In the meantime the priest and his companions had left the hotel—not together, but one by one—as the old man remarked that this would be less likely to attract attention. Indeed subsequently, and throughout my journey, I frequently remarked the same dread of being seen speaking to an European on the part of the Armenian priests. Whether this arises from the fact that they are afraid of being suspected of conspiring against the Turkish Government, or it is the result of a guilty conscience, I cannot say. Armenian newspapers frequently publish news which cannot be agreeable to the Government, and they are not interfered with by the authorities. Armenians are not thrown into prison or banished from the capital without this being at once published to the world. Then why so much timidity on the part of the Armenian priests? If they are not engaged in seeking to undermine the Government, one would have thought that they had nothing to fear. CHAPTER III. The porter at the hotel—A little persuasive force—Trains in Turkey are not very punctual—Two Englishmen—Snipe-shooting—The railroad takes a circuitous course—Krupp guns—The Christians are too much for the Turks in a bargain—Hadem Kui—No horse waiting—The station-master—A lanky, overgrown lad—Buyuk Checkmedge and Kara Bournu—A branch railway required—A station-master's salary—The horse—Attacked by a dog—The defence of Constantinople—A song in which the Turks delighted—Good-looking Hungarian girls—The handsome Italian—"I am not a barrel"—The song about the Turcos—Spontaneous combustion—A special Correspondent—Algeria is not Turkey, but it does not much signify. I had ordered the porter at my hotel to call me early on the following morning, as the train started at seven, and it was quite half an hour's walk to the station. Luckily I awoke myself, and on looking at my watch, found it was about half-past six. Hastily dressing, I hurried downstairs, and found the individual whose business it was to awake me, fast asleep under a billiard table in the café belonging to the hotel. He grumbled at being disturbed, and did not fancy the idea of carrying my box to the station. It was necessary to use a little persuasive force, so, seizing a billiard cue, I gave him a violent poke in the side. "Get up directly! I shall miss the train!" "Please God you will not," replied the Turk, with a yawn. I had no time to lose, so, taking the recumbent man by the collar, I lifted him bodily on his legs, put my bag in his hand, and, with another push from the billiard cue, precipitated him down the steps into the street. "You want me to go to the station, Effendi!" said the fellow, now thoroughly aroused. "Yes." "But the train will be gone." "Not if we run." "Run!" replied the porter, very much astonished, "and what will the Effendi do?" "Run too." And with another thrust from the billiard cue, I started him down Pera.