I had not got out when he invited me to at his station lest
his invitation might merely have been a trap to test whether I was a
spy; had I accepted it, no doubt he might have had friends at hand
to arrange my arrest. As it was, I came away scot free with all the
information I wanted about the new gun.
HOODWINKING A TURKISH SENTRY.
A big new Turkish fort had been recently built, and my business was to
get some idea of its plan and construction. From my inn in the town
I sauntered out early one morning before sunrise, hoping to find no
sentries awake, so that I could take the necessary angles and pace the
desired bases in order to plot in a fairly accurate plan of it.
To some extent I had succeeded when I noticed among the sandhills
another fellow looking about, and, it seemed to me, trying to dodge
me. This was rather ominous, and I spent some of my time trying to
evade this "dodger," imagining that he was necessarily one of the
guard attempting my capture.
In evading him, unfortunately, I exposed myself rather more than usual
to view from the fort, and presently was challenged by one of the
sentries. I did not understand his language, but I could understand
his gesture well enough when he presented his rifle and took
deliberate aim at me. This induced me to take cover as quickly
as might be behind a sandhill, where I sat down and waited for a
considerable time to allow the excitement to cool down.
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