THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH
But, alas! the Constitution did not bring the expected changes. The
revolutionary movement had been superficial and had won only the
liberal youth and university students. After the first months of
intoxicating joy, the old hatred of the Mussulman for the infidel
awoke again, and the disheartened Christians found only enemies
where they had looked for brothers. The government did not keep any
of its promises; the best positions were held by inefficient men,
who obtained them at a high price; the "bakshish" (bribe) system
prevailed everywhere, as before. Employees in subordinate positions
remained unpaid; the roads and railways which the Young Turks had
proposed to build, as well as the schools which they had planned to
establish, existed only on paper.
The Christians, seeing the old hatred thus springing up afresh from
its ashes, began to tremble for their life. Alas! the reality was to
exceed their worst fears.
A religious Conference of Christians from all parts of Asia Minor
was to be held at Adana during Holy Week, and Jousif hodja and his
wife stopped at Aintab on their way to this gathering, to the great
delight of Archag and Levon. The journey from Van had been a hard one
for Nizam; she was hoping that a few days' rest would set her right,
but when the time came to resume the journey, she was still so weak
that Dr. Spencer advised her to wait at Aintab until her husband
should return.
The Aintablés (residents of Aintab) responded eagerly to the
invitation from their brethren of Adana, and a hundred and twenty
of them undertook the journey. With them went the two Americans,
Dr. Mills and Dr. Spencer, Professor Pagratian and Professor
Piralian, the pastors and elders of the three Protestant Churches,
and a few of the college students; among these were Boghos Poladian,
whose parents lived at Adana, and Archag, who was allowed to go with
his brother-in-law. They all started out together, a happy company,
waving their handkerchiefs, and gayly calling "Au revoir" to their
friends and acquaintances. Little did the ill-fated travelers suspect
that this was the last time they should ever see their friends.
They had good horses and reached Adana in five days. Archag and his
brother-in-law accepted the hospitality offered by Boghos' father,
who was Secretary of the American Mission at Adana. He lived in a
small house beside the hospital; both courtyards were entered by the
same gate.
The Christians were conscious of a great deal of stir and excitement
among the Mussulmans, but they were not alarmed by it. The first
meeting of the Conference was held and Professor Pagratian preached a
sermon on the immortality of the soul. His words made a deep impression
on those who heard him.
"Our friend," said Professor Piralian later, "was filled with the
Spirit of God; we had never heard him speak like that, and I am
convinced that he had a presentiment that his death was near."
On their return to the house, the Poladians and their guests knelt to
pray together, and then retired for the night. Jousif hodja, Archag
and Boghos shared one room. About two o'clock in the morning Archag
was awakened by fearful cries. The room was bright with the glare
of flames, and he ran to the window, and saw the Mission school on
fire. There were men running through the streets, shouting: "Death,
death to the Christians! Long live Allah!"
Archag, in mortal terror, woke his companions and, they dressed
hastily, hoping to be able to take refuge in the American hospital,
but even now they heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs, and
the next moment a band of Kurds burst into the room. In a flash the
three young men were dragged into the courtyard, where there were
perhaps a hundred other Christians, among others the Poladian family
and Professor Pagratian. The Kurds heaped insults upon them and struck
them in the face; then they called upon the men to become Mussulmans,
on pain of death. A few of the younger men, mad with fright, yielded,
and twisted the white turban around their heads, but the others
refused with firmness and decision.
"Fire!" commanded the chief of the Kurds. His men obeyed, and many
of the Armenians fell. Professor Pagratian and Jousif hodja were
struck in the heart, and killed instantly. Boghos was only slightly
wounded. A Kurd went up to him and commanded him to abjure his faith.
"No," he replied in a clear tone, "I will not deny my Saviour; kill
me, if you will. I will die a Christian."
The savage, in his fury, dispatched him with one blow of his axe. Noble
boy! He was faithful unto death, and now he wears the martyr's crown.
The brigands, now stirred up by the sight of blood, proceeded to
commit the most unheard-of atrocities. They respected neither age nor
sex; they tore babies from their mothers' arms, and dashed out their
brains against a wall; they tied children together, and after pouring
petroleum on them, set them on fire. As the poor little creatures
writhed in agony, their tormentors uttered yells of delight.
"See the monkeys of the Constitution dancing the polka!" cried one.
After a complete massacre and pillage, they left the courtyard,
to give themselves over to fresh deeds of carnage elsewhere.
Archag had been wounded in the shoulder, and had fainted from pain; his
enemies therefore thought him dead. When he recovered consciousness,
the sun was shining full upon the scene of woe. Carefully making his
way among the bodies of the dead, he managed to drag himself to the
gate of the hospital, where he was helped in by a nurse. A violent
fever set in, and for a long time his life was in danger.
For three days, the Kurds kept up their hideous work; the soldiers
sent by the government to establish order, joined the murderers,
and committed crimes so abominable that the pen refuses to record
them. The massacres extended throughout the province; about thirty
thousand Armenians were killed, and the vali (provincial governor),
with his customary indifference, let it be done.
Dr. Spencer was a victim to his devotion; a bullet struck him full
in the chest, while he was making strenuous efforts to check the
fire at the Mission school. He fell at his post, a true soldier of
Jesus Christ.
Several days passed before the news of the doctor's death reached
Aintab. As Mrs. Spencer was sitting on the veranda at the Normal
School one day, she saw Dr. Mills coming toward the house. But where
was her husband? The poor lady's heart was torn with an agony of fear.
"Not here, not here? Where can he be, then?"
When Dr. Mills came in he grasped her hands, and said simply:
"Your husband is with the Lord: you may be proud to be the widow of
a martyr, and of one so brave and faithful. Our friends Rodgers [31]
and Pagratian have gone with him."
At first Mrs. Spencer was stunned by the blow. She withdrew to her room
and fell on her knees, begging God for strength to accept His will. But
keenly as she felt her own grief, she thought of many others who had
been afflicted as severely as she, and were in need of her help.
When she had become quieter, she went to the Pagratians' home. There
she found the professor's widow and children, and poor Nizam,
prostrated by the dreadful tidings; and their grief was pitiful to
see. When Mrs. Spencer appeared, her face transfigured by suffering,
they all felt as if an angel of the Lord had come down among them. They
prayed together for a long time, and rose from their knees almost
happy in their thought that their beloved ones were with Jesus.
Archag had to stay at the Adana hospital three weeks before he was
able to return to Aintab. Nejib, Aram and Garabed were told when he
was expected, and went out to meet him.
"Poor Archag!" said Nejib. "What a sad way to come back! He went off
so gayly."
"Yes," said Garabed. "I can hear him now talking with Boghos about
a trip to Tarsus which they were planning to take when they left
Adana. We must try to comfort him, for Dr. Mills told me he was
very sad."
But the reality exceeded their expectation, and they could hardly
repress a cry of surprise when they saw Archag. His hair had turned
entirely gray; there were dark circles around his eyes, and his mouth
was disfigured by a badly-closed wound. His friends welcomed him with
a warm grasp of the hand.
"We are so happy to see you again, dear Archag," said Garabed. "You
don't know what anguish we have suffered. For several days we thought
you must be dead, because the report had gone about that all the
Aintablés had been massacred."
"It seems to me like coming back from the abode of the dead, it was
so frightful, and the scenes of bloodshed are before my eyes all the
time. I can't help thinking about it by day, and every night I dream
of it, and am perfectly exhausted when I wake up."
The poor lad was trembling as he spoke, and had to wipe the
perspiration from his brow. Aram patted him on the shoulder.
"Courage, old man! Think of your parents, and of your sister who has
lost everything; you will have to be the one to console her."
Archag made no reply, and his friends, feeling constrained by his
silence, stopped talking, too. When the carriage entered the college
courtyard, it was immediately surrounded by the students, all waiting
for the traveler and eager to show their sympathy. But Archag left
them very soon, and went to the Pagratians' cottage. A woman dressed
in black was sitting by the door, and he ran to her and threw himself
into her arms, sobbing. Brother and sister wept together long, and
after their first grief was spent, Nizam took Archag into the house,
where he told the story of that terrible night.
"When our tormentors were about to fire," said he, "we began to sing
our favorite hymn:
'A mighty fortress is the Lord,
A refuge in the storm.'
"Our calmness in the face of death seemed to terrify those men,
and the chief, furious at their hesitation, gave the order again:
'Fire! Fire!' At last they fired. Even then I could hear our dear
Professor Pagratian saying, 'Jesus, Jesus, we are coming to Thee!' Then
I fainted away."
The Pagratian children were sobbing: "Papa, papa, what shall we do
without you?"
"What miracle prevented your being killed like the others?" asked
Nizam.
"It really was a miracle. My swoon only lasted a few minutes, and when
I came to myself, the Kurds were killing the women and children. I
had strength enough to drag myself a little way and hide behind a
pile of wood, then the sights all around were so terrible that I
fainted again. After a long time I regained consciousness; it was
broad daylight, and the courtyard was deserted. You know already how
they took me in at the American hospital, and took care of me till
I was healed."