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From The King of the Mountains, by Edmond About, Translated from the French; with a Critical Introduction by Andrew Lang; a Frontispiece and Numerous Other Portraits with Descriptive Notes by Octave Uzanne; The French Classical Romances Complete in Twenty Crown Octavo Volumes, Editor-in-Chief Edmond Gosse, LL.D; New York :  P. F. Collier & Son; 1902; pp. 76-149.

THE KING OF THE MOUNTAINS

________

76

CHAPTER  IV

HADJI STAVROS

DIMITRIUS went back to Athens, the monk returned to his bees, and our new masters drove us along like sheep by a rough path that led to the King’s encampment. In her determination to remain independent, Mrs. Simons obstinately refused to budge. The brigands threatened to lift her bodily, and to carry her between them, but she vowed she would not let them even so much as touch her. Her daughter, however, smoothed down her ruffled plumes by telling her that probably Hadji Stavros would give her a breakfast.

Mary-Ann, herself, seemed more surprised than alarmed. The low-classed brigands that had made us prisoners, showed us a certain amount of deference, since they did not attempt to search our persons, and kept aloof from the ladies. Instead of seizing our effects, which they had asked us to give up, they left us in possession of them, and 77 apparently had not noticed that the ladies wore ear-rings, and had even allowed them to retain their gloves. Needless to say, these details prove conclusively that there exists a far cry between the Greek and the Spanish or Italian robbers, who cut off a finger to get at a ring, and slit an ear for the sake of a pearl or a diamond. The only thing, so far, we had to dread, was the payment of a ransom :  and it appeared more than probable that we should get scot free. How were we to imagine that Hadji could detain us with impunity at so short a distance as five leagues from the Court, the capital, and within easy reach not only of the Greek army, but also of a battalion of British troops, and an English man-of-war then stationed at the Piræus? Thus argued Mary-Ann; but my mind involuntarily reverted to the awful fate of the little Mistra girls, and I began to feel correspondingly depressed. I was afraid that Mrs. Simons, with her explosions of patriotic extravagance, might expose her daughter to some great danger, and resolved to try and make her understand her real position.

We went along, one by one, up a narrow path. Between each of us strode one of our ferocious-looking captors. The way seemed to me as if it never would end, and I asked at least twenty times 78 when we were likely to arrive at our destination. The country was hideous; the barren rock scarcely sufficed for the nourishment of a small sort of sturdy, stunted green oak, and for tufts of thorny thyme, the prickles of which clung to our legs in a very disagreeable manner. Our jailers were not at all cheerful, and their triumphal march was not unlike a funeral procession. They smoked in silence huge cigars as thick as a finger. None of them talked, but a few chanted, through their noses, a sort of Greek folklore song, which was the reverse of gay. Like their ancient ruins, the modern Greeks are melancholy.

About eleven o’clock a fierce barking announced that we were nearing the camp. Ten or a dozen enormous dogs with rough curly coats flew at us barking savagely, and showing their long sharp teeth. Our escorts threw stones at them, and after a pitched battle, which lasted a good quarter of an hour, peace was declared. These inhospitable monsters were the advanced guards of the King of the Mountains. But that was not their only use, for occasionally they are known to devour a harmless shepherd, a belated traveller, or even a comrade of Hadji Stavros! The King keeps them, as the Sultans did their fierce Janissaries, for self-preservation.

79

His camp was pitched on a sort of natural platform, some seven or eight hundred yards in circumference. I looked in vain for our jailers’ tents. Brigands are not Sybarites, and in April they usually sleep out in the open. I saw neither heaps of spoils, nor even a sign of treasure; in short, nothing of that which one associates with the camp of a brigand chief. I found out later that Hadji Stavros takes upon himself the sale of the booty, each man receiving his share in money, and disposing of it as he chooses. Some employ it in trade, others take mortgages on houses in Athens, others buy land in their villages; none wastes the product of their robberies. Our arrival interrupted the breakfast of twenty or thirty men, who came towards us, carrying their bread-and-cheese in their hands. The chief feeds his soldiers. They receive every day a ration of bread, oil, wine, cheese, caviare, chilis, bitter olives, and on non-abstinence days, meat also. The gourmands, who want mallows, or herbs, are free to seek for these delicacies in the hills.

The brigands, like people of other classes, rarely light a fire to cook their meals; they eat their meats cold, their vegetables raw. I remarked that those that surrounded us rigidly observed the law of abstinence. It was the eve of Ascension 80 Day, and these worthies, the most innocent of whom had at least one murder on his conscience, would not for the whole world have eaten the leg of a chicken. To point their guns at two Englishwomen was a peccadillo. Mrs. Simons had committed a much graver sin by eating lamb the day before the festival of the Ascension.

The men of our escort fully indulged the curiosity of their comrades. They were overwhelmed with questions, and answered them all. They displayed the booty made, and my watch had a success that flattered my vanity. Mary-Ann’s gold hunting-case watch passed almost unremarked. In this first sitting the admiration felt for my watch resulted in a sort of consideration being extended to me. In the eyes of these primitive beings, the possessor of such a jewel must be at the very least a Milord.

The curiosity of the brigands was irritating, but not insolent. None of them seemed to wish to treat us as vanquished enemies. They knew that we were in their power, and that in a few days they would exchange us for so many gold pieces, but they did not take advantage of the circumstance to ill-treat us, or to be disrespectful. Good sense, the imperishable genius of the Greek people, told them that we were the representatives of 81 a different, and in a certain measure superior, race. Victorious barbarism rendered a secret homage to civilization in distress. Many of them never had beheld European clothes, and stared at us as if we were inhabitants of another world. They furtively touched my overcoat to find out of what material it was made. In fact they would have liked to divest me of all my garments, to examine each in detail. Perhaps they would not have been sorry to break me into two or three pieces in order to study the internal structure of a “Milord”; but I am sure that while doing so they would have made many excuses for taking such a liberty.

Mrs. Simons soon lost patience. That half-famished lady didn’t care to be at close quarters with these dirty cheese-eaters, who did not even offer her a morsel of their victuals. It is not to every one’s taste to be glared at. The good lady did not like to be looked at in the light of a living curiosity, although she certainly might have passed for such in any quarter of the globe. As for Mary-Ann, she was sinking from fatigue. A six-hours journey, without food, added to the surprise of being captured, had quite overcome her. Fancy a young girl brought up in clover, accustomed to walk on velvety carpets or smooth 82 lawns, undergoing such an ordeal! It was not to be wondered at that her boots were already torn by the rough stony roads, and that the hem of her dress, which caught in the thorns, was in rags. She had spent the previous evening in the drawing-rooms of the English Legation, quietly turning over Wyse’s admirable albums. Now, without any transition, she found herself in a savage country amidst a horde of barbarians, and she had not even the consolation of saying, “’Tis but a dream!” for it was, alas! only too cruel a reality!

We were not at the end of our miseries. There came another invasion that rendered our position intolerable. It did not consist of brigands, but was much worse. The Greeks carry about with them a collection of small insects, lively, capricious, impossible to catch, which never leave them, afford occupation even during sleep, and by their jumps and bites quicken the ideas, and accelerate the circulation of the blood. The brigands’ fleas, of which I can show you some specimens in my entomological collection, are robust, stronger, and more active than those of the inhabitants of towns. The open air evidently has special virtues! But I soon perceived that they were not satisfied with their fate, and found the soft skin of a young German better than the 83 tanned hides of their masters! An armed emigration attacked my poor legs! First, I felt a violent itching round my ankles :  this was the declaration of war. Two minutes later, an avant-garde attacked my right calf. I pressed it hard with my hand. But, taking advantage of this diversion, the enemy marched rapidly on my left wing, and took up position on the heights of the knees. I was out-manœuvred, and all resistance was useless. Had I been alone in a corner, I might have effected some skirmishes with fair success. But beautiful Mary-Ann was there, red as a cherry, and possibly also the victim of the same secret enemy. I neither dared to complain nor to defend myself; but devoured my grief without looking at Miss Simons, and suffered for her sake a martyrdom, for which she will never be grateful. At last, exasperated, and decided to fly before the ever-mounting invasion, I asked to be taken to the King. This recalled our guides to their duty. They inquired the whereabouts of Hadji Stavros, and learned that he was in his office.

“At length,” said Mrs. Simons with a sigh, “I shall have a chair to sit in.”

She took my arm, offered her own to her daughter, and we walked deliberately in the direction pointed out by the crowd. The offices were 84 not far from the camp, and we reached them in a few minutes.

They had no tables or chairs, or indeed any kind of furniture. Hadji was seated with his legs crossed under him in tailor-fashion, on a carpet placed under the shade of a fir-tree. Four secretaries and two servants were grouped round him. A youth of about sixteen or eighteen passed his whole time in cleaning and refilling his master’s chibouk. At his waist the brigand chief wore a tobacco-pouch, embroidered in gold and fine pearls, and silver pincers to take up the coals with. Another servant was occupied all day preparing the cups of coffee, glasses of water, and sweetmeats destined to refresh the royal lips. The secretaries, seated on the bare rock, wrote on their knees with pointed reeds. Each of them had near his hand a long copper box containing reeds, a knife, and an ink-bottle. A few cylinders, like those used by our soldiers to contain their official papers, served as a sort of deposit for the archives. The paper was not of local manufacture for very good reasons, and on each sheet one could read the word “Bath.”

The King proved to be a fine old man, wonderfully well preserved, upright, thin, supple, clean and polished like a new sword. His long white 85 moustaches hung under his chin like marble stalactites. The rest of the face was clean-shaved, the skull bare to the back of the head, where a large braid of white hair was coiled up under the cap. The expression of his features seemed calm and thoughtful. A pair of light-blue eyes and a square chin testified to the possession of an indomitable will. His face was long, and the way in which the wrinkles were placed made it appear more so. The furrows of the forehead divided in the middle and met the brows; two large, wide lines descended perpendicularly to the meeting of commissure — the lips; it seemed s if the weight of the moustache dragged down the muscles of the face. I’ve seen a good many septuagenarians, and even dissected one who might have lived to have reached a hundred if he had not been run over by a diligence, but I never had seen before an old man so strong or so robust as Hadji Stavros.

He wore the costume of Tino, and of all the islands of the Archipelago. His red cap made a large pleat round the forehead. He had a black cloth jacket braided with black silk, and immense blue trousers that require more than twenty yards of stuff, and high, supple, strong Russian leather boots. There was nothing rich about his costume except a sash belt embroidered in gold and jewels, 86 which might be worth about a hundred pounds. In its fold he carried an embroidered cashmere purse, a candjar in a silver sheath, and a ramrod to match.

When in the midst of his clerks, Hadji, beyond moving the tips of his fingers to count the beads of his rosary, and his lips to dictate his correspondence, remained immovable. It was one of those beautiful rosaries of milky amber, which serve less to say prayers by, than to occupy the leisure of the Turks. As we approached he raised his head, instantly guessed how we happened to have come there, and said with a gravity that was not in the least ironical :  “Sit down :  you are very welcome.’

“Sir,” cried Mrs. Simons, “I’m English — and ——”

He stopped her garrulity by smacking his tongue against the teeth — and very fine teeth they were — of his upper jaw. “By and by, if you please,” said he; “I’m busy just now.” He only understood Greek, Mrs. Simons only English; his expression was so eloquent that the good lady could not mistake his meaning.

We sat down in the dust. Fifteen or twenty brigands placed themselves round us, while the King, who had no secrets to conceal, quietly dictated 87 his family and business letters. The chief of the troop that had captured us whispered a warning in his ear. He replied in a haughty tone :  “What if the Milord does understand? I do no harm, and all the world may hear me. Go, and sit down! And you, Spiro, write :   it is to my daughter.”

He blew his nose very cleverly with his fingers, and dictated in a grave soft voice :

MY DEAR HEART :

“Your school-mistress tells me that you are stronger, and that your cold has passed away with the winter. But she is not at all satisfied with your diligence, and complains that since the beginning of April you neglect your studies. Madame Mairos says that you are pre-occupied; that you sit with your elbows placed on a book, and your eyes gazing upwards, as if your thoughts were elsewhere. My dear child, I cannot sufficiently impress upon you the necessity of work. Follow the example my life affords you. If I had taken things leisurely, like so many others, I never should have attained the rank I occupy in society. You must be worthy of me, and that is why I make so many sacrifices for your education. You know that I never have refused you either masters or 88 books you asked for, but my money must not be thrown away. The ‘Walter Scott’ and the “Robinson,” and all the English books you wanted have arrived at the Piræus :  let them be fetched from the custom-house by our friends in Hermes Street. At the same time you will receive the bracelet you desired, and the steel machine, called a crinoline, to puff out the skirts of your dresses. If your Viennese piano is not, as you say, a good one, and you wish for a Pleyel, you shall have it. After harvest I’ll plunder a couple of villages, and it would go hard with me if I did not find in them the price of a fine piano. I think, like you, that you must know music, but you must especially learn foreign languages. Employ your Sundays as I told you, and take advantage of our friends’ good-nature. You should speak French, English, and, above all, German. For, you are not made to live in this absurd little country, and I would rather see you dead than married to a Greek.

“As a king’s daughter, you can marry only a prince. I don’t mean a sham prince like our Phanariots, who boast of their descent from the Greek emperors, and whom I would not have for servant, but a real genuine prince, who sits on a throne and wears a crown. There are a few quite acceptable princes in Germany, and my fortune is ample 89 enough to allow you to make your choice. If Germans have reigned in our country, I do not see why in your turn you should not reign in theirs. Learn their language as quickly as you can, and in your next letter tell me what progress you have made. And now, my child, I embrace you tenderly, and send you, with your quarterly allowance, my paternal benediction.



Mrs. Simons leaned towards me and said sharply :  “I suppose he’s dictating our sentence to these brigands?”

“No, my dear madam, he’s writing to his daughter.”

“About our capture?”

“No; about a piano, a crinoline, and Walter Scott.’

“That sort of correspondence may last a long time. Is he going to invite us to breakfast?”

“Here comes his servant bringing us refreshments.”

The cafedji of the King stood before us, with three cups of coffee, a box of rahat-lakoum, and a pot of preserves. Mrs. Simons and her daughter refused the coffee with disgust, because it was made in Turkish fashion, and looked thick and muddy. I swallowed a cup of it like a true Eastern 90 gourmet. The preserves, a kind of rose-scented sherbet, they did not care for much, because we had but one spoon between us to eat it up with. The fastidious are certainly much to be pitied in this free-and-easy country. But the rahat-lakoum, cut into pieces, met with great success. They ate plenty of this perfumed starchy jelly, and empted the box. Meanwhile the King dictated the following letter :

“MESSRS. BARCLAY & CO.,

“32 Cavendish Square, London.

“GENTLEMEN :  

“I see by your favour of April 5, and the account that accompanies it, that I have at present £22,750 sterling to my credit. Be so good as to invest this sum, half in the English Three per Cents, half in shares of the ‘Crédit Mobilier,’ before the next dividend falls due. Sell out my shares of the royal Britannic Bank. The fact is, it is a business in which I have no longer much confidence. Buy in exchange shares in the London Omnibus Company. If you can sell my house in the Strand for £15,000 (it was worth that much in 1852), buy ‘Vielle-Montagne’ for the same amount. Send a hundred guineas to the brothers Balli :  it is my subscription to the Hellenic school at Liverpool. I have seriously weighed the proposal 91 you have submitted to me, and after much reflection have decided to confine myself to ready-money transactions. The apparently excellent bargains you advise seem altogether too risky to inspire the father of a family with much confidence. I am quite aware that you would treat my capital with the well-known prudence that distinguishes your honoured house; but were the profits of which you speak certain, I should, I must confess, feel a repugnance to leave my daughter a fortune created by gambling.

“Yours faithfully,

“HADJI STAVROS.”

“Has he been writing about us?” asked Mary-Ann.

“Not yet. His Majesty is making up his accounts.”

“Accounts here? I thought they only did that at home.”

“Is not your father a partner in a bank?”

“Yes; in the house of Barclay & Co.”

“Are there two bankers of the name in London?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Does your house do business with the East?”

“With all the four quarters of the globe.”

92

“Do you live in Cavendish Square?”

“No; but the offices are there. Our townhouse is in Piccadilly.”

“Thanks. Now, please let me listen. The old man’s correspondence is really most interesting.”


ACCOUNT OF THE OPERATIONS OF THE NATIONAL COMPANY KING OF THE MOUNTAINS, 1855 TO 1856.

The King’s Camp, April 30, 1856.

“GENTLEMEN :  

“The agent whom you have honoured with your confidence begs to submit for your approbation, for the fourteenth time, the summary of operations for the year.

“Since the day when the deed constituting or Society was signed in the office of Mr. Tsappas, Solicitor of the Court at Athens, never have our undertakings met with more serious obstacles. The regular business of an eminently national institution has had to be maintained in the presence of a foreign occupation, under the eyes of two armies, if not hostile, at least ill-disposed towards our institution. The military occupation of the Piræus, the surveillance of the Turkish frontier conducted with a severity without precedent in history, have restricted our activity within a narrow circle, and hampered our zeal. Within this narrow 93 zone our resources have been reduced by the general penury, the poverty of the harvests, and eh universal scarcity of money. The olives have failed to fulfil the hopes entertained of them; the cereals have been unsatisfactory; and the vine is yet suffering from the disease. Under these unsatisfactory circumstances, it was almost impossible for us to take advantage of the tolerance of the authorities, and of the mildness of a paternal government. Our enterprise is so intimately allied to the interests of the country, that it can only flourish in the midst of the general prosperity, and it feels the effects of all public misfortunes; since, clearly, from those who have nothing, one can take nothing, or at least very little.

“Foreign travellers, whose curiosity is so useful to the kingdom, and to us, have been extremely scarce. The English tourists, who formerly constituted an exceedingly important item of our revenue, have failed altogether. Two young Americans, stopped on the road to Pentelicos, cheated us of their ransom. A spirit of distrust originated by some French and English newspaper correspondents, keeps out of our reach many people whose capture would be most profitable. Yet, gentlemen, such is the vitality of our Institution, that it has more successfully resisted this 94 crisis than either agriculture, trade, or commerce. The capital with which you have entrusted me has prospered not indeed as well as I could have desired, but far better than I could have wished.

“I shall say no more, but let figures speak for me. Figures are more eloquent than ever was Demosthenes. The capital of our Society, limited at first to the modest sum of 50,000 francs, was raised to 120,000 francs by three successive flotations of 500-franc shares.

“Our gross receipts, from May 1, 1855, to April 30, 1856, were 261,482 francs.

“Our expenses may be divided as follows :




  FRANCS

A tenth paid to churches and monasteries 26,148

Interest on capital at the legal rate of 10 per cent 12,000

Pay and food of 80 men, each at 650 francs per annum 52,000

Material, arms, etc. 7,056

Repairs of the road to Thebes, which had become imprac-
     ticable, and where unfortunately we found no travellers
     to stop 2,540

Expenses for watching the high-roads 5,835

Stationery 3

Paid to journalists 11,900

Sums given in rewards to sundry employés, attached to
     various administrative and judicial offices of the State 18,000

Total 135,482




“All deductions made, we find a net profit of 126,000 francs.

“In accordance with our statutes, this surplus is divided as follows :




95

  FRANCS

Reserve fund at the bank of Athens 6,000

A third belonging to our agent-general 40,000

To be divided between the shareholders 80,000

     Or, to each share, 333 francs 33 centimes.




“Add to these 333 francs 33 centimes, 50 francs interest and 25 francs reserve fund, and we have a total of 408 francs, 33 centimes per share. Your money is therefore placed at 80 per cent.

“Such, gentlemen, are the results of the last campaign. Judge of the kind of future that is reserved to us when the foreign occupation shall no longer weigh upon our country and our operations.”



The King dictated this report without consulting a single note, without hesitating as to a figure, and without the slightest embarrassment.

I never could have believed that so old a man could possess so excellent a memory! He affixed his seal at the bottom of the letter :  that was his way of signing, for although his Majesty reads fluently, he never has found time to learn to write. This was the case, if I remember rightly, with Charlemagne and Alfred the Great.

While the Under-Secretaries of State were occupied in copying his correspondence for the day, to deposit it afterward in the royal archives, Hadji gave audience to some subaltern officers 96 who had returned with their detachments. Each of these men, seating himself before him, placed his hand on his heart, and proceeded to make his report in a few concise and respectful words. I declare to you that St. Louis under his oak could not possibly have inspired more respect to the inhabitants of Vincennes on the memorable occasion when they came to offer him homage. The first who presented himself was an evil-looking man, a regular jail-bird. He came from the island of Corfu, and had been pursued for arson, but was nevertheless welcomed with apparent effusion by Hadji. His talents had already obtained him promotion. But, for all this, I subsequently discovered that he was not esteemed, but suspected of retaining a part of the booty. The King was inflexible on the chapter of probity. Whenever a man was found cheating, his Majesty expelled him ignominiously from the company, saying with bitter irony :  “Go! and become a magistrate!”

Hadji asked the little man from Corfu where he had been.

“I went with fifteen men to the Ravine of the Swallows, on the road to Thebes, and fell in with a detachment of the Line — twenty-five men.”

“Where are their guns?”

97

“They have them still. We couldn’t have used them for want of caps.”

“Good :  and afterward?”

“It was market-day :  I stopped some of the people returning home.”

“How many?”

“One hundred and forty-two persons.”

“Good, good. And what do you bring with you?”

“Forty pounds, five shillings, and a few pence.”

“Five and tenpence a head! That’s not much!”

“Yes it is, when you remember they were peasants!”

“Hadn’t they then sold their goods?’

“Some of them. The others had made purchases.”

The small native of Corfu opened a heavy sack he had on his arm, and spread the contents before the secretaries, who began to count the total amount, which consisted of thirty or forty Mexican piastres, a handful or so of Austrian zwanzigers, and an enormous quantity of copper pieces. Some crumpled bits of paper turned out to be ten-franc bank-notes.

“You’ve no jewels?” demanded the King.

“No.”

98

“There were then no women?”

“I found nothing worth bringing back.”

“What’s that on your finger?”

“A ring.”

“In gold?”

“Or copper, I don’t know which.”

“How did you get it?”

“I bought it two months ago.”

“If you really had bought it, you would know whether it is copper or gold :  give it here!”

The man of Corfu parted with it unwillingly enough, and it was at once placed in a little coffer full of jewels.

“I forgive you,” said the King, “on account of your bad bringing-up. The people of your country dishonour robbery by their knavishness. If I had only Ionians in my band, I should be forced to have turnstiles on the roads like those at the doors of the London Exhibitions, to keep count of both travellers and money.”

The next gentleman called up for examination was a big healthy young man, with a pleasant expression of face. His round prominent eyes looked frank and mild. His half-opened lips displayed two rows of superb teeth. I was delighted with him at first sight, and thought that he must have strayed into this bad company, and would 99 surely eventually return to the right road. My face must have pleased him too, for he bowed civilly before sitting down.

Hadji said :  “What have you done, Vasili?”

“I arrived yesterday evening with my six men at Pigadia, Senator Zimbélis’s village. Zimbélis was away as usual; but his relations, his farmers, and his tenants were at home and in bed.”

“Well?”

“I entered the inn, awoke the khanji, and bought twenty-five trusses of straw. By way of payment — I killed him.”

“Good!”

“Then we carried the straw to the basements of the houses, which are all of osier or planks, and we set fire to it in seven places at once. The matches were good; the wind came from the north, so the fire caught easily.”

“Good!”

“We drew back quietly towards the well; all the village was on foot, and the men came with their pails to get water. We drowned four we didn’t know, and the others escaped.”

“Good!”

“Then we returned to the village. There was no one there but a little child whom his parents had forgotten, crying like a small crow fallen out 100 of its nest. So I threw it into a burning house, and it cried no more.”

“Good!”

“Then we took burning brands and fired the olive-trees. It was a success all round. We set out again to return to the camp, supped and slept on our road, and we arrived at nine o’clock all quite well and without a burn.”

“Good. Senator Zimbélis will make no more speeches against us. Now another!”

Vasili retired, bowing as curtly as before, but I did not return the salute. He was instantly replaced by the tall rascal that had taken us prisoners. Singularly enough, the first actor in the drama in which I was to play a part bore the name of Sophocles. When he began, I felt my blood run cold in my veins. I now entreated Mrs. Simons to abstain from all imprudent words. She answered that she was English, and knew how to behave. The King begged us to be silent, and allow the orator to speak.

He displayed first the things he had taken from us, and then drew from his sash forty Austrian ducats, making about four hundred and seventy francs — less than twenty-five pounds.

“The ducats,” said he, “come from Castia; the rest was given to me by the Milords. You 101 told me to beat the country round, and I began by the village.”

“You were wrong,” said the King. “The people of Castia are our neighbours; you should have left them alone. How shall we ever live in safety if we make enemies at our door? Besides, they are excellent creatures, who at times assist us.”

“Oh! I took nothing from the charcoal-burners. They all ran away to the mountains without giving me the time to speak to them. But the magistrate had the gout, and I found him at home.”

“What did you say to him?”

“I asked him for money, and he declared he had none. So I put him into a sack with his cat. I don’t know what the beast did to him, but he soon began to cry out that his treasure was behind the house under a big stone; and surely there I found the ducats.”

“You did wrong. He’ll raise the whole village against us.”

“Oh, no! On leaving I forgot to open the sack, so the cat has no doubt scratched his eyes out.”

“That was quite right then! But, once for all, I won’t have our neighbours molested. Now, go!”

102

It was our turn next. Instead of commanding us to appear before him, Hadji came, and gravely seated himself on the ground near us. This mark of deference appeared to us a favourable sign. Mrs. Simons began to apostrophize him furiously. I, foreseeing too well what she might say, and knowing she could not restrain the intemperance of her language, in the hope of silencing her, offered to interpret. The King looked me over very coldly, and summoned to him the tiny man from Corfu, who, strange to say, spoke English.

“Madam,” said the King to Mrs. Simons, “you appear indignant. Have you any complaint to make against the men who brought you here?”

“It’s atrocious!” the virago cried. “Your rascals took me prisoner, threw me down in the dust, and robbed me, worn out as I am with fatigue and hunger.”

“Pray accept my apologies. I am obliged to employ men without breeding. I beg you to believe that in acting thus they have transgressed my orders. You are English?”

“Yes, and from London!”

“I have been to London, and know and esteem the English. I am aware they have good appetites, and trust you observed that I hastened 103 to offer you refreshments. I know that ladies in your country are not accustomed to rough roads, and regret that you were hurried. I also know that the English only take with them on a journey what is really necessary, and shall not forgive Sophocles for having robbed you; above all, if you are a person of position.”

“I move in the best society in London.”

“Be so good as to take back your money. You are rich?”

“Certainly.”

“Does not this dressing-case belong to you?”

“To my daughter.”

“Take it back, I beg. You very very rich?”

“Very rich! Of course I am,” replied the imprudent old lady.

“Do not these things belong to this gentleman, your son?”

“He is not my son,” burst out Mrs. Simons indignantly. “He’s a German. Since I am English, how on earth can I have a German son?”

“Of course not. Quite right. Have you an income of say eight hundred pounds a year?”

“More than that.”

“A carpet for these ladies! Is it so much as twelve hundred pounds a year?”

104

“Still more.”

“Sophocles is a churl whom I shall punish. Lagothetes, order a dinner to be prepared for these ladies. Is it possible, madam, that you are a millionaire?”

“It is the truth,” said Mrs. Simons, boastfully.

“I am indeed ashamed of the manner in which you have been treated. No doubt you know the best people in Athens?”

“I know the English Minister, and if you had ventured ——”

“Ah! madam! And you have certainly acquaintances among the merchants, the bankers?”

“My brother, who is in Athens, knows several of the principal bankers.”

“I’m delighted to hear it! Sophocles, come here! Beg these ladies’ pardon.”

Sophocles muttered some excuses between his teeth, and the King continued :  “These ladies are English women of distinction. Their fortune amounts to more than a million. They are received at the English Embassy; their brother, who is in Athens, is acquainted with the chief bankers in the place.”

“Quite right,” said Mrs. Simons.

“You ought to have brought these ladies here 105 with all the respect due to their station and fortune.”

“Good!” exclaimed Mrs. Simons.

“To have brought them here gently.”

“What for?” murmured Mary-Ann.

“And to have refrained from touching their luggage. When one has the honour of meeting in the mountain persons of the rank of these good ladies, one salutes them respectfully, leads them to the camp with deference, pays them every attention, and endeavours to make things as agreeable as possible for them until their brother or their ambassador sends us a ransom of four thousand pounds sterling to free them.”

Poor Mrs. Simons! dear Mary-Ann! Neither one nor the other expected such a conclusion as this to so graceful a speech. As for me, I was not at all surprised. I knew what a cunning old rascal we had to deal with. So I spoke out, and said point-blank :  “You can keep what your men took from me, and that is all you ever will have of mine. I am poor; my father has nothing. My brothers often have to eat dry bread. I know neither bankers nor ambassadors, and if you go to the expense of keeping me in the hope of a ransom, you’ll be greatly mistaken.”

A murmur of incredulity rose from the audience, 106 but the King appeared to believe what I said.

“In that case I shall not commit the fault of keeping you against your wish. I prefer to send you back to the town. Madam will entrust you with a letter for her brother, and you will leave to-day. If, however, you wish to remain a day or two in the mountain, I offer you hospitality; for I suppose you have not come here with that great case just to look at the landscape.”

This little speech relieved me considerably, I looked around me with satisfaction. The King, his secretaries, and his soldiers, appeared to me far less terrible than they did an hour ago, and the neighbouring rocks more picturesque, since I saw them with the eyes of a guest instead of with those of a prisoner. My desire to behold Athens suddenly calmed down, and I accustomed myself to the idea of passing a couple of days in the mountains. I felt that my advice would be useful to Mary-Ann’s mother. The good lady was in a state of excitement that might easily be her eventual ruin. Supposing she continued obstinate, and refused a ransom? Before England came to her rescue she might have drawn down misfortune on a head that was very dear to me! At least I could not leave without having told her the story 107 of the little girls of Mistra. What more can I say? You know my passion for botany. The Parnasian flora is very tempting in the month of April. Five or six rare and famous plants are to be found in the region. The Borgana variabilis, for instance, which was originally discovered and named by M. Borg de Saint Vincent. Was I to leave such a hiatus in my herbal, and not present the Hamburg Museum with a Borgana variabilis ?

I answered the King as follows :  “I accept your hospitality, but on one condition.”

“What is it?”

“That you return my case.”

“Agreed; but also on one condition.”

“Let me hear it!”

“That you tell me of what use it is to you.”

“Willingly! It serves to hold the plants I collect.”

“And why do you look for plants? To sell them?”

“Heavens, no! I’m not a merchant, but a scientist.”

He held out his hand, and said with visible pleasure :  “Delighted to hear it! Science is a fine thing! Our forefathers were learned, our grandchildren 108 may be so. As for us, we never had had time to study. No doubt learned men are much esteemed in your country?”

“Immensely.”

“They get good positions?”

“Sometimes.”

“Are well paid?”

“Sufficiently.”

“They pin little ribbons on their breasts?”

“From time to time.”

“Is it true that the towns vie with each other for the honour of possessing them?”

“As regards Germany, it’s true.”

“And that their death is considered a public calamity?”

“Assuredly.”

“I’m glad to hear what you tell me. So you are not on bad terms, I suppose, with your fellow-citizens/”

“On the contrary. It is their liberality that has permitted me to come to Greece.”

“You have travelled at their expense?”

“For the past six months.”

“You are then very learned?”

“I have the title of doctor.”

“Is there a higher grade?”

“No.”

109

“And how many doctors are there in the town you inhabit?’

“I don’t know exactly; but certainly not so many as there are generals in Athens.”

“Oh! Really! Then I’ll not deprive your country of so precious a person. You will return to Hamburg, doctor. What would people say there if they heard that you are a prisoner in our mountains?”

“That it is a misfortune.”

“Well, well! rather than lose a man such as you are, the town of Hamburg will surely sacrifice a small sum of six hundred pounds. Take back your tin-case; go about; herborize; and pursue the course of your studies. Why don’t you put that money in your pocket? I respect learned men too much to take anything from them. But your country is rich enough to pay for its glory. Fortunate young man! You see now to what an extent the title of doctor adds to your value! I would not have asked you for a penny of ransom had you been a dunce like myself!”

All my exclamations and objections were as fruitless as had been those of Mrs. Simons. The King dismissed us by pointing to our dining-room. Mrs. Simons hurried towards it, declaring that she would eat the meal, but never pay the bill. Mary-Ann 110 looked very depressed; but youth is so variable that she uttered an exclamation of delight when she saw the place where our meal had been laid out for us. It was a little green nook framed in the rock. Smooth, thick grass served as a carpet, and laurels covered the steep rocky wall. The blue vault of heaven was spread over our heads, and two long-necked vultures hovering in the air added to the effect of the scene. In a corner, a stream limpid as crystal fell into a rustic basin, then gathered itself into a sort of tiny lake before it rolled in silvery rills down the precipitous flanks of the mountain. On that side the view extended to the portico of the Pentelicos, the vast white palace that dominates Athens, including also sombre olive woods, the dusty plains, the grey rounded outline of Hymettus, and the admirable Gulf of Saronica, as blue as a fragment detached from the skies. Mrs. Simons was distinctly not given to admire the beauties of nature, yet she admitted that so fine a view would be greatly appreciated in London or Paris.

The repast was as simple as those of the heroes of antiquity. A brown loaf baked in a stone oven, and smelling strongly of new-made bread, smoked on the grass. A big wooden jar was filled with clotted milk. Large olives and green chilis were 111 served on roughly-cut platters of wood. Near a coarsely chiselled, burnished copper vase, stood a well-filled leather-bottle. A goat’s cheese rested on the linen in which it had been pressed, and five or six fresh lettuces offered an excellent salad; but there was no trimming. The King has placed at our disposal his rustic silver service, consisting of rudely-cut spoons, and by way of forks, we used our fingers. They had not been hospitable enough to offer us any meat; but so far as I was concerned, the golden tobacco of Ahnyros was worth more than all the beef and mutton in the land. One of the King’s officers was told off to wait upon us, and to listen to what we said. Needless to say he was none other than the little fiend from Corfu, who, as I have already said, was fairly acquainted with English. He cut the bread with his dagger, and helped us to handfuls of everything, begging us to eat as much as we could. Mrs. Simons, without losing a bite, addressed him in a haughty tone.

“Sir,” said she, “does your master suppose for a single moment that we shall pay him a ransom of four thousand pounds?”

“He’s sure of it, madam.”

“He doesn’t know what English people are.”

“He knows them every well, madam, and so 112 do I. At Corfu I saw several distinguished English — Judges!”

“I congratulate you; but tell this Stavros that he had better supply himself with a good stock of patience, for it will be a long time before he gets the four thousand pounds he has promised himself!”

“He has commanded me to tell you that he expects the money on the 15th of May, at twelve o’clock precisely.”

“And if it is not paid on the 15th at twelve?”

“Then, to his great regret, he will have to cut both your throats.”

On hearing this terrible threat poor Mary-Ann dropped the piece of bread she was eating, and asked for a little wine. The brigand handed her a cupful, but hardly had she touched it with her lips than she uttered a cry of repugnance and alarm. The poor girl fancied that the wine was poisoned. I reassured her by drinking it up at one gulp.

“Don’t be afraid,” said I; “it’s the taste of the resin.”

“What do you mean?”

“The wine wouldn’t keep in these bottles unless a certain quantity of resin was added to it, to 113 prevent it’s getting spoiled. The mixture is unpleasant, but quite harmless.”

In spite of my example, the ladies called for water. The brigand flew to the spring, and was back in two strides.

“You must understand,” said he, smiling, “that the King would not be so foolish as to poison persons so precious as yourselves. As for you, doctor,” turning towards me, “I am to tell you that you will be allowed thirty days to finish your studies, and find the amount of your ransom. My orders are, also, to provide you and these ladies with the necessary writing materials.”

“Thanks,” said Mrs. Simons; “we’ll think of it eight days hence if we are not freed before.”

“And by whom are you to be freed, madam?”

“By England!”

“England is rather far off.”

“By the police.”

“May it be as you desire! In the meantime, is there anything I can give you?”

“First of all, I want a bedroom.”

“We have near here some grottoes, called the ‘cowsheds.’ You wouldn’t be comfortable there, because sheep have been kept in them during the winter, and they have a nasty smell. I’ll send the shepherds down below for a couple of tents and 114 you will camp here — until the arrival of the police.”

“Then I want a lady’s-maid.”

“Nothing easier. Our men will go down to the plains and catch the first peasant girl that passes — if the carabineers don’t prevent them.”

“Also, I must have clothes, linen, toilet-napkins, a looking-glass, brushes, combs, scents, an embroidery-frame ——”

“You ask for a great deal, madam, and to give you all that we should be obliged to take Athens. But we’ll do our best. Count upon me, and not too much upon the police!”

“Heaven protect us!” said Mary-Ann.

A loud echo gave back a “Kyrie Eleison!” — “God have mercy on us!” The words proceeded from the “good old man.” He had come to pay us a visit, and sang on his way to keep in training. He saluted us cordially, placed on the grass a vase full of honey, and sat down near us. “Eat some honey,” said he; “my bees offer you a dessert.”

I pressed his hand. The ladies turned away with disgust. They insisted on seeing in him an accomplice of the brigands. The poor “old man” never had dreamed of such a thing. He only knew how to chant his prayers, take care of his useful little bees, sell his honey, receive what was 115 due to his convent, and live in peace with all. His intelligence was limited, his ignorance complete, his conduct as innocent as that of a well-regulated machine. I don’t believe that he knew how to distinguish between good and evil, nor between a thief and an honest man. His wisdom consisted in eating four big meals a day, and in managing prudently never to be more than half drunk. He was, altogether, one of the very best monks of his order.

I did honour to the present he had made us. This wild honey is no more like what you get in France than the flesh of the goat is like that of the lamb. One would have thought that the bees had distilled in an invisible alembic all the perfumes of the mountain. While eating my bread and honey, I forgot that I had to find in less than a month six hundred pounds, or lose my life.

In his turn the monk asked leave to refresh himself, and without waiting for permission he filled his cup to the brim. He drank to the health of each of us. Five or six of the brigands attracted by curiosity crept up close. Not to excite jealousy, he called them by their names, and drank to all. Soon, I bitterly regretted his visit. An hour after his arrival, half the band was seated in a circle round us. 116

In the absence of the King, who was enjoying his siesta, the men came one by one to make our acquaintance. Some offered their services, others brought a trifle of some kind. Another came without excuse or pretext, just as if he were at home. The more familiar among them begged me amicably to tell them our history; the timid kept behind their comrades, and insensibly pushed them on us. Some, after having looked at us until they were tired, lay down on the grass, and without the least coquetry, snored in the presence of my Mary-Ann. But, alas! The fleas did not sleep. They kept always coming higher, and the presence of their original proprietors rendered them so bold that I caught two or three on the back of my hand. I couldn’t dispute the ground with them; they treated my poor person like a conquered land. At this moment I would have given more than one of the treasures of my herbal for a quarter of an hour of solitude. The ladies were of course too discreet to say anything, but I saw quite well, by some involuntary little starts, that we were fellow-sufferers. I caught them looking at one another, as much as to say :  “The police will deliver us from the robbers, but who will save us from the fleas?” This mute complaint moved my chivalrous feelings. I was resigned to 117 anything, but to see Mary-Ann suffer was beyond my power. I rose resolutely, and said to our tormentors :  “Be off with you! The King has lodged us here to live quietly until the arrival of our ransom. Our rest will cost us dear enough to give us the right to be alone. Are you not ashamed to crowd round a table like starving dogs? You’ve no business here. We don’t want you; we want to see your backs. Are you afraid we shall escape? How? By the cascade? or the King’s office? Leave us then in peace. Man of Corfu! drive them away, and I’ll help you, if you like.”

I immediately added the deed to the word; pushed away the loiterers, awoke those who were sleeping, and shook the monk. The man from Corfu aided me, and the troop, all armed with pistols and daggers as it was, began to move off with a sheep-like docility, grumbling, making short steps, shrugging their shoulders and turning their heads just like a band of school-boys driven back to their class-rooms at the sound of the bell announcing the end of the recreation.

At last we were alone with he of Corfu, and I asked Mrs. Simons if we should proceed to the division of the space allotted to us? “I want very little room,” said I; “a corner will do to 118 pitch my tent. Behind these trees I shall do very well, and all the rest of the place will be yours. You will have the fountain close to you, and the noise will not be troublesome, since the cascade falls on the other side of the mountain.”

My offer was ungracious accepted. The ladies would have liked to keep all to themselves, and to make me pass the night in the middle of the troop. No doubt, British prudery would have gained by this separation, but I should have lost sight of Mary-Ann. And, besides, I was quite decided to keep at a distance from the fleas. The native of Corfu seconded my proposal, which rendered his surveillance easier. He was ordered to watch us night and day. It was agreed that he should sleep near my tent, but I insisted upon keeping a distance of some feet between us. The treaty concluded, I retired into my corner to give chase to my persecutors, but hardly had I begun, when the men reappeared under pretence of bringing our tents.

Mrs. Simons raised an outcry when she saw that her abode was to consist of a broad strip of rough felt cloth, folded in the middle, fixed by the ends into the ground and open to the wind on two sides. The man of Corfu declared that, barring 119 heavy rain or a high wind, we should be housed like princes.

The whole troop began to pitch the pickets, to bring coverings, and make our beds. Each bed consisted of a carpet covered with a big goat-skin. At about six o’clock the King came to assure himself that we had all we wanted. Mrs. Simons, more furious than ever, declared that she had never had had such wretched accommodation in her whole life. I begged earnestly that all importunate visitors might be excluded, and the King issued a Draconian order to that effect, which, by the way, never was observed. Discipline is a term that has no Greek equivalent.

At seven his Majesty and his subjects withdrew, and our supper was then served. Four torches of resinous wood illumined the table. Their red and smoky light threw a curious shadow on Mary-Ann’s pale face. Her eyes seemed to appear and disappear in their orbits, like the revolving fires of a light-house. Her voice, broken by fatigue, gave forth an extraordinary vibration. Listening to it, my mind wandered into a supernatural sphere, and I recalled to my memory a number of fantastic tales. A nightingale burst into song, and I fancied that its silvery notes were faintly echoed by Mary-Ann’s lips.

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The day had been trying for all of us, and I, who, as you know, can ply a good knife-and-fork, was longing rather for sleep than for food. So I wished the ladies a good-night and retired under my tent. Once there, I soon forgot the nightingale, our danger, the ransom, the fleas; closed my eyes, and slept the sleep of the just.

A frightful noise of shooting suddenly awoke me. I started up so quickly that I struck my head against one of the poles. At the same moment I heard the ladies’ voices crying :  “We are saved! Here are the police!”

I perceived two or three shapes running about in the indistinct light, and in my delight and confusion hugged the first man I came across — it was the little devil from Corfu!”

“Halt!” cried he. “Where in Lucifer’s name are you going, may I ask?”

“You vile thief!” I answered, wiping my lips. “I’m going to see if the carabineers will soon have finished shooting your companions.”

“The carabineers do not travel to-day. It’s the first of May and the Feast of the Ascension — a double holiday. The noise that you heard is the signal of the rejoicings. It is past midnight, and until the same hour to-morrow, our comrades will drink, eat meat, dance the ‘Romaic,’ and 121 amuse themselves by burning a quantity of powder. If you wish to look on at the sight, I should be pleased, for I’d rather watch over you within sight of a meal than here by this fountain.”

“You lie!” said Mrs. Simons. “The police have come!”

“Let us go and see,” said Mary-Ann.

I followed them. The noise was so great that it was useless to think of sleeping. Our guide led us through the King’s office, and showed us the robbers’ camp lighted up as if it were on fire. Burning pines were placed at equal distances. Five or six groups seated round the fire were roasting lambs spitted on staffs. In the middle of the crowd a long string of dancers wound slowly round to the hideous music. Guns went off in all directions, and a ball whistled past within a few inches of my ear. I begged the ladies to hasten, thinking that near the King there would be less danger. Seated on his everlasting carpet, he presided at the amusements of his subjects. Around him, skins of wine were emptied like little bottles, and lambs cut up like partridges. Each guest took a leg or a shoulder, and carried it off with him. The orchestra was composed of a flat tambourine and a shrill flageolet. The dancers had taken off their shoes to be more at ease. 122 From time to time one left the dance, swallowed a cup of wine, gobbled a bit of meat, let off a gun, and returned to the ball. All, excepting the King, were drinking, eating, howling, and jumping, but not a smile was to be seen on any of their faces.

Hadji Stavros made profuse excuses for having disturbed us. “It is not my fault, but that of custom. Were the first of May to pass without gun-shots, my good men would not believe in the return of the spring. They are simple-minded beings, brought up in the country, and attached to its customs. I do what I can to civilize them, but shall die before I have succeeded. Men can’t be recast in a day like silver spoons. In my time I also found pleasure in these coarse diversions; I danced and drank as they do now. Then I knew nothing of European civilization. Why did I, for my misfortune, begin to travel so late? I would give much to be young, to be fifty.

“I have dreams of reform, too, which will never be realized, for, like Alexander, I am without an heir worthy of me. Then, no one supports me. I ought to have the exact list of all the inhabitants of the kingdom, with the approximate value of their possessions, real and personal estate. As for the foreigners who come 123 here, there should be an agent in each port to inform me of their names, to tell me in which direction they intend to travel, and as far as possible the amount of their fortunes. In this way I should know exactly what every one is capable of giving, and not be exposed to ask too much or too little. I would establish on every road a staff of respectable employés, well-mannered, well-dressed; for why shock customers by a disagreeable appearance and ferocious looks? In France and England I have seen most distinguished-looking thieves; but their business was none the less prosperous for that.

“I would exact from all my subordinates perfect manners; above all in those specially charged with the capture of prisoners. For prisoners of distinction, such as yourselves, I would have comfortable rooms in good air, with gardens. And do not suppose that it would cost more; on the contrary!

“If all who travelled in the kingdom came into my hands, I could impose only an insignificant tax on the traveller. If every native and foreigner were to pay me but a quarter per cent. on the total of his fortune, I should gain on the number. Then brigandage would only be a tax on circulation; a just tax, for it would be proportional : 124 a normal one, for it has always been gathered since the heroic ages. We might even simplify it by accepting subscriptions. In virtue of a certain sum once paid, a safe-conduct might be obtained by the native, or a visa given to the passport of the foreigner.

“You’ll say, perhaps, that according to the Constitution a tax can only be established by the vote of the two Houses. Ah! my dear sir, if I had time I’d buy the Senate, and elect a Lower House devoted to me of my own. The law would be voted without discussion. I would create, if need were, a Ministry of the High Roads. On setting out, it might cost me altogether three or four millions; but in a couple of years I should repay myself — and I’d keep the road in repair into the bargain!”

He sighed deeply, and added :  “See what confidence I have in you — I tell you all my affairs. It is an old habit of which I never shall correct myself. I have always lived in the open, and acted above-board. Our profession would be disgraceful if we exercised it clandestinely. I hide nothing, and fear no one. When you read in the papers that I am being looked for, say boldly that it is untrue. They always know where I am. I am afraid neither of Ministers, army, nor the 125 courts. The Ministers know that if I make a sign I can change the Cabinet. The army is in my favour, and furnishes me with the recruits I need. I borrow soldiers from its ranks, and give it back officers. As for the Judges, they know the sentiments I entertain towards them. I do not esteem, but I pity them. Poor, and badly paid, one cannot expect them to be honest. I support some entirely, and assist others, or I feed some and clothe others; and, having hanged a few of them in the course of my life, I am in the good books of the magistracy.”

With a superb gesture, he pointed to the sky, the sea, and the land. “All that is mine. All that breathes in the kingdom pays me homage — from fear, friendship, or admiration. I have caused many tears to flow; but there is not a mother in the land who would not be proud to have a son like Hadji Stavros. A day will come when learned men like yourself will write my history, and the isles of the Archipelago dispute the honour of having been the place of my birth. My portrait will be in the peasant’s hut with the sacred images bought on Mount Athos. And when that time comes, my daughter’s grandchildren, should they be princes, will speak with pride of their ancestor ‘the King of the Mountains!’ ”

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Perhaps you’ll smile at my Teutonic simplicity, but I confess that this singular speech really moved me. In spite of myself, I admired this broad view of crime. Never yet had I met with so imposing a rascal. This devil of a man, who was going to cut my throat at the end of the month, almost inspired me with respect. His large marble-face, calm in the midst of the orgy, resembled the inflexible mask of Fate. I couldn’t help saying to him :  “You are really a King!”

“No doubt of it, since I find flatterers even among my enemies. Don’t defend yourself! I know how to read faces, and this morning you would willingly have seen me hanged!”

“Since you allow me to be frank, I admit that I was much provoked. You have asked from me a quite unreasonable sum as a ransom. That you exact four thousand pounds from these ladies, who are rich, is comprehensible, and forms part of your trade, but to ask six hundred pounds from me, who have nothing, is a thing I cannot understand.”

“Nevertheless, nothing is more simple. All foreigners who come to our country are rich, for the journey costs dear. You tell me, and I believe you, that you do not travel at your own 127 expense, but those who sent you here can’t give you much under two hundred pounds a year. If they spend this money, they have their reasons. Nothing is given for nothing. You, therefore, represent in their eyes a capital of some three thousand pounds or so, and to get you back for six hundred is a good stroke of business.”

“But the establishment that pays me has no capital :  only an uncertain income. The budget of the Botanical Gardens is voted each year by the Senate :  its resources are limited. Such a case never has been foreseen. I can’t explain to you — you would not understand ——”

“And if I did,” he replied in a haughty tone, “do you believe that I would ever go back on what I have said? My words are laws, and if I wish them to be respected, I must respect them myself. I have the right to be unjust, but not that to be weak. My injustice only does harm to others, weakness would ruin myself. If it were known that I ever rescind a decision, my prisoners would try and find prayers to soften and not money to pay me. I am not one of your European brigands, who mingle rigour with generosity, speculation with imprudence; who are cruel without reason, and soft without excuse, finishing by a miserable death on the scaffold. I 128 have declared before witnesses that I will have six hundred pounds, or your head. The rest is your affair; but in one way or another I shall be paid. Listen. In 1854 I condemned two little girls, who were just of the age of my dear Photini. They stretched out their arms to me, weeping bitterly, and their cries made my heart bleed. Vasili’s hand trembled so, that it was some time before he could kill them. Yet, I was inflexible, because the ransom was not paid. Do you think, after that, I am likely to make an exception in your favour? What would have been the use of killing the poor things, if it were known that I let you go scot free?”

I bent my head without a word. I was a thousand times right, but what could I oppose to the pitiless logic of the old savage? He drew me from my reflections by a friendly tap on the shoulder.

“Don’t lose courage, young man; I’ve seen death much nearer than you, and am here to tell the tale. During the War of Independence, Ibrahim set seven Egyptians to shoot me. Six of their balls went astray. The seventh struck me in the forehead without hurting me, and when the Turks went to take up my corpse, I had disappeared in the midst of the smoke. You have, perhaps, longer to live than you think. Write to all your friends 129 in Hamburg. You have received an education. As doctor you must have friends good for six hundred pounds. Sincerely I hope so. I don’t hate you; you’ve done me no harm; your death would give me no pleasure, and I trust you will find means to pay me in money. Meanwhile, go and rest with the ladies. My people have drank somewhat too much, and they are looking at the Englishwomen in a way that promises badly. The poor devils are condemned to an austere life, and they are not seventy like me. Usually, I master them by fatigue; but an hour hence, if the young lady remains there, I cannot answer for the consequence.”

It was true :  a threatening circle was forming round Mary-Ann, who examined the strange faces with innocent curiosity. The brigands, seated before her, whispered loudly to each other, making flattering remarks about her which happily she did not understand. The Corfiote, who had made up for lost time, offered her a cup of wine, which she pushed back roughly, thus causing it to fall on some of her neighbours. Five or six drunkards, more excited than the others, pushed each other, and exchanged blows as if to encourage themselves to go farther. I made a sign to Mrs. Simons, who rose with her daughter. But, the moment I offered 130 my arm to Mary-Ann, Vasili, his face red as the setting sun, staggered forward, and tried to put his arm round her waist. At this sight, the blood flew to my head, and I lost all control over myself. I jumped towards the brute, and had my ten fingers round his throat in a trice. He carried his hand to his waist and tried to get hold of his knife; but before he managed it, he was snatched from my hands and hurled on the ground by the powerful arm of the King. A murmur of disapprobation was heard in the assembly. Hadji raised his voice and cried :  “Silence! show that you are Hellenes, and not men from Albania!” Then he said to me :  “Best be off quickly, my young German friend :  tell the ladies I will sleep at the door of their tent.”

He left with us, preceded by his chiboukji (pipe-bearer), who never quitted him. Two or three drunkards tried to follow, but he pushed them back violently. We had not gone a hundred steps out of the crowd when a ball came whistling in the midst of us. The old Palikar did not even condescend to turn his head. He looked at me with a smile, and said in a half-whisper :  “One must be indulgent, it is Ascension Day.” On the road I took advantage of the Corfiote’s state to ask Mrs. Simons for a private interview. “I have an important 131 secret to tell you,” said I; “allow me to slip into your tent while our spy is sleeping soundly as Noah.”

Whether this biblical comparison displeased her, I know not, but she answered dryly that she had no secrets to share with me. I insisted, but she remained obdurate. At last I told her that I had found the means of saving us all without spending a penny. She looked at me with distrust, but after consulting her daughter, consented to see me. Hadji favoured our rendezvous by keeping the man of Corfu with him. He had his carpet brought to the top of the rustic stair that led to our camping-place, placed his arms within reach of his hand, made the chiboukji lie down at his left, the Corfiote at his right side, and wished us “happy dreams.” I remained prudently in my tent until two or three loud snores assured me that our guardians were asleep. The sound of the revelry gradually died away. Two or three tardy shots disturbed from time to time the silence of the night. Our friend, the nightingale, continued his interrupted song. I crept along the trees to Mrs. Simons’s tent. The mother and daughter awaited me seated on the damp grass. English custom prevented them from receiving me in what served as their bedroom.

132

“Pray say what you have to say quickly,” were the word with which Mrs. Simons received me. “You must be aware that we need reset.”

“Ladies, what I’ve come to tell you is well worth the sacrifice of an hour’s sleep. Do you wish to be free in three days?”

“Why, sir, we shall be so to-morrow, or England will no longer be England! Dimitrius must have seen my brother. The latter certainly saw our Minister at dinner-time. Orders already have been given. The police are on the road, and whatever the Corfiote may say to the contrary, we shall be at liberty by breakfast-time to-morrow.”

“Don’t let us delude ourselves :  time presses. I don’t count on the police; our masters are evidently in no fear of them. I have always heard that in this country the hunter and his game, the police and the brigands, agree very well together. I admit that some men may be sent to our aid. Hadji will see them coming, and we shall be taken away by some lonely path to another of his numerous dens. He knows the country thoroughly; the rocks are his accomplices, the shrubs his allies, and the ravines his hiding-places. Parnassus is with him, and against us. He is ‘King of the Mountains!’ Hadji Stavros.”

“Bravo, sir! Hadji Stavros is Allah, and you 133 are his Prophet! He would be touched to hear you speak of him in such flattering terms. I had already guessed that you were his friend, in seeing him tap you on the shoulder and speak to you so confidentially. Perhaps he has suggested the project of invasion you propose to us?”

“Yes, madam, you are right! His correspondence did. I discovered this morning, while he was dictating it, an infallible means of freeing ourselves without having a penny of ransom to pay. Pray write to your brother to get together £4600, four thousand for your ransom, six hundred for mine, and let him send the sum here by a sure hand — by Dimitrius.”

“By your friend Dimitrius to your friend the Mountain King! Very many thanks, dear sir! This then is how we shall be freed for nothing.”

“But Dimitrius is not my friend, and Hadji would not have the least hesitation in cutting my throat. But let me proceed. In exchange for the money you will get a receipt from the King.”

“An excellent guarantee that will be!”

“With this you will get back your money to the last farthing, and I’ll tell you how.”

“Good-night, Mr. Schultz. Don’t take the trouble of saying another word. Since we arrived in this charming country, we have been 134 robbed on all sides. At the Piræus, the customs people robbed us; the coachman who drove us to Athens did the same; ditto the inn-keeper; our guide, who is not your friend, threw us into the hands of the brigands. We met with a respectable monk who shared our spoils with the thieves. All those gentlemen drinking up there are thieves, as are also the men who sleep at our door to protect us, and you are the only honest person we have met in Greece; your advice, the best in the world! Good-night, sir! good-night!”

“But, for heaven’s sake, madam! If I don’t justify myself, think what you like of me. Let me only tell you how you will get back your money.”

“And how in the world shall I get it back when all the police in the kingdom can’t get us back? Is Hadji no longer the King of the Mountains? He doesn’t know the secluded roads? The ravines, the bushes, the rocks are no longer his hiding-places and his accomplices? Good-night, sir! I’ll bear testimony to your zeal, and tell the brigands that you have done their commission thoroughly. Once for all, good-night!”

The worthy lady pushed me by the shoulders, and cried “Good-night!” in such a shrill voice, 135 that I was alarmed lest she should awake our jailers; and flew from the tent.

What a day, my dear sir! I tried to recapitulate all the mishaps that had fallen upon my devoted head since I left Athens in search of the Borgana variabilis. My meeting with the Englishwomen — Mary-Ann’s beautiful eyes — the brigand’s guns — the fleas — Hadji — the six hundred pounds to be paid — the price placed on my life — the orgy of Ascension Day — the balls whistling by our ears — the drunken face of Vasili — and, to crown all, the abominable injustice of Mrs. Simons! Surely to be taken myself for a thief was the last straw after so many trials! And Sleep, the all-powerful Consoler, would not obey my bidding. I was over-wrought, and could not sleep.

In the midst of my painful reflections day broke. With languid eyes I watched the sun rising over the horizon. Little by little confused noises succeeded to the silence of the night. I had neither the courage to look at my watch, nor at what was around me. My senses were stupefied by fatigue and discouragement. I believe that if they had rolled me down to the bottom of the mountain, I could not have put out a hand to save myself. In this prostration of my faculties, came a vision that was half dream, half hallucination, 136 for I was neither awake nor asleep, my eyes were neither open nor closed. It seemed to me that I had been buried alive, that my felt tent was a black pall covered with flowers, and that the prayers for the dead were being chanted over me. I was frightened and tried to cry out, but my tongue stuck in my throat. I heard distinctly enough the words and responses to know that the funeral service was being said in Greek. Making a violent effort to move my right arm, I found it as heavy as lead, but the left one was as usual. Then some one passed by the tent and let fall what looked like a bunch of flowers. I rubbed my eyes, sat up, examined them, and in their midst found a superb specimen of Borgana variabilis.

I was not mistaken! I touched its gamosepalous calyx, its shell-like leaves, its corolla formed of five oblique petals united at the base by a staminal filament, its ten stamina, its ovary containing five little cavities; in short, I held in my hand the queen of the malvaceous tribe of plants! But by what chance had it fallen on the floor of my tomb? — and how was I to send it to Hamburg? At this moment a sharp pain drew my attention to my right arm. One would have thought it was being devoured by a host of invisible insects. However, I shook it with the left hand, and it 137 soon became all right. I had been lying with my head on it for hours, and that of course had numbed it. I was still alive then, for pain is one of the signs of life! But what then meant the funeral chant that kept on buzzing in my ears? I got up. Our apartment was in the same state as the previous evening, and the ladies were sleeping.

A large bouquet like mine hung at the entrance to their tent, and I at length remembered that the Greeks decorate all their habitations with flowers on the first of May. These bouquets and the Borgana variabilis were proofs of the King’s generosity. But the funeral chant was not accounted for. I went up the steps leading to Hadji’s cabinet, and saw a spectacle more curious than any I had hitherto beheld. An altar was set up under the royal pine-tree. The monk in splendid vestments was celebrating the Divine sacrifice with imposing pomp. Our drunkards of the night before, some standing, others kneeling in the dust, all with uncovered heads, were transformed into so many saints. They either kissed devoutly a painted wooden image, or made repeated signs of the Cross, the more fervent touching the earth with their foreheads, while their long hair swept the ground. The King’s chiboukji 138 went round with a small tray crying :  “Give! give! He who gives to the Church lends to God!” And the money came in abundance, the sound of the tinkling copper pieces falling on the tray, accompanying the voice of the priest, and the prayers of the worshippers. When I entered the circle of the faithful, each one saluted me with discreet cordiality as in the primitive ages of the Church.

Hadji Stavros, standing near the altar, made room for me by his side. In his hand he held a large book, and judge of my surprise when I heard him chant the lessons lustily! The brigand was officiating! In his youth he had received the second of the minor orders, and was reader or “antagnost.” One degree higher, and he would have been exorcist, invested with power to drive away evil spirits! I assure you, my dear sir, that I am not easily surprised, and practise successfully the “nil admirari,” but I was simply amazed on beholding this extraordinary sight. Seeing the prostrations, hearing these prayers, one might have thought the worship of these men slightly tinged with idolatry. Their faith appeared ardent, their conviction profound, but I, who had seen them at work, and knew how un-Christian-like were their actions, could but ask myself :  “Who is being deceived 139 here?” The service lasted until a few minutes past twelve. An hour later the altar had disappeared, th4e brigands had returned to their carousal, the “good old man” keeping them company.

Hadji took me aside, and asked me if I had written? I promised to do so at once, and he ordered them to give me reeds, ink, and paper. I wrote to John Harris, Christodulos, and my father. I begged my former host to intercede for me with his old comrade, to tell him how incapable I was of finding six hundred pounds. I appealed to the courage and imagination of Harris, who was not the man to leave a friend in the lurch. “If any one can save me, it is you. I don’t know how you’ll set about it, but have full faith in you, who are capable of anything. I do not suppose you’ll find six hundred pounds to get me back. They would have to be borrowed from M. Mérinay, who does not lend. Besides, you are too much of a Yankee to make that kind of a bargain. Do what you like. Set fire to the four corners of the country if you please. I approve everything beforehand, but don’t lose time. I feel my head weak, and am not sure that I can hold out until the end of the month.”

I took good care not to let poor father know 140 the wretched plight in which I found myself. Why drive him to despair by telling him of dangers that he could do nothing to avert? I wrote as I did on the first of every month, that I was well, and hoped that my letter would find the family in good health. I added that I was travelling in the mountains, that I had discovered the Borgana variabilis, and also a young Englishwoman, richer and more beautiful than the Princess Ypsoff. I had not yet inspired her with any affection, for lack of opportunity, but that I might perhaps soon render her a great service, or show myself to her in Uncle Rosenthaler’s coat. “Nevertheless,” added I sadly, “who knows if I shall not die a bachelor? In this case, Fritz or Jean-Nicholas must make a fortune for you all. My health is better than ever, and my strength has not in the least given way, but Greece is a treacherous country, which tries the most vigorous of constitutions. If I am condemned never to see Germany again, to die here, from some unforeseen cause, at the end of my journey and my work, believe, dear and excellent father, that my last regret will be that I quit life so far from my family, and that my last thought will be for you.

Hadji passed by at the moment I was drying 141 a tear, and I fancy that this sign of weakness considerably lowered me in his esteem.

“Cheer up!” said he. “Courage! It is not yet time to weep about yourself. Devil take me! if one would not think you were following your own funeral! The English lady has just written a letter of eight pages without shedding a tear. Go, and keep her company a little, she wants some diversion. Ah! if you were a man of my stamp! I swear to you that at your age I would not have remained long a prisoner. My ransom would have been paid in a couple of days, and I know well who would have given the money! You’re not married?”

“No!”

“Well! don’t you understand, then? Go back to your tent and make yourself agreeable. I offer you an excellent opportunity of making your fortune. If you do not take advantage of it, you’ll be an idiot, and if you do not count me among your benefactors, you have no sense of gratitude!”

I found the ladies seated near the spring. While waiting for the promised lady’s-maid, they were mending their habits themselves. The brigands had given them thread, or rather twine, and needles big enough to stitch sail-cloth with. At 142 intervals they interrupted their work to cast a melancholy glance towards Athens. It was hard to see the town so near, and not to be able to reach it without paying four thousand pounds! I inquired how they had slept, and the extreme coolness of the tone in which I was answered proved that they did not care to speak to me. At this moment I remarked for the first time Mary-Ann’s hair. She was bareheaded, and after a long bath in the stream was drying her long tresses in the sun. I never should have thought that one woman could have had such a mass of silky curls. Her long hair hung over her shoulders, but not in the stupid, straight, dripping manner that is usual with that of women when they come from the bath. It twisted itself into wavy little curls, like the surface of a small lake agitated by the wind. The light passing through this charming tangle gave it a soft silky look, and her face, thus framed, was exactly like a moss-rose.

I have told you, my dear sir, that I never have been in love, and clearly I would not have begun by loving a girl who mistook me for a thief. But I confess, that at the price of my life I would have saved this lovely hair from the clutch of Hadji’s claws. There and then I imagined a plan of escape, daring, but not impossible.

143

Our dwelling had two outlets :  it looked out upon the King’s cabinet and the precipice. To escape by the first was absurd. The robber’s camp, and the second line of defence, guarded by the dogs, would have to be crossed. There remained the precipice. Over the abyss, I perceived that the almost perpendicular rock offered irregularities of surface, small tufts of herbs, stunted bushes, and other objects that rendered a descent possible. The danger on this side came from the cascade. The stream that issued from our dwelling formed on the mountain-side a slippery sheet of water. Besides, it was not easy to be collected, and to climb down properly with such a shower-bath on one’s head. But was there not a way of turning the torrent aside? Perhaps. Examining it nearer the place in which we were lodged, I perceived the water had been there before us. Our room was but a dried-up pond. I took up a corner of the carpet that grew under our feet, and discovered a thick sediment deposited by the dried-up water. At one time, whether one of the frequent earthquakes of the country had broken the dyke, or a vein of rock softer than the others had given a passage to the water, the whole liquid mass had been forced out of its bed. A canal, ten feet long and three wide, carried 144 it to the back of the mountain. To shut this dam, open for years, and imprison the waters in the first reservoir, would be the work of a couple of hours. One would suffice to allow time for the humidity to drain off the rocks, and the night breeze would soon dry our road. Our flight thus prepared would not have taken me more than twenty-five minutes. Once arrived at the base of the mountain, Athens was before us, and the stars would be our guide. True, the roads were infamous, but there was no chance of meeting a brigand. When the King came in the morning to ask how we had passed the night, he would find that we had spent it in taking ourselves off; and as it is never too late to learn, would realize that a cascade is a bad jailer.

The plan seemed to me so marvellous, that I immediately told it to the lady who had inspired it. She listened at first suspiciously, just as conspirators do to a person they think a spy. But Mary-Ann examined the precipice.

“One could get down, but with the help only of a strong arm. Are you very strong, Mr. Schultz?”

I answered ingenuously :  “I should be, if you would but have confidence in me.”

These words, to which I did not attach any 145 particular importance, seemed to embarrass her, for she blushed and turned away her head.

“Perhaps we have been unjust to you. I should be pleased to believe you to be an honest man.”

She certainly might have said something pleasanter than that; but she paid me this doubtful compliment in so sweet a voice, and looked so charming, that I was moved to the bottom of my soul. So true it is that manner is everything.

She held out her pretty hand, and I was on the point of seizing it, when suddenly she changed her mind, and tapping her forehead asked :  “But where are the materials for a dyke?”

“Underneath our feet :  the sod!”

“The water will carry it away.”

“Not in less than two hours, and when we are gone, let come what will.”

“Good!” And this time she gave me her hand, and I was carrying it to my lips, when the capricious creature drew it quickly back, saying :  “But we are watched night and day; have you thought of that?”

I had not for the moment, but I had gone too far to withdraw, and answered with a resolution that surprised me :  “The Corfiote? I’ll take care of him, and tie him to a tree.”

146

“But he’ll call out.”

“Then I’ll kill him.”

“And how are we to get arms?”

“I’ll steal them!”

To kill, steal, and the rest, seemed to me quite simple since I had nearly kissed her hand. Just imagine what I should be capable of if ever I fell in love!

Mrs. Simons listened with a certain tolerance, and I fancied that she gave some signs of approbation.

“Dear sir,” she began, “your second idea is decidedly better than your first — much better. I never would have condescended to pay a ransom even with the certainty of getting it back again. So, tell me again, please, what you mean to do to save us.”

“I’ll answer for anything, madam. To-day I’ll get a dagger somehow. Our brigands go to sleep early, and are sure to sleep soundly. I’ll get up at ten, bind, gag, and, if need be, kill our keeper. That’s not a murder, but an execution; he has deserved twenty deaths instead of one. At half-past ten I’ll dig up fifty square feet of sod; you’ll carry it to the stream; I’ll make the dyke. Total, an hour and a half, and it will be midnight. We’ll work together to strengthen our 147 dyke, while the wind will be drying up our road. At one o’clock I’ll take your daughter on my left arm; we’ll slide down the crevice, and, catching hold of the tufts of herbs, will reach yon wild fig-tree. Then rest a little under the green oak, and after climbing along that point to the group of red rocks, we shall be saved.”

“Very good. And what about me?”

This “me” fell on my enthusiasm like a pail of iced water. One can’t think of everything, and I had utterly forgotten Mrs. Simons! Impossible to return for her. To ascend the rock without ladders was not to be thought of. The good lady perceived my confusion, and said with a tone more compassionate than reproachful :  “My dear sir, you see that romantic plans have always a weak point. Allow me to count only upon my first idea, and expect the carabineers. I’m English, and have an old habit of believing in the arm of the law. Besides, I know the Athenian carabineers. They are splendid men, and quite clean — for Greeks. They have long moustaches and percussion guns. It will, if you please, be their business to get me away from here.”

The Corfiote approached opportunely to allow me to dispense with an answer. He brought the lady’s-maid. She was an Albanian, good-looking 148 in spite of her pug nose. Two brigands roaming the mountain carried her off in all her Sunday best, while she was walking between her mother and her fiancé. She shrieked in a way that might have melted a stone, but soon consoled herself with a promise of payment, and her liberty in fifteen days. Thus reassured, she almost rejoiced in a misfortune that was to increase her marriage portion. Happy country, in which the wounds of the heart can be cured by five-franc pieces! This philosophical servant was not very useful to Mrs. Simons, since all she knew of women’s work was the culture of the fields. She rendered my life insupportable because she was always chewing a bit of garlic, just as the Hamburg ladies munch sweetmeats. The day ended peaceably, but the next one seemed interminable. The Corfiote did not let us out of his sight. The ladies were always looking for the carabineers, but in vain. I, who am accustomed to an active life, was fretting terribly in this idleness. True, I might have herborized, under safe escort, but a certain something kept me near Mrs. Simons and her daughter.

At night I slept badly; I was always thinking of my project of flight. I had remarked the place where the Corfiote placed his dagger before going 149 to sleep, but thought it treachery to escape without Mary-Ann.

On the Saturday morning, between five and six o’clock, there was a great noise near the King’s study. I was soon dressed, for I still wore my clothes. Hadji was standing in the midst of his band presiding at a tumultuous council. All the brigands were armed to the teeth. Ten or twelve coffers I never had seen before were placed on litters. I guessed that they contained the baggage, and that our masters were preparing for a move.

The Corfiote, Vasili, and Sophocles were vociferating at the top of their voices, and talking all together. Suddenly the advanced sentinels began to bark. A courier in rags rushed towards the King, yelling out :  “The carabineers : ”






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