With the Serbs in Macedonia

ACTIVE SERVICE 71
been to America and spoke what he called
English. Through him we bargained for six
rush mats to be made for our tents at eightpence
each, and for fifty eggs at twopence, to be
collected by the following evening. It is, perhaps,
worth mentioning in parenthesis that a year
later the price of these mats had risen from
eightpence to seven drachmae (5s. lod.) and eggs
were sevenpence !
We made our way
back over the hills and
were rewarded with an unforgettable view.
From the summit of a hill we looked down upon
two lakes, each circled with golden sand. And
one was illumined by the setting sun and the
other by a monstrous, rising moon.
On the following evening we took a Ford
car over the hills to fetch our mats and eggs,
and discovered, unofficially, the marvellous
as a mountain climber
capabilities of Henry
so long as the surface is dry. Incidentally,
we nearly broke our necks. The villagers
welcomed us this time as old friends, the
children suffered themselves to be fed with
sweets ;
and several rather pretty young women
risked the displeasure of their lords and masters
to peep at us.
As a matter of fact, the British always got on
better with the natives than the French did. As
they put it,
*'
If a British say he pay, he pay,''