THE FEDERATION BALKA.
By the Correspondents of "Free America."
The Editors of Free America have thought it well to put in consecutive
order the reports and descriptions of their Special Correspondents, of
whom there were present no less than eight. Not a word they wrote is
omitted, but the various parts of their reports are placed in different
order, so that, whilst nothing which any of them recorded is left out,
the reader may be able to follow the proceedings from the various points
of view of the writers who had the most favourable opportunity of moment.
In so large an assemblage of journalists--there were present over a
thousand--they could not all be present in one place; so our men, in
consultation amongst themselves, arranged to scatter, so as to cover the
whole proceeding from the various "coigns of vantage," using their skill
and experience in selecting these points. One was situated on the summit
of the steel-clad tower in the entrance to the Blue Mouth; another on the
"Press-boat," which was moored alongside King Rupert's armoured yacht,
The Lady, whereon were gathered the various Kings and rulers of the
Balkan States, all of whom were in the Federation; another was in a swift
torpedo-boat, with a roving commission to cruise round the harbour as
desired; another took his place on the top of the great mountain which
overlooks Plazac, and so had a bird's-eye view of the whole scene of
operations; two others were on the forts to right and left of the Blue
Mouth; another was posted at the entrance to the Great Tunnel which runs
from the water level right up through the mountains to the plateau, where
the mines and factories are situate; another had the privilege of a place
on an aeroplane, which went everywhere and saw everything. This
aeroplane was driven by an old Special Correspondent of Free America,
who had been a chum of our Special in the Japanese and Russian War, and
who has taken service on the Blue Mountain Official Gazette.
PLAZAC,
June 30, 1909.
Two days before the time appointed for the ceremony the guests of the
Land of the Blue Mountains began to arrive. The earlier comers were
mostly the journalists who had come from almost over the whole inhabited
world. King Rupert, who does things well, had made a camp for their
exclusive use. There was a separate tent for each--of course, a small
one, as there were over a thousand journalists--but there were big tents
for general use scattered about--refectories, reading and writing rooms,
a library, idle rooms for rest, etc. In the rooms for reading and
writing, which were the work-rooms for general use, were newspapers, the
latest attainable from all over the world, Blue-Books, guides,
directories, and all such aids to work as forethought could arrange.
There was for this special service a body of some hundreds of capable
servants in special dress and bearing identification numbers--in fact,
King Rupert "did us fine," to use a slang phrase of pregnant meaning.
There were other camps for special service, all of them well arranged,
and with plenty of facility for transport. Each of the Federating
Monarchs had a camp of his own, in which he had erected a magnificent
pavilion. For the Western King, who had acted as Arbitrator in the
matter of the Federation, a veritable palace had been built by King
Rupert--a sort of Aladdin's palace it must have been, for only a few
weeks ago the place it occupied was, I was told, only primeval
wilderness. King Rupert and his Queen, Teuta, had a pavilion like the
rest of the Federators of Balka, but infinitely more modest, both in size
and adornments.
Everywhere were guards of the Blue Mountains, armed only with the
"handjar," which is the national weapon. They wore the national dress,
but so arranged in colour and accoutrement that the general air of
uniformity took the place of a rigid uniform. There must have been at
least seventy or eighty thousand of them.
The first day was one of investigation of details by the visitors.
During the second day the retinues of the great Federators came. Some of
these retinues were vast. For instance, the Soldan (though only just
become a Federator) sent of one kind or another more than a thousand men.
A brave show they made, for they are fine men, and drilled to perfection.
As they swaggered along, singly or in mass, with their gay jackets and
baggy trousers, their helmets surmounted by the golden crescent, they
looked a foe not to be despised. Landreck Martin, the Nestor of
journalists, said to me, as we stood together looking at them:
"To-day we witness a new departure in Blue Mountain history. This is the
first occasion for a thousand years that so large a Turkish body has
entered the Blue Mountains with a reasonable prospect of ever getting out
again."
July 1, 1909.
To-day, the day appointed for the ceremony, was auspiciously fine, even
for the Blue Mountains, where at this time of year the weather is nearly
always fine. They are early folk in the Blue Mountains, but to-day
things began to hum before daybreak. There were bugle-calls all over the
place--everything here is arranged by calls of musical
instruments--trumpets, or bugles, or drums (if, indeed, the drum can be
called a musical instrument)--or by lights, if it be after dark. We
journalists were all ready; coffee and bread-and-butter had been
thoughtfully served early in our sleeping-tents, and an elaborate
breakfast was going on all the time in the refectory pavilions. We had a
preliminary look round, and then there was a sort of general pause for
breakfast. We took advantage of it, and attacked the sumptuous--indeed,
memorable--meal which was served for us.
The ceremony was to commence at noon, but at ten o'clock the whole place
was astir--not merely beginning to move, but actually moving; everybody
taking their places for the great ceremony. As noon drew near, the
excitement was intense and prolonged. One by one the various signatories
to the Federation began to assemble. They all came by sea; such of them
as had sea-boards of their own having their fleets around them. Such as
had no fleets of their own were attended by at least one of the Blue
Mountain ironclads. And I am bound to say that I never in my life saw
more dangerous craft than these little warships of King Rupert of the
Blue Mountains. As they entered the Blue Mouth each ship took her
appointed station, those which carried the signatories being close
together in an isolated group in a little bay almost surrounded by high
cliffs in the farthest recesses of the mighty harbour. King Rupert's
armoured yacht all the time lay close inshore, hard by the mouth of the
Great Tunnel which runs straight into the mountain from a wide plateau,
partly natural rock, partly built up with mighty blocks of stone. Here
it is, I am told, that the inland products are brought down to the modern
town of Plazac. Just as the clocks were chiming the half-hour before
noon this yacht glided out into the expanse of the "Mouth." Behind her
came twelve great barges, royally decked, and draped each in the colour
of the signatory nation. On each of these the ruler entered with his
guard, and was carried to Rupert's yacht, he going on the bridge, whilst
his suite remained on the lower deck. In the meantime whole fleets had
been appearing on the southern horizon; the nations were sending their
maritime quota to the christening of "Balka"! In such wonderful order as
can only be seen with squadrons of fighting ships, the mighty throng
swept into the Blue Mouth, and took up their stations in groups. The
only armament of a Great Power now missing was that of the Western King.
But there was time. Indeed, as the crowd everywhere began to look at
their watches a long line of ships began to spread up northward from the
Italian coast. They came at great speed--nearly twenty knots. It was a
really wonderful sight--fifty of the finest ships in the world; the very
latest expression of naval giants, each seemingly typical of its
class--Dreadnoughts, cruisers, destroyers. They came in a wedge, with
the King's yacht flying the Royal Standard the apex. Every ship of the
squadron bore a red ensign long enough to float from the masthead to the
water. From the armoured tower in the waterway one could see the myriad
of faces--white stars on both land and sea--for the great harbour was now
alive with ships and each and all of them alive with men.
Suddenly, without any direct cause, the white masses became
eclipsed--everyone had turned round, and was looking the other way. I
looked across the bay and up the mountain behind--a mighty mountain,
whose slopes run up to the very sky, ridge after ridge seeming like
itself a mountain. Far away on the very top the standard of the Blue
Mountains was run up on a mighty Flagstaff which seemed like a shaft of
light. It was two hundred feet high, and painted white, and as at the
distance the steel stays were invisible, it towered up in lonely
grandeur. At its foot was a dark mass grouped behind a white space,
which I could not make out till I used my field-glasses.
Then I knew it was King Rupert and the Queen in the midst of a group of
mountaineers. They were on the aero station behind the platform of the
aero, which seemed to shine--shine, not glitter--as though it were
overlaid with plates of gold.
Again the faces looked west. The Western Squadron was drawing near to
the entrance of the Blue Mouth. On the bridge of the yacht stood the
Western King in uniform of an Admiral, and by him his Queen in a dress of
royal purple, splendid with gold. Another glance at the mountain-top
showed that it had seemed to become alive. A whole park of artillery
seemed to have suddenly sprung to life, round each its crew ready for
action. Amongst the group at the foot of the Flagstaff we could
distinguish King Rupert; his vast height and bulk stood out from and
above all round him. Close to him was a patch of white, which we
understood to be Queen Teuta, whom the Blue Mountaineers simply adore.
By this time the armoured yacht, bearing all the signatories to "Balka"
(excepting King Rupert), had moved out towards the entrance, and lay
still and silent, waiting the coming of the Royal Arbitrator, whose whole
squadron simultaneously slowed down, and hardly drifted in the seething
water of their backing engines.
When the flag which was in the yacht's prow was almost opposite the
armoured fort, the Western King held up a roll of vellum handed to him by
one of his officers. We onlookers held our breath, for in an instant was
such a scene as we can never hope to see again.
At the raising of the Western King's hand, a gun was fired away on the
top of the mountain where rose the mighty Flagstaff with the standard of
the Blue Mountains. Then came the thunder of salute from the guns,
bright flashes and reports, which echoed down the hillsides in
never-ending sequence. At the first gun, by some trick of signalling,
the flag of the Federated "Balka" floated out from the top of the
Flagstaff, which had been mysteriously raised, and flew above that of the
Blue Mountains.
At the same moment the figures of Rupert and Teuta sank; they were taking
their places on the aeroplane. An instant after, like a great golden
bird, it seemed to shoot out into the air, and then, dipping its head,
dropped downward at an obtuse angle. We could see the King and Queen
from time waist upwards--the King in Blue Mountain dress of green; the
Queen, wrapped in her white Shroud, holding her baby on her breast. When
far out from the mountain-top and over the Blue Mouth, the wings and tail
of the great bird-like machine went up, and the aero dropped like a
stone, till it was only some few hundred feet over the water. Then the
wings and tail went down, but with diminishing speed. Below the expanse
of the plane the King and Queen were now seen seated together on the tiny
steering platform, which seemed to have been lowered; she sat behind her
husband, after the manner of matrons of the Blue Mountains. That coming
of that aeroplane was the most striking episode of all this wonderful
day.
After floating for a few seconds, the engines began to work, whilst the
planes moved back to their normal with beautiful simultaneity. There was
a golden aero finding its safety in gliding movement. At the same time
the steering platform was rising, so that once more the occupants were
not far below, but above the plane. They were now only about a hundred
feet above the water, moving from the far end of the Blue Mouth towards
the entrance in the open space between the two lines of the fighting
ships of the various nationalities, all of which had by now their yards
manned--a manoeuvre which had begun at the firing of the first gun on the
mountain-top. As the aero passed along, all the seamen began to cheer--a
cheering which they kept up till the King and Queen had come so close to
the Western King's vessel that the two Kings and Queens could greet each
other. The wind was now beginning to blow westward from the
mountain-top, and it took the sounds towards the armoured fort, so that
at moments we could distinguish the cheers of the various nationalities,
amongst which, more keen than the others, came the soft "Ban Zai!" of the
Japanese.
King Rupert, holding his steering levers, sat like a man of marble.
Behind him his beautiful wife, clad in her Shroud, and holding in her
arms the young Crown Prince, seemed like a veritable statue.
The aero, guided by Rupert's unerring hand, lit softly on the after-deck
of the Western King's yacht; and King Rupert, stepping on deck, lifted
from her seat Queen Teuta with her baby in her arms. It was only when
the Blue Mountain King stood amongst other men that one could realize his
enormous stature. He stood literally head and shoulders over every other
man present.
Whilst the aeroplane was giving up its burden, the Western King and his
Queen were descending from the bridge. The host and hostess, hand in
hand--after their usual fashion, as it seems--hurried forward to greet
their guests. The meeting was touching in its simplicity. The two
monarchs shook hands, and their consorts, representatives of the foremost
types of national beauty of the North and South, instinctively drew close
and kissed each other. Then the hostess Queen, moving towards the
Western King, kneeled before him with the gracious obeisance of a Blue
Mountain hostess, and kissed his hand.
Her words of greeting were:
"You are welcome, sire, to the Blue Mountains. We are grateful to you
for all you have done for Balka, and to you and Her Majesty for giving us
the honour of your presence."
The King seemed moved. Accustomed as he was to the ritual of great
occasions, the warmth and sincerity, together with the gracious humility
of this old Eastern custom, touched him, monarch though he was of a great
land and many races in the Far East. Impulsively he broke through Court
ritual, and did a thing which, I have since been told, won for him for
ever a holy place in the warm hearts of the Blue Mountaineers. Sinking
on his knee before the beautiful shroud-clad Queen, he raised her hand
and kissed it. The act was seen by all in and around the Blue Mouth, and
a mighty cheering rose, which seemed to rise and swell as it ran far and
wide up the hillsides, till it faded away on the far-off mountain-top,
where rose majestically the mighty Flagstaff bearing the standard of the
Balkan Federation.
For myself, I can never forget that wonderful scene of a nation's
enthusiasm, and the core of it is engraven on my memory. That spotless
deck, typical of all that is perfect in naval use; the King and Queen of
the greatest nation of the earth {3} received by the newest King and
Queen--a King and Queen who won empire for themselves, so that the former
subject of another King received him as a brother-monarch on a
history-making occasion, when a new world-power was, under his tutelage,
springing into existence. The fair Northern Queen in the arms of the
dark Southern Queen with the starry eyes. The simple splendour of
Northern dress arrayed against that of almost peasant plainness of the
giant King of the South. But all were eclipsed--even the thousand years
of royal lineage of the Western King, Rupert's natural dower of stature,
and the other Queen's bearing of royal dignity and sweetness--by the
elemental simplicity of Teuta's Shroud. Not one of all that mighty
throng but knew something of her wonderful story; and not one but felt
glad and proud that such a noble woman had won an empire through her own
bravery, even in the jaws of the grave.
The armoured yacht, with the remainder of the signatories to the Balkan
Federation, drew close, and the rulers stepped on board to greet the
Western King, the Arbitrator, Rupert leaving his task as personal host
and joining them. He took his part modestly in the rear of the group,
and made a fresh obeisance in his new capacity.
Presently another warship, The Balka, drew close. It contained the
ambassadors of Foreign Powers, and the Chancellors and high officials of
the Balkan nations. It was followed by a fleet of warships, each one
representing a Balkan Power. The great Western fleet lay at their
moorings, but with the exception of manning their yards, took no
immediate part in the proceedings.
On the deck of the new-comer the Balkan monarchs took their places, the
officials of each State grading themselves behind their monarch. The
Ambassadors formed a foremost group by themselves.
Last came the Western King, quite alone (save for the two Queens),
bearing in his hand the vellum scroll, the record of his arbitration.
This he proceeded to read, a polyglot copy of it having been already
supplied to every Monarch, Ambassador, and official present. It was a
long statement, but the occasion was so stupendous--so intense--that the
time flew by quickly. The cheering had ceased the moment the Arbitrator
opened the scroll, and a veritable silence of the grave abounded.
When the reading was concluded Rupert raised his hand, and on the instant
came a terrific salvo of cannon-shots from not only the ships in the
port, but seemingly all up and over the hillsides away to the very
summit.
When the cheering which followed the salute had somewhat toned down,
those on board talked together, and presentations were made. Then the
barges took the whole company to the armour-clad fort in the entrance-way
to the Blue Mouth. Here, in front, had been arranged for the occasion,
platforms for the starting of aeroplanes. Behind them were the various
thrones of state for the Western King and Queen, and the various rulers
of "Balka"--as the new and completed Balkan Federation had become--de
jure as well as de facto. Behind were seats for the rest of the
company. All was a blaze of crimson and gold. We of the Press were all
expectant, for some ceremony had manifestly been arranged, but of all
details of it we had been kept in ignorance. So far as I could tell from
the faces, those present were at best but partially informed. They were
certainly ignorant of all details, and even of the entire programme of
the day. There is a certain kind of expectation which is not concerned
in the mere execution of fore-ordered things.
The aero on which the King and Queen had come down from the mountain now
arrived on the platform in the charge of a tall young mountaineer, who
stepped from the steering-platform at once. King Rupert, having handed
his Queen (who still carried her baby) into her seat, took his place, and
pulled a lever. The aero went forward, and seemed to fall head foremost
off the fort. It was but a dip, however, such as a skilful diver takes
from a height into shallow water, for the plane made an upward curve, and
in a few seconds was skimming upwards towards the Flagstaff. Despite the
wind, it arrived there in an incredibly short time. Immediately after
his flight another aero, a big one this time, glided to the platform. To
this immediately stepped a body of ten tall, fine-looking young men. The
driver pulled his levers, and the plane glided out on the track of the
King. The Western King, who was noticing, said to the Lord High Admiral,
who had been himself in command of the ship of war, and now stood close
behind him:
"Who are those men, Admiral?"
"The Guard of the Crown Prince, Your Majesty. They are appointed by the
Nation."
"Tell me, Admiral, have they any special duties?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," came the answer: "to die, if need be, for the young
Prince!"
"Quite right! That is fine service. But how if any of them should die?"
"Your Majesty, if one of them should die, there are ten thousand eager to
take his place."
"Fine, fine! It is good to have even one man eager to give his life for
duty. But ten thousand! That is what makes a nation!"
When King Rupert reached the platform by the Flagstaff, the Royal
Standard of the Blue Mountains was hauled up under it. Rupert stood up
and raised his hand. In a second a cannon beside him was fired; then,
quick as thought, others were fired in sequence, as though by one
prolonged lightning-flash. The roar was incessant, but getting less in
detonating sound as the distance and the hills subdued it. But in the
general silence which prevailed round us we could hear the sound as
though passing in a distant circle, till finally the line which had gone
northward came back by the south, stopping at the last gun to south'ard
of the Flagstaff.
"What was that wonderful circle?" asked the King of the Lord High
Admiral.
"That, Your Majesty, is the line of the frontier of the Blue Mountains.
Rupert has ten thousand cannon in line."
"And who fires them? I thought all the army must be here."
"The women, Your Majesty. They are on frontier duty to-day, so that the
men can come here."
Just at that moment one of the Crown Prince's Guards brought to the side
of the King's aero something like a rubber ball on the end of a string.
The Queen held it out to the baby in her arms, who grabbed at it. The
guard drew back. Pressing that ball must have given some signal, for on
the instant a cannon, elevated to perpendicular, was fired. A shell went
straight up an enormous distance. The shell burst, and sent out both a
light so bright that it could be seen in the daylight, and a red smoke,
which might have been seen from the heights of the Calabrian Mountains
over in Italy.
As the shell burst, the King's aero seemed once more to spring from the
platform out into mid-air, dipped as before, and glided out over the Blue
Mouth with a rapidity which, to look at, took one's breath away.
As it came, followed by the aero of the Crown Prince's Guard and a group
of other aeros, the whole mountain-sides seemed to become alive. From
everywhere, right away up to the farthest visible mountain-tops, darted
aeroplanes, till a host of them were rushing with dreadful speed in the
wake of the King. The King turned to Queen Teuta, and evidently said
something, for she beckoned to the Captain of the Crown Prince's Guard,
who was steering the plane. He swerved away to the right, and instead of
following above the open track between the lines of warships, went high
over the outer line. One of those on board began to drop something,
which, fluttering down, landed on every occasion on the bridge of the
ship high over which they then were.
The Western King said again to the Gospodar Rooke (the Lord High
Admiral):
"It must need some skill to drop a letter with such accuracy."
With imperturbable face the Admiral replied:
"It is easier to drop bombs, Your Majesty."
The flight of aeroplanes was a memorable sight. It helped to make
history. Henceforth no nation with an eye for either defence or attack
can hope for success without the mastery of the air.
In the meantime--and after that time, too--God help the nation that
attacks "Balka" or any part of it, so long as Rupert and Teuta live in
the hearts of that people, and bind them into an irresistible unity.
Footnotes:
{1} Vladika, a high functionary in the Land of the Blue Mountains. He
is a sort of official descendant of the old Prince-Bishops who used at
one time to govern the State. In process of time the system has changed,
but the function--shorn of its personal dominance--remains. The nation
is at present governed by the Council. The Church (which is, of course,
the Eastern Church) is represented by the Archbishop, who controls the
whole spiritual functions and organization. The connecting-link between
them--they being quite independent organizations--is the Vladika, who is
ex officio a member of the National Council. By custom he does not
vote, but is looked on as an independent adviser who is in the confidence
of both sides of national control.
{2} EDITORIAL NOTE--We shall, in our issue of Saturday week, give a full
record of the romantic story of Queen Teuta and her Shroud, written by
Mr. Mordred Booth, and illustrated by our special artist, Mr. Neillison
Browne, who is Mr. Booth's artistic collaborateur in the account of King
Rupert's Coronation.
{3} Greatest Kingdom--Editor Free America.