enazet's idea was to obtain from the King not only tangible pledges
which would eliminate all possibility of danger from the Allies' path,
but also positive reinforcements for them in arms and men; and as a
price he was prepared to guarantee to Old Greece her neutrality, her
liberty in the management of her internal affairs, and her immunity
from aggression on the part of M. Venizelos. Young, eloquent, and
refined, the spokesman brought into an environment corrupted by
diplomatic chicanery a breath of candour. His manner inspired and
evoked confidence. The King readily agreed, besides the reduction
which he had already offered, to transfer the remainder of his army to
the Peloponnesus, to hand over to the Allies a considerable stock of
guns, rifles, and other war material, and to allow all men who were
released from their military obligations, and all officers who first
resigned their commissions, to volunteer for service in Macedonia. M.
Benazet, on his part, made himself guarantor for the French Government
as to the pledges which the King required in exchange.[17]

This agreement met, at least in appearance, with the approval of M.
Briand, who sent a telegram of congratulations {127} to M. Benazet,[18]
and with that of M. Guillemin, who was at last received by the King.
Both the French Premier and his representative at Athens expressed
themselves enchanted with the new turn of affairs, and even the
fire-breathing Head of the French Secret Service declared that the
result of the negotiation surpassed all hopes. As to Admiral Dartige,
he could not but rejoice at an arrangement so consonant with his own
ideas.[19] Thus all outstanding differences seemed happily settled,
and the removal of mutual misunderstandings was celebrated by inspired
pens in Paris and London.[20]

The only discordant note was struck by the Venizelist Press, which made
no attempt to conceal its disappointment. And suddenly, just as the
withdrawal of the royal troops from the north was about to begin, the
troops of the Provisional Government attacked Katerini on the southern
frontier of Macedonia. M. Venizelos had dropped the pose that his
movement was directed solely against the Bulgars: he marched on Old
Greece. Did he by this move try to force the hand of the Allies, as
formerly by bringing them to Salonica he had tried to force the hand of
the King? And was he encouraged in this move by those who were
secretly opposed to an accommodat