Evening star., 1923-08-19

of uncertain nationality until We
came in sight of Consta ntinople. when
| they changed their bowler hats or
! cloth caps for the red feZ Of Islam
! one of them was very handsome and
! elegant. with a distinguished but ar
rogant manner. ! tried TO get into
! conversation with him. but he an
swered coidly and in monosylla bles
I until We passed the uarrows OF the
DardaneIleS. when his eyes glowed
! with a sudden passion, and he told
/ ME he had5 fought against the British
! there. below the hill of Achi Baba.
1t had been a great victory, he said,
| for Turkish arms.
The Ionian sea merging into the
Adriatic. was so calm that when our
| ship divided its waters. leaving be-
hing a long furrow. the side of each
wave was like polished jewel and
reflected the patches of snow still on
the mountain crests Cthough it was
May and hott and the assures i'll the
! rocks. 1t was unbroken by any rip
pie. except where the boat stirred its
ouietude by long ruff1e of feathers
! and it was so blue that il seemed as
| though ones hand would he dyed like
! Il pOtterS. to- the same -coIof II one
: dipped il in. With this SEA and the
; sky above. we went on travelling
: through a blue world. except where
| our eyes wandered into the gorees of
those mountains along the coast OF
4 old IlIyria. where the barren rocks
are SCARED and CLEAN white, or when
| they Were touched by the suns rays
! at dawn and sunset and elittered in
| a golden way or became washed with
rose water or all drenched in mist as
| purple as the imperial mantle which
ence fell across them. All day long
I, the ship was followed by flight of
/ sea guils skimming on quiet wings
and calling plaintively. 90 that We
J heard again the sirens who erred TO
/, Ilvsses as he sailed this way
through the enchanted sea.
j: x =
1--WE steamed slowly through the
w Gulf of Corinth. so narrow that
/ IL any bowlder had fallen from It's
high walls it would have smashed
hole in our ship. Small Greek boys
ran along a footpath, clamoring- Tor
pennies like gutter urchins beside an
| English char-a- -banc. Then we lay
off Athens. but in spite of special
creel, visa from the consulate IN
! London. for which | had paid a fee,
| I was not allowed TO land. Through
| my glasses | saw. with thrill of
emotion. the tall columns of the Par
/ thenon. AT our ships side was
crowd of small craft roWed by brown
, skinned boatment who kept up
l. ~iaf'' l.0r
like the "Kyrie Eleisan" Lord. have
mercyD of the Catholic mass. touting
for the custom of passengers, as they
did 5000 years ago, with those same
| shouts and waving Of brown arms
and curses to each other. and raising
of oars. when ships came in from
Crete and Mediterranean ports with
merchandise and travellers.
So we passed into the Aegean sea
and saw on our port side. like low
lying clouds. the Greek islands IN
which the gods once dwelt. and the
old heroes We drew close to CALI
| poll. and / thought of heroes more
modern, lying there in graves that
, were not old. who had done deeds
needing more courage than that OF
| Ulysses and his men. and who had
| faced monsters of human machine
| guns more dreadful than dragons and
many-headed dogs and the Medusa
head The trenches were plainly
! yisible-British and Turkish-and the
old gun emplacements, and the Lone
| Tree, and the barren slopes of Achi
Baba. where the flower of Australian
! and New Zealand youth had FALLEN,
and many Irish and English boys.
1 r"Quite a good landing place." said
| one of the passengers by my side. l
looked at him, suspecting irony and
! remembering the landing of the 18th
Division and the Australian troops
under destroying fire. But this ell
derly Jew said again, in a cheerful
! way, "A nice cove for a boat to land"
/ We went on slowly through the
/ narrow channel, until in the morn
ing sunlight we saw the glory of the
Golden Horn and the minarets of
Constantinople. 1t was then that half
! the passengers put on the red fez of
Islam and paced the deck restlessly,
| with their eyes strained toward the
city of the sultan.
The American Jew touched me on
the arm and spoke solemnly, with a
kind of warning. For those who
don't wear a fez Constantinople won't
be a. safe place, l. guess. They say