The villagers had hidden them in the stand-
ing maize, small blame to them, poor crea-
tures !

Douglas started in one direction to beat
the standing maize, while I and the zaptieh,
accompanied by the Bulgarian and his yoke
of oxen, took another. We soon came upon
the front half of an araba, to which we yoked
the oxen. The zaptieh, being convinced that
the other half was hidden somewhere near,
rode up to a party of two Bulgarian women
and two boys, who were husking maize close
by. The women ran away, but the two little
men stood their ground. The zaptieh tried
to persuade these to divulge where the other
half of the araba was, and, not succeeding,
he raised his arm with a long stick to strike.
The eldest boy, about thirteen years old,
never flinched, and I was only just in time to
save his back from the descending blow. I
gave the plucky little fellow a bigger bit of
silver than I dare say he had ever seen be-

I 2



116 A PBTSONEB OF WAB IK EUSSIA.
fore, at which his eyes glistened, but I went
away, feeling quite ashamed.
