that is--of the Nation that is to be."

Later on in the evening we had a strange endorsement of the national
will. A "People's Deputation" of mountaineers, without any official
notice or introduction, arrived at the Castle late in the evening in the
manner established by Rupert's "Proclamation of Freedom," wherein all
citizens were entitled to send a deputation to the King, at will and in
private, on any subject of State importance. This deputation was
composed of seventeen men, one selected from each political section, so
that the body as a whole represented the entire nation. They were of all
sorts of social rank and all degrees of fortune, but they were mainly "of
the people." They spoke hesitatingly--possibly because Teuta, or even
because I, was present--but with a manifest earnestness. They made but
one request--that the Queen should, on the great occasion of the Balkan
Federation, wear as robes of State the Shroud that they loved to see her
in. The spokesman, addressing the Queen, said in tones of rugged
eloquence:

"This is a matter, Your Majesty, that the women naturally have a say in,
so we have, of course, consulted them. They have discussed the matter by
themselves, and then with us, and they are agreed without a flaw that it
will be good for the Nation and for Womankind that you do this thing.
You have shown to them, and to the world at large, what women should do,
what they can do, and they want to make, in memory of your great act, the
Shroud a garment of pride and honour for women who have deserved well of
their country. In the future it can be a garment to be worn only by
privileged women who have earned the right. But they hope, and we hope
with them, that on this occasion of our Nation taking the lead before the
eyes of the world, all our women may wear it on that day as a means of
showing overtly their willingness to do their duty, even to the death.
And so"--here he turned to the King--"Rupert, we trust that Her Majesty
Queen Teuta will understand that in doing as the women of the Blue
Mountains wish, she will bind afresh to the Queen the loyal devotion
which she won from them as Voivodin. Henceforth and for all time the
Shroud shall be a dress of honour in our Land."

Teuta looked all ablaze with love and pride and devotion. Stars in her
eyes shone like white fire as she assured them of the granting of their
request. She finished her little speech:

"I feared that if I carried out my