World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, Turkish
From the house of that stern and simple faith that is the creed of
one-fifth of the world, there came a sense of kinship with all the
suffering under the sky. Reverence came to me also, and that brotherhood
which is the message of the Great Teachers since time began. These
thoughts were round me, a silent company, as I looked Mecca-wards, to
the place of prayer. Then the heralds of the dawn alighted on the
minaret, and their wings were amethyst and saffron. The night was over,
and the _muezzin's_ long, exultant call to worship died down with the
increasing light.
Another day had begun.
* * * * *
Not many days and nights did we tarry in Themistocle's house. Robin
decided to try his luck by land. After various inquiries, he made
arrangements with a Greek boy to board a melon-boat bound for Rodosto.
His idea was to make that port, and thence work his way to Enos, where
he hoped to be picked up by our patrol-boats. After many adventures and
perils by land and sea, and a great deal of bad luck, he was caught at
the town of Malgara. So ended a very gallant attempt, which ought to be
set down in detail by him.
I can only describe his appearance when he left. His disguise was a
matter of great difficulty, for he is so tall and so Saxon that he
always attracted notice in an Eastern crowd. An Arab ragamuffin seemed
the role best suited to him, and he accordingly exchanged his
comparatively respectable clothes for a greasy old coat and a pair of
repellent trousers. With a tattered fez well back on his head, and all
his visible skin blackened with burnt cork, he looked an unspeakable
scoundrel. But he was too villainous. He would have been immediately
arrested for his appearance alone. A touch of genius, however, completed
his make-up. . . . In his hands he carried a poor little bowl of curds
and half a cucumber, which completely altered his ferocious air by
adding the requisite touch of pathos. The edible emblems of innocence he
carried transformed him completely into a sort of male Miss Muffet.
No detective could have found heart to inquire where he was going. He
was enough to make anyone cry.
He left in a frightful hurry, for his boat was due to catch a certain
tide, but we drank a stirrup cup to his success, and parted with much
sadness on my side, not until the old lady before mentioned had lit a
candle before the ikon of Saint Nicholas. . . .
I was very sorry to see him go, but I was quite convinced (wrongly, as
events proved) that the best chance of success lay in going to Russia.
The little Colonel of the Russian Guards had told us before we escaped
that he was likely to be soon repatriated (for he was a person of
influence in the Caucasus), and I felt sure that I could arrange to go
as his servant, if no better scheme presented itself in the meanwhile.
But there were many possibilities in the "city of disguises."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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