“But how came your forge to be burned?” I asked, desiring to change the drift of the conversation.
The question called up a look of ferocity on the blacksmith’s face, of which I had not believed it capable.
“The Turks did it,” he hissed, rather than said, between his teeth. “The men of this village—men whom I have served for years—men by whom I have been robbed for years, and to whose insults I have quietly and tamely submitted until now, for the sake of these,” (he pointed to his wife and children)—“became enraged at the outbreak of the war, and burned my workshop. They would have burned my cottage too, but luckily there is a good partition-wall between it and the shop, which stayed the flames. No doubt they would have despoiled my house, as they have done to others, but my door and windows were barricaded, and they knew who was inside. They left me; but that which the Turks spared the Russians have taken. Still, sir,” (he turned again full on Nicholas), “I must say that if your Government is honest in its intentions, it is far from wise in its methods.”
“You hate the Turks, however, and are willing to serve against them?” asked Nicholas.
The blacksmith shook his shaggy locks as he raised his head.
“Ay, I hate them, and as for—”
“Oh, husband!” pleaded Marika, for the first time breaking silence, “do not take vengeance into your own hands.”
“Well, as to that,” returned Dobri, with a careless smile, “I have no particular desire for vengeance; but the Turks have taken away my livelihood; I have nothing to do, and may as well fight as anything else. It will at all events enable me to support you and the children. We are starving just now.”
Nicholas hastened to assure the unfortunate man that his family would be specially cared for if he would undertake to guide the Russian columns across the Balkan mountains. Taking him aside he then entered into earnest converse with him about the object of his mission.
Meanwhile I had a long chat with his wife and the little ones, from whom I learned the sad details of the sufferings they had undergone since we last met.