ongue."

At this point Dobri Petroff, who, I observed, had been listening keenly
to what was said, started up with vehemence, and exclaimed--

"If this be true, we can prove it. Our Bible lies in the neighbouring
church, and here sits our schoolmaster who reads the ancient Slavic like
his mother-tongue. Come, let us clear up the matter at once."

This proposal was heartily agreed to. The Bulgarians in the cafe rose
_en masse_, and, headed by the village schoolmaster, went to the church,
where they found the Bible that the priests were in the habit of
reading, or rather intoning, and turned up the 115th Psalm. It was
found to correspond exactly with that of the colporteur!

The result was at first received in dead silence, and with looks of
surprise by the majority. This was followed by murmuring comments and
some disputes. It was evident that the seeds of an inquiring spirit had
been sown that day, which would bear fruit in the future. The
colporteur, wisely forbearing to press his victory at that time, left
the truth to simmer. [See note 1.]

I joined him as he went out of the church, and, during a brief
conversation, learned from him that an extensive work is being quietly
carried on in Turkey, which, although not attracting much attention, is
nevertheless surely undermining the huge edifice of Error by means of
the lever of Truth.

Among other things, he said that in the year 1876 so many as
twenty-eight thousand Bibles, translated into the modern native tongue,
had been circulated in the Turkish Empire and in Greece by the British
and Foreign Bible Society, while the Americans, who are busily engaged
in the blessed work in Armenia, had distributed twenty thousand copies.

Leaving the village of Yenilik and my Bulgarian friends with much
regret, I continued the voyage up the Danube, landing here and there for
a day or two and revelling in the bright weather, the rich prospects and
the peaceful scenes of industry apparent everywhere, as man and beast
rejoiced in the opening year.

Time passed rapidly as well as pleasantly. Sometimes I left the yacht
in charge of Mr Whitlaw, and in company with my trusty servant
travelled about the country, conversing with Turks wherever I met them,
thus becoming more and more versed in their language, and doing my best,
without much success, to improve Lancey in the same.

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Note 1. The facts