Evening star., 1923-07-29

time with the spirit of the near east
1t was oriental in its architecture, in
its dirt, in It's smell. and in its human
types. Turkish minarets rose above
the huddle of houses. Turkish houses
with their lattice easements and iron
work grilles, high up in whitewashed
walls, were among the Bulgarian
hoyels, shops and churches. Moham-
medan women, closely veiled, came
into the market place, and young
Turks and old squatted round the
fountains, sat cross-legged inside
their wooden booths, and smoked
their narghile in dirty little cakes
A strange people from the farthest
east dwelt in a village Of their own
outside the town-a village of houses
90 low that 1 was a head taller than
their roofs when 1 walked down it's
streets, like Gulliver in Lilliput.
Their doorways were like the holes
Of dog kennels and the inhabitants
crawled in and out on their hands
and knees. 1t was a gypsy village.
sWarming with Withholding men
black haired, sunburned to the color
of terra Gotta, wonderfully hand
some--and with women and young
girls clad in tattered gowns of gaudy
color, with bare arms and legs, and
the breast revealed. Children. stark
naked. played among heaps OF filth.
and savage dogs 1eaped at every
stranger, they did when / went
with two friends inside the village
A tall girl, beautiful as an eastern
houri, beat back the dogs and led
US to the-k king of this Romany tribe.
an old, old villain. who made signs
for money and was not satisfied with
what / gave him. Presently he
called to some women, and they
brought out girl of some fifteen
years. like little wild animal, with
the grace and beauty of a woodland
thing. She was for sale, and 1 could
have bought her and taken her as
my slave, for five French francs. ]
declined the offer, but gave the old
man five francs as a sign of friend
ship-and as bribe of safety.
We were surrounded now by
crowd of tak young gypsies with
long sticks, and I. did not like the
way they eyed us. Luckily. a Bull
garian police officer rode through
the village. and at the sight of him
the gypsies scuttled like rabbits in
their holes. We kept close to his
saddle until we were beyond the
village, and by expressive gesticula-
ton the man made us understand
that, in his judgment. the place be-
hind US was not a safe spot for
Christian gentlemen.
!: x Z
A LONG the valley of the Martha.
"A on the way to Adrianople, which
was closely invested, the Turkish vii
lagos had been fired. and we saw the
smoke rising above the flames and
then tramped through their ruins.
Looting was strictly forbidden, under
pain of death, but in one village old
men and women were prowling about
in a ghoullike way, and filling sacks
with bits of half-burnt rubbish. Sud
denly an old woman began to scream.
and we saw her struggling with
Bulgarian soldier who threatened 10
run his bayonet through her body.
The others fed, leaving their sacks
behind.
I have already" told. in a previous
chapter. how Old Fox Ferdinand con
versed with me on the bridge over
the Martha at Mustapha Pasha, His
friendliness then did not allow me
to escape his wrath a few days later.
when he saw me considerably outside
the area to which correspondents
were restricted, and he sent over a
staff officer to tell me that / should
be placed under arrest unless with
drew Immediately.
I was arrested. and locked up for
a time with Horace Grant and Con-
sole. for the crime of accompanying
a colleague to the railway station at
Mustapha Pasha! That was when s. j.
Pryor of the Times, was leaving G.HQ
to go back to Sofia Being, as I
thought, the proud owner of a car
riage and three horses, to say moth
ing of my Bulgarian giant, I offered
to give him with his luggage a lift
to the station. He accepted gladly.
but at the hour appointed discovered
that carriage. horses, giant, and all
had disappeared from their stables. -
"pinched' by G. H. Q.
Pryor had not too much time to get
his train. and Grant and Console and
volunteered to carry some of his
bags. We arrived in time. but were
Immediately confronted by a savage
Bulgarian general, who spluttered
with fury, called up some hairy saw
ages with big guns, and ordered them
to lock us up in a baggage shed. Lit
tie S. ]. Pryor was extremely dis
tressed at this result of our service
to him, but he could not delay his
journey.
My friends and / were liberated
from the shed after some hours ok
Imprisonment. and conducted, under
mounted escort. TO @Mustapha Pasha.