"I am sent by the governor, monsieur," said he. "We do not consider it
safe, this boat idea. Austrian submarines are everywhere, and the
governor would feel it as a personal responsibility if you were drowned.
We will provide carriages to Alessio and thence arrange horses--only one
day and a half on to Durazzo. Thence Essad Pasha will give you his motor
boat and you can easily get to Valona."
Our men groaned at the thought of more journeying. They were all
thoroughly fed up with the road, though personally we rather liked the
idea. We had heard that Durazzo was very interesting, and would have
liked to have met Essad, though we did not know just how his politics
were trending. We decided to see the Italian consul once more.
Next day we hunted up the mayor, Mahram Beg, a Turk, for he also could
give us a "Besa" if necessary. He was at last discovered, a little
crumpled looking man in an office. We were not allowed to interview him
in private, but a Montenegrin was there and all conversation had to
pass by him like through an imperfect telephone.
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