It is rumored that the Turks look upon Germany as their most powerful
friend, and are willing to defy Russia or any other nation so long as
Germany shows a disposition to stand by them.

This winter is likely to give us some more interesting chapters in
European history.

* * * * *

The Sultan of Turkey has fresh worries. The Albanians are now rebelling
against him.

Albania is on the western border of European Turkey; its shores are
washed by the Adriatic Sea.

It is a mountainous country, inhabited by a war-like race of people, who
are much given to robbery and brigandage.

The Albanians are a curious people. They claim to be descended from the
Pelasgians, who were a people of Greece, supposed to be the most
ancient race in Europe.

They arrived and settled in Europe centuries before men began to keep
records of the events that occurred, and so their origin is unknown. It
is supposed they came from Asia, and probably from India.

The Albanians base their claim to Pelasgian origin on their language,
which differs from any known tongue, and cannot clearly be connected
with any of the mother tongues. These mother tongues were the original
languages from which the various modern languages are derived.