CHAPTER XXIII.The servant of the house—The Onbashee—Five piastres—Osman detected—The guilty man—Vankovitch's remarks—The sentence—May I put Osman in prison?—The barracks—Two old Khans—The women weeping—Immense enthusiasm—Numbers of volunteers—Parading for the march—Men crying—We shall eat the Russians—The Sergeant—The Major of the battalion—The Dervish—A Circassian—The Imaum of the regiment—The Muleteer—Baggage animals required for the regiment—A bitter cry—The women's wail—The old Major—The soldier's hymn—The standard of the battalion—Go in safety—God be with you!The following morning the servant of the house in which I was lodging entered the room and observed that a Zaptieh corporal, or Onbashee, who had escorted us into the town on the day of my arrival, wished to see me."Tell him to come in," I said. In a few minutes the Onbashee opened the door; approaching me, he took from his waistcoat five piastres, and placed them in the palm of his hand."What is this for?" I inquired."Osman!" answered the Onbashee, with a sigh."Osman! What has he been doing?""Osman gave them to me, Effendi; but you said that he was to give me half a medjidi—he has kept the difference for himself!"It now flashed across my mind that the previous evening I had desired Osman to give the corporal half a medjidi as a baksheesh, and that I had told him to do so in the presence of the servant of the house. The latter had informed the Onbashee. Osman, who wished to appropriate to himself the difference between five piastres and the larger coin, was thus detected.I sent for the culprit. He was aware that his knavery had been discovered. Instead of coming to me with his usual assertion that he was the most industrious man in the world, he stood in the corner of the room, an object of derision to the Onbashee, who was regretting the loss of his half medjidi, and to the servant of the house, who had been the means of disclosing Osman's dishonesty.Addressing the guilty man, I asked him why he had not given the Zaptieh the half medjidi, and added that the previous evening, when he had told me of the expenses of the day, he had charged me with that sum.Osman had hardly anything to say for himself. Presently he stammered out something about his only having five piastres in his pocket."That is a lie, Effendi!" here interrupted the Onbashee. "He had many coins in his hand when he gave me the five piastres."I at once made up my mind to get rid of Osman. Vankovitch's remarks about the Turk's dishonesty also recurred to my memory. Osman was undoubtedly a rogue; I determined to procure another servant."Osman," I said, "you have robbed a Mohammedan, a follower of Islam, and one of your own religion. If you had confined yourself to robbing me, I could have understood it, for you might have reasoned to yourself as follows: 'The Effendi is a giaour, and there is gold in his purse.' But to rob a brother Mohammedan, and a poor man; to rob him of the pittance which I had given him,—this I can only understand by the assumption that you are a greater scoundrel than I thought you were! You are no longer my servant. You darken the threshold no longer!""I am innocent, Effendi!" cried Osman."Well, prove your innocence, and I will say no more about the matter.""Effendi, the Onbashee is a liar!""Very likely, but then the servant must be a liar as well, and he saw you give the five piastres to the corporal. Now what interest has the servant in telling a lie about the matter?"This was too much for the delinquent; lowering his eyes, he walked out of the room, through a long row of servants, who had come from the neighbouring houses to hear me administer justice.The sentence appeared to give great satisfaction to the Onbashee."May I put Osman in prison?" he eagerly inquired."I have no authority on such matters," I replied."No, Effendi, but the Caimacan likes you, and if you asked him to do so, he would put Osman in prison. Just a day or so, Effendi! Please do!""Why do you want to put him in gaol?" I asked."Because, if he is once shut up, we will not let him out till he has returned me the difference between your present and the five piastres.""No," I said; "here is the difference," at the same time giving him a small sum of money. "But now go and inquire in the town for a man who wants a situation, as I want a servant immediately."Just then a sergeant entered the room. He brought word from the Caimacan that he was waiting for me, and that the battalion would leave Tokat in about half an hour.I at once rode to the barracks. They consisted of two old Khans, which surrounded a courtyard, the Khans being used as barracks when there were troops in Tokat, and at other times of the year as lodgings for wayfarers. The streets leading to the Khans were lined with women, muffled up in long white sheets, and weeping piteously. The battalion was drawn up in two ranks inside the courtyard. The men were standing at ease, and engaged in talking to their numerous friends and relatives. Immense enthusiasm prevailed amidst the bystanders. Numbers of volunteers were offering their services."Look at these men, sir," observed Radford, who was riding behind me; "they do not look as if they liked going as soldiers: bless my heart alive, if they ain't a-crying!"I glanced in the direction he was pointing, and saw thirty or forty men with most woe-begone faces, and some of them in tears."Why are you crying?" I said to one of their party. "Are you afraid of being killed?""No, Effendi, we want to go with our brothersin the battalion and to fight by their side; but the major will not take us, he says that his battalion is complete. Do ask him to let us accompany him! Our hearts are full of sorrow at being left behind."A captain in the regiment, a short, podgy-looking man, with very fat cheeks, now came to them, and tried to console the volunteers by saying that their turn would come soon, and that they should go with the next battalion.It was a curious spectacle: the soldiers dressed in a neat dark blue serge uniform, and with their feet in sandals, surrounded by little knots of relatives clad in every kind of attire that can well be imagined; fathers embracing sons, brothers rubbing cheeks with brothers, and the sergeant and corporals vainly endeavouring to get their men into some sort of order; the fat captain in the background engaged in trying to console the rejected volunteers; and the younger portion of the crowd looking inquisitively at the new Martini-Peabody rifles which had only arrived from Samsoun the previous evening. Some of the soldiery were showing how quick their rifles could be loaded and fired. The rapidity of the system created great astonishment amidst the crowd."The giaours come from the country wherethese guns are made," said a bystander, pointing to Radford and myself."The giaours have more brain than we have," said another."If they help us, we shall eat the Russians!" exclaimed a third. We became the object of still more curiosity when a sergeant, coming to me, said that the Caimacan was in the major's room, drinking coffee, and hoped that I would join him there."He is going to drink coffee with the Governor—he is a great man!" said one of the bystanders. Some of the volunteers, rushing up, entreated me to intercede with the Caimacan, and perhaps he could induce the major of the battalion to take them with him to the war.The major, and several other officers were squatted on a carpet in a small and rather dirty room overlooking the courtyard. The Caimacan was seated on a chair, a dervish sat by his side. The latter individual was a portly-looking man, wrapped up in a roll of brown cloth, and with a gigantic sugar-loaf hat on his head. The hat was made of grey cloth, and would have made the fortune of the leader of a nigger band. Several more officers now came into the room, amongst others the fat captain. They each in turn bent beforethe dervish, who placed his hands above their heads, and pronounced some sort of a blessing.A Circassian entered the building. He presently informed us that five thousand of his nation, who resided in the neighbourhood of Tokat, had expressed a wish to go to the seat of war, and to bring with them their own horses and arms.By this time the sergeants had succeeded in arranging their men in the ranks, and the major going downstairs, followed by the Imaum or chaplain of the regiment, the latter addressed the battalion. The Imaum was attired in a lieutenant's uniform, but with a green turban round the fez, as a distinctive mark of his profession.The Chaplain's discourse was not a long one. It was listened to with great attention by the populace. When he had finished the ranks were again broken by a crowd of eager, excited Mussulmans, who rushed up to embrace their friends.As I was descending the steps, my attention was called to a man who was seated on the stair. He was sobbing like a child; at the same time striking his chest with the palms of his hands."What is the matter?" I inquired.On his looking up, I recognized the muleteer whom I had hired to bring my baggage fromSileh Zela to Tokat. The man on seeing me sprang to his feet, then throwing himself on the ground, he began to embrace my legs, at the same time kissing my boots.It appeared that several baggage animals were required for the battalion which was about to march. The Zaptiehs of Tokat had pressed the muleteer into their service, and had taken his mules."Do speak for me, Effendi!" he said. "They will take me to Kars. I shall be a ruined man. And my wife expects me home—she is in a delicate state of health; I shall shortly be a father.""It is useless," said the Caimacan, who overheard his prayers. "We must have baggage animals," he continued; "you will not be taken to Kars, only to Samsoun; you will be paid for the hire of your animals. Dry your eyes, and do not block up the steps.""It is a great pity, and I am very sorry for these poor fellows," observed the Caimacan, turning to me; "but what can we do? It is war time, or very soon will be so: some of us must suffer.""Listen to those poor women there," he continued, as we rode through the gate, preceded by the brass band of the regiment playing a melancholymarch. A deep wail could be heard even above the noise of the instruments. The wives, mothers, and other female relatives of the soldiers, had not been permitted to enter the barracks; but from an early hour they had taken up a position along the streets. The bitter cry, which was joined in by hundreds of voices, announced to the people in the very outskirts of the town that the battalion was on the march.Presently the band ceased playing; and the old major, his long white beard streaming in the wind, began singing the words: "God is great. There is but one God, the God, and there is but one Prophet, the Prophet, and he is the Prophet of God."The soldiers took up the strain, ten thousand bystanders joined in the verse—it even silenced the women's wail—and resounded along the banks of the river. Here taken up by some people on the ruined citadel, the words were re-echoed back to us; there wafted by the breeze to an adjacent hamlet, the peasantry swelled the chorus. The standard of the battalion, with the crescent embroidered on a green border, was raised high in the air, and several of the crowd, rushing up to the major, implored him to take them in his ranks.It was a striking scene—these weeping women in their shroud-like dresses; the many-coloured garments of the men; the excited soldiery—the still more excited major; and the immense religious enthusiasm.Snow-capped mountains barred the way before us, and the river, its banks set fast with ice and hoar-frost, glittered in the distance, and reflected the rays of a midday sun.Large stacks of wood had been piled up near the stream. The timber had been cut in the forests above the town, and been floated down the river to Tokat. It is chiefly used for smelting copper, the Government having some smelting works in the neighbourhood. According to my informant, they were established thirty years ago by a German; after his decease they had been bought by the Turkish authorities.The Caimacan thought that he had accompanied the battalion far enough. Drawing a little on one side, we let the soldiers pass us. The standard-bearer waved his flag, the old major saluted by lowering the point of his sword as he rode past, and with the words, "Go in safety, God be with you. We shall meet in Erzeroum," we parted.
The servant of the house—The Onbashee—Five piastres—Osman detected—The guilty man—Vankovitch's remarks—The sentence—May I put Osman in prison?—The barracks—Two old Khans—The women weeping—Immense enthusiasm—Numbers of volunteers—Parading for the march—Men crying—We shall eat the Russians—The Sergeant—The Major of the battalion—The Dervish—A Circassian—The Imaum of the regiment—The Muleteer—Baggage animals required for the regiment—A bitter cry—The women's wail—The old Major—The soldier's hymn—The standard of the battalion—Go in safety—God be with you!
The following morning the servant of the house in which I was lodging entered the room and observed that a Zaptieh corporal, or Onbashee, who had escorted us into the town on the day of my arrival, wished to see me.
"Tell him to come in," I said. In a few minutes the Onbashee opened the door; approaching me, he took from his waistcoat five piastres, and placed them in the palm of his hand.
"What is this for?" I inquired.
"Osman!" answered the Onbashee, with a sigh.
"Osman! What has he been doing?"
"Osman gave them to me, Effendi; but you said that he was to give me half a medjidi—he has kept the difference for himself!"
It now flashed across my mind that the previous evening I had desired Osman to give the corporal half a medjidi as a baksheesh, and that I had told him to do so in the presence of the servant of the house. The latter had informed the Onbashee. Osman, who wished to appropriate to himself the difference between five piastres and the larger coin, was thus detected.
I sent for the culprit. He was aware that his knavery had been discovered. Instead of coming to me with his usual assertion that he was the most industrious man in the world, he stood in the corner of the room, an object of derision to the Onbashee, who was regretting the loss of his half medjidi, and to the servant of the house, who had been the means of disclosing Osman's dishonesty.
Addressing the guilty man, I asked him why he had not given the Zaptieh the half medjidi, and added that the previous evening, when he had told me of the expenses of the day, he had charged me with that sum.
Osman had hardly anything to say for himself. Presently he stammered out something about his only having five piastres in his pocket.
"That is a lie, Effendi!" here interrupted the Onbashee. "He had many coins in his hand when he gave me the five piastres."
I at once made up my mind to get rid of Osman. Vankovitch's remarks about the Turk's dishonesty also recurred to my memory. Osman was undoubtedly a rogue; I determined to procure another servant.
"Osman," I said, "you have robbed a Mohammedan, a follower of Islam, and one of your own religion. If you had confined yourself to robbing me, I could have understood it, for you might have reasoned to yourself as follows: 'The Effendi is a giaour, and there is gold in his purse.' But to rob a brother Mohammedan, and a poor man; to rob him of the pittance which I had given him,—this I can only understand by the assumption that you are a greater scoundrel than I thought you were! You are no longer my servant. You darken the threshold no longer!"
"I am innocent, Effendi!" cried Osman.
"Well, prove your innocence, and I will say no more about the matter."
"Effendi, the Onbashee is a liar!"
"Very likely, but then the servant must be a liar as well, and he saw you give the five piastres to the corporal. Now what interest has the servant in telling a lie about the matter?"
This was too much for the delinquent; lowering his eyes, he walked out of the room, through a long row of servants, who had come from the neighbouring houses to hear me administer justice.
The sentence appeared to give great satisfaction to the Onbashee.
"May I put Osman in prison?" he eagerly inquired.
"I have no authority on such matters," I replied.
"No, Effendi, but the Caimacan likes you, and if you asked him to do so, he would put Osman in prison. Just a day or so, Effendi! Please do!"
"Why do you want to put him in gaol?" I asked.
"Because, if he is once shut up, we will not let him out till he has returned me the difference between your present and the five piastres."
"No," I said; "here is the difference," at the same time giving him a small sum of money. "But now go and inquire in the town for a man who wants a situation, as I want a servant immediately."
Just then a sergeant entered the room. He brought word from the Caimacan that he was waiting for me, and that the battalion would leave Tokat in about half an hour.
I at once rode to the barracks. They consisted of two old Khans, which surrounded a courtyard, the Khans being used as barracks when there were troops in Tokat, and at other times of the year as lodgings for wayfarers. The streets leading to the Khans were lined with women, muffled up in long white sheets, and weeping piteously. The battalion was drawn up in two ranks inside the courtyard. The men were standing at ease, and engaged in talking to their numerous friends and relatives. Immense enthusiasm prevailed amidst the bystanders. Numbers of volunteers were offering their services.
"Look at these men, sir," observed Radford, who was riding behind me; "they do not look as if they liked going as soldiers: bless my heart alive, if they ain't a-crying!"
I glanced in the direction he was pointing, and saw thirty or forty men with most woe-begone faces, and some of them in tears.
"Why are you crying?" I said to one of their party. "Are you afraid of being killed?"
"No, Effendi, we want to go with our brothersin the battalion and to fight by their side; but the major will not take us, he says that his battalion is complete. Do ask him to let us accompany him! Our hearts are full of sorrow at being left behind."
A captain in the regiment, a short, podgy-looking man, with very fat cheeks, now came to them, and tried to console the volunteers by saying that their turn would come soon, and that they should go with the next battalion.
It was a curious spectacle: the soldiers dressed in a neat dark blue serge uniform, and with their feet in sandals, surrounded by little knots of relatives clad in every kind of attire that can well be imagined; fathers embracing sons, brothers rubbing cheeks with brothers, and the sergeant and corporals vainly endeavouring to get their men into some sort of order; the fat captain in the background engaged in trying to console the rejected volunteers; and the younger portion of the crowd looking inquisitively at the new Martini-Peabody rifles which had only arrived from Samsoun the previous evening. Some of the soldiery were showing how quick their rifles could be loaded and fired. The rapidity of the system created great astonishment amidst the crowd.
"The giaours come from the country wherethese guns are made," said a bystander, pointing to Radford and myself.
"The giaours have more brain than we have," said another.
"If they help us, we shall eat the Russians!" exclaimed a third. We became the object of still more curiosity when a sergeant, coming to me, said that the Caimacan was in the major's room, drinking coffee, and hoped that I would join him there.
"He is going to drink coffee with the Governor—he is a great man!" said one of the bystanders. Some of the volunteers, rushing up, entreated me to intercede with the Caimacan, and perhaps he could induce the major of the battalion to take them with him to the war.
The major, and several other officers were squatted on a carpet in a small and rather dirty room overlooking the courtyard. The Caimacan was seated on a chair, a dervish sat by his side. The latter individual was a portly-looking man, wrapped up in a roll of brown cloth, and with a gigantic sugar-loaf hat on his head. The hat was made of grey cloth, and would have made the fortune of the leader of a nigger band. Several more officers now came into the room, amongst others the fat captain. They each in turn bent beforethe dervish, who placed his hands above their heads, and pronounced some sort of a blessing.
A Circassian entered the building. He presently informed us that five thousand of his nation, who resided in the neighbourhood of Tokat, had expressed a wish to go to the seat of war, and to bring with them their own horses and arms.
By this time the sergeants had succeeded in arranging their men in the ranks, and the major going downstairs, followed by the Imaum or chaplain of the regiment, the latter addressed the battalion. The Imaum was attired in a lieutenant's uniform, but with a green turban round the fez, as a distinctive mark of his profession.
The Chaplain's discourse was not a long one. It was listened to with great attention by the populace. When he had finished the ranks were again broken by a crowd of eager, excited Mussulmans, who rushed up to embrace their friends.
As I was descending the steps, my attention was called to a man who was seated on the stair. He was sobbing like a child; at the same time striking his chest with the palms of his hands.
"What is the matter?" I inquired.
On his looking up, I recognized the muleteer whom I had hired to bring my baggage fromSileh Zela to Tokat. The man on seeing me sprang to his feet, then throwing himself on the ground, he began to embrace my legs, at the same time kissing my boots.
It appeared that several baggage animals were required for the battalion which was about to march. The Zaptiehs of Tokat had pressed the muleteer into their service, and had taken his mules.
"Do speak for me, Effendi!" he said. "They will take me to Kars. I shall be a ruined man. And my wife expects me home—she is in a delicate state of health; I shall shortly be a father."
"It is useless," said the Caimacan, who overheard his prayers. "We must have baggage animals," he continued; "you will not be taken to Kars, only to Samsoun; you will be paid for the hire of your animals. Dry your eyes, and do not block up the steps."
"It is a great pity, and I am very sorry for these poor fellows," observed the Caimacan, turning to me; "but what can we do? It is war time, or very soon will be so: some of us must suffer."
"Listen to those poor women there," he continued, as we rode through the gate, preceded by the brass band of the regiment playing a melancholymarch. A deep wail could be heard even above the noise of the instruments. The wives, mothers, and other female relatives of the soldiers, had not been permitted to enter the barracks; but from an early hour they had taken up a position along the streets. The bitter cry, which was joined in by hundreds of voices, announced to the people in the very outskirts of the town that the battalion was on the march.
Presently the band ceased playing; and the old major, his long white beard streaming in the wind, began singing the words: "God is great. There is but one God, the God, and there is but one Prophet, the Prophet, and he is the Prophet of God."
The soldiers took up the strain, ten thousand bystanders joined in the verse—it even silenced the women's wail—and resounded along the banks of the river. Here taken up by some people on the ruined citadel, the words were re-echoed back to us; there wafted by the breeze to an adjacent hamlet, the peasantry swelled the chorus. The standard of the battalion, with the crescent embroidered on a green border, was raised high in the air, and several of the crowd, rushing up to the major, implored him to take them in his ranks.
It was a striking scene—these weeping women in their shroud-like dresses; the many-coloured garments of the men; the excited soldiery—the still more excited major; and the immense religious enthusiasm.
Snow-capped mountains barred the way before us, and the river, its banks set fast with ice and hoar-frost, glittered in the distance, and reflected the rays of a midday sun.
Large stacks of wood had been piled up near the stream. The timber had been cut in the forests above the town, and been floated down the river to Tokat. It is chiefly used for smelting copper, the Government having some smelting works in the neighbourhood. According to my informant, they were established thirty years ago by a German; after his decease they had been bought by the Turkish authorities.
The Caimacan thought that he had accompanied the battalion far enough. Drawing a little on one side, we let the soldiers pass us. The standard-bearer waved his flag, the old major saluted by lowering the point of his sword as he rode past, and with the words, "Go in safety, God be with you. We shall meet in Erzeroum," we parted.