness of their
nation, speedily out-vied both their allies
and the Russians The privilege was used
sparingly by both the latter, but the British
officer was emphatlcalIy AL over the
place" He made his appearance at Batchi
Serai, made pilgrimageS to visit the scene of
the battle of the Alma, he penetrated to the
caves of Inkermann, and the limits of his
travel seemed only bounded by the capa-
bilities OF Crimean pony.
As Brydon remarked, laughing:
mo wonder our fellows are restless.
We all feel as if we'd been strictly confined
to our own parish for months It's quite
W ia odh Oub Ah0 DOC INV Jul hGARu-
bors get along"
Gust sou rejoined Byng, land tell you
what it is, vote we start for Batchi Serai
tomorrow morning. We can 60 there
and back in a day if we start early and
take it easy"
Done with you" said Brydon; tits a
longish day for the ponies. but the wiry lit
tie brutes III do it easy enough That dash
of Barb blood the most of them have in
their veins pulls em through
So it was finally settled that what Byng
called a reconnaissance should be made next
day, and that those two should ride to
Batchi Serai with view to prospecting for
an expedition on a considerably larger scale
q week or two later.
wen make up party, you know
said Tom, half dozen of us, get weeks
leave, take up tents and servants and pack
animals and make big picnic of it."
Capital replied Brydon we're all Gun
ming in camp life now, and we ought to
have splendid time of it. There's one thing,
you can depend on the weather out there.
When fine weather's due it's fine, though
it can be nasty enough in the winter, too"
II wonder whether we shall pick up any
news OF Hugh Fleming in batchi Serial
most of these Russian fellows speak
French
Which we DON'T" rejoined Brydon,
laughing, $50 that won't much facilitate in
tercourse between us. But it don't matter,
Flemiug's doubtless been sent away far into
the interior, or we should have heard from
him before this. He's as likely as not at st.
Petersburg
A little after the next morning the pair
crossed the Traktir bridge and having can
tered across the valley made their way I'D
Mackenzie flights. 1t was lovely spr1ug
morning, and their ponies seemed TO revel
in the fresh air and sunshine to the full as
much their nd vyba
halted on the hanks Of the Belbek and pro-
duced from their haversacks materials for
an early luncheon, Brydon declared that he
had never been so hungry In his life, while
Tom said he felt more like q schoolboy home
for the holidays, tnan ever.
After brief halt they resumed their
journey. and a little before noon entered
the old capital of the Tartar kings. The
fflrst thing to find, undoubtedly, was an inn
at which they could stay and rest their
ponies. The untiinching little brutes had
carried them well, but they had seven
aDd>twenty miles TO carry them back. and
required a good long bait before being
called on TO fulnll their task; as for their
riders, they had the town to see, such as it
was.
1t was not long before they stumbled
on one of those men who swarm all around
the shores Of the Mediterranean and Asiatic
Turkey, men whose nationality it Is impos-
sible to define AMI who seem to speak, more
or less. all the tongues of Europe. They
are generally vaguely described as coming
from the Levant, and from bankers to
courlers, from restaurant walters to pro-
miscuous loafing and vagabondage, seem
never at loss about picking up living.
Some OF them drive carriages, but many of
them, like the man who so speedily became
alive to the requirements of the two British
officers, seem, though never at a loss for a
job, incapable of taking up with steady
employment. Their self-constituted guide
quickly found them a suitable inn, and then
in obedience to their behests conducted
them through the principal parts of the
town. There seemed to have been a toucn
of the Moor about the old Monvalion race
before they had succumbed to
the hordes of the Muscovite, as evil
denced by the verandas Of the houses and
the large tree-shaded gardens in which they
were built. You would have said 1t was a
pretty town lying at the bottom of valley,
well sheltered from the bitter blasts of the
Steppes, but nothing more. The old palace
of the Khans, though in excellent repair
struck Byng as hardly imposing enough a
home for such 20 Herful rulers as the Tar
tan princes had been in the hey-day of their
power. In the beautiful gardens around it,
a Russian band was playing set of Ger
man valses while strolling about. or sitting
on chairs, were numbers of officers
in every variety of uniform, from
the Horse Artillery Of the Imperial Guard
down to the sturdy fnes-man. French uni
forms-a few of these with tolerably good
mixture of the English scarlet. few
ladies, richly dressed, were scattered about
amongst the chairs and evidently in great