15. *A Bulgarian Market Town 75 16. Blessing the Lamb on St. George's Day 78 17. *The Cathedral, Sofia 81 18. *An Adrianople Street 88 19. *The Shipka Pass 97 20. A Young Widow at her Husband's Grave 104 21. Gipsies 113 22. A Peasant of the Tsaribrod District 120 23. The Ratchenitza, the National Dance of Bulgaria 129 24. A Bagpiper 136 25. A Young Girl of Irn 145 26. Guarding the Flocks and Herds 152 27. An Old Street in Philippopolis 161 28. A Grave Question 168 29. A Young Man of the Choumla District 177 30. *A Bulgarian Farm 184 31. A Young Woman of the Roustchouk District 193 32. At the Well 200 _Sketch Map at end of Volume._ BULGARIA CHAPTER I BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION Instructed in the autumn of 1912 to join the Bulgarian army, then mobilising for war against Turkey, as war correspondent for the _London Morning Post_, I made my preparations with the thought uppermost that I was going to a cut-throat country where massacre was the national sport and human life was regarded with no sentimental degree of respect. The Bulgarians, a generation ago, had been paraded before the eyes of the British people by the fiery eloquence of Mr. Gladstone as a deeply suffering people, wretched victims of Turkish atrocities. After the wide sympathy that followed his Bulgarian Atrocities campaign there came a strong reaction. It was maintained that the Bulgarians were by no means the blameless victims of the Turks; and could themselves initiate massacres as well as suffer from them. Some even charged that there was a good deal of party spirit to account for the heat of Mr. Gladstone's championship. I think that the average British opinion in 1912 was that, regarding the quarrels between Bulgar and Turk, there was a great deal to be said against both sides; and that no Balkan people was worth a moment's sentimental worry. "Let dogs delight to bark and bite, for 'tis their nature to," expressed the common view when one heard that there had been murders and village-burnings again in the Balkans.