Wonder Stories of Travel

“I ACTUALLY FELL ASLEEP.”
WONDER STORIES OF TRAVEL
BY ELIOT McCORMICK, ERNEST INGERSOLL, E. E. BROWN, DAVID KER, AND OTHERS Illustrated BOSTON D. LOTHROP AND COMPANY 32 Franklin Street
Copyright, 1886, by D. Lothrop & Company.

THE Turkish battery ashore thundered a royal salute to General Grant as the Vandalia which bore him from port to port in the Mediterranean steamed up to her anchorage in the harbor of Smyrna. Thirty great iron-clads followed in quick succession; men-of-war crowded the harbor. They had been ordered into Turkish waters on account of the war then raging between Turkey and Russia. From ship and shore thousands of spectators watched the Vandalia’s approach with eager interest, and from the foremast of every vessel and the flagstaffs of the city the American flag waved the General a glad and hearty welcome.
No one in all the city was more pleased at his arrival than Fred Martin, the son of an American merchant resident in Smyrna. He stood with the crowd upon the quay cheering enthusiastically.
Fred had sailed with his mother from New York when he was but three years old, and his memories of his native land were consequently vague and fanciful. His playmates were the little Greek and Armenian boys of his neighborhood, and the few English children belonging to the British consulate. He had told his comrades, in glowing words, the history of General Grant. Fred was very precocious, and had learned several languages. In his play with the Greek boys he had learned to speak Greek, and in the same pleasant way the Armenian boys had taught him their language. Besides, in the streets and bazaars he had picked up Turkish and Arabic enough to converse quite easily with the merchants speaking those languages. So great was Fred’s proficiency that at home he went by the name of “the little polyglot.”
The boys shouted and cheered till they found that General Grant would not come ashore that day, and gradually they departed for their homes. We will leave General Grant to receive the official courtesies of the authorities of the city and the admirals and captains of the fleet, and proceed with Master Fred.