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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. 150-195.

THE KING OF THE MOUNTAINS

________

150

CHAPTER  V

THE CARABINEERS

THE King did not seem much discomfited; but his eyebrows were drawn closer together than usual, and the wrinkles in his forehead formed an acute angle between his eyes. He asked the new arrival :  “Which way are they coming?”

“By Castia.”

“How many companies?”

“One.”

“Which?”

“I don’t know.”

“We shall see.”

A second messenger arrived in haste to give the alarm. Hadji Stavros called out as soon as he saw him :  “Is it the company of Pericles?”

The brigand answered :  “I can’t say :  you know I can’t read the numbers.”

A shot was heard in the distance.

“Hist!” said the King, drawing out his watch, and complete silence was established. Four more 151 shots were heard at intervals of a minute between each. The last was followed by a violent detonation like a volley. Hadji smiled and put his watch into his pocket.

“All’s well! Take the baggage to the dépôt, and send us some wine of Ægina. It is the company of Pericles!” As he was finishing his sentence, he perceived me in my corner, and said in a nasty jeering tone :  “Come along, my young friend. It’s good to get up early. One sees curious things. Are you thirsty? If so, you’ll drink a glass of famous wine with our brave carabineers!”

Five minutes later appeared three enormous skins full of wine taken from some hiding-place, and a tardy sentinel announced :

“Good news! They are Pericles’ carabineers!”

Some of the brigands hastened to meet the troop. The Corfiote, always a ready speaker, ran to harangue their Captain. Soon we heard the sound of a drum. Then we saw the blue flag, and sixty well-armed men passed on in double file to the King’s cabinet. I remembered having seen and admired Pericles in Athens. He was a young officer of thirty-five or so; dark, well-built, a favourite of the ladies, a leader of the cotillon at 152 Court, and he wore his tin epaulettes with a considerable amount of grace.

He sheathed his sword, ran to the King, and embraced him on the lips, crying, “Good-day, godfather!”

“Good-day, my boy,” answered the King, stroking the young fellow’s cheek with the back of his hand. “You’ve been quite well?”

“Thanks :  and you?”

“As you see :  and the family?”

“My uncle the Bishop has the fever.”

“Send him to me up here, I’ll cure him. The director of police is better?”

“A little. He begs to be remembered; the Prime Minister ditto.”

“Anything new?”

“A ball at the Palace on the fifteenth, sure. The Century has announced it.”

“You still dance then? And what’s going on on ’Change?”

“There’s a general fall.”

“Bravo! Any letters for me?”

“Yes; here they are. Photini’s wasn’t ready; she’ll write by post.”

“A glass of wine — to your health, my son!”

“The same to you, godfather. Who is the foreigner listening to us?”

153

“No one in particular; a German without importance. Can’t you give us a hint for one of our expeditions?”

“The Paymaster-General is sending eight hundred pounds to Argos. To-morrow evening the convoy will pass the Scironian rocks.”

“I’ll be there. Must I take many men?”

“Yes; the treasure-chest is escorted by two companies.”

“Good or bad?”

“Could not be worse. They’ll fight to the last.”

“I’ll take all my people. And in my absence you’ll have charge of our prisoners.”

“With pleasure. While we are on that subject, I’ve most strict orders. Your Englishwomen have written to their Ambassador, and call the whole army to their aid.”

“And to think that I furnished them with the paper! Trust people after that!”

“I must make my report accordingly. I’ll talk of a desperate fight.”

“We’ll draw it up together.”

“Yes. This time, godfather, I must win.”

“No!”

“But I say, yes! I want to be decorated.”

“You’ll be so one day. You’re never satisfied. Only a year since I made you Captain!”

154

“Listen to reason, godfather. It’s to your interest to be beaten. Once it is known that your band is dispersed, confidence will return; travellers will take to the road again, and you’ll coin gold.”

“That’s all very well, but if I’m beaten, prices will rise, and I’ve played for the fall.”

“Oh! that’s another affair! Let me at least kill a dozen or so of your men.”

“All right. That will hurt no one, and I must finish off ten of yours.”

“How? On my return it will be seen that the company is complete.”

“Not at all. You’ll leave them here; I want recruits.”

“In that case, I commend you little Spiro, my adjutant. He was at the Euelpides school; he has studied, and is intelligent. The poor fellow earns less than three pounds a month, and his people are not rich. If he remains in the army, he’ll not be second lieutenant before five or six years, the lists are so full. But if he distinguishes himself in your troop, they’ll try to bribe him, and he will be promoted in six months.”

“All right! I’ll take little Spiro. Does he know French?”

“Pretty well.”

155

“I’ll keep him, perhaps. If he suits me, I might give him an interest in the business. You’ll hand our yearly accounts to the right person. I pay 82 per cent.

“That’s good. My eight shares will have brought me in more than my Captain’s pay! Ah! godfather, what a wretched trade is mine!”

“Well, it’s too late to change now. You would have been a brigand but for your mother’s prejudices. She declared you were not fit for the calling. To your good health! — and to yours!” (turning to me). “Let me introduce my godson, Captain Pericles, a thoroughly good fellow, who knows several languages, and who will be so kind as to replace me during my absence. My dear Pericles, I introduce this gentleman to you. He is a doctor, and worth £600. Can you believe that, celebrated doctor though he may be, he has not yet found means to make the Englishwomen pay his ransom? Ah! my son, the world is degenerating; in my time it was very different!”

He rose quickly, and proceeded to give some orders before leaving. Was it joy at the prospect of a campaign, or satisfaction at seeing his godson? Who can tell? But he looked twenty years younger, laughed, joked, and forgetting his royalty, behaved like a simple mortal. I never 156 should have supposed that the arrival of a troop of police could have cheered up a brigand, but so it was. Sophocles, Vasili, the Corfiote, and others in authority, communicated to the camp the orders of the King. Thanks to the alarm of the morning, all were ready for the start. Spiro, the young adjutant, and the nine other men chosen from the carabineers, exchanged their uniforms for the picturesque costume of the brigands. It was a regular transformation scene. If the War Minister had been there, he would have been none the wiser, so cleverly was it managed. The new brigands did not regret the exchange, and the only grumblers were those who remained under the flag. Two or three veterans declared that favour was shown, and not sufficient consideration paid to seniority. Others boasted of their services, and declared they had already engaged in brigandage. The Captain soothed them as best he could, with the assurance that their turn would come. Before leaving, Hadji gave up his keys to the deputy. He showed him the grotto that served as cellar, the cave where the flour was kept, the crevice devoted to the cheeses, and the trunk of the tree that held the coffee. He also spoke of the precautions necessary to prevent our escape, and thereby secure what represented a valuable 157 capital. Handsome Pericles answered smilingly :  “What are you afraid of? Am I not a shareholder?”

At seven the next morning the King marched off. The entire band took a northerly course turning their backs on the Scironian rocks. They came back by a long but rather good road, to the bottom of the ravine, underneath the place where our tents were pitched. The men sang loudly while they were treading the water of the cascade. Their warlike air was a song in four stanzas, recalling one of Hadji’s youthful and unedifying exploits:

“Down to the plain came the black-eyed Klepht,
His burnished gun, etc., etc.”

You must know the air; Athenian street-arabs are always humming it. Mrs. Simons, sleeping near her daughter, and dreaming of carabineers as usual, woke up with a start and ran to the window — that is, to the cascade. She was cruelly disabused by seeing only enemies, when she had hoped for saviours. There were the King, the Corfiote, and other too-familiar figures. What surprised her the most was the number that took part in this matinal expedition. She counted sixty men in the suite of Hadji Stavros.

“Sixty!” thought she; “then only twenty 158 remain to watch us!” The idea of an escape, which she had a few hours earlier refused to entertain, came back to her vividly. In the midst of her reflections, she saw a rear-guard, upon which she had not counted. Sixteen — eighteen — twenty men! Then there was no one in the camp! She was free!

“Mary-Ann!” cried she, while the men continued to defile. There were eighty brigands in all, and ninety were marching past! A dozen dogs closed the march, but she didn’t take the trouble to count them.

At the sound of her mother’s voice Mary-Ann ran out of the tent.

“Free!” cried Mrs. Simons. “They’re all gone! All! even more than we’ve seen. Let us leave at once, my child!”

They ran to the steps and saw the King’s camp occupied by the carabineers. The Greek flag waved triumphantly from the top of a pine-tree. Hadji’s place was taken by M. Pericles. Mrs. Simons rushed towards him with such vivacity that he with difficulty avoided an embrace.

“Merciful heavens! — the brigand are then gone!”

The Captain replied in English :  “Yes, madam!”

159

“You have driven them away?”

“It is certain, madam, that were it not for us they would still be here.”

“Thank God! The fight must have been terrible?”

“Not so much as you might suppose. I had but to say a word.”

“And we are free?”

“Absolutely!”

“To return to Athens?”

“When you please.”

“Then let us leave at once.”

“Quite impossible for the moment.”

“What is there to keep us here?”

“Our duty as conquerors — we guard the battle-field.”

“Mary-Ann, shake hands with this gentleman.”

The young girl obeyed.

“Sir,” said Mrs. Simons, “heaven has sent you to us. We had lost all hope. Our only defender was a young middle-class German, a scientist, who goes about herborizing, and made the most ridiculous plans for our escape. But now, you have come! I was quite sure the police would save us :  wasn’t I, Mary-Ann?”

“Yes, mother.”

“Let me tell you that these brigands are the 160 vilest wretches. They began by taking away all we had.”

“All?” asked the Captain.

“Except my watch :  that I took good care to hide.”

“Quite right, madam. And did they keep what they took from you?”

“No; they gave us back twelve pounds, a silver dressing-case, and my daughter’s watch.”

“These articles are still in your possession?”

“Of course.”

“Did they take your rings and ear-rings?”

“No, Captain.”

“Be so good as to give them to me.”

“To give you what?”

“Your rings, silver dressing-case, ear-rings, two watches, and twelve pounds.”

Mrs. Simons cried out indignantly :  “What! you want to take what the brigands restored to us?”

With much dignity the Captain replied :  “Madam, I’m only doing my duty.”

“Is it your duty to plunder us?”

“My duty is to collect all proofs necessary for the prosecution of Hadji Stavros.”

“He will be tried?”

“As soon as we take him.”

“It seems to me that you’ve no need of our 161 jewels and money. You’ve sufficient proofs to hang him twenty times over. Besides, he has taken two Englishwomen prisoners :  what more is wanted?”

“Judicial forms must be observed, madam.”

“My dear sir, among the things you ask for there are some I prize.”

“The greater reason for trusting them to me.”

“But if I’ve no watch, I shall never know ——”

“Madam, I shall always be pleased to tell you the hour.”

In her turn Mary-Ann said that she was most unwilling to part with her ear-rings.

“Mademoiselle,” replied the gallant Captain, “beauty such as yours requires no adornment. It has nothing to gain from jewels, however fine.”

“You’re very good, but my silver dressing-case is indispensable to me — I can’t do without it.”

“From your point of view, you are more than right. But do not, I beg, insist upon this head; it would only double the regret I already feel in depriving two persons of such distinction of what they wish to keep. Alas! we soldiers are slaves of our orders, instruments of the law, men of duty. Pray take my arm, and let me have the honour of leading you back to your tent. There, if you allow me, we’ll begin to make our inventory.”

162

I had not lost a word of this dialogue, and managed to contain myself until the end. But when I saw this vile rogue of a police-officer give his arm to Mary-Ann, in order to rob her politely, I boiled over, and, going straight to him, meant to tell him a piece of my mind.

He must have read in my eyes what I intended to say, for he darted at me a threatening look, left the ladies on the stair leading to their abode, placed a sentinel at the door, and returned to me, saying :  “Now, if you please.”

He took me, without saying a word, to the other side of the King’s cabinet, posted himself before me, and looked me straight in the face.

“You understand English, sir?”

I replied in the affirmative.

“Greek also?”

“Yes.”

“Ah! you know a good deal too much. Fancy my godfather amusing himself in talking of his private affairs before you! As for his own, I don’t mind. He is King, and therefore his own master. But, the devil! — put yourself in my place. My position is extremely delicate, and I have a number of things to consider. I’m not rich, and have to depend on my pay, the esteem of my superiors, 163 and the friendship of the brigands. The indiscretion of a traveller might cost me two-thirds of my income.”

“And you imagine that I shall keep your infamy secret!”

“When I imagine anything, it generally comes to pass. I don’t know whether you’ll leave this country alive, or whether your ransom will be paid. If my godfather cuts your throat, I shall be sure of your silence. If, on the contrary, you return to Athens, I advise you as a friend never to speak of what you have seen. Imitate the discretion of the Duchess of Piacenza, who was captured by Bibichi, and died ten years later without even having said a word as to the details of her adventure. Do you know a proverb that says, ‘The tongue is the enemy of the head’? Reflect upon it seriously, and don’t put yourself in a position to verify its truths.”

“Threats ——”

“I don’t threaten. I’m too well bed to do so; but I warn you. If you talk, I shall not be the one to revenge myself. But all the men of my company worship their Captain. They espouse my interests warmly, and would prove, to my regret, pitiless to the fellow who should get me into trouble.”

164

“Having so many accomplices, why need you be afraid?”

“I fear nothing from the Greeks, and, at any ordinary time, I would insist less strongly on this advice. True, we have among our superiors some madmen that pretend that brigands ought to be treated in the same way as Turks; but if the affair passed between ourselves, I should also find energetic defenders. The misfortune is that diplomacy might think proper to interfere, and a foreign occupation would not be favourable to my cause. You have not an idea as to what you would be exposed if anything happened to me! You can’t take four steps without meeting a carabineer. They guard the road from Athens to Piræus, and — an accident soon happens!”

“Very good, sir. I’ll think of it.”

“You promise me secrecy?”

“You have no right to ask, and I, no intention to promise you anything. I note that you have warned me as to the danger of indiscretion. I shall keep the warning in mind.”

“When you return to Germany, you can do what you like. Speak, write, publish, I shan’t care. Works written against us harm no one, unless perhaps their authors. You are free to try the experiment. If you describe faithfully what 165 you’ve seen, you’ll be accused of slandering an illustrious and oppressed race. Our friends, and most men of sixty are of the number, will tax you with levity, caprice, and even ingratitude. You will be reminded that you were my guest and Hadji’s, and you will be accused of having violated the sacred laws of hospitality. But the best of the affair is, no one will believe you. The public only credits plausible lies. Try to persuade the good people of Paris, London, and Berlin, that you saw a captain of carabineers embrace a brigand chief! A company of a crack regiment guard the prisoners of the Hadji Stavros in order to give him the time to carry off the army-chest! The highest functionaries of the State found a limited company to plunder travellers! You might as well tell them that the mice of Attica have made an alliance with the cats, and that our lambs seek their food in the jaws of the wolf! Do you know what protects us from the displeasure of Europe? It is the improbability of our manner of life. Happily for us, all that is written against us seems improbable — impossible. I could tell you of a little book not at all in our favour, although true from start to finish. It has been a little read everywhere. In Paris, it was thought curious, but only seemed credible in one place — Athens! I do not 166 forbid you to add another volume to it, but you would better wait until you leave us, otherwise your last page might be stained with blood.”

“But if anything comes out before my departure, how will you know that it is through me?”

“You alone are aware of my secret. The Englishwomen are persuaded that I am saving them from Hadji, and I intend to keep up the illusion until the King’s return. It’s an affair of two or three days at the most. We are forty furlongs, about sixty miles, from the Scironian rocks :  our friends will be there some time to-night. To-morrow evening their affair will come off, and conquerors or conquered, Monday will see them here again. It will be easy to make the prisoners believe that the brigands have taken us by surprise. While my godfather is absent, I will protect you against yourself, by not allowing you to see the ladies. I’ll borrow your tent. You must see for yourself that my skin is whiter than Hadji’s. You see I object to expose it to all the variations of the temperature. What would be said at the ball on the 15th, if I were to appear as sunburnt as a peasant? Besides, I can’t leave the poor ladies alone. It is my duty as their protector to console them. As for you, you can sleep here with my men. Allow me to give an order concerning you. 167 “Jani, Brigadier Jani! I give this gentleman into your charge. Let four armed sentinels attend him day and night. Relieve them every two hours. March!” He bowed with ironical civility, and went singing down the steps while the sentinel saluted him.

From this moment there began for me a new form of mental torture. Every one knows or guesses what a prison is like, but try to imagine a living, ambulating prison, the four walls of which come and go, open and close, turn and return, rub their hands together, scratch, shake themselves, and obstinately fix four pair of big black eyes on the prisoner! I tried to walk; and my persecutors measured their steps on mine. I went to the boundaries of the camp; the two men who preceded me stopped short, and I knocked up against their uniforms. This accident explained an inscription I had often seen without understanding it in the neighbourhood of fortified places :  “Limit of the garrison.” I turned back. My four walls revolved on themselves like a theatrical decoration in a transformation scene. At last, tired out, I sat down. My prison seemed to move round me. I was like a man who sees his house turn. I shut my eyes; the measured sound of the military step soon wearied my ears.

168

“At least,” thought I, “if these four braves would talk! I’ll try them in Greek. It is a means of seduction that never has failed me with sentinels.” I did try, but in vain. The walls had perhaps ears, but they were evidently forbidden to use their tongues; under arms, no speech is allowed. I drew from my pocket the money Hadji had returned to me, and the Captain forgotten to take, and distributed it to the four cardinal points of my abode. The sombre gloomy walls assumed a smiling aspect, and my dungeon seemed lighted by a ray of sunshine. But five minutes afterward the brigadier came to relieve the sentinels. I had been a prisoner only two hours! If the day seemed long, the night was eternal. The Captain had appropriated to himself my bed as well as my tent. A fine, cutting, penetrating rain made me cruelly sensible that roofs are excellent inventions, and tilers benefactors of society. If for a moment I managed to doze, Jani awoke me by giving the pass-word. And worse than all, I kept on thinking that Mary-Ann and her mother were on the best of terms with their pretended liberator!

Ah! my dear sir, how I began to render justice to the Mountain King, and to take back the maledictions I had heaped upon him! How I regretted his mild and paternal rule! How I sighed for his 169 return! How I prayed for him! “Good Lord, give the victory to your servant, Hadji Stavros! Let all the soldiers of the kingdom fall before him! May the money-chest and the last cannon-piece of this infernal army come into his hands! And send us back the brigands to deliver us from the carabineers!”

As I finished this prayer, file-firing was heard in the camp. This surprise was often renewed during the night, the following day, and the night afterward. Another trick of M. Pericles! Guns were let off from time to time, to better deceive Mrs. Simons, and persuade her that they were being defended against an army of brigands.

This fantasia might have cost him dear. When the brigands returned to the camp on Monday, they thought they had real enemies before them, and answered by a shot or two, which unfortunately hit no one.

Until the return of the King of the Mountains, I never had seen a defeated army. The spectacle therefore had all the attraction of a novelty. Heaven had not granted my prayers, and the Greek soldiers made so vigorous a defence that the fight lasted late into the night. Formed in square round the two mules that carried the chest, they had at first answered Hadji’s skirmishes by a 170 steady fire. The old Palikar, despairing of picking off one by one 120 men, who would not yield, attacked them with small arms. His companions assured us that he had done wonders, and the blood with which he was covered proved how much he had exposed himself, but the bayonets had been too much for him. The troop had killed fourteen brigands, of which one was four-footed, and a regulation ball stopped young Spiro’s promising career! There returned about sixty men overcome with fatigue, dusty, covered with blood, bruised, and wounded. Sophocles had a ball in his shoulder, and was carried on a litter. The Corfiote and others were left in the rear, some in shepherd’s huts, or in villages, glad to obtain the shelter of a bare rock, or rest by the wayside. The whole band was gloomy and discouraged, Sophocles howling with pain. I heard some murmurs against the imprudence of the King, who had exposed the lives of his followers for a miserable sum, instead of peaceably fleecing rich and good-tempered travellers.

Of them all, none was so well-disposed, cheerful, and contented as his Majesty. His was the satisfaction of a man that has done his duty. He recognised me at once in the middle of my four men, and holding out his hand, said cordially :   171 “My dear prisoner, you see before you a very ill-treated King. Those dogs of soldiers would not give up the money-chest. It was theirs. They would not allow themselves to be killed for other people’s property. My expedition has brought in nothing, and has cost me fourteen men, besides some wounded who won’t recover. But, never mind! I fought well. The rascals outnumbered us, and had bayonets — if it had not been for that! Well! this day has made me younger. I have proved to my satisfaction that I still have some blood left in my veins.”

And he hummed the lines of his favourite song:

“Down to the plain, etc., etc.”

“By Jupiter, as Lord Byron used to say — no! not for another eight hundred pounds would I have stayed at home these past few days. This also will be related in my history. That at past seventy I rushed, sword in hand, against men armed with bayonets, killed three or four of them with my own hand, and afterward walked ten leagues in the mountains to return here and take my cup of coffee. Cafedji, my child, do your duty, I’ve done mine; but where the devil is Pericles?”

The handsome Captain was still snoring in his 172 tent. Jani ran to fetch him, and he appeared half asleep, his moustache uncurled, his head carefully wrapped up in a handkerchief. Nothing wakes a man better than cold water or bad news.

When M. Pericles heard that little Spiro and two carabineers had been killed, he gave himself up for lost, tore off his head-dress, and had he had less respect for his person would have torn out his hair.

“I’m ruined!” cried he. “How can I explain their presence among you? — and dressed as brigands too! The others are masters of the battlefield, and will have recognised them. Shall I say that they deserted to join you? That you had made them prisoners? I shall be asked why I did not mention it. I waited for you to make my general report. Yesterday, I wrote that I was driving you close on Parnassus, and that all my men were behaving splendidly.

“Holy Virgin! I would not dare show myself at the Pâtissia next Sunday. What will be said on the 15th at the Court Ball? All the Embassies will be talking about me. A Council will be called. Who knows whether I shall be invited!”

“To the Council?”

“No; to the Court Ball!”

173

“You’d dance on one’s grave!”

“Ah, my God! what shall I do? If it were only those Englishwomen I would not care. I’d tell the War Minister everything. There are plenty of Englishwomen in the world! But lend my men to attack a treasure envoy! Send Spiro to fight against the Line! No; I shall be disgraced, and no more balls for me!”

Can you guess who was delighted during this monologue? My father’s son, in the middle of his four guards. Hadji Stavros, quietly seated, sipped his coffee, then said to his godson :  “What a fuss you make! Remain with us; I’ll assure you a minimum of four hundred a year, and enroll your men. We’ll take our revenge together.”

The offer was tempting. Two days earlier it would have been accepted with enthusiasm. Nevertheless, it did not seem to please the carabineers, and their Captain still less. The soldiers said nothing. They looked at their former comrades, and at the wounded Sophocles, thought of those that had been killed, and turned their heads towards Athens, as if from afar they could scent the welcome odour of their barracks. As for Pericles, he answered with visible confusion :  “Thanks, godfather, but I must consider. I’m accustomed to town life. My health is rather 174 delicate, and the winters must be hard in the mountain. I’ve already caught a cold. I should be missed, too, in society, for I am much sought after, and several brilliant marriages have been proposed to me. Besides, perhaps not so much mischief has been effected as we think. Who knows? Those three idiots may have escaped recognition. I’ll first go to the Ministry, and discover which way the wind blows. The news of the event may not have been received yet; there will be no one to contradict me since the two detachments are still pursuing their march on Argos. Decidedly I must bestir myself; so take care of your wounded — and adieu!”

He made a sign to his drummer. Hadji Stavros rose, and placed himself between his godson and myself. He was a good head and shoulders taller than that youth.

“There, sir,” said he, pointing to him, “you behold an up-to-date Greek! I myself am a Greek of the old school; and yet the newspapers are constantly informing us that we are progressing!”

At the sound of the drum my prison-walls seemed suddenly to separate like the ramparts of Jericho, and two minutes later I stood before the door of Mary-Ann’s tent. The ladies awoke with 175 a start. Mrs. Simons, on perceiving me, exclaimed :  “Well! are we free?”

“Alas! madam, far from that!”

“Where are we then? The Captain gave us his word that we could start this morning.”

“What did you think of the Captain?”

“Charming, distinguished, delightful! Too much the slave of discipline, that’s his only fault.”

“Rascal, villain, coward, thief, and liar! Those are his true titles, and I’ll prove it.”

“Why, what’s the matter? What have the carabineers done to you?”

“What have they done? Be so good as to follow me to the top of yon steps.”

Mrs. Simons obeyed, and was in time to see the soldiers marching off with their drums and flag, the brigands installed in their old places, and the Captain and the King tenderly embracing in each other’s arms. I had broken this curious piece of news all too brusquely to the poor lady, for on beholding this scene she fainted, and fell with all her weight upon me. I carried her to the spring; Mary-Ann slapped her hands and threw water in her face, but I believe it was sheer temper that eventually brought her to herself.

“The villains!” cried she. “Did he rob you? Did he take your watch and your money? He 176 did ours. I don’t regret them. Let him keep them. But I’d give some hundreds of pounds not to have shaken hands with him! I’m English, and I don’t shake hands with any one!”

I could not help sighing. Mrs. Simons continued more furious than ever, throwing all the blame on poor me. “It’s your fault! Why didn’t you warn me? You should have told me that the brigands were saints compared to these wretches!”

“But I did not tell you that you ought not to rely upon the carabineers.”

“Yes, you told me, but only in your usual stupid, phlegmatic, German manner. How was I to believe you? How could I guess that his man was nothing more nor less than Hadji’s minion? That he kept us here merely to give the brigands time to return? That he frightened us by imaginary dangers? That he declared he was besieged in order that we might see how well he defended himself? Now I see through the whole thing; but you, you stupid, kept silent. Why did you not speak? I say, why did you not speak?”

“I informed you of what I knew, and did all I could!” I retorted.

“To be sure; but then, you see, after all, you are only a German! In your place an Englishman 177 would have sacrificed his life for us, and I would have given him my daughter’s hand.”

Poppies are red, but I became scarlet while listening to Mrs. Simons’s burning denunciations. I was so confused that I did not dare raise my eyes, nor answer, nor even ask what the good lady meant.

How could so prim a woman speak in this way before her daughter and a stranger? What in the world made her think of marriage? Was she a woman to reward the person that would save her by giving him her daughter? Were not her significant words merely an ironical answer to my secret hopes?

When I examined myself, I was justly proud of the platonism of my feelings. I saw with pleasure that the ardour of passion had not raised my temperature by a single degree.

In my dreams I had even thought of Princess Ypsoff and her lieutenant. I saw myself seated in a post-chaise, my idol at my right, with her lovely arm twined around my long neck.

All these flattering images, which would have profoundly agitated a less philosophical spirit than mine, left me calm. I did not feel the alternatives of hope and despair that are the characteristic signs of love, nor any of the terrible pangs of a tortured heart mentioned in novels.

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Therefore I concluded I evidently did not love Mary-Ann, and could look any one straight in the face — even Mrs. Simons!

But that excellent lady, who had not read my thoughts, might easily mistake the nature of my devotion. Who could tell whether she did not suspect my passion for her daughter? — whether she did not interpret unfavourably my confusion, my timidity? Might she not have pronounced the word “marriage” only to compel me to betray my real sentiments? My pride revolted against the injustice of this suspicion, and I answered as sternly as I could, but without looking her in the face:

“Madam, if I am fortunate enough to get you away from here, I swear that it would not be with the intention of marrying your daughter!”

“And why not, sir?” was the astonished answer. “Is my daughter not good enough for you? I must say you’re hard to please! Perhaps she isn’t sufficiently beautiful, is not so rich or well-born as you would wish? Has she been badly brought up? Have you anything to say against her? A marriage with Miss Simons, my good sir, might content the most ambitious of men, for it would be a most brilliant match, I can tell you!”

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“Alas! my dear madam, you misunderstand me. Your daughter is perfection itself. Were it not that her presence renders me timid, I would tell you of the passionate admiration I have felt for her from the first. It is precisely on that account that I have not the presumption to think, for a single moment, that I stand any chance of winning favour.”

I had hoped that my humility would soften this termagant of a mother — but, on the contrary, it seemed only to stimulate her resentment.

“Why?” cried she. “Why shouldn’t you deserve my daughter? Answer me!”

“But, madam, I have neither fortune nor position,” I meekly replied.

“What on earth does that matter! No position! You’d have one if you married Mary-Ann. Isn’t it a position to be my son-in-law? No fortune! Have we ever asked you for money? Haven’t we enough for us, for you, and others too? Besides, will not the man that gets us from here richly deserve four thousand pounds? I admit that the sum is small, but it is something at least. Do you think it contemptibly small? No? then why don’t you try to deserve Mary-Ann’s hand?”

“Madam, I am not ——”

180

“What are you not? ” she retorted savagely, showing her large teeth. “you’re not English, you mean?”

“Not in the remotest degree.”

“Well, you don’t suppose I’m fool enough to reproach you with that? Don’t I know it is not given to every one to be English? — and unfortunately the whole world is not English. At least, not yet. But, after all, it is possible to be an honourable and intelligent man without having been born in England.”

“As for probity, madam, we have been honest folk from generation to generation. As for intelligence, I have just enough to have won my degree of doctor. But unfortunately I cannot deceive myself as to my personal appearance.”

“You mean that you are plain? Why no! — you’re not that. You’ve an intelligent face. Hasn’t he, Mary-Ann?”

“Yes, mother!” said Mary-Ann. Whether she blushed or not I can’t say, for my eyes were fixed on the ground.

“Besides,” continued Mrs. Simons rudely, “if you were ten times plainer, you wouldn’t be half as plain as was my lamented husband. And yet, let me tell you, I was quite as pretty as is Mary-Ann the day I married him. What do you say to that?”

181

“Nothing,madam,” I answered humbly, “excepting that you are too good, and that it will not be my fault if to-morrow you’re not on your way to Athens.”

“And how are you going to manage it? This time try to invent some less ridiculous plan than the last.”

“If you’ll only listen to me I hope you’ll be satisfied.”

“I will.”

“Without interrupting me?”

“I won’t interrupt you. Have I ever done so?”

“Yes!”

“No!”

“But I say yes, madam.”

“When?”

“Well, if you like, never! But please listen. Hadji Stavros has all his money in the firm of Messrs. Barclay & Co.”

“What! In our bank?” echoed the amazed lady.

“No. 31 Cavendish Square, London. Last Wednesday he dictated a business letter addressed to Mr. Barclay.”

“And you didn’t tell me this sooner?”

“You refused to listen!”

“But its monstrous! We should have been 182 free six days ago! I would have gone straight to him, and told him the connection between us!”

“And he would have demanded twelve thousand pounds instead of four! Believe me, the wisest plan is to say nothing at all about this discovery. Pay your ransom, Make him give you a receipt, and a fortnight hence send him his passbook, in which he will have been debited with the following sum:

“ ‘Four thousand pounds remitted by Mrs. Simons in person, against receipt, to our client.’ In this manner, you’ll get back your money without the assistance of the carabineers. Is it clear?”

I raised my eyes, and saw Mary-Ann’s face was radiant with delight.

Mrs. Simons shrugged her shoulders impatiently, and cried :  “You’ve known all this since Wednesday. I never shall forgive you for not having told us at once!”

“But, pray remember, that I begged you to write to your brother for £4600.”

“Why the extra hundreds?”

“I mean £4000.”

“No! quite right. It’s only just. But are you sure that this Stavros won’t keep us here after having got the money?”

“I’ll answer for that. The brigands are the 183 only Greeks that always keep their word. You quite understand that if they did not, the ransom never would be paid.”

“That’s quite true. But what a queer kind of man you are, to be sure, not to have spoken sooner!”

“But, madam, you invariably prevented me.”

“I prevent you — I should have insisted.”

“But, madam,” I interrupted somewhat impatiently :  the old lady was becoming tiresome.

“Hold your tongue, do!” she burst out snappishly, “and lead me to this old villain Stavros’s den.”

We found the King seated under his favourite tree, surrounded by his available officers, enjoying a breakfast of roast doves.

He had changed his clothes, washed the blood from his royal hands, and was consulting with his gang as to the quickest way of filling up the vacancies occasioned by death among his men.

Vasili, a native of Janina, offered to raise thirty men in Epirus alone, where the vigilance of the Turkish authorities had obliged a thousand brigands to retire from business. A Laconian suggested that the little band of Spartan Paolos who infested the province of Magnus, near Calamata, might easily be bought for ready money.

184

The King, as usual, imbued with English ideas, wished to organize a system of obligatory recruiting, and to carry off all the shepherds in Attica. This scheme appeared all the more advantageous, since it necessitated no outlay, and moreover the flocks could be annexed at the same time as their pastors.

Hadji was evidently annoyed by our interruption, and received us very coolly. He didn’t even offer a glass of water to Mrs. Simons, and as she had not had her breakfast, this lack of attention upset her temper very considerably.

I made myself spokesman for the ladies, and in the absence of the tiny fiend from Corfu, Hadji was perforce obliged to accept me as interpreter. I told him that, especially after the disasters of the previous day, he ought to be glad that Mrs. Simons had decided to pay her ransom with as little delay as possible, and that the money could be paid the following day either into the Bank of Athens, or in any other way he might suggest.

“I am pleased to hear,” said he, sententiously, “that these women have given up their attempt to summon the Greek army to their assistance. Tell them for the second time that they shall have all the writing materials they require. But don’t let them again venture to abuse my confidence. Above 185 all, don’t let them try to bring the soldiers here. At sight of the first shako that appears in the mountains, by the Virgin of Megaspelion, I’ll cut their throats.”

“Have no fear. They will abstain from all intrigue with the soldiers. Where do you desire the money to be deposited?”

“At the National Bank of Greece. It is the only one not yet bankrupt.”

“Have you a safe man to carry the letter?”

“There’s the ‘good old man.’ I’ll send for him. What o’clock is it? Nine? The Reverend Father never is drunk until later in the day.”

“The monk will do very well. When Mrs. Simons’s brother has paid the money and got your receipt, the ‘good old man’ can come and tell us.”

“What receipt? What need is there of a receipt? I never have given one. When you are all at liberty, that will suffice to prove I have been paid.”

“Yes; but I imagined that a man of your intelligence would do business after the European fashion. And to be business-like ——”

“I do business as I choose, and am too old to change my method of transacting it.”

“Just as you please. I asked in Mrs. Simons’s interest. She is her daughter’s guardian, the latter 186 being still a minor, and therefore the elder lady must account to her trustees for the spending of her fortune.”

“That’s her affair. I care as much for her interests as she does for mine. And if she did pay for her daughter, what would it matter? I never regret what I spend on Photini. Here are paper, ink, and reeds. Pray take care how the letter is written. Your own life is at stake too.”

I rose considerably discouraged, and followed the ladies, who saw that I was greatly put out without however understanding the wherefore. But a sudden inspiration induced me to retrace my steps. I said to the King :  “Decidedly you were right to refuse the receipt, and I wrong to ask for it. You are wiser than I am. Youth is always imprudent.”

“What do you mean?”

“You were right, I say. One must be prepared for everything. Who knows whether you will not suffer a second defeat more terrible than the first? As you will not always be so active as now, you may fall into the soldiers’ hands.”

“I?”

“You would be tried like an ordinary malefactor, and a receipt for £4600 would be an overwhelming proof. Don’t put arms against yourself into the hands of justice. Perhaps Mrs. Simons 187 or her heirs would prosecute you to get back what they had paid!”

He answered in a voice of thunder:

“I’ll sign it! and rather two than one! I’ll sign always, and for every one! Ah! if the soldiers think that they will get the better of me because, for once, chance, and their number favoured them! I fall alive into their hands! I, whose arm never tires, whose head is proof against balls! I, go and sit on a bench before a damned judge like a vile peasant that has been taken up for cabbage-stealing? I! I’ll have a fit, if you hint at such a thing again.

“Young man! You don’t yet know Hadji Stavros,” he continued, gesticulating wildly. “It would be easier to tear up Ozas, and place it on the summit of Taygetus, than to drive me from my mountains and hand me over to the tender mercies of the worthy Dame you call Justice. Ah! ah! Quick! Write me Mrs. Simons’s name in Greek. Good. Yours also.”

“It is not necessary — and ——”

“Write it. Write it, I tell you,” he went on breathlessly. “You know my name, and have some reason not to forget it. I wish to be able to remember yours.”

I scribbled “Hermann Schultz” as best I could 188 in Plato’s melodious tongue. The King’s subordinates applauded his firmness, never dreaming that it would eventually cost him and them dear.

With a light heart, I ran to Mrs. Simons’s tent, and told her what a narrow escape her money had had, and she condescended to smile on hearing how I had managed to outwit our captors.

In half-an-hour she gave me the following letter to read :




From Mount Ozas in the midst
of Stavros’s demons
.         

““MY DEAR BROTHER :

“We have been shamefully betrayed and robbed by the carabineers you sent to our aid. I trust you will be able to get them hanged. They richly deserve it. The captain, Pericles, most assuredly merits to swing from a gallows at least a hundred feet high.

“I shall complain of him particularly in a dispatch I intend to forward to Lord Palmerston, and mention him hotly in a letter to the editor of the Times, and this as soon as you have liberated us. There is nothing to hope for from the local authorities; honesty is unknown to them. Happily, they won’t get much out of us. I have learned, from a young German whom I at first took for a spy, but who is really a very honest gentleman, that this 189 Stavros, called Hadji Stavros, banks with our House. Verify the fact, please, and if it is exact, nothing prevents us from paying the ransom exacted. Deposit in the Bank of Greece £4600 against a formal receipt, stamped with the ordinary seal of this Stavros. The sum will be placed to his credit, and all will be right. Our health is good in spite of the discomfort we are enduring. It is monstrous that two Englishwomen, citizens of the greatest Empire in the world, should be reduced to east roast meat without mustard or pickles. Hoping that we shall meet soon,

“I remain,
              “Your affectionate sister,

“REBECCA SIMONS.”

Monday, May 5, 1856.



I took the letter to the King myself. He looked it over suspiciously, and I was really alarmed lest he should get an inkling of its meaning. Yet I knew he did not understand a word of English, but he inspired me with such a superstitious terror that I thought him capable of anything.

He only seemed satisfied when he got to the figures £4600 sterling. Then he believed that nothing had been said about the carabineers. The letter, with other papers, was placed in a tin 190 cylinder, and entrusted to the “good old man,” who was drunk, but not sufficiently so to prevent his using his legs. My thoughts followed him all along his way. Horace did not look more tenderly after the vessel that carried off Vergil.

Once this great business was over, the King’s manner became pleasanter. He ordered a splendid repast for us, and distributed a double allowance of wine to his men, went to visit the wounded, and with his own hands extracted the ball from Sophocles’ shoulder. The brigands also were told to treat us with the respect due — to our money.

Never did I enjoy a meal so much as that which I now shared with the ladies. It seemed to me that my misfortunes were drawing to a close. In two days I should be free — two days of a sweet captivity! Perhaps on leaving Hadji Stavros, a still more adorable chain might be riveted. I experienced all the ardour of a poet!

But that did not hinder me from doing as much justice to the viands and our excellent wine as Mrs. Simons. That wine of Ægina, my dear sir, has a flavour that one never forgets. I drank to Mary-Ann’s, to her mother’s health, to all our relations, and even to Princess Ypsoff.

Mrs. Simons was anxious to hear the story of the charming Russian, and I had no reason for 191 keeping it a secret. Good examples cannot be too widely known. Mary-Ann looked greatly interested. She declared that the Princess was quite right, and that a woman should marry the man she loves. What a charming sentiment! To hear her make use of it transported me with joy. Ah, Mary-Ann! If those that brave the dangers of the sea could but be guided in their course by stars as beautiful as your eyes!

I was seated at her feet, and while passing her some chicken was so close that twice I saw myself reflected in the limpid azure of those orbs. For the first time in my life, my dear sir, I really began to think that after all I was handsome!

Of course I know all this was not love, and I don’t wish to affect a sentiment I never have expressed. But it indicated at least the existence of a friendship, sufficiently romantic, in my opinion at least, for any man who contemplates marriage. No turbulent emotion accelerated the pulsations of my heart, but it seemed to melt gradually in the presence of Mary-Ann, just as a snowball does in the rays of the sun.

Under the influence of this reasonable ecstasy, the first day I told the history of my life :  described my father’s house — the big kitchen in which we all took our meals together — the copper 192 pans hanging on the wall — the hams and sausages suspended in garlands near the great chimney-place. I did not conceal the modesty, even the poverty, of our household, nor the projects entertained by each member of my honest but humble family.

Henry was to succeed our father; Frederick was apprenticed to a tailor; Frank and Jean-Nicolas had enlisted when they were eighteen. One was brigadier, the other a cavalry quartermaster. I told them all about my studies, my examinations, my little successes at the University; the future before me as Professor, which was sure to lead to the full enjoyment of £120 at least a year. I don’t know whether they cared much to hear all this, but while filling my glass from time to time I was only too pleased to talk about myself and my prospects.

I noticed, however, that after these confidences Mrs. Simons never again alluded to matrimony. Possibly she was right. Since we knew each other so little, it was better not to speak of it at all, than to do so lightly. The next day passed like an hour — I mean a pleasant hour. The next day seemed possibly a little wearisome to Mrs. Simons; as for me, I should have liked to have been able to put back the sun. I taught Mary-Ann the first elements of 193 botany. Ah! my dear sir, the world does not know all the tenderness one can put into a lesson in botany, especially if one happens to be a Professor of the science.

At last, on the following Wednesday morning, the monk returned. After all, he was a worthy little fellow. He had risen at dawn to bring us liberty! For the King he brought a letter from the Director of the bank; for Mrs. Simons a note from her brother.

“You are free, madam,” said Hadji Stavros; “you and your daughter. I trust you will not carry with you a too unfavourable impression of our mountains. We have offered you all we had; if your reception has not been worthy of you, circumstances alone are to be blamed. This morning I lost my temper. I beg of you to pardon me; some allowance should always be made to a vanquished general. If I dared, young lady, to offer you a small present, I would beg you to accept of an antique ring, which can be made smaller to fit you. It has not come to me in the usual way. I bought it from a merchant of Nauplia. You can show this ring in England when relating the particulars of your visit to the King of the Mountains.”

I translated faithfully this little speech, and slipped the ring on Mary-Ann’s finger.

194

“And I, shall I have nothing to remember you by?”

“You, my dear young friend. But you are not leaving us, your ransom is not paid.”

I turned to Mrs. Simons, who gave me her brother’s letter. It ran as follows:

“DEAR SISTER :

“Verification made as you desire. I have paid the £4000 st. against receipt. I could not advance the £600, because the receipt was not in your name, and I should not have been able to recover the sum. In the hope of seeing you very soon,

“I am, your affectionate brother,

“EDWARD SHARPER.”

I had coached Hadji Stavros only too well. Like a good business man, he had sent two receipts!

Mrs. Simons whispered to me :

“You look dumfounded! Is there any reason for being so glum? Show that you are a man. Don’t be so chicken-hearted! The worst is over since we are saved, and without the cost of a farthing. You’ll be able to escape. Your first plan, worth nothing for us, will be excellent for you. On what day may we expect your visit?”

195

I thanked her cordially. She offered me an opportunity of proving to Mary-Ann of what heroism I was capable.

“Yes, madam,” said I, “I’ll escape, and so much the better if I run a little risk. I’m glad my ransom is not paid and I thank your brother for what he has done for me. You shall see that a German knows how to help himself. Yes; you will soon hear from me.”

“Do not forget to visit us as soon as possible.”

“Ah, madam!”

“And now, ask this Stavros to give us an escort of five or six brigands.”

“What for, in the name of heaven?”

“Why, of course, to protect and save us from the police!”






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