nd
looked back thoughtfully. He said something in Turkish which I could not
understand, then he spoke in French.

"'Who are you?' he asked.

"In as few words as possible I explained. He came over and looked at the
manacle about my leg and shook his head.

"'You will never be able to get that undone,' he said.

"He caught hold of the chain, which was a fairly long one, bound it
twice round his arm and steadying his arm across his thigh, he turned
with a sudden jerk. There was a smart 'snap' as the chain parted. He
caught me by the shoulder and pulled me to my feet. 'Put the chain
about your waist, Effendi,' he said, and he took a revolver from his
belt and handed it to me.

"'You may need this before we get back to Durazzo,' he said. His belt
was literally bristling with weapons--I saw three revolvers beside the
one I possessed--and he had, evidently come prepared for trouble. We
made our way from the dungeon into the clean-smelling world without.

"It was the second time I had been in the open air for eighteen months
and my knees were trembling under me with weakness and excitement. The
old man shut the prison door behind us and walked on until we came up to
the girl waiting for us by the lakeside. She was weeping softly and he
spoke to her a few words in a low voice and her weeping ceased.

"'This daughter of mine will show us the way,' he said, 'I do not know
this part of the country--she knows it too well.'

"To cut a long story short," said Lexman, "we reached Durazzo in the
afternoon. There was no attempt made to follow us up and neither my
absence nor the body of Salvolio were discovered until late in the
afternoon. You must remember that nobody but Salvolio was allowed
into my prison and therefore nobody had the courage to make any
investigations.

"The old man got me to his house without being observed, and brought a
brother-in-law or some relative of his to remove the anklet. The name of
my host was Hussein Effendi.

"That same night we left with a little caravan to visit some of the old
man's relatives. He was not certain what would be the consequence of
his act, and for safety's sake took this trip, which would enable him
if need be to seek sanctuary with some of the wilder Turkish tribes, who
would give him protection.

"In that three months I saw Albania as it is--it was an experience never
to be forgotten!

"If there is a better man in God's world than Hiabam Hussein Effendi,
I have yet to