The Sultan heard of this, and became alarmed.

He therefore sent one of his ministers, Yussuf Bey, to the ambassadors,
urging them to do nothing hastily, but assuring them that if they would
only have patience for a few days, everything could be satisfactorily
arranged.

But the ambassadors had had enough of delay, and they dismissed Yussuf
Bey, telling him politely that they could not possibly wait any longer.

The Sultan became still more uneasy, but he was anxious to put the
matter off a little longer, until he could have a final understanding
with Germany.

It seems that the Emperor William's reply to his note gave the Sultan
some hope that he was still inclined to side with him, in case of
trouble.

While he was still looking about for a good excuse, he received a
message from the German Kaiser, which put a sudden end to all his hopes
of an alliance.

The German ambassador arrived at the palace of the Sultan with the
information that the Kaiser, his master, had just telegraphed him to say
to the Sultan from him that he must immediately obey the wishes of the
Powers.

Following closely on this unwelcome visit came a message from the Czar
of Russia, telling the Sultan that unless he immediately withdrew his
soldiers from Thessaly, the Russian troops would cross the Turkish