out his domain,
gone to Koritza via Berat and Elbasan, and claimed it as his, he
might have triumphed. But it was Essad's business, as agent of
Albania's enemies, to keep the Prince in Durazzo till the plans for
his eviction were matured.

The International Control Commissioners handed over their authority
to the Prince, and he, to the general dismay of the Albanians,
appointed Essad War Minister, thus putting the armaments into his
hands.

All this news seemed to me very bad. I was detained in London. My
book on the war, The Struggle for Scutari, was finished, but my
publisher was bent on keeping it for the autumn publishing season. I
stood out for immediate publication in May. He said: "You know
nothing about publishing." I said: "You do not know the state of the
Near East. Anything may happen by October."

I offered to risk having no payment at all for it. It came out in
May, and the thing that happened before October (Yougourieff's date)
was bigger than even the shouts of the Montenegrins in 1913 had led
me to expect.

Meanwhile the Greek "wounded" at Koritza telephoned for medical
comforts, and the Greek Bishop sprang his plot. The "medicine"
arrived in the form of armed bands and weapons. The Greek "wounded,"
the Bishop's servants, and a band of Grecophile students made an
attack within the town on the night of April 11th, and the bands of
lurking Greek soldiers attacked from without. Koritza was taken by
surprise, was not well armed, and had but fifty newly trained
gendarmes, commanded by the Dutch officers. Nevertheless the town
put up a gallant resistance. Reinforcements arrived, and the
Albanians "rushed" the house of the Bishop and carried him off a
prisoner to Elbasan, along with a number of Greek soldiers, who
readily gave their names and regiments, and told of the orders they
had received. They had long been kept in readiness on the frontier.
The Greek Government, as usual, declared the men must all be
deserters, over which it had no control, which, at best, was a poor
compliment to the Greek army, and did not explain how the
"deserters" became possessed of artillery and ammunition.

The Greeks, furious at being beaten out of Koritza, avenged
themselves on their retreat by committing outrages and burning
villages. The Albanians drove back the Greeks to Argyrokastro, and
would have chased them over the border had not the Greek General
Papoulias come to the aid of his compatriots with large
reinforc