"How can I pledge myself?" I remarked, "he may run away on the road."
"That is true," said the officer; "but he is a straightforward fellow—he will not do so. If I had the power, I would let you take him as a servant for all the time that you remain in the country; but I have no authority to do this, I am merely a captain."
The matter was settled. Returning to my house, I informed the man of his officer's consent.
Mohammed was to have the same wages as Osman, and as he had a horse of his own, which he wished to take to Erzeroum, I was to pay for the forage of the animal, and could make use of him for the baggage. This would be very useful; hitherto I had been obliged to hire a horse, owing to my loss of Obadiah. Up to this time I had been travelling on the postal track. It was possible to find horses. After leaving Sivas, the next town I should reach, there would be no more postal-stations; I should then have to trust to my being able to hire animals from the peasantry, or be obliged to purchase another horse.
"I have a wife," said Mohammed; "will my lord give me a little money?"
"How much do you want?"
"Two liras."
"I wonder if he will bolt with the money, like the Tartar I engaged last winter in Orenburg." This idea at once occurred to my mind. On second thoughts, I remembered that he was well known to the Zaptieh, and to many of the other inhabitants of Tokat; so I acceded to his request.
An Armenian doctor called to see me. He had been educated in the States, and spoke English with a most unmistakable Yankee drawl.