Evening star., 1925-05-10
Aviator Confined With Doomed Men in SeraskeratPr.

| business to learn? Wish you could
give me a line on it.
I'VE are mostly spies here. That
fellow is a murderer. He beat his
wife and she died. She was unfaith-
full, so they will let him out some
day, If he has any rich friends. Those
fellows in chains are under sentence
of DEATH"
Then l noticed that besides our
selves there were other prisoners
even more unfortunate. There had
been so much to see that / had not
noticed the chained men,
One side of the room opened out
onto half a dozen cubicles, six feet
long by four feet broad, each con-
tanning human being shackled by
the wrist and ankle to an iron ball.
There was a Greek there who had
been thus shackled and manacled for
IL months. dying a hundred deaths
while waiting for his doom. An edu-
Gated man he had been. Now he was
ravenous and verminous, crouching in
place no animal would have lain in.
L walked about and talked through
the night. sometimes lying down on
three planks an old Jew had provided.
But the planks were alive with bat
talions of bedbugs in battle array.
who attacked me f1ercely whenever
tried to snatch some sleep, SO my
rest was rather fitful
In the morning 1 went to the bars
that kept us from the comparative
freedom of the common prison. A
sentry stood on the cleaner side of
them. To him l gibbered in Persian,
Pashtu, Urdu, German, French, Ital-
ian and the baser idioms of the mother
tongue. His only answer was "Haidy,
git which is Turkish for what it
sounds.
Some BARRIERS suddenly appeared
outside. clipping and clopping with
their strops. Instantly every one
rushed the gate as if angels of the
Lord were beating wings of deliver
the occasion of the weekly shave
when we were all allowed into the
outside passage. the BARRIERS very SEN
sibly preferring not to come in.
T WENT out with the others and
i seized a dog collar man. Not my
own brassbound boy, but another.
There has been a mistake" I said
exeitedly, "and l want to be taken to
see the prison commandant."
$50 they all say" he laughed.
Now, one can insist on a full stom-
ach, especially when inhaling the
AROMA of a Corona Perfecto. One
feels persuasive then. But when one
is scrubby, unshorn, illfed. one pro-
duces all ones available cash-four
pounds and some loose change-and
one transfers it in crumpled lump
into the other fellows hand without
any fal-lals at all.
1t worked. Why 1t worked, l don't
know, except that in Turkey it is the
cd xx-hi ha
of the commandant's Office opened for
me, after a bad spell of waiting.
There he sat, polished boots, long
amber cigarette holder. Kaiser nous
tache-what in the name of Heaven
was 1 to say? He did the talking,
however.
There has been a mistake" said
Djevad Bey. II did not mean for
you to be put in room with common
malefactors. Henceforward you shall
be alone. Quite alone. In good
room. One of the best we have"
That was that.
OF course, didn't believe the
commandant when he said, with a
twinkle in his cats eyes, that I was
to have one of the best rooms in the
prison. Strange to say, 1t was true.
l was put into an upper floor cham
ber, next to the Turkish officer
prisoners, and provided with bed and
blanket. This room had window
overlooking a corner of the prison
square. Outside lay the Golden Horn,
sapphire in the sunlight and sparkling
with the beauty of the world of free
men.
Next day they took me to the prison
restaurant for dinner. I seized the
opportunity to steal knife. That
evening 1 received a visit. was
sitting with my new toy, considering
whether I should try to cut through
the window jamb with 1t or carve out
the door lock, when some one knocked.
Wondering who this polite visitor
could be, who did not arrive unmask-
ed, I slipped the knife under the mat
tress and bade him enter. 1t was a
Turkish officer. stripped OF his epau-
lets-a prisoner Observation-Disclosures
little more than a boy, handsome,
speaking perfect French.
Il saw you wore an eyeglass down
at the restaurant tonight" he said.
might 1 borrow it,"
I explained that I used it to see
with, and that there wasn't much
else to do at the moment, situated the
way / was.
SOLITARY confinement? That's
tough. But I'll send you some French
novels if you lend me the monocle.
My slave will bring you what you
want-hushv'
A sentry looked in, saw my inter-
locutor. pretended not to see him,
went on with his beat. "They are
good to me here" explained my new
friend. I'm son-in-law of the
Sultan, you know. Shot my tutor for
improper behavior. Very sad. They
practically had to put me in here for
a year. But 1 am allowed out every
Friday for the Sultan's Selamlik.
Next week. on my day out, I want to
wear your eyeglass at court. It'll
give those embassy fellows big
jolt"
'Sit down and take cigarette"