he Secret Service of Bulgaria before the war had evidently been
excellent. They seemed to know all that was necessary to know about the
country in which they were going to fight; and I think this very
complete knowledge of theirs was in part responsible for the
arrangements which were made between the Balkan Allies for carrying on
the war. The Bulgarian people had made up their minds to do the lion's
share of the work and to have the lion's share of the spoils, for the
Bulgarian people knew the state of corruption and rottenness to which
the Turkish nation had come. When I reached Sofia, the Bulgarians told
me they were going to be in Constantinople three weeks after the
declaration of war. That was the view that they took of the
possibilities of the campaign. And they kept their programme as far as
Chatalja fairly closely.

Having declared war, the Bulgarians invaded Turkey along two main lines,
by the railway which passed through Adrianople to Constantinople and by
the wild mountain passes of the north between Yamboli and Kirk Kilisse.
There was great enterprise shown in this second line of advance and it
was responsible for all the great victories won. Taking Kirk Kilisse by
surprise the Bulgarian forces kept the Turkish vanguard on the run until
Lule Burgas, where the Turkish main army made a stand and the decisive
battle of the campaign was fought. The Turks were utterly routed and
fled in confusion towards Constantinople by Tchorlu. Had an enterprising
pursuit on the part of the Bulgarians been possible, the Bulgarian army
undoubtedly would have then entered Constantinople and the Christmas
Mass would have been said at St. Sophia. But the strength of the
Bulgarian attack was exhausted by the tremendous exertions of marching
and fighting which they had already made and a long pause to recuperate
was necessary. That pause enabled the Turks to re-marshal their forces
and to make a stand at the fortified lines of Chatalja some twenty miles
as the crow flies from Constantinople. Against those lines a Bulgarian
attack was finally launched, but too late. The entrenched Turks were
strong enough to withstand the attack of the Bulgarian forces. My diary
of these three critical days of the campaign reads:

ERMENIKIOI

(Headquarters of the Third Bulgarian Army),

_November 17 (Sunday)._

The battle of Chatalja has been opened. To-day, General
Demetrieff rode out with his staff to the battlefield whils