I went to an unpretentious place to avoid attracting any
particular attention. Had I put up at an expensive hotel there would
immediate]y bave been queries about me. Who is this stranger? He
seems to have money. If it isn't his money, whose money is he
spending? It is not well to invite a Turk's suspicion. As I was
totally unacquainted with Constantinople, I used the first week for
getting familiar with the geography of the city. It was necessary
that I learn the location of the various legations and the residences
of high court officials. The next week I found lodgings in the very
center of the district of court residences and began to seek out the
haunts and places of rendezvous of demi-mondaines, favorites and
hangers-on of the Turkish officials. On the second day of my arrival,
I had presented my credentials and letters at the German Pera
Hospital, and had my name entered as a visiting honorary surgeon.
Every day thereafter, rain or shine, I made it a point to spend some
time at these hospitals, and it was well that I did. Once a day and
often twice I would sign the book at the hospital and I believe that
the signature Dr. Franz von Graver appears on the record books of the
Pera and German Hospitals in Constantinople, at least one hundred
times. Was I not fulfilling my duties as a physician doing research
work?
I finally located myself in the residential district of Pera where I
rented a small residence, typical of the well-to-do Turk of the middle
class and quite in keeping with my assumed character.
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