acrossasiaminoro00chiluoft

288 ACROSS ASIA MINOR ON FOOT
and critical was a situation they would have liked
to avoid.
An example of their difficulties occurred within an
hour of our arrival. In accordance with Turkish
custom the private soldier who brought in their food
kicked off his shoes at the door. He entered the
room \vith feet sticking out of filthy dilapidated army
socks, which left a wet patch after each step. With
his new khaki uniform and bright accoutrements and
well-set-up soldierly figure, he made an appearance
creditable to his country except for this unfortunate
revelation of hidden deficiencies. I cauofht siofht of
his feet unavoidably as he entered, and thereafter
looked steadily at his head ; but the major saw
through my pretence, I think, for he followed the
man out of the room. Whenever the soldier servant
appeared subsequently he was wearing clean socks,
not of the rough army sort, which I more than
suspected belonged to his master.
In spite of his evident depression and odd
appearance, exaggerated by the tight sword-belt
round an exceedingly corpulent figure, the naval
officer had a breezy manner belonging to the sea.
He spoke vigorously sometimes, he even laughed,
and presently I gathered that he could at least swear
in English. He dropped his restraint completely the
next evening, w^hen the major was out of the room,
and plunged suddenly into the subject of the War.
He was on his way to a Syrian port, he said, to take
up the position of Port-captain, and because of the
Italian blockade had been forced to travel by land.
The ice now broken, he spoke with great bitterness
of the disasters and humiliation which had overtaken
his country. The Ottoman Government, he asserted,
had been cunningly deceived ^vhile the project for
seizing Tripoli was being matured. It had been
deluded by lying Italian words, it had been mesmerised
by the same agency ; he was sure that the
Turkish garrison in Tripoli had been reduced before
the war as the result of Italian gold. He knew