CHAPTER XVII
A modern hero, and our sojourn under his roof—Kećo's story—The laws of Vendetta and their incongruity—We return to Podgorica—The Montenegrin telephone—An elopement causes excitement—The Sultan's birthday—The reverse of the picture—A legal anomaly.
"At Fundina," said Dr. S., "you will meet one of the modern heroes of Montenegro. A man named Kećo, whose fame has reached to the uttermost ends of the land."
We had bidden farewell to our host and were riding past the last houses and huts of the clan of Zatrijebać on our way to Fundina. The path tended downwards, and shortly the great plain of the Zeta burst suddenly into view as we rounded a corner of the mountains. Beyond lay the Lake of Scutari with its background of mountains.
It was early in the evening when we reined in our horses before a modest stone house and dismounted. It was Fundina, a straggling village built on the sloping sides of a mountain from which it takes its name.
Voivoda Marko, the hero of Medun, defeated the Turks on these slopes in the first engagement of the last war, successfully inaugurating the campaigning which secured to Montenegro all the territory through which we had been riding for so many weeks, including the towns of Podgorica and Nikšić, and the great valley now stretched at our feet.
Podgorica lies like an oasis of green trees on the rolling, but treeless, plain.
The Albanian border is but a rifle-shot away, and the village of Dinoš and the fortress of Tusi are plainly to be seen.
We decided to spend the night here and hear Kećo's story, though Podgorica was only three hours' distance. It would be a fitting finish to our mountain tour to sleep on the battlefield of Fundina, and in the house of a modern hero.
"I warn you," remarked the doctor, "that Kećo much belies his deeds by his appearance."