By Sempad Shahnazarian

Chapter Twelve (Continued)

 “Do you really think that joining the Legion will do any good for our people?” asked Vartan.

  “I believe that if we help the Allies win the war it will be natural for them to have a friendly attitude toward solving our national Cause...Free and Independent Armenia.

  “How naive and pure-minded you are, Sempad!” said Beto. “Haven’t you ever felt that the diplomats who attend international conferences are nothing but devils trying to trick one another and suck the blood out of the weaker ones?  How can I be sure that the Allies aren’t going to exploit the blood of our youth for their own benefits.”

  “The only way to prove who is right or wrong is to join the Legion and see.” concluded Sempad.

  Several days later, they had all made up their minds to appear before the Commander of the camp to let him know that they had decided to join the “Legion D’Orient.” The Commander gave them his consent and they all waited anxiously for the ship to take them to Cyprus.

  Sempad asked his friends. “Do you know what the situation is in Armenia at the present time?”

  “Hundreds of thousands of Armenians who were saved from the Turkish massacres by our Fedayis have crowded our country without food or shelter. They have insufficient arms and ammunition. All they do have is an iron determination to stand up and stop the Turkish advance in order to protect our country from complete destruction. These are critical days. The fighting is going on now and the great offensive by the Allies will start any day on the Palestinian front and the Arabian Peninsula.”

  An orderly came and told Sempad that he was wanted in the Commander’s office. He followed the orderly there. It was a spacious room with three desks set by the walls. They were occupied by the Commander and two lieutenants. Sempad entered and saluted. The Commander returned the salute and then turned to a civilian, who was sitting on a chair by the door and said: “Here is your man!”

  The civilian jumped to his feet and asked: “Are you Sempad Shahnazarian?”

  “Yes!”

  “Oh, I am so happy to see you! I am your uncle Krikor Shahnazarian. You are free now! I have the Commander’s permission to take you home with me.  You will have nothing to worry about anymore. When the schools open, I plan to send you to The University of Cairo.”

  Sempad listened to the outpouring of these beautiful as well as tragic words, with his head lowered, confused and tearful.

  “Well, aren’t you happy now? When I left the country, years ago, you were just a baby! Tell me, aren’t you really glad?”

  “Of course I am!”

  “We can go now, all right?”

  Sempad was silent. He was struggling with himself. A moment later, with tears in his eyes, he said: “No, uncle! I can’t come with you.”

  His uncle felt as if he were struck by lightning, but managed to mumble: “But why?

  I have already volunteered to join the Legion in Cyprus.

  “You are out of your mind, Sempad. You should thank God for having come out of that hell, safely!! Now you want to go back. I can’t understand you!”

  “The blood of my father and mother, the blood of my brother Arsen and that of all the murdered Armenians is calling me. If I remain indifferent my conscience will always torture me. I will be thinking about how the Turks converted our churches and monasteries into stables and barracks after massacring masses of our people. I will be thinking about how they destroyed our old monuments and defaced our historically precious inscriptions.” He took out his handkerchief and began to wipe the tears from his eyes as his uncle was looking at him with admiration and sorrow.

  “You will, then, not be coming home with me?”

  “I am very sorry to say I am not. Soon I will be going to Cyprus.”

  The Commander looked at them sympathetically, then nodding at the guard, who was standing by the door and he ordered him to take Sempad back to his quarters.

  A week later, they sailed to Cyprus on a French cruiser together with other groups of volunteers. They camped at Manarga at the foot of a mountain ridge that extended from one end of the island to the other. They were told that three battalions of Legionnaires had just left for the front. They were sorry for not having been with them but that could not be helped. They needed plenty of time, anyhow, to become prepared for such military operations that were underway. They were assigned to the barracks that had just been vacated and their training and iron-like discipline began.

  The weather was so hot and the drills were so hard that they had to change their clothes twice a day.

  Days and weeks passed when the glorious news flashed. The news that the Allies had broken through the Turkish front. The news exploded like a bomb on the camp and the Legionnaires poured out of their barracks and enthusiastically showed their satisfaction. They gathered at the drill-field congratulating one another and shouting with joy and acclamation. In this atmosphere of enthusiasm and frenzy one could not help from noticing Beto, who was standing to one side, watching the emotional youth. He was contemplating this scene with a skeptical smile on his face. When the cries and the shouts subsided he said to Sempad, calmly: “What is all this excitement about anyway?”

  “Victory!”

 “Whose victory?” asked Beto.

 “Our victory!” Sempad answered. “In the key battle of Arara the Legion had carried the day with a heroic charge that swept everything in front of it and this contributed greatly to the Allies’ victory.”

  “That is the answer! Allies’ victory!...” said Beto.

  “That includes our country doesn’t it? Isn’t Armenia called the Little Ally?”

  Beto said, “it is called the ‘Little Ally’ but it remains to be seen what her share will be of the Allies’ plunder at the peace conference. At this moment, as we are celebrating the Allies’ victory in the Middle-East, there is a super human effort being undertaken by our people, on our soil, to stop the Turkish advance into the heart of Armenia. As a result of the Bolshevik revolution the Russian army has withdrawn from the Caucasus leaving Armenia all alone to hold the line which extends as far as Baku, to protect our people from complete annihilation. Are the Allies helping us there? No!” 

  “Let us open our hearts to the thrills of today’s good news and celebrate the bravery and the heroism of our brothers who gave their lives to help win the war.” said Vartan.

  “Let’s take a walk and become acquainted with the Islanders and have a good time,” said Beto. “We have twenty hours leave and we can go anywhere we like. These Islanders are very hospitable and the girls very beautiful and very friendly.”

  “It has been ages since I have heard a woman’s voice close to my ears.” said Vartan. “We should go around and break the good news to them...I am sure they will be glad to hear it.”

  “All right, all right! We know what’s on your mind. We’ll go. It isn’t very far. It’s only about an hour’s walk from here.” said Beto.

  “I have been there twice! Her name is Josephine...”

  Late in the afternoon they were on their way to the village near the seashore. There were other Legionnaires going there also.

  “It looks like we are not the only ones going.” said Vartan.

  “Don’t worry, Josephine isn’t going to open her door to anybody. She knows I am coming...” said Beto.

  “She doesn’t know that you have company with you.” said Sempad.

  “Oh! She may call two of the girls from next door to come over. Let’s take a walk on the beach until it gets dark...These kinds of visits require darkness, no matter how intimate your hostess may be.”

  They walked down to the beach, where fishermen were just pulling their nets out of the water, full of fish of all sizes jumping all over. They also had a medium size octopus. None of them had ever seen a real one except in books. They found it very interesting, the way it moved its tentacles, struggling to free itself from the hands of the fisherman who kept pounding it with an iron bar until it stopped struggling.

  They exchanged a few words with the fishermen and as it began to darken, they walked into the village silently following Beto. The village was a cluster of small dwellings with irregular narrow streets that crossed each other and even went over the roofs of some dwellings down to another maze of paths. Everyone was silent looking around eagerly behind houses and vacant lots where they saw some Legionnaires flirting with girls, evidently trying to bargain with them.

  As they were walking toward the house of Beto’s girl friend, one lieutenant just came out of the house, smiling.

  “Have a nice time, you guys! Josephine is a nice girl.”

  As he turned the corner Vartan chuckled and said: “Beto, did you hear what he said?”

  Without paying attention to the remark, Beto knocked on the door angrily. Josephine opened it with a smile on her face.

  “Who was that man?” muttered Beto.

  “Oh, come on in, dear.” said Josephine.

  “I am asking you who that man was?”

  “Come on in and don’t talk nonsense. That was Lieutenant Bouvier. I have known him for a long time.”

  They entered a parlor in the center of which stood a round table loaded with all kinds of Greek food and delicacies.

  “Didn’t you know I was coming?” Beto kept drumming...

  “Can’t you see the table? It’s for you that I have prepared all of this.”

  Beto was overcome by this answer and he said, affectionately, with his arm around her: “I know you are a good girl.”

  Pushing him away tenderly, she said: “Let me meet your friends, first.”

  After being introduced to them, she hurried outside and in no time came back with her girl friends, Sapho and Vasso. She introduced them to Sempad and Vartan, who were sitting on the couch. Looking at Beto, devilishly,  Josephine dragged him into her bedroom, closed the door, leaving the boys alone with the two girls.

  Vasso and Vartan began to play with one another, pinching and kissing each other. Sapho was sitting on Sempad’s lap hugging him with exaggerated feeling and letting him massage her beautiful bare legs. The girls then looked at the boys, mischievously, alluding to Beto and Josephine and said playfully: “They must be very busy back there! It’s all quiet!” They jumped to their feet and began to set the table, running back and forth to the kitchen, setting the plates, glasses and spoons where they belonged.
 

 They got on the main road and walked silently, all the way back to their barracks. They got on their bunks and without exchanging a word remained awake for quite a long time, then finally fell asleep.