Part 21 (1/2)

'Zithers are as co around so his friends They don't like visitors in this country; and you'll be asking for trouble if you go inside those walls I guess it's some old Buzzard's harem' Buzzard was his own private peculiar name for the Turk, for he said he had had as a boy a natural history book with a picture of a bird called the turkey-buzzard, and couldn't get out of the habit of applying it to the Ottoman people

I wasn't convinced, so I tried to mark down the place It seemed to be about three miles out from the city, at the end of a steep lane on the inland side of the hill co from the Bosporus I fancied somebody of distinction lived there, for a little farther on weits way up, and I had a notion that the car belonged to the walled villa

Next day Blenkiron was in grievous trouble with his dyspepsia Aboutbetter to do I had out the horses again and took Peter withwith the long Boer stirrup and the slouch of the backveld

That afternoon was unfortunate from the start It was not the ale which blew sheets of rain in our faces and numbed our bridle hands We took the saot to a shallow valley with a white village a the cypresses Beyond that there was a very respectable road which brought us to the top of a crest that in clear weather iven a fine prospect Then we turned our horses, and I shaped our course so as to strike the top of the long lane that abutted on the down I wanted to investigate the white villa

But we hadn't gone far on our road back before we got into trouble It arose out of a sheep-dog, a yellow rel brute that came at us like a thunderbolt It took a special fancy to Peter, and bit savagely at his horse's heels and sent it capering off the road I should have warned hi, till too late For Peter, being accustorels in Kaffir kraals, took a summary ith the pest Since it despised his whip, he out with his pistol and put a bullet through its head

The echoes of the shot had scarcely died ahen the row began A big fellow appeared running towards us, shouting wildly I guessed he was the dog's owner, and proposed to pay no attention But his cries summoned two other fellows-soldiers by the look of the their rifles as they ran My first idea was to show them our heels, but I had no desire to be shot in the back, and they looked likeSo we slowed down and faced the a trio as you would want to avoid The shepherd looked as if he had been dug up, a dirty ruffian with matted hair and a beard like a bird's nest The two soldiers stood staring with sullen faces, fingering their guns, while the other chap raved and stor at Peter, whose ly at his assailant

The mischief was that neither of us had a word of Turkish I tried Ger at the dark Once I turned my horse round as if to proceed, and the two soldiers ju themselves, and then one said very slowly: 'Hewantpounds,' and he held up five fingers They evidently saw by the cut of our jib that eren't Gerrily, and the conversation languished

The situation was getting serious, so I spoke a word to Peter The soldiers had their rifles loose in their hands, and before they could lift them we had the pair covered with our pistols

'If you ht and stood stock still, while the shepherd stopped his raving and took to rauns,' I said sharply 'Quick, or we shoot'

The tone, if not the words, conveyedat us, they let the rifles slide to the ground The next second we had forced our horses on the top of them, and the three were off like rabbits I sent a shot over their heads to encourage theuns into a bit of scrub where they would take so

This hold-up had wasted ti very dark, and we hadn't ridden apredicas and at the best I had only a foggy notion of the lie of the land The best plan seeet to the top of a rise in the hope of seeing the lights of the city, but all the countryside was so pockety that it was hard to strike the right kind of rise

We had to trust to Peter's instinct I asked him where our line lay, and he sat very still for athe air Then he pointed the direction It wasn't what I would have taken myself, but on a point like that he was pretty near infallible

Presently we ca slope which cheered ht visible anywhere-only a black void like the inside of a shell As I stared into the gloom it seeht be woods

'There is a house half-left in front of us,' said Peter

I peered till

'Well, for heaven's sake, guide me to it,' I said, and with Peter in front we set off down the hill

It was a wild journey, for darkness clung as close to us as a vest Te stepped into patches of bog, and oncehead forward into a gravel pit We got tangled up in strands of wire, and often found ourselves rubbing our noses against tree trunks Several tiap in barricades of loose stones But after a ridiculous a we finally struck what seemed the level of a road, and a piece of special darkness in front which turned out to be a high wall

I argued that allit, and presently found a gap There was an old iron gate on broken hinges, which we easily pushed open, and found ourselves on a back path to so leaves covered it, and by the feel of it underfoot it was grass-grown

We dis our horses, and after about fifty yards the path ceased and cauessed, for the place was as black as pitch Evidently the house couldn't be far off, but in which direction I hadn't a notion

Now, I didn't want to be paying calls on any Turk at that time of day Our job was to find where the road opened into the lane, for after that our way to Constantinople was clear One side the lane lay, and the other the house, and it didn't see up with horses to the front door So I told Peter to wait for me at the end of the back-road, while I would prospect a bit I turned to the right, ht of a house to return, and with Peter take the other direction