Page:Kvartalshilsen (Kvinnelige misjonsarbeidere). 1917 Vol. 10 nr. 4.pdf/10

 Alma when she traveled from Mesereh to Constantinople in the autumn of 1915 and later to Sweden and was assumed to be a warder in the soldiers' home, where he is well and safe. He cried when he saw me, and I had to tell him about my last experiences in Musch. - At that time, when his wife and three children were taken away from him and taken away from Musch, we were long afraid that he might lose his mind, only his oldest daughter was saved; but now he also did not know where she was as she had secretly fled Mesereh across the Russian border and from there she wanted to go to America. It was really hard to say goodbye to him as I traveled on. There I also met one of our former students from Musch, a young boy of 17-18 years who had also lost everyone. Before the war he was at Robert's college in Constantinople. One of our boys from the orphanage in Musch, who had traveled to Constantinople several years ago, I met at a German pastor’s place, a Count Lüttichou, who has helped many Armenians, also Bedrossean, once when he was in danger. He is an incomparably gracious man and also did me the favor of sending my photographs and books, which I could not carry in my luggage as it was forbidden, to Berlin, and from there I got them checked and sealed and then I could take them with me home. Last Sunday I went to the altar in the German church and had a lovely day. On May 16, I arrived in Constantinople and on May 30 I traveled on. Throughout Turkey it was very crowded and difficult to get the clothes examined, passport revised and so on, but finally we carried on. It was a very difficult journey. 9 times, I had to change trains, and I think eight to nine times passports and clothing were revised. It was so difficult, because even the big luggage could not be shipped directly to Berlin, as you can when traveling by Balkan train; instead I had to worry about it in every place. Once, in Sofia, I couldn't get it inspected and couldn't get off with the next train; but then a German sub-officer helped me, so I got all my clothes. Throughout Bulgaria, I traveled alone with just soldiers and officers with no other ladies; but they were so friendly and helpful, so that not only did I have room to put down my little boy, but I could also sleep for a few hours myself. One night we had to spend in Nisch in Serbia. Then, with the help of a few soldiers, I found a good lodging with a Serbian lady who was very kind to us; but it was very difficult to make her understand what we wanted because she understood nothing but Serbian. In Belgrade I had to spend the night as well. There was a big hotel, but it was not nice to be there, so I was happy when I could travel on the next morning. It was strange to travel through the land where the war had raged so violently, yet there was no trace of it. In Belgrade, the officers examining the passport were very strict, fearing spies. Finally, we came into Hungary and then everything became brighter and friendlier. It is so fertile there; the grain was bursting. It was Saturday and heavy traffic and very crowded in the passenger compartment. I was glad when we reached Budapest in the evening. The night train to Vienna was also full, but I was given so much space so I could get Fridtjof to sleep. It was worse to get a courier as everyone was so busy; but in the end I found one to take care of all the clothes. Early the next morning we reached Vienna; but still not in time to reach the morning train to Dresden and Berlin. I was with a German lady and we tried to get a car to reach the train if possible, as we had to get to another railway station, and it was at the other end of town. When we reached it, the train had just left. The train from Budapest was two hours late. So, we had to stay all day in Vienna. I was out with Fridtjof in a big park, where he really enjoyed himself, he also amused many people at the station, as he was not afraid at all and ran to some ladies and pulled in some flowers, which they then gave him. I had to really look after him, because just like that he was gone with complete strangers. The next morning we arrived at the German border, where very accurate revision was carried out on passports,