The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1919-03-25
1.-THE DARK STAR" By Robert W. Chambers
Little Ruhannah's Father Tells Her
How the Turks Came and
Massacred the Christians
Copyright 1r'-, r.:
Copyright !yIb, 1877 Is the lnterEA
tIcuRl Magazine COMPANY.

Geometrical designs in ink.
-Plans," her father explained
vaguely. And, when pressed by
reiterated questions: Plans for
military works, beaeve-forts,
decks. barracks, fortified cuts and
bridges. You are not YET quite old
enough to understand. Ruhannah."
who did draw them. daddy
"A German friend q mine, Herr
CoHfad Wilmer"
What for
I think his music, sent him to
Turkey To make those T. ctures.
''For the sultan
No: ter ms Emperor
why"
Il donr exactly know. Rue
Al Lhts Stage OF the conversation
her fstnsI usually laid aside b s
book end composed himself for the
inevitabIs Iarra tive soon to be de-
manded VI him.
Then. SIthUugh having heard the
story MANI times from her Grip
plea iauers iips. but never weary
Of GnG ,upeTitIoE the Child's HyeS
wouIo EIuN tuuuu - nd very solemn
in pr, para tIub TOR hei next and in
evitsoIe question:
rAuu did Herr Wilmer die. dad
dy?'
"Yes. dear"
Tell me-
sWell, il was wheE / was a mis-
gionary in the Trebizond district.
and your mother and ] went"
~Anu mt daddy? And me, too
Yes; you were q little baby in
arms. And we all went TO Gallipoli
70 attend the opening OF a beautiful
tie Mohammedan converts. TO
Did I see those little Christian
children. daddy"
Yes. you saw them. But you
are too young TO remember"
Tell me. Don't stop
Then listen attentively without
tnterrupting. Rue: Your mother
= and you and went TO GallipoIi; and
my friend. Herr Wilmer, who had
been staying with us at a town call
ed Tchardak, came along with us
. 20 attend the opening Of the Amer
lean school
And the night we arrived there
was terrible. The Turkish people,
urged on by some bad officials in
The Sanjak. came with guns and
swords and spears and set fire to
the mission school
They did not offer to harm US.
We had already collected our con-
verts and our personal baggage.
Our caravan was starting The
mob might not have done anything
worse than burn the school il Herr
wilmer had not lost his temper and
threatened them with a dog whip.
Then they killed him with stones,
there in the walled yard"
At this point in the tragedy, the
eagerly awaited and srdently de-
sired shiveFs passed Up and down
the child's back.
"o-ohi Did they Kill him dead?"
yes, dear"
WAS he a martyr
In a way he was a martyr to his
duty. I suppose. At least I gather so
from his diary and from what he
once told me OF his life
And then what happened? Tell
me, daddy"
A Greek steamer took us and our
baggage to Trebizond.-
@And what them"
And then. a year later. the ter
Ffble massacre at our TrebizOnd
mission occurred
That was what the child was
waiting for.
81 know she interrupted eagerly.
The wicked Turks and the cruel
Kurds did come galloping and
scouting Allah" And all the poor.
converted people became martyrs.
And God loves martyrs, doesn't
He?-
yes, dear
"And then they did kill all the
Door little Christian children" ex-
claimed the child excitedly. And
they did cut you with swords and
gunsI And then the kind sailors
with the American flag took you
and mamma and me, to a ship and
saved US by the grace Of our Lord
Jesus"
Yes. dear
Tell met"
mo. you walk on two crutches. and
you cannot be q missionary any
more because you are sick all the
time! Tell me. daddy
Eyes. And that is all. Rue
"Oh. no. Please, Tell me!
And then. don't you remember how
the brave British sailors and our
br~Te American sailors pointed
their cannon at the I-ronclads, and
they said, DO not shoot or we shall
shoot you to pieces And then the
. brave American sailors went on
shore and brought back some poor
little wounded converted children,
and your baggage and the magic.
box of Herr Wilmer"
"Yes, dear. And now that is
enough tonight"
"Oh, daddy, you must first read
in the diary which Herr Wilmer
made"
Bring me the book. Rue"
With an interest forever now. the
Carew family prepared to listen to
the words written by a strange man
who had died only a few moments
after he had made the last entry in
the book-before even the ink was
entirely dry on the pages.
The child, sitting cross-legged
on the floor, cIasped heflittIe hands
tightly; her mother. laid aside her
her lap; her father searched
through the penci1ed translation
which he had written in between
the lines OF German script. found
where be had left off the time be-
fore, then continued the diary OF
Herr Conrad Wilmer, deceased:
March 3-My original plans have
been sent TO the Yildiz palace. My
dUPlisateg are 80 so 70 BeFHn, when
q messenger from our embassy ar
rives. Murad Bey knows this. l