Adventure, December 1914 — page 202: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

200 need scarcely point out that my royal master, the Czar of Bulgaria, is sufficiently assured of what you accurately term ;the sinews of war to make evident to you the folly of continued resistance against his forces.”’ The senior of the three Ottoman pleni- potentiaries nodded his head dumbly. ‘What you say is true, General,’’ he said after an interval. His voice was singularly flat and toneless. ‘‘Your terms?” “Surrendering of all claim to Thrace, north of the line now held by his Majesty’s arms, including Adrianople; all of Mace- donia, Epirus and Novi-Bazar; and all of the lands and islands now held by the troops of the Balkan Alliance.” Savoff’s voice rang like steel clanging on steel. The Turk shrugged his shoulders. “If I still believed in Allah,”’ he said, “I would say it was his will. Many years ago my people took away these lands from your people. Now you take them back again. You have the sinews of war. What you say must be.”’ Savoff bowed, and drew forward pens and paper. “Then, with your permission, we will now prepare the protocol,” he said. CHAPTER XIX AUSTRIA SHOWS HER HAND E SAT in the minister’s study—the minister, Masoya and I; and outside the crowds rolled up and down the streets, shouting themselves hoarse. The armistice and the certain peace which must follow had just been proclaimed, and all Sofia had gone mad. “Hurrah for the Alliance!’ they cried.. ‘Long live the Confederation of the Bal- kans!” “Long live the Emperor Ferdi- nand!”’ From a score of hastily improvised rostrums ardent speakers harangued the masses and painted glowing pictures of the coming Imperial Confederation of which Bulgaria should be leader. ‘‘Hurrah for Ferdinand the Victorious!” answered the crowds. Mobs paraded back and forth before the Palace, singing the ‘‘SSheumy Maritza”’ and celebrating the virtues of their ruler. To me, who had come a few short hours before from the war zone, the savage tur- Adventure moil was stunning. away by it. But the minister and Masoya took things more calmly. They were chiefly interested in dissection of the phenomena that were being worked out before them, and en- deavoring to trace the underlying causes of the surface manifestations. “Yet this is only what you yourself have expected, what you predicted,” I remon- strated with Masoya. ‘‘Why be skeptical? It is genuine. How could it be anything else?”’ “You permit your youthful illusions to run away with you, Dan,” chided the minister. ‘A well-organized demonstration is never spontaneous. Any politician will tell you that.” . ‘But granting that there is political ma- nipulation in the affair——”’ “Why, yes, I will grant it,’’ conceded the minister. ‘As a matter of fact, I gave my men their instructions myself, this morning.”’ “You old rogue!’ I expostulated. ‘‘Can’t you be——’” “It’s true,” cut in Masoya hastily. ‘‘We did it because we felt it was necessary to stir up as much dynastic feeling as possible, Dan. The end justified the means. But it is not the question of spontaneity or lack of spontaneity that is bothering me. It is the question of the meaning of the Austrian in- fluence we have been feeling for the last few days.” “Austrian influence?” I repeated. “Yes, Austrian influence,” she reaffirmed. “Ts it not so?” The minister nodded. ‘“‘We began to sense it some days ago, just after I came back from Muradli. Since then it has grown more marked. It reached its culmination yesterday in the release from arrest of Gortcheff. “Ah, you jump now, Dan! That means something to you. Yes, Gortcheff was re- leased yesterday on the Czar’s own order. The only explanation given out was that the charges entered against him were not susceptible of proof and that at such a time the services of so valuable an officer were not to be dispensed with.” ‘“‘Any other signs?” I pressed. “Plenty,” she answered promptly. “Tf we knew what the Austrians were playing for, we would not worry. But we do not know, and we can not determine how to meet them.” I was all but swept MICLOOOLK (©