acrossasiaminoro00chiluoft

"
78 ACROSS ASIA MINOR ON FOOT
he finds the patient suddenly draw back. The truth
being that Kopekjian Effendi, who is an energetic
young fellow pushing his way, has found means to
suggest lower terms, and the bait has taken.
Into a haunt of this kind with its waiting doctors,
came zaptiehs and an English prisoner, and an Armenian
who was taking part in the affair ; and the
chemist, in the presence of all this company, was to
demonstrate his knowledge of English. He was a
short, fat, youngish man, with small black moustache
and beady eyes ; he wore a long black stamhulina
frock-coat, black trousers, and red slippers, and was
anxious to do his best.
The stately phrasing of the British passport must
have given rise to many such scenes as followed here.
Difficulty began with the opening words. In the
chemist's opinion, " We, Sir Edward Grey," certainly
referred to the bearer of the passport.
" No ? Sir Edward Grey, he is who ?
" The English Grand Vizier," I explained impressively,
"PeM^," said the chemist, taken aback and finding
refuge in the Turkish "very well." But he felt the
ice thin under him, and would have no more to do
with reading aloud and explanations. He wrestled
with the document, slowly and in silence, and read
it from beginning to end, finger on line, with a frown
of concentration. In the end he decided that I was
a person to go before the higher authorities ; meanwhile
coffee and cigarettes were brought in, for there
was no lack of politeness. After an hour spent thus,
it was decided that the Governor might be seen
instead of the Chief of Police, and we went to the
Konak.
We found the Governor seated in his room of
audience. He gave immediate attention to the
matter ; for whatever the defects of Turkish rule
may be, difficulty of access to rulers is not one of
them. Whether poor or rich, you may push aside the
padded curtain which serves the audience-room for