Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1915-10-14

sion without moments delay.
This was not my first lesson In the
barbartty of oriental customs; there
were dark stories floating about Con-
stantinoplu, beneath the surface, of
men, some Of them foreigners of high
rank, who had ventured into forbidden
precincts, and suffered the most horri-
bic retaliation ut the hands of eunuchs
in the service uf revengeful Moslem.
strangely agitated, almost before ]
realized what was doing, l bent down,
and picking up the slipper carried it
out of the shadow Of the lick tree, into
the full moonlight. and drew forth
what it contained.
DO not ask me to describe the sight
which met my eyes, and which com.
pleted the horror of the entire incident.
The foot which held in my hand was
unlike any other foot which | had ever
seen--unlike any human foot. ]
dropped the frightful thing on to the
ground, averted my eyes, and fled
from the accursed place"
At this point the ambassador inter
rupted himself to order the waiter,
who had already served our coffee. to
bring cognac as well.
Il had retraced my steps almost as
far as the Golden Horn he proceeded,
when discovered that | was still car
rying the slipper in my hand. Think
ing that it might yet prove 20 be of i'm.
portance, thrust it. hastily inside the
folds of my Turkish robe bcf,re pro-
ceeding. AT the same time l began to
observe that there was a certain move.
ment in the streets, which was not
common at that hour Of the night. !
saw soldiers about, and, unless my
eyes deceived me, there were more
lights than usual on board the Turk.
ish warships anchored opposite the
Dolmabacheh palace.
Il might have stopped to investigate
these symptoms of disturbance, but foI
q sudden change which now took place
in the atmosphere. The great black
clouds which had been gathering from
one corner OF the sky massed them
selves overhead, and then suddenly
split in a binding fissure of forked
lightning, while crash of thunder
shook the towers and roofs of Stam
boul like an earthquake. Immediately
the rain began to descend with the
weight of an avalanche, and huge pools
t,c cfa fnrroA1 tbpmS nlpnG plppp tho
roads. rushed through the storm as
best could, and reached the embassy
in safety.
Even then, however, the alarms OF
that fearful night were not at an end
l had been lying in bed, unable to
sleep, for an hour or two, when all at
once l heard the well-known boom OF
cannon answering the thunder over.
head. listened and again and again
the sound was repeated, till hundred
cannon had gone off in the darkness;
and, finally, the storm passed away
like a routed army, and the gray dawn
came stealing over the Black sea.
"That night has since become his
torical. 1t was the night of the 29th
of May, on which Abdul-Aziz Khan,
the Refuge of the World and the
Shadow of God, was forcibly deposed
from the sultanate and made cap.
tive in his own palace.
"As soon as morning had come, the
news of what had taken place was all
over Constantinople. 1t did not take
the diplomatists in Pera wholly by sur.
prise. For some time past Abdul-Aziz
had been unpopular with his subjects.
To him had been attributed the mis-.
fortunes which were gathering round
Turkey, and which seemed to threaten
the dissolution of the empire. There
had been more than one armed out
break in the capital, ministry after
ministry had been set up only to be
thrown down, and feeling Of unrest
was in all mems minds.
1T appeared that this state of things
had eliminated in the meeting of a
secret council of the great pashas al
the seraskierate, which is, as you are
aware, the headquarters of the army.
"The council had been called sud
denly, in the dead of night, by Me
hemed Rushdi Pasha, the grand vizier,
but for whom, it was said the revolu.
ton would have taken place before.
"At this council the principal ule.
mas of the Moslem faith attended, and
the head of their body, the sheik-ul-
Islam, officially pronounced that COM
mander of the faithful might be law
fully deposed. Thereupon, the agents
Of the conspiracy received their or
ders, the palace was surrounded with
troops, and the men-of-war, which |
had seen Illuminated, prepared to cut
off all egress ON the water side.
"These arrangements completed,
messengers were sent secretly into the
quarter of the palace in which Me-
hemed Murad Effendi, the sultan's
nephew, was kept prisoner by his
suspicious uncle. The prince was
smuggled out in safety, escorted to the
sultan, to the sound of a hundred guns.
in this way was the monarch of a
great empire dethroned, and his crown
given to another, without the loss of
a single life, and with hardly a COM
motion in the street. Believe me, my
friend, we have yet much to learn
rom these oriental naonles