usand strong
between the city and that dreary and dirty canal which enjoys the
romantic appellation of "the sweet waters of Europe." They were soon
to be let loose for the suppression of a wholly imaginary Bulgarian
insurrection, and it was they and their comrades who, together with
the Bashi-Bazouks, carried the banner of rapine, fire and slaughter
throughout the land. They gave us a mere taste of their quality before
they had occupied their quarters for a week. A Greek lady and her
daughter, drawn by curiosity, ventured through their lines. They were
subjected to unspeakable outrages and, together with their coachman,
were cruelly murdered; and after this occurrence, the city never
breathed freely until they were marched away up country. After their
dispersal the authorities appear to have paid but little attention to
their commissariat and they were left to live by pillage. Many months
later I ventured to ask an officer of the regulars on what principle
they were supposed to be paid. "Payes?" responded the gentleman whom I
questioned, "ils ne sont pas payes, ils volent."

One of my fellow-passengers from Trieste was a young German officer who
had fought through the Franco-German campaign and had now obtained leave
to volunteer on the Turkish side against Russia. He was the grandson of
an Irish peer, but his father had long filled some diplomatic office
in Berlin. On his death the family had settled in Germany and the young
officer of whom I speak was a naturalised subject of the emperor. He
and I put up at the Byzance Hotel together and there a strange thing
happened. A fellow-guest at the hotel came to dinner one evening with a
young French officer, a very handsome, alert and gallant fellow, whom I
got to know intimately afterwards. His host sat him down at the _table
d'hote_ opposite the young German, and almost from the first it was to
be seen that the two looked at each other in a curious way. By and
by the Frenchman arose and drawing his host aside made a whispered
communication to him and withdrew. It turned out afterwards that the two
men had been engaged on different sides in the great cavalry charge
at Gravelotte. When the opposing regiments met, there was a tremendous
_melee_ after the first shock, and the Frenchman had engaged both the
young German officer whom he now encountered and his brother, the latter
of whom fell by his hand. They had never met before nor did they
ever encounter afterwards, but the