With him was a
young girl of sixteen. In a deserted place they were set upon by four
armed Arabs, who beat the old man to unconsciousness as he tried, in
vain, to defend the girl from the terrible fate which awaited her.
Night came on. Alarmed by the absence of the physician, we young men
rode out in search of him. We finally discovered what had happened; and
then and there, in the serene moonlight of that Eastern night, with
tragedy close at hand, I made my comrades take oath on the honor of
their sisters to organize themselves into a strong society for the
defense of the life and honor of our villagers and of our people at
large.
These details are, perhaps, useful for the better understanding of the
disturbances that came thick and fast when in August, 1914, the
war-madness broke out among the nations of Europe. The repercussion was
at once felt even in our remote corner of the earth. Soon after the
German invasion of Belgium the Turkish army was mobilized and all
citizens of the Empire between nineteen and forty-five years were called
to the colors. As the Young Turk Constitution of 1909 provided that all
Christians and Jews were equally liable to military service, our young
men knew that they, too, would be called upon to make the common
sacrifice.
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