World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, English; World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, Turkish
No incident marked the following day, and just before dark we were off
once more. As dawn was breaking we reached the neighbourhood of yet
another akhardash's house and went into hiding in thick brushwood which
was soaking with dew. Just as we had got settled down, Bihgar for some
reason decided that we three would be safer elsewhere, and much to our
disgust hustled us off to an equally wet spot in a thicket on the
opposite side of the road. He was always prone to worry and fuss a great
deal more than the others, and later on in the day, in a rash moment, I
expostulated with him, going through a little pantomime to show how he
had acted in the morning. The effect was startling and a great deal more
than I had bargained for. He began by fervently kissing my hand,
declaring he was our servant and that everything he did was for our
benefit. I hastened to stop the flood of protest and affection which I
had unwittingly let loose, but it was some time before he was calm
again.
That evening we moved on, having been fed during the day by the local
akhardash. We were now under the command of the fellow we termed the Fat
Boy, Bihgar having gone off with some of the others to interview another
friend regarding a boat. This man never worried at all, and would shout
to men on guard over the crops as if he were a countryman returning home
late. The fires all over the countryside at night in this district were
used for scaring wild pig from the maize and other crops. In nearly
every field would be a small perch for a man, who would keep a blaze
going beside him and make various noises to scare off the intruders.
Most of them had old guns of some sort and frequently a shot would be
heard. The subject of pig formed a perpetual joke; the akhardash, as
Mussulmans, declaring it was not good to eat, whereas we always offered
to show them how good it was if they would bring us one. Another source
of never-ending merriment was the prophecy that Tip would be taken
prisoner when flying in France and again be sent to Kastamuni.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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