ittle man beamed upon us, and said they always wished to do
anything for the English, but he must first see the Sirdar.

"By the bye," he said, "I forgot to introduce you. This is Prince Peter,
commander of the forces on the Adriatic coast." The young man arose and
clicked his heels. We too got up. He shook hands with us solemnly, and
Jo, unused to addressing Royalty, said, "Dobra Dan" (Good day).

Then we all sat down again, a further rendezvous was arranged for the
evening, and we left, carrying away the impression that the War Minister
and we had bowed thirty times to each other before we got out of the
door.

Out in the streets, as we were sketching, we saw a large smile under a
Staff officer's cap bearing down upon us. It was the Sirdar, quite
rested and looking twenty years younger. He was going to the War
Minister's, and promised to arrange at once for our visit to Scutari. He
looked at our cryptic drawings of road scavengers, threw up his hands
and ejaculating "Kako"--strode out of our lives.

Tea in the little house with the discreet white pole was a great
pleasure. Such tea we had not drunk since leaving England--butter, jam
made by the old housekeeper, who pointed this out to us when she brought
in a relay of hot water.

She was the daughter of a man who had been exiled from his village
because he had taken a prominent part in a blood feud, and the old
Gospodar had told him he would be healthier elsewhere. So they had
emigrated as far as Serbia, where she had learnt to read and write.

A lady of good family but bad character suddenly decided to leave
Montenegro, and fled to the shores of Cattaro, carrying with her a large
number of State secrets. The Court was aghast. What was to be done?

A villain was needed. The father was decided upon, and with the help of
the lady's brothers she was kidnapped, carried back to Montenegro, and
disappeared for ever. For which noble work he was permitted to return to
his village.

The old lady had a supreme contempt for the Montenegrins who had not
"travelled," but she looked upon the growing pomp of the Court with
suspicion.

"Ah," she said, "those were fine days when the king was only the
Gospodar, and there were none of these gold embroidered uniforms about,
and the Queen and I used to slide down the Palace banisters together."

In those days the Royal family inhabited the top story only, while the
ground floor was filled with wood for the winter. Just round th