exaggerated. The news of the elopement of another
Turkish maiden soon reached us, and that day at dinner, an officer,
detailed to prove the matter, told us the story.

A young Montenegrin had won the heart of the maiden, and accompanied
by a friend, he had gone to the wall of her house and given a
preconcerted signal. The girl had come, but a dispute now arose
between the men as to who should ultimately marry her, and she, in
great disgust, had told them to go away and settle the matter. It
seems that the girl had no particular wishes as to whom she should
marry. At last the friends arranged matters satisfactorily and the
girl was abducted, if one can call an elopement an abduction. However,
in the eyes of the Turks it was a forcible abduction, and the fact
that the girl was related to the most influential Turk in the town did
not improve matters. The Beg had demanded the restitution of the girl
at once and punishment of the offenders. The Prince had sent officials
to settle the dispute. The girl, however, very naturally refused to be
given back, as she would probably have been killed, and insisted on
her baptism and marriage taking place forthwith.

As the officer said to us--

"This is a free country, and we shall not give back the maiden against
her will."

This had incensed the Turks beyond measure. The town was being
patrolled nightly, and the Beg attempted flight to mark his anger. But
this the Prince would not allow, and the Beg was stopped by gendarmes
as he was entering a carriage one night. Only if he first gave up his
orders, decorations, and his sword of honour, and, furthermore, took
his wives and belongings with him, could he leave the country.

Such was the state of affairs on our return. At night we went armed,
and really had hopes of seeing a street fight. One evening a shot was
fired in the town, and in the twinkling of an eye men turned out rifle
in hand. Nothing came of it, and the crowd of several hundred armed
Montenegrins slowly dispersed. Had further shots been fired, we were
told, the peasants from far and near would have taken up the alarm,
and in an hour thousands would have flocked into the town. No wonder
the Turks were chary of taking revenge into their own hands.[8]

[Footnote 8: Again, since writing the above, this statement has been
fully proved. In February, 1902, a party of Turkish soldiers, half
starved in their frontier block-houses, attempted a raid into
Montenegro. They wer