Some travelling show seemed to have left its
scenery in lieu of its bill, for bits of painted canvas did duty as
partitions.
There was a room with six beds, but one was reserved for an Albanian
officer. We took the rest. We loitered about all the afternoon, and in
the evening the Albanian officer came in. He was a beaky-faced,
unpleasant-looking man, but he procured us some bread, which we sorely
lacked. The hotel had little food, so we gave them our rice. By this
time fleas had got into it, and seeming to like it had bred in
quantities. Still as we had nothing else it had to be cooked, and we
picked out the boiled fleas as well as we were able. The Serbian captain
started drinking with the Albanian, and soon both were well over the
edge of sobriety.
They came up long after we had turned in, fell over Cutting, who cursed
them without stint, and tumbled on to the beds which we had left for
them. The Albanian made some remarks about the ladies, which from the
tone were insults; but we were unable to chastize him, or we should all
have been put into prison.
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