Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-05-02

2
the object with the little three-fluk-
ed grapnel which l used as an an"
Choir. i got hold Of something final
~; heavy chest of olive wood bound
with metal; but / had to rig tackle
before L could hoist it aboard,
soon my grapnel hooked into what
l expecred--a canvas sack, weighted
with a round shot. When | got II
aboard, L. hesitatcd long while, be-
fore opening it. Finally l made a
long slit in the canvas with my
She was very young-not over six
teen, 1 think. and she was really
beautiful, even under her wet, dark
hair She seemed to be a Caucasian
girl-maybe q Georgian. She wore
small gold cross which hung from a
gold cord around her neck. There
was another, and tighter cord around
her neck, TOO. l cut the silk bow
string and closed and bound her
eyes with my handkerchief before
l rowed out a little farther and low
cred her into the deep channel which
cuts eastward here like the scimitar
of that true believer. Abdul Hamid.
Then l hoisted sail and beat up
slowly toward my little dock under
u moon which had become CHASTITY
under the pallid aura of a gathering
storm
"a poor dead young lady" inter
rupted the child, clasping her hands
more tightly. Did the Sultan Kill
her. daddy?'
1T seems so. Rrhannah."
Il don't know. He was a very
cruel and wicked sultan"
Il don't see why he killed the beau
tifu1 poor dead lady"
IF YOU will listen and not inter-
rupt, you shall learn why"
Wilmer pulled up the very same chest
that is mere on the floor beside me?'
insisted the child.
The very same. Now listen, Rue.
and l shall read a little more III
Herr Wilner's diary, and then you
! must have your bath and be put to
Ded-
please read daddy
The Reverend Wilbur Carew turned
the page and quietly continues: =,
March 20-ln my own quarters at
Trebzond again, and rid of Murad for
a while.
A canvas cover and rope handles
concealed the character OF my olive
wood chest. L do not believe anybody
suspects it to be anything except one
of the various boxes containing my
own personal effects. l shall open
it tonight with a file and chisel, if
possible.
chest reveal something of the TRACE
dy. The box is full OF letters writ
which weigh collectively a hundred
pounds at least. There is nothing
else in the chest except broken
Ikon and q bronze figure OF Erik, a
Yildiz relic, no doubt, OF some kurd-
| ish raid into Mongolia, and probably
murderers in .dersion. l am trans
| lating the letters and arranging them
| in sequence.
March 25.--l have translated the
letters. The dead girls name was
evidently Iatyana, one of several
petty prince, and on the eve of her
marriage to a young officer named
Mitya, the kurds raided the town.
| They carried poor Tatyana off along
with her wedding chest-the chest i
! iShed UP with my grapnel.
found their way into AbduIs seraglio.
The letters of the dead girl-Which
were written and entrusted probably
to a faithless slave. but which evil
IDENTIFY never left the seraglio-throW
some nght on the tragedy, for they
!
Islam, and call on her affanced, on
her parents and on her people to res
cue her and avenge her.
And after while, no doubt, Abdul
tired of reading fierce, unreconclled
simply ended the matter by having
her bowstrung and dumped over
board in a sack, together with her
marriage chest. her letters and the
Yellow Devil in bronze as a final
insult.
She seems to have had a sister,
Naia, thirteen years old, betrothed
to a Prince Mistchenka, a cavalry
officer in the Terek Cossacks. Her
father had been Hetman OF the Don
Cossacks before the Emperor Nicho-
use. And she ended in sack Oft
Callipoh. That is the story of Tat
yana and her wedding chest.
March 29.-Murad arrived, murder
Iously bland and assiduous in his So
licitude for my health and comfort. l
am almost positive he knows that |
fished up something from Cove No. 81
under the theoretical guns of theo-
retical Fort Osman, both long plot
ted out but long delayed.
Gallipoli have been stolen; l nave
a third set still. Colonel Murad Bey
is not to be trusted. My position is
awkward and is becoming serious.
There is no faith to be placed in
Abdul Hamid. My credentials, the
secret agreement with my govern
merit, are no longer regarded even
with liberation in the YildiZ kiosque.
A hundred insignificant incidents
prove it every day. And if Abdul
dare not break with Germany it is
only because he is not yet ready
to defy the Young Turk party. The
British embassy is very active and
bothers me a great deal.
April 1O.-My secret correspond
ence with Enver Beg has tbeen dis
covered, and my letters opened. This
is a very bad business. | have no.
tilted my government that the Turk
ish government does not want me
here; that the plan of a Gcrmanized
Turkish army is becoming objec-
tiona bic to tn. porte: that the dupli-
cate plans OF our engineers for the
Dardanellcs and the Gallipoli PENN
sula have been stolen.
April ia secret interview with
EnVer Bey, who promises that our
ideas shall be carried out when his
party comes into power. Evidently
he does not know that my duplicates
have been stolen.
Troubles threaten in the Vilayet
i Of Trcbizond where is an America.
mission. l fear that our emissarie,
end the emissares of Enver Bey are
deliberately fomenting disorders be-
cause Americans are not desired BY
DUR government. Enver denies this
but it is idle to believe anyone II
this country.
(To BE Con&inued).