The Red Rugs of Tarsus: A Woman's Record of the Armenian Massacre of 1909 — John Shaqi
The Red Rugs of Tarsus: A Woman's Record of the Armenian Massacre of 1909Gibbons, Helen Davenport
History
The Red Rugs of Tarsus: A Woman's Record of the Armenian Massacre of 1909
Gibbons, Helen Davenport
Adana (Turkey) -- History; Armenian massacres, 1909 -- Turkey -- Adana
Herbert and I meet the trains. We look for the chance to smuggle friends
through. We got H---- B---- through yesterday. The Swiss stationmaster,
Monsieur B----, remonstrated hotly with Herbert about allowing me to
come to the station. "It is no place for your wife," he declared. "There
might be bloodshed any minute, if a refugee resists." But I held my
ground. I knew H---- B---- was going to try to get on this train. He had
money to bribe with, and could travel first-class. Mother, I managed to
slip into the first-class coach just as the train stopped, and came out
the other end leaning heavily on H---- B----'s arm. We left the station
through the waiting-room, and none said a word or stopped us. H----
B---- was safe. Herbert couldn't have done it. The Turks, for all their
cruelty, have a curious chivalry upon which I banked. I was not
mistaken. H---- B---- kept my arm all the way to the Dodds. The poor boy
is in agony. He has just heard that his father, a wealthy merchant of
Alexandretta, was killed, and his mother and sister--well, I'll leave it
to you to guess.
But this adventure is nothing to one I had late in the afternoon of the
twenty-seventh. Herbert had gone for news to the wigwagging station the
British have established on a villa just in front of Major
Doughty-Wylie's. I thought there might still be some oranges in the
bazaar. It was an excuse to walk. I cannot stay indoors--no matter what
happens. It wasn't far, anyhow. Just a little way down our street. As I
was returning, I heard "Won't you come home, Bill Bailey," coming from
somewhere. It struck me as curious. I stopped. The whistling continued
staccato and insistent. It came from a narrow side street. I waited
until the patrol had passed along, and then whistled in turn, "Every
night the papers say," and stopped. Immediately it was taken up:
"There's a robbery in the park." I decided to investigate. Several
houses along, I heard a whisper, "Mrs. Gibbons." Under the stoop was an
American Armenian, whom I had met during the winter in Adana. He had
been waiting for some one he knew to pass on the main street. He was in
rags--had worked his way overland somehow from Adana. He would be
arrested if he tried to make the Mission. Patrols were passing
constantly. I told him to wait where he was. I went back to the Dodds,
put on Herbert's raincoat, stuffed a cap in the pocket, and returned to
the side street. The Armenian refugee could cover himself completely in
the coat. I told him to pull the cap well down over his ears. He walked
back with me. It was no trouble at all. The young man has money, and an
American passport. The latter is no good to him. As he can pay, we think
it possible to smuggle him somehow aboard a ship.[5]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account