JANET MACKELPIE'S NOTES.
_June_ 1, 1909.
Our dear Teuta is full of the forthcoming celebration of the BalkanFederation, which is to take place this day month, although I must say,for myself, that the ceremony is attaining to such dimensions that I ambeginning to have a sort of vague fear of some kind. It almost seemsuncanny. Rupert is working unceasingly--has been for some time. Forweeks past he seems to have been out day and night on his aeroplane,going through and round over the country arranging matters, and seeingfor himself that what has been arranged is being done. Uncle Colin isalways about, too, and so is Admiral Rooke. But now Teuta is beginningto go with Rupert. That girl is simply fearless--just like Rupert. Andthey both seem anxious that little Rupert shall be the same. Indeed, heis the same. A few mornings ago Rupert and Teuta were about to startjust after dawn from the top of the Castle. Little Rupert was there--heis always awake early and as bright as a bee. I was holding him in myarms, and when his mother leant over to kiss him good-bye, he held outhis arms to her in a way that said as plainly as if he had spoken, "Takeme with you."
She looked appealingly at Rupert, who nodded, and said: "All right. Takehim, darling. He will have to learn some day, and the sooner thebetter." The baby, looking eagerly from one to the other with the samequestioning in his eyes as there is sometimes in the eyes of a kitten ora puppy--but, of course, with an eager soul behind it--saw that he wasgoing, and almost leaped into his mother's arms. I think she hadexpected him to come, for she took a little leather dress from Margareta,his nurse, and, flushing with pride, began to wrap him in it. WhenTeuta, holding him in her arms, stepped on the aeroplane, and took herplace in the centre behind Rupert, the young men of the Crown Prince'sGuard raised a cheer, amid which Rupert pulled the levers, and theyglided off into the dawn.
The Crown Prince's Guard was established by the mountaineers themselvesthe day of his birth. Ten of the biggest and most powerful and cleverestyoung men of the nation were chosen, and were sworn in with a veryimpressive ceremony to guard the young Prince. They were to so arrangeand order themselves and matters generally that two at least of themshould always have him, or the place in which he was, within their sight.They all vowed that the last of their lives should go before harm came tohim. Of course, Teuta understood, and so did Rupert. And these youngmen are the persons most privileged in the whole Castle. They are dearboys, every one of them, and we are all fond of them and respect them.They simply idolize the baby.
Ever since that morning little Rupert has, unless it is at a timeappointed for his sleeping, gone in his mother's arms. I think in anyother place there would be some State remonstrance at the whole royalfamily being at once and together in a dangerous position, but in theBlue Mountains danger and fear are not thought of--indeed, they canhardly be in their terminology. And I really think the child enjoys iteven more than his parents. He is just like a little bird that has foundthe use of his wings. Bless him!
I find that even I have to study Court ritual a little. So manynationalities are to be represented at the ceremony of the "BalkanSettlement," and so many Kings and Princes and notabilities of all kindsare coming, that we must all take care not to make any mistakes. ThePress alone would drive anyone silly. Rupert and Teuta come and sit withme sometimes in the evening when we are all too tired to work, and theyrest themselves by talking matters over. Rupert says that there will beover five hundred reporters, and that the applications for permission arecoming in so fast that there may be a thousand when the day comes. Lastnight he stopped in the middle of speaking of it, and said:
"I have an inspiration! Fancy a thousand journalists,--each wanting toget ahead of the rest, and all willing to invoke the Powers of Evil forexclusive information! The only man to look after this department isRooke. He knows how to deal with men, and as we have already a largestaff to look after the journalistic guests, he can be at the head, andappoint his own deputies to act for him. Somewhere and sometime thekeeping the peace will be a matter of nerve and resolution, and Rooke isthe man for the job."
We were all concerned about one thing, naturally important in the eyes ofa woman: What robes was Teuta to wear? In the old days, when there wereKings and Queens, they doubtless wore something gorgeous or impressive;but whatever it was that they wore has gone to dust centuries ago, andthere were no illustrated papers in those primitive days. Teuta wastalking to me eagerly, with her dear beautiful brows all wrinkled, whenRupert who was reading a bulky document of some kind, looked up and said:
"Of course, darling, you will wear your Shroud?"
"Capital!" she said, clapping her hands like a joyous child. "The verything, and our people will like it."
I own that for a moment I was dismayed. It was a horrible test of awoman's love and devotion. At a time when she was entertaining Kings andnotabilities in her own house--and be sure they would all be decked intheir finery--to have to appear in such a garment! A plain thing withnothing even pretty, let alone gorgeous, about it! I expressed my viewsto Rupert, for I feared that Teuta might be disappointed, though shemight not care to say so; but before he could say a word Teuta answered:
"Oh, thank you so much, dear! I should love that above everything, but Idid not like to suggest it, lest you should think me arrogant orpresuming; for, indeed, Rupert, I am very proud of it, and of the way ourpeople look on it."
"Why not?" said Rupert, in his direct way. "It is a thing for us all tobe proud of; the nation has already adopted it as a national emblem--ouremblem of courage and devotion and patriotism, which will always, I hope,be treasured beyond price by the men and women of our Dynasty, theNation, that is--of the Nation that is to be."
Later on in the evening we had a strange endorsement of the nationalwill. A "People's Deputation" of mountaineers, without any officialnotice or introduction, arrived at the Castle late in the evening in themanner established by Rupert's "Proclamation of Freedom," wherein allcitizens were entitled to send a deputation to the King, at will and inprivate, on any subject of State importance. This deputation wascomposed of seventeen men, one selected from each political section, sothat the body as a whole represented the entire nation. They were of allsorts of social rank and all degrees of fortune, but they were mainly "ofthe people." They spoke hesitatingly--possibly because Teuta, or evenbecause I, was present--but with a manifest earnestness. They made butone request--that the Queen should, on the great occasion of the BalkanFederation, wear as robes of State the Shroud that they loved to see herin. The spokesman, addressing the Queen, said in tones of ruggedeloquence:
"This is a matter, Your Majesty, that the women naturally have a say in,so we have, of course, consulted them. They have discussed the matter bythemselves, and then with us, and they are agreed without a flaw that itwill be good for the Nation and for Womankind that you do this thing.You have shown to them, and to the world at large, what women should do,what they can do, and they want to make, in memory of your great act, theShroud a garment of pride and honour for women who have deserved well oftheir country. In the future it can be a garment to be worn only byprivileged women who have earned the right. But they hope, and we hopewith them, that on this occasion of our Nation taking the lead before theeyes of the world, all our women may wear it on that day as a means ofshowing overtly their willingness to do their duty, even to the death.And so"--here he turned to the King--"Rupert, we trust that Her MajestyQueen Teuta will understand that in doing as the women of the BlueMountains wish, she will bind afresh to the Queen the loyal devotionwhich she won from them as Voivodin. Henceforth and for all time theShroud shall be a dress of honour in our Land."
Teuta looked all ablaze with love and pride and devotion. Stars in hereyes shone like white fire as she assured them of the granting of theirrequest. She finished her little speech:
"I feared that if I carried out my own wish, it might look arrogant, butRupert has expressed the same wish, and
now I feel that I am free to wearthat dress which brought me to you and to Rupert"--here she beamed onhim, and took his hand--"fortified as I am by your wishes and the commandof my lord the King."
Rupert took her in his arms and kissed her fondly before them all,saying:
"Tell your wives, my brothers, and the rest of the Blue Mountain women,that that is the answer of the husband who loves and honours his wife.All the world shall see at the ceremony of the Federation of Balka thatwe men love and honour the women who are loyal and can die for duty.And, men of the Blue Mountains, some day before long we shall organizethat great idea, and make it a permanent thing--that the Order of theShroud is the highest guerdon that a noble-hearted woman can wear."
Teuta disappeared for a few moments, and came back with the Crown Princein her arms. Everyone present asked to be allowed to kiss him, whichthey did kneeling.
THE FEDERATION BALKA.
_By the Correspondents of_ "_Free America_."
The Editors of _Free America_ have thought it well to put in consecutiveorder the reports and descriptions of their Special Correspondents, ofwhom there were present no less than eight. Not a word they wrote isomitted, but the various parts of their reports are placed in differentorder, so that, whilst nothing which any of them recorded is left out,the reader may be able to follow the proceedings from the various pointsof view of the writers who had the most favourable opportunity of moment.In so large an assemblage of journalists--there were present over athousand--they could not all be present in one place; so our men, inconsultation amongst themselves, arranged to scatter, so as to cover thewhole proceeding from the various "coigns of vantage," using their skilland experience in selecting these points. One was situated on the summitof the steel-clad tower in the entrance to the Blue Mouth; another on the"Press-boat," which was moored alongside King Rupert's armoured yacht,_The Lady_, whereon were gathered the various Kings and rulers of theBalkan States, all of whom were in the Federation; another was in a swifttorpedo-boat, with a roving commission to cruise round the harbour asdesired; another took his place on the top of the great mountain whichoverlooks Plazac, and so had a bird's-eye view of the whole scene ofoperations; two others were on the forts to right and left of the BlueMouth; another was posted at the entrance to the Great Tunnel which runsfrom the water level right up through the mountains to the plateau, wherethe mines and factories are situate; another had the privilege of a placeon an aeroplane, which went everywhere and saw everything. Thisaeroplane was driven by an old Special Correspondent of _Free America_,who had been a chum of our Special in the Japanese and Russian War, andwho has taken service on the Blue Mountain _Official Gazette_.
PLAZAC, _June_ 30, 1909.
Two days before the time appointed for the ceremony the guests of theLand of the Blue Mountains began to arrive. The earlier comers weremostly the journalists who had come from almost over the whole inhabitedworld. King Rupert, who does things well, had made a camp for theirexclusive use. There was a separate tent for each--of course, a smallone, as there were over a thousand journalists--but there were big tentsfor general use scattered about--refectories, reading and writing rooms,a library, idle rooms for rest, etc. In the rooms for reading andwriting, which were the work-rooms for general use, were newspapers, thelatest attainable from all over the world, Blue-Books, guides,directories, and all such aids to work as forethought could arrange.There was for this special service a body of some hundreds of capableservants in special dress and bearing identification numbers--in fact,King Rupert "did us fine," to use a slang phrase of pregnant meaning.
There were other camps for special service, all of them well arranged,and with plenty of facility for transport. Each of the FederatingMonarchs had a camp of his own, in which he had erected a magnificentpavilion. For the Western King, who had acted as Arbitrator in thematter of the Federation, a veritable palace had been built by KingRupert--a sort of Aladdin's palace it must have been, for only a fewweeks ago the place it occupied was, I was told, only primevalwilderness. King Rupert and his Queen, Teuta, had a pavilion like therest of the Federators of Balka, but infinitely more modest, both in sizeand adornments.
Everywhere were guards of the Blue Mountains, armed only with the"handjar," which is the national weapon. They wore the national dress,but so arranged in colour and accoutrement that the general air ofuniformity took the place of a rigid uniform. There must have been atleast seventy or eighty thousand of them.
The first day was one of investigation of details by the visitors.During the second day the retinues of the great Federators came. Some ofthese retinues were vast. For instance, the Soldan (though only justbecome a Federator) sent of one kind or another more than a thousand men.A brave show they made, for they are fine men, and drilled to perfection.As they swaggered along, singly or in mass, with their gay jackets andbaggy trousers, their helmets surmounted by the golden crescent, theylooked a foe not to be despised. Landreck Martin, the Nestor ofjournalists, said to me, as we stood together looking at them:
"To-day we witness a new departure in Blue Mountain history. This is thefirst occasion for a thousand years that so large a Turkish body hasentered the Blue Mountains with a reasonable prospect of ever getting outagain."
_July_ 1, 1909.
To-day, the day appointed for the ceremony, was auspiciously fine, evenfor the Blue Mountains, where at this time of year the weather is nearlyalways fine. They are early folk in the Blue Mountains, but to-daythings began to hum before daybreak. There were bugle-calls all over theplace--everything here is arranged by calls of musicalinstruments--trumpets, or bugles, or drums (if, indeed, the drum can becalled a musical instrument)--or by lights, if it be after dark. Wejournalists were all ready; coffee and bread-and-butter had beenthoughtfully served early in our sleeping-tents, and an elaboratebreakfast was going on all the time in the refectory pavilions. We had apreliminary look round, and then there was a sort of general pause forbreakfast. We took advantage of it, and attacked the sumptuous--indeed,memorable--meal which was served for us.
The ceremony was to commence at noon, but at ten o'clock the whole placewas astir--not merely beginning to move, but actually moving; everybodytaking their places for the great ceremony. As noon drew near, theexcitement was intense and prolonged. One by one the various signatoriesto the Federation began to assemble. They all came by sea; such of themas had sea-boards of their own having their fleets around them. Such ashad no fleets of their own were attended by at least one of the BlueMountain ironclads. And I am bound to say that I never in my life sawmore dangerous craft than these little warships of King Rupert of theBlue Mountains. As they entered the Blue Mouth each ship took herappointed station, those which carried the signatories being closetogether in an isolated group in a little bay almost surrounded by highcliffs in the farthest recesses of the mighty harbour. King Rupert'sarmoured yacht all the time lay close inshore, hard by the mouth of theGreat Tunnel which runs straight into the mountain from a wide plateau,partly natural rock, partly built up with mighty blocks of stone. Hereit is, I am told, that the inland products are brought down to the moderntown of Plazac. Just as the clocks were chiming the half-hour beforenoon this yacht glided out into the expanse of the "Mouth." Behind hercame twelve great barges, royally decked, and draped each in the colourof the signatory nation. On each of these the ruler entered with hisguard, and was carried to Rupert's yacht, he going on the bridge, whilsthis suite remained on the lower deck. In the meantime whole fleets hadbeen appearing on the southern horizon; the nations were sending theirmaritime quota to the christening of "Balka"! In such wonderful order ascan only be seen with squadrons of fighting ships, the mighty throngswept into the Blue Mouth, and took up their stations in groups. Theonly armament of a Great Power now missing was that of the Western King.But there was time. Indeed
, as the crowd everywhere began to look attheir watches a long line of ships began to spread up northward from theItalian coast. They came at great speed--nearly twenty knots. It was areally wonderful sight--fifty of the finest ships in the world; the verylatest expression of naval giants, each seemingly typical of itsclass--Dreadnoughts, cruisers, destroyers. They came in a wedge, withthe King's yacht flying the Royal Standard the apex. Every ship of thesquadron bore a red ensign long enough to float from the masthead to thewater. From the armoured tower in the waterway one could see the myriadof faces--white stars on both land and sea--for the great harbour was nowalive with ships and each and all of them alive with men.
Suddenly, without any direct cause, the white masses becameeclipsed--everyone had turned round, and was looking the other way. Ilooked across the bay and up the mountain behind--a mighty mountain,whose slopes run up to the very sky, ridge after ridge seeming likeitself a mountain. Far away on the very top the standard of the BlueMountains was run up on a mighty Flagstaff which seemed like a shaft oflight. It was two hundred feet high, and painted white, and as at thedistance the steel stays were invisible, it towered up in lonelygrandeur. At its foot was a dark mass grouped behind a white space,which I could not make out till I used my field-glasses.
Then I knew it was King Rupert and the Queen in the midst of a group ofmountaineers. They were on the aero station behind the platform of theaero, which seemed to shine--shine, not glitter--as though it wereoverlaid with plates of gold.
Again the faces looked west. The Western Squadron was drawing near tothe entrance of the Blue Mouth. On the bridge of the yacht stood theWestern King in uniform of an Admiral, and by him his Queen in a dress ofroyal purple, splendid with gold. Another glance at the mountain-topshowed that it had seemed to become alive. A whole park of artilleryseemed to have suddenly sprung to life, round each its crew ready foraction. Amongst the group at the foot of the Flagstaff we coulddistinguish King Rupert; his vast height and bulk stood out from andabove all round him. Close to him was a patch of white, which weunderstood to be Queen Teuta, whom the Blue Mountaineers simply adore.
By this time the armoured yacht, bearing all the signatories to "Balka"(excepting King Rupert), had moved out towards the entrance, and laystill and silent, waiting the coming of the Royal Arbitrator, whose wholesquadron simultaneously slowed down, and hardly drifted in the seethingwater of their backing engines.
When the flag which was in the yacht's prow was almost opposite thearmoured fort, the Western King held up a roll of vellum handed to him byone of his officers. We onlookers held our breath, for in an instant wassuch a scene as we can never hope to see again.
At the raising of the Western King's hand, a gun was fired away on thetop of the mountain where rose the mighty Flagstaff with the standard ofthe Blue Mountains. Then came the thunder of salute from the guns,bright flashes and reports, which echoed down the hillsides innever-ending sequence. At the first gun, by some trick of signalling,the flag of the Federated "Balka" floated out from the top of theFlagstaff, which had been mysteriously raised, and flew above that of theBlue Mountains.
At the same moment the figures of Rupert and Teuta sank; they were takingtheir places on the aeroplane. An instant after, like a great goldenbird, it seemed to shoot out into the air, and then, dipping its head,dropped downward at an obtuse angle. We could see the King and Queenfrom time waist upwards--the King in Blue Mountain dress of green; theQueen, wrapped in her white Shroud, holding her baby on her breast. Whenfar out from the mountain-top and over the Blue Mouth, the wings and tailof the great bird-like machine went up, and the aero dropped like astone, till it was only some few hundred feet over the water. Then thewings and tail went down, but with diminishing speed. Below the expanseof the plane the King and Queen were now seen seated together on the tinysteering platform, which seemed to have been lowered; she sat behind herhusband, after the manner of matrons of the Blue Mountains. That comingof that aeroplane was the most striking episode of all this wonderfulday.
After floating for a few seconds, the engines began to work, whilst theplanes moved back to their normal with beautiful simultaneity. There wasa golden aero finding its safety in gliding movement. At the same timethe steering platform was rising, so that once more the occupants werenot far below, but above the plane. They were now only about a hundredfeet above the water, moving from the far end of the Blue Mouth towardsthe entrance in the open space between the two lines of the fightingships of the various nationalities, all of which had by now their yardsmanned--a manoeuvre which had begun at the firing of the first gun on themountain-top. As the aero passed along, all the seamen began to cheer--acheering which they kept up till the King and Queen had come so close tothe Western King's vessel that the two Kings and Queens could greet eachother. The wind was now beginning to blow westward from themountain-top, and it took the sounds towards the armoured fort, so thatat moments we could distinguish the cheers of the various nationalities,amongst which, more keen than the others, came the soft "Ban Zai!" of theJapanese.
King Rupert, holding his steering levers, sat like a man of marble.Behind him his beautiful wife, clad in her Shroud, and holding in herarms the young Crown Prince, seemed like a veritable statue.
The aero, guided by Rupert's unerring hand, lit softly on the after-deckof the Western King's yacht; and King Rupert, stepping on deck, liftedfrom her seat Queen Teuta with her baby in her arms. It was only whenthe Blue Mountain King stood amongst other men that one could realize hisenormous stature. He stood literally head and shoulders over every otherman present.
Whilst the aeroplane was giving up its burden, the Western King and hisQueen were descending from the bridge. The host and hostess, hand inhand--after their usual fashion, as it seems--hurried forward to greettheir guests. The meeting was touching in its simplicity. The twomonarchs shook hands, and their consorts, representatives of the foremosttypes of national beauty of the North and South, instinctively drew closeand kissed each other. Then the hostess Queen, moving towards theWestern King, kneeled before him with the gracious obeisance of a BlueMountain hostess, and kissed his hand.
Her words of greeting were:
"You are welcome, sire, to the Blue Mountains. We are grateful to youfor all you have done for Balka, and to you and Her Majesty for giving usthe honour of your presence."
The King seemed moved. Accustomed as he was to the ritual of greatoccasions, the warmth and sincerity, together with the gracious humilityof this old Eastern custom, touched him, monarch though he was of a greatland and many races in the Far East. Impulsively he broke through Courtritual, and did a thing which, I have since been told, won for him forever a holy place in the warm hearts of the Blue Mountaineers. Sinkingon his knee before the beautiful shroud-clad Queen, he raised her handand kissed it. The act was seen by all in and around the Blue Mouth, anda mighty cheering rose, which seemed to rise and swell as it ran far andwide up the hillsides, till it faded away on the far-off mountain-top,where rose majestically the mighty Flagstaff bearing the standard of theBalkan Federation.
For myself, I can never forget that wonderful scene of a nation'senthusiasm, and the core of it is engraven on my memory. That spotlessdeck, typical of all that is perfect in naval use; the King and Queen ofthe greatest nation of the earth {3} received by the newest King andQueen--a King and Queen who won empire for themselves, so that the formersubject of another King received him as a brother-monarch on ahistory-making occasion, when a new world-power was, under his tutelage,springing into existence. The fair Northern Queen in the arms of thedark Southern Queen with the starry eyes. The simple splendour ofNorthern dress arrayed against that of almost peasant plainness of thegiant King of the South. But all were eclipsed--even the thousand yearsof royal lineage of the Western King, Rupert's natural dower of stature,and the other Queen's bearing of royal dignity and sweetness--by theelemental simplicity of Teuta's Shroud. Not one of all that mightythrong but knew something of her wonderful
story; and not one but feltglad and proud that such a noble woman had won an empire through her ownbravery, even in the jaws of the grave.
The armoured yacht, with the remainder of the signatories to the BalkanFederation, drew close, and the rulers stepped on board to greet theWestern King, the Arbitrator, Rupert leaving his task as personal hostand joining them. He took his part modestly in the rear of the group,and made a fresh obeisance in his new capacity.
Presently another warship, _The Balka_, drew close. It contained theambassadors of Foreign Powers, and the Chancellors and high officials ofthe Balkan nations. It was followed by a fleet of warships, each onerepresenting a Balkan Power. The great Western fleet lay at theirmoorings, but with the exception of manning their yards, took noimmediate part in the proceedings.
On the deck of the new-comer the Balkan monarchs took their places, theofficials of each State grading themselves behind their monarch. TheAmbassadors formed a foremost group by themselves.
Last came the Western King, quite alone (save for the two Queens),bearing in his hand the vellum scroll, the record of his arbitration.This he proceeded to read, a polyglot copy of it having been alreadysupplied to every Monarch, Ambassador, and official present. It was along statement, but the occasion was so stupendous--so intense--that thetime flew by quickly. The cheering had ceased the moment the Arbitratoropened the scroll, and a veritable silence of the grave abounded.
When the reading was concluded Rupert raised his hand, and on the instantcame a terrific salvo of cannon-shots from not only the ships in theport, but seemingly all up and over the hillsides away to the verysummit.
When the cheering which followed the salute had somewhat toned down,those on board talked together, and presentations were made. Then thebarges took the whole company to the armour-clad fort in the entrance-wayto the Blue Mouth. Here, in front, had been arranged for the occasion,platforms for the starting of aeroplanes. Behind them were the variousthrones of state for the Western King and Queen, and the various rulersof "Balka"--as the new and completed Balkan Federation had become--_dejure_ as well as _de facto_. Behind were seats for the rest of thecompany. All was a blaze of crimson and gold. We of the Press were allexpectant, for some ceremony had manifestly been arranged, but of alldetails of it we had been kept in ignorance. So far as I could tell fromthe faces, those present were at best but partially informed. They werecertainly ignorant of all details, and even of the entire programme ofthe day. There is a certain kind of expectation which is not concernedin the mere execution of fore-ordered things.
The aero on which the King and Queen had come down from the mountain nowarrived on the platform in the charge of a tall young mountaineer, whostepped from the steering-platform at once. King Rupert, having handedhis Queen (who still carried her baby) into her seat, took his place, andpulled a lever. The aero went forward, and seemed to fall head foremostoff the fort. It was but a dip, however, such as a skilful diver takesfrom a height into shallow water, for the plane made an upward curve, andin a few seconds was skimming upwards towards the Flagstaff. Despite thewind, it arrived there in an incredibly short time. Immediately afterhis flight another aero, a big one this time, glided to the platform. Tothis immediately stepped a body of ten tall, fine-looking young men. Thedriver pulled his levers, and the plane glided out on the track of theKing. The Western King, who was noticing, said to the Lord High Admiral,who had been himself in command of the ship of war, and now stood closebehind him:
"Who are those men, Admiral?"
"The Guard of the Crown Prince, Your Majesty. They are appointed by theNation."
"Tell me, Admiral, have they any special duties?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," came the answer: "to die, if need be, for the youngPrince!"
"Quite right! That is fine service. But how if any of them should die?"
"Your Majesty, if one of them should die, there are ten thousand eager totake his place."
"Fine, fine! It is good to have even one man eager to give his life forduty. But ten thousand! That is what makes a nation!"
When King Rupert reached the platform by the Flagstaff, the RoyalStandard of the Blue Mountains was hauled up under it. Rupert stood upand raised his hand. In a second a cannon beside him was fired; then,quick as thought, others were fired in sequence, as though by oneprolonged lightning-flash. The roar was incessant, but getting less indetonating sound as the distance and the hills subdued it. But in thegeneral silence which prevailed round us we could hear the sound asthough passing in a distant circle, till finally the line which had gonenorthward came back by the south, stopping at the last gun to south'ardof the Flagstaff.
"What was that wonderful circle?" asked the King of the Lord HighAdmiral.
"That, Your Majesty, is the line of the frontier of the Blue Mountains.Rupert has ten thousand cannon in line."
"And who fires them? I thought all the army must be here."
"The women, Your Majesty. They are on frontier duty to-day, so that themen can come here."
Just at that moment one of the Crown Prince's Guards brought to the sideof the King's aero something like a rubber ball on the end of a string.The Queen held it out to the baby in her arms, who grabbed at it. Theguard drew back. Pressing that ball must have given some signal, for onthe instant a cannon, elevated to perpendicular, was fired. A shell wentstraight up an enormous distance. The shell burst, and sent out both alight so bright that it could be seen in the daylight, and a red smoke,which might have been seen from the heights of the Calabrian Mountainsover in Italy.
As the shell burst, the King's aero seemed once more to spring from theplatform out into mid-air, dipped as before, and glided out over the BlueMouth with a rapidity which, to look at, took one's breath away.
As it came, followed by the aero of the Crown Prince's Guard and a groupof other aeros, the whole mountain-sides seemed to become alive. Fromeverywhere, right away up to the farthest visible mountain-tops, dartedaeroplanes, till a host of them were rushing with dreadful speed in thewake of the King. The King turned to Queen Teuta, and evidently saidsomething, for she beckoned to the Captain of the Crown Prince's Guard,who was steering the plane. He swerved away to the right, and instead offollowing above the open track between the lines of warships, went highover the outer line. One of those on board began to drop something,which, fluttering down, landed on every occasion on the bridge of theship high over which they then were.
The Western King said again to the Gospodar Rooke (the Lord HighAdmiral):
"It must need some skill to drop a letter with such accuracy."
With imperturbable face the Admiral replied:
"It is easier to drop bombs, Your Majesty."
The flight of aeroplanes was a memorable sight. It helped to makehistory. Henceforth no nation with an eye for either defence or attackcan hope for success without the mastery of the air.
In the meantime--and after that time, too--God help the nation thatattacks "Balka" or any part of it, so long as Rupert and Teuta live inthe hearts of that people, and bind them into an irresistible unity.
Footnotes:
{1} Vladika, a high functionary in the Land of the Blue Mountains. Heis a sort of official descendant of the old Prince-Bishops who used atone time to govern the State. In process of time the system has changed,but the function--shorn of its personal dominance--remains. The nationis at present governed by the Council. The Church (which is, of course,the Eastern Church) is represented by the Archbishop, who controls thewhole spiritual functions and organization. The connecting-link betweenthem--they being quite independent organizations--is the Vladika, who is_ex officio_ a member of the National Council. By custom he does notvote, but is looked on as an independent adviser who is in the confidenceof both sides of national control.
{2} EDITORIAL NOTE--We shall, in our issue of Saturday week, give a fullrecord of the romantic story of Queen Teuta and her Shroud, written byMr. Mordred Booth, and illustrated by our special artist,
Mr. NeillisonBrowne, who is Mr. Booth's artistic collaborateur in the account of KingRupert's Coronation.
{3} Greatest _Kingdom_--_Editor Free America_.
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