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.
