in the Balkans for the first
time. The visit arranged for us at the Bishop's therefore missed
fire. We found his Grace seated at a table, at which there were some
fourteen local shopkeepers, who, when told to do so by the Bishop,
stated to us that they wanted to be Greek. It would, indeed, have
needed some courage to say in the presence of Greek officials that
they did not want to be Greek! "You see," said our guide, "the
Christians of Koritza want to be Greek!"

We were trotted off to the house of an old Moslem, who also replied
obediently. What else could the poor man do?

An unarmed population faced with a big army is helpless. Many an
English village would declare itself Choctaw if five thousand armed
men bade it do so--or be extirpated.

We lunched with Condoulis, and learnt that the Greeks were as
anxious to fight the Bulgars as were the Serbs. "Death to Bulgaria"
was their cry. Not a metre of land to be ceded to those "cochons de
Bulgares." "We went," they said, "willingly to fight the Turk. We go
with ten times more joy to fight the Bulgars; they are our worst
enemies." And they would listen to no remonstrance. So strong were
they on this that I could only think Greece and Serbia had a secret
understanding on the subject, and that Greece, like Serbia, knew
that Russia had no use for a Big Bulgaria. And so indeed it was.

The Greeks next invited us to a mass meeting, which was to be held
to ascertain the wishes of the population. We accepted, and on
returning to our quarters learnt that Greek soldiers and priests
were going from house to house ordering every one to attend the
meeting and close their shops. It was intended to make use of us,
for the women were told to come and hear what an Englishwoman had to
say to them. The Greek authorities, aware that we knew no Greek,
would have been able to interpret bogus messages from us.

We decided, therefore, to arrive so late as not to be put on the
platform and made use of, and went for a walk lest an officer be
sent to fetch us. One was--but we had already left. We arrived late
at the meeting. Surrounded by Greek military, the populace had had
to consent to the sending of a telegram to the Ambassadors'
Conference in London, stating that Koritza voted unanimously for
Greece.

So soon as it was dark, people came to visit us. Sixty Moslems
outside the town sent an emissary to know if they could speak with
us. We dared do nothing that would subject them to arrest