"Peace be with you! I have come to dine here this evening."
It was a very disagreeable position for the major, but what could he do? His battalion had been taken unawares; it was surrounded by the Kurd's followers, and all of them were armed men. He put on the best face he could about the matter, and gave his guest an excellent dinner. The following morning the Kurd said to him,—
"I dined very well last night, and slept comfortably. I have accepted your hospitality, and now you must accept mine. I am going to take you to dine with me. Nay, I am!" he continued, to the officer, who appeared a little indignant at the proposal, "and every man under your command as well. They shall all dine and sleep in my encampment this evening."
"It was a disagreeable position for the major," observed the Consul at Erzeroum, when he related the story to me. "He was ordered to arrest the Kurd, and now the Kurd was about to arrest him! However, resistance was useless. His battalion was surrounded by Kurds, who, at a sign from their chief, would have massacred every Turk on the spot. The only thing for the officer to do was to accept the invitation. The Kurd, when the soldiers arrived at his mountain home, commanded his servants to make preparation for a feast. Several hundred sheep were killed, to be cooked for the occasion, and the stream on the hill-side ran red with the blood of the slaughtered animals."
After dinner the major tried very hard to persuade the Kurd to recognize the Sultan as his lord.
"You need only nominally acknowledge our Padishah," remarked the officer; "you have 30,000 sheep; give 1500 piastres (10l.) a year to the Sultan. You have 10,000 retainers; give him 10 to serve in his army. I can arrange the rest. You are a very rich man, but this need not be known at Constantinople."
"I have never given any one of my children to serve another master," replied the chieftain, proudly. "Your Padishah is Sultan at Stamboul, but I am Sultan here!"
The following morning, the Kurd allowed the battalion to return to their quarters, and presented the major with an Arab charger as a memento of his visit.
"All the circumstances were reported to the military authorities at Erzeroum," added the Consul when he related the story, "and the officer was afterwards promoted."
Shortly before leaving Hasta Khan, Mohammed came to me with a smile on his countenance. I at once thought that something disagreeable had happened. The Turk seldom indulged in a smile. Radford, too, in spite of his illness, seemed rather more cheerful than usual. I began to be a little alarmed.