e a populous growing Turkish
town. After the Balkan war it fell into Montenegrin territories. The
Montenegrins chased out all the Turkish landowners, who fled to these
mountains, where they formed bands of brigands and caused no little
consternation and trouble to the authorities, who could not catch them.
The authorities passed a little Act, reinstating the landowners in
their territories; but when an attempt was made to put the Act into
force, it was found that the authorities themselves were in possession
of the lands. What was to be done? The blockhouse was the solution.

We stopped at a primitive cafe and lunched. Jo gave the children some
chocolate. They did not know what it was. She smeared some on to the
baby's lips, and after that it sucked hard. Soon the little girl licked
hers; but the boy, more suspicious, would not eat, holding the lump till
it melted into a sticky mass in his fingers. The scenery was very
beautiful. There was a faint rain which greyed everything, and the near
birches had lost all their leaves and the twigs made a reddish fog
through which could be seen the slopes of the opposite hillsides. The
professor began to be worried about the rain.

"If this should turn to snow," said he, "we would be snowed up. And I am
sure I don't know what I should do if I were snowed up."

We hoped to reach our halting place, which was called Vrbitza, before
dark; but it was further away than our informant had said. Once more we
found ourselves floundering about in the mud of the village path after
dusk. We reached houses which we could not see; walked over slippery
poles set over heaven knows what middens. Clambered up creaky steps
into the usual sort of dirty wooden room--and there, his stockings off,
warming his toes at the blaze of the wood fire, was "Eyebrows."

We were immediately attracted by three paintings on the wall. They were
decorative designs, very beautiful. We asked the proprietor who had done
them.

"I did," he said.

"Will you sell them?" we asked.

He giggled like a girl. "Ah, who would buy them?" he said.

"We will."

"I couldn't let you have them for less than sixpence," he said. "You see
the papers cost a penny each."

Whatmough coveted one, so he had his choice, we took the other two.

The policeman came to tell us that rooms had been prepared in two clean
houses. We scrambled out into the dark again, stumbled along in the mud,
and at last found an open square of light, throu