130 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



" Buon giorno, signore ! " 



" Servo, signori. Andate in Magnesia 1 " 



11 1 told you so," said K -- . 



And so it was. He, her Britannic Majesty's, and 

 half-a-dozen other majesties' agent, stood convicted by 

 his speech. The man had not been out of Magnesia, 

 perhaps, any day for the last twelve months, and he 

 had chosen, for the prosecution of his foreign interests, 

 that precise day when these three desolate English- 

 men had come to throw themselves on his cares. 



However, our blood was up, and our souls superior 

 to trifles. 



" Here's a poser ! Shall we reveal 1 " 



" Not a bit of it. "We don't want him, nor any 

 one else. Any mixture of aid would have marred 

 the spirit of our expedition; besides, remember our 

 friend the Seraph." 



This Seraph was of no higher than terrestrial order, 

 being no other than the Armenian to whom we had 

 the letter commendatory. What the word in their 

 application means, I cannot say exactly, but believe 

 it to be descriptive of the sordid occupation of a 

 basqtia ; at any rate, it is a common style and title, 



In the confidence of this our possession, we allowed 

 the European to pass on without giving him any hint 

 of our forlorn condition, and without craving any 

 direction for our conduct. He evidently thought 

 that we had some bosom friend ready to receive us, 



