acrossasiaminoro00chiluoft

372 ACROSS ASIA MINOR ON FOOT
for me ;
and Mustapha uot appearing, I went to the
khan.
To provide for numerous Germans and other
foreigners engaged in railway construction near
Osinanieh, the khan had turned itself into a
" hotel." It supplied bedding and meals ; the beds
and windows were curtained, and a coloured print
of Dorando, of Olympic fame, was on the wall. The
Consul was nowhere to be found when I arrived, and
I asked where he had gone. For answer Ibrahim
drew aside the curtain and showed my friend stretched
on the bed asleep, his head wrapped in a towel in
Oriental fashion. I gathered that Ibrahim took credit
to himself that the Consul slept, for he recommended
me to do the same before eating, and offered to
wrap my head ; and to show me further honour, as
one upon whom the shadow of his lord had sometimes
fallen, proposed to do so much as wash my
feet. But because I declined his advice and help,
he regarded me thereafter as a graceless person, and
never offered any services again.
Owing to the number of guests, we had to wait
till nine o'clock for a relay dinner. Just as we
went down to the room Mustapha arrived. He had
run back after the hat for an hour, fearing a deduction
from his pay for the loss, had found it in the
dark by some miracle, and now, though tired and
perspiring, was a thankful man.
Nestling under bold wooded mountains at the edge
of the plain, Osmanieh looked a pleasant place in the
sunlight of a spring morning. Its recent history, however,
was not at all in keeping with its bright and
peaceful appearance. " In this town," said Ibrahim
to his master, " there have been many events." He
used the word "events" advisedly, for in Asia
Minor it is a matter involving imprisonment to speak
of "massacre" openly. But adopt the euphemism
" vukuart " (events), and you may say what you like.
During the time of the Cilician massacres chance
provided the Moslems of Osmanieh with an oppor-