The day after we had arrived, I accidentally met in the street Robert Imbrie, whom I had known when he was American Consul in Petrograd. It turned out that he also had just arrived and like ourselves was also on his way to the Crimea, appointed from the State Department. He asked me what I was going to do and I explained that probably for the moment we would return to France. He said that he was waiting for instructions from Washington to know what to do. Next day he contacted me saying that he was assigned to form a Russian Section at the American Embassy in Constantinople and offered me a job to work with him. I gladly accepted and so we stayed in Constantinople for the next 8 months.
It was a very interesting period. My work was varied. I acted as
interpreter at the American Embassy with the Russians and with the
French. Nelka joined the organization of the French Admiral's wife,
Madame Dumesnil, doing refugee relief work.
It was an interesting and exhilarating time in Constantinople. We saw and knew a number of very interesting people. We saw unusual situations and we were both very busy.
Mr. Imbrie, with whom I worked, had as his assignment to undertake inspection tours. For this he often used the American destroyers which were anchored in the Bosphorus. Thus, we went to Gallipoli, to Lemnos, to Salonica, etc.
On a certain day we took off for Varna in Bulgaria and from there to
Batum in the Caucasus.
Nelka remained in Constantinople and had with her a little companion, a dog Djedda. Djedda influenced a great deal of our future existence, and as you will see there was quite a story attached to this little dog.
One day we were visiting the bazaar of Constantinople, a colorful, typical oriental spot, crowded and noisy, with oriental smells and sounds. In one of the passages we came across a small, brown dog, which was running around frightened and miserable. We spoke to her and, while she was timid, she was friendly and came to us. We decided to pick her up and that we could give her to the little daughter of the man in whose house we had a room. The little girl Offy was living with her father who had recently lost his wife and we thought that the little dog would fit in nicely as a playmate for the little girl. Offy was very pleased and we showed her how to take care of the dog. The first thing to do was to wash the dog and get some of the grime off. When this was done we were surprised to find out that she was white not brown, the size of a small fox terrier, with lovely eyes and a vivacious disposition. So all was well for the dog, for Offy and for us—at least for the moment. A few days later Offy announced that the dog seemed ill. We examined her and found that she was running a temperature, would not move and certainly was not well. We arranged her in a small box and took her to our room for she needed better care than the little girl could give her. As she did not improve, we took her to the veterinary and he found that she was suffering from inflammatory rheumatism of the joints. He gave her some medicine and told us to keep her quiet. This was not difficult to do for she was very ill and did not move. In this critical condition she must have stayed for about two weeks, possibly more. Then she began to show some signs of recovery, but even this was very gradual. Gradually she began to regain strength and finally we tried to have her get out of her box and walk about. When we tried this, we found to our surprise that she could not stand up and we discovered that her two front legs had stiffened in the joints, which would not move. Those joints had actually grown together and the dog would never be able to move them again. However, with time Djedda adapted herself wonderfully to this situation and learned to hobble about just on her hind legs supporting herself by holding her left front leg against her hip. The right front leg was bent up below her chin against her chest. Naturally in that condition the dog could not remain with the little girl so she stayed with us. And despite her crippled condition, Djedda was a most wonderful and lovable dog. She adapted herself so well that she could even go up the steps.
Like all invalids, Djedda adapted herself wonderfully and was quite proficient in her movements, though she always remained a cripple. The only thing she could not do was come down the stairs. So, if she found herself at the head of the stairs, she would start barking until someone came to carry her down. She was a very wonderful pet to us for about 12 years. This poor little cripple was the most gay and joyful little dog, a wonderful and devoted companion and we never regretted for a moment having had the good luck of finding her. She gave us a great deal of joy and comfort.
So when I left with Imbrie for Batum, Nelka remained with Djedda. When leaving I told Nelka that I was to be back a certain Monday. Well, things did not go exactly on schedule. When we got to Batum, we found that the city, which was occupied by the Turks, was being besieged by the Georgians. We went ashore, looked the situation over and saw that it was not good. We remained anchored in the harbor. The next morning the Georgians attacked and hot fighting resulted. Most of it was with small arms only, but when the bullets begun to spatter against our destroyer, the captain decided that we better get out, which we did, and we steamed back to Constantinople. With this delay, we were off schedule and instead of arriving on Monday it was Wednesday. When I returned home I found that Nelka was gone, with a note left for me. The note said that as I had not returned on Monday and as news had reached Constantinople that heavy fighting was on in Batum, that she was leaving to look for me. I was furious, because it was so utterly useless.
Upon inquiry I found that she had boarded a small Italian freighter plying the cost of Asiatic Turkey. The boat named San Georgio had left on Tuesday and had no wireless. The boat's company explained that she was due back in about three weeks.