The Balkan Trail, Classics To Go
Excerpt: "Men of position are proud and prejudiced. In humble Sofia, where there is little pretence, the judge of a supreme court, whose salary was 72l. a year, declined an offer of double that wage to serve me as interpreter. An officer in the army, and other Government officials to whom I made approaches, displayed similar pride and lack of enterprise. I was bound for the border, and the only individuals willing to accompany me were two fallen stars of feeble age, in circumstances of despair; and at last I was obliged to choose between these luckless linguists. One was an anarchist, light of head and heavy of heart, the other a bankrupt viscount with a bad eye. I selected the nobleman, but a word for the anarchist; he is dead."
Frederick F. Moore
Frederick Ferdinand Moore (24 December 1881-16 January 1947) was an early 20th century American novelist, short story writer, editor, publisher, soldier and war correspondent. His first novel The Devil's Admiral was inspired by his extensive travels as a sailor, a soldier serving in the US Army during the Philippine–American War, and later as a correspondent covering the Russo-Japanese War. As a captain in the US Army he was an intelligence officer in the American Expeditionary Force, Siberia, and was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun 5th Class by the Japanese government. He documented his first-hand experience witnessing the rise of the Bolsheviks in Siberia To-day, a text which remained as a key reference to the region for several decades after it was published. Moore's marriage and subsequent annulment to Eleanor Gates, playwright and author of The Poor Little Rich Girl, drew significant media attention. Moore later became a deputy marshal with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and was murdered while on duty in 1947. Despite prolonged searches, his remains were never found.
