Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-31

the gossip of the Balkans was OF hate.
In London ii would not be considered
etiquette Immediately after an intro
duction to inquire, with whom are
you In love-" And in Scutari. in those
days, 1t would have been as rude to
ask, with whom are you In hate?"
But the information came even sooner.
Hate and fear are less easily hidden
than love. One was quickly posted
in the affairs of ones friends or &C
quaintances
A few days after my arrival the
bazaar at Scutari was filled with a
report of revolution in Montenegro;
1t was early in the morning when the
news reached me. | seized my hat.
my razor and my revolver. and was
just in time TO catch the boat for the
Black Mountain.
l made friends with an Alba Man on
the boat. and he and two countrymen
OF his talso merchants) and | took a
carriage from Rjeka to Podgoritza,
which was said to be the storm-center.
The night was black; rain fell in
sheets; we were cold and hungry. We
climbed on and up through the night.
Every now and then a flash of light
ming showed a wilderness of black
rocks and ravines. 1t looked as II all
the stones Of the world had been col
lected in one revolving heap.
My companions were nervous and
anxious. We began to descend, and
ahead of us the lights of Podgoritza
twinkled through the rain. Suddenly
the carriage was surrounded by men
with lanterns. carrying rifles. l
thought they were brigands, and as
we were all armed l suggested to the
Alba mans that we should put up a
fight They implored me, for the love
Of God, to do nothing.
In a moment two or three rif1e-
barrels were showed into the carriage
and pointed at us. An explanation
was demanded of us. The Albanian
merchant, 1t turned out, was known
to the captain Of the patrol. and we
were allowed to go into the town.
There I dropped the Albanians and
drove to the inn. 1t was locked. I
banged at the door. A patrol came
up and spoke to me in Montenegrin,
in which language l could not reply.
The door was opened; l was let in, and
asked for food in Italian.
Lanterns were held to my face,
while loud and angry conversation
went on round me- My temper rose,
and I spoke with some acerbity upon
the manners of Montenegro. A tall
Montenegro, who had some authority.
came forward and said he did not be-
ileNc d NoIu VI lily 1 was dH
Italian bent on mischief. or why had
l come to PodgoritZa that night?
To this the only reply that l could
find was that / was an Englishman.
and why If / was ever going to come
to Podgoritza. should ] not come that
night? At last plate Of goats cheese
was put before me and something to
drink. I was then taken up to a room.
three or four armed men tramping
behind me, and my door was locked.
NEXT morning stamped and
shouted and banged upon the
door. I was finally released by a
surly Montenegro. l went downstairs.
where I found myself alone with the
host. who seemed a very decent man
and talked some Italian and Turkish.
He told me that two days before. the
Italian Tobacco Monopoly at Antivari
had been blown sky-high by Montene-
grin patriots. The land was in tur-
moil; reprisals from Italian agents
We're suspected everywhere.
Last night, few hours before my
coming. prominent citizen.
bairakdar standard -bearer), had been
summoned to the presence of the
governor. The bairakdar. q man Of
immense height and great spirit, had
drawn his revolver and killed the
chief of police. wounded the governor
terribly. and shot another man dead.
He himself had been instantly killed.
He was said to be an Italian sym
pathiZer, and the fact that I had ar