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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..76fa260 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #55523 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55523) diff --git a/old/55523-8.txt b/old/55523-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 8f36a0a..0000000 --- a/old/55523-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7574 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Under Greek Skies, by Julia D. Dragoumis - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Under Greek Skies - -Author: Julia D. Dragoumis - -Release Date: September 10, 2017 [EBook #55523] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER GREEK SKIES *** - - - - -Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ for Project -Gutenberg (This file was produced from images generously -made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - UNDER GREEK SKIES - BY - JULIA D. DRAGOUMIS - - - NEW YORK - E·P·DUTTON & COMPANY - PUBLISHERS - - - - - - - - - Copyright, 1913 - BY - E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY - - The Knickerbocker Press, New York - - - - - - - - - TO - MY THREE GRANDCHILDREN - NICO AND ALEXANDRA YANNICOSTA - AND - NADINE RALLI - I DEDICATE THIS BOOK - - - - - - - - -A LETTER TO THE ONE WHO READS THIS BOOK - - -Dear Little Schoolmate: - -If you have read the story of Pilarica and Rafael in sunny Spain, you -know that these "Stories for Little Schoolmates" are being written -about the child you might have been, if your father and mother--or -your grandfathers and grandmothers--had stayed in Spain, or some other -far country, instead of coming across the sea to live in America. "In -Sunny Spain" told you what you might have been doing a few years ago, -if you had been a Spanish child during the Cuban war; and now this -new book will tell you how children work and play in Greece. - -There are not yet many school children with Greek names in the United -States, for most of the Greeks who have come to America have been -young unmarried men, or else like Ulysses they have left their wives -and children in Greece and mean to go back to them. Of course you know -about Ulysses and his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus. He is the -hero of a long and delightful poem called the Odyssey, a Greek tale of -wanderings and adventures by sea and land. There is a story about him -in Hawthorne's "Tanglewood Tales" which I think you must have read; -but if you haven't, why not read it now? These modern Greeks who -love to sail away to new countries make me think of Ulysses, although -their adventures are not always as exciting as his were. But lately, -more and more of them are bringing their families across the sea, -and that means that they will make America their home, and presently -we shall have boys and girls with pretty Greek names, Constantine, -and Iason, and Chryseis, in our schools. - -In the old days, too, not all the Greeks were like Ulysses; they -used to make colonies and homes in other lands; it is no new thing -with them, for Greece has always been a tiny country, not nearly big -enough to hold all her people, nor fertile enough to feed them. There -were Greeks in Italy and Sicily and Asia Minor, in ancient times; and -there were many Greek children in Constantinople, but they--poor little -ones!--were there against their will, for in the fifteenth century -Turkey conquered Greece, and as it was the custom in those days for -the conquered people to pay a tax to their conquerors, Greece had to -pay a tax to Turkey. But not a tax of money. No; Turkey demanded a tax -of children. Year by year, one-fifth of all the little Christian boys -in Greece were taken away from their fathers and mothers and carried -off to Constantinople, where they were educated to be the servants, -or clerks, or soldiers of the Turks. - -If you have read Charles Kingsley's book of "Greek Heroes," this story -of Turkey and the little Greek boys will remind you of the old legend -of the Minotaur, that cruel, man-eating monster who made the Greeks -send him a shipful of young men and maidens every year, until at last -there rose up a hero named Theseus, who was brave enough and strong -enough to slay the dreadful beast. For nearly three hundred years -Turkey was a sort of minotaur, but instead of eating the children she -made them serve her, and she would not let them worship in Christian -churches. The story called "The Finding of the Cave" in this new -book of ours by Madame Dragoumis, tells us something of the War for -Independence which the Greeks fought, in the nineteenth century, -against the Turks, when they at last set themselves free and were no -longer obliged to pay the wicked child-tax. Lord Byron, the English -poet, fought in that war, to help the Greeks, and died at Missolonghi. - -But the Greeks, in the old days, who went to Sicily and Italy and other -countries around the Mediterranean Sea, usually did so of their own -will; and of their own will they are coming to America to-day. You -will wonder, perhaps, why they did not come long ago; why, if they -loved adventure and sea-faring, they did not come with De Soto and Sir -Walter Raleigh, and Champlain, and Captain John Smith, and all those -other gallant gentlemen. But you must remember that in those years, -when America was being settled, Greece was under Turkey's yoke; she -was no longer rich and free, like Spain, or England, or even France; -she could not afford to risk money for ships and expeditions on an -unknown ocean and in lands so far away. Later, when she had won her -independence, she was kept busy putting her home affairs in order, -choosing a king, and trying to earn her own living--which is, of -course, what every nation as well as every man should want to do. But -it is because Greece has not yet been very successful in earning her -own living that her people have begun to come to America. - -One of the ways in which she tried to live was by selling currants to -France. As far back as 1863--half a century ago--a pest attacked the -grapevines in France, so that there were not enough grapes to make -the wine which all the world buys, and France had to use currants -with her grapes. Now currants grow very well in Greece, and the -eager Greeks immediately set to work to raise them for the French -market. But they were so eager that they did a foolish thing: they -neglected their other crops for the sake of the currants; they put -all their eggs in one basket--as the saying goes; and when after many -years and much experimenting, France at last got rid of her grapevine -pest and no more currants were needed to make French wine, the Greek -farmers were left with their currants on their hands. This is one -of the reasons why, since the beginning of the twentieth century, -so many Greeks have come to the United States. - -At first they came only for what they could get. As soon as they had -made a little money, by keeping candy shops and ice cream parlours -and fruit stands, all the husbands and fathers and big brothers -would hurry across the sea again, to spend their earnings at home -in Greece. Little brothers had a harder time. Hundreds of little -brothers, fourteen and fifteen years old, and younger, were sent over -to America by their parents, to earn money as bootblacks. In Greece -many little boys are bootblacks. One of the stories in this book, -"Alexander the Son of Philip," is all about a young Greek lad who -blacked shoes for a living in Athens. Madame Dragoumis, who tells -the story, has also written me a letter, in which she says:-- - -"The third story concerns a little newspaper seller and shoeblack, -which two trades are nearly always combined in Athens. In order to -make this last story clearer to you I must tell you that these little -'loustro' boys as they are called ('loustro' meaning polish and by -extension of meaning polishers or shoe blacks) are a well-known -institution in Athens. They nearly all come from Megaloupolis in -the Peloponnesus, and are noted for their honesty. They are employed -as messenger boys as well, and in the mornings you may see them in -numbers bringing provisions home from the market--which the master of -the house or the cook has bought and sent home by these boys. Examples -of dishonesty are almost unknown amongst them and so jealous are they -of their good reputation that woe betide any boy who might endanger -it--the others would half kill him. A literary and scientific club, -the 'Parnassos' has organized a night school for these boys where they -are well taught for their class and receive money prizes at the end of -the year. The various members take interest in the boys and give them -treats at Easter and on Independence Day (March 25). They do not wear -exactly a uniform but nearly all are dressed in a tunic and trousers -of a striped gray material which is made in Greece and very cheap." - -But the bootblacks who come to America are not so well taken care of -as those who stay in Athens. Perhaps if their fathers and mothers -knew what a hard life they were to lead in the United States they -would not send them. But I am quite sure that little Constantine and -Aleko and the others come eagerly, and are proud to be able to help -support the family. Poor little fellows! They are hired out--sold -is nearer the truth--for a certain number of years, to some older, -craftier countryman who has an American shoe-blacking parlour; -and there they work all day, and far into the night, with never a -holiday. Our Government is trying to put a stop to this hard life, -and there is a law which says that children under sixteen must not -come to America without their parents; but these persistent little -fellows do get in, somehow. Ever since the Greeks got inside the -walls of Troy town, hundreds of years ago, by hiding inside a great -wooden horse, they have found it easy to make their way into other -people's cities whenever they wished to. But now that Greek men are -beginning to bring their wives and families with them to America, -perhaps the little bootblacks will not have such a hard time, for -their parents will find out how badly they have been treated. - -Perhaps also, now that Greeks are making a second home in America, -they will no longer think only of what they can get out of her, but -will want to give as well as to get. We cannot make a home without -giving something to it; every bird who builds a nest knows that. And -the Greeks have great gifts which America needs. - -They have the gift of beauty. If you live in New York or Boston or -Chicago, or any other city where there is an Art museum, no doubt you -often go on Saturday afternoons to see the casts of famous statues -in the museum,--there may even be a cast hanging on your school-room -wall,--and you know that the most beautiful statues, and the most -famous, are those which the Greeks made, hundreds of years ago. With -all our added years of skill and knowledge we have never been able -to make any statues more beautiful than those early Grecian ones. If -the Greeks bring us this gift of beauty, surely America must some -day be a beautiful place to live in, free from crowded tenements, -and lovely with fair dwellings. - -And the gift of wisdom is theirs; for no philosophers are greater than -those ancient Greeks, Socrates and Plato; no poets are greater than -Homer, who told the story of Ulysses, or Æschylus who wrote a play -about how Prometheus brought fire from heaven and gave it to man. Some -day I hope you will read some of this Greek poetry and philosophy; -you will never be a really well-educated man, or woman, unless you do. - -Thirdly, they can give us the key to the out-of-doors. In the ancient -days they were great athletes, they raced and wrestled and leaped, for -the pure joy of motion. What does Marathon mean, little schoolmate? Why -do we call a race a Marathon? Find out! The Greeks can tell you. To-day -they are not such lovers of active sports as they used to be, perhaps, -but they still love to live out-of-doors. At home, many of them are -farmers, growing currants and olives and lemons; they are shepherds, -herding sheep and goats upon the steep hillsides. When I see them -trudging along our gray streets shoving their pushcarts of fruit, -I cannot help wondering if they do not miss their olive orchards and -lemon groves. Even the Greeks who lived in cities, before they came -to us, must long for a glimpse of the Athenian acropolis, sometimes. - -Do you not think we ought to make our American cities beautiful, so -that the immigrants who come to us from more beautiful places need -not be too homesick? - -And now this homesickness of the Greek, this loyalty to his native -land, brings me to the greatest gift he can give us. No matter how -far away from Greece he goes, he carries the love of his country with -him in his heart forever; and whenever she needs him he is ready to -fly to her aid and to spend his money and himself in her service. He -is a great patriot, and his children, born in America, ought to be -even greater than he, for they must carry the love of two countries -in their hearts, and the love of all the races which mingle to make -the man we call an American. - -But I have talked long enough. I know you are in a great hurry to read -the stories which Madame Dragoumis has written for you about the joys -and sorrows of the Greek children who might have been your brothers and -sisters, if you lived in Greece to-day. You will find them very like -you in many ways; very lively and noisy and lovable; patient in work -(are you?); full of courage; fond of play; fond of moving picture -shows, just as you are, for in Athens where once the people used -to go to see the greatest plays in the world acted in the theatre, -the plays of the poet Sophocles and Æschylus and Aristophanes, to-day -there are cheap moving pictures for amusement, just as there are in New -York or Chicago or San Francisco. But we must look forward to the day -when our theatres and our plays shall be as great as those of Greece -used to be, and the Greek children must help us to make them great. - - - Affectionately yours, - Florence Converse. - - - - - - - - -CONTENTS - - - Mattina 3 - The Finding of the Cave 109 - Alexander the Son of Philip 191 - - - - - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - Coming Towards Them Frontispiece - FACING PAGE - Mattina Sat Down 14 - Mattina Set to Work 64 - There Was so Much to Do 138 - Alexander 260 - - - - - - - - -MATTINA - - -I - -With her black kerchief drawn forward over her face to protect her -head from the sun, her back bent under a load of sticks, Mattina, Kyra -[1] Kanella's niece, came stumbling down from the road that leads -from the little spring, the "Vryssoula," through the pine trees, -over the bridge, past the old well, and into the village of Poros. - -It was a big load for a little girl not much over eleven years old, -but her aunt was going to bake, the day after next, and wanted the -sticks to light her oven; so, as Mattina was leaving the island the -next day to go to Athens in the steamer, there would be no one to -get sticks for Kyra Kanella and bring them down to her. - -It is true she had plenty of daughters of her own, but they did not -like carrying sticks on their backs, or walking so far to find them, -and Mattina did not mind. She liked being out on the hills and down -by the sea, more than anything else. Of course she liked it still -better when there was no heavy load of branches or thyme to carry, -but if she had had to choose between staying indoors or in the narrow -village streets, and being out with a load of sticks however big, she -would always have chosen the load. So when her aunt wanted her to go, -she never pulled a crooked face; besides it was only on the way back -that she had the burden to carry; going, she was free to run as she -liked among the trees, to see how far she could throw the pine cones, -to swing herself on the low branches, for everyone knows that pine -branches will carry almost any weight without breaking; and if her way -took her by the sea-shore, she could balance herself on the edge of -the big rocks, or kick off her clumsy shoes and let the water run over -her bare legs. Of course she was not yet old enough to wear stockings. - -Sometimes, when she had no wood to fetch, she would take her little -brother Zacharia with her; but he was only two years old and as he soon -got tired of walking, it was not possible to carry him and the load of -sticks as well. When he had been quite tiny and had lain quiet in his -"naka," the leathern hammock-cradle that is slung over one shoulder, -it was easy to manage him, but he was too big now, so he stayed in -the house, on the other side of the dark arch, with their aunt and -all the cousins, or tumbled about the market square, and played with -the little kids which were tethered round the old marble fountain. - -Mattina stopped a moment to wipe her forehead with the back of her -sleeve. It was only May and the hollows of the hills on the mainland -opposite were still filled with the blue morning shadows, but she -had just left the shady path, slippery with pine needles, for the -stony ledge along the hillside, and it was hot already. There was -not a ruffle on the water, even on the open sea beyond the strip -of the Narrow Beach which joined the wooded part of the island to -the village part. Mattina decided that she would put the child on -her back in the afternoon and carry him to a little crescent-shaped -beach of which she knew on the Monastery road,[2] and let him kick -his little legs in the water. Kyra Sophoula had told her that sea -water was good for him and would make his legs strong. - -Who would take the trouble to carry him to the sea-shore when she was -away? And she was leaving him and the island and everyone she knew, -the next day! - -This was how it happened. - -More than a year ago her father had died of general paralysis, -which is what often happens to sponge-divers[3] when they stay too -long down in deep water. Her mother had been ill long before her -father had been brought home dying, from Tripoli in Barbary, and -after his death she got worse and worse, and had died just before -Easter. The only relations Mattina and little baby Zacharia had left -were an uncle, their mother's brother, who was a baker in Athens, -and Kyra Kanella here in Poros, the wife of old Yoryi the boatman; -and she was not really their aunt, but only their mother's cousin, -and had a great many children of her own. - -Mattina and Zacharia really had another uncle too, a younger brother -of their father's, but he did not count; he had left for America on -an emigrant ship when he was quite a youth, and only wrote letters -home once or twice a year. Mattina remembered that when her father -was away with the sponge-divers, Kyr Vangheli, the schoolmaster, -would read these letters to her mother, and in them it was always -written that her uncle Petro was so pleased in America that he did -not mean to come back for many years. - -So the two orphans had stayed with Kyra Kanella at first, because -there was nowhere else for them to stay, and now she was still going -to keep Zacharia; he was such a little one, and as she told Yoryi -her husband, what the babe ate, nobody could miss it; it was not -more than a sparrow would eat. But Mattina was different; Mattina -was a big strong girl of more than eleven years of age, and she was -going to Athens to be a servant. It had all been arranged some time -ago. Her mother had said to her:-- - -"When I am dead, you must go to Athens, and your uncle Anastasi there, -and his wife, who is a good woman, will find a house in which you -may serve and earn money. Afterwards when you can, you will come -back to Poros and take care of Zacharia; he is not a strong child; -how should he be, the unfortunate one! But you are a strong girl and -you must be a good sister and look after him." - -She had said this the night before she died, when for a moment they -were alone in the house, and when her eyes looked so big. - -There was a tiny bit of land which had belonged to the children's -father, and which was theirs now, but it had given nothing that year; -the crop of olives had been very poor indeed, the rains had come out -of season, and the wind had blown every single almond off the trees; -so that even the poor bits of clothes that Mattina was to take with -her to town in her bundle had been cut down from some old things of -her mother's, and Kyra Sophoula who was a neighbour, had taken them -to her house to stitch them. - -By this time to-morrow, thought Mattina, who had got down to the -Narrow Beach and was passing before the open gates of the Naval -School,[4] it would be nearly time for the steamer to leave; her uncle -would take her in his boat and she would climb up the little ladder -at the side of the steamer up to the deck. She herself, she, Mattina, -would be one of those people whom she had so often watched from the -shore, one of those who were going away to strange parts, who were -leaving the island. - -She stopped to shift her load of branches higher on her back, and a -sailor who was standing by the gates took a step forward and held it -up for her while she took a firmer grasp of the thin rope which kept -it together. - -"God give you many years," she said to him, looking down. She did -not like speaking to strangers, but she remembered what her mother -always used to say to anyone who helped her, and since she was alone -now it was for her to say it. - -The man laughed. - -"The load is bigger than the maid who bears it," he said; then looking -down at her curiously, "Whose are you?" - -"I am Aristoteli Dorri's." - -"What does he do?" - -"He was a sponge-diver, but he died last year." - -"Bah! The unfortunate one! And you carry wood for your mother's -oven, eh?" - -"My mother died also on the Thursday of the Great Week."[5] - -"Bah! The poor child! Here!" he cried, as Mattina was starting off -again, "stop a moment!" and from the bottom of his pocket, he pulled -out a little twist of pink muslin into which were tied five or six -sugared almonds. - -"Take these! They are from a christening, ... you can eat them on -the way." - -Mattina had no pocket, but after she had thanked the sailor, she tied -the almonds into one corner of her kerchief, and trudged on. - -When she reached the first houses of the village, she turned away -from the sea and began climbing up a steep little street, threading -her way between the small houses, disturbing flocks of gray and -white pigeons who fluttered up and settled on the ledges of the low -terraces, between pitchers of water and pots of sweet basil. She -stepped carefully over the ropes of tethered goats, passing by the -open doors of the big church, and stopping for a moment to admire a -length of pink and white cotton stuff which hung outside Kyr Nicola's -shop. If only, she thought, her new dress might have been made of -that! But the brown dress which her mother used to wear on holidays, -before her father died, was still quite good, and it would have been -a sin to waste it; Kyra Sophoula had said so. Moreover she had made -it too wide for Mattina, and with three tucks in it, so that it might -last her for some time to come. - -Before one arrived at Yoryi's house, there was a whole street of low -broad steps which Mattina descended slowly one by one, for her back -was beginning to ache. When she reached the little blue-washed house -she dumped down her load of sticks beside the oven in the courtyard -with a great sigh of relief. - -She found Zacharia whimpering before a half-eaten "koulouri"--a sort of -doughnut with a hole in the middle--which someone had amused himself -by tying to a nail in the wall, so that it dangled just out of reach -of the child's little arms. - -"'Attina! 'Attina!" he cried as soon as he saw her; "My koulou'i! My -koulou'i!" - -She broke the string violently, and thrust the half-eaten koulouri -into the child's outstretched hands, then turning angrily to three -big girls who were seated laughing, on the wooden steps leading to -the flat roof, she cried out:-- - -"What has the child done to you that you are forever tormenting him? A -bad year to you!" - -But they only laughed the louder, and one of them called out:-- - -"Drink a little vinegar, it will calm your rage!" - -Mattina did not answer; she shouldered the water pitcher, took -Zacharia by the hand, and went out again, out through the dark arch -to the Market Square for water. - -"'Attina!" and there was still a little sob in poor Zacharia's voice. - -"Yes, my little bird." - -"My koulou'i is nearly finished." - -"Eat it slowly then," advised the big sister. "And if you only knew -what a good thing I have for you to-morrow!" - -But to-morrow meant nothing to Zacharia. - -"What, 'Attina? What? Give it to me!" - -"Not now. To-morrow. Come then! Come and see all the little boats!" - -When they reached the square, Mattina sat down to rest for a moment on -the deep stone trough built round the fountain under the old eucalyptus -tree. Most of the women had already filled their red earthen pitchers -and were carrying them away on their shoulders. - -Only one old woman was still leaning against the trunk of the tree, -waiting for her pitcher to fill itself. As she saw Mattina she -stepped forward. - -"It is well I find you. Tell your aunt that the clothes are -finished. She can send you to take them." - -"I will tell it to her." - -"It is to-morrow you leave?" - -"Yes, it is to-morrow." - -"And who takes you?" - -"I go with Yanni, the messenger." - -"Listen, Mattina," said the old woman, "I have stitched you a pocket -into the brown frock. In the town it is not like here; sometimes you -may have some money, or someone may send you a letter; you must have -somewhere to put things." - -Mattina's eyes brightened. - -"A pocket!" she exclaimed, "like the big maids have!" - -"You are well nigh a big maid now!" - -The word pocket reminded Mattina of her sugared almonds. - -"Kyra Sophoula," she begged, "see, I have some sweets here. A sailor -gave them to me, he said they were from a christening. Take them, -you, and hide them away, and to-morrow after I go, take this little -one to your house for a while, and give them to him. He cries when I -leave him; and the others at the house, they torment him always. Do -this for me, and may your children live to you!" - -The old woman took the twist of muslin and put it into her apron -pocket. - -"Surely, I will, my daughter, surely I will." Then she lifted her -pitcher which had filled, gurgled, and overflowed, set it carefully -on the ledge, and turned to Zacharia who was struggling for what -remained of his koulouri, with a woolly black puppy. - -"Come here, you little one!" - -Kyra Sophoula was a funny old woman, as brown and as wrinkled as a -quince that has been hung up too long, but children never ran away -from her, even the tiny ones. Zacharia successfully rescued the last -remnant of the koulouri from the puppy's teeth, and came, looking up -at her with round black baby eyes. - -"If a good little boy who does not cry ... a golden little boy, comes -with me to my house to-morrow, I shall have ... two sugar comfits, -and a whole dried fig to give him! And if this golden little child -never cries at all, there will be some more comfits the next day! I -wonder if I shall find a good little boy, like that?" - -Zacharia rubbed his black curls confidingly against the old woman's -skirts, and murmured:-- - -"Me!" - -"Ah, we shall see fine things, that golden boy and I!" then turning -to Mattina:-- - -"Tell me; your uncle Anastasi and his wife, have they found a good -house in which you may serve?" - -"Not yet; my uncle sent a letter to say that it would be better if I -did not go till September, because there are more people who change -servants at that time, but my uncle Yoryi here, he says that I must -go to my uncle Anastasi's now at once, and let them find a house for -me to serve, when they can. He says he will keep the little one, but -that I am a big girl, and that he has fed me long enough. It is true," -she added gravely, "that my hunger is great." - -Kyra Sophoula nodded her head. - -"Yoryi is a poor man," she said, "also, he has daughters to marry." - -"Is it far to Athens?" asked Mattina. - -"Myself--I have never been there, but Metro has told me that one does -not reach the town till long after noon." - -"Kyra Sophoula, do you think that after some time, when I earn money -and can pay the fare on the steamer myself, that where I serve they -will let me return for a few days to see if the little one be well?" - -The old woman shrugged her shoulders. - -"Do I know?" - -"But if I tell them how little he is, and that we have no mother?" - -"Listen, my daughter!" said Kyra Sophoula, as both she and Mattina -shouldered their pitchers and turned towards the dark arch, Zacharia -pattering behind them on little bare brown feet, "listen! there is -one thing that you must put well into your head, that in the town -it is not like here on the island, where everyone knows you and -who your father and mother were. I know, because Andriana served, -and Calliope served, and my Maroussa served also for a time. In the -town when they take you as a servant and pay you a wage for serving, -it is work that they want from you, as much as they can get. They do -not know you, nor do they mind whether you like to work, nor whether -you are well or ill, as long as your legs will hold you; neither do -they care whether your heart be glad or troubled. But you, you must -remember always that your father was a good man, and that your mother -was a hard-working housewife who always kept her floors well scrubbed, -and kneaded her own bread, and for whom all had a good word; and you -must do the work that they give you, and not be thinking all day long -of when you can leave it. As for the child, be easy! Kyra Kanella has -not a bad heart, and I will see him often, and perhaps some time when -the schoolmaster has leisure I will ask him to send you a letter. But -you, be a good girl in the town, and mind well that you never touch -aught without it be given to you, even if you have to go hungry, -for as they say, 'Better to lose your eye than your good name.'" - - - - - -II - -It was a forlorn little figure that knelt on a bench of the out-going -steamer next morning. A little figure clad for the journey in a short -outgrown print frock, with an old gray jacket which had once belonged -to her aunt, tightly buttoned over it. - -Mattina was looking with wide open eyes at all the familiar landmarks -as they seemed to glide past her; at the big clock tower of the Naval -School with its waving flag, at the little coffee-house of the White -Cat down on the shore, at the Red House on the hill, at the Garden -on the mainland where she had often been with her mother to help in -the picking of the lemons, at the white blur far away in the hills, -which was the village of Damala. But when the steamer turned round -the corner by the lighthouse and Poros was hidden from her sight, -she twisted herself round and sat down on the bench, her back huddled -up like an old woman's, and her eyes fixed on the deck. - -When the steamer stopped at Methana,[6] she stood up and watched the -shore, but it already seemed strange and foreign to her; the gray -rocks, bare of pine trees, the line of bathing houses, the bright -yellow colour of the water close to the land, which someone said came -from the sulphur of the baths, the big white hotel, the strange boatmen -rowing backwards and forwards; all was new and in some curious way -terrifying. The boatmen shouting to each other seemed to be shouting -at her, and the sun shining on the sea made so many glittering little -pinpricks of light that she closed her eyes not to see them. - -After Methana, the steamer began to move a great deal more than it -had done at first, and she went back to her bench for fear she should -fall. For a short time she was interested in a little toddling boy -belonging to a woman who seemed asleep, her kerchief shadowing the -upper part of her face. The boy was not at all like Zacharia, being -much fatter, and with hair which was almost yellow, but he took bites -out of his koulouri all round, just as Zacharia did. Mattina made -timid advances to him, but he ran away from her to a white-bearded -old priest on the next bench, and began to wipe his wet little mouth -and hands, all over koulouri crumbs, on the black robes. Mattina -expected that the old priest would be angry, but he only smiled and -patted the little yellow head. - -While she watched them, the priest's black figure seemed to mount -up, up, up, against the glittering sea, and then to sink down again -as though it were never coming up. It hurt her to look at it, and -she folded her arms on the back of the bench and laid her head on -them. Perhaps she was going to sleep; she had been up very early -that morning; but she did not feel at all sleepy, only very hot and -miserable. She began to long for a drink of water; perhaps she was -thirsty, but she felt afraid to move. Her uncle Yoryi when he had -put her on board had said, "Do not leave your seat, or someone may -take it." - -The woman with the child had a pitcher with her; it stood on the deck -beside a big bundle and a little shining green trunk, studded with -brass nails; and the mouth of the pitcher was stopped by a bunch of -myrtle leaves. Mattina ventured to nudge the woman's elbow. - -"Kyra," she asked, "may I drink from your 'stamna'?" - -The woman opened her eyes with a little groan and, thrusting her arm -into an opening of the big bundle, pulled out a short thick tumbler -and handed it to her. Mattina poured some water into it and drank, -but somehow it tasted bitter, not like Poros water. She put the -tumbler back without even wiping it, and sank back on her bench. - -How hot it was, and how miserable she felt! - -She bent forward and hid her head in her arms. - -It was so, that Yanni the messenger found her a little later when -they were outside Ægina.[7] - -"Bah!" he exclaimed, pulling her head back, "what a colour is this? You -are as yellow as a Good Friday candle! The sea has spoiled you, I -see! Your head is giddy. Here, lie down! Put your head back on this -bundle! You will be better so." - -Mattina made no resistance, but as she fell back she murmured:-- - -"It is not my head, it is my stomach which is giddy." - -It went on getting so much giddier that when at last they arrived -at Piræus[8] Yanni had to carry her down the side of the steamer to -the little boat and when she was lifted out on the quay she could -scarcely stand. However, the fresh air and the walk to the railway -station revived her. - -The railway carriage in which they traveled up to Athens was very -crowded, and the fat woman sitting next to Mattina seemed very cross. - -"Why do they not put more carriages?" she enquired of no one in -particular. "We are jammed as flat here as squashed mosquitoes." But -to Mattina who had never even ridden in a cart in her life, it was -wonderful. The swift rushing, the bump, bump of the carriages, the -man with a gold band on his cap who looked at the tickets and gave -them back again, and who said to Yanni while he was searching for -theirs, "Come, now; hurry! The new day will dawn by the time you find -it!" ... the stopping at Phalerum[9] and at the Theseum[10] before -they got out at the Monastiraki[11] Station. - -Then there was the street-car; the rush through narrow streets at -first, and then through wider and wider ones, till they stopped -at a wonderful big square full of people. In all her eleven years, -Mattina had never imagined so many men and women and children and -horses and carriages together. The square seemed to her surrounded -by palaces, till Yanni showed her the one in which the King lived, -and over which the flag was flying. - -Then the car went on again, and the streets got narrower again, and -at last Yanni got off the little platform at the back of the car and -Mattina scrambled after him. - -"Come!" he said, "your uncle's oven is quite close by here and I have -work to do after I leave you." - -Up one narrow steep street, a turn to the left, along a still -narrower street almost like a Poros one but far, far dustier, and -they came to a stop before a small baker's shop. On the open slab -of the window were quantities of ring-shaped loaves, and heaped up -piles of oven-cakes covered with squares of pink muslin. A man was -counting some smaller loaves in the dimness of the back of the shop, -and a tidy stout woman in a big blue apron was standing at the door. - -"Good day to you," said Yanni, "I bring you your niece from Poros." - -"Bah!" exclaimed the woman, "has she come to-day? I thought they said -on Saturday." - -Yanni shrugged his shoulders. - -"Do I know what they said? Yoryi gave her to me this morning, to -bring straight to you. What I am told, I do." - -"It does not matter," said the woman quickly, "it does not matter at -all. Welcome, my girl! Come in! Come in!" Then turning towards the -back of the shop, "Anastasi, your niece has arrived!" - -Her husband started, left his loaves and came forward. He was a thin -man with stooping shoulders, and a look in his eyes which reminded -Mattina of her mother and made a lump come into her throat so that -she could scarcely answer when he spoke to her. - -"Welcome, my maid, for your mother's sake," he said. "When I saw you -in Poros you were so high only; now you have grown a big maid! And -Kanella, and Yoryi, and their children, and the little one, are they -well? How did you leave them?" - -"They are well," stammered Mattina, "they salute you." - -Her uncle Anastasi turned to his wife:-- - -"Demetroula," he said, "take the child in; she will be hungry; look -to her while I pay Yanni for his trouble." - -Her aunt took Mattina into a little room which opened on the courtyard, -and taking her bundle from her, pushed it under a big bed in the -corner. Mattina had never seen her before. The poor do not take -journeys for pleasure, or for the sake of visiting their relations. But -her new aunt had a kind round face and pretty shiny brown hair which -one could see quite well, as she did not wear a kerchief; and when she -spoke she smiled very often, so that Mattina did not feel shy with her. - -"Come here to the window," she said, "and let me look better at -you. Ah, yes; it is your poor father that your face brings back to one, -not your mother at all. Now, my girl," and she let her hand fall on -Mattina's shoulder as she spoke, "let us say things clearly! You did -well to come, and it is with joy that your uncle and I would keep you -to live here with us. How should it not be so, since God has given -us no children? A piece of bread and a mattress there would always -be for you. But we are poor people, and, ... that would be all; so -it would be a sin to keep you with us. It is myself I injure when I -say this, for you would be a great help to me in the house. But that -you should work, and get only your bread for it!--no, that must not -be! We have spoken with your uncle, and he thinks as I do. What do -you say also? Do you not wish to earn money?" - -"Yes, my aunt." - -"Well, then, see what good luck you have! We thought that not till -September could a house be found, but only yesterday the boy from the -grocer's round the street, told me that his brother who works for -a butcher in the Piræus Road, knows a house where they are looking -for a serving maid. It is a good house, he says, where they buy meat -every day; there are only two small children, and the master has -a shop of his own in the big street of shops. The lady, he said, -prefers a girl from the islands who has not as yet served, and she -will give ten drachmæ[12] a month and dress her. So that you will have -naught to spend and we can put all your money in the People's Bank -for you. Will not that be well?" - -"Yes, my aunt." - -"Good!" said Kyra Demetroula, "I will take you there to-morrow early, -to speak with the lady. Now come and eat! There is plenty left of -the artichoke stew, and I will warm it up for you." - - - - - -III - -So, early the next morning, after the boy from the grocer's round the -street had given the necessary directions, they found themselves in the -neighbourhood of the Piræus Road, and Mattina toiled after her aunt, -up narrow dusty streets in search of the house where a new serving -maid was wanted. - -She was very hot and uncomfortable, for her aunt had insisted on her -wearing her new brown frock with the pocket in it, as being by far -the best in her bundle. This it certainly was, but also very thick -and warm and the heat was coming fast that year. Though the Saint's -day of St. Constantine and St. Helen was till some time off, the May -wreaths--which are hung over all balconies or front doors of houses in -Athens on the first day of May and left hanging there until replaced by -the fresh wreath, the following year--were already hanging withered and -yellow from the house doors and balconies. After many wrong turnings, -and many inquiries at neighbouring grocers' and bakers' shops, the -aunt and the niece stopped before the wide open door of a house in -a street behind the Piræus Road. The narrow entry certainly looked -as if it were a long time since the last serving maid had scrubbed -it. A woman with a long face and a fat body was standing just inside -with a packet of macaroni in her hands. - -"What do you want?" she called out sharply. - -Kyra Demetroula advanced a step. - -"Good day to you, Kyria," and as she said it she pushed Mattina a -little forward. "They told us that you wanted a girl to serve you, -and because we have heard much good of your house, I have brought -you my niece." - -"Your niece! What? That child! Much work she can do! Who sent you?" - -"It was the butcher in the big road here, who told us that...." - -"Come inside! Let me see her better! I should never think of such -a small maid but that it is a bad season for servants, and that I -have been three days without one." Then turning to Mattina, "How old -are you?" - -Now no one had ever thought of telling Mattina her age; she was a -big girl, since her mother had often trusted her of late to make -the bread, and that was all she knew about it. She looked up at the -woman and noticed that she had little black eyes like currants, a -nose that went in before it came out, and a mouth that had no lips; -then she quietly answered her question by another one. - -"How should I know my years?" - -Her aunt interposed hurriedly:-- - -"She must be fourteen, Kyria." - -"Fourteen! Vegetable marrows! She is not even twelve! From where -is she?" - -"From Poros." - -"Poros! I have had many serving-maids from Andros, and some from Tenos, -and one came from Crete, but from Poros ... h'm...." - -"It is a beautiful island!" returned Mattina, flushing angrily that -anyone should "H'm" at her island. "It has hills and trees down to -the sea, and lemon woods, and big fig trees, and the Sleeper, such -a high mountain as you never saw, and the sea all round everywhere." - -"How should the sea not be round everywhere on an island? Is the girl -an idiot?" and the woman looked at Kyra Demetroula. - -"She has but just come from there," ventured the latter. "Have sympathy -with her; she has not yet learned town speech." - -The woman sniffed. - -"Well, what can you do?" - -"I can do much." - -"What?" - -"I can scrub boards till they are quite white, I can wash clothes, -I can knead three okes[13] of dough at a time, I can weave yarn at the -loom and I can row in a big boat with both oars together." - -The woman laughed. - -"Truly, that will be very useful here! You can row the master to the -shop, every morning." - -Mattina looked at her pityingly; she had never before heard people -say things that meant something else. - -"That is foolish talk, ..." she began, but her aunt pushed her aside -hurriedly:-- - -"She is very strong, Kyria; when her poor mother, God rest her soul, -lay for three months on her mattress, Mattina here kept all the -house clean and looked after her little brother as well. Take her, -and you will never repent it." - -Just at that moment a hand organ stopped outside in the street, and -began to play the valse from the Dollar Princess. Mattina, with never -a look at the two women, who went on talking, ran out of the passage -to the open street door. All the music she had ever heard in her life -had been the harsh tuneless tunes which men sang sometimes in Poros -at the tavern after they had been drinking, or at best the little folk -songs which the officers of the Naval School sang to the accompaniment -of a guitar on moonlight nights. This beautiful swinging tune coming -out of the tall box when the man turned a handle, was quite new, -and she stood there listening with wide open eyes, her arms hanging -loosely on either side of her, and her lips apart. So intent was she -that at first she did not hear her aunt calling her. - -"Mattina! Mattina! Where has the child gone? Mattina! Mattina, I tell -you! Do you not hear?" - -"I hear," she answered at last, retracing her steps reluctantly. - -"Come, my child; all is arranged. This good Kyria says she will take -you and teach you many things. She gives only eight drachmæ a month -now, because she wanted a bigger girl. I do not know, that is to say, -whether your uncle will like you to come for so little, but...." - -"Of course," put in the fat woman, "she will have her shoes, a woolen -dress in the winter, two print ones in summer, and her present at -New Year." - -As she walked back to the baker's shop with her aunt, Mattina was busy -thinking. The dresses did not interest her very much, though she hoped -that one of them might be a pink one, but the present at New Year, -that was another thing! She knew all about presents, though she had -never received one herself. When Panouria, old Lenio's Panouria, -had been married to Theophani the shoemaker, did not her father -make her a present of a big mirror with a broad gold frame all round -it? This mirror had been brought from Piræus, and Mattina had seen -the men taking it carefully out of its wooden case, and had heard the -neighbours who were standing around, saying that it was a present to -Panouria from her father. Did not Stavro, the son of Pappa Thanassi, -send a present to his mother from America, a big rocking chair all -covered with red velvet? Did not the little ladies from the Red House -on the hill once give a present to Antigone, who lived in the small -house near their gate, when she was so ill, a wonderful doll with -yellow hair, that opened and shut its eyes like a real Christian? Yes, -she knew all about presents! They were beautiful things which were -not really necessary to every-day life, but which people who had -much money gave you to make your heart joyful. Later on, when her -aunt related to her uncle all that the new Kyria had said, adding:-- - -"I could not get more from her than eight drachmæ for the child; -she looks of the kind that counts every lepton,"[14] Mattina had -said:-- - -"But there will also be a present at New Year!" - -And her aunt had replied in a funny voice,--"Oh, yes! And a fine -present that will be I am sure!" - -Then Mattina's joy was complete. Not only was she to have a present, -but her aunt had said she was sure it would be a fine one; and surely -she knew all about town ways, and the kind of presents that are given -there. Mattina, you see, was not used to people who said one thing, -in fun, and meant another. She often thought of that present, and of -what she would like it to be, if she might choose. And certainly the -poor maid required the comfort of this thought in the long dreary -days which followed the one when she had been left with her bundle -at the house where she was to serve. - -It was not the hard work she minded. She had had plenty of that in -Poros; scrubbing, weaving, bread-making which makes the arms so tired, -carrying heavy burdens till one's back feels as if it would break in -two; all this she knew, but it had been at home in her own island in -Poros, surrounded by people who knew her and had known her father -and mother, and who had a good word for her now and then. And when -work was over, she had been free to run wild among the pines and on -the sea-shore. But work in town never seemed to be over. - -Her mother and Kyra Sophoula had often called her a good little worker, -and strong and quick, but in Athens her mistress was always telling -her she had never seen such a clumsy child in her life. Perhaps she -may have been awkward at first, and did break a plate or two, when -it came to washing up basins full of greasy pans, and platters, and -plates, and knives, and forks all muddled up together. But necessity -compelling,--and the difficulty of dodging a blow on the head, when -one's arms are dipped in soap-suds, and one is standing on a shaky -stool,--made her learn pretty fast how to be careful. Also, at home, -Zacharia had long ago pattered after her on his little bare feet, but -here in Athens, "Bebeko" the smaller of her mistress's two boys who -was nearly a year older, always cried to be carried when she took them -out, and Mattina found that to carry a fat, squirming, cross boy of -three, and have another of five hanging heavily on her arm or skirts, -was far worse than the heaviest load of sticks she had ever borne. - -May melted into June, and June into July, and the days grew hotter -and hotter, and longer and longer, and the longer they grew the more -time there was for work, and the less for sleep. Mattina's mattress -was in a little dark room half way up the stairs, and as soon as -it was light in the mornings, her mistress would pound on the floor -above, with a walking stick which she kept beside her bed, for the -little maid to get up, sweep the rooms, brush the master's clothes, -and prepare his coffee for him before he went to his shop; and in -June and July it is light very early indeed. - -Later on in the morning, Mattina used to bring out a big table cover -to shake outside the front door, and her gesture as she shook it, -had anyone cared to watch her, was strong, decided and thorough. One -could see that she would grow into a strong capable woman; that she -would know how to lift things, how to handle them, how to fold them; -that whatever she touched would be the better for her touching. And -as she shook the dust out, while the hot sun beat down upon her head, -she would close her eyes and try to fancy that the whistle of the -distant Kiphissia[15] train was the whistle of the morning steamer -coming into the bay of Poros and that she need only open her eyes to -see the glittering blue water before her, and the fishing boats with -the white and red sails gliding across it; but when she opened them -she only saw potato peels and pieces of old lettuce floating forlornly -on the dirty stream of water beside the sidewalk. This stream was -here because there was a public tap round the corner of the street, -and the slatternly women who went there for water, the heels of their -loose down-trodden slippers tap-tapping on the pavement as they walked, -generally neglected to close it. - -One evening, when the food for supper was not enough, Mattina's -mistress sent her out to the grocer's in the Piræus Road to buy some -sardines; and while she was waiting to be served, she noticed four -men sitting outside the shop around a little table. One of the men -was strumming a guitar, and suddenly very softly they began to sing -all together. They sang the "tsopanoulo," that song of the "shepherd -boy" which Mattina had so often heard the young officers singing as -they rowed themselves about the bay on moonlit nights "at home." - -She leaned against the door of the shop and closed her eyes very tight. - -"I will not look," she thought, "I will only listen, and it will be -for a little as if I were back in my island." - -And because there is nothing like music to remind one of places, unless -it be scent, a picture arose behind her closed eyelids, of the quiet -dark water, of the broad golden path of the moon, and of the little -boat that glided through the gold; and as she watched the picture, two -tears trickled from the eyes that were shut, and ran down her cheeks. - -"Now, my girl," said a voice beside her suddenly, "here are your -sardines!" and a greasy paper was thrust into her hand. - -Oh, how it hurt, to have to open her eyes, to take what was given to -her, to pay her lepta, and to stumble out half dazed into the street. - -Once there, she thought for a moment that she was still dreaming, -for on the side walk, talking to a man in a straw hat, was an old -sea captain in the cross-over vest and the baggy blue breeches such -as she had seen hundreds of times on the quay at home. - -"The wind has turned a little chilly," the man in the straw hat was -saying, "and there are many clouds in the sky. It will rain I think -before night." - -Mattina instinctively raised her eyes to the west, and half -unconsciously repeated what she had so often heard her father say:-- - - - "If but the Western sky be clear, - Though East be black, you need not fear." - - -then pointing with her finger where the sky was still of a dusky pink, -she said, "There are no clouds there." - -The captain turned suddenly, and looked at the odd little figure in -her white festooned apron that hung far below her frock, with her -short black plaits tied round her head. - -"That is what we say in my country." Then stooping a little. "From -where are you? Are you from Poros, perhaps?" - -Mattina gulped down a lump in her throat. - -"Yes, I am from Poros." - -"Whose are you?" - -"Aristoteli Dorri's, the sponge diver's." - -"Ah, yes! The poor one! I heard that he had died. And did your mother -send you here?" - -"My mother wept much after my father died, and then she coughed more -than she did before, and then she got worse, and then she died." And -Mattina turned her back on the men, and twisted and untwisted the -end of the paper in which the sardines were wrapped. - -"Now, lately?" asked the captain. - -"It was on the Thursday of the Great Week." - -"Well! Well! Life to you! It is a dirty world! With whom do you -live now?" - -"I serve at a house." - -"You have no one in Athens?" - -"I have my uncle Anastasi the baker, and my Aunt Demetroula, but they -live far from here near the Kolonaki."[16] - -"Ah, Anastasi Mazelli, your mother's brother; I know him. A good -man! When you see him give him my salutations. Say they are from -Capetan Thanassi Nika of Poros, and he will know." - -"I will say it to him," answered Mattina. - -"Well, the good hour be with you, little compatriot!" - -Mattina walked back to the house very slowly, with her eyes fixed on -the pavement. The talk about her people, the sound of a Poros voice, -had brought back so much to her! She thought of the good times when her -"babba," as she called her father, came home from a long absence with -the sponge-divers--filling the room with his laugh, the little bare -clean room with the big pot of sweet basil on the window seat--telling -all that had happened: how this one had not been able to stay so long -under water, and that one, the lazy dog, had pretended to be ill, -and how the captain had called on him again and again--"Come then, -you, Aristoteli! I would rather work with you alone than with ten -others; you are always ready to get your head into the helmet." And -Mattina, seated on his knees, would clap her hands with pride, crying, -"My Babba is always ready!" and her mother cooking a hot dinner in -honor of the return, would shake her head and mutter, "Too ready; -too ready," but would smile at them the next moment, as she emptied -the stew from the pan to the dish and told them to get their plates -ready. After her father had died, the house was never so bright again; -there was no laughing in it. Still, she had had her mother then, and it -was she whom Mattina missed most, for she had never been away from her. - - - - - -IV - -All the next day Mattina thought of the old captain, and in the -afternoon she told Antigone how she had met a compatriot, and what he -had said to her. This was when they sat side by side on the steps of -their "houses" to take the cool of the evening, after their mistresses -had gone out. - -Antigone was the serving maid of the next house, which was kept by -a widow who let the rooms out to different lodgers. This maid was -much older than Mattina and puffed out her hair at the sides, besides -wearing a hat with pink flowers on it when she went out on Sundays. - -"Your heart seems to hold very much to that island of yours!" she -was saying. "What is there different in it to other places?" - -Mattina tried to tell her; but talking about Poros was like relating a -dream which has seemed so long and which one still feels so full and -varied, but which somehow can only be told in the fewest and barest -of words. - -"Is that all?" exclaimed Antigone, "just trees, and rocks, and sea, -and fisher folk, and boatmen? It would say nothing to me! But each -one to his taste. Why do you not go back to it and work there?" - -"I cannot; each one works for himself on the island; there are no -houses in which to serve, there is no money to earn." - -Antigone shrugged her shoulders. - -"Truly it is much money you are earning here! Eight drachmæ a month, -and your shoes," with a contemptuous glance at Mattina's feet, -"all worn out!" - -"There are only three holes," said Mattina gravely, "and she," with -a backward jerk of her thumb, "said I should have new ones next week." - -Antigone laughed. - -"You will get them on the week that has no Saturday." - -"And at New Year," went on Mattina, "she will give me a present!" - -"Give you a present! She! Your Kyria! You have many loaves to eat, -my poor one, before that day dawns!" - -"But she said so." - -"She said and she will unsay!" - -"But my aunt heard it, too, and she told my uncle it would be a -fine one." - -"Your aunt does not know her, and I have lived next door to her it -is three years now, and I have known all her servants. Some people -give presents, yes, they have good hearts; but your mistress would -never give a thing belonging to her, no, not even her fever! Now -there is the 'Madmazella' who lives in the ground floor room at our -house. She gives lessons all day long, and she has not much money, -yet she often gives me things. When she came back from her country -last time, she brought me a silk blouse ready sewn with little flowers -all over it, and lace at the neck. And the other day she put her two -hats into one paper box, and gave me the other one to keep my hat in, -because it gets crushed in my trunk. And always with a good word in -her mouth! So I too when she is ill, I run for her till I fall. She -is going away again to her country, in a few days now, and she says -that when she comes back she will bring me a new hat." - -But Mattina's mind was running on her present. - -"I do not want a silk blouse, nor a box for a hat, because," she added -as an afterthought, "I have no hat. But I should like very much if -someone would give me a picture with a broad gold frame, which I saw -in the window of a shop the other day when I took the children out. It -was the picture of the sea, and there was a boat on it with a white -sail, and you could see the sail in the water all long and wavy, as -you do really, and if you touched the water you thought your finger -would be wet. That is what I wish for." - -"A picture! And where would you hang it?" - -Mattina thought for a moment. - -"I do not know," she said at last, "but it would be mine, and I could -look at it every day." - -"You! with your seas, and your rocks, and your island!" exclaimed -the older girl as she stooped to pick up her crochet work which had -fallen off her knees. "Even if it were Paris, you could not make more -fuss about it." - -"What is Paris?" - -"Paris is the country from where Madmazella comes. She says it is a -thousand times more beautiful than Athens." - -Mattina looked about her, at the women who sat chatting before the -narrow doorways behind which were occasional glimpses of crowded -courtyards and linen spread out to dry, at the dirty little trickle of -water along the sidewalk with its accustomed burden of rotting lettuce -leaves, at the children scrambling and shouting in the thick dust of -the road, and sighed. She could not have told why she sighed, nor have -put into words what she found so ugly about her, so she only said:-- - -"Perhaps it is better there than here." - -That Athens has beauties of its own, which people travel from distant -lands to see, she knew not. Its charms were not for her. When she -walked out with Taki and Bebeko, the pavements hurt her badly shod -feet, and the glare of the tall white houses hurt her eyes. As for the -beautiful Royal Gardens with their old trees and their shady paths, -their pergolas, their palms, their orange trees and their sheets of -violets, as for the Zappion[17] from whose raised terrace one can see -the columns of the old Temple of Jupiter, the Acropolis,[18] the marble -Stadium,[19] and Phalerum and the sea, all of which together make what -is perhaps the most beautiful view in all Europe, ... she had never -been there! Those were walks for the rich and well-born children -whom she sometimes saw wheeled about in little carriages by foreign -nurses who were dressed all in white with little black bonnets tied -with white strings. How could she lug two heavy children so far? No, -Athens for her was made up of hot narrow streets, of much noise and -hard pavements. - -The very next morning while she was sweeping out the passage, she -saw Antigone in her best dress and her hat with the pink flowers, -beckoning to her from outside the house. - -"What is it?" exclaimed Mattina, "how is it you are dressed in your -fine things in the morning? What is happening?" - -"It is happening that I am going! That old screaming mistress of mine -has sent me off!" - -"But what did you do?" - -"I only told her I was not a dog to be spoken to as she speaks to me, -and she told me to go now at once! Well, it matters little to me; -there is no lack of houses, and better than hers a thousand times! I -am a poor girl without learning, but I should be ashamed to scream as -she does when anger takes her. Why, you can hear her as far off as -the square! Well, if she thinks I shall regret her and her screams, -she deceives herself! See, I leave you the key of my trunk. I will -send my brother for it this evening, if he can come so far; he lives -at the Plaka[20] you know. And I will tell him to ask you for the key: -I will have no pryings in my things. And Mattina...." - -"Yes?" - -"Do me a favor and may you enjoy your life!" - -"What shall I do?" - -"Who knows when the old woman in there will get another girl to serve, -and there is that poor Madmazella who is ill, and in bed again to-day, -and not a soul to get her a glass of water! Go in you, once or twice, -will you not? Her room is over there; it opens on the courtyard by -a separate door, so you need not go near the rest of the house at all." - -"I will go," said Mattina. - -"I shall owe it you as a favor. Well, Addio--good-by--perhaps I shall -see you again." - -"The good hour be with you!" said Mattina, and then ran back into -the house, hearing her master calling her. - -Later in the day, when her mistress had gone out for the afternoon, -Mattina filled a glass with cold water and carried it carefully into -the neighbouring courtyard. She found the ground floor room easily, -and lifting the latch, stood hesitatingly in the doorway. Tapping at -a door was unknown in Poros etiquette. - -A young woman with a pale face and tumbled fair hair lay on the bed -in a corner of the room. - -She opened her eyes as the door creaked, and smiled at Mattina. - -"What is it, little one? Whom do you want?" - -"Antigone said ..." and Mattina shifted from one foot to another, -"that there was not a soul to get you a glass of water." - -The young woman raised herself on her elbow, and her fair hair fell -about her shoulders. - -"And so you came to bring me one! But what kindness! I accept with -gratitude; but it is not water I want. Since the morning I have taken -nothing, and I have a hollow there, which gives me still more pain -in the head." - -Mattina looked puzzled; she did not know what a "hollow" was. - -"Listen, little one: on the shelf of that cupboard there, there is -a small box of chocolate; it is in powder all ready and my spirit -lamp wants but a match to it. Bring then your glass of water; you -see we do require it after all, pour it in the little pan, and the -chocolate, so ... stir it a little with the spoon, and we will wait -till it bubbles. You can wait a little.... Yes? Is it not so?" - -"I can wait; the Kyria is out." - -"Then pull that little table close to my bed. Ah! How it hurts my -head! Scarcely can I open my eyes." - -"Close them," said Mattina; "I will tell you when it boils." - -Deftly she pulled forward the little table, straightened the tumbled -sheets, and closed the open shutters so that the hot afternoon sun -should not pour on the bed. Then she stood by the spirit lamp, and -watched the frothing mixture. - -"It boils," she announced at last. - -The young woman opened her eyes. - -"Ah, the glare is gone!" she said, "how well that is for my poor -eyes. But you are a good fairy, my little one! Now bring the cup -from that shelf.... No; bring two! There is plenty of chocolate, -and I am quite sure you like it also." - -"I do not know," said Mattina. "It smells good but I have never -tasted it." - -"Never tasted chocolate! Oh, the poor little one! Quick! Bring a cup -here, and bring also that box of biscuits from the lower shelf! I am -sure you are hungry. Is it not so?" - -"Yes," assented Mattina, "I am always hungry. My mistress," she added -gravely, "says that I eat like a locust falling on young leaves." - -"Like a locust! But what a horror! It is a sign of good health to be -hungry. Come then, my child, drink, and tell me if it be not excellent, -my Paris chocolate?" - -So Mattina tasted her first cup of French chocolate, and found it -surpassingly good. - -And the next day, and for three days after that, in the afternoons, -when she might have sat down to rest on the doorstep, Mattina would -lift the latch of the room in the courtyard, while "Madmazella" -was out giving lessons, and sweep, and dust, and tidy, and put fresh -water into the pretty vase with the flowers, and clean the trim little -house shoes, and fill the spirit lamp. - -But on the fifth day, a carriage came to the door of the next house, -and the coachman went into the ground floor room and brought out a -trunk, which he lifted to the box, and "Madmazella" came out also in -a dark blue dress, with a gray veil tied over her hat, and a little -bag in her hand, ready to go away to her own country. - -Mattina stood outside on the pavement looking on, and there was a -lump in her throat. - -"Madmazella" got into the open one-horse carriage and beckoned to her. - -"Come here, my little one! You have been of a goodness,--but of a -goodness to me that I do not know how to thank you; I shall bring you -a whole big box of chocolates from Paris when I return; and now take -this very little present, and buy something as a souvenir of me! Is -it not so?" - -She smiled and waved her hand as the carriage drove off, and only -when it was quite out of sight did Mattina look at what had been -pressed into her hand. It was a crumpled five drachmæ note and Mattina -looked at it with awe. She wondered whether it would be enough to -buy the picture with the boat, in case the New Year present should -be something else. In the meanwhile where should she keep it? - -Suddenly she thought of the pocket Kyra Sophoula had stitched into -her brown dress. She ran up to the little dark room, half way up the -stairs, reached down her bundle from the nail on which it hung, pulled -out a much crumpled brown dress, shook it out, found the pocket, and -placed the five drachmæ note in it, pinning up the opening carefully -for fear the note might fall out. - - - - - -V - -It had been agreed that Mattina should be allowed to go to see -her uncle and aunt every other Sunday, in the afternoon. But it -had happened lately that Sunday after Sunday her mistress had said, -"I have to go out myself, a friend expects me," or, "My head aches; I -cannot be troubled with the children; you can go out another day." But -the "other day" never came. An older serving maid, or one who knew -town ways better, would have asked for the outing on a week day; -but Mattina did not know. She cried a little over her lost holiday -and stayed in week after week, in the narrow street and the close -rooms that always smelt of stale smoke. - -It was a blazing hot Sunday morning in September, and the fifth -since Mattina had last been out, when as she was sitting in the small -kitchen listlessly peeling and slicing a pile of purple aubergines[21] -which seemed as though it would never lessen, someone shuffled along -the street outside and stopped at the little window which was level -with the pavement. - -It was Kyra Polyxene, the old washerwoman who lived on the top floor -of the next house, and who went out washing to nearly all the houses -of the neighborhood. Mattina knew her quite well. She had been engaged -two or three times to help for a day when the big monthly wash had been -an extra heavy one. The brown old face and the gray hair made Mattina -think a little of Kyra Sophoula when she looked at her, except that -Kyra Polyxene was taller and stouter and wore no kerchief on her head. - -She put her face close to the window bars and peered in. - -"Good day, Mattina, what are you doing in there?" - -Mattina let drop the slice she was holding, into the basin of cold -water beside her, and came close to the window. - -"Good day to you, Kyra Polyxene; I am cutting up aubergines to make a -'moussaka.'"[22] - -"How is it you have so many aubergines?" - -"We have people to-day for dinner. The Kyria's sisters are coming, -and Taki's godfather also." - -"And your mistress does not help you?" - -"She is upstairs dressing the children to take them to hear music in -the square. When I first came here she showed me, but now I can make -'moussaka' all alone and it tastes as good as hers." There was a -certain pride in Mattina's voice. - -"Shall you go with them to the music?" - -"I? No! There is this to finish, and the dining room to sweep, -and the table to lay, and if the dinner be not ready at twelve, -the master is angered." - -"And after they have eaten?" - -"There will be all the plates to wash." - -"And then?" - -"Do I know? There is always something." - -"Listen to me, my girl! Yesterday I washed at a house up at the -Kolonaki, and they sent me for a loaf to your uncle's oven, and he -was saying that they had not seen you for many days; and he told me -to tell you that you must go there this afternoon and that if your -mistress makes difficulties, you are to tell her that if she keeps -you always closed up, he, your uncle will come and take you away, -and find another house for you." - -Mattina opened her eyes widely. - -"Did he say so to you, Kyra Polyxene?" - -"Just as I tell you, my daughter." - -Mattina wiped her hands on her apron and ran upstairs to her mistress's -bedroom. She found her struggling with Taki's stiffly starched sailor -collar, while Bebeko sitting on the unmade bed, with unbuttoned boots, -was howling for his hat which had been placed out of his reach. - -"How many more hours are you going to be, cleaning those aubergines, -lazy one? How do you want me to dress two children and myself? Have -I four hands do you think? Fasten the child's boots and make him stop -that crying." - -Mattina lifted the heavy screaming boy off the bed, and sat down on -the floor with him. - -"Why does Bebeko want his hat?" she whispered. "Now in a minute after I -have fastened his little boots for him, I shall tie it on his head and -he will go with Mamma and Babba and Taki, and hear the pretty music; -and when he comes back...." The child stopped crying and looked at her, -"and when he comes back, if he be a good child, I shall have such a -beautiful boat ready for him, cut out of an aubergine! It will have -two seats and a helm." - -"And a mast. Will it have a mast too, Mattina?" - -"And a mast, of course." - -"And a sail?" - -"No," said Mattina seriously, looking out of the window, "it will -not want a sail, there is no wind to-day." - -"But I want it to have a sail," persisted the child. - -"I have no rag for a sail," said Mattina. "Bebeko must ask his Mamma -for some when the boat is ready." - -When both children were dressed, there was a search for the Kyria's -parasol which was nowhere to be found. At first she accused Mattina of -having broken it and hidden the pieces, and at last remembered that -she had left it at her sister's house. Then her keys were mislaid, -looked for in all sorts of places, and discovered at last under her -pillow. Lastly she searched angrily for a twenty-five drachmæ note, -which she declared she had folded up and placed under her gloves in -the early morning. - -"I put it there on purpose to change it when I went out, and buy -'pastas'[23] for dinner to-day. It was here, I tell you, just under -these gloves; or stay, perhaps I pinned it on the pincushion." - -But neither under the gloves nor on the pincushion was the note to -be found. - -"Well," said the Kyria at last, "your master must have taken it for -something, and have forgotten to tell me. I shall meet him at the -square. Come, let us go!" - -"Kyria," and Mattina stood in her way. - -"What do you want? It is late." - -"Kyria, my uncle has sent me word that they have not seen me for -many days, and that I must go there this afternoon, and also if you -make difficulties, and keep me closed up, I am to tell you that he, -my uncle, will come and take me away and find another house for me." - -All this was repeated very quickly, and as though Mattina had just -learned it by heart. - -Her mistress stared at her. - -"Another house, indeed! And what house will take a lazy one like -you? Do you think there are many mistresses who have as good a heart -as I have, and will keep you only because they are sorry for you being -an orphan? Besides, who says I keep you closed up? Do you not go for -a walk nearly every day with the children? Also I was just going to -tell you that as I have my sisters here this afternoon, who will help -me with the children, you could go out. Of course I mean after you -have washed up your plates, and put all in their places. And you are -not to be late, mind!" she added as an afterthought. "Do you hear?" - -"I hear," said Mattina. - -After the street door had banged to, she finished cutting up the -aubergines, lined the baking dish thickly with the slices, added a -layer of mince-meat, another of aubergines, broke two eggs over them, -bread-crumbed them and carried them off to the oven in the next street, -so quickly and so deftly that even her mistress, had she been there -to watch her, could not have called her "lazy one." After that she -carved Bebeko's promised boat from a large aubergine which she had -kept back, and sharpened a bit of firewood for the mast. - - - - - -VI - -It was nearly four that afternoon before she got up to the baker's -shop, and her uncle had already gone round to the coffee-house. Her -aunt was in the courtyard, sorting out wood for the night's baking, -from a load which had been brought down from the hills the day -before. Mattina set to work to help her, and her aunt told her that her -uncle had said he was to be sent for as soon as she arrived, because -he meant to take them both out to see something, ... "something," -she added mysteriously, "that your eyes have never seen!" And then -she went off to send the boy to call her husband. - -When Kyra Demetroula returned after a few minutes' absence, it was to -find Mattina, who had come across a little sprig of thyme among the -firewood, holding it tightly between her hands, close to her face, -and smelling it with long indrawn breaths, the tears trickling down -her cheeks. - -Her aunt stared at her dumfounded. She had always been of the town. - -"Are you mad, my child?" she exclaimed, throwing up her arms. "To be -spoiling your heart over a bit of old herb! Give it to me! Let me -throw it into the oven! What will your uncle say when he comes? He -will think I have been giving you stick! Look at your eyes!" - -"Never mind! Let me keep it! Oh, let me keep it! I beg of you to let -me keep it, my aunt! Oh, it is so beautiful! It ... it ... brings -back Poros to me," and Mattina gulped down her sobs and dried her -eyes on the back of her sleeve. - -"Hush, now, I hear your uncle." - -He came in laughing, dressed in his Sunday best. - -"Health to you, Mattina! You have been forgetting us for so long! And -if you only knew where we are going! If you only but knew!" - -And it is true they went to a wonderful place. - -In a broad street, up and down which the crowded street cars were -constantly running, they stopped at an entrance where a man sat behind -a tiny little window, and Mastro Anastasi paid some money to him. Then -they passed into a great big dimly lighted room, with many seats all -in a row placed from one end to another; and a great many people and -children were sitting in them. Mattina sat between her aunt and her -uncle, and waited. - -"Why do we sit here?" she asked at last, "and why is it dark?" - -Suddenly a little bell tinkled, and at one end of the hall it became -light; and then all sorts of extraordinary things passed before -Mattina's eyes. - -She saw a motor car such as those which she had seen outside in the -streets, but this one climbed up the walls of houses. She saw a funny -short man running away, and a great number of people chasing him, -and he upset a woman carrying a bottle of wine, and the wine was all -spilt; and the woman was very angry, and got up, and followed after -him with the rest; and he upset two men on a ladder who were painting -a house, and all the paint ran over him, and they also chased him; -and he upset a cart laden with eggs, and all the eggs broke, and -the carter also ran after him, brandishing his whip; and he upset -a whole shop front of plates and dishes, and they all broke, too, -and came tumbling all over everyone; and when the people who were -chasing had nearly caught him, the man ran upon some railway lines, -and a railway train ran over him, and made him quite flat, but he -sprang up quite well again; and he came to a bridge, and he jumped -right into the water, and swam across to the other side, and all the -other people jumped in after him, but they could not swim and they -made a great splash in the water, and suddenly all the picture went -out and Mattina did not know what happened afterwards. - -But she saw many other things. - -She saw a little girl in a lovely frock of lace playing with a big -dog in a garden, and some men came and stole her and hid her in a -dark cellar, and a lady and a gentleman who came into the garden wept -and tore their hair, but the big dog sniffed the ground, and ran and -ran, and sniffed again, and jumped over walls and found the child, -and dragged her by her frock and brought her back to her father and -mother; and the last Mattina saw of them, they were all sitting in -the garden and patting and stroking the big dog. - -Then she saw a seashore and rocks, in a place that her uncle told -them was called Spain, which was so like the second little bay on the -Monastery Road that she felt like crying again, but that picture went -out at once; and when she saw a man putting a lighted candle in his -mouth and swallowing it, she forgot to feel sad. - -When at last they left the wonderful place, her uncle gave her a ten -"lepta" copper coin, and stopped a street car that was passing. He -told her to be sure to get out when she saw the grocer's shop in -the Piræus Road at the corner of the street where her master lived, -and Mattina climbed into the car with a big sigh. - - - - - -VII - -It was still light when she got down off the car step and turned into -the narrow street, still sniffing at the dry sprig of thyme which -she had kept tightly clasped in her hand all the time. - -Out of the gathering dusk, an old woman came running towards her. - -"It is you, Mattina! It is you! And they said you would never come -back." - -Mattina looked around her anxiously. - -"Why did they say that, Kyra Polyxene? Is it so late?" - -"No, it is not late. But you will find trouble for you at the -house. Your mistress has lost money ... much money ... a twenty-five -drachmæ note, and she says that only you can have taken it." - -Mattina fell back a step and stared up at the old woman. - -"I?" - -"Yes, and your mistress got your bundle and took out all your things -and threw them here and there; but she found naught, and she is -spoiling the world with her screams." - -"Come!" said Mattina, "let me go and tell her she does not know what -she says." - -But the old woman pulled her back. - -"Listen, my girl! You are but a little one, without a whole shoe -to your foot, and these people count every mouthful of bread you -put into your mouth.... If it was in an evil moment?... Give it to -me! and if it be not changed, I will put it where they may find it -and the noise will be over." - -"You, also, do not know what you say," and Mattina dragged her arm -away and ran into the house. - -The door of the living-room was open, and from it came the sound of -angry voices and loud cries. - -Mattina walked right in. - -"I am here," she announced, "and neither have I seen your...." - -But she could not finish her sentence; a furiously angry woman rushed -at her, caught her by the shoulder, and shook her viciously. - -"You thief!" she screamed. "You little thief! This is how you repay -me for taking you in! And you have the face to speak also!" - -If Mattina had been a poor little servant all her life, and if her -parents had been servants before her, she would perhaps have insisted -on her innocence more respectfully, but until lately she had always -lived with her equals, and also she was the child of free islanders, -who had never called any one their master. - -With both hands she pushed her mistress away from her as hard as she -could push. - -"Leave me! Leave me I tell you! I a thief! I! It is you are a liar -for saying so!" - -But two heavy blows sent her staggering against the table. - -Then it seemed as though all the people in the room were about to fall -upon her, and she crouched there with uplifted arm to protect her head. - -The master pushed aside his wife. - -"Wait a moment!" he said. "Let me speak to her!" then to Mattina:-- - -"Tell me now what you have done with the money?" - -"I never saw it, I tell you." - -"That does not pass with me; you have hidden it somewhere, or given -it to someone." - -"Since I tell you I never saw it!" - -"There is no one else in the house to take it. If you did not see it, -where is it?" - -"Do I know?" said Mattina, sullenly. "Is she not always losing her -things?" and she pointed to her mistress. - -Now because the woman was really constantly mislaying her belongings, -this made her still more furious. She darted at Mattina. - -"Wait till I show her!" and she struck her so hard a blow on the mouth, -that Mattina screamed and covered her face with both arms. - -Her mistress raised her hand again but one of her sisters pulled -her back. - -"Find the money first," she said. "What do you gain by beating her?" - -"You are right. If she has it on her, I will find it." - -And the woman went down on her knees and felt over Mattina, pulling -her frock roughly about. In a moment she found the pins that closed the -opening of the pocket, and dragged them out, thrusting her hand inside. - -"Here it is!" she screamed triumphantly. "See! I have it!" and she -waved the folded note which she pulled out of the pocket. But as soon -as she looked at it, her tone changed to one of bitter disappointment. - -"She has changed it, the shameless one, and this is all that remains!" - -Mattina tried to snatch it from her. - -"That is mine! That is mine! That is not yours! It is five -drachmæ. Give it to me! It is mine I tell you." - -Her mistress laughed aloud. - -"She told Taki here that she had not a 'lepton' of her own." - -"That was before," cried Mattina, wildly, beginning to sob. "That -was before I had this. This is mine! It is mine! On my father's soul, -I tell you it is mine!" - -"If it be yours," asked one of the sisters, "where did you find it?" - -"She gave it to me." - -"She! What she?" - -"She, the Madmazella from the next house." - -"She tells lies!" broke in her mistress. "A governess, who works one -day that she may eat the next! Has she money to give?" - -"When did she give it to you?" asked the master. - -"When she went away in the carriage to go to her country." - -Then they all laughed. - -"Ah, of course, you thought of someone who has gone away and whom we -cannot ask! You are very clever, my girl, but your cleverness will -not pass with us!" - -"Now, enough words," said her mistress. "I shall lock her up in her -room and send for the police inspector. Perhaps in prison they may -get the truth out of her." - -Mattina turned as pale as wax. - -She knew what prison was. Even in Poros she had seen men with their -arms tied back with ropes, taken to Nauplia[24] to the big prison of -the "Palamidi";[25] and she had heard tales of those who had returned -from there! - -"To prison!" she gasped. "To prison! I?" - -"Of course," said her mistress, enjoying her terror. "Did you think -that you could steal and then stay in honest houses? Now you will -see what will happen to you, you little thief!" - -Mattina stumbled back against the wall. The sweat sprang out on her -face, she kept wetting her lips, and her hands groped before her as -though she were in the dark. - -Her mistress seized hold of her arm and pulled her towards the open -door of the room. For the first moments she struggled wildly, and then -feeling how useless it was, she let herself be dragged out of the door -and up the few steps to her little dark room. Her mistress pushed open -the door with her foot and thrust Mattina in so violently that she fell -upon the mattress in the further corner. Then the key was pulled out of -the keyhole, and the door locked and double-locked on the outside; then -Mattina heard her mistress's heavy tread descending to the room below. - -It was quite dark already. Mattina was never allowed a candle in her -room, nor even a floating wick in a tumbler of oil. "As though," her -mistress had said, "it were necessary to burn good oil for a serving -maid to pull off her clothes and tumble on to her mattress." As a -rule she was so tired and sleepy, she did not mind; but now she was -very frightened indeed, and fear is always worse in the dark. - -She lay there, where she had been flung, huddled up against the wall, -her eyes hidden in the bend of her arm. - -Prison! They would send her to prison! She had heard of a man in Poros, -Andoni, the joiner, who had broken open the money box of Sotiro, the -coffee-house keeper, in the night, and he had been kept ten years in -prison! She did not know how much money he had taken; she had never -heard. How long would they keep her in prison if they thought she -had stolen twenty-five drachmæ; it was a great deal of money! And -what would they do to her in prison? Was it a dark place under the -ground? Oh, why was her father, her own "babba," not alive to beat -off the men of the police who would soon be coming to fetch her? - -For a long time she cried and sobbed on the mattress without -moving. When she opened her eyes she could distinguish nothing -in the room, the darkness was like a thick black veil covering -everything. There were voices, but they seemed distant; the house -seemed still, with the stillness that brings terror with it. - -Suddenly the dark seemed full of big hands with hooked fingers -stretching out to clutch at her. - -She ran wildly to the door and shook it, screaming aloud. - -"Oh, my mother! My mother! Manitsa![26] Where are you?" - - - - - -VIII - -In the meanwhile, her mistress, downstairs, was urging her husband -to go to the police station. - -"Just think of the little thief," she was saying. "And I who kept -her out of charity, though she broke a fortune in plates, because I -thought that at least she had 'clean hands.'" - -"I wonder," said an elderly man who had not yet spoken, and who was -Taki's godfather, "where the girl can have found this twenty-five -drachmæ note?" - -"I put it myself on my chest of drawers under my pincushion this -morning," explained Mattina's mistress. "When I came to go out with -the children it was missing; and she, the little hypocrite, helped -me to look for it everywhere." - -"Had the girl been alone in your room, since you had put the money -there?" inquired the elderly man. - -"Do I know? But she was there a long time messing about with the -children and pretending to help to dress them. A note is easily slipped -up a sleeve. Is it such a big thing? Well, when I could not find it -I said to myself that doubtless Theophani must have taken it, and -forgotten to tell me before he went out. You know how absent-minded -he is. And when I met him in the square, I forgot to ask him, and -never remembered till late this afternoon; and when he said he had -never touched it, of course I knew at once it could only have been -Mattina who had stolen it. Who else? And I, the stupid one, who have -such confidence in people and never lock things up! Who knows how -much more money she has taken at times?" - -"Have you missed any, besides this?" asked the elderly man. - -"I would have you know, my friend, that money is not so scarce in -this house that we have to count exactly how many drachmæ we leave -about!" Then turning to her sisters: "Someone is knocking outside," -she said, "I must go and see who it is. You just take those children -and put them to bed. They are fighting the whole time." - -It is true, there was a great noise and much whimpering when Bebeko -was dragged out by one of his aunts from under the table, holding to -a purple limp-looking object which was the half of his boat. - -"Taki," he sobbed, had "boken" his boat. - -"He is a stupid one," announced Taki. "What is it but a piece of -aubergine, his boat?" - -"Never mind, my little bird!" said the aunt, picking Bebeko up, -"to-morrow I will buy you a new one; a real boat of wood!" - -But to-morrow was far away for Bebeko. He kept tight hold of his -half boat. - -"The mast!" he cried as his aunt was carrying him off, "the mast, and -my sail! They are under the table! They fell off! Taki made them fall!" - -The aunt, who was a kind young woman, put down the child and stooped to -look for "the mast and the sail," creeping under the long table-cover -to do so. When she found them, she stopped for a moment, looking at -them, and then called to her sister who came back into the room with -a newspaper in her hand. - -"Angeliki! Look at this! Do you see with what the child has been -playing?" - -And she held out a piece of paper with two small holes pierced in it, -through which was passed a sharpened stick. - -And the piece of paper was a twenty-five drachmæ note. - -Bebeko's mother snatched the note from her sister's hand, and seized -the child roughly. - -"From where did you get this, you bad child? Who gave it to you? Was -it Mattina?" - -The child began to cry loudly. - -"I want my sail! I want my sail! It is mine! It is not Mattina's; -it is mine!" - -"From where did you get it? Tell me at once, or you will eat stick." - -"Do not frighten the child," said the father, and he picked up Bebeko -and set him on the table. - -"Now tell me like a golden little boy that you are, where did you -find this paper? Tell me, and Babba will give you a 'loukoumi.'"[27] - -The child gulped down a big sob. - -"Mattina had no rag to make a sail; she said to ask Mamma...." - -"And then?" - -"I asked Mamma, and she said, 'I have no rag, go away,' and then I -put the paper in my own self. It is mine." - -"Where did you find the paper?" - -"On the floor." - -"But where on the floor." - -"Down on the floor." - -Then the youngest aunt said:-- - -"Come and show me where, Bebeko, and Babba will get the 'loukoumi.'" - -Bebeko scrambled down and took hold of her hand, and led her, all -the others following, into his parents' bedroom. Then, pointing to -a spot at the foot of the chest of drawers, he said triumphantly:-- - -"There." - -His mother looked very vexed. - -"Those children!" she cried. "Whatever they see, they take. All this -fuss we have had for nothing!" - -"Go upstairs, now," said her husband, "and tell that poor girl that -you have found the money. She was half mad with fright when you told -her you would send her to prison." - -"It does not do her any harm," said Mattina's mistress, "if she did -not do it this time, it will be a lesson for her if she ever feels -inclined to steal in the future. However, she may as well come down -and take the children to bed," and she took a lighted candle, and -went upstairs to unlock the door. - -In a moment the others heard an astounded voice exclaiming:-- - -"Bah! She is not here!" - -"Not there! Nonsense!" cried her husband; and they all ran up and -peered into the little dark room. - -But it was quite true, Mattina was not there. - -They looked all round, but there was only the tumbled mattress on the -floor, a red cotton coverlet hanging on a nail in the wall over it, -a straw chair, a pitcher of water in a tin basin, and not a single -cupboard, nook, or corner in which anyone could hide. - -"The girl must have crept down quietly while we were talking, and -run away to her uncle's," said the master. - -"But the door was locked," objected his wife. - -"Impossible." - -"But it was, I tell you." - -"You meant to lock it but you did not." - -"I locked it and double locked it." - -"You were in a passion at the moment, and you did not know what you -were doing." - -"Since I tell you I turned the key twice with my hand," screamed his -wife, getting very red. "Do I eat straw? I locked it and I locked it -well. Do you not understand Greek? Shall I say it in Chinese?" - -Her husband strode into the little room and, taking the lighted candle, -lifted it high above his head. - -"You women have no logic! Look!" turning to the others, "can the girl -have climbed through the window?" - -It was a tiny barred window over their heads, looking out upon a -courtyard far below. - -They all laughed. - -"No, certainly!" - -"Well, then, she must have got through the door! Come downstairs -now, there is no use in staying up here. In the morning I will go to -her uncle's." - -Then as they left the room he turned to his wife who was still -protesting violently that she had locked the door; she would lay her -head that she had. - -"Now enough words, wife! Perhaps you think the girl passed through -the wall?" - - - - - -IX - -And yet, had he but known it, that was very nearly what had -happened. When Mattina, worn out with crying, had sunk down on the -floor against the door, sobbing out every now and then, "My mother, -my manitsa," she suddenly heard a very low muffled knocking which -seemed to come from the other side of the room. At first she took no -heed. It was someone, she supposed, in the next house; she had often -heard people moving there. But it came again, a soft little knock -repeated twice; then her name just whispered. - -"Mattina! Mattina! Are you there?" - -The voice was Kyra Polyxene's, she was quite sure, but from where did -it come? She crossed the little room. The knock was quite clear now. - -"Mattina!" - -"But where are you, Kyra Polyxene?" - -"Now you will see; can you hear what I say?" - -"Yes, I hear you." - -"Move your mattress!" - -"What did you say?" - -"I dare not speak any louder; move your mattress away from the wall!" - -Mattina seized hold of the heavy straw mattress with both hands, -and dragged it aside. - -"Have you done it?" - -"Yes." - -Then slowly, very slowly, a narrow door painted exactly the same color -as the rest of the room, with no handle, no crack even to show its -outline or to distinguish it from the surrounding wall, a door which -Mattina had certainly never seen before, was pushed open from the -other side and Kyra Polyxene's kind old face appeared in the opening. - -"Not a word!" she whispered, with a finger on her lips. "Not a word -for your life! Come!" - -Mattina was very bewildered. - -"Where shall I come? How did you get in?" - -"Hush! Lest they hear us from below. Once this was all one big house, -and when they made it two, they left this door. It was all painted -over, and no one knew; but I remembered. Wait!" and she came right -in. "Give me your coverlet! See I will hang it over the opening, so -... because now that I have opened the door, when it is light they will -see that the paint has cracked. And before that lazy mistress of yours -takes the coverlet down to shake it, many days will pass. Come! Why -are you waiting?" - -"Kyra Polyxene," said Mattina, "they all tell lies! I never saw -their money!" - -"And for that, will you stay here and let them take you and lock you -in prison?" - -There was a loud knocking at the door below. - -Mattina clung desperately to Kyra Polyxene's skirts. - -"Do you hear?" - -"I hear," said the old woman grimly. "Come, I tell you! Come!" - -She pushed Mattina first through the half-open door and followed, -closing it softly behind her and turning a rusty key on the other -side. They were standing in a small dark room filled with cases -and lighted by one candle. Kyra Polyxene took up the candle. Then -she clasped Mattina's hand tightly in hers, and together, treading -very softly, they crossed a long narrow passage outside the room, -passed through a glass door, went down a flight of stone steps into -a cellar where piles of wood were stacked, and then went up three or -four steps again to a little back door that opened on the pavement. - -The night air that blew in their faces felt fresh and cool. - -"Listen, my daughter!" said the old woman. "Now you go straight -to your uncle's house! You know the way. If to-morrow dawns well, -I will come and tell you what is happening. Go! Run! And the Holy -Virgin be with you!" - -At that moment loud voices came to them from the open window of the -house which they had just left. Mattina thought she caught her name, -and then she heard her master say very distinctly:-- - -"Go upstairs, now!..." but she did not hear the end of the sentence. - -The men of the police must have come, and they were going upstairs -to look for her! - -Without a word, she dragged her hand from the old woman's and ran -wildly down the dark street. - -She ran on and on, panting, stumbling, falling, picking herself up -again, her plaits of hair which had come loose in the struggle with -her mistress flying behind her. When she came out to the Piræus Road, -where a few people were still about, she stopped, and leaning against -a lamp post, tried with trembling fingers to tie up her hair. - -To her uncle's! No! She would not go there! - -She had not had time to explain to Kyra Polyxene that her master knew -where the baker's shop was. He had asked her one day. And of course -it was there they would search for her at once. No, no! Not to her -uncle's! But where then? Where? - -She tried hard to remember where Antigone had said that her brother -lived. Perhaps she would hide her; she knew how bad mistresses could -be! But try as she would, she could not remember. Athens names were -all new and strange to her. - -And there was no one else. - -Perhaps she could walk about all night, or sit down on a bench? But -when it dawned, what then? Suddenly she heard running steps in the -street behind her and loud voices, ... men's voices. Was the one -her master's? She looked wildly round like a trapped thing and once -more started running, as she had never run before, down the middle of -the broad road. Every moment it seemed as if a hand were grasping her -shoulder. She flew past the lighted grocer's shop where they might know -her, and her head struck against the open shutter, but she did not feel -the pain. On she ran, her breath coming in loud gasps, and great throbs -beating in her throat. She heard steps again.... Were they behind her? - -Suddenly, under a lamp post, she came into violent contact with a big -man, who was walking leisurely before her, his hands crossed behind -his back, fiddling with a short string of black beads. - -He caught hold of the lamp post to save himself from falling and -turned round. - -"Who falls in this way on people? Have you gone mad, my girl? One -would think someone was hunting you." - -It was a Poros voice, and Mattina clung desperately to the baggy blue -breeches of Thanassi Nika, as the old sea-captain bent over her. - -"They are! They are!" she cried wildly, "they are hunting me! Save -me! Save me! And may all your dead become saints!" - -"Why? Why? What is happening here? Are you not Aristoteli Dorri's -daughter? Who is hunting you?" - -"The people of the house; the master ... the mistress ... they have -called the men of the police; they will put me in prison!" - -"What have you done?" asked the old man sharply. - -"I have done nothing. On the soul of my father, I have taken nothing -of theirs. But money was lost, and they say I took it. Save me! Take -me from here!" - -Capetan Thanassi looked up and down the road. - -Farther up towards the grocer's shop two or three men seemed hurrying -towards them, but just at that moment a bright light flashed in -their eyes, and a street car going to the square came to a stop a -few paces away. - -The old man lifted Mattina bodily to the step and followed her. The -little platform was crowded, and as they stood there tightly wedged -between many people, he put his finger on his lips so that Mattina -should keep silent. Almost at once in the big lighted square they got -down again, and before Mattina had time to think where they might be -going, she had been run across the road, down a broad street, through -a crowded waiting-room, down an endless flight of stone steps, and -was seated once more in a railway carriage, which started almost as -soon as Capetan Thanassi threw himself down puffing and panting on -the seat beside her. - -"Well," he said, wiping his forehead with a big red handkerchief, -"it is not a good thing to be hunted and to run; but to let these -Athenians, here, seize hold of Aristoteli Dorri's daughter, and call -her a thief! That could not be! Now, listen to me, little one! If -you have done anything crooked, that is between God and your soul, -but for me it is sufficient that I knew your father. My caique[28] -leaves to-night, now, with the turn of the wind. I shall put you in -it and take you back to your own country, and once there,... we shall -see what can be done." - -Mattina had seized his hand and was kissing it. - -"To my own island? To Poros? God make your years many, Capetan -Thanassi, for this that you are doing for me!" - - - - - -X - -The big white caique at Piræus was ready laden, only waiting for its -captain, and an hour later, Mattina, in a little corner between two -planks of wood and a big case, lay curled up on the low deck, with -the cool night wind blowing salt and fresh on her face. She listened -to the water flap-flapping against the wooden sides of the boat, -and dimly saw the great white sails bellying out above her head. She -heaved a big sigh of content and stretched out her feet under a loose -piece of sack-cloth. - -The harbor lights of Piræus were already far behind them when, rocked -by the softly swaying movement, she fell asleep. - -And how good it was the next morning to awake at sea, with the sun -high above the horizon on a blue September day, to feel safe and free, -to lean over the side of the boat, munching the hunk of bread and the -piece of "touloumi"[29] cheese which one of the sailors had given her, -while she watched the swish and sparkle of the water as the tall -prow of the caique divided it, and listened to Capetan Thanassi's -loud orders to his men, as they tacked round by the lighthouse. - -Ah! and how good it was, as soon as they turned the corner, to see -in the distance the white houses of Poros! - -It was even better when she stepped down the plank thrown from the -boat to the shore and was treading Poros soil once more. Then it -was like dreams coming true! The caique had anchored far away from -the village, in a little creek before one came to the Beach of the -Little Pines. Someone from Athens was building a house there, a big -house with balconies and terraces. Capetan Thanassi had brought a -boat load of wood-work for the doors and windows, and the workmen -were busy unloading it almost before the anchor had been dropped. - -"What will you do?" the old captain asked Mattina. "Before noon, when -this unloading is over, I shall sail into the village. Will you wait?" - -"I thank you, Capetan Thanassi. For the good that you have done me, -may you find it from God; but I cannot wait. I will go along the shore, -and reach the house and the little one long before you have finished -your work." - -"Go then, my girl! Go!" and Mattina ran up the slope of the hill -leading to the Beach of the Little Pines, and did not stop to take -breath until she reached the top. - -There she stood still, waist-high in a tangle of bushes. The thyme -was all dried up of course, but the heather was in bloom and the -lentisk bushes were laden with thick clusters of red berries. - -She dropped on her knees, with a little cry of joy, beside a big -bush on which the bright crimson berries seemed thicker than the tiny -leaves. "Fairy-cherries," the children of the Red House on the hill, -called them. Mattina had never heard this, but she loved the little -tight bunches of red berries because they were so pretty and because -she had never seen them but in Poros. In a moment she got up and -began the descent of the hill. - -The glorious curve of the Beach of the Little Pines seemed almost -entirely deserted. The morning sea in lines of deep golden green near -the pines of the shore, and of deep blue beyond, blue as the sky, -blue as the flag, bore not a single fisher boat on its surface. Only -far away in the distance under the big round fig tree Mattina could -distinguish a flock of sheep, and still farther away the figure of a -man coming down the next hill, but whether it was the shepherd or not -she could not tell. Down she came through the tall white spikes of the -dog-onions waving all over the hill side, till she stood at last on a -flat gray rock on the very edge of the sea. The perfectly smooth water -showed the shining yellow and green and gray pebbles lying below, as -though a sheet of glass had been placed over them. In and out between -the stones swam tiny black-striped fishes, and now and then a ripple -trembled over the surface and broke softly against the rock. And it -was clear and beautiful, and her very own sea, and she lifted her -face to its breath, and she fell on her knees and stretched out her -bare brown arms that the water might flow and ripple over them! - -In the water close to the shore, every tiny green branch, and every -vein of the gray rocks, and every clump of red earth, was reflected -line for line, and tint for tint, and through these reflections ran -long straight lines of bright, bright blue. Suddenly Mattina remembered -Antigone, the serving maid of the next house, who had said to her, -"You! with your trees, and your rocks, and your sea!" And she thought, -"She has never seen them, the poor one! If she were only here now!" - -But she did not know that Antigone was of those people who would never -see some things, even if she were to touch them with her hand. She -would find that the rocks hurt her feet and spoiled her Sunday shoes. - -The morning light would never bring a light into her eyes, and -certainly a little cool soft breeze blowing in her face could never -have made her feel so entirely and unreasonably joyful. - -Mattina could never have explained, nor did she understand as other -children might, who had read books, or who had lived with people -who had read books, that it was just the beauty of everything around -her that made her feel so happy, that for some moments wiped all her -troubles off her mind as though by a magic sponge. She had never heard -that her ancestors were of the race which above all other had always -worshipped beautiful things. - -However, in a few moments she stood up, wiped her arms on her frock, -and walked along the shore more soberly. She must get on, she felt; -she must see the child--Zacharia. How he would laugh when he saw -her! "'Attina! My 'Attina!" he would cry. Kyra Sophoula would say a -good word to her also; but the others, her uncle Yoryi, and her aunt -Kanella, what would they say? They would ask why she had returned. They -would ask so many things; and what could she say? She had come back -not much richer than she went; and now what could she do? She thought -for a moment of the mayor and the doctor. Each of them kept a little -maid. If only one of them would take her! How good that would be! She -was stronger now, and had learned much in the town. But she knew it -was not likely that either of them would be requiring a new serving -maid just then. People here did not change their servants like shirts -as they did in Athens. In Poros, one took a little girl, one did -not even call her a servant, but a "soul-child"; one taught her, one -fed her, one dressed her, and in due time one prepared her dowry for -her. The doctor, she knew, had got Panouria, the widow's daughter, -as a "soul-child." No, it was not at all likely; and Mattina heaved -a big sigh as she filled her hands with cyclamen for Zacharia. Poros -had its troubles too. - -She had nearly reached the end of the big beach, and was stooping to -pick a bright crimson cyclamen growing in the shadow of a lentisk bush, -when suddenly a flat pebble skimmed past her, touched the surface of -the water, and then flew from ripple to ripple like a thing alive. - -"It is many years since I did that," said a boyish voice just behind -her. But when she wheeled round, it was no boy who stood there laughing -and following the pebble with his eyes. It was a grown man, the one -whom she had seen in the distance, coming down the hill, and it was -certainly not a shepherd. It was a man wearing good clothes, like -the men she had seen in Athens in the fine streets; better far than -those her master wore; with a gold chain across his waistcoat. It was -a man whom she had never seen before; tall, with thick brown hair and -a small moustache, but whose sunburnt face did not seem strange to her. - -He flung another pebble, swinging his arm well back and making it go -still farther than the last. - -"Did you see that one, my girl?" he said without looking at her. "I -thought I had forgotten,... but see there," as he flung a third and -began counting,... "eleven,--twelve,--thirteen,--fourteen! I wish -some of the lads from Lexington were here to see me. They never would -believe that I could make it go more than ten times." - -"Throw another," said Mattina who was interested, picking up a good -flat one. - -The man held out his hand for it and, as he did so, looked at the -girl for the first time. - -The pebble dropped to the shore between them. - -"Why!" he said slowly, "Why! From where did you come? Not from the -village?" - -Mattina, her empty hand stretched out as though still holding the -stone, looked at him. - -"No,--I come from Athens. Only just now we have arrived." - -"Now?" - -"Yes, in Capetan Thanassi's caique." - -"You are from Athens?" - -"Oh, no; from the island. I was only serving in the town." - -The man put his hand under Mattina's chin, turned her face up, and -took a long look at her. - -"If you are not Aristoteli's daughter, may they never call me Petro -again." - -Mattina stared in wonderment. How came this well-dressed stranger to -know her? - -"Yes; I am Aristoteli Dorri's the sponge diver's." - -"God rest his soul," added the man, "and your mother's also! Little -did I think to return to the island and find them both under the -soil. And when I looked for you, they told me you had gone to serve -in the town! How did this good thing happen that you should just -have come back today? Now I need not take the steamer for Athens to -go and search for you." - -"For me?" - -"For who else? Do you think I mean to return to America all alone, -and leave my brother's daughter working for strange folk in strange -houses!" - -Mattina was beyond speech. - -The young man put his arm round her shoulders. - -"So you do not know me? Your uncle Petro? Truly how should you? You -were a babe in swaddling clothes when I left the island. But look at -me! Look at me, then! Have I not the same face as your father--the -blessed one? All have told me so." - -A sudden enlightenment came into Mattina's eyes. Of course he had -her father's face! The hair which came down in a point, the eyes that -laughed; that was why he had not seemed strange. But her father had -never worn such fine clothes, and his back had not been so straight. - -Timidly she crept a little closer. - -"My uncle," she whispered looking up into the laughing boyish eyes, -"are you my 'family' now?" - -"Is it a question? Of course I am your family; and you are mine. Your -mother's cousins here and her brother in Athens, they good people, -I do not say the contrary, but they have their own families for which -to provide. I have no one, and you are mine now, and I shall work for -you. It is ended now that you should work for strangers. You did well -to leave them!" - -"I did not mean to leave them; I did not know you were here on the -island, my uncle, but I was afraid, and I ran away from their house." - -"Afraid! Why?" - -Mattina flushed very red. - -"They said I stole their money." - -"They called you a thief! My brother's daughter! A bad year to -them! But why did you run away as thieves run? You should have stayed -and told them that they lied." - -"I told them. But they would not believe me though I swore it on my -father's soul; and the master was going to fetch the men to take me -to prison, and I was afraid." - -"It is true, you are but a little one. But rest easy; no one shall make -you afraid, now that I am here! We will go together to these people and -if the master dares to say you stole, I will break his face for him!" - -And Mattina saw that her uncle's laughing eyes could look very fierce. - -"Have you the money for which you served?" - -"No, they had not given it to me yet." - -"We will get it. Rest easy! And how much did they agree to pay you -for every month?" - -"Eight drachmæ." - -"Are they not ashamed? It is not even two dollars. And doubtless they -made you work hard for it, eh?" - -"There was always work, yes; but...." - -"But what?" - -"She said that ... that at New Year I should have a present. And now -... now...." - -And Mattina suddenly realizing that the present, the long dreamed of -present, was lost for ever, burst into wild sobs. - -"Bah! Bah! And is it for their miserable present that you are spoiling -your heart's content? Am I not here to get you a far more beautiful -present?" - -Mattina lifted streaming eyes, full of wonder. - -"You!" - -"Who else? And what shall the present be?" - -The heavens seemed opening in glory before Mattina's dazzled eyes. - -"Can I say whatever I like?" - -"Surely." - -"Then I want ... there is a picture in a shop in Athens, with a broad -golden frame; it is the sea, and a boat on it with a white sail, and -you can see the sail in the water all long and wavy, and if you touch -the water, you think your finger will be wet. That is what I want." - -"You shall have your picture; we will hang it in our house in -Lexington, where there is no sea, and it will remind us of our island." - -"Shall we not live here in Poros, my uncle?" - -"Here? Not yet! I am young still, and strong, and I mean to earn more -money in America than I have done already. Besides, I have to think -of providing your dowry now, you see. In good time, when I am older, -and you are a woman grown, then, if God wills it, we will return to -the island. It is not good to leave one's bones in a strange land. No; -in eight days we go down to Piræus to leave for America in a great big -ship, bigger than you have ever seen before, even in your sleep, and -when we get there, to America, you shall see what your eyes will see!" - -"My uncle!" - -"Yes." Then as no words came, he added, "Say what you want! You must -not fear to ask for whatever your heart desires." - -"My uncle, there is Zacharia too...." - -"What? The little one? I saw him at Kyra Kanella's. He is very -little." Just for a second the young man hesitated, then-- - -"Can you care for him on the journey, my maid? A journey of many days, -mind you, with a sea which may make you ill; a rough green sea with -waves as high as houses; not like this blue joy here. Can you?" - -"Surely," said Mattina, "I can do many things." - -Her uncle looked at the sturdy little figure, and at the strong firm -little chin. - -"I believe you can," he said. "Come!" holding out his hand, "let us -go and find the little rascal." - - - - - - - - -THE FINDING OF THE CAVE - - -I - -It is a great thing to be a Zamana, and of the right branch, too. At -least that is what little Pavlo Zamana had always been told. - -Was it not his own great-grandfather who had fought at the siege of -Missolonghi?[1] Was it not he who had suggested the famous message to -the Turks: "If you want our town, come and take it!" though it was -the sender who got the credit for it? Was not he one of the leaders -of the last heroic sortie, on the never-to-be-forgotten tenth of -April? And did not Botzari say of him, "Without my right hand, I can -do something, without Zamana, nothing"? - -All this was most gratifying when Pavlo was at school; especially -when new boys arrived, for the old ones had heard the story pretty -often. And of course it was always a proud moment when the history -master came to the siege of Missolonghi, and rolled out the names of -Botzari,[2] Palama, Tricoupi, Pappalouka, Razikotsika, Kapsali, Zamana, -to be able to whisper very audibly, "That was my great-grandfather!" - -But it was less interesting at home, when he could never cry in peace -over a barked knee, or howl if there were a splinter to be dug out -which had gone in deeply, or feel very sad when a visit to the dentist -was projected, without being always told:-- - -"Shame! Shame! And you a Zamana!" - -And the fact remained, whether it was that the blood had weakened -by the time it had come down to Pavlo, or whether some of his other -grandfathers or grandmothers had been built in a less heroic mould, -that when he had to go up into a dark attic to look for a book for -his uncle, or to face an aggressive band of schoolboys waiting with -stones in their hands round a street corner, he did not feel at all -as a Zamana should; oh, but not at all! - -There had been a great many Zamanas, but they had all died, some at -home and some abroad, and only two were left now; a middle-aged doctor, -and a little boy. - -The doctor was Pavlo's uncle, and he lived in a gloomy house in Solon -Street, in Athens, and when he was at home he was always very busy -writing, and had to be called again and again when dinner or supper -was ready. - -"I have come; I have come!" he would answer impatiently, but he never -came till the pilaf[3] was all sodden, or the "keftedes"[4] had stuck -to the dish in little rounds of cold fat. - -The little boy was Pavlo, and he lived with his uncle. - -The house in Solon Street was not an interesting house to live in -one bit. It was tall and narrow, jammed in between another tall -narrow house on one side, and a green grocer's shop on the other, -and one could only see the Acropolis,[5] and Phalerum and the sea -if one got up to the terrace on the roof, where they hung out the -clothes to dry; and even from there it looked very far off. There -was not a scrap of garden, only a small paved courtyard at the back, -generally littered with empty cases which had come from abroad with new -instruments and new books for the doctor. Pavlo sometimes attempted -to play house or shop in the biggest of these, but Marina, the cook, -used to get very cross if he brought in damp straw on his shoes over -her freshly scrubbed kitchen, and the other maid, Aphrodite, would -screw up her ugly brown face, and bring her thick black eyebrows -together, and threaten that the next time he got another big tear -in his clothes from those great long packing nails for her to mend, -if she did not tell his uncle, they need never call her "Aphrodite" -again! His uncle heard her once, and said laughingly that they need -never have called her "Aphrodite" at all, but Pavlo got his scolding -all the same, for causing unnecessary work, so that the packing cases -had to be abandoned. - -In winter it was better. After his preparation for next day's school -was over, and before the long delayed supper, he would stay in the -little dining room, and lying flat on the floor in the warmth of the -big white Viennese stove, he would colour the pictures in the odd -numbers of an English illustrated medical journal, which his uncle had -given to be thrown away. There were very rarely what Pavlo considered -real pictures in them, and he got rather tired of colouring "thoracic -aortas" in bright orange, and "abdominal aortas" in pale green, and -"tracheæ" in stripes of purple and yellow; but now and then he would -come across some funny groups of little insects, and once there was -a picture of an operation in a hospital, where there were any amount -of doctors and nurses to be coloured, each one differently. That -picture lasted him three whole evenings, and would have been even -more successful than it was, if only the very best and softest of his -chalks, the crimson one, had not somehow got broken inside the wood, -so that it all came away in little pieces when he tried to sharpen it, -till at last there was nothing left but a little stump of chalk without -any wood, and anyone who has tried, knows how hard it is to colour -a whole dress with a little bit of chalk that one cannot hold properly. - -But when the days grew longer and warmer the dining room was too hot -for comfort; the study, even when the doctor was out, was always kept -locked, and Pavlo's own bedroom on the third floor was even hotter -than the dining room. So he would end by taking his books or his -chalks into the hall, where at least there was a little coolness to -be had from the chink under the front door. There he would sit on the -stairs, or lie flat on the floor, kicking up his heels as he read or -painted, till he knew every stringy part of the long strip of gray, -red-edged carpet that crossed the middle of the passage, and every -place where the paint, which had peeled off the once-painted floor, -had left curiously shaped patches, which only needed the touch of -a pencil here and there to turn into all sorts of faces. The yellow -walls, imitating veined marble, offered terrible temptation of the same -kind, but it was too dangerous; pencil marks on the walls would have -been seen at once. There was one spot, indeed, where the criss-cross -of veins made such an exact head of Hermes,[6] winged cap and all, with -only the back of the head and one ear missing, that Pavlo absolutely -could not resist touching it up, one long hot afternoon. He rubbed -all the pencil marks very carefully off afterwards, with his piece of -india rubber, but this had got so mixed up in his pocket with odds and -ends of chalk and with half a "loucoumi" that the rubbing-away marks -were very red and sticky and showed worse than the pencil ones. So -Pavlo had been rather frightened, till he discovered that by pushing -the hat stand a little nearer the study door, the place was quite -hidden. However, he dared not make any more attempts on the wall, -and the afternoon dragged wearily. - -Of course, no playing in the street was ever allowed, but sometimes -when Marina the cook slipped out late to buy a bowl of "yaourti"[7] for -supper, or some chicory for salad, she would take him with her, and he -would stand about while she bargained, envying the blue-pinafored boys -of the neighborhood tearing and whooping down the street or gathered -together over their marbles on the edge of the pavement. Pavlo played -marbles at his school near the National Library, when he managed to -get there ten minutes before lessons began; but the class-bell always -rang in the middle of the most interesting game, and the ten minutes -between each lesson were of no good because no play was allowed then, -at that school. Only the bigger classes could do as they liked, the -little boys were marshaled in order of size by one of the overlookers -and marched round and round the big courtyard, so that, as Pavlo -heard the director explaining to his uncle one day, "the little pupils -should have all the benefit of fresh air and exercise during this short -interval, without any danger of their minds being distracted from the -lesson they had just been taught!" But the "little pupils'" minds -were as a rule more occupied with the secret exchange of pen nibs, -the recognized school currency, than in pondering over the last lesson. - -And then, when June had passed into July, when summer in town was -at its hottest and dustiest, when the examinations were just over, -and there was not even school to break the monotony of the long empty -days, a wonderful change came into Pavlo's life. - -It happened like this. - -One afternoon he had just got up from the enforced lying down with -a book, which he hated--especially as the book was not a new one, -but only Louki Laras[8] which he had read already four times, so that -even if one skipped the descriptions, the exciting parts were too -familiar--and was wandering about the house, a piece of bread in -one hand and a piece of chocolate in the other, when he came across -Aphrodite packing his uncle's valise. He was going away, she told -Pavlo, for some days. There was nothing extraordinary in that. People -were always sending for the doctor from one part and another of the -provinces, to come and cure them, and Pavlo was quite accustomed to -being alone in the house with the two maids, and having his dinner -and supper served on a tray at one end of the dining room table. The -only advantage of this was that Marina let him choose his dinners, -and that he could have pilaf or even "halva"[9] two days running, and -need never touch soup or boiled meat all the time his uncle was away. - -But the extraordinary thing happened a few moments later, when his -uncle let himself into the house, and walked right up into the room -where the packing was going on. - -"Is the valise full?" he inquired. - -Aphrodite straightened herself up. - -"It is full, Kyrie. I have put three soft shirts at the bottom and -the little black box which you gave me last night; the rest of your -things are in the middle, and there are two starched shirts under -the covering, and your traveling cap at the very top." - -"Is it quite full?" he repeated. - -"If there is any other small thing you have forgotten, I can slip it -in between the clothes." - -"No, ..." and his eyes wandered round the room and rested on Pavlo -who was looking out of the window with great interest at two newspaper -boys having a fight. "No, ... I meant if you could perhaps get a few -things of the child's in with mine. I think that this time I shall -take him with me." - -The street fight was forgotten, and a flushed, bewildered Pavlo with -wide open eyes caught hold of his uncle's hand. - -"Me! Take me with you!" - -"Yes. How does the idea seem to you? This time I am going to visit a -sick man in Poros, the deputy of the island; and in that same island -I have an old school friend who lives there all summer through with -his family, and who has asked me again and again to go to see him; -so, how would you like to come with me to Poros, and all day long, -while I am busy, to play on the hill and in the woods behind the -house with the children? There are three or four of them, I believe." - -"This evening shall we go?" - -"No," laughed his uncle, "early to-morrow morning." - -Even Aphrodite was quite nice about it, and turned all the doctor's -things into a larger valise where there would be room for Pavlo's -clothes also, without any grumbling or bringing together of her -thick black eyebrows as she did when she was cross; and Marina sat -up quite late mixing some "kourabiedes"--cookies--for him to eat -on the way. She gave them to him herself wrapped up in two papers -so that his clothes should not get "all over fine sugar" when he -was starting for the station in the open carriage with his uncle, -at six o'clock the next morning. - - - - - -II - -It was a wonderful day! The drive to the station through the -great empty squares and the half-awakened streets; the wait in -the railway station of the Monastiraki while his uncle bought the -tickets and Pavlo gazed open eyed at the little railed-in bookstall, -hung round with very brightly coloured pictures of various heroes -of the Revolution; the railway journey down to Piræus with all the -people getting out at Phalerum, towels in hand, for sea baths; the -landing stage at Piræus with the multitude of little blue and red and -green boats swaying on the sunny water; the climb up the side of the -white steamer; the fat kind-faced captain who greeted his uncle as -an old friend and himself as a new one and gave him the freedom of -his bridge; the steaming out of the harbour past the King's Summer -House[10] surrounded by its great aloes and its little baby pines, -past the grave of Themistocles[11] gloriously placed in eternal view -of Salamis,[12] past the long breakwater and the lighthouse, and so -out into the open sea; the stop at Ægina with its big-sailed boats -and shouting boatmen crowding all round the steamer; the sighting -opposite Methana of the "stone ship" and the breathless listening to -its legend, of its captain the nereid who was turned into stone with -all her ship for presumptuously attempting to surpass the moon in -swiftness; the thrill of seeing a real dolphin swimming alongside the -steamer, ... all these and more, made the journey a dream of delight -to Pavlo, from which he was almost in fear of awaking to the ordinary -every-day life of Solon Street. He forgot to be hungry. It was his -uncle who after all reminded him of the packet of crushed and crumbly -"kourabiedes" which he had quite forgotten on a bench beside him; -and though he did eat them, they might as well have been dry bread -for all the pleasure he got out of them. - -In a little while after leaving Methana they passed a lighthouse on -a rock, and the steamer turned round the corner of it. - -"There is Poros!" said his uncle, suddenly laying his hand on Pavlo's -shoulder and twisting him round; and there it was. - -A little white village with red roofs, and here and there a big round -pine or a tall narrow cypress all climbing up a hill to an old ruined -mill at the top. - -There was a glorious open bay, and red and orange-sailed fishing -boats were sailing about it, and there were tall hills covered with -olive trees to the right, and tall hills covered with pine trees to -the left. And in the pines nestled a red house, and Pavlo's uncle -pointed it out to him. - -"See, there is my friend's house! There is where you will play with -the children; across there! Do you see?" - -Pavlo saw, and his cup of happiness was full, for he saw no trimly -set-out garden with elaborate flower-beds such as he had once seen -at Kiphissia, with "Do not touch" plainly written all over it, but -hollows and crags where lentisk and thyme bushes grew strong and -thick, and open hillside, and trees and trees and trees around and -behind the house, from the top of the hill right down to the seashore, -promising endless possibilities for climbing and hiding. - -The steamer stopped quite close up to the village, and Pavlo and his -uncle shook hands with the fat kind-faced captain and thanked him -and climbed down into a little swaying boat which in three or four -oar-strokes brought them to the side of the sea-wall. Doctor Zamana -got out. - -"Stay there, Pavlo," he said, "while I go up and keep a room at the -hotel, and then we shall go on at once to the Red House; and after -I leave you there, I can return and see my patient." - -So Pavlo stayed, dipping his hands over the side of the boat into -the sea, and watching the boy not much bigger than himself, and the -brown-faced, blind, old boatman, at their oars, but feeling too shy -to speak to them. - -In a few minutes his uncle came out of the hotel door, crossed the -sea-road and stepped down into the boat. Then the oars were dipped -into the water, the shining drops ran off the long blades, and they -were off again. - -Pavlo, who was more accustomed to carriages than to boats, pulled -timidly at his uncle's sleeve. - -"Will you not tell them, my uncle, to go to the Red House?" - -His uncle looked at him and laughed. - -"Is not the helm in my own hand, little stupid one?" - -And the old blind boatman and the boy rowed right across the shining -bay, getting nearer and nearer to the Red House. - -Pavlo's eyes opened wider at each plash of the oars, and he quite -forgot to be shy at the thought that he was going to meet new people. - -He had never seen such a pretty house before in all his life! - -The villagers called it "the Red House on the hill"; but in reality -it was rather a soft old Venetian pink than red, and the blending of -this old pink into the masses of golden green around it, was a joy -to the eyes; even to the eyes of little boys, though they did not -exactly know why. The shape of the house was delightful, it was low, -wide, two-storied, with jutting stone balconies on the second floor. A -monster bougainvillea spread its dark leaves and regally purple flowers -round the southern windows, and the eastern ones looked out on the open -sea through the pretty paler green leaves of a wistaria, whose mauve -bunches of flowers reached up to the round balcony. The whole house -was set on a very long and very wide terrace, and at equal distances -along the balustrade of short columns, were placed big stone vases of -geraniums of all colours. There was a ruby one with the sunshine on it -which made Pavlo think with regret of his crimson chalk, the one that -had broken all to bits. A long broad flight of stone steps flanked -by more geraniums, by big flowering oleanders and great gray-green -aloes led down from the side of the terrace to the little landing -stage. It seemed to Pavlo that a whole multitude of people was coming -down these steps to meet them, and he felt very shy again; but after -he had stepped out of the boat helped by various outstretched hands, -the multitude resolved itself into five people and three dogs. - -There was the master of the Red House, tall and broad, who looked, -Pavlo thought, like an officer without his uniform, and there were -four children, two little girls and two smaller boys; there was a big -black poodle, a fox-terrier, and a little white dog, of no particular -breed, with pointed ears. He was the special property of the eldest -girl, and when Pavlo first caught sight of him, he had got hold of -her skirt between his teeth and was shaking it vigorously, which he -always did whenever he felt excited. - -When Pavlo's uncle was also out of the boat, there was the usual -exchange of useless and embarrassing remarks, which according to -Pavlo's experience grown-ups always make on first meetings. Later on, -when he came to compare impressions, he found that it was also the -painful experience of the Four! - -"Oh, is this your little nephew?" - -"Are all the four yours? Fine children truly! May they live to you, -my friend! Quite a Zamana, did you say? Well, yes; but is there not -something of his mother in the shape of the mouth? This boy now, -is you all over again, I think I see you at his age!" - -"Yes, they tell me he is like me." - -"The little one also, I think." - -"Oh, no! Nikias has the long face of his mother's family." And -Nikias, the little boy, whose legs were too thin for his socks, -wriggled uncomfortably. - -"The second girl is the image of your mother. What a fine woman she -was! And this one, what lovely fair hair, and how long!" - -And Pavlo from the bottom of his heart pitied the poor eldest girl -who with a crimsoning face had to submit to be turned round and round -while the fair hair was duly admired and while she was told that she -was worthy of her name, which was Chryseis. - -"You had a good journey?" - -"Excellent. The sea was oil, not water." - -"You will stay long I hope." - -"It depends on my patient; I heard in the village that he was better -to-day." - -"This young man will stay with us, of course?" - -"He will be delighted to come, as often as your children want him." - -"To come! Nonsense! He must stay here entirely. I only wish I had -room to keep you also, but he can sleep with the boys. What would he -do at the hotel or in the village while you are absent? Of course he -must stay here. There can be no question about it. What do you say, -little one? Will you not stay?" - -The second girl, Andromache, whose hair had been cut short after a -fever, and now waved all round her head, nudged his arm. - -"Say yes! Say yes! It will be splendid!" - -Pavlo, wishing nothing better, nodded shyly, and was at once taken -possession of by the Four, the three dogs barking and yapping at their -heels, to be shown all the delights of the Red House and of its hill. - -First of all he was taken into the long cool dining room to be -introduced to the mother of the Four, who had been arranging fruit in -glass dishes, and who hurried forward to greet his uncle. Then, with -a big bunch of grapes thrust into his bewildered hands by Andromache, -who declared that "Mother has plenty more in the basket," they started -to see everything. - - - - - -III - -And what was Pavlo not shown on that first wonderful day? - -Everyone knows how one's nice things feel nicer when they are shown to -a stranger for the first time, and how even old things of which one -has tired regain something of their first charm. The Four were very -proud and very fond, each in his or her different way, of their house, -and their hill and their sea; so it seemed as though they would never -tire of showing little things to Pavlo. - -First of all he was taken up to the big pine, the oldest tree on the -hill. Under this were benches and a round table where, as they told -him, they had their lessons out of doors when the governess was in -a particularly good mood. For there was a temporary summer governess -somewhere in the house, but as it was holiday time, she was not allowed -to make herself too much of a nuisance except for an hour or so every -morning. From the big pine, one could see all the hills around, and the -Monastery Road, and the open sea, and the Naval School, and the Narrow -Beach, on which as Pavlo was told, one could see the sailors drilling. - -Behind the big pine was the wood of small pines, all over anemones -in the spring and cyclamen in the autumn. It was softly and greenly -dark in this little wood; the ground was strewn with pine needles, -so many of them that they made a thick carpet, and there were -shady corners where, as Chryseis told Pavlo, you could lie on the -pine needles and read, and read, and read, for ages before you were -discovered. Higher still was an open clearing and, at the end of it, -the little hill-gate through which one passed from the hill of the -Red House on to the other hills, and if one turned to the left, -one got down to the big Beach of the little Pines. - -He was raced down to the bath cabin on the shore, and shown all the -extraordinary drawings which decorated the inside of it, to which -all the members of the family had contributed, but more especially -Chryseis and Iason the eldest boy. Pavlo, in fact, admired the funny -faces drawn by the latter so whole-heartedly as to make the artist -flush with pride. - -"To-morrow you will bathe with us," announced Andromache. For that -day the bath was already over; besides, the grown-ups had some sort -of an idiotic notion that one must let a day pass after a journey, -before beginning sea-baths. - -Then up they raced again among the pines, scrambling through the -lentisk and thyme bushes, to show Pavlo the little house which they -had built themselves of stones and branches. One could really get -into this if one took care to stoop properly; and it was a splendid -place for the hoarding of biscuits and raisins, and for amateur -cooking of all sorts. By this time, it was getting too hot even for -the Four, so that they got under the wide-spreading shadow of the -big pine and sat around on the benches and talked, while the warm -pine smell filled their nostrils, and the tettix[13] chirped loudly on -all sides. Andromache, who was of an uncanny cleverness in catching -them, swarmed up a pine tree and brought one down enclosed in her two -hands turned into an impromptu cage, through the fingers of which, -Pavlo peeped at the whirring prisoner. The black poodle, Kerberos, -threw himself panting loudly on the ground; Deko, the little dog, -sat on his haunches beside Chryseis, cocked his little pointed ears -and looked about him; while Philos, the fox terrier, dug vigorously -at the roots of the nearest lentisk bush. He scratched his face, -he stopped repeatedly to shake his head violently and to sneeze, -then he would begin again, snuffing and digging as if the work were -very important indeed, and there were no time to lose. - -"Where do you live in Athens?" asked Iason, nursing a much scratched -knee. - -Pavlo told them. - -"Just alone with your uncle?" - -"Yes." - -"And your father and mother? Do you not remember them?" - -"My mother, ... no, ... I was very small. My father just a little. I -remember playing with the tassel of his sword. You know that my -great-grandfather...." - -"Oh, stop! Stop!" cried the two boys and Andromache in chorus; -"we know all that!" - -Chryseis told them that they were very rude, but they went on -determinedly:-- - -"Four times yesterday, when they knew you were coming, did we hear -the story. Once father told us, once mother, once Kyria Penelope, -that is the governess, you know, and once we had it for a dictation -lesson out of the History of the Revolution; so we know all about -what your great-grandfather did, and all Botzari said about him, -and how brave you must be and everything." - -Pavlo flushed a little, and felt quite grateful to Chryseis who -changed the subject. - -"What do you do all alone in the house?" she asked. - -"Oh, just nothing; I paint sometimes, and once I went to Kiphissia, -and once to a circus." - -"Can you ride?" - -Pavlo shook his head. - -"Ride? Oh, no!" - -"I can," said Iason, "and she can, too," nodding his head towards -Chryseis. "Father has another horse over on the mainland, besides -his own, which can be ridden; and we go with him in turns." - -"Mother says," put in Andromache, "that when her ship comes in, -she will buy horses for all of us, and a real motor boat, too." - -"When I am big," said Chryseis, whose stories "out of her head," were -generally in request, "I shall write a lot of stories in a book, and -sell hundreds and thousands of it, and give all the money to mother, -and then she can buy anything, and a new grand piano, too, for father!" - -"You cannot write a real book, if you cannot spell properly," retorted -Andromache, whose spelling was her strong point. - -"Yes, I can. The printers do all that part." - -"No, you cannot!" - -"Yes, I can!" - -"Well, try then! But when I am big I shall marry a very rich American -and I shall go away with him to America, and I shall send a whole -ship full of money back to mother, so that she will not need your -stupid old books." - -"No one will ever marry you," put in Iason, "you are too cross!" - -"Yes, they will, I tell you!" - -"I know!" cried the little boy, Nikias; "I know why she is so sure, -because she has taught Katerina when she finishes washing her hair -instead of wishing her as she always used to, 'And a fine bridegroom -some day,' to say 'And an American!' I know because I heard her when -I was waiting my turn for the bath in mother's room!" - -There was loud laughter and Andromache flew at Nikias with tooth and -nail for telling overheard secrets, and the struggle which ensued, -and at which Pavlo looked on in secret dismay, was Homeric. Traces -of it were visible at lunch time but were attributed to "playing -soldiers." The Four of the Red House were not tell-tales; that is -one good thing I can say of them. - -After lunch they were condemned to afternoon rest. The reason given -being that Pavlo had been up so early, and they trooped sadly upstairs; -but Iason, who was nothing if not inventive, comforted them. - -"When they are all asleep, you girls come into our room and we will -take all the sheets off the beds and fix them up with broom handles -and pretend we are deserters in a cave and soldiers coming after them." - -The sheets, with the aid of the broom handles and sundry wooden clothes -pegs, which Andromache managed to secure by a barefooted expedition to -the wash house, made a splendid cave, but the triumphant discovery of -the deserters by the soldiers was a little noisy, and the mother of -the Four coming unexpectedly on the scene, wisely chose the lesser -of two evils, and turned them all out of doors quite early in the -afternoon while the soft wind was still blowing,--the soft sweet sea -"batti"[14] that makes a swish, swish in the pine branches and shakes -down the geranium petals from the stone vases on the terrace; that -blows coolly in one's face while all the grown-ups are stupidly lying -down for afternoon sleeps. - -The Four and Pavlo tore madly up the hill and, throwing themselves -down on the pine needles under the trees, graciously signified to -Chryseis that she "might tell stories." - -So the long fair hair was tossed back, the eyebrows were puckered -for a moment, and then the quick little voice began:-- - -"There was once upon a time a dryad who lived in a great big tree...." - -Good old Kerberos had allowed Nikias to make a pillow of his soft -black body, Philos lay curled up with his nose between his paws, -and Deko stretched out his forelegs as far as they would stretch, -making a prodigious curve in the middle of his back; then suddenly -righting himself he sat back on his haunches, twitched his pointed -ears backwards and forwards and prepared to listen with the rest. - -Over their heads the "batti" made a soft roar as of the sea, in the -pine branches the fir cones cracked in the heat, and far away over -the Narrow Beach there were white-tipped waves on the open sea, that -made Andromache whisper to Pavlo, "It will not be too hot later on; -they will let us go to the Monastery." - -It was glorious! glorious! glorious! Certainly the Four had no words -then to describe how they loved it all. Since then, Iason has turned -some of the glory of those days into verse, and those who read it, -feel the warm scent of the pine, the note of the tettix, and the -blue of that sea, but he and the other three know that only when -colour-words are invented can the real beauty of those sights and -sounds be expressed! - - - - - -IV - -In the days that followed, Athens and Solon Street and the thick -dust of the streets and Aphrodite's cross frown seemed very far away -indeed to Pavlo; even of his uncle he saw very little; now and then -the doctor came to luncheon or to dinner on the terrace, but already -he seemed to belong to a past life. There was so much to see and to -do! There were delightful torpedo boats to watch, steaming in and out -of the bay and sometimes passing quite close under the terrace; there -were the long narrow boats from the Naval School, full of new sailors -learning how to row; there was fishing with home-made bamboo rods -off the end of the landing stage, while the broad flapping straw hats -which they were all obliged to wear because of the sun were weighted -down on the ground with stones, so as to be better out of their way, -as soon as the grown-ups were not looking; there was fire-fishing -with spearing rods from the boat at nights when there was no moon; -there were rambling afternoon walks to the Monastery or to the beach -of the little pines; there were longer expeditions to the Devil's -Bridge, to the lemon wood, or up to the Seven Mills;[15] there were -visits to the funny little shops of the village in search of picture -post cards, or even of what sweets Poros could supply, when the town -stock ran out. For of course, visiting aunts and uncles and cousins -generally brought proper boxes of chocolates and sweets from Athens; -and though the grown-ups never failed to repeat the same stupid -remarks such as, "How you are spoiling the children!" or, "Indeed -that was quite unnecessary!" still visitors scarcely ever failed to -fulfill this elementary duty. Once, a certain absent-minded uncle so -far forgot his obligations, as to bring only some silly old caramels, -and Pavlo heard all the abuse that was lavished on him. - -There were the delicious long-stretched-out sea baths, notwithstanding -the unfortunate governess's cries of, "You are staying too long in -the water! Come out this very minute!" There were swimming matches -between Chryseis and Iason; and there was under water swimming by -Andromache. As for poor Nikias, his sea-bathing usually took place on -dry land, under the shelter of the pines, where he would flee wet and -naked for refuge, till his elders were safely out of the water. It is -true, the others were very merciless and he was only eight years old, -and when they caught him and dipped him, they dipped him so far down, -and kept him so long under! - -There were endless games on the hill, of soldiers, of robbers, of -outlaws, of Turks, in which Pavlo for the first two or three days was -politely allowed to be Kanaris, Athanasios Diakos, Odysseus Androutsos, -Marcos Botzaris, or his own great-grandfather, according to the moment, -but afterwards was obliged to take his turn at being a Turk, or at -commanding a big Turkish frigate represented by three long planks -behind the servants' quarters. Two of the Four were his crew, and the -two others,--for of course they always had to be inferior in numbers or -where would the bravery be?--were Miaoulis[16] and his devoted followers, -heroically bent on blowing up the frigate, or perishing in the attempt. - -Then there were stories read or told on the terrace in the hour before -dinner, by the mother of the Four, when Nikias would climb up on the -arm of her chair, or even sometimes, if it were getting pretty dark, -on her knees, and listen with both eyes and ears, and Iason would -draw funny men or officers while he listened. All the old tales of -Theseus and Heracles, and King Midas, and the winged Pegasus were -retold, and the fairy tales of the King's daughter with her three -wonderful dresses, the Sea with its Fish, the Earth with its Flowers, -and the Heavens with their Stars; and the tale of the Pacha with his -three pairs of slippers. There were French tales too, of the heroes -who rode through the valley of Roncesvalles, of Roland, and Ganelon; -and even, for the mother of the Four had lived abroad in England in the -remote past, English tales, of knights and ladies with curious names, -of whom Pavlo had never heard; of Enid and Geraint, of Lancelot, -of Pelleas, and Gareth and the Lady Lyonors. - -And while the tales were told the sky turned into a lovely golden pink -behind the pines, and the stars came out one by one. Iason knew many -of their names and would show Pavlo the exact spot on the terrace -from which one could see the whole of the Great Bear, and how the -Scorpion dipped its tail behind the hill over Galata.[17] - -Of course the shadow of lessons did occasionally fall across the -sunshine. The village schoolmaster came over in a boat twice a week -for the boys, and there was a family of friends living in the "Garden" -on the mainland who had a French holiday governess, and every other -day the Four went across in the small boat with Kyria Penelope, and -Greek and French lessons were exchanged. But even so, there were ways -and means. Pavlo overheard Chryseis early one morning reproaching -her sister:-- - -"You have only written half your verb, and you do not know your poetry -at all! Mademoiselle will be furious again. You will have pages and -pages to write afterwards." - -"No!" declared Andromache stoutly, "I shall not!" - -"But you will. There is no time to learn anything now. It is time -to start." - -"I shall learn nothing, and I shall have nothing to write." - -"How will you manage?" - -"Wait, and you will see," answered Andromache darkly, shaking her -short wavy hair. - -They all ran down the long flight of steps to the sea, and Yanni the -boatman was already settling the boat cushions. The big clock of the -Naval School was just on the last stroke of eight and the boys had -entreated Kyria Penelope to wait till the flag went up on the tower, as -Iason wanted to run their boat flag up on its pole at the same moment. - -His hand was holding the rope loosely, and all eyes were fixed on -the square tower of the Naval School, waiting for the signal. - -Bam! Boum! went the morning gun, and the lovely old blue and white -flag rose majestically to the top of the flagstaff. - -At the same moment, with naval precision, Iason pulled the rope, and -the little boat flag was waving at the top of its pole; and almost at -the same moment, Splash! went Andromache into the sea, books and all. - -A shrill shriek followed, as Kyria Penelope went down on her knees -on the landing stage, and flapped helpless arms over the water. - -But the boatman was there and the boys too, and the next moment a -drenched, dripping, sea-weedy Andromache was standing in the midst -of them, little pools of water rapidly forming all round her. Yanni -was reaching out for two floating books, and a soaked copy-book was -slowly sinking beyond recovery. - -"If I could possibly imagine," said the poor innocent governess, who -had no small brothers and sisters at home, "that you would jump into -the sea on purpose, I would keep all the others waiting, till you -changed your wet clothes; but as such a thing is quite impossible, -you may stay at home to-day and not delay us." - -And such a thing being quite impossible, naughty Andromache stayed -comfortably at home, finished all the chocolates out of her box; -successfully fished out a big bunch of grapes through a hole in the -wire netting of the store room window, carefully enlarged by the -boys; visited the kitchen and learned all about the cook's little -nieces and nephews and what their names were and how old they were; -stood outside the gate watching the "trata"[18] and did a whole host -of other equally pleasant and forbidden things. - -That same afternoon they went to the Monastery with ten "lepta" each, -with which to buy and light a taper in the Chapel. - -"Look at Kyria Penelope!" cried Chryseis. "She has stopped to tie her -shoe lace again; it is always coming untied. Let us run on to the cave; -we shall have time to get in before she reaches us!" - -The magic word "cave" sufficed, and they were all off racing down -the hill and up again towards the second bridge. - -It was not a real cave, Chryseis jerkily explained to Pavlo as they -ran; only a dark hole in the earth under the bridge, and it was -not mysterious at all and did not seem to lead anywhere, but the -governess would never let them look properly into it. Over on the -mainland there were some splendid real caves, that real robbers and -deserters had hidden in; and in the old days people who were escaping -from the Turks; but the Four had only been there once and then they -were with grown-ups. - -"Lambro the shepherd told me," panted Iason, "that there is one here -on the island over on the other side of the hills, near the beach -of Vayonia. A great big dark cave with a small opening, and you go -in and in and never find the end. He says there were old swords and -guns hidden there and ... all sorts of things. I mean to look for it -some day." - -"Will they let us?" asked Nikias, stooping to pull up a sock which -threatened to cover his shoe entirely. - -"Let us!" said Iason contemptuously; "they never let us! But we -will go!" - -The cave under the bridge was nothing but a small hole full of cobwebs -and dry leaves. However, they all managed to wriggle in and wriggle -out again, dirty, but triumphant, before Kyria Penelope, hot and -protesting, came up to them. - - - - - -V - -Of course Pavlo's uncle had finished all he had to do in Poros long -before this time, but it so happened that another summons had called -him on to Nauplia, and it had been settled that while he was there, -Pavlo should stay on at the Red House and that his uncle should spend -one more day in Poros on his way back, and then that both should -return together to Athens. There had been cries of delight over this -arrangement, and Andromache had expressed a wish that the patient in -Nauplia might have a nice proper illness. He need not die, of course, -she added, but just be ill enough to want to keep the doctor from -Athens near him for a long time. - -So it was strange that the very day after this, Pavlo should have -been lying on his face under the pines in the small wood, crying his -heart out. - -For alas and alack, it had daily been getting more and more difficult -to live up to all that was expected of his name, and this particular -morning it had been worse than impossible. He had been at the gate -with the girls and the three dogs watching the "trata." For him, -it was a new sight, and the Four were never tired of looking at the -fishermen and the fisher boys with their bare brown limbs, wet and -glistening in the sun, pulling all together at the ropes, and emptying -all the squirming little silver fishes out of the long net. - -And while they were standing about and watching, a big yellow sheep -dog had rushed down the hill, and though at first he had contented -himself harmlessly enough with sniffing at ropes and the nets, Deko -who, it is true, was always very impertinent to big dogs, had provoked -him. Chryseis snatched Deko up in her arms, and Andromache seizing -Philos screamed for help, for the sheep dog was ready to spring at -them. Then the two boys rushing down to the rescue from the top of -the hill, instead of finding Pavlo standing in front of the girls, -found him behind the trunk of a mimosa tree, staring horror-struck -at the big snarling yellow brute, whom they drove howling away with -two well-directed stones. - -Then Iason had turned fiercely on Pavlo:-- - -"You may be a Zamana as much as you like; you are a coward all the -same!" and even Nikias had echoed jeeringly:-- - -"Coward! Coward!" - -And then Pavlo had fled blindly to the shelter of the dark little wood. - -He longed, as he lay there sobbing, that it might be possible never -to see any of them again. For he had found out from the first that -for the Four the great rule was, "Never be afraid, and if you are, -mind you hide it!" Of course they knew that Nikias shirked being -dipped far down, or being held long under water. That was a family -misfortune, never mentioned before strangers, but on the other hand -even Nikias had only two days ago boldly attacked a long snake when -it glided out of a thick bush, round which Philos had been sniffing -for so long. He had struck at it with all his might on its flat head, -and while Anneza, the Andriote serving maid, had picked up her skirts -knee-high and fled down the hillside shrieking loud enough to be -heard over at Galata, he had followed, his little long face flushed -with triumph, his socks hanging over his shoes, and the corpse of -the victim dangling horribly at the end of a long stick. - -"Were you not afraid, you little one?" his father had asked; and -Nikias answered that he had been just a little afraid when it raised -its head and hissed, but that Chryseis was so stupid that he knew she -would never sit comfortably under the big pine again with her book, -if she felt there were a snake, however harmless, wriggling about -in the bushes beside her, so that he had to kill it all the same; -did they not understand? And the mother of the Four had looked rather -proud, and the father had said:-- - -"Of course I understand." - -And Nikias was not yet eight years old, and he, Pavlo, was over eleven! - -So he lay there and sobbed, till Chryseis found him out and sat beside -him, and expressed her energetic opinion that her brothers were "Pigs" -because, of course, as she said, Pavlo had always lived in Athens, and -how was he to know that those fierce-looking sheep dogs only require -a stone thrown at them to run away; she even succeeded in making him -laugh a little, by relating how Andromache had once, when she was -quite little, called an officer who had offended her in some way "A -green pig!" No one had understood why, but the insult had evidently -been intended to be terrible. Then Chryseis had wiped his eyes with -a handkerchief which happened to be not so much "a rag of all work" -as the handkerchiefs of the Four generally were, and brought him down -to the house, to show him the pictures in the Doré Dante which was -usually reserved for rainy days or for convalescence. The mother of -the Four had wondered a little at this very peaceful occupation in -the middle of the morning, but was too wise to make awkward enquiries. - -There was a prolonged visit that same afternoon from the children -of the house in the "Garden," which had made matters easier for all, -and by the evening everyone was too busy making plans for the morrow, -to think of past disagreeables. - -It was to be the last day of Pavlo's stay, and a picnic had been -proposed, a real picnic, with no accompanying governess. There was -some hesitation over this, but Andromache had urged that it was -really only fair to the poor creature herself to give her a whole -day's freedom now and then. "I suppose," she added thoughtfully, -"we may be rather tiring sometimes." - -At last, consent was obtained on two conditions, the first being that -they should be back early, the second, that they must promise to obey -Chryseis. This, they did not mind much, knowing of old that her rule -was mild. The picnic was to be somewhere on the hills behind the Red -House, wherever a nice shady spot should be found. Eatables were to -be packed in small hand baskets, so that each might carry his share; -and everyone was to wear his very oldest clothes. - -The master of the House wanted to know why the enjoyment would not be -just the same if they simply carried their food to the big pine and ate -it there? But this question was treated with the contempt it deserved. - - - - - -VI - -Happily, the next morning was wonderfully cool, for July, for though -they had all got up at impossible hours, by the time all the baskets -were packed and all the last recommendations given to Kyria Penelope -to look after poor Deko who had run a big thorn into his foot and had -to be left behind, it was nearly nine o'clock. In fact the clock of -the Naval School had just boomed out the three-quarters when Iason -turned the big key in the lock of the hill gate. - -They passed out in single file; all except Philos, who had found it -simpler to climb up the wall and jump down on the other side. - -Iason hid the padlock safely in a big lentisk bush just outside the -gate, and then, standing up, faced the others, pointing up the thickly -wooded hill. - -"Listen you! We are going straight up there, and down on the other -side towards Vayonia. I am going to find that cave of which Lambro -the shepherd told me." - -Andromache and Nikias gave a united whoop of joy and were rushing -forward in the direction of the pointing finger, when Chryseis cried:-- - -"Stop! Stop! It will be ever so much too far. We had better go to -the little chapel of Saint Stathi." - -"We have been there hundreds of times; and I tell you we may never -get such a splendid opportunity for the cave again." - -"But to Vayonia! So far ...!" objected Chryseis. - -"Now, listen!" persisted Iason. "What did father say last week, -when I said we wanted to go to Vayonia?" - -"He said, 'We shall see.'" - -"Well, that does not mean 'no,' does it? Only when the grown-ups say, -'We shall see,' sometimes it does not happen for a long time, and we -want this to happen now, to-day, at once!" Then as Chryseis still -hung back, he added, "Of course we will say where we have been, -directly we get back. Come, then!" - -And Chryseis came. - -The first part of the climb was uneventful. Kerberos plodded on heavily -and sedately, Philos of course stopped to dig round the roots of -nearly all the thyme and lentisk bushes on their way. Andromache, who -considered him her special dog, would catch him by the neck and pull -him off by main force, but in an instant he was back again, digging -frantically, shaking his head, sneezing and beginning all over again. - -After some time there was a rest under a clump of pines, and Nikias -suggested opening the baskets. But when the others all told him he -was "A greedy little pig!" he explained that he had only wanted to -see if Athanasia had not forgotten the peaches which he had seen on -the pantry shelf. - -"And of course you would run back for them if she had!" said Iason -derisively. - -"Wait till we get to the top," said Chryseis. - -So they started off again. - -"Where shall you look for the big cave?" asked Andromache, who was -beginning to find her basket heavy and the sun hot. "Did Lambro say -if it were high on the hills above Vayonia, or to the right near -the vineyards?" - -"Did you ever hear of a cave near vineyards, stupid?" answered Iason, -whose basket was heavier still as it had the bottles of water in -it. "Lambro said near the sea; so of course it will be to the left -in the big rocks." - -"You do not know really," persisted Andromache, "you only say 'it -will be.'" - -"I never said I knew; I said 'let us go and find it!'" Suddenly he -pointed some way above them, "There is a shepherd! No, not there; on -that little footpath where the hill is bare. Let us ask if he knows!" - -"Perhaps," suggested Pavlo hopefully, "it may be Lambro himself." - -"No," answered the Four in chorus, "Lambro is lame. See how this man -jumps from one rock to another! Bah! Whatever is he doing?" - -The distant shepherd who seemed taller than any man they knew, was -waving his arms above his head, and the movements looked curious and -almost startling against the sky. When he caught sight of the children, -instead of continuing on his way quietly and heavily as most peasants -do, he seemed to stop short, to hesitate, and then suddenly using -his long shepherd's crook as a vaulting pole he leapt over a piece -of rock in his way, and came running towards them. - -"Good-day to you!" cried all the children as soon as he was within -hearing distance. He swung himself down to the little plateau on -which they were standing. - -"May your day be good!" he answered, but as he said it, he laughed -a little. - -The children looked at him curiously. At first sight he seemed one of -the ordinary shepherds of the hills with his short "foustanella,"[19] -his coloured kerchief knotted over his head, and the long "glitsa"[20] -in his hand; but certainly they had never seen such a strange-looking -shepherd before. He was extraordinarily tall and broad, a matted -unkempt reddish beard covered most of his face, and round the pale -blue eyes nearly all the white seemed to show. The "foustanella" -was incredibly dirty and ragged, the red kerchief greasy with age, -half fallen off his head. A brightly striped "tagari"[21] was slung -over his shoulder. - -"Perhaps you know," asked Iason, "where there is a big cave over on -the other side of the slope, near Vayonia?" - -"A cave?" the man twisted his fingers in the tangled beard as he spoke, -"Who told you of a cave?" - -"Lambro, the shepherd, told me." - -"Many things does Lambro, the lame one know! Did he tell you perhaps -how one enters into this cave?" and the pale blue eyes peered eagerly -into the boy's face. - -"No; why? One enters by the entrance I suppose." - -The shepherd laughed. - -"You say well! By the entrance of course, ... by the entrance. Ask -also of Lambro who is so wise, how you may find the road to the cave!" - -Andromache pushed forward. - -"And is Lambro here that we may ask him?" she said impatiently. "What -foolish talk is this? If you know where the cave is, speak!" - -The man turned his pale blue eyes on her. - -"I must speak, must I? The little hens are crowing to-day, as well -as the little cocks!" - -Iason turned to the others. - -"Come!" he said, speaking in French, "the man knows nothing, and he -is trying to amuse himself with us." - -And they turned to continue their way up the hill. But the shepherd -touched the last one, who happened to be Chryseis, on the shoulder, -and unslinging his "tagari" offered it to her. - -"Take one!" he said; "let me befriend you with one." - -He was still laughing, and he pushed his face close to hers as he -spoke. Chryseis, who was rather dainty, shrank back a little, but the -familiar words reassured her. The tagari evidently contained figs, or -perhaps almonds; and she knew what an insult the peasants consider it, -that one should refuse anything with which they offer to "befriend" -you. So she stretched out her hand over the half-closed tagari, -but drew back in alarm. It was full of earth and stones! - -The man threw his head back and laughed loudly and discordantly. - -Iason turned on him, like the little cock he had been called. - -"Now then!" he cried, pushing the huge man violently, "now then! What -foolishness is this? Leave us alone and go your way! Do you hear?" And -when he raised his voice Pavlo thought it sounded just like the master -of the Red House. - -The shepherd's laugh died off in a silly cackle, and he stood where -Iason had pushed him, looking after the children as they climbed on -rather hurriedly; but to Pavlo's intense relief, he made no attempt -to follow them. - -"Who was it?" asked Andromache. - -"I am not sure," said Iason, "but I think it must be one of the -Pelekas. His brother Yoryi had our pasture land for his sheep last -year. I saw him when I went up to the 'stania'[22] with father. They -are all red-haired, and there are many brothers; but I do not know -this one." - -"He was horrid!" said Chryseis, shifting her basket to her other arm; -"he must have been drinking too much 'ouzo.'"[23] - -"Father says they never drink, these shepherds, except on big holidays -when they come down to the villages," said Iason, "but I suppose this -one must have." - -It was worth the long hot climb, when they reached the top of the -hill, to feel the cool air blowing in their faces. As they scrambled -over the very last ridge, Nikias, who was first, pulled at a falling -sock which threatened to cover his shoe, then stood up and pointing -far below, shouted triumphantly:-- - -"There is the other sea!" - -And there, if not the "other sea" as the children called it, was the -other side of the island, where there were no houses, no gardens, no -lemon orchards, no olive trees, no signs of familiar every-day life, -nothing but pines, of all shapes and sizes, from the dark green rugged -old pines, to the pale green baby ones; and lentisk, and arbutus, -and thyme bushes on the slopes, and far below them the wide-sweeping -beautiful beach of Vayonia with the open sea beyond. The soft plash -of the little waves against the rocks came up to them where they stood. - -Pavlo was told that on a bright clear winter day you could distinguish -all Athens and the Acropolis perfectly well, "over there," and four -outstretched fingers pointed to the exact direction behind Ægina. - -Just then a big white caique, all sails open to the wind, was -gliding majestically across the opening of the bay, its little -landing boat dancing and skipping on the waves behind it. And closer -to the shore was a tiny puffing steam launch belonging to the Naval -School. Andromache, whose eyes were the best, declared that she could -recognize the officers on board. - -"I am sure that one there is the Admiral," she said, "I can see his -hair white in the sun." - -"Now then!" jeered the others, "can you not count the stripes also -on the sleeve of his uniform?" - -But Chryseis had been unpacking the baskets. - -"We will eat now," she announced quietly, and there was not one to say -"no" to her. - -Before they had left the house even the children themselves had -exclaimed at the quantity of cold "keftedes" which Athanasia -had prepared for them, but there were very few left when they had -eaten as much as they wanted. There were some "skaltsounia"[24] too, -smothered in fine sugar; and of these there were none left at all; -but there never are, of course. There were plenty of grapes, and the -peaches about which Nikias had been anxious. Pavlo amused himself by -digging holes in the hard sun-baked earth, and planting the kernels -as far down as he could reach,-- - -"So that when you come up here another time, you will find peaches -growing ready for you." - -The boys laughed at him. - -"We had better not come here for two or three months, and by then -your trees will of course be laden with fruit." - -Pavlo had lived much alone, and he was accustomed to people who meant -exactly what they said. - -"No," he said slowly, "I did not mean in two or three months, but -some time." - -"Even if they were ever to become trees, without watering or digging -or anything," said Andromache, struggling with Philos, who had left -his dinner to attack the roots of a monster lentisk bush, "do you -think the shepherds would leave any peaches on them?" - -But the word "shepherd" reminded Iason of their object. - -"I am going down there," he said, pointing to the left, where the -bushes were rarer and the gray crags began. "It looks cave-y. Leave -the baskets there under that bush. No one will touch them." - -The children began to scramble down towards the rocks, and the scent -of the thyme as they crushed it mingled little by little with the -fresh smell of the sea, as they got nearer and nearer the shore. - -The search for the cave was very thorough. Every big bush growing -near a rock was pushed aside, every shadow was peered into. - -"You never know," as Iason said, "how small the entrance may be!" - -But after all it was by pure accident that they found it. - - - - - -VII - -They were pretty close to the shore, close enough for all to -distinguish that the officers from the steam launch had got into a -little boat and were being rowed to land. Chryseis was standing on the -top of a big stone, when she slipped on the pine needles which covered -it, and suddenly disappeared from view as entirely and completely as -though a trap door had opened and swallowed her up. - -"Chryseis!" screamed Andromache, "Chryseis, where are you?" And the -boys and Pavlo rushed to the spot. - -The stone had been on the edge of a sheep track, and as they looked -fearfully over, they saw Chryseis lying on her elbow on a little -ledge a few feet below. - -"I am not hurt," she called up at once, "not at all; but do not any of -you climb down this way; there are a lot of prickly pears and I have -got some of the thorns in my hand. Come round by those arbutus there!" - -When they got round to her she was picking the tiny thorns out of her -hand, and wetting it in a little stream which seemed to come out of -the gray rock. - -"Look!" she said, "there is water here!" She put her finger to her -mouth, "and it is fresh water, too. How funny! It is coming round -this side of the rock. See!" - -"Why!" said Iason, leaning both hands on the top of the rock, and -bending his whole body round the corner, "why it is...." - -And it was. When they all clambered on the big rock and slipped down -to the other side, they found Iason lifting up with all his strength -a tangled mass of wild ivy and other creepers which fell over it like -a thick curtain. And there was a hole; big enough for anyone to pass -through if he stooped a little. - -It looked dark inside, and there was a step going down. - -"No one need come," said Iason, "if he feels afraid!" - -And of course everyone said, "I am not afraid!" Pavlo first of -all. And he really and truly was not. He was far too excited to think -of being afraid. - -The children went down two steps, bending their heads low, and then -stood upright. - -They were in a high narrow cave; so long that it was impossible to -tell the depth. A cave like those of which they had often read, and -often dreamt of discovering, but in which they had very certainly -never before found themselves. - -"It is quite a real cave!" said Nikias in an awestruck whisper. And -the others looked round in silence. It seemed a moment too great for -ordinary words. Their adventurous hearts were beating quickly. - -Then Iason triumphantly produced a bit of candle and a box of matches -from his pocket, and when he lighted it the tiny flame cast rounds of -light and mysterious shadows over rough gray walls. This was for the -first moment after coming in from the blinding sunlight, but as soon as -their eyes got accustomed to the green darkness, Iason threw the candle -away and the flame sputtered as it fell into the little stream of water -which seemed to trickle down one end of the cave near the wall. The -whole place smelt rather nasty and musty, but as Chryseis said,-- - -"What do smells matter when we have found a real cave?" - -And a real cave it was! There were curious niches in the walls; the -stone was fretted away into arches and hollows; in some parts natural -columns had formed themselves, and in others dimly seen stalactites -hung in the darkness above their heads. - -Kerberos whined rather uncomfortably and kept very close to Chryseis, -but Philos sniffed round excitedly, bent on investigating every nook -and corner, till Andromache lifted him up struggling and barking and -insisted on carrying him, for fear he might fall into some "unseen -chasm." Iason told her that Philos could take care of himself "a -thousand times" better than she could; but Andromache was never easy -to convince. - -They went along very cautiously in Indian file. Iason came first, -then the two girls, then Nikias, and Pavlo last of all. - -After they had walked a little way in, they found a heap of charred -sticks and a broken necked pitcher. - -"Perhaps," suggested Chryseis, "they may have remained here ever since -the times when the women and children were hiding from the Turks. They -may have had to cook and sleep in here, you know, while the men were -outside fighting. And perhaps," she added, stooping down to touch -the broken pitcher, "we may be the very first people to touch them -since then!" - -"Well," put in Andromache, the practical, "I should not care to have -to eat or sleep in here. It smells just awful!" - -"It is getting very dark too, and I cannot see where to step any more," -suggested little Nikias; then he added hurriedly, "Perhaps it will -get lighter further in!" - -"No, you little stupid, it will be darker further in," said Iason, -"because it winds away from the entrance!" - -Chryseis stopped short. - -"Let us turn back! perhaps it turns and turns like the Labyrinth and -we may never be able to get out again." - -"And then," added Nikias cheerfully, "people will come after many -years and find only our bones!" - -"Stop that kind of talk, you horrid little pig!" cried Andromache. - -Iason hesitated. - -"If only I had not thrown the candle away! Oh, well, never mind! I -suppose we had better turn back." - -And they retraced their steps in the same order. Pavlo who came -last lagged behind for a moment. About half way, on the left side, -was something he had not noticed when they had been going in; a -bright spot, a speck of light, something white and shining in the -dim twilight. But as he wondered what it could be, he saw that he -was alone and hurried on to join the others; and as soon as he had -taken two steps forward, the speck of light disappeared suddenly, -as though someone had blown it out. - -He caught up with the others at the entrance. - -"Listen!" he said, catching hold of Nikias, who was just stepping -out into the daylight, "Down there I saw...." - -But they never heard what he saw, for at that moment he heard a series -of loud thuds, a scream from Chryseis who had been the first to get out -of the entrance, and a muttered exclamation from Iason as he sprang -forward and pushed both his sisters so violently backward into the -cave, that they fell over the two smaller boys, dragging them down. - -At the same moment Pavlo, lifting himself up, saw two large stones -fall from above, right in front of the opening of the cave. - -"What is it?" - -"What was that?" - -"What fell?" He and Nikias and Andromache all cried together. - -"Stones! A great many," Chryseis answered, lifting a pale face to -theirs as they pulled her up. "They nearly fell on our heads, but -Iason pushed us back. Iason! What is it? Iason!" - -For Iason, flattened against the opening, was cautiously trying to -find out what had happened. - -"I do not know," he said, without turning round. "I cannot -think. Something must have loosened the stones from the top of the -rock above, and they fell. But what? The first rains have not begun -yet. Well," he continued after a moment's pause, "let us get out! That -was all." - -But that was not all! At the step forward which he took, a shower of -earth and stones came rattling down on the ledge outside. - -He sprang back only just in time. - -"But what is it then? What can it be?" - -They soon found out. No sooner had the last stone rebounded and rolled -over the ledge to the rocks below them, than a loud discordant laugh -sounded from above the opening of the cave. - -"Come out of your hole, my little cockerels! Come out! You would not -have my stones before. Get them on your heads now! Come out! Come out!" - -The children looked at each other in horror. - -"The shepherd! The red-bearded man!" - -There was a fresh shower of stones and the laugh again, which sounded -closer. Chryseis caught hold of her brother's arm. - -"Iason! He will get in! He will get in! Oh, what shall we do?" - -"We will not let him!" cried little Nikias, running forward, "let us -push this big stone right in front of the opening! Here! This one; -if you push hard we can roll it down. Iason! Pavlo! Girls! Help me!" - -"He is right, the little one," said Iason, and they all pulled, -and pushed and tugged as they could never have done if they had not -been terribly frightened, and little by little the big rounded piece -of rock was rolled in front of the entrance to the cave, and the -green darkness grew darker and darker. The opening was not entirely -blocked. Any of the children could have squeezed in or out, but they -felt almost certain no grown man could. - -"Besides, if he only puts his hand in, we will chop it off so! Like -the Persians and the man with the ship," declared Andromache, becoming -vaguely historical. - -"Where is your hatchet?" asked Iason. "No, I am sure he cannot get -in. Now we must sit and think what to do. It does no good to cry -like that!" - -"I am not crying!" sobbed Nikias. "It comes by itself," and he sniffed -very hard for a few minutes. - -"I expect this man is so drunk he does not know what he is doing," -continued Iason. "At the very worst we shall have to stay in here -till he gets tired of waiting and goes away. We are safe in the cave." - -"I tell you what," said Nikias rubbing his knuckles very hard into -his eyes, "it must be 'the mad shepherd.'" - -All the others stared at him. - -"The mad shepherd? What do you mean?" - -"I heard Kyra Calliope the other day telling Yanni. She said there was -a mad shepherd on the hills, and that he had killed a lot of sheep of -the other shepherds, and she said the mayor and the doctor wanted to -tie him up and send him to Athens in the steamer, but they could not -catch him, because he was so cunning and hid in the hills for days." - -"You little fool!" cried his brother, seizing him by the -shoulder. "You--You--Idiot--You--Why did you not tell us when we -first met him down there, so that we might have turned back. Do you -think it is a joke--a mad man?" - -"Did I know?" whimpered Nikias. "Did I know when we met him? He looked -like all shepherds then." - -"If you had only ..." began Iason, but he was interrupted by a shriek -of horror from Chryseis. She was pointed to the small opening left -above the rock that blocked the entrance. - -There, clearly outlined against the sky, was a grinning, red-bearded -face. Part of a hairy hand could be seen pushing against the stone. - -Iason lost no time. Stooping he seized hold of a big round pebble -and sent it crashing right on the fingers that were working round -the stone. - -There was a howl of pain and the face disappeared, then after a -moment came a sound of retreating footsteps and of broken bushes, -and stones rolling down the rock overhead. - -The children huddled together, listened, pale and terrified, till -all was silence again. Then Iason pushed them aside and advanced to -the opening. - -"Listen!" he said, "I have just thought of it. Perhaps the officers -we saw are still on the shore. Now that the man is not there I shall -get outside and call to them." - -"No! No, Iason! Stop! Iason!..." - -But before any of them could stop him, Iason was squeezing himself -round the side of the rock. He was out all but one leg, when a stone -bigger than any of those that had been thrown before, bounded against -the rock, and struck him on the side of the head. He fell forward -with a smothered "Ah!" and the others with a scream of fear rushed -to the blocked entrance. - -Iason was lying half in and half out, and the short fair hair was -dabbled with blood. - -Nikias and Pavlo were for trying to push out the rock, but Andromache -stopped them. - -"No! No!" she cried, "we can drag him in without that." And by combined -pulling and pushing they succeeded in getting Iason safely inside. He -opened his eyes and said, "It is nothing," but he closed them again. - -Chryseis lifted his head to her knees and looked round desperately. - -"We must wash the place in the water from the stream," she said, -"but I have no handkerchief." - -Andromache, the practical, lifted up her frock and tore a big strip -from the white petticoat underneath. - -"Here, this is better, and there is plenty more," and she dipped the -rag in the running water and washed off the blood that was trickling -down over Iason's ear and neck, while Chryseis raised his head higher. - -Nikias was at the entrance trying to push his thin little body round -the rock. - -"I will get out now," he said, "and shout for the officers." - -"Nikias!" cried Chryseis, her voice shrill with terror, -"come back at once! You must not get out! I tell you, you must -not! Pavlo! Pavlo! Stop him!" - -But she looked around in vain; Pavlo was not there. He seemed to have -completely disappeared. - -"The coward!" exclaimed Andromache, in furious indignation. "The -coward! He has managed to slip out somehow, and left us here all -alone!" - -But she was quite wrong. - -The moment poor Iason had been pulled back into the cave, Pavlo -suddenly remembered the speck of light in the wall that he had -noticed as they were coming out, and without saying a word to anyone, -he ran back into the depths of the cave to see if he could find the -spot. Almost at once he came upon it, like a little white star in -the dark wall of the cave. - -Now Pavlo's mind was of the kind that grown-up people call "logical," -which means that he knew that something could not exist without a -reason for it; therefore he argued that if there was a light, there -must be an opening; and even if the opening were only large enough -for a head or even a hand to be passed through, it might be useful. - -So he began feeling all over the rough damp wall with both hands. - -He felt and he felt for some time in vain, then suddenly when he had -nearly given up, he came upon a hole. - -Kneeling, he felt that a little barrier of stone divided the hole -from the floor of the cave, and that it was more than wide enough to -admit him. He scarcely hesitated a second before he climbed over the -barrier and found himself in a narrow tunnel at the end of which the -speck of light was shining. - -Pavlo advanced a few steps very slowly. It was a dark, damp, up-hill -passage, and so narrow that he could feel the walls on either side -without stretching his arms. - -Suddenly he gave a violent shudder. - -Something alive, something that felt heavy and cold, a rat perhaps, -or a toad or a lizard, ran over his foot. Still he kept on. If the -light, which was growing larger, should prove to be a side opening -to the cave, he would run back for the others, and they would all -get out that way, managing somehow to carry Iason between them if he -could not walk, while the man went on throwing stones and waiting for -them at the big entrance. The idea of the man waiting there perhaps -all day, appealed to Pavlo, and he laughed a little to himself as he -got nearer to the light. - -He found, as he had expected, that it came from a small hole in the -rock which led out to the hillside, and was almost quite hidden by -hanging creepers. - -The opening was not large, but they could easily crawl out. In fact -it would have been safer had it been a smaller hole. - -Pavlo could see the purple flowers of an osier bush waving in the open -air before he quite reached the opening. He was just on the point of -crawling out to make quite sure of his discovery before returning by -the same way, when his eye caught sight of some sort of a white rag, -fluttering above the osier bush. He drew back and, lying flat on the -ground of the passage so as to see better, peered cautiously out. - -What he saw made him nearly scream out aloud with terror, in fact it -was really the horrible nightmare-ish sort of fear which came over him, -that prevented a sound escaping from his lips. - -The fluttering white rag was a fold of the red-bearded man's -foustanella! - -His back was turned towards the narrow opening, and he looked gigantic -as he stood there in the light, a big stone poised in his hands -ready to fling over the rocks down on the ledge before the entrance -of the cave. - -Pavlo lay in the dark passage, shaking all over and not daring to -move hand or foot lest he should be heard. What should he do? Oh, -what should he do? Suppose he were simply to wriggle back the way he -had come and tell the others what he had seen; what was the good? They -could never crawl all five out of this side tunnel while the shepherd -was standing so close to it. Poor Iason's mishap had proved that it was -not possible to get through the blocked entrance without being struck -by the falling stones. What then? Must they stay in the cave till the -man was wearied out? All night perhaps? But what more probable than -that when the shepherd found that his stones were falling harmlessly, -he should discover this opening so close to his feet, and creep slowly -through it till he got to them? Pavlo shivered coldly all over. - -Then a horrible thought came to him. - -It might be possible for one alone to creep out very softly the first -moment that the shepherd moved a little off. It would not be difficult -to creep silently on all fours, till one was at a safe distance! - -The next moment the thought turned him really sick. What! Leave them -alone? Leave them with Iason wounded and useless? Leave them and -let this horrible man creep on them unawares? On Chryseis who had -been so good to him? On all the brave bright little comrades? Oh, -no! No! No! No! The good old Zamana blood, weakened though it might -be, turned in revolt at the cowardly thought. - -Just then the man outside in the light stooped to pick up another -stone, and as he did so, Pavlo saw the gleam of a long curved knife -in his belt. The Turks, thought the poor boy, the terrible Turks -of the times of the Revolution must have looked just like that. Oh, -if it only were in those days! If the dreadful man were a real Turk -and Pavlo's great-grandfather or one of his brave companions were -in hiding as he was now! How they would spring out on him and seize -him. But no! If they were unarmed they would not "spring" out. They -were wise as well as brave, those old Greeks. - -What would they do? - -Palvo's mind worked quickly. - -They would creep slowly, slowly on all fours out of the hole, and -while the Turk's back was turned they would seize hold of his ankles -and pull back, ... pull hard. - -The attack would be unexpected, and the "Turk" would fall forward on -his face. He would have to fall so; he could not fall in any other -way. And once he was on his face, it would be easy, before he could -see who had attacked him, to wrench back his arms and tie them. It -would be the best way! The only way! - -Suppose he tried it! - -No! No! Oh, no! It was brave men who feared nothing who did such -things, not little terrified boys. - -Then a very curious thing happened. - -Pavlo did not feel as though he were making up his mind to anything, -but quite suddenly he unwound a thin knitted belt which he wore round -his waist, and held it between his teeth, then he crawled noiselessly -out of the hole and looked around him with a look in his eyes which -no one had ever seen in them before. - -Had he been in a street in Athens, the man who stood there would have -been simply a villainous looking peasant, and he, Pavlo, a small boy -half dead with fright. But now, on this calm Poros hillside, the man -became a Turk, a Turk of 1821 armed to the teeth with yatagan[25] and -scimitar, and he, the little terrified boy, was a brave patriot of -the times of the Revolution, ready to do or die. - -"Let us pretend," had its uses; and Pavlo had not lived a week in -vain with the Four of the Red House. - -He crept closer, closer still. His body was not brave at all; in -fact it was shaking and trembling in every limb, and the cold sweat -trickled down his face; but at that moment his heart was very brave, -and because the heart is greater than the body, there was a sudden -lightning spring forward, and two desperate little hands clutched -the shepherd's bare ankles and pulled backwards, pulled strongly, -and swiftly. - -There was a helpless grasp at the empty air, a howl of dismay, and -a loud thud as the tall man's body fell flat, face down, on the ground. - -Pavlo with an excited, triumphant little shout rushed forward, and -caught hold of one outstretched arm which he pulled back with a jerk, -but already the shepherd was groaning, swearing, and moving, and how -could Pavlo hold the hand he had already seized, and manage to reach -the other one also? - -"Children!" he screamed aloud, not knowing whether they could hear -him or not, below in the cave. "Children! Come quick! I have got him!" - -And help came, though not from the children. - -There were running footsteps behind him and many cries. - -"Hold well! Hold fast! We are here!" - -And in a moment Pavlo was surrounded by linen-clad, white-capped -officers, and someone's arms had lifted him off the prostrate shepherd, -and stronger, though not braver hands than his had securely tied the -arms of the struggling man behind his back. - - - - - -VIII - -In the meantime the hours had gone by, and the afternoon was drawing -towards evening, and the grown people in the Red House, the father -and the mother of the Four, and Pavlo's uncle, who had arrived that -morning and was to leave the next day, had been getting very anxious; -for there was no sign of the children, though they had promised to -be home early. And the Four got into plenty of mischief, but they -kept their promises. - -So the mother of the Four walked from one window to another and -could not keep still, and Kyria Penelope wrung her hands and shook -her head, and Deko rushed about after them; whining and yelping and -limping on his bad foot, till they shut him up in a room upstairs, -and he had to stay there; and Athanasia the cook stationed herself -at the gate near the sea to watch for the children, and Anneza the -serving maid tore up through the pines to the top gate to see if they -were in sight on the hill. - -The doctor and the master of the Red House were pacing nervously up -and down the terrace. - -Suddenly the latter sent up a big shout. - -"There they are!" - -Everyone, from the mother of the Four to Yanni the boatman, rushed -down to the little landing stage. - -"They are in that," said the master of the house, pointing to a -puffing little steam launch which was fast approaching. "I heard -their voices shouting, and saw one of the girls' frocks, but how the -little rascals got there is beyond me. I only hope they have not been -in any mischief." - -The steam launch had stopped alongside, and he caught sight of a -bandaged head. - -"... or in any danger!" he gasped. - -When everyone had landed, Iason looking very pale under his white -bandage but walking without help, there was at first such confusion, -so many speaking all together and such a tangle of officers and -children and dogs, that it was very difficult for the grown-ups -to get any clear idea of what had occurred. But the mother of the -Four gathered at last that something out of the common had certainly -happened, that the children had certainly been in some peril, and that -the officers had rescued them and brought them home. So she tried, -though her voice shook a little, to thank the Chief. - -"You must not thank us," said the gray-haired admiral standing cap -in hand, before her. "We did nothing but arrive at a lucky moment, -and bring the children home. It is another you must thank, another -who deserves your deepest gratitude; one who by his presence of mind -and coolness saved them all in a moment of great danger, ... of very -real danger. This is the boy!" he said, putting his hand on Pavlo's -shoulder. "This is a real Zamana, who when he grows up will be an -honor to his glorious name! And in the meantime I for one, am proud -to know him!" - -Oh, how they shouted for him when they heard it all! And while the -mother of the Four was holding him very tight to her, and while the -master of the house and Pavlo's uncle were shaking each other's hand -as though they would never stop, Deko, who had been set free, limped -nimbly down all the steps, and leaped upon Chryseis, and licked her -hands, and whined for joy, and caught hold of her skirt and shook it -so hard that he tore it. - -But he was forgiven that time. - -And joy followed for Pavlo as well as glory, for though his uncle -was obliged to leave for Athens the next day, no one in the Red House -felt as if Pavlo could be spared. So his uncle was persuaded to leave -him behind; to leave him indefinitely, till it should be autumn, -and school time, and everyone returned to town. - - - -So it came to pass, that when the doctor was being rowed across the -bay the next morning, in the boat that was taking him to the steamer, -the Four and Pavlo stood all together on the little landing stage -and waved good-by to him. - -They waved and waved, till he was a speck in the blue distance, and -then they turned and ran with cries and whoops of joy, back into the -pine woods, back to the sea, back to the hillside, back for a whole -long summer to all the manifold delights of the Red House on the Hill. - - - - - - - - -ALEXANDER THE SON OF PHILIP - - -I - -On a very hot morning in May, at the corner of the Hotel de la Grande -Bretagne, in the Square of the Constitution, in Athens, a dirty little -boy with a sheaf of unsold newspapers under his arm was sitting on -a shoeblack's box, alternately munching a piece of bread and wiping -his eyes with the back of his sleeve. - -Another boy, not so dirty, stood beside him, with one foot on the -edge of the box, watching the people in the square. He was fair for -a Greek boy, with light hair which showed through the many holes of -his cloth cap. - -There was a tug at his ragged tunic:-- - -"Aleko! Aleko! You are not listening!" - -"What is it? I hear." But he did not look down at the grubby little -fellow who continued sniffing:-- - -"I dreamt, I tell you, as truly as I see you here I did, that I went -away somewhere, and that I found a great big sweet shop, bigger than -Yannaki's or Doree's, ever so much bigger, and in the shop there -were dishes and jars and trays, and trays, and trays all around of -chocolates, and baklava,[1] and kourabiedes, and little cakes with -pink and green and white sugar all over them; and there were piles of -comfits, and caramels,--oh, and heaps of other things; and ..." warming -to his description, "bottles and bottles of cherry syrup and lemonade, -and I dreamt that the man of the shop waved his hand--so,--over -everything and said 'Please,'--Aleko, do you hear? 'Please eat all -the things you want.' And then," with a savage tug at the tunic, -"then you came and waked me!" - -Aleko looked down at him for a minute:-- - -"Did I want to wake you? It was time to get up. The big one sent -me. And what are you crying about now, any way? For the sweets you -never had?" - -The small boy, Andoni, gulped down a sob. - -"No!" - -"What then?" - -"I only sold two newspapers; the other boys got before me; and the -big one will beat me when he sees all these left." - -Aleko shrugged his shoulders. - -"You will cry when he beats you; what is the use of crying now?" Then -he looked out again, over the square. - -Watching people and things always kept him very busy. There were so -many things going on at once. Two coachmen, on the side of the square -where the carriages stand, were swearing at each other, and they were -using swear-words quite different from those Aleko had heard in his -village. A man from Rhodes was trying to sell his embroidered bags to -some foreigners, of those who walk about with little red books in their -hands, at double the price he usually asked for them. Some men were -carrying big trunks down the steps of the hotel, and three ladies with -bright coloured sunshades were going towards the street of the shops. - -Two men, an old white bearded one and a fat one who walked with his -legs wide apart and his hands behind his back, passed in front of -the two boys. - -"Ah, my friend," the older one was saying; "you are quite right, -but gnôthi seauton, know thyself, is a very difficult thing." - -Suddenly Aleko stooped and pushed Andoni off the box. - -"Run!" he said, "they have no newspapers; run after them!" - -The dirty little boy picked up his sheaf of papers and rushed after -the men, who had already turned the corner. - -In a few minutes he returned, jingling some copper coins in his hand. - -"They bought three," he said, "the old one took the Acropolis and -the fat one the Embros, and the Nea Himera. Why did you not sell them -yours? You have some left." - -"Because I am waiting here for a man whose shoes I black every -morning. He always comes at this time, and I wait for him." - -"Do you mean," asked Andoni eagerly, "a big man with a beard, who -wears a soft gray hat?" - -"Yes; why?" - -"Because I saw him now at the corner where the flower boys -stand. Yoryi, the one who squints, had just polished his boots for him, -and the gentleman was paying him." - -Aleko wasted no words. He seized his box, and ran round the corner -of the square with such speed that his feet raised a cloud of dust -all around him. - -A group of shoeblacks and flower boys were standing about the end of -the Kiphissia Road, but there was no sign of a client of any sort. - -Aleko rushed up to a boy much bigger than himself, with squinting eyes, -and caught hold of his arm:-- - -"Did you clean the boots of the man with the black beard?" he -asked. "Do you not know he is my client?" - -The elder boy shook him off roughly. - -"You, with your clients!" he muttered. - -The other boys sniggered. - -"You are late, you see, to-day, Aleko; another got before you." - -The lad's face reddened. - -"He always asks for me, and I was waiting for him just there." - -"Oh," said one of the flower boys, tying up a big bunch of scarlet -carnations as he spoke, "your client asked for you all right, but -Yoryi here, told him that you had been sent on a message and that he -was your partner." - -Yoryi laughed noisily. - -"That is how I do business." - -But his laugh broke off in the middle. Aleko had come close to him, -and with one well-directed kick had sent the big shoeblack's box -flying into the middle of the road. - -Brushes flew here and there, bottles of yellow and black polish were -broken and their contents spilt in the dust, and round metal boxes -rolled in all directions. Yoryi seized hold of Aleko by the neck and -struck him savagely on the head. - -"A bad year to you!" he shouted, as blow followed blow. "Did you not -know that you would eat stick if you played those tricks on me? Did -you not know it? Take that then! And that! And that! Did you think you -could touch me and go free?" and the blows came down like rain. At last -he flung the smaller boy away from him and began sullenly collecting -the scattered contents of his box. - -Aleko picked himself up, staggering a little as he stood. - -"Oh, I knew!" he shouted, staunching a bleeding nose on the sleeve -of his tunic. "Of course I knew. Do I not eat stick every day? Am I -not the smallest? But it was you who did not know! You who thought -you could cheat me and be safe! You did not know that your box would -be all over the road, that your bottles would be broken, that all -your things would be so spoiled that you could not steal other lads' -clients this morning again! Pick them up then! Stoop! Yes, stoop in -the dust and pick them up!" - -The other boys were laughing at Yoryi now. - -"He has played you a good trick, the little one!" - -"Did you think," shouted Aleko, "that you could touch me and go -free?" and before Yoryi, furious now with rage, could catch him a -second time, he doubled, and ran round the corner of the University -Road. - -Being fleet of foot, he left Yoryi far behind him, and running up -one street and down another and across a third, he soon arrived safe -and unpursued at the top end of Stadium Street and back again in -Constitution Square. - -A sound of music came from the direction of the Palace and he looked -up eagerly. The guard was changing; he could hear the measured tread -of the soldiers. Though he had been in Athens nearly two years the -spectacle had never lost its charm for him. - -Pushing, stooping, dodging, he elbowed his way to the edge of the -pavement and waited. - -On they came, the officer, the band, the marching men, the beautiful -blue flag held aloft by a white-gloved sergeant. Aleko knew all -about it, for a soldier had told him one day that you had to be a -good-conduct man to be allowed to carry the flag, and that you had -to wear white gloves: and the boy had long ago decided that when his -time came to serve as a soldier, he would always carry the flag. - -Up sprang all the officers who happened to be sitting at the little -café tables in the square, and stood saluting. Civilians who were -passing stopped and uncovered; coachmen stood up on their boxes -bare-headed; Aleko pulled off his tattered cap in imitation and stood -with the hot sun shining on his tumbled fair hair. - -An old man looked down on him and smiled. Then, catching sight of -the dust and smears of blood on the boy's face, he remarked with a -chiding gesture:-- - -"Ah! you have been fighting." - -"No," answered Aleko, "I have been beaten." Then emboldened he asked, -"Tell me, why do people take their hats off?" - -The old man stared at the question. - -"Why, to the flag, of course." - -"Yes, I know; but why?" - -"Why? To show respect to the flag, of course." - -"Why does it show respect when one takes one's hat off?" - -The old man answered by another question:-- - -"From where are you my lad?" - -"From Megaloupolis." - -"Ah, you do not see flags there, do you?" - -"At Easter, and on the twenty-fifth of March,[2] there was always a -flag put up at the Town Hall but no one took his hat off." - -"Well, in Athens you will learn many things," said the old man walking -away. Aleko looked after him. - -"I do not think," he muttered, "that he knew why. How many people -do not know things when you ask them." Then he ran up the steps of -the Hotel Grande Bretagne where one of the head servants, standing -on the verandah, had beckoned to him to clean his boots. - -"Make them shine well," said the man, putting his foot on the little -inclined rest of the box. - -"Be easy," answered Aleko, "you will see your face in them." - -He scraped, and rubbed, and polished vigorously; then when one foot -was changed for the other, he suddenly asked without looking up:-- - -"What does 'Know thyself' mean?" - -"Where did you pick up that fine phrase?" - -"One man who was passing said it to another, and he said it was a -very difficult thing. What does it mean?" - -"If it be difficult how should I know it?" answered the head -servant. "Do poor folk have time to go beyond the municipal classes -at school?" - -"Does he know?" and Aleko with a backward jerk of his thumb indicated -another servant, stout and gray-haired, standing within the portal -of the hotel. - -"He! He can scarcely read the newspaper!" - -"Then who knows?" - -"Do you not go to the Parnassos School every night?" - -"Of course I go." - -"Well, ask your schoolmaster." - -"Oh, he has no time; we are many boys. You see I thought as you -stand here so often doing nothing, if you knew you would have time -to tell me." - -The man scowled. - -"Enough words! There are your ten lepta. Go about your business and -leave me to mine." - -Aleko slung his box over his shoulder and descended the hotel steps -slowly. He was beginning to feel sore all over and his head ached. He -decided that he would go home and have a sleep. Home meant the -cellar which he shared with the other boy, Andoni, and with the older -shoeblack, "the big one" who had brought them over from Megaloupolis, -and for whom they worked, till such time as they should have earned -enough to set up for themselves. - -Bells were ringing for noon, and after that no one would be out in -the sun-blaze of the streets to want boots cleaned; there would be -no work again until the sales of the evening newspapers began. - -He trudged rather wearily up the steep streets towards the Square of -the Kolonaki, near which he lived; and as he went, he wondered once -more why so many people did not know things when you asked them. - -There were so many things he wanted to find out. - -Who lived in the Academy with the two statues on the tall columns, -which he passed two or three times a day, and what did people do -inside it? What was in the red books which the foreigners held in their -hands when they looked up at the old temples? What was that statue in -the Zappion Gardens where a woman was putting a crown of leaves on a -man's head? And most of all, what made automobiles go without horses -when the driver turned that round wheel? The whole town was one great -"Why" to him. - -When he reached the street behind the Kolonaki Square, and went down -the steps to the cellar, he found it empty. From a shelf in one corner -he took down the half of a loaf of bread, and a piece of white cheese -wrapped in a sheet of paper. His mother was renowned in Megaloupolis -as one of the tidiest housewives of the place, and it was from her -that he had learned not to leave food about uncovered; this was also -probably the reason why his face and hands were generally less grimy -than those of most of the other shoeblacks. - -Nearly all the boys he knew were shoeblacks, or newspaper sellers and -messenger boys, or they combined the three trades; and nearly all came -from Megaloupolis in the charge of an older boy of eighteen or twenty -years old, "the big one," as they called him. He paid them a yearly -wage and, except what was necessary for food, all their earnings went -to him. Aleko was paid one hundred and fifty drachmæ a year; next year -he was to have two hundred. Later on, he would work for himself, and -doubtless when he was old enough he would in his turn employ smaller -boys. He had no father, and the money was required to help his mother -and the two small sisters in Megaloupolis. How could they live else? - -After he had eaten, he sat down and pulled out his morning's earnings -from the breast of his tunic. The copper coins and nickels amounted to -one drachma and thirty-five lepta; of these, he put aside thirty lepta -for his supper, and screwing up the rest in a piece of old newspaper -pushed it underneath a painted wooden chest to give to "the big one" -when accounts were made in the evening. Then he threw himself on his -mattress, doubled his arm under his head, and slept till the loud -barking of a dog on the pavement outside awoke him with a start. - -He rushed up the cellar steps which led to the pavement of the narrow -street, banging the door behind him, and nearly fell headlong over a -fox-terrier busily occupied with the rubbish tin of the next house. The -little dog yelped sharply as Aleko stumbled over him, and abandoning -the rubbish tin, trotted quickly off towards the square. - -"Solon!" called Aleko. "Here Solon! Why do you run away? It is only I." - -Solon stopped short, listened for a moment with uplifted paw, and -then with a series of little joyful barks ran back towards the boy. - -Aleko stooped, and catching him up by the middle of his well-fed, -white little body tucked him under his arm. - -"You little rascal! What do you mean by rooting in the rubbish? Have -you not enough to eat in your house? I should be glad to have your -luck." - -Two little ears were cocked on one side of Aleko's arm and a short -tail wagged frantically on the other. - -"I wonder how it happens that you are out alone? Has Anneza lost you?" - -Just then, coming out on the Kolonaki Square, Aleko descried a young -woman carrying a basket, who was looking all around her and peering -under the bushes of the enclosure seemingly in great distress. He -put his fingers to his mouth and whistled sharply. - -"Anneza! Eh! Here is your dog! It is I who have him!" - -The young woman wheeled around and came rapidly towards him. She was -pretty, with black hair and a big white apron crossed over a pink -cotton frock. - -"Do you not feed him enough?" Aleko asked her as he put down the -dog. "I found him in my street with his nose in the rubbish tin." - -"Feed him, indeed?" snorted the young woman, "he has of the best. If -all poor people fared as he does, it would be well. The master is -so fond of him he fears lest the wind should blow or the rain should -drop on his body. He often comes himself into the kitchen to see what -I give him to eat. But all the same the dirty dog is always grubbing -in the rubbish tins. When I take him out he is always straying and -making me go cold with fright for fear the 'boya'[3] should catch him." - -"The 'boya' only takes dogs who belong to no one. He would not take -yours," said Aleko, turning Solon over on his back with his foot as -he spoke. - -"Do I know? Now, in this hot weather when dogs go mad, they say that -the 'boya' gets paid one drachma for every dog he catches; and all -he can lay hand on are thrown into his cart. If I had my way the dog -should never stir out, but the master says he must have exercise, -and if he sees me out without Solon, bad luck for me!" - -"Take your dog now," said the boy, "I must go for my newspapers." - -"Listen, Aleko." - -"What?" - -"Come to the house in the morning; there are some curtains to beat." - -"I will come." Then, as he turned to go, he added, "Keep the dog by -you! Do not let him stray again." - -"I have no strap," answered Anneza. - -Aleko was already some way off, but he called back over his shoulder:-- - -"You need not tie him. Talk to him." - -Anneza looked after the boy, whose bare feet were raising a cloud of -dust as he ran, and tapped her forehead. - -"A good boy," she murmured, "but ..." - - - - - -II - -It was nearly sunset when Aleko came up to the Kolonaki again with -his evening papers, after having sold all he could in the big squares -and at the little tables outside the cafés and confectioners' shops -where people sit to eat ices and look at the passers-by. - -He was walking slowly up the long straight street, dotted here and -there with trees, which leads out of the square, dragging his feet -as he walked, for the day had been long and hot. There were not -many papers left in his sheaf but every now and then he raised his -piercing cry:-- - -"Astrapi! Hesperini! Hestia!" These were the names of his newspapers. - -Suddenly from a narrow side street which he had already passed he -heard an answering call. - -"Newspapers! Here!" - -He turned on his steps and looked down the alley. At the door of a -low house stood an old man leaning on a stick. He did not beckon nor -make any sign but continued to call, "Newspapers! Here!" - -Aleko ran up. - -"Which do you want?" - -"Have you the Embros?" - -"No, that is published in the morning." - -"I know it, but I thought you might have one left. I always take the -Embros, but no one passed here this morning." - -"I have only the evening papers." - -"Well, give me the Hestia, then." - -Aleko picked out one of his three remaining Hestias and held it out, -but the old man made no movement to take it. He was tall, straight, -and gray haired, and somehow it was not easy to imagine his face -as ever having been young. He wore shabby gray clothes, very frayed -and stained. - -"Here is your Hestia." - -"Put it down here on the step beside me. Take your five lepta," -and from an inner pocket the old man produced a copper coin, but -as he held it out, his stick came into sharp contact with Aleko's -elbow. The boy gave a little cry and began to rub it. - -"I have hurt you, my lad," said the old man, bending forward and -dropping his stick with a clatter. "You must forgive me! I cannot see; -I am blind." - -Aleko stopped rubbing his elbow and looked curiously into the old -man's face. The wide open brown eyes seemed to be looking at him. He -remembered an old blind woman who used to go about asking for alms -in Megaloupolis, but her head was always sunk on her chest, and her -eyes were closed. - -"Are you quite blind?" - -"Quite." - -"Your eyes do not look blind." - -"But they are." - -Aleko held up his hand, high above his head. - -"Can you not see how many fingers I am holding up now?" - -"Not even that you have lifted your hand; not even that you stand -before me." - -"That is a pity you should be blind," said the boy slowly. "You are -not very old yet. Have you been blind long?" - -"Two years now." - -"That was before I came to the town. And how did you lose your light?" - -"I had a bad fever for many months, and afterwards my eyes never got -well; then they grew worse and worse, till the darkness fell. There -is a good man who was once my pupil and who is rich now, and he took -me to the best oculists; but they said they could do nothing." - -Aleko passed his fingers through his hair and hesitated; but his -curiosity got the better of him. - -"Tell me, master, why do you buy a newspaper if you cannot see to -read it?" - -"It is read to me." - -"Your children read it to you?" queried the boy. - -"No, I have no children. There is a young man,--a student, who lives -in the next house,--and every day at noon I give him ten lepta to -read the whole newspaper to me. One must know the news and what the -outside world is doing." Then half to himself he added, "Though the -eyes be blind the mind must see." - -But Aleko frowned. - -"What! Pay lepta to have the news read to you! That is a sin! Better -keep the good money for bread. In our village, he who can read reads -aloud, and the others listen, but no one pays." - -"In the town it is different," sighed the old man. "In small places -people are kinder. I know, for I taught school for many years at -Lixuri in Cephalonia and one helped the other when there was trouble." - -Aleko looked up suddenly. - -"Give me your name, master." - -"My name is Themistocli." - -"Listen, then, Kyr Themistocli; now, with the sun-blaze, no one comes -out to have their boots cleaned after noon, so there is no work before -the evening newspapers are published. I will keep you an Embros every -day, and at two, or at three, after you have had your sleep, I will -bring it and read it to you, and then you need not spend your lepta." - -"But, my child ..." - -"Oh, I can read. I can read without stopping at the big words. Also -I do not sing when I read. It is not I who say so; it was one of -the members of the Parnassos at our examinations, when we all read -out aloud. He said to the master, 'That boy there, with the yellow -hair, is the only one who can read without singing.' Shall I come, -Kyr Themistocli? Shall I come to-morrow?" - -The old man groped with his hand until he found Aleko's arm and patted -it gently. - -"You are a good boy to a poor blind man." - -"No," said Aleko wriggling a little, "I like to read, and since you -were a schoolmaster perhaps you will know things when I ask you." - -The old man, stooping, felt for the newspaper on the doorstep and -turned towards the house. - -"Come inside with me for a minute, my lad." - -Aleko followed him through a narrow passage and into a little -living-room, containing a round table covered with a red and white -checked cloth, two cupboards, a high one and a low one, and three odd -chairs. On the floor were two or three torn newspapers, and on the low -cupboard was a pile of unwashed plates. The dust lay thick everywhere. - -Just as they entered, a door leading to another room opened and a -stout woman with a dirty blue apron tied round her, looked in; she -held a pan in one hand and a plate of salad in the other. - -"Your soup is ready," she began, then catching sight of Aleko she -added quickly, "A loustro[4] has followed you in. What does he want?" - -"I brought him," answered Kyr Themistocli. "Sit down, my child." - -But Aleko had been taught that one should never stay when people are -about to sit down to a meal. - -"With your permission, master, I go to eat bread, and I shall return." - -"No, do not go. Stay and take your soup with me." - -The stout woman muttered something about a rat whose hole was too -small for him, but who would drag a pumpkin in as well. - -"What is it, Kyra Katerina?" asked the old man sharply. "Is there -not sufficient soup for two?" - -"As for that, yes, there is sufficient." - -"Then pour it into two soup plates, and stay ... there was a dish -of potatoes left...." - -"Those are for to-morrow," said the woman sullenly. - -"I wish for them to-night." - -The woman said nothing. She pushed the red and white cover half off -the table and put down the pan and the plate of salad on the yellow -oilcloth underneath. Then, opening the low cupboard, she produced two -soup plates and the half of a ring-shaped loaf. Then she poured the -thick rice soup into the plates: it was red with tomato and smelt very -good. Lastly, she took the empty pan into the back room and returned -with a dish of cold potatoes and a pitcher full of water. - -"I have served," she said. "Is there perhaps anything else you want?" - -Her voice sounded angry, but Kyr Themistocli took no notice of it. - -"No, there is nothing. You can go." - -The stout woman pulled down her sleeves, and untying her apron threw -it on the top of the unwashed plates. - -"As you like." Then, as she opened the door, she added, "A nice work it -will be in the morning to have to clean the floor after a shoeblack's -dusty feet." Then she passed out and shut the door quickly before -Kyr Themistocli could answer. - -"Eat your soup, and do not mind her," he said to Aleko. - -"I do not mind her," said Aleko, taking a big spoonful of soup; and -after swallowing it, he added sagely, "Women always make much noise." - -The blind man ate slowly and did not always find his mouth -exactly. Aleko saw, now, why there were so many stains on his -clothes. When he had finished he pushed his plate back. - -"Tell me, now, what do they call you?" - -"They call me Aleko." - -"From where?" - -"My mother lives in Megaloupolis, and I was born there and the little -ones, but my father was not from there." - -Kyr Themistocli noticed the past tense. - -"He is dead, your father?" - -"Yes, it is two years ago that he died." - -"And from where was he?" - -"From Siatista." - -"Ah, a Macedonian! And what was his name?" - -"Philippos Vasiliou." - -"So your name is Alexandros Vasiliou?" - -Aleko nodded. - -"Alexander of the King! Alexander the son of Philip![5] Your master -has taught you about him at school?" - -"Of course," said Aleko frowning. - -The old man smiled. "There is a story about him which you have not -heard perhaps. Do you know how Alexander the King got the Water -of Life?" - -Aleko shook his head: "We have not reached such a part." - -"Well, I will tell you about it. Listen:-- - - - -"When Alexander the King had conquered all the Kingdoms of the world, -and when all the universe trembled at his glance, he called before -him the most celebrated magicians of those days and said to them:-- - -"'Ye who are wise, and who know all that is written in the Book of -Fate, tell me what I must do to live for many years and to enjoy this -world which I have made mine?' - -"'O King!' said the magicians, 'great is thy power! But what is -written in the book of Fate is written, and no one in Heaven or on -Earth can efface it. There is one thing only, that can make thee enjoy -thy kingdom and thy glory beyond the lives of men; that can make thee -endure as long as the hills, but it is very hard to accomplish.' - -"'I did not ask ye,' said the great King Alexander, 'whether it be -hard, I asked only what it was.' - -"'O King, we are at thy feet to command! Know then that he alone who -drinks of the Water of Life need not fear death. But he who seeks this -water, must pass through two mountains which open and close constantly, -and scarce a bird on the wing can fly between them and not be crushed -to death. The bones lie in high piles, of the kings' sons who have -lost their lives in this terrible trap. But if thou shouldst pass -safely through the closing mountains, even then thou wilt find beyond -them a sleepless dragon who guards the Water of Life. Him also must -thou slay before thou canst take the priceless treasure.' - -"Then Alexander the King smiled, and ordered his slaves to bring -forth his horse Bucephalus, who had no wings yet flew like a bird. The -king mounted on his back and the good horse neighed for joy. With one -triumphant bound he was through the closing mountains so swiftly that -only three hairs of his flowing tail were caught in between the giant -rocks when they closed. Then Alexander the King slew the sleepless -dragon, filled his vial with the Water of Life, and returned. - -"But when he reached his palace, so weary was he that he fell into a -deep sleep and left the Water of Life unguarded. And it so happened -that his sister, not knowing the value of the water, threw it away. And -some of the water fell on a wild onion plant, and that is why, to -this day, wild onion plants never fade. Now when Alexander awoke, -he stretched out his hand to seize and drink the Water of Life and -found naught; and in his rage he would have killed the slaves who -guarded his sleep, but his sister, being of royal blood, could not -hide the truth, and she told him that not knowing, she had thrown -the Water of Life away. - -"Then the king waxed terrible in his wrath, and he cast a curse upon -his sister, and prayed that from the waist downward she might be -turned into a fish, and live always in the open sea far from all land -and habitation of man. And the gods granted his prayer, so it happens -that to this day those who sail over the open sea in ships often see -Alexander's sister, half a woman and half a fish, tossing in the waves. - -"Strange to say, she does not hate Alexander, and when a ship passes -close to her she cries out:-- - -"'Does Alexander live?' - -"And should the captain, not knowing who it is that speaks, answer, -'He is dead,' then the maid in her great grief tosses her white arms -and her long golden hair wildly about, and troubles the water, and -sinks the ship. - -"But if, when the question comes up with the voice of the wind, 'Does -Alexander live?' the captain answers at once, 'He lives and reigns,' -then the maid's heart is joyful, and she sings sweet songs till the -ship is out of sight. - -"And this is how sailors learn new love songs, and sing them when -they return to land." - - - -When the old man ceased speaking Aleko waited a moment and then -said slowly,-- - -"That is not true--but I like it." - -"Do you know, my lad," said Kyr Themistocli, "that with a name such -as yours you ought to grow up a great man." - -"But if one cannot?" - -"That is only if one is not born so," said the old man shaking his -head, "but if one is born with brains, and will, one always can." - -"No!" burst out Aleko, "without learning one cannot and when one is -poor how is one to get learning?" - -"We live in a country, my boy, where learning is free." - -"And must not one live while one is learning? And must one not keep -one's mother and the little ones who cannot work?" - -"Did you not say that you go to the Parnassos School?" - -"Of course I go, but already I am in the third class, next year I shall -be in the fourth, which is like the first Hellenic class in municipal -schools, and after that, there are no more classes at the Parnassos." - -Kyr Themistocli thought for a moment. - -"How old are you?" - -"In August, on the Virgin's Day, I close my twelve years." - -"Why are you in the third class if you have only been here two years?" - -"Oh, the first is only for those who cannot read, I did not pass -through it at all." - -"You could read already, when you came from your village?" - -"Long before that." - -"Who taught you?" - -Aleko shifted from one bare foot to another and thought for a moment. - -"I do not know," he said at last. "My father had three books, and -there were newspapers which the coffee-house keeper threw away, -and ... I learnt." - -"If you finish the fourth class of the Parnassos, you will know a -good many things." - -"What will be the benefit? When there is no more night school and I -have to work with my hands all day, as the years pass I shall forget -all they have taught me, and I shall be an unlearned man. The member -who spoke at the examinations last year, told us that an unlearned -man is like wood that has not been hewn." - -The boy pushed back his chair and stood up. - -"Why do they say such things to us? Can we help it if we are poor? It -is bad to know only the beginning of things! It is worse I think -than to know nothing. Sometimes I am sorry that I went to the -Parnassos!" And Aleko turned towards the window and began drawing -his finger over the dust on the pane. But the old schoolmaster -called him:-- - -"Find the Hestia," he said, "and read to me, will you?" - -So Aleko read for some time by the fading light. He read of many -things, and amongst others of how a great big warship had been launched -and was soon to be brought to Greece ... the Averoff. - -"Why do they call it the Averoff? What does it mean?" - -"It is the name of a very good, and very rich man, who gave the money -to build it." - -"Will it fight the Turks?" asked Aleko eagerly. - -"Good grant it, my boy! And may I be alive to hear of it." - -"When it does, I will read all about it to you." - -"Thank you," said the old man very seriously. - -Then Aleko went on reading till he could see no longer. - -"You read well," said Kyr Themistocli slowly. "Will you come again? you -will give me pleasure." - -"I will come every day." Then Aleko got up and began carrying the -plates off the table into the kitchen at the back. He returned with -a lighted candle. - -"Now," he said, "I will tidy up a little so that the cross woman will -not have so many words to say to-morrow. As for her floor ..." and -he looked at it with disgust, "it is so dusty that anyone who walks -over it will take dust away instead of adding any! Does she come -every day?" he asked suddenly. - -"Yes, she cleans and cooks for me." - -"And you pay her?" - -"Naturally." - -"Kyr Themistocli, you must find another woman who will have a little -conscience; this one, because you cannot see ... she lets you live -in dirt." He took up the cover and shook it vigorously out of the -window. "But what dust! It is a sin to take money for such dirty -work! Ah," he continued, polishing the window panes with a piece of -torn newspaper, "you ought to have my mother to work for you! Then -you would see what your house would be like!" - -"Your mother is a good housewife?" - -"She is the best in Megaloupolis; all say it. What would she say if -she saw this room? And my clothes also," he added, looking at them -ruefully. "But when one works, what can one do?" - -When he had finished, he blew out the candle. "Since it is useless to -you," he remarked, "why should it burn in vain?" Then he came close -to the old man and laid his hand on his knee. - -"I thank you for the good food. To-morrow, then, I shall come at -three." - -The old man stood up and felt for Aleko's head. - -"I want to see how tall you are. Ah, you are well above my shoulder, -that is a good height for twelve. Are you strong? Do you have -gymnastics at the Parnassos?" - -"Yes, in the square outside. I know all the movements; and there is -one member--not the one who comes to the lessons, another who has -been abroad--and he is teaching us boxing." - -"Boxing?" echoed the old man. This was new for him. - -"It is how to fight with your hands; and he says that I shall learn -well and soon." - -"That is not real learning," objected Kyr Themistocli, "that is play." - -"I do not know," answered Aleko, "but it is very useful for me, -because there are some of the boys who will not understand things -unless you explain with your fists. Now I go," he added. "I must be -at the school at eight o'clock. Good night, master." - -"Good night, my child." - -But from the door he rushed back again. - -"What is that statue in the Zappion Gardens, of the man who stands -at the woman's knee; she who is putting a crown of leaves on his head?" - -Kyr Themistocli put his hand to his forehead in a bewildered fashion. - -"At the Zappion? A crown of leaves? Oh, I see; you mean Byron. Well, -he was a great poet--a stranger--and because he left his own country -and came and fought for us against the Turks, and helped us, and sang -about us, and loved us, the woman, who means Greece, is crowning him -with laurels." - -"Is it like when you take your hat off--to the flag--to show respect?" - -"Well, in a way, perhaps," said the old man smiling. - -"Is he dead now, that poet?" - -"Yes." - -Aleko thought for a moment. - -"I will fight for his country when I grow up if they want me." - -Then he ran very fast because he was afraid he would be late for -school. In winter the hours were from seven to nine in the evening, -but in summer they were from eight to ten, for the members of the -Parnassos who arranged all about the night school, knew that the little -shoeblacks and newspaper boys could find work in the streets much -later, now that the days were long and people dined at such late hours. - - - - - -III - -Aleko rushed through the Kolonaki Square and all the length of the -street called after the brave Kanaris,[6] into Academy Road, crossed -it, and tearing down two narrow streets one after the other, came -out into Stadium Street; this also he crossed, dodging in and out -between the tram-cars and the streams of people, and only slackened -his pace when he got into the short street that leads to the Church -of St. George and the building of the Parnassos. - -He pushed open the big door, and dumping down his shoeblack's box in -the outer hall beside a long line of others, was in the class room -and seated in his place, just one moment before the master took his. - -Two members were present this evening. One of them heard the boys' -grammar and arithmetic lessons, and commented on them; the other, -a young man with a small dark moustache, leaned against the wall -and looked on without speaking. Just before the books were closed -he crossed the big room and exchanged a few words with the master, -who smiled, nodded his head, and gave up his place on the platform -to him. The whole class looked up with astonishment; members never -took the master's place except to make speeches on the twenty-fifth -of March, or on examination day. This member was very tall, his back -was very straight, and his eyes were always laughing. - -He leaned carelessly across the desk. - -"Listen to me, boys!" he said. "Some people have been blaming me -for teaching you boxing. They say you are ready enough to fight -without being taught any more about it. So I want to explain, here, -why I think it such a good thing for you. Now--until all men become -saints, and I believe that we, at least, shall not see that day--a -boy will always need to defend himself, or his people, or his things, -by fighting, sometimes. Well, boxing makes a fine healthy animal of -him, ready to face anything that may happen." - -Some of the older boys scowled at the word "animal," and the young -member saw it. - -"I am sorry you do not like being called 'animals,'" he continued, -"because in reality, you are far worse off than animals when it comes -to fighting, and that is why you must learn how to use your strength, -so as not to be at the mercy of any who choose to attack you. Why, -many insects, even, are stronger than you are!" - -The boys laughed out loudly. - -"An ant," continued the young member gravely, "can bear nearly a -thousand times the weight of its own body over it, without being -crushed. How many times your own weight do you think you could -carry? But science can supply what nature has denied to us. We can -make our fists be to us just what its horns are to a bull, or its -claws and its teeth to a lion; only, you see, we have to learn how -to do this carefully, and systematically. When a horse kicks, or a -dog bites, no one in the world can teach them to do it better, but -most men have no idea how to hit straight from the shoulder with all -the strength of the body behind the blow. A boy who has learned how -to defend himself will be a thousand times less molested by others, -and more independent. When grown men, in a fit of passion, pull out -a knife to avenge an injury, it is, nine times out of ten, because -they have not learned the use of their fists." - -Then the young member, suddenly leaving the platform, came down -amongst them. - -"Who will learn?" he asked smiling. - -Not a boy but came pressing around him. Benches were pushed against -the walls, and the lesson began. - -He made the boys who were to fight take off their tunics and roll -up the sleeves of their more or less ragged shirts. He placed them -in the correct attitude of defense, the right fist closed and held -near the body and the left slightly extended. He showed them how to -thrust straight from the shoulder for the right-hand stroke, and -for the left-hand stroke; then how to parry the right-hand stroke -with the left arm raised and slightly bent, and how to parry the -left-hand stroke with the right arm bent forward and protecting the -face. He showed them how to take their opponent's head prisoner, -and he showed the imprisoned one how to get free. - -"Now, Kosta!" he cried, "straight out from the shoulder! Follow your -blow! Come with it! Come with it! Be ready, Aleko! Raise your left -arm. There you see.... That is the way!" - -When the lesson was over and the boys had shouldered their boxes, -Aleko lingered until the two members came out down the steps into -the street smoking their cigarettes. He stood himself right in the -way of the younger member. - -"Tell me, Kyrie, if you please, when you strike straight out from -the shoulder and the other one does not know how to parry the blow, -what happens?" - -The member laughed. - -"Why, he will see stars, my boy, especially if your blow lands on -his chin." - -"Ah!" said Aleko. "Yoryi who squints shall not take my client from -me again!" - -"Does Yoryi 'who squints' come to school?" asked the member. - -"Not he!" - -"Then I certainly think your client will remain yours." - -"Good night, Kyrie." - -"Good night to you, my lad." - -Then as Aleko ran off, the younger member turned to the older one. - -"I wish a few more of the boys had his spirit." - -"How fair he is! From what part does he come, I wonder?" - -"Oh, they all come from Megaloupolis, but I believe that this one's -father is originally from Macedonia." - -"Ah, a good race," said the older man. "One of our best." - - - - - -IV - -The next day, early in the afternoon, Aleko duly took the Embros -to the little street off the Kolonaki Square, where the old, blind -schoolmaster sat waiting for him, just inside his door. The boy sat -down on the doorstep and read out all the news to him. Then he told -him all about his boxing lesson, and left only when it was time for the -evening newspapers to come out. And after that, the afternoon readings -became a regular thing. Sometimes the boy was tired after the long, -hot, hard-working morning, and would have willingly thrown himself down -on his mattress for an hour or two, but he never failed the old man. - -Of course the readings were frequently interrupted by questions, -for Aleko soon discovered that Kyr Themistocli was of those who -"knew things when you asked them." - -"What is an 'agonistes'?" he asked one day, after reading of the -death of an old veteran. - -"An 'agonistes' is one who fights; but now it has come to mean one -who has fought in the Revolution of 1821. My father was one." - -The newspaper fluttered down on the doorstep and Aleko was on his -knees beside the old man, his eyes eagerly fixed on the sightless -ones above him. - -"Your father! Did he kill Turks himself? Did he blow up a Turkish -ship? Did he come down from Souli[7] with Marcos Botzaris? Did he see -Kanaris and Miaoulis? Did he fight at Missolonghi? Was he there when -the Turks passed the stake through Diakos?"[8] - -"Stop, stop, my child! you want the whole of the Revolution at once!" - -However, he was very patient, the old man, and Aleko heard many of -those things which never get into the history books, at least into -those from which he read at school. Little incidents of the many -battles and sieges, tales of the misery and the hardships, and of -the braving of all the misery and the hardships, for the sake of -freedom. Of the Christian children who were stolen and turned into -infidels! Of the boys who were taken as babes and brought up to hate -and to fight against their own people; of the girls who were made -slaves in the harems; of the bloodshed, and the tortures, until at -last the day came at Navarino when even strangers joined in arms -against the cruel oppressors. - -"I am afraid," said Kyr Themistocli, "that you cannot quite understand -yet, how it all came to pass." - -"There is only one thing I cannot understand," said Aleko slowly. - -"What thing?" - -"When they had the strangers to help them, why they did not go -everywhere, and cut off all the Turks' heads so that none should -be left." - -The old man leaned back in his chair and laughed aloud. - -"He is terrible, the little one!" and he tried to explain, but Aleko -remained rather unsatisfied on this point. - -"Now, will you find me some water to drink. I have talked much." - -Aleko found the water, and was just putting the pitcher back -in its place, when he heard a series of short sharp barks in the -distance. Instead of passing out of the house door, before which the -old man was sitting, he vaulted out of the low kitchen window and -went tearing down the street. - -"Aleko!" called Kyr Themistocli who heard the clatter. "Aleko! Where -are you?" But there was only silence. He sighed and leaned back in -his chair crossing his hands. - -"Of course the boy cannot stay long; it is well he comes at all," -and he sighed again. - -Suddenly he felt something warm, and soft, and alive on his hands. He -was startled. - -"What is it?" - -"It is only Solon," said Aleko. "Did you not hear me return? He was -barking down the street and I knew he had strayed again from the -cook--Anneza--and I brought him for you to see." - -Kyr Themistocli always talked of "seeing" and Aleko had got into the -same habit. - -"Put your hands over him,--so,--Is he not soft? And clever! as clever -as a Christian! Whatever I tell him he understands." - -Kyr Themistocli smiled. - -"He is not yours?" - -"Mine! No! He belongs to the big house higher up, the one which has the -garden. Do you know it? Someone lives there who is called 'Spinotti.'" - -"Kyrios Spinotti, the banker; he is a very rich man." - -"Is he?" said Aleko indifferently. "Well, Solon is his dog, and he is -so fond of him that he fears lest the wind should blow or the rain -should drop on his body; and he often goes into the kitchen to see -what he eats, and Anneza says that if all poor people fared as well -as this dog does, it would be well. So that is why he is so fat, you -see! And when Anneza goes out, her master says she must take the dog -with her for exercise, and if she does not ... bad luck to her! But -he is always straying. She is a stupid woman and Solon will not stay -with her. Some day she will lose him and never find him again, and -then there will be trouble. Now I must take him back." - -"His master," said the old man slowly, "is so fond of the dog because -it was his wife's dog, and she is dead." - -Aleko, with Solon contentedly tucked under his arm, stopped short. - -"You know him then?" - -"This house in which I live, is his, and because of that, I pay very -little rent for it. He, Nico Spinotti, is my old pupil from Cephalonia, -of whom I told you; he who took me to the oculists. Once, a long time -ago, when I first came to Athens, when I could still see, I went to -his house. His wife was alive then--a beautiful woman, of one of the -first names of the island--and as she was talking to me and smiling, -she had the little dog, who was but a puppy, in her arms. She died--God -rest her soul--of typhoid fever. Since then I have not seen Nico often, -but he never forgets his old master." - -"Of course not," said Aleko, "why should he?" - -"Many would, my boy; many would. But he is a good man; take his dog -back to him that he may not be anxious." - -After Aleko had left Solon at the big house, it was already dark. He -hurried down the Kiphissia Road and through the Square of the -Constitution, thinking he would have more chance of selling the few -papers he still held, if he went to school by that way. - -It was getting cooler, and the streets were filled with people pouring -out of all quarters of the city to breathe the night air after the -weariness of the day spent behind closed shutters. - -Crowded street cars and carriages crossed and recrossed, carrying -family parties down to Phalerum and the sea. - -The little round tables at Yannaki's, Doree's, and Zacharato's were -all occupied, in fact those of the latter had spread right out across -the square. All around rose the hum of summer night noises, of music, -of the cries of the café waiters, the tinkling of many glasses and -spoons, and the distant whistle of the Kiphissia train. - -Groups of men lounged past, talking and laughing. - -A man in one of the groups beckoned to Aleko, a young man with a -small dark moustache:-- - -"Here! Have you any newspapers left?" - -Aleko looked up into the pleasant, laughing eyes of his boxing master. - -"Oristé!"[9] he cried eagerly. "Certainly, all you want." - -"Ah, is it you, Aleko! Good evening to you! Well, give me the Hestia, -the Astrapi, the Hesperini--and the Romios, if you have it." - -Then, when he had gathered them up, he asked laughingly:-- - -"Now, as we are old friends and I have bought so many newspapers, -surely you will take off a discount for me! What shall I give you?" - -Aleko, being of pure Greek blood, answered in the good old Greek -fashion:-- - -"Whatever you please to give." - -The young man laughed and held out a five lepta copper coin, the -value of one newspaper alone. - -"Suppose then I please to give only this." - -Not a muscle moved in Aleko's face. - -"You shall give it," he answered, then taking the coin he dropped -it into his pocket, and was turning away, when the young man called -him back. - -"Here! Stop! Did you take it seriously?" and while he was searching -for more coins, he asked, "Do you boys not have to account for all -the papers you sell?" - -"Of course; the 'big one' keeps count of everything." - -"Well then, what would you have said when the 'big one' as you call -him, found fifteen lepta too little?" - -"He would have found his money right." - -"How could he?" - -"I would have put it there from my supper money." - -The young man looked at Aleko rather curiously, and two of the other -men who were with him laughed. The one of them, an older man, said:-- - -"This is an original little specimen!" and the other, an officer, -asked:-- - -"And why should you be taking from your supper money to make this -gentleman a present of three newspapers? Do you not think he is richer -than you?" - -"That does not matter at all," answered Aleko. "My father told me that -it is a shame always to take, and never to give, however poor you -are. He ..." pointing with his thumb backwards, "has given me much; -may I not befriend him with three newspapers?" - -"Ah, that of course alters the question," remarked the officer. - -"I assure you," began the young man, "that I have never given the -child a single thing!" Then turning to Aleko, "Are you thinking of -the 'tsourekia'[10] and red eggs at Easter? but that was from all the -members of the Parnassos, not from me alone." - -"No," said Aleko, "I mean that you have taught me many things, and -that is more than things which are eaten and finished." - -"Oh, ho!" laughed the officer, "this is a philosopher we have here." - -"No," said Aleko gravely, "I have not enough learning; perhaps if I -could go to school all day, I might be one, some time." - -The older man shook his head. - -"That is the way of the world. My son can go to school all day, -and every day, and his one object is to stay away." - -"What do you want to be when you grow up?" asked the officer of Aleko. - -"I do not know ... yet," he answered slowly. "I want to learn how to -do many things, and then to go and do them." - -"You could not wish better," said his boxing master. "I think you will -be a man anyway. Here is your money, and run off to the Parnassos; -I am not coming this evening; it is too hot for boxing." Then turning -to the officer he quoted smilingly:-- - - -hôs charien esth' anthrôpos hotan anthrôpos ê - - -Aleko heard him, though he did not understand; and as he ran down -Stadium Street, he kept repeating the words to himself for fear of -forgetting them, and when he sat down in his place in the class, -the first thing he did was to borrow a stump of a pencil from his -neighbour, and write the words on the fly leaf of his reading book. Of -course they were spelled and accented all wrong, but they could be -read quite plainly. The arithmetic lesson came last, and Aleko was -the last pupil called up to the blackboard, so that when the boys were -leaving the class he ventured to show his sentence to the schoolmaster. - -"What does this mean, master?" - -The schoolmaster took up the book. - -"Why do you write on your school books?" he asked sharply. - -"I had no paper. What does it mean?" - -The master read the sentence slowly. - -"This is ancient Greek," he said. "You have not done any yet: you -could not understand it. Even next year in the higher class, you -will only do Æsop's fables, and a little Xenophon. Better leave it," -he added laughing. "Do not trouble your head! It is not for you!" - -But Aleko put his book into his shoeblack box to take away with him. - - - - - -V - -The next day it was four o'clock before he went up to the Kolonaki -and found the blind old man seated on a chair outside his door, -waiting for him patiently. The daily newspaper was read, but without -the usual stopping for questions. When the reading was over Aleko -opened his box and pulled out his book. Then he flung himself down -and resting the book on the old man's knees opened the tattered, -scribbled-over blue paper cover. - -"Master," he said, "these are ancient Greek words; I heard a man say -them to another, and I wrote them down. What do they mean?" and he -read the words aloud slowly:-- - - -hôs charien esth' anthrôpos hotan anthrôpos ê - - -"Ah, my child!" and the old man's voice trembled a little, "they knew -so much, those old forefathers of ours,-- - - -hôs charien esth' anthrôpos hotan anthrôpos ê - - -"Yes, that is from Menander. How shall I tell you? It means so many -things and so many different things at different times. Sometimes, -I think, it may mean simply, that it is a duty to be a man and not -a brute. Let me explain...." - -"I know!" broke in Aleko, whose eyes had been fixed on the entrance -of the narrow street. "You mean, to be like you and not like that -fruit-seller over there who is kicking his donkey because he has -laden it too heavily, and it cannot walk." Kyr Themistocli smiled. - -"Well, ... yes, if you like, my boy ... yes. Sometimes it means that -it is a glorious thing to be all that a man can be! to be afraid of -no evil talk, to hold your head very high, to remember that we have -sprung from a race which has given light to all the civilized world, -to become all that an ancient Greek of the best might have been. I -do not mean that there were no bad men among them! Which race has -been without? There were Ephialtes[11] ... Antipater[12] ... and many -others. But to approach the noblest, ... to touch the hem of their -garment ... who would not be proud? Sometimes, Aleko, it means that -like Socrates, one must give work, and strength, and patience, and -forgiveness to others, and look for nothing in return. Sometimes it -means that a man, to be a man, must give the thing that is hardest -to give of all--his life even!" - -"But ..." began Aleko hesitatingly. - -"What, my child? Ask all that you wish." - -"If a man--a great man, and a good man as you say--gives his life, -then it is finished; he cannot help anyone, or be great, or strong, -any more." - -"Ah, no! Many people have said that, little one, but I must make you -see further. There are those who will say, if this man had not done -this deed of sacrifice, if he had kept his own valuable life, he might -have done many more great things later on. Ah, but they forget...." and -the blind man stretched out his arms as though appealing to an unseen -audience. "They forget that all the useful and good things which he -might still have done, are as nothing before the wonderful example he -has given, before.... Oh, how shall I tell you, my child? ... before -the way in which he has made thousands of men's and women's hearts beat -with noble thoughts,--before the way in which he has made the little -children of his land lift up their heads, and say, 'I, too, will be -like him some day!' No, Aleko, no! What he has done lasts through the -years; and the bravery of great men of whom you will read some day, -such a deed for instance as that of Paul Melas[13] in our own time, -makes all the world nobler and stronger for them, even after their -names come to be forgotten!" - -There was silence for some minutes, then Aleko said:-- - -"When I am twenty-one years old, and my time comes to serve in the -army, if there be a war while I am a soldier, then I may be very brave -and perhaps ..." his eyes brightened as he spoke, "they may print it -in the newspaper, and someone will read it to you, and you will say, -'That is Aleko, I know him.' But if there is no war, ... then what -can I do?" - -"It is of your age, my child, to think that only in fighting can one -be brave; but I could fill a big book with all the different kinds -of courage." - -"Tell me, then! How could I be brave if there were no war?" - -The blind man groped for the boy's hand and held it for a moment. - -"I think you are brave now." - -"But that is impossible; I have done naught." - -"Suppose that next year when you finish the highest class of the -Parnassos, you were to get the first prize?" - -"Yes," assented Aleko, "I shall get it." - -"Very well; how much is it?" - -"Three hundred drachmæ." - -"Would that sum not be sufficient to keep you for a year at least -without working, if you wished to go to a higher class in the -Municipal School?" - -"It would be sufficient for me alone, but who would send money to my -mother and the little ones, if I did not work?" - -"That is just what I meant; you go on working for them, instead of -getting more learning for yourself, as you would like to do. Well, -that is a brave deed!" - -"But, no," said the boy, his face puckered with perplexity, "that is -not brave. I do not like it at all!" - -"But you do it." - -Aleko got up from his knees. - -"I do not do it; it does itself. How can I help it?" then, as he -shouldered his box to go, he asked, "After I have read to-morrow, -will you tell me about some more great men?" - -"I will tell you all I know; ... only come!" - - - - - -VI - -And as the days became hotter and hotter, as May melted into June and -June into July, Kyr Themistocli got to depend more and more on the -boy's daily visits, and as he was an old man and had lost many things -in his life, he would tremble sometimes at the thought of losing -this new joy. For it was a joy as all creating and all planting is -a joy. In all the years he had been a schoolmaster, it was the first -time he had come across an intellect where all seeds once sown bore -fruit; where there were no barren spots. - -But Aleko never failed him; every day he would bring the newspaper -and read it all through to the blind man. When the heat was intense, -and the white light in the streets was blinding, they would sit -indoors behind closed shutters, and when it became cooler, late in -the afternoon, the old man's chair would be placed outside the house, -and Aleko sat on the step below him, and asked all the questions -that crowded into his mind. He had more time now, for examinations -were over and school was closed until September again. One evening, -when the sounds of passing guitars and men's voices singing, floated -up to the narrow little street, mingled with the cries of boys racing -and calling to each other, the old man asked him:-- - -"Do you not want to run with the other lads, Aleko?" - -And Aleko answered:-- - -"I run all day; now it is good to sit. Tell me about some great men, -Kyr Themistocli." - -And the old schoolmaster, well content, tilted his chair back against -the sun-baked wall of the house, and told him many things. - -He told him of the old, old times even before the ancients, when men -were almost like brutes, but with something manlike in them which set -them apart from the wild beasts; when they made weapons of stones, -and lighted fires by the rubbing of sticks; when they crossed over the -barrier of water by hollowing boats out of trees. He told him of the -terrible wild animals which existed in those days, so monstrous that -the heads of some would reach up to the third floor windows of a house; -and how they would long ago have devoured all the men if these had not -used their brains to defend themselves. How men followed men through -the centuries and how, little by little, their brains grew cleverer and -cleverer through much using, until at last, from those wild men sprang -the minds, and the hearts, and the hands, of Socrates and Plato, and -Aristotle, the philosophers, and Leonidas, the warrior, and Pericles, -the statesman, and Phidias and Praxiteles, the sculptors. Then, he -went on to tell him of all the poor boys through many ages who had -the spirit of the old cave dwellers in them--who would not stay as -they had been born. He told him of Æsop, who was only a poor slave -boy, so ugly and deformed that people laughed and jeered at him; and -yet his fables have been translated into all languages of Europe, -and even into Arabic and Chinese; of Christopher Columbus, the son -of a poor comber of wool in Genoa, who discovered America; of the -shepherd boy Giotto, who drew pictures on stones whilst watching -the sheep, and who grew up to be a celebrated painter; of Lully, -the musician, who was a cook-boy; of Metastasio the Italian poet, -who as a boy recited verses in the streets of Rome; and to come to -our own days, he told him all he had read before he lost his sight, -of Edison, the American, who was a poor boy, and--like Aleko--had -at one time sold newspapers to earn his bread, and of what wonderful -things he had invented, and how there were few in the world who were -not indebted to him; he told him of others--of all he could remember; -then he tried to explain to him, a little, how hard all these men had -worked, each in his own way, and how they had not only wished to do -great things, but had willed it very hard, and had gone on willing -it every moment of their lives, and how it was this great will that -had made them conquer all obstacles, and all discouragement. He told -him also how it was not enough to work, and to be brave, in order to -grow up into a great man, or even simply into a good and just one, -but how he must think as well; how he must always look for the cause, -always ask himself the why and the wherefore, of everything.... - -"Of course," interrupted Aleko, "I know that. If you do not you are -stupid. Yesterday, the drawer of a boy's box would not open; you know -the drawer, where all the shoe-polishes and rags are kept; and this -boy--Dino--he pulled, and he pulled, and he could not get it open, and -he was very angry, because a man got tired of waiting for him to clean -his boots and went to another boy's stand. Then I looked at Dino's box, -and I pulled a little, and it was one side only of the drawer which -stuck, so I turned it to the light, and I found that a little nail -had fallen between the side of the box and the drawer, and jammed it, -and when I pulled it out with a bit of wire it opened as before." - -"And Dino was glad?" - -"He was glad, but he did not look why the drawer had stuck, and when -another nail falls in he will be stupid again; he will not know how -to open it. His head is stuffed with straw!" - -Then Aleko got up from the step, and gathered his remaining newspapers -under his arm. - -"The good hour be with you, Kyr Themistocli!" - -"You are going?" - -"Yes, I want to go and see if that Anneza has found the dog yet." - -"What? She has lost him again?" - -"Since noon to-day, and she was trembling with fear of what her master -would say." - -"You will remember, Aleko, to bring the coffee to-morrow afternoon." - -"I will remember. Be easy! I have the money you gave me safe -here." Then as he turned to go, he said, "You have sufficient for -the morning?" - -"No," answered the old man, "it is all finished; but for one day it -does not matter if one eats one's bread dry." - -"For you it matters," pronounced Aleko. "I shall bring the coffee in -the morning, ready ground." - -"Do not trouble, my boy; in the mornings you have no time." - -"I shall have time, and I shall bring it when I come with the -newspapers for the Spinotti house," and without waiting for further -objections he ran down the street and up the wider one, till he came -to the railings of the Spinotti garden. - -Anneza, leaning out of her kitchen window, was explaining something -vehemently to the next-door cook. - -"Have you found the dog?" asked Aleko. - -"If only I could find him, I would give twenty drachmæ out of my wages, -that I would! The master was like mad when he heard I had lost him; -he says the dog must have been stolen, and he has gone now to put it -in the newspapers." - -"Did he give it to you badly?" asked the next-door cook curiously. - -Anneza became tearful. - -"He scolded me," she said, "till I have been trembling ever since." - -"He did well," pronounced Aleko as he turned away, "if your head were -not fixed on, you would lose it every day." - -"Wait a moment!" shouted Anneza. "Wait till I get the jam stick to -you!" but Aleko was already out of sight. - -When he got back to his cellar home he folded the left-over newspapers -to be returned on the morrow, and looked doubtfully at his mattress; -Andoni, the other boy, was already fast asleep in the farther -corner. But it was stiflingly hot in the cellar and there was bright -moonlight outside, so he sauntered up the steps again and looked about -him. There were few passers-by, and the shadows of the houses lay in -deep blue-black patches on the moonlit street. - -Farther down, outside a closed fruit shop, were some empty baskets, -and on one of these he sat down, his elbows on his knees, and his -face cupped in his hands. A cooling breeze came from one of the -side streets leading up to the first slopes of Mount Lycabettus,[14] -and though Aleko drowsed a little as he sat there, he did not feel -inclined to return to his cellar. - -Suddenly, behind him came a soft patter and something sniffed at his -bare ankles. - -He jumped up, overturning the basket. - -"Solon!" - -And Solon it was, not smooth and white and clean as usual, but muddy, -and draggled, and gray with dust. - -"You bad dog! How did you find yourself here? Do you know that your -master is searching for you in all the town? Do you know that he has -paid money to have it printed in the newspaper that you are lost? Are -you not ashamed then? Bad dog!" - -Solon did not like this tone of voice so he sat up and begged with -his dusty little forepaws. All at once, Aleko saw that a broken piece -of coarse string was tied round the dog's neck. - -"Bah! Your master was right then that you had been stolen! Some one -tried to tie you up, and you must have broken the string and run -away. You are a very clever dog! Bravo, Solon!" - -Solon opened his mouth very wide and curled up his tongue in a -long yawn. - -"Come, I will carry you home so that you may not stray again." And -Aleko stooped to pick him up; but as he did so, a man who was coming -along the other side of the pavement some distance off, a tall man -wearing a Panama hat, called out loudly:-- - -"Who is there? What are you doing with that dog?" and hastened his -steps. He crossed the road to Aleko's side, and stooped over him to -see what he held. - -Suddenly Solon gave a shrill, joyous bark and the man snatched him -out of Aleko's arms, at the same time giving the boy a violent push -which sent him staggering against the closed shutters of the shop. - -"You young scoundrel, you! So I have caught you, have I? Do you know -that this is my dog?" - -Aleko looked up. It was the man he had often seen coming out of the -big house in the garden; it was Solon's master. - -"Yes," he said, "I know; but you need not push people in that way. I -was going to bring the dog to your house. Now that you have found him, -you can take him yourself." - -And turning his back he was walking off. But Nico Spinotti had been -searching for his dog for the whole long hot afternoon; he had walked -up and down likely and unlikely streets; he had visited most of -the shops at which Anneza dealt, he had been to the police station, -and to three newspaper offices, and now that he thought he had found -the culprit, and that this culprit was mocking him, his fury knew -no bounds. He put Solon down and darting forward seized Aleko by -the arm and brought down his walking stick with force across the -boy's shoulders. - -"You young limb!" he shouted. "You thieving little blackguard! From -where did you steal that dog? Tell me! Tell me or I will pull your -ears off!" and each word was accompanied by a fresh blow. The poor -boy twisted and writhed, but he had no chance in those strong hands. - -"Leave me!" he screamed. "Let go! Why do you strike me? Leave me, -I tell you! I never stole your dog.... I found him.... He knows -me.... He came to me!" - -"You can tell those lies to others! They will not pass with me," -cried the furious man, pushing Aleko away at last and stooping to -pick up Solon. "How should my dog know a ragamuffin like you?" - -Aleko, who had fallen on his knees beside the overturned basket, -put up his arm to ward off further blows. - -"But he does! It is I who bring the newspapers to your house, and he -sees me every day. Ask Anneza if it be not true?" - -"So much the worse if you know him! I suppose someone has put you up -to steal the dog. Now, hark you! You are not to dare to come to my -house or anywhere near it, and if ever I see your dirty face in our -neighbourhood again, I shall hand you over to the police. So now you -know!" and picking up the little dog under his arm he turned to go. - -"The street is not yours!" burst out Aleko with sudden fury, rubbing -his shoulder. "And I shall sell my newspapers there every day!" - -"You will! Will you? Very well, when you want any change out of the -beating you got just now, you can come to me for it! Do you hear?" - -"I hear." - -"Well, remember it then!" and turning on his heel he walked quickly -down the street. - -Aleko was sore all over, sore in body and sore in mind. Wearily he -staggered back to his cellar, threw himself on his mattress, and there -in the dark, dropped his head on his arms and sobbed himself to sleep. - - - - - -VII - -Next morning, when he got up, part of the bodily soreness had -disappeared, but his indignation was, if anything, greater. - -"Just let him wait and see!" he kept muttering to himself as, carrying -his morning newspapers, he waited in a little grocer's shop while -Kyr Themistocli's coffee was being weighed. "Just let him wait! The -next time I find his dog straying--and that will be to-morrow or the -day after, unless he turns Anneza away--I will take it and give it to -someone else, to someone who lives very far away, where he will never -find it again. May they never call me Aleko again if I do not!" As -he was leaving the shop with the bag of coffee in his hand, he found -outside the door an empty petroleum tin which he kicked viciously right -out into the middle of the square. It fell bounding and rebounding with -tremendous clatter against the curbstone, and the noise did him good. - -However, he was not to wait even until to-morrow for his revenge, -though it did not happen exactly as he had planned it. - -Before the clang of the falling tin had ceased, he saw at the end -of the square, just where the street car tracks come into it, a -little flash of something white tearing along at full speed. In hot -pursuit, but very far behind, came Anneza, with a packet of macaroni -in one hand and two cucumbers in the other. At first Aleko could -not understand why she seemed in such terrible haste, but in another -second he had understood. - -From behind the corner of a chemist's shop a man darted out, a man -armed with an open bag of thin knotted rope mounted on a long stick, -something which looked like a monstrous butterfly net; and this net -came down with a dexterous swoop, born of long practice, and rose -again into the air, carrying with it the little white, squealing, -wriggling bundle which was Solon. - -Anneza, in the distance, gave a loud shriek, and one of her cucumbers -fell unheeded to the ground. On she rushed, her apron strings flying -behind her; but the man was quicker. - -The iron cage on wheels, with its load of barking, snarling prisoners, -stood behind him; with one hand, he lifted up the little spring -door at the top of it, and with a twist of the other he emptied poor -Solon on top of the other dogs. Then he dropped the lid and whipped -up the horse. - -"Stop!" panted Anneza, waving her arms wildly, "stop I tell you!" - -She was close to the cart by this time; but just at that moment, -the street car which was going up towards the Maraslion met the one -which was coming down, at the corner, and for a moment there was a -block. Anneza, trying to squeeze herself between the two, was pushed -here and there by mounting and descending passengers, and by the time -she got clear the man with the iron cage was out of sight. - -But Aleko had been quicker. He had wheeled round as soon as he saw -the dog caught, and running down a short cut had met the cart as it -came out on the street below. He stood right in its way and signaled -to the man. - -"The little dog you have just taken," he cried, "is not a stray -dog. He belongs...." - -"Stand out of my way," shouted the man savagely, "or I will bring my -whip down on your head!" and he brandished a heavy whip dangerously -near the boy. - -Aleko jumped aside only just in time, and the cart went rattling down -the steep incline with a clatter of its iron laths which drowned the -barking of its occupants. - -Instinctively Aleko ran back to the square. - -Anneza was gone. - -"Do you know," he asked of a woman who was weighing some purple figs -at the door of a fruit shop, "where the serving maid has gone who -was here just now?" - -"Anneza, from the Spinotti's, you mean?" answered the woman. "The -'boya' took her dog away in his cart, and she has run back to the -house to tell her master." - -"By the time she finds him," said Aleko, "it will be too late." And -he tore across the square and down the street leading to Academy -Road. A street car was passing. He leaped on the platform dragging -his box after him. The conductor looked at him angrily. - -"Do you not know that you cannot sell your newspapers while the car -is in motion?" - -"I am not selling anything," answered Aleko with dignity; "I am -riding." And he produced ten lepta from a pocket inside his tunic. - -He got off the street car at Patissia Road and turned to his -right. When he came to a large house, standing somewhat back from -the road, he stopped short. An older boy, also with a shoeblack's -box beside him, was leaning against the railings of the enclosure. - -"Is this the Central Police Station?" inquired Aleko. - -"Yes." - -"Does the Chief of the Police live here?" - -The older boy stared at him. - -"He does not live here, he has a fine house of his own near the Palace, -but he comes here every day. I know, because this is my stand, and -I see him when he comes and goes." - -Then Aleko asked another question. - -"Does the 'boya' bring the dogs he catches here?" - -"He brings them here first, to be counted, and then he takes them -down there." And the strange shoeblack jerked with his thumb over -his shoulder towards the Homonoia[15] Square. - -"Down where?" - -"Far down the Piræus Road." - -"What does he do with them there?" - -"Puts them into a room which kills them." - -"How can it kill them--a room?" - -"Do I know?" - -"When does the cart come here?" - -The elder boy looked up at the sun. - -"Now, any minute." - -"Listen," said Aleko, "the 'boya' has taken just now up at the Kolonaki -a dog that is not a stray one. It is a very good dog, and it belongs -to someone who counts for something. If I wait here, and show the -Chief of the Police which it is, will he give it to me?" - -"Are you mad?" asked the strange boy contemptuously. "Do you think -the Chief himself sees the dogs, or that he will listen to you?" - -"Then what shall I do?" - -"If you want the dog, go down to the place in the Piræus Road, and find -the 'boya' alone. Now, these hot days, they are afraid of mad dogs, -and they pay him one drachma for every dog he catches: so, perhaps, -if you were to give him more...." - -"Where is the place?" - -"I have never been there. Go down the Piræus Road and ask." - -Aleko started off towards the square at a good pace. The heat of the -day had begun and he had eaten nothing yet. But he wiped his forehead -with the back of his sleeve and plunged into the Piræus Road. The -strange boy had told him that the place was "far down," therefore it -was no good inquiring before he reached the Gas Works. It was a long -way; if the "boya's" cart only stopped a few moments at the Police -Station, it might almost be there before him; so he hurried on, -quickening his pace, and now and then breaking into a little run. - -He must get there in time! He must! Poor little Solon! Poor little -warm, white creature, so full of life! "As clever as a Christian," -as he had told Kyr Themistocli the other day. At this point, he looked -at the paper bag of coffee still unconsciously clutched in one hand. - -"The old man will eat his bread dry this morning after all; well, -what is to be done? It is a small evil." - -After passing the Gas Works he began to ask his way; but most of the -passers-by seemed vague. - -"Somewhere down there," they said. A carter told him the place was -after Phalerum, but a second man contradicted him. - -"What are you saying, brother? It is far closer than that!" - -Aleko remembered that his father used to say:-- - -"By asking one can find the way to Constantinople." And as it was -not to Constantinople that he wanted to go, but only to the "boya's" -place, to the "room that killed" he went on asking. - -At last an old woman directed him. - -"Go over those fields there, where the goats are; and behind that -wall you will find a small house with an iron door; that is the place." - -Aleko ran across the dreary, stony fields which were neither town -nor country, and climbed over the wall. - -A small house stood alone on a bare plot of ground, with two closely -shuttered windows, and an iron door. Aleko tried the door and found -it locked. There was no sign of life anywhere about; the cart had -evidently not arrived yet. He was in time! - -As he stood there, on the coarse down-trodden grass, he gave a little -gasp of dismay and felt in his pocket. - -The boy had said, "They pay him a drachma for each dog--perhaps if -you were to give him more...." - -And Aleko, thinking of the dog's master who would willingly, gladly, -pay so very much more, had raced off confidently, not remembering -that he himself had no more than three five-lepta pieces on him at -this moment. - -Just then he heard the clatter of the iron cage rattling in the -distance, and the deep bark of a big dog. The "boya" was coming. - -Well, he must promise him the money, that was all. Surely, if he -told him that the master of the dog would pay him well, the man would -bring it up to the house himself, even if he did not trust Aleko to -take it away. - -The clatter came nearer and nearer, and now Aleko could distinguish -the two-wheeled cart with its monster iron cage, between whose flat -bars dogs' heads and paws of all shapes and sizes were thrust out. - -Behind the cart ran the usual following of ragged urchins who always -seem to spring up about the "boya's" route. - -Aleko was grasping the bars of the cart before it came to a -stand-still. He thought he had seen something small and white at the -farthest end of the cage. And as he got round to the back there was -a shrill bark which rose above the rest, and the something small and -white sat up inside the cart and begged very piteously. - -Aleko suddenly felt a wave of fury go over him. - -He forgot all his pre-arranged plans; all the promises he was to -have made. - -The man had stopped the cart, and was raising his arms in a prodigious -yawn. Aleko caught hold of his sleeve, and pulled him towards the -rear of the cart. - -"Open it!" he cried. "Open it this minute! I want that dog! That -little white one there, with the black patch over the eye. You took -it from the Kolonaki, and it was not a stray dog. You took it while -the woman who had it was in a shop! You had no right to touch it! Give -it to me! Give it to me quickly!" and the more Solon inside the cage -heard the familiar voice, the more vigorously his little paws shook -up and down. - -The man, a short, sickly-looking man, with an evil, lowering face, -dragged his sleeve away from the boy's grasp. - -"Give it to you, indeed!" he shouted, "and from where have you sprung -to be giving me orders? Now clear off!" - -"I tell you," persisted the boy, seeing that he had angered the man, -"I tell you it will benefit you to give that dog to me; it belongs -to a rich man, and he is so fond of it he will pay you much money -to have it returned to him; more than you can get for all your other -dogs together." - -"I do not listen to such lies! You cannot cheat me!" - -"I am not cheating you. Give me the dog and you will see! Or if you -do not believe me, bring him yourself! I will show you the house." - -"And have I no other work to do than to be running to people's -houses?" snarled the "boya." "Those who want their dogs safe can keep -them indoors." - -"I tell you," said Aleko flushing very red, "that if you do not give me -that dog you will find trouble. It belongs to Kyrios Spinotti and...." - -"If it belonged to the King I would not give it!" shouted the -man. "What goes into the cart stops there!" - -"Keep the dog somewhere safe, then," pleaded Aleko, "and I will bring -his master down here to pay you!" - -"No," said the man, unlocking the iron door. "The dogs are going in -here; and," he added with an ugly laugh, "yours shall go in first -of all!" - -Aleko seized hold of his arm. - -"Keep him till noon!" - -"He shall go in first, I tell you. Now, leave go!" - -"Keep him just one hour!" - -"You, with your hours! Clear off this minute unless you want your -face smashed!" - -But these last words were the man's undoing. If he had not talked of -smashing faces, Aleko might not have thought of it, but as he stood -there, his head thrown back, his blue eyes glittering with rage, -some familiar words flashed across his mind. - -"Straight out from the shoulder, Aleko! Follow your blow! Come -with it!" - -All encumbrances were flung aside; newspapers were carried away by the -breeze, a shower of coffee fell on the ground from a burst paper bag, -and straight as a dart, and steady, and strong, the boy's fist flew -out from his shoulder with all the weight of the sturdy little body -behind it, and landed with crashing force on the man's chin. - -The man staggered back, striking his head against the iron bars of -the cart, and went down like a tree that is felled. - - - - - -VIII - -In the meanwhile Kyr Themistocli had dragged his straw chair outside -his door, where, as the house faced west, there was shade for some -hours in the morning, and sat waiting. In his hand, he held a piece of -bread, but he was not eating it. Not because it was dry, there being -no coffee to drink with it; but because for the first time Aleko had -not come when he had said he would. - -It was long past the hour for morning newspapers. Other boys had -cried them up and down the street, but now they had ceased. - -Two or three times the old man muttered to himself:-- - -"He is a child! May he not forget sometimes?" but in a moment he would -rise from his chair, and feeling with one hand for the wall of the -houses, he would advance slowly down the narrow street and listen to -the noises that came from the wider one and the square beyond. - -Fish was being cried, fresh from Phalerum, and summer vegetables of -all kinds, greens for salad, and fruit. - -"Cool, cool mulberries!" cried a man with a good tenor voice, -making a song of the words. "Black are the mulberries! Sweet are -the mulberries! Buy mulberries! Cool, cool mulberries!" Then an old -voice quavered out, "Pitchers from Ægina! Pitchers for cold water! Big -pitchers! Little pitchers!" - -But no one cried newspapers. The hour for them was long past, and -slowly, and stumblingly, Kyr Themistocli found his way back to his -straw chair. The sun was gaining on the shade. - -"He will not come now before the afternoon," muttered the old man; -but still he did not go indoors. - -Suddenly, a voice hailed him close at hand. - -"Good day to you, Kyr Themistocli!" It was not Aleko's voice. It was -a man's voice; a voice he knew. - -"How is it that you are sitting outside at this hour? The sun will -be on your head in a moment." - -The old man stretched out a groping hand in the direction of the voice. - -"Is it you, Nico? You are welcome. Yes, I will go indoors just -now. But you? How come you here at this time? How is it you are not -at the Bank?" - -"I have no head for business this morning, Kyr Themistocli; I saw you -sitting here as I passed by the end of the street and I came to wish -you good morning." - -"Are you not well, Nico?" - -"I am well; but from early morning I cannot rest. Perhaps it will seem -a small thing to you--but to me it is a great one--I have lost my dog!" - -"The little white one? The one you call 'Solon'?" - -"Yes. Twice this week he has been lost and found. Those who believe -in such things are right it seems when they tell you to beware of -the third time. I am a fool, Kyr Themistocli, about this dog. I ... I -love him as I would a man. Some tell me it is a sin to care so much -for an animal. But when I think how she...." - -"It is no sin," said the old schoolmaster, "there are dogs that -understand one better than men, and when old memories are mixed up -with the caring ..." he broke off suddenly. "But do not vex your -heart! You will find him." - -Nico Spinotti shook his head. - -"The 'boya' took him. He was out with my cook, and while she was -in a shop the dog was picked up. She ran after the cart in vain; -and then she returned weeping to the house to tell me. It was well -she had that much sense at least." - -"But why are you staying here?" asked Kyr Themistocli excitedly. "Why -do you not run to the Police Station? They will give him back to -you. Even should there be any difficulty, if the dog was not muzzled, -as it writes in the newspapers that they must be now, you can always -pay the fine, and as much more as the 'boya' wants...." - -"My secretary went at once; and the man-servant also--if only they -are in time! I could not go myself; I dared not! If I were to see -the man who caught the dog in that net, and threw him into that vile -cart ... I ... I could have killed him! I know myself; when I think of -anyone ill-treating Solon or indeed any animal, I lose consciousness -of what I do. Why, only last night I gave the boy who had tried to -steal him such a beating that it will be days before he forgets it." - -"A boy stole him?" - -"Yes, a newspaper boy with fair hair; and those shoeblacks and -newspaper boys are generally so honest; but this one it seems came to -my house regularly with newspapers, and knew the dog; and someone, -I suppose, must have paid him well to steal it. I found him just -preparing to carry it off under his arm. Well, he got his year's -beating from me any way, and I forbade him to show his face in this -neighbourhood again. I told him I would give him to the police if -he did!" - -The old man had risen from his chair and his blind eyes were wide -open and staring. - -"You.... You ... hurt the lad!" he burst out wildly. "You drove him -away! You.... You...." - -But his sentence was never finished. - -At that moment there was a patter of running feet at the entrance -of the narrow street, a sudden flash of something white in the sun, -and Solon, taking a flying leap from Aleko's arms, made a bee line -for his master. - -There was a bewildered cry of,--"Solon!" and then a mingling of shrill -barks of joy and of broken words:-- - -"Why, the poor little dog! Why, Solon! My poor one!" - -In the meantime Aleko went straight up to the old schoolmaster. - -"Kyr Themistocli," he began, "your coffee is all spilt. It fell from -my hand and the bag burst, but this afternoon...." - -But the blind man did not wait to hear what was to happen that -afternoon, his arms groped for the boy and finding him, clung about -his neck, and the old head fell forward on Aleko's shoulder. - -"I thought I had lost you.... I thought that you would never come -back! My boy!... My son!..." - -The banker looked from the old man to the boy, with bewildered eyes. - -"Why?" he gasped, "I never knew.... Is he yours?" - -"Mine? Makari!" exclaimed Kyr Themistocli. - -Now when a real Greek says "Makari," it means so many things that no -single word in any other language can translate it. It means, "If only -it could be so!" it means, "I could wish for nothing better!" it means, -"It is too good to come true!" it means, "Such a thing would be perfect -happiness!" It means all this and much more. Some think the word a -corruption of "makarios," meaning blessed, some believe it was taken -from old Italian. It is not a dictionary word, but it expresses so -much that the old schoolmaster dropped into common speech and said -"Makari," with all his heart. - -"But then ..." said Nico Spinotti looking from one to the other, -"I do not understand. How came the dog here? Is this the boy...?" - -Kyr Themistocli left his hand on Aleko's shoulder, and drew himself -up to his full height. - -"Yes," he said, "this is the boy you ill-treated, whom you called a -thief; and it is he, I am sure, who has saved your dog and brought -him back to you. Tell us, Aleko--what happened?" - -"I saw the 'boya,'" related Aleko, "pick up the dog. It was while -Anneza, who never knows what is being done around her, was in the shop; -I ran after him but he drove me off with his big whip; so I took the -street car to make more haste, and went down to the Central Police -Station; there, a boy told me where the 'boya' takes all the dogs after -they are counted, far down the Piræus Road, to a 'room that kills.' So -I went there and found the place and waited for the cart. When it -came I told the man that the dog was his ..." pointing to Spinotti, -"and that he would pay him well, but he would not listen. I asked -him to bring it up himself if he did not believe me, or, to wait till -noon or even for an hour ... and he ... he ... jeered at me." - -"And did you not call some one of the police?" asked Kyr Themistocli. - -"No," said Aleko, and he laughed a little, "I remembered what the -gentleman at the Parnassos told us: that if you have the science and -the other has not, you need not fear one twice your size, so I gave -him the straight blow from the shoulder under the chin, the one that -makes you see stars." - -Nico Spinotti laughed out delightedly. - -"Bravo! And did he see them?" - -"Yes," said Aleko quietly, "because afterwards, he lay in the dust -and saw nothing." - -"And then?" - -"Then I opened the cart and let all the dogs out." - -"What ... all?" - -"Of course. Since it had happened that I was there, it was for the -good luck of all the poor creatures. The boys who were there helped -me; we held open the door at the top of the cage; the big dogs jumped -out alone, and we lifted the little ones. I took Solon, and if the -'boya' wants the rest again, he will have another day's run for them!" - -"And what became of the man?" - -"Do I know?" said Aleko with sublime indifference. - -Then the banker came a step nearer to Aleko. - -"If I were to speak till to-morrow, my boy, I could not tell you how -indebted I am to you; and I am terribly ashamed to think that you, -whom I accused of being a thief, and ill treated only last night, -should have saved my dog for me to-day." - -"It was not for you that I did it," answered the boy shortly, -"it was the dog for whom I was sorry." - -"I understand that. Still you knew that he was mine, and another boy -might have let the dog be killed, to be revenged on me." - -"What you did," said Aleko, averting his eyes, "was not the dog's -fault. Why should he suffer?" - -"You have saved me also from great suffering; greater, perhaps, -than the dog's would have been. I thank you with all my heart, also -I ... I ask your forgiveness." And he held out his hand. - -Aleko frowned. At that moment for some inexplicable reason, Solon -sat up on his hind legs and began energetically sawing the air with -his forepaws as though pleading for his master. - -Aleko looked at him and his face relaxed a little. Then he wiped -his hand carefully on his clothes and laid it in the banker's, -saying gravely:-- - -"You are forgiven." - -"And now, will you tell me what I may do for you to show my gratitude?" - -"May I bring the newspapers to your house again?" asked Aleko, his -eyes brightening. - -The banker laughed. - -"Do you like to sell newspapers?" - -"It is my work," answered Aleko. - -"Is there nothing else you would prefer to do?" - -"He wants to study, Nico," cried the old man, "he wants it as none -of you, my old pupils, ever wished it, and he cannot, because he -must work all day to keep himself, and to help his mother and his -little sisters." - -The banker gathered his eyebrows together thoughtfully. - -"What are your earnings, a year, do you know?" he asked Aleko. - -"The 'big one' sends one hundred and fifty drachmæ to my mother; -he feeds me, and I give him all I earn." - -"What would you do if you were free?" - -"I want to learn." - -"To learn what?" - -"To learn many things." - -"And out of the many," said the old schoolmaster, "will grow the -one; the one that fills the life of a man. It is well. Let him learn -'many things.'" - -"If," said the banker slowly, "if I were to send three hundred drachmæ -every year to your family, and if you were to go to school all day and -live with Kyr Themistocli here, who should have three hundred more -to keep you and help you with your lessons when you returned from -school in the evenings, would you be pleased for the present? Later -on we shall see again." - -But it was the old man who thanked and blessed Nico Spinotti, who -stretched out tremulous hands to him, while tears of joy filled his -sightless eyes. - -Aleko stood still with wide open eyes. His wildest day dreams were -coming true, and the magnitude of the joy suddenly made him feel -faint. His heart seemed to be beating up in his throat, and he felt -as though the throbs would choke him. His hands grew moist, his knees -trembled and speech failed him utterly. - -To the hard work that lay before him, he gave never a thought; the -daily discipline to which his free and untrammeled boyhood must bend -seemed a necessary trifle. Nothing mattered any more! He only knew -that the smiling faces of the two men beside him seemed quivering -in a golden mist, he only knew that the words he had just heard were -making music in his brain; for the lad in whose veins ran the blood -of the old scholars of Greece, had come into his inheritance. - - - - - - - - -NOTES - - -NOTES FOR "MATTINA" - -No. 1, Kyra. A title of respect or a prefix before the name, -used to old women of the people. You would say "Kyra Sophoula" or -"Kyra Calliope" if the women were old or elderly, instead of plain -"Sophoula" or "Calliope." It corresponds I fancy to "Dame" which was -used in England in the middle ages, or even I think they sometimes used -"Goody." - -Kyr is the masculine equivalent for old men. Sometimes "Barba" meaning -"uncle" colloquially is instead, as it is with you in the South I -think for old negroes. - -Kyria is simply "Mrs." or "Madame" and is used either before the name -as, "Kyria Dragoumis" for instance; or alone if you do not use the -name as, "Yes, Kyria" for "Oui, Madame." - -No. 2, Monastery Road. The Monastery on the hills in Poros is an old -one of the Byzantine epoch restored about a hundred years ago. It -has a beautiful little chapel with a wonderfully carved wooden -"templon" (the screen which separates the altar from the body of the -church). There are a few old monks left but not many. - -No. 3, Sponge-divers. Some Greeks earn their living by diving for -sponges. The best sponges in Greece are found in Hydra, but the -sponge-captains often take their divers to the north coast of Africa. - -No. 4, The Naval School of Poros is for sailors, not for officers (the -Naval School for the latter is quite near Piræus). The sailors come -to the School in Poros for the first six months of their service, -and after they are well drilled they are drafted on to the war -ships. There is a high grade officer as Director of the School, -and younger officers are in residence to drill the men. - -No. 5, The "Great Week" means the Holy Week before Easter. - -No. 6, Methana. A little village on the sea (Saronic Gulf) known for -its natural sulphur springs. People suffering from rheumatism and -eczema, etc., go there for baths. - -No. 7, Ægina. The well-known island sixteen miles from Athens in the -Gulf of Ægina. It was a very celebrated place in the ancient days -of Greece. The population now of 10,000 was then 600,000. Ægina -contributed thirty warships to the battle of Salamis against the -Persians. There are the ruins now of a temple to Venus and those of -one to the Pentelic Jupiter. - -No. 8, Piræus. The port of Athens: population about 27,000: five -miles to the southwest of the city, to which it used to be joined in -antiquity by the famous Long Walls built by Themistocles and Pericles. - -No. 9, Phalerum. One of the three ports of ancient Athens, about three -miles from the city; it is now a much frequented seaside resort, -with hotels, and private villas. In the hot summer days, people go -down from Athens, morning and evening, for sea baths. - -No. 10, The Theseum. A temple consecrated in 470 B. C. in Athens, to -Theseus, the national hero of Attica. In ancient days it often served -as a sanctuary for slaves. It is situated on a low hill, northeast of -the Acropolis, and is a fine monument in very good preservation. It -is a peripteric, hexastyle temple, in Pentelic marble. Any children -wanting to know more about Theseus, have only to read "The Minotaur," -in Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales. - -No. 11, Monastiraki. One of the stations of the Athens Piræus -railway line. - -No. 12, Drachma. Worth one franc; about 20 cents in American money. - -No. 13, Oke. A measure of weight equal in English weight to 2 lbs., -12 oz. - -No. 14, Lepton. The one-hundredth part of the drachma: one centime. The -smallest coin in Greek money is of five lepta. - -No. 15, Kiphissia. A country place about half an hour by train from -Athens: takes its name from the ancient river Kephissos or Kiphissos: -a very wooded, pretty, green place full of hotels and country -houses, much cooler than Athens in the summer, and consequently -much frequented. - -No. 16, The Kolonaki. A small square in Athens, behind the Kiphissia -Road; the little bootblacks congregate there a good deal. - -No. 17, The Zappion. A large handsome building in the ancient style -of architecture, built originally for exhibition purposes by two -rich brothers called Zappa (hence its name), situated on a height, -and commanding perhaps the most beautiful view in the whole world, -certainly in Europe. It comprises the columns of the temple of Olympic -Jupiter in the foreground, the Acropolis to the right, the Stadium -to the left, and in the distance Phalerum, the sea, and Salamis. The -Zappion terrace and gardens are a very favorite walking place for -children, babies, and their nurses. - -No. 18, Acropolis. The immortal Rock bearing the Parthenon, the -Propylæa, the Erechtheum,--It is an isolated rock of oval form, -inaccessible except from the west. It is entered to-day by the famous -"Porte Beulé". There is too much to be said about the Acropolis, -I can only quote Rennell Rodd, that perfect modern singer of Greece:-- - - - "Here wrought the strong creator and he laid - The marble on the limestone in the crag, - Morticed the sure foundations line to line - And arc to arc repeating as it grew; - Veiling the secret of its strength in grace, - Till like a marble flower in blue Greek air - Perfect it rose, an afterworld's despair." - - -No. 19, Stadium. The stadium was in ancient days the oblong foot-race -course of the length of one stadium (equivalent to about 606 English -feet), hence its name. The present Stadium in Athens was restored in -marble for the Olympic Games of 1896. - -No. 20, The Plaka. A populous quarter in Athens inhabited mostly by -the poorer classes. - -No. 21, Aubergines. An aubergine is a vegetable belonging to the -family of cucumbers and vegetable marrows. It is of a rich dark purple -colour when ripe. "Aubergine" is the English name for this vegetable, -and is always used by cooks and greengrocers in England. In America -it is called egg-plant. - -No. 22, Moussaka. This is a dish made of slices of aubergines, -mincemeat, butter, eggs, etc. - -No. 23, Pastas. Rich cakes, or portions of cake, made of almond -paste, or of sponge cake sandwiched with jam, or cream, and iced -over with chocolate, or with various coloured icings. They are sold -at all confectioners, and often eaten at the shops between meals, -or bought to serve as a dessert course. They are like the French -"petits fours," only larger. - -No. 24, Nauplia. Sea town of Argolis in the Peloponnesus: about 10,000 -inhabitants. It was the capital of modern Greece until 1834. - -No. 25, The Palamidi. A large prison at Nauplia. - -No. 26, "Manitsa" means "little mother." A diminutive of "Mana" -which means "mother" in peasant Greek. - -No. 27, Loukoumi. A kind of sweetmeat made of starch and sugar, -which in England they call "Turkish delight." It is principally made -in Constantinople, and in Syra. - -No. 28, Caique. A long narrow boat. - -No. 29, Touloumi means really a skin-bag; so that "touloumi" cheese -is a sort of white Greek cheese, so called because it is transported -in bags of skin from place to place. - - - - - -NOTES FOR "THE FINDING OF THE CAVE." - -No. 1, Missolonghi. A maritime town of central Greece; it is -principally celebrated for the part it played in the War of -Independence of 1821. It was three times besieged by the Turks, -in 1822, 1823, and 1825. In 1822 it resisted successfully against -Rechid-Pasha and Omer-Pasha. In 1823 it was fortified on the instance, -and by the advice, of Lord Byron (who died there in 1824), and bravely -defended by Botzaris; it was besieged by the terrible Omer-Vrioni, -and relieved by Mavrocordato. In April, 1825, Rechid-Pasha reappeared -with 35,000 men before Missolonghi, which at the time had only 4,000 -defenders. Protected by the Turkish fleet, and afterwards helped -by Ibrahim Pasha's army, Rechid-Pasha after a long siege brought -the defenders to their last extremity, and rather than fall into -the hands of the Turks, they blew themselves up with gun-powder, -with their women and children. - -The war of 1821 was the war of independence, in which Greece threw -off the Turkish yoke. - -No. 2, Botzaris or Botzari. One of the greatest heroes of the War of -Independence, born in 1788, died in 1823. - -Palamas, Pappaloukas, Tricoupis, Razikotsikas, Kapsalis, all brave -fighters and defenders of Missolonghi. - -"Zamana" is an imaginary name. - -No. 3, Pilaf. A national Turkish dish much eaten in Greece: it is -made with rice, butter, and tomatoes. It is a popular saying that -"pilaf" is the only good thing we ever got from the Turks. - -No. 4, Keftedes. Flat, round, meat cakes made of mince-meat, eggs, -etc., and fried in butter. - -No. 5, Acropolis. See notes for "Mattina" No. 18. - -No. 6, Hermes. Otherwise Mercury; the son of Jupiter, messenger of the -gods, and god himself of Eloquence and Commerce. Nathaniel Hawthorne -in his delightful Tanglewood Tales, talks of him often, calling him -"Quicksilver." - -No. 7, Yaourti. A sort of curd, or thick, sour milk: much eaten -in Greece, and of late years introduced into France, and I believe -into England, under the name of "Lait Bulgare" and much recommended -by doctors. - -No. 8, Louki Laras. An interesting book on the life of a young boy, -in the Greek War of Independence, written by Demetrius Vikelas. It -has been translated into French and I believe other languages. - -No. 9, Halva. A sweet, made of flour, butter, milk, and honey. - -No. 10, The King's Summer House. A little summer residence or lodge -belonging to the King, situated just inside the Piræus harbour. - -No. 11, Themistocles. The great Athenian general, born about 525 -B. C. At the time of the invasion of Greece by the Persians, he -commanded the Athenian fleet. It was he who persuaded the Greeks -to give battle at Salamis. The Spartan Eurybiades, general of the -confederate forces of Greece, being of the contrary opinion to -Themistocles, raised his rod of commander as though to strike him, -and it was then that Themistocles calmly answered the furious Spartan -by the famous words: "Strike but listen!" - -No. 12, Salamis. An island ten miles to the west of Athens, celebrated -for the naval victory which the united fleet of Greece gained over -the Persians in 486 B. C. - -No. 13, Tettix. A sort of cricket which in hot weather chirps all -day long, in trees and bushes. - -No. 14, Batti. The afternoon breeze which comes from the open sea. - -No. 15, The Seven Mills. A place on the heights, opposite Poros, on -the Peloponnesus, so called because seven water mills were placed at -intervals up to the top of the hill. - -No. 16, Miaoulis (Andreas). Greek admiral, born in Euboea, in 1768, -died in Athens in 1835. Between the years 1822 and 1827 he had the -supreme command of the naval forces of the country in the War of -Independence. - -No. 17, Galata. Small village of the Peloponnesus, opposite the island -of Poros. - -No. 18, Trata. The dragging the sea by a big net which gathers in all -the small fish. The net is cast from boats and then the men stand in -two lines on the shore and drag it in. I rather fancy this is called -a seine-net and seine-fishing in English. - -No. 19, Foustanella. The short linen pleated kilt reaching to the -knees, which is part of the national Greek and Albanian costume. It -is worn by the Royal Guards and by certain troops called the "Evzones." - -No. 20, Glitsa. A tall crook used by shepherds; it very often has a -carved handle. - -No. 21, Tagari. A woolen bag, generally bright-coloured, carried by -peasants to transport fruit, or nuts, or any small objects. - -No. 22, Stania. A sheep fold, generally on the hills. - -No. 23, Ouzo. A strong spirit which is drunk mostly by the poorer -classes and peasants. - -No. 24, Skaltsounia. A sort of almond cakes made principally in the -islands; something like German marzipan. - -No. 25, Yatagan. A Turkish or Arabic curved sword. - - - - - -NOTES FOR "ALEXANDER THE SON OF PHILIP" - -No. 1, Baklava. A kind of sweet made with pounded almonds between -very thin layers of paste soaked in honey. - -No. 2, The Twenty-fifth of March. The Anniversary of Greek -Independence. - -No. 3, Boya. A Turkish word meaning "executioner"; generally applied -in Athens to the man who seizes stray dogs in hot weather and takes -them away in his cart to the pound. - -No. 4, Loustro. Literally "a shiner"; applied to shoeblacks originally -and now used for all newspaper sellers, errand boys, etc. - -No. 5, Alexander the Great. Born 356 B. C., died in Babylon, 323 -B. C. The most famous warrior and captain of antiquity. His father, -Philip II of Macedonia, confided his education to Aristotle, the -greatest philosopher of that age. Alexander, after his father's -death, succeeded in making himself general-in-chief of the Hellenes at -Corinth, in 335 B. C., where he was surrounded by the most illustrious -men of the nation. He crossed the Hellespont to penetrate into Asia -with an army of 30,000 foot and 5,000 horse soldiers. He crossed the -Taurus, penetrated into Syria, crushed the innumerable army of Darius, -treating the vanquished king and his family with noble clemency. His -many conquests would take far too long to enumerate. He always -endeavoured to consolidate his conquests by good and wise treatment of -the conquered provinces. At Babylon he received ambassadors from all -points of the then known world. He was in the midst of new projects -of conquest and exploration when he died in a few days of a fever -(June, 323 B. C). - -No. 6, Kanaris (Constantine). Hero of the War of Independence; born -in 1790, died in 1877. He was captain of a merchant ship when Greece -rose against the Turks. In the night of the 18th to to the 19th of -June, 1822, helped by a companion, he burned two Turkish vessels. In -the following November he burned the admiral's ship of the Turkish -fleet in the port of Tenedos. He continued his work of destruction, -always at the extreme peril of his life and the lives of his brave -companions, at Samos and Mytilene, and during all the duration of -the war fought valiantly at the side of Miaoulis. He is the hero of -one of Victor Hugo's celebrated "Orientales." - -No. 7, Souli or Suli. Site in the province of Jannina in Epirus; -celebrated in the War of Independence for the heroism of its -inhabitants and for the death-dance of its women who, on the approach -of the Turks, danced for the last time their national dance on the -plateau of the mountain of Zalongos, and then, one by one, flung -themselves and their children over the precipice. Rennell Rodd in -The Violet Crown has a beautiful poem about this episode called -"Zalongos. The last fight of Suli." The last words, as far as I -remember, are:-- - - - "... thus beneath Zalongos side - The mothers and the children died - That Suli ne'er might breed again - A race of less heroic men." - - -The word "Suliote" is almost synonymous in Greece with hero or -heroine. If anyone is asked to undertake any very daring or desperate -deed, the answer often is, "Do you think I am a Suliote?" - -No. 8, Diakos (Athanasius). A Greek hero before the War of -Independence. Born 1788, died 1820. He led several successful attacks -against the Turks but was at last taken prisoner by them and put to -death by impalement. - -No. 9, Oristé. Literally "Command me," used in the sense of, "Yes, at -once. At your service!" - -No. 10, Tsourekia. Cakes, made principally for Easter, of flour, -eggs, butter and sugar. - -No. 11, Ephialtes. The traitor who guided the Persians to the Pass -of Thermopylæ. - -No. 12, Antipater. The betrayer of Demosthenes. - -No. 13, Paul Melas. A young officer in the Greek army, of one of the -best families in Athens, who left wife and children and career, a few -years ago, to go to Macedonia and with a handful of brave men protect -the helpless villages against Turkish tyranny and cruelty. He was -killed at Siatista in Macedonia in the month of October, 1904, and his -name has remained as that of one of the pioneers of Macedonian liberty. - -No. 14, Mount Lycabettus. A rock rising in the middle of the plain of -Athens, from which there is a beautiful view of all the town below. On -the summit is a small chapel of St. George. - -No. 15, Homonoia. "Concord," in Greek. It is the name of one of the -principal squares near the Piræus Road. - - - - - - - - -FOOTNOTES - - -[1] Kyra means Dame, or Goody: thus, Goody Kanella was Mattina's -aunt. At the end of the book there are notes marked 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., -explaining the meaning of the Greek words used, and describing briefly -certain events in Greek history. - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Under Greek Skies, by Julia D. 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-} -.p138width { -width:468px; -} -.p260width { -width:464px; -} -@media handheld { -} -</style> -</head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Under Greek Skies, by Julia D. Dragoumis - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Under Greek Skies - -Author: Julia D. Dragoumis - -Release Date: September 10, 2017 [EBook #55523] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER GREEK SKIES *** - - - - -Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ for Project -Gutenberg (This file was produced from images generously -made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<div class="front"> -<div class="div1 cover"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"></p> -<div class="figure cover-imagewidth"><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt= -"Original Front Cover." width="489" height="720"></div> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 frenchtitle"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first xd25e123">UNDER GREEK SKIES</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 ads ads"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"><i>Little Schoolmate Series</i></p> -<p>EDITED BY</p> -<p>FLORENCE CONVERSE</p> -<p><a class="pglink xd25e45" title="Link to Project Gutenberg ebook" -href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45441">IN SUNNY SPAIN</a></p> -<p>By Katharine Lee Bates</p> -<p>UNDER GREEK SKIES</p> -<p>By Julia D. Dragoumis</p> -<p>A BOY IN EIRINN</p> -<p>By Padraic Colum</p> -<p><i>Others in Preparation</i></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 frontispiece"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"></p> -<div class="figure frontispiecewidth" id="frontispiece"><img src= -"images/frontispiece.jpg" alt="COMING·TOWARDS·THEM" -width="464" height="720"> -<p class="figureHead">COMING·TOWARDS·THEM</p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 titlepage"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"></p> -<div class="figure titlepage-imagewidth"><img src= -"images/titlepage.png" alt="Original Title Page." width="462" height= -"720"></div> -</div> -</div> -<div class="titlePage"> -<div class="docTitle"> -<div class="mainTitle">UNDER GREEK SKIES</div> -</div> -<div class="byline">BY<br> -<span class="docAuthor">JULIA D. DRAGOUMIS</span></div> -<div class="docImprint">NEW YORK<br> -E·P·DUTTON & COMPANY<br> -PUBLISHERS</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 copyright"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first xd25e123"><span class="sc">Copyright</span>, 1913<br> -BY<br> -E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY</p> -<p class="xd25e123">The Knickerbocker Press, New York</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 dedication"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first xd25e123">TO<br> -MY THREE GRANDCHILDREN<br> -NICO <span class="sc">AND</span> ALEXANDRA YANNICOSTA<br> -AND<br> -NADINE RALLI<br> -I DEDICATE THIS BOOK <span class="pagenum">[<a id="xd25e217" href= -"#xd25e217" name="xd25e217">vii</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 preface"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">A LETTER TO THE ONE WHO READS THIS BOOK</h2> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first salute"><i>Dear Little Schoolmate</i>:</p> -<p>If you have read the story of Pilarica and Rafael in sunny Spain, -you know that these “Stories for Little Schoolmates” are -being written about the child you might have been, if your father and -mother—or your grandfathers and grandmothers—had stayed in -Spain, or some other far country, instead of coming across the sea to -live in America. “In Sunny Spain” told you what you might -have been doing a few years ago, if you had been a Spanish child during -the Cuban war; and now this new book will tell you how children work -and play in Greece.</p> -<p>There are not yet many school children with Greek names in the -United States, for most of the Greeks who have come to America have -been young unmarried men, or else like Ulysses they have left their -wives and children in Greece and mean to go back to them. Of -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="xd25e230" href="#xd25e230" name= -"xd25e230">viii</a>]</span>course you know about Ulysses and his wife -Penelope and his son Telemachus. He is the hero of a long and -delightful poem called the Odyssey, a Greek tale of wanderings and -adventures by sea and land. There is a story about him in -Hawthorne’s “Tanglewood Tales” which I think you must -have read; but if you haven’t, why not read it now? These modern -Greeks who love to sail away to new countries make me think of Ulysses, -although their adventures are not always as exciting as his were. But -lately, more and more of them are bringing their families across the -sea, and that means that they will make America their home, and -presently we shall have boys and girls with pretty Greek names, -Constantine, and Iason, and Chryseis, in our schools.</p> -<p>In the old days, too, not all the Greeks were like Ulysses; they -used to make colonies and homes in other lands; it is no new thing with -them, for Greece has always been a tiny country, not nearly big enough -to hold all her people, nor fertile enough to feed them. There were -Greeks in Italy and Sicily and Asia Minor, in ancient times; and there -were many Greek children in Constantinople, but they—<span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="xd25e234" href="#xd25e234" name= -"xd25e234">ix</a>]</span>poor little ones!—were there against -their will, for in the fifteenth century Turkey conquered Greece, and -as it was the custom in those days for the conquered people to pay a -tax to their conquerors, Greece had to pay a tax to Turkey. But not a -tax of money. No; Turkey demanded a tax of children. Year by year, -one-fifth of all the little Christian boys in Greece were taken away -from their fathers and mothers and carried off to Constantinople, where -they were educated to be the servants, or clerks, or soldiers of the -Turks.</p> -<p>If you have read Charles Kingsley’s book of “Greek -Heroes,” this story of Turkey and the little Greek boys will -remind you of the old legend of the Minotaur, that cruel, man-eating -monster who made the Greeks send him a shipful of young men and maidens -every year, until at last there rose up a hero named Theseus, who was -brave enough and strong enough to slay the dreadful beast. For nearly -three hundred years Turkey was a sort of minotaur, but instead of -eating the children she made them serve her, and she would not let them -worship in Christian churches. The story called “The Finding of -the Cave” in this new book of ours <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"xd25e238" href="#xd25e238" name="xd25e238">x</a>]</span>by Madame -Dragoumis, tells us something of the War for Independence which the -Greeks fought, in the nineteenth century, against the Turks, when they -at last set themselves free and were no longer obliged to pay the -wicked child-tax. Lord Byron, the English poet, fought in that war, to -help the Greeks, and died at Missolonghi.</p> -<p>But the Greeks, in the old days, who went to Sicily and Italy and -other countries around the Mediterranean Sea, usually did so of their -own will; and of their own will they are coming to America to-day. You -will wonder, perhaps, why they did not come long ago; why, if they -loved adventure and sea-faring, they did not come with De Soto and Sir -Walter Raleigh, and Champlain, and Captain John Smith, and all those -other gallant gentlemen. But you must remember that in those years, -when America was being settled, Greece was under Turkey’s yoke; -she was no longer rich and free, like Spain, or England, or even -France; she could not afford to risk money for ships and expeditions on -an unknown ocean and in lands so far away. Later, when she had won her -independence, she was kept busy putting <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"xd25e242" href="#xd25e242" name="xd25e242">xi</a>]</span>her home -affairs in order, choosing a king, and trying to earn her own -living—which is, of course, what every nation as well as every -man should want to do. But it is because Greece has not yet been very -successful in earning her own living that her people have begun to come -to America.</p> -<p>One of the ways in which she tried to live was by selling currants -to France. As far back as 1863—half a century ago—a pest -attacked the grapevines in France, so that there were not enough grapes -to make the wine which all the world buys, and France had to use -currants with her grapes. Now currants grow very well in Greece, and -the eager Greeks immediately set to work to raise them for the French -market. But they were so eager that they did a foolish thing: they -neglected their other crops for the sake of the currants; they put all -their eggs in one basket—as the saying goes; and when after many -years and much experimenting, France at last got rid of her grapevine -pest and no more currants were needed to make French wine, the Greek -farmers were left with their currants on their hands. This is one of -the reasons <span class="pagenum">[<a id="xd25e246" href="#xd25e246" -name="xd25e246">xii</a>]</span>why, since the beginning of the -twentieth century, so many Greeks have come to the United States.</p> -<p>At first they came only for what they could get. As soon as they had -made a little money, by keeping candy shops and ice cream parlours and -fruit stands, all the husbands and fathers and big brothers would hurry -across the sea again, to spend their earnings at home in Greece. Little -brothers had a harder time. Hundreds of little brothers, fourteen and -fifteen years old, and younger, were sent over to America by their -parents, to earn money as bootblacks. In Greece many little boys are -bootblacks. One of the stories in this book, “Alexander the Son -of Philip,” is all about a young Greek lad who blacked shoes for -a living in Athens. Madame Dragoumis, who tells the story, has also -written me a letter, in which she says:—</p> -<p>“The third story concerns a little newspaper seller and -shoeblack, which two trades are nearly always combined in Athens. In -order to make this last story clearer to you I must tell you that these -little ‘loustro’ boys as they are called -(‘loustro’ meaning polish and by <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="xd25e252" href="#xd25e252" name= -"xd25e252">xiii</a>]</span>extension of meaning polishers or shoe -blacks) are a well-known institution in Athens. They nearly all come -from Megaloupolis in the Peloponnesus, and are noted for their honesty. -They are employed as messenger boys as well, and in the mornings you -may see them in numbers bringing provisions home from the -market—which the master of the house or the cook has bought and -sent home by these boys. Examples of dishonesty are almost unknown -amongst them and so jealous are they of their good reputation that woe -betide any boy who might endanger it—the others would half kill -him. A literary and scientific club, the ‘Parnassos’ has -organized a night school for these boys where they are well taught for -their class and receive money prizes at the end of the year. The -various members take interest in the boys and give them treats at -Easter and on Independence Day (March 25). They do not wear exactly a -uniform but nearly all are dressed in a tunic and trousers of a striped -gray material which is made in Greece and very cheap.”</p> -<p>But the bootblacks who come to America are not so well taken care of -as those who stay <span class="pagenum">[<a id="xd25e256" href= -"#xd25e256" name="xd25e256">xiv</a>]</span>in Athens. Perhaps if their -fathers and mothers knew what a hard life they were to lead in the -United States they would not send them. But I am quite sure that little -Constantine and Aleko and the others come eagerly, and are proud to be -able to help support the family. Poor little fellows! They are hired -out—sold is nearer the truth—for a certain number of years, -to some older, craftier countryman who has an American shoe-blacking -parlour; and there they work all day, and far into the night, with -never a holiday. Our Government is trying to put a stop to this hard -life, and there is a law which says that children under sixteen must -not come to America without their parents; but these persistent little -fellows do get in, somehow. Ever since the Greeks got inside the walls -of Troy town, hundreds of years ago, by hiding inside a great wooden -horse, they have found it easy to make their way into other -people’s cities whenever they wished to. But now that Greek men -are beginning to bring their wives and families with them to America, -perhaps the little bootblacks will not have such a hard time, for their -parents will find out how badly they have been treated. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="xd25e258" href="#xd25e258" name= -"xd25e258">xv</a>]</span></p> -<p>Perhaps also, now that Greeks are making a second home in America, -they will no longer think only of what they can get out of her, but -will want to give as well as to get. We cannot make a home without -giving something to it; every bird who builds a nest knows that. And -the Greeks have great gifts which America needs.</p> -<p>They have the gift of beauty. If you live in New York or Boston or -Chicago, or any other city where there is an Art museum, no doubt you -often go on Saturday afternoons to see the casts of famous statues in -the museum,—there may even be a cast hanging on your school-room -wall,—and you know that the most beautiful statues, and the most -famous, are those which the Greeks made, hundreds of years ago. With -all our added years of skill and knowledge we have never been able to -make any statues more beautiful than those early Grecian ones. If the -Greeks bring us this gift of beauty, surely America must some day be a -beautiful place to live in, free from crowded tenements, and lovely -with fair dwellings.</p> -<p>And the gift of wisdom is theirs; for no philosophers <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="xd25e266" href="#xd25e266" name= -"xd25e266">xvi</a>]</span>are greater than those ancient Greeks, -Socrates and Plato; no poets are greater than Homer, who told the story -of Ulysses, or Æschylus who wrote a play about how Prometheus -brought fire from heaven and gave it to man. Some day I hope you will -read some of this Greek poetry and philosophy; you will never be a -really well-educated man, or woman, unless you do.</p> -<p>Thirdly, they can give us the key to the out-of-doors. In the -ancient days they were great athletes, they raced and wrestled and -leaped, for the pure joy of motion. What does Marathon mean, little -schoolmate? Why do we call a race a Marathon? Find out! The Greeks can -tell you. To-day they are not such lovers of active sports as they used -to be, perhaps, but they still love to live out-of-doors. At home, many -of them are farmers, growing currants and olives and lemons; they are -shepherds, herding sheep and goats upon the steep hillsides. When I see -them trudging along our gray streets shoving their pushcarts of fruit, -I cannot help wondering if they do not miss their olive orchards and -lemon groves. Even the Greeks who lived in cities, before they -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="xd25e270" href="#xd25e270" name= -"xd25e270">xvii</a>]</span>came to us, must long for a glimpse of the -Athenian acropolis, sometimes.</p> -<p>Do you not think we ought to make our American cities beautiful, so -that the immigrants who come to us from more beautiful places need not -be too homesick?</p> -<p>And now this homesickness of the Greek, this loyalty to his native -land, brings me to the greatest gift he can give us. No matter how far -away from Greece he goes, he carries the love of his country with him -in his heart forever; and whenever she needs him he is ready to fly to -her aid and to spend his money and himself in her service. He is a -great patriot, and his children, born in America, ought to be even -greater than he, for they must carry the love of two countries in their -hearts, and the love of all the races which mingle to make the man we -call an American.</p> -<p>But I have talked long enough. I know you are in a great hurry to -read the stories which Madame Dragoumis has written for you about the -joys and sorrows of the Greek children who might have been your -brothers and sisters, if you lived in Greece to-day. You will find them -very like you in many ways; very lively and <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="xd25e278" href="#xd25e278" name= -"xd25e278">xviii</a>]</span>noisy and lovable; patient in work (are -you?); full of courage; fond of play; fond of moving picture shows, -just as you are, for in Athens where once the people used to go to see -the greatest plays in the world acted in the theatre, the plays of the -poet Sophocles and Æschylus and Aristophanes, to-day there are -cheap moving pictures for amusement, just as there are in New York or -Chicago or San Francisco. But we must look forward to the day when our -theatres and our plays shall be as great as those of Greece used to be, -and the Greek children must help us to make them great.</p> -<p class="salute">Affectionately yours,<br> -<span class="sc">Florence Converse</span>. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="xd25e286" href="#xd25e286" name= -"xd25e286">xix</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div id="toc" class="div1 contents"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">CONTENTS</h2> -<ul> -<li><span class="sc"><a href="#ch1" id="xd25e294" name= -"xd25e294">Mattina</a></span> -<span class="tocPageNum">3</span></li> -<li><span class="sc"><a href="#ch2" id="xd25e302" name="xd25e302">The -Finding of the Cave</a></span> -<span class="tocPageNum">109</span></li> -<li><span class="sc"><a href="#ch3" id="xd25e310" name= -"xd25e310">Alexander the Son of Philip</a></span> - <span class= -"tocPageNum">191</span></li> -</ul> -<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="xd25e316" href="#xd25e316" name= -"xd25e316">xxi</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div1 contents"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> -<ul> -<li><span class="sc"><a href="#frontispiece">Coming Towards -Them</a></span> <span class= -"tocPageNum"><i>Frontispiece</i></span></li> -<li> <span class= -"tocPageNum xd25e333">FACING PAGE</span></li> -<li><span class="sc"><a href="#p014">Mattina Sat Down</a></span> - <span class= -"tocPageNum">14</span></li> -<li><span class="sc"><a href="#p064">Mattina Set to Work</a></span> - <span class= -"tocPageNum">64</span></li> -<li><span class="sc"><a href="#p138">There Was so Much to Do</a></span> - <span class= -"tocPageNum">138</span></li> -<li><span class="sc"><a href="#p260">Alexander</a></span> - <span class= -"tocPageNum">260</span></li> -</ul> -<p><span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb3" href="#pb3" name= -"pb3">3</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div class="body"> -<div id="ch1" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#xd25e294">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">MATTINA</h2> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">I</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">With her black kerchief drawn forward over her face to -protect her head from the sun, her back bent under a load of sticks, -Mattina, Kyra<a class="noteref" id="xd25e378src" href="#xd25e378" name= -"xd25e378src">1</a> Kanella’s niece, came stumbling down from the -road that leads from the little spring, the “Vryssoula,” -through the pine trees, over the bridge, past the old well, and into -the village of Poros.</p> -<p>It was a big load for a little girl not much over eleven years old, -but her aunt was going to bake, the day after next, and wanted the -sticks to light her oven; so, as Mattina was leaving the island the -next day to go to Athens in the steamer, there would be no one to get -sticks for Kyra Kanella and bring them down to her. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb4" href="#pb4" name="pb4">4</a>]</span></p> -<p>It is true she had plenty of daughters of her own, but they did not -like carrying sticks on their backs, or walking so far to find them, -and Mattina did not mind. She liked being out on the hills and down by -the sea, more than anything else. Of course she liked it still better -when there was no heavy load of branches or thyme to carry, but if she -had had to choose between staying indoors or in the narrow village -streets, and being out with a load of sticks however big, she would -always have chosen the load. So when her aunt wanted her to go, she -never pulled a crooked face; besides it was only on the way back that -she had the burden to carry; going, she was free to run as she liked -among the trees, to see how far she could throw the pine cones, to -swing herself on the low branches, for everyone knows that pine -branches will carry almost any weight without breaking; and if her way -took her by the sea-shore, she could balance herself on the edge of the -big rocks, or kick off her clumsy shoes and let the water run over her -bare legs. Of course she was not yet old enough to wear stockings.</p> -<p>Sometimes, when she had no wood to fetch, <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb5" href="#pb5" name="pb5">5</a>]</span>she would -take her little brother Zacharia with her; but he was only two years -old and as he soon got tired of walking, it was not possible to carry -him and the load of sticks as well. When he had been quite tiny and had -lain quiet in his “naka,” the leathern hammock-cradle that -is slung over one shoulder, it was easy to manage him, but he was too -big now, so he stayed in the house, on the other side of the dark arch, -with their aunt and all the cousins, or tumbled about the market -square, and played with the little kids which were tethered round the -old marble fountain.</p> -<p>Mattina stopped a moment to wipe her forehead with the back of her -sleeve. It was only May and the hollows of the hills on the mainland -opposite were still filled with the blue morning shadows, but she had -just left the shady path, slippery with pine needles, for the stony -ledge along the hillside, and it was hot already. There was not a -ruffle on the water, even on the open sea beyond the strip of the -Narrow Beach which joined the wooded part of the island to the village -part. Mattina decided that she would put the child on her back in the -afternoon and carry him to a little crescent-shaped <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb6" href="#pb6" name="pb6">6</a>]</span>beach of -which she knew on the Monastery road,<a href="#n1.2"><sup>2</sup></a> -and let him kick his little legs in the water. Kyra Sophoula had told -her that sea water was good for him and would make his legs strong.</p> -<p>Who would take the trouble to carry him to the sea-shore when she -was away? And she was leaving him and the island and everyone she knew, -the next day!</p> -<p>This was how it happened.</p> -<p>More than a year ago her father had died of general paralysis, which -is what often happens to sponge-divers<a href="#n1.3"><sup>3</sup></a> -when they stay too long down in deep water. Her mother had been ill -long before her father had been brought home dying, from Tripoli in -Barbary, and after his death she got worse and worse, and had died just -before Easter. The only relations Mattina and little baby Zacharia had -left were an uncle, their mother’s brother, who was a baker in -Athens, and Kyra Kanella here in Poros, the wife of old Yoryi the -boatman; and she was not really their aunt, but only their -mother’s cousin, and had a great many children of her own. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb7" href="#pb7" name= -"pb7">7</a>]</span></p> -<p>Mattina and Zacharia really had another uncle too, a younger brother -of their father’s, but he did not count; he had left for America -on an emigrant ship when he was quite a youth, and only wrote letters -home once or twice a year. Mattina remembered that when her father was -away with the sponge-divers, Kyr Vangheli, the schoolmaster, would read -these letters to her mother, and in them it was always written that her -uncle Petro was so pleased in America that he did not mean to come back -for many years.</p> -<p>So the two orphans had stayed with Kyra Kanella at first, because -there was nowhere else for them to stay, and now she was still going to -keep Zacharia; he was such a little one, and as she told Yoryi her -husband, what the babe ate, nobody could miss it; it was not more than -a sparrow would eat. But Mattina was different; Mattina was a big -strong girl of more than eleven years of age, and she was going to -Athens to be a servant. It had all been arranged some time ago. Her -mother had said to her:—</p> -<p>“When I am dead, you must go to Athens, <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb8" href="#pb8" name="pb8">8</a>]</span>and your -uncle Anastasi there, and his wife, who is a good woman, will find a -house in which you may serve and earn money. Afterwards when you can, -you will come back to Poros and take care of Zacharia; he is not a -strong child; how should he be, the unfortunate one! But you are a -strong girl and you must be a good sister and look after -him.”</p> -<p>She had said this the night before she died, when for a moment they -were alone in the house, and when her eyes looked so big.</p> -<p>There was a tiny bit of land which had belonged to the <span class= -"corr" id="xd25e424" title= -"Source: childrens’">children’s</span> father, and which -was theirs now, but it had given nothing that year; the crop of olives -had been very poor indeed, the rains had come out of season, and the -wind had blown every single almond off the trees; so that even the poor -bits of clothes that Mattina was to take with her to town in her bundle -had been cut down from some old things of her mother’s, and Kyra -Sophoula who was a neighbour, had taken them to her house to stitch -them.</p> -<p>By this time to-morrow, thought Mattina, who had got down to the -Narrow Beach and <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb9" href="#pb9" name= -"pb9">9</a>]</span>was passing before the open gates of the Naval -School,<a href="#n1.4"><sup>4</sup></a> it would be nearly time for the -steamer to leave; her uncle would take her in his boat and she would -climb up the little ladder at the side of the steamer up to the deck. -She herself, she, Mattina, would be one of those people whom she had so -often watched from the shore, one of those who were going away to -strange parts, who were leaving the island.</p> -<p>She stopped to shift her load of branches higher on her back, and a -sailor who was standing by the gates took a step forward and held it up -for her while she took a firmer grasp of the thin rope which kept it -together.</p> -<p>“God give you many years,” she said to him, looking -down. She did not like speaking to strangers, but she remembered what -her mother always used to say to anyone who helped her, and since she -was alone now it was for her to say it.</p> -<p>The man laughed.</p> -<p>“The load is bigger than the maid who bears it,” he -said; then looking down at her curiously, “Whose are -you?”</p> -<p>“I am Aristoteli Dorri’s.”</p> -<p>“What does he do?” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb10" -href="#pb10" name="pb10">10</a>]</span></p> -<p>“He was a sponge-diver, but he died last year.”</p> -<p>“Bah! The unfortunate one! And you carry wood for your -mother’s oven, eh?”</p> -<p>“My mother died also on the Thursday of the Great -Week.”<a href="#n1.5"><sup>5</sup></a></p> -<p>“Bah! The poor child! Here!” he cried, as Mattina was -starting off again, “stop a moment!” and from the bottom of -his pocket, he pulled out a little twist of pink muslin into which were -tied five or six sugared almonds.</p> -<p>“Take these! They are from a christening, … you can eat -them on the way.”</p> -<p>Mattina had no pocket, but after she had thanked the sailor, she -tied the almonds into one corner of her kerchief, and trudged on.</p> -<p>When she reached the first houses of the village, she turned away -from the sea and began climbing up a steep little street, threading her -way between the small houses, disturbing flocks of gray and white -pigeons who fluttered up and settled on the ledges of the low terraces, -between pitchers of water and pots of sweet basil. She stepped -carefully over the ropes of tethered goats, passing by the open doors -of the big church, and stopping for a moment to admire <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb11" href="#pb11" name="pb11">11</a>]</span>a length -of pink and white cotton stuff which hung outside Kyr Nicola’s -shop. If only, she thought, her new dress might have been made of that! -But the brown dress which her mother used to wear on holidays, before -her father died, was still quite good, and it would have been a sin to -waste it; Kyra Sophoula had said so. Moreover she had made it too wide -for Mattina, and with three tucks in it, so that it might last her for -some time to come.</p> -<p>Before one arrived at Yoryi’s house, there was a whole street -of low broad steps which Mattina descended slowly one by one, for her -back was beginning to ache. When she reached the little blue-washed -house she dumped down her load of sticks beside the oven in the -courtyard with a great sigh of relief.</p> -<p>She found Zacharia whimpering before a half-eaten -“koulouri”—a sort of doughnut with a hole in the -middle—which someone had amused himself by tying to a nail in the -wall, so that it dangled just out of reach of the child’s little -arms.</p> -<p>“’Attina! ’Attina!” he cried as soon as he -saw her; “My koulou’i! My koulou’i!” -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb12" href="#pb12" name= -"pb12">12</a>]</span></p> -<p>She broke the string violently, and thrust the half-eaten koulouri -into the child’s outstretched hands, then turning angrily to -three big girls who were seated laughing, on the wooden steps leading -to the flat roof, she cried out:—</p> -<p>“What has the child done to you that you are forever -tormenting him? A bad year to you!”</p> -<p>But they only laughed the louder, and one of them called -out:—</p> -<p>“Drink a little vinegar, it will calm your rage!”</p> -<p>Mattina did not answer; she shouldered the water pitcher, took -Zacharia by the hand, and went out again, out through the dark arch to -the Market Square for water.</p> -<p>“’Attina!” and there was still a little sob in -poor Zacharia’s voice.</p> -<p>“Yes, my little bird.”</p> -<p>“My koulou’i is nearly finished.”</p> -<p>“Eat it slowly then,” advised the big sister. “And -if you only knew what a good thing I have for you to-morrow!”</p> -<p>But to-morrow meant nothing to Zacharia.</p> -<p>“What, ’Attina? What? Give it to me!” <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb13" href="#pb13" name="pb13">13</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Not now. To-morrow. Come then! Come and see all the little -boats!”</p> -<p>When they reached the square, Mattina sat down to rest for a moment -on the deep stone trough built round the fountain under the old -eucalyptus tree. Most of the women had already filled their red earthen -pitchers and were carrying them away on their shoulders.</p> -<p>Only one old woman was still leaning against the trunk of the tree, -waiting for her pitcher to fill itself. As she saw Mattina she stepped -forward.</p> -<p>“It is well I find you. Tell your aunt that the clothes are -finished. She can send you to take them.”</p> -<p>“I will tell it to her.”</p> -<p>“It is to-morrow you leave?”</p> -<p>“Yes, it is to-morrow.”</p> -<p>“And who takes you?”</p> -<p>“I go with Yanni, the messenger.”</p> -<p>“Listen, Mattina,” said the old woman, “I have -stitched you a pocket into the brown frock. In the town it is not like -here; sometimes you may have some money, or someone may send you a -letter; you must have somewhere to put things.” <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb14" href="#pb14" name="pb14">14</a>]</span></p> -<p>Mattina’s eyes brightened.</p> -<p>“A pocket!” she exclaimed, “like the big maids -have!”</p> -<p>“You are well nigh a big maid now!”</p> -<p>The word pocket reminded Mattina of her sugared almonds.</p> -<p>“Kyra Sophoula,” she begged, “see, I have some -sweets here. A sailor gave them to me, he said they were from a -christening. Take them, you, and hide them away, and to-morrow after I -go, take this little one to your house for a while, and give them to -him. He cries when I leave him; and the others at the house, they -torment him always. Do this for me, and may your children live to -you!”</p> -<p>The old woman took the twist of muslin and put it into her apron -pocket.</p> -<p>“Surely, I will, my daughter, surely I will.” Then she -lifted her pitcher which had filled, gurgled, and overflowed, set it -carefully on the ledge, and turned to Zacharia who was struggling for -what remained of his koulouri, with a woolly black puppy.</p> -<p>“Come here, you little one!”</p> -<div class="figure p014width" id="p014"><img src="images/p014.jpg" alt= -"MATTINA·SAT·DOWN·" width="459" height="720"> -<p class="figureHead">MATTINA·SAT·DOWN·</p> -</div> -<p>Kyra Sophoula was a funny old woman, as brown and as wrinkled as a -quince that has <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb15" href="#pb15" name= -"pb15">15</a>]</span>been hung up too long, but children never ran away -from her, even the tiny ones. Zacharia successfully rescued the last -remnant of the koulouri from the puppy’s teeth, and came, looking -up at her with round black baby eyes.</p> -<p>“If a good little boy who does not cry … a golden -little boy, comes with me to my house to-morrow, I shall have … -two sugar comfits, and a whole dried fig to give him! And if this -golden little child never cries at all, there will be some more comfits -the next day! I wonder if I shall find a good little boy, like -that?”</p> -<p>Zacharia rubbed his black curls confidingly against the old -woman’s skirts, and murmured:—</p> -<p>“Me!”</p> -<p>“Ah, we shall see fine things, that golden boy and I!” -then turning to Mattina:—</p> -<p>“Tell me; your uncle Anastasi and his wife, have they found a -good house in which you may serve?”</p> -<p>“Not yet; my uncle sent a letter to say that it would be -better if I did not go till September, because there are more people -who change servants at that time, but my uncle Yoryi here, <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb16" href="#pb16" name="pb16">16</a>]</span>he says -that I must go to my uncle Anastasi’s now at once, and let them -find a house for me to serve, when they can. He says he will keep the -little one, but that I am a big girl, and that he has fed me long -enough. It is true,” she added gravely, “that my hunger is -great.”</p> -<p>Kyra Sophoula nodded her head.</p> -<p>“Yoryi is a poor man,” she said, “also, he has -daughters to marry.”</p> -<p>“Is it far to Athens?” asked Mattina.</p> -<p>“Myself—I have never been there, but Metro has told me -that one does not reach the town till long after noon.”</p> -<p>“Kyra Sophoula, do you think that after some time, when I earn -money and can pay the fare on the steamer myself, that where I serve -they will let me return for a few days to see if the little one be -well?”</p> -<p>The old woman shrugged her shoulders.</p> -<p>“Do I know?”</p> -<p>“But if I tell them how little he is, and that we have no -mother?”</p> -<p>“Listen, my daughter!” said Kyra Sophoula, as both she -and Mattina shouldered their pitchers and turned towards the dark arch, -Zacharia pattering behind them on little bare brown <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb17" href="#pb17" name="pb17">17</a>]</span>feet, -“listen! there is one thing that you must put well into your -head, that in the town it is not like here on the island, where -everyone knows you and who your father and mother were. I know, because -Andriana served, and Calliope served, and my Maroussa served also for a -time. In the town when they take you as a servant and pay you a wage -for serving, it is work that they want from you, as much as they can -get. They do not know you, nor do they mind whether you like to work, -nor whether you are well or ill, as long as your legs will hold you; -neither do they care whether your heart be glad or troubled. But you, -you must remember always that your father was a good man, and that your -mother was a hard-working housewife who always kept her floors well -scrubbed, and kneaded her own bread, and for whom all had a good word; -and you must do the work that they give you, and not be thinking all -day long of when you can leave it. As for the child, be easy! Kyra -Kanella has not a bad heart, and I will see him often, and perhaps some -time when the schoolmaster has leisure I will ask him to send you a -letter. But you, be a good girl in the town, and mind well <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb18" href="#pb18" name="pb18">18</a>]</span>that you -never touch aught without it be given to you, even if you have to go -hungry, for as they say, ‘Better to lose your eye than your good -name.’ ” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb19" href= -"#pb19" name="pb19">19</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">II</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">It was a forlorn little figure that knelt on a bench -of the out-going steamer next morning. A little figure clad for the -journey in a short outgrown print frock, with an old gray jacket which -had once belonged to her aunt, tightly buttoned over it.</p> -<p>Mattina was looking with wide open eyes at all the familiar -landmarks as they seemed to glide past her; at the big clock tower of -the Naval School with its waving flag, at the little coffee-house of -the <i>White Cat</i> down on the shore, at the Red House on the hill, -at the Garden on the mainland where she had often been with her mother -to help in the picking of the lemons, at the white blur far away in the -hills, which was the village of Damala. But when the steamer turned -round the corner by the lighthouse and Poros was hidden from her sight, -she twisted herself round and sat down on the bench, her back huddled -up like an old woman’s, and her eyes fixed on the deck. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb20" href="#pb20" name= -"pb20">20</a>]</span></p> -<p>When the steamer stopped at Methana,<a href="#n1.6"><sup>6</sup></a> -she stood up and watched the shore, but it already seemed strange and -foreign to her; the gray rocks, bare of pine trees, the line of bathing -houses, the bright yellow colour of the water close to the land, which -someone said came from the sulphur of the baths, the big white hotel, -the strange boatmen rowing backwards and forwards; all was new and in -some curious way terrifying. The boatmen shouting to each other seemed -to be shouting at her, and the sun shining on the sea made so many -glittering little pinpricks of light that she closed her eyes not to -see them.</p> -<p>After Methana, the steamer began to move a great deal more than it -had done at first, and she went back to her bench for fear she should -fall. For a short time she was interested in a little toddling boy -belonging to a woman who seemed asleep, her kerchief shadowing the -upper part of her face. The boy was not at all like Zacharia, being -much fatter, and with hair which was almost yellow, but he took bites -out of his koulouri all round, just as Zacharia did. Mattina made timid -advances to him, but he ran away from her to a white-bearded old priest -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb21" href="#pb21" name= -"pb21">21</a>]</span>on the next bench, and began to wipe his wet -little mouth and hands, all over koulouri crumbs, on the black robes. -Mattina expected that the old priest would be angry, but he only smiled -and patted the little yellow head.</p> -<p>While she watched them, the priest’s black figure seemed to -mount up, up, up, against the glittering sea, and then to sink down -again as though it were never coming up. It hurt her to look at it, and -she folded her arms on the back of the bench and laid her head on them. -Perhaps she was going to sleep; she had been up very early that -morning; but she did not feel at all sleepy, only very hot and -miserable. She began to long for a drink of water; perhaps she was -thirsty, but she felt afraid to move. Her uncle Yoryi when he had put -her on board had said, “Do not leave your seat, or someone may -take it.”</p> -<p>The woman with the child had a pitcher with her; it stood on the -deck beside a big bundle and a little shining green trunk, studded with -brass nails; and the mouth of the pitcher was stopped by a bunch of -myrtle leaves. Mattina ventured to nudge the woman’s elbow. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb22" href="#pb22" name= -"pb22">22</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Kyra,” she asked, “may I drink from your -‘stamna’?”</p> -<p>The woman opened her eyes with a little groan and, thrusting her arm -into an opening of the big bundle, pulled out a short thick tumbler and -handed it to her. Mattina poured some water into it and drank, but -somehow it tasted bitter, not like Poros water. She put the tumbler -back without even wiping it, and sank back on her bench.</p> -<p>How hot it was, and how miserable she felt!</p> -<p>She bent forward and hid her head in her arms.</p> -<p>It was so, that Yanni the messenger found her a little later when -they were outside Ægina.<a href="#n1.7"><sup>7</sup></a></p> -<p>“Bah!” he exclaimed, pulling her head back, “what -a colour is this? You are as yellow as a Good Friday candle! The sea -has spoiled you, I see! Your head is giddy. Here, lie down! Put your -head back on this bundle! You will be better so.”</p> -<p>Mattina made no resistance, but as she fell back she -murmured:—</p> -<p>“It is not my head, it is my stomach which is giddy.” -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb23" href="#pb23" name= -"pb23">23</a>]</span></p> -<p>It went on getting so much giddier that when at last they arrived at -Piræus<a href="#n1.8"><sup>8</sup></a> Yanni had to carry her -down the side of the steamer to the little boat and when she was lifted -out on the quay she could scarcely stand. However, the fresh air and -the walk to the railway station revived her.</p> -<p>The railway carriage in which they traveled up to Athens was very -crowded, and the fat woman sitting next to Mattina seemed very -cross.</p> -<p>“Why do they not put more carriages?” she enquired of no -one in particular. “We are jammed as flat here as squashed -mosquitoes.” But to Mattina who had never even ridden in a cart -in her life, it was wonderful. The swift rushing, the bump, bump of the -carriages, the man with a gold band on his cap who looked at the -tickets and gave them back again, and who said to Yanni while he was -searching for theirs, “Come, now; hurry! The new day will dawn by -the time you find it!” … the stopping at Phalerum<a href= -"#n1.9"><sup>9</sup></a> and at the Theseum<a href= -"#n1.10"><sup>10</sup></a> before they got out at the -Monastiraki<a href="#n1.11"><sup>11</sup></a> Station.</p> -<p>Then there was the street-car; the rush through narrow streets at -first, and then <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb24" href="#pb24" name= -"pb24">24</a>]</span>through wider and wider ones, till they stopped at -a wonderful big square full of people. In all her eleven years, Mattina -had never imagined so many men and women and children and horses and -carriages together. The square seemed to her surrounded by palaces, -till Yanni showed her the one in which the King lived, and over which -the flag was flying.</p> -<p>Then the car went on again, and the streets got narrower again, and -at last Yanni got off the little platform at the back of the car and -Mattina scrambled after him.</p> -<p>“Come!” he said, “your uncle’s oven is quite -close by here and I have work to do after I leave you.”</p> -<p>Up one narrow steep street, a turn to the left, along a still -narrower street almost like a Poros one but far, far dustier, and they -came to a stop before a small baker’s shop. On the open slab of -the window were quantities of ring-shaped loaves, and heaped up piles -of oven-cakes covered with squares of pink muslin. A man was counting -some smaller loaves in the dimness of the back of the shop, and a tidy -stout woman in a big blue apron was standing at the door. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb25" href="#pb25" name="pb25">25</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Good day to you,” said Yanni, “I bring you your -niece from Poros.”</p> -<p>“Bah!” exclaimed the woman, “has she come to-day? -I thought they said on Saturday.”</p> -<p>Yanni shrugged his shoulders.</p> -<p>“Do I know what they said? Yoryi gave her to me this morning, -to bring straight to you. What I am told, I do.”</p> -<p>“It does not matter,” said the woman quickly, “it -does not matter at all. Welcome, my girl! Come in! Come in!” Then -turning towards the back of the shop, “Anastasi, your niece has -arrived!”</p> -<p>Her husband started, left his loaves and came forward. He was a thin -man with stooping shoulders, and a look in his eyes which reminded -Mattina of her mother and made a lump come into her throat so that she -could scarcely answer when he spoke to her.</p> -<p>“Welcome, my maid, for your mother’s sake,” he -said. “When I saw you in Poros you were so high only; now you -have grown a big maid! And Kanella, and Yoryi, and their children, and -the little one, are they well? How did you leave them?” -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb26" href="#pb26" name= -"pb26">26</a>]</span></p> -<p>“They are well,” stammered Mattina, “they salute -you.”</p> -<p>Her uncle Anastasi turned to his wife:—</p> -<p>“Demetroula,” he said, “take the child in; she -will be hungry; look to her while I pay Yanni for his -trouble.”</p> -<p>Her aunt took Mattina into a little room which opened on the -courtyard, and taking her bundle from her, pushed it under a big bed in -the corner. Mattina had never seen her before. The poor do not take -journeys for pleasure, or for the sake of visiting their relations. But -her new aunt had a kind round face and pretty shiny brown hair which -one could see quite well, as she did not wear a kerchief; and when she -spoke she smiled very often, so that Mattina did not feel shy with -her.</p> -<p>“Come here to the window,” she said, “and let me -look better at you. Ah, yes; it is your poor father that your face -brings back to one, not your mother at all. Now, my girl,” and -she let her hand fall on Mattina’s shoulder as she spoke, -“let us say things clearly! You did well to come, and it is with -joy that your uncle and I would keep you to live here with us. How -should it not be so, since God has given <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb27" href="#pb27" name="pb27">27</a>]</span>us no children? A piece -of bread and a mattress there would always be for you. But we are poor -people, and, … that would be all; so it would be a sin to keep -you with us. It is myself I injure when I say this, for you would be a -great help to me in the house. But that you should work, and get only -your bread for it!—no, that must not be! We have spoken with your -uncle, and he thinks as I do. What do you say also? Do you not wish to -earn money?”</p> -<p>“Yes, my aunt.”</p> -<p>“Well, then, see what good luck you have! We thought that not -till September could a house be found, but only yesterday the boy from -the grocer’s round the street, told me that his brother who works -for a butcher in the Piræus Road, knows a house where they are -looking for a serving maid. It is a good house, he says, where they buy -meat every day; there are only two small children, and the master has a -shop of his own in the big street of shops. The lady, he said, prefers -a girl from the islands who has not as yet served, and she will give -ten drachmæ<a href="#n1.12"><sup>12</sup></a> a month and dress -her. So that you will have naught to spend and we can put <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb28" href="#pb28" name="pb28">28</a>]</span>all your -money in the People’s Bank for you. Will not that be -well?”</p> -<p>“Yes, my aunt.”</p> -<p>“Good!” said Kyra Demetroula, “I will take you -there to-morrow early, to speak with the lady. Now come and eat! There -is plenty left of the artichoke stew, and I will warm it up for -you.” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb29" href="#pb29" name= -"pb29">29</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">III</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">So, early the next morning, after the boy from the -grocer’s round the street had given the necessary directions, -they found themselves in the neighbourhood of the Piræus Road, -and Mattina toiled after her aunt, up narrow dusty streets in search of -the house where a new serving maid was wanted.</p> -<p>She was very hot and uncomfortable, for her aunt had insisted on her -wearing her new brown frock with the pocket in it, as being by far the -best in her bundle. This it certainly was, but also very thick and warm -and the heat was coming fast that year. Though the Saint’s day of -St. Constantine and St. Helen was till some time off, the May -wreaths—which are hung over all balconies or front doors of -houses in Athens on the first day of May and left hanging there until -replaced by the fresh wreath, the following year—were already -hanging withered and yellow from the house doors and balconies. After -many wrong turnings, and many inquiries <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb30" href="#pb30" name="pb30">30</a>]</span>at neighbouring -grocers’ and bakers’ shops, the aunt and the niece stopped -before the wide open door of a house in a street behind the -Piræus Road. The narrow entry certainly looked as if it were a -long time since the last serving maid had scrubbed it. A woman with a -long face and a fat body was standing just inside with a packet of -macaroni in her hands.</p> -<p>“What do you want?” she called out sharply.</p> -<p>Kyra Demetroula advanced a step.</p> -<p>“Good day to you, Kyria,” and as she said it she pushed -Mattina a little forward. “They told us that you wanted a girl to -serve you, and because we have heard much good of your house, I have -brought you my niece.”</p> -<p>“Your niece! What? That child! Much work <i>she</i> can do! -Who sent you?”</p> -<p>“It was the butcher in the big road here, who told us -that ….”</p> -<p>“Come inside! Let me see her better! I should never think of -such a small maid but that it is a bad season for servants, and that I -have been three days without one.” Then turning to Mattina, -“How old are you?”</p> -<p>Now no one had ever thought of telling Mattina her age; she was a -big girl, since her <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb31" href="#pb31" -name="pb31">31</a>]</span>mother had often trusted her of late to make -the bread, and that was all she knew about it. She looked up at the -woman and noticed that she had little black eyes like currants, a nose -that went in before it came out, and a mouth that had no lips; then she -quietly answered her question by another one.</p> -<p>“How should I know my years?”</p> -<p>Her aunt interposed hurriedly:—</p> -<p>“She must be fourteen, Kyria.”</p> -<p>“Fourteen! Vegetable marrows! She is not even twelve! From -where is she?”</p> -<p>“From Poros.”</p> -<p>“Poros! I have had many serving-maids from Andros, and some -from Tenos, and one came from Crete, but from Poros … -h’m ….”</p> -<p>“It is a beautiful island!” returned Mattina, flushing -angrily that anyone should “H’m” at her island. -“It has hills and trees down to the sea, and lemon woods, and big -fig trees, and the Sleeper, such a high mountain as you never saw, and -the sea all round everywhere.”</p> -<p>“How should the sea not be round everywhere on an island? Is -the girl an idiot?” and the woman looked at Kyra Demetroula. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb32" href="#pb32" name= -"pb32">32</a>]</span></p> -<p>“She has but just come from there,” ventured the latter. -“Have sympathy with her; she has not yet learned town -speech.”</p> -<p>The woman sniffed.</p> -<p>“Well, what can you do?”</p> -<p>“I can do much.”</p> -<p>“What?”</p> -<p>“I can scrub boards till they are quite white, I can wash -clothes, I can knead three okes<a href="#n1.13"><sup>13</sup></a> of -dough at a time, I can weave yarn at the loom and I can row in a big -boat with both oars together.”</p> -<p>The woman laughed.</p> -<p>“Truly, that will be very useful here! You can row the master -to the shop, every morning.”</p> -<p>Mattina looked at her pityingly; she had never before heard people -say things that meant something else.</p> -<p>“That is foolish talk, …” she began, but her aunt -pushed her aside hurriedly:—</p> -<p>“She is very strong, Kyria; when her poor mother, God rest her -soul, lay for three months on her mattress, Mattina here kept all the -house clean and looked after her little brother <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb33" href="#pb33" name="pb33">33</a>]</span>as well. -Take her, and you will never repent it.”</p> -<p>Just at that moment a hand organ stopped outside in the street, and -began to play the valse from the <i>Dollar Princess</i>. Mattina, with -never a look at the two women, who went on talking, ran out of the -passage to the open street door. All the music she had ever heard in -her life had been the harsh tuneless tunes which men sang sometimes in -Poros at the tavern after they had been drinking, or at best the little -folk songs which the officers of the Naval School sang to the -accompaniment of a guitar on moonlight nights. This beautiful swinging -tune coming out of the tall box when the man turned a handle, was quite -new, and she stood there listening with wide open eyes, her arms -hanging loosely on either side of her, and her lips apart. So intent -was she that at first she did not hear her aunt calling her.</p> -<p>“Mattina! Mattina! Where has the child gone? Mattina! Mattina, -I tell you! Do you not hear?”</p> -<p>“I hear,” she answered at last, retracing her steps -reluctantly. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb34" href="#pb34" name= -"pb34">34</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Come, my child; all is arranged. This good Kyria says she -will take you and teach you many things. She gives only eight -drachmæ a month now, because she wanted a bigger girl. I do not -know, that is to say, whether your uncle will like you to come for so -little, but ….”</p> -<p>“Of course,” put in the fat woman, “she will have -her shoes, a woolen dress in the winter, two print ones in summer, and -her present at New Year.”</p> -<p>As she walked back to the baker’s shop with her aunt, Mattina -was busy thinking. The dresses did not interest her very much, though -she hoped that one of them might be a pink one, but the present at New -Year, that was another thing! She knew all about presents, though she -had never received one herself. When Panouria, old Lenio’s -Panouria, had been married to Theophani the shoemaker, did not her -father make her a present of a big mirror with a broad gold frame all -round it? This mirror had been brought from Piræus, and Mattina -had seen the men taking it carefully out of its wooden case, and had -heard the neighbours who were standing around, saying that it was a -present to Panouria from her father. Did not <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb35" href="#pb35" name="pb35">35</a>]</span>Stavro, -the son of Pappa Thanassi, send a present to his mother from America, a -big rocking chair all covered with red velvet? Did not the little -ladies from the Red House on the hill once give a present to Antigone, -who lived in the small house near their gate, when she was so ill, a -wonderful doll with yellow hair, that opened and shut its eyes like a -real Christian? Yes, she knew all about presents! They were beautiful -things which were not really necessary to every-day life, but which -people who had much money gave you to make your heart joyful. Later on, -when her aunt related to her uncle all that the new Kyria had said, -adding:—</p> -<p>“I could not get more from her than eight drachmæ for -the child; she looks of the kind that counts every -lepton,”<a href="#n1.14"><sup>14</sup></a> Mattina had -said:—</p> -<p>“But there will also be a present at New Year!”</p> -<p>And her aunt had replied in a funny voice,—“Oh, yes! And -a fine present that will be I am sure!”</p> -<p>Then Mattina’s joy was complete. Not only was she to have a -present, but her aunt had said she was sure it would be a fine one; and -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb36" href="#pb36" name= -"pb36">36</a>]</span>surely she knew all about town ways, and the kind -of presents that are given there. Mattina, you see, was not used to -people who said one thing, in fun, and meant another. She often thought -of that present, and of what she would like it to be, if she might -choose. And certainly the poor maid required the comfort of this -thought in the long dreary days which followed the one when she had -been left with her bundle at the house where she was to serve.</p> -<p>It was not the hard work she minded. She had had plenty of that in -Poros; scrubbing, weaving, bread-making which makes the arms so tired, -carrying heavy burdens till one’s back feels as if it would break -in two; all this she knew, but it had been at home in her own island in -Poros, surrounded by people who knew her and had known her father and -mother, and who had a good word for her now and then. And when work was -over, she had been free to run wild among the pines and on the -sea-shore. But work in town never seemed to be over.</p> -<p>Her mother and Kyra Sophoula had often called her a good little -worker, and strong and quick, but in Athens her mistress was always -telling her she had never seen such a clumsy <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb37" href="#pb37" name="pb37">37</a>]</span>child in -her life. Perhaps she may have been awkward at first, and did break a -plate or two, when it came to washing up basins full of greasy pans, -and platters, and plates, and knives, and forks all muddled up -together. But necessity compelling,—and the difficulty of dodging -a blow on the head, when one’s arms are dipped in soap-suds, and -one is standing on a shaky stool,—made her learn pretty fast how -to be careful. Also, at home, Zacharia had long ago pattered after her -on his little bare feet, but here in Athens, “Bebeko” the -smaller of her mistress’s two boys who was nearly a year older, -always cried to be carried when she took them out, and Mattina found -that to carry a fat, squirming, cross boy of three, and have another of -five hanging heavily on her arm or skirts, was far worse than the -heaviest load of sticks she had ever borne.</p> -<p>May melted into June, and June into July, and the days grew hotter -and hotter, and longer and longer, and the longer they grew the more -time there was for work, and the less for sleep. Mattina’s -mattress was in a little dark room half way up the stairs, and as soon -as it was light in the mornings, her mistress would <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb38" href="#pb38" name="pb38">38</a>]</span>pound on -the floor above, with a walking stick which she kept beside her bed, -for the little maid to get up, sweep the rooms, brush the -master’s clothes, and prepare his coffee for him before he went -to his shop; and in June and July it is light very early indeed.</p> -<p>Later on in the morning, Mattina used to bring out a big table cover -to shake outside the front door, and her gesture as she shook it, had -anyone cared to watch her, was strong, decided and thorough. One could -see that she would grow into a strong capable woman; that she would -know how to lift things, how to handle them, how to fold them; that -whatever she touched would be the better for her touching. And as she -shook the dust out, while the hot sun beat down upon her head, she -would close her eyes and try to fancy that the whistle of the distant -Kiphissia<a href="#n1.15"><sup>15</sup></a> train was the whistle of -the morning steamer coming into the bay of Poros and that she need only -open her eyes to see the glittering blue water before her, and the -fishing boats with the white and red sails gliding across it; but when -she opened them she only saw potato peels and pieces of old lettuce -floating forlornly on the dirty stream of water <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb39" href="#pb39" name="pb39">39</a>]</span>beside -the sidewalk. This stream was here because there was a public tap round -the corner of the street, and the slatternly women who went there for -water, the heels of their loose down-trodden slippers tap-tapping on -the pavement as they walked, generally neglected to close it.</p> -<p>One evening, when the food for supper was not enough, -Mattina’s mistress sent her out to the grocer’s in the -Piræus Road to buy some sardines; and while she was waiting to be -served, she noticed four men sitting outside the shop around a little -table. One of the men was strumming a guitar, and suddenly very softly -they began to sing all together. They sang the -“tsopanoulo,” that song of the “shepherd boy” -which Mattina had so often heard the young officers singing as they -rowed themselves about the bay on moonlit nights “at -home.”</p> -<p>She leaned against the door of the shop and closed her eyes very -tight.</p> -<p>“I will not look,” she thought, “I will only -listen, and it will be for a little as if I were back in my -island.”</p> -<p>And because there is nothing like music to remind one of places, -unless it be scent, a picture <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb40" href= -"#pb40" name="pb40">40</a>]</span>arose behind her closed eyelids, of -the quiet dark water, of the broad golden path of the moon, and of the -little boat that glided through the gold; and as she watched the -picture, two tears trickled from the eyes that were shut, and ran down -her cheeks.</p> -<p>“Now, my girl,” said a voice beside her suddenly, -“here are your sardines!” and a greasy paper was thrust -into her hand.</p> -<p>Oh, how it hurt, to have to open her eyes, to take what was given to -her, to pay her lepta, and to stumble out half dazed into the -street.</p> -<p>Once there, she thought for a moment that she was still dreaming, -for on the side walk, talking to a man in a straw hat, was an old sea -captain in the cross-over vest and the baggy blue breeches such as she -had seen hundreds of times on the quay at home.</p> -<p>“The wind has turned a little chilly,” the man in the -straw hat was saying, “and there are many clouds in the sky. It -will rain I think before night.”</p> -<p>Mattina instinctively raised her eyes to the west, and half -unconsciously repeated what she had so often heard her father -say:— <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb41" href="#pb41" name= -"pb41">41</a>]</span></p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">“If but the Western sky be clear,</p> -<p class="line">Though East be black, you need not fear.”</p> -</div> -<p class="first">then pointing with her finger where the sky was still -of a dusky pink, she said, “There are no clouds there.”</p> -<p>The captain turned suddenly, and looked at the odd little figure in -her white festooned apron that hung far below her frock, with her short -black plaits tied round her head.</p> -<p>“That is what we say in my country.” Then stooping a -little. “From where are you? Are you from Poros, -perhaps?”</p> -<p>Mattina gulped down a lump in her throat.</p> -<p>“Yes, I am from Poros.”</p> -<p>“Whose are you?”</p> -<p>“Aristoteli Dorri’s, the sponge -diver’s.”</p> -<p>“Ah, yes! The poor one! I heard that he had died. And did your -mother send you here?”</p> -<p>“My mother wept much after my father died, and then she -coughed more than she did before, and then she got worse, and then she -died.” And Mattina turned her back on the men, and twisted and -untwisted the end of the paper in which the sardines were wrapped.</p> -<p>“Now, lately?” asked the captain. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb42" href="#pb42" name="pb42">42</a>]</span></p> -<p>“It was on the Thursday of the Great Week.”</p> -<p>“Well! Well! Life to you! It is a dirty world! With whom do -you live now?”</p> -<p>“I serve at a house.”</p> -<p>“You have no one in Athens?”</p> -<p>“I have my uncle Anastasi the baker, and my Aunt Demetroula, -but they live far from here near the Kolonaki.”<a href= -"#n1.16"><sup>16</sup></a></p> -<p>“Ah, Anastasi Mazelli, your mother’s brother; I know -him. A good man! When you see him give him my salutations. Say they are -from Capetan Thanassi Nika of Poros, and he will know.”</p> -<p>“I will say it to him,” answered Mattina.</p> -<p>“Well, the good hour be with you, little -compatriot!”</p> -<p>Mattina walked back to the house very slowly, with her eyes fixed on -the pavement. The talk about her people, the sound of a Poros voice, -had brought back so much to her! She thought of the good times when her -“babba,” as she called her father, came home from a long -absence with the sponge-divers—filling the room with his laugh, -the little bare clean room with the big pot of sweet basil on the -window seat—telling all that had happened: <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb43" href="#pb43" name="pb43">43</a>]</span>how this -one had not been able to stay so long under water, and that one, the -lazy dog, had pretended to be ill, and how the captain had called on -him again and again—“Come then, you, Aristoteli! I would -rather work with you alone than with ten others; you are always ready -to get your head into the helmet.” And Mattina, seated on his -knees, would clap her hands with pride, crying, “<i>My</i> Babba -is always ready!” and her mother cooking a hot dinner in honor of -the return, would shake her head and mutter, “Too ready; too -ready,” but would smile at them the next moment, as she emptied -the stew from the pan to the dish and told them to get their plates -ready. After her father had died, the house was never so bright again; -there was no laughing in it. Still, she had had her mother then, and it -was she whom Mattina missed most, for she had never been away from her. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb44" href="#pb44" name= -"pb44">44</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">IV</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">All the next day Mattina thought of the old captain, -and in the afternoon she told Antigone how she had met a compatriot, -and what he had said to her. This was when they sat side by side on the -steps of their “houses” to take the cool of the evening, -after their mistresses had gone out.</p> -<p>Antigone was the serving maid of the next house, which was kept by a -widow who let the rooms out to different lodgers. This maid was much -older than Mattina and puffed out her hair at the sides, besides -wearing a hat with pink flowers on it when she went out on Sundays.</p> -<p>“Your heart seems to hold very much to that island of -yours!” she was saying. “What is there different in it to -other places?”</p> -<p>Mattina tried to tell her; but talking about Poros was like relating -a dream which has seemed so long and which one still feels so full and -varied, but which somehow can only be told in the fewest and barest of -words. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb45" href="#pb45" name= -"pb45">45</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Is that all?” exclaimed Antigone, “just trees, -and rocks, and sea, and fisher folk, and boatmen? It would say nothing -to me! But each one to his taste. Why do you not go back to it and work -there?”</p> -<p>“I cannot; each one works for himself on the island; there are -no houses in which to serve, there is no money to earn.”</p> -<p>Antigone shrugged her shoulders.</p> -<p>“Truly it is much money you are earning here! Eight -drachmæ a month, and your shoes,” with a contemptuous -glance at Mattina’s feet, “all worn out!”</p> -<p>“There are only three holes,” said Mattina gravely, -“and she,” with a backward jerk of her thumb, “said I -should have new ones next week.”</p> -<p>Antigone laughed.</p> -<p>“You will get them on the week that has no -Saturday.”</p> -<p>“And at New Year,” went on Mattina, “she will give -me a present!”</p> -<p>“Give you a present! She! Your Kyria! You have many loaves to -eat, my poor one, before that day dawns!”</p> -<p>“But she said so.” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb46" -href="#pb46" name="pb46">46</a>]</span></p> -<p>“She said and she will unsay!”</p> -<p>“But my aunt heard it, too, and she told my uncle it would be -a fine one.”</p> -<p>“Your aunt does not know her, and I have lived next door to -her it is three years now, and I have known all her servants. Some -people give presents, yes, they have good hearts; but your mistress -would never give a thing belonging to her, no, not even her fever! Now -there is the ‘Madmazella’ who lives in the ground floor -room at our house. She gives lessons all day long, and she has not much -money, yet she often gives me things. When she came back from her -country last time, she brought me a silk blouse ready sewn with little -flowers all over it, and lace at the neck. And the other day she put -her two hats into one paper box, and gave me the other one to keep my -hat in, because it gets crushed in my trunk. And always with a good -word in her mouth! So I too when she is ill, I run for her till I fall. -She is going away again to her country, in a few days now, and she says -that when she comes back she will bring me a new hat.”</p> -<p>But Mattina’s mind was running on her present. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb47" href="#pb47" name="pb47">47</a>]</span></p> -<p>“I do not want a silk blouse, nor a box for a hat, -because,” she added as an afterthought, “I have no hat. But -I should like very much if someone would give me a picture with a broad -gold frame, which I saw in the window of a shop the other day when I -took the children out. It was the picture of the sea, and there was a -boat on it with a white sail, and you could see the sail in the water -all long and wavy, as you do really, and if you touched the water you -thought your finger would be wet. That is what I wish for.”</p> -<p>“A picture! And where would you hang it?”</p> -<p>Mattina thought for a moment.</p> -<p>“I do not know,” she said at last, “but it would -be mine, and I could look at it every day.”</p> -<p>“You! with your seas, and your rocks, and your island!” -exclaimed the older girl as she stooped to pick up her crochet work -which had fallen off her knees. “Even if it were Paris, you could -not make more fuss about it.”</p> -<p>“What is Paris?”</p> -<p>“Paris is the country from where Madmazella <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb48" href="#pb48" name="pb48">48</a>]</span>comes. -She says it is a thousand times more beautiful than Athens.”</p> -<p>Mattina looked about her, at the women who sat chatting before the -narrow doorways behind which were occasional glimpses of crowded -courtyards and linen spread out to dry, at the dirty little trickle of -water along the sidewalk with its accustomed burden of rotting lettuce -leaves, at the children scrambling and shouting in the thick dust of -the road, and sighed. She could not have told why she sighed, nor have -put into words what she found so ugly about her, so she only -said:—</p> -<p>“Perhaps it is better there than here.”</p> -<p>That Athens has beauties of its own, which people travel from -distant lands to see, she knew not. Its charms were not for her. When -she walked out with Taki and Bebeko, the pavements hurt her badly shod -feet, and the glare of the tall white houses hurt her eyes. As for the -beautiful Royal Gardens with their old trees and their shady paths, -their pergolas, their palms, their orange trees and their sheets of -violets, as for the Zappion<a href="#n1.17"><sup>17</sup></a> from -whose raised terrace one can see the columns of the old Temple of -Jupiter, the Acropolis,<a href="#n1.18"><sup>18</sup></a> the marble -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb49" href="#pb49" name= -"pb49">49</a>]</span>Stadium,<a href="#n1.19"><sup>19</sup></a> and -Phalerum and the sea, all of which together make what is perhaps the -most beautiful view in all Europe, … she had never been there! -Those were walks for the rich and well-born children whom she sometimes -saw wheeled about in little carriages by foreign nurses who were -dressed all in white with little black bonnets tied with white strings. -How could she lug two heavy children so far? No, Athens for her was -made up of hot narrow streets, of much noise and hard pavements.</p> -<p>The very next morning while she was sweeping out the passage, she -saw Antigone in her best dress and her hat with the pink flowers, -beckoning to her from outside the house.</p> -<p>“What is it?” exclaimed Mattina, “how is it you -are dressed in your fine things in the morning? What is -happening?”</p> -<p>“It is happening that I am going! That old screaming mistress -of mine has sent me off!”</p> -<p>“But what did you do?”</p> -<p>“I only told her I was not a dog to be spoken to as she speaks -to me, and she told me to go now at once! Well, it matters little to -me; there is no lack of houses, and better than hers a thousand times! -I am a poor girl without <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb50" href= -"#pb50" name="pb50">50</a>]</span>learning, but I should be ashamed to -scream as she does when anger takes her. Why, you can hear her as far -off as the square! Well, if she thinks I shall regret her and her -screams, she deceives herself! See, I leave you the key of my trunk. I -will send my brother for it this evening, if he can come so far; he -lives at the Plaka<a href="#n1.20"><sup>20</sup></a> you know. And I -will tell him to ask you for the key: I will have no pryings in my -things. And Mattina ….”</p> -<p>“Yes?”</p> -<p>“Do me a favor and may you enjoy your life!”</p> -<p>“What shall I do?”</p> -<p>“Who knows when the old woman in there will get another girl -to serve, and there is that poor Madmazella who is ill, and in bed -again to-day, and not a soul to get her a glass of water! Go in you, -once or twice, will you not? Her room is over there; it opens on the -courtyard by a separate door, so you need not go near the rest of the -house at all.”</p> -<p>“I will go,” said Mattina.</p> -<p>“I shall owe it you as a favor. Well, -Addio—good-by—perhaps I shall see you again.”</p> -<p>“The good hour be with you!” said Mattina, <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb51" href="#pb51" name="pb51">51</a>]</span>and then -ran back into the house, hearing her master calling her.</p> -<p>Later in the day, when her mistress had gone out for the afternoon, -Mattina filled a glass with cold water and carried it carefully into -the neighbouring courtyard. She found the ground floor room easily, and -lifting the latch, stood hesitatingly in the doorway. Tapping at a door -was unknown in Poros etiquette.</p> -<p>A young woman with a pale face and tumbled fair hair lay on the bed -in a corner of the room.</p> -<p>She opened her eyes as the door creaked, and smiled at Mattina.</p> -<p>“What is it, little one? Whom do you want?”</p> -<p>“Antigone said …” and Mattina shifted from one -foot to another, “that there was not a soul to get you a glass of -water.”</p> -<p>The young woman raised herself on her elbow, and her fair hair fell -about her shoulders.</p> -<p>“And so you came to bring me one! But what kindness! I accept -with gratitude; but it is not water I want. Since the morning I have -taken nothing, and I have a hollow there, which gives me still more -pain in the head.” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb52" href= -"#pb52" name="pb52">52</a>]</span></p> -<p>Mattina looked puzzled; she did not know what a “hollow” -was.</p> -<p>“Listen, little one: on the shelf of that cupboard there, -there is a small box of chocolate; it is in powder all ready and my -spirit lamp wants but a match to it. Bring then your glass of water; -you see we do require it after all, pour it in the little pan, and the -chocolate, so … stir it a little with the spoon, and we will -wait till it bubbles. You can wait a little …. Yes? Is it -not so?”</p> -<p>“I can wait; the Kyria is out.”</p> -<p>“Then pull that little table close to my bed. Ah! How it hurts -my head! Scarcely can I open my eyes.”</p> -<p>“Close them,” said Mattina; “I will tell you when -it boils.”</p> -<p>Deftly she pulled forward the little table, straightened the tumbled -sheets, and closed the open shutters so that the hot afternoon sun -should not pour on the bed. Then she stood by the spirit lamp, and -watched the frothing mixture.</p> -<p>“It boils,” she announced at last.</p> -<p>The young woman opened her eyes.</p> -<p>“Ah, the glare is gone!” she said, “how well -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb53" href="#pb53" name= -"pb53">53</a>]</span>that is for my poor eyes. But you are a good -fairy, my little one! Now bring the cup from that shelf …. -No; bring two! There is plenty of chocolate, and I am quite sure you -like it also.”</p> -<p>“I do not know,” said Mattina. “It smells good but -I have never tasted it.”</p> -<p>“Never tasted chocolate! Oh, the poor little one! Quick! Bring -a cup here, and bring also that box of biscuits from the lower shelf! I -am sure you are hungry. Is it not so?”</p> -<p>“Yes,” assented Mattina, “I am always hungry. My -mistress,” she added gravely, “says that I eat like a -locust falling on young leaves.”</p> -<p>“Like a locust! But what a horror! It is a sign of good health -to be hungry. Come then, my child, drink, and tell me if it be not -excellent, my Paris chocolate?”</p> -<p>So Mattina tasted her first cup of French chocolate, and found it -surpassingly good.</p> -<p>And the next day, and for three days after that, in the afternoons, -when she might have sat down to rest on the doorstep, Mattina would -lift the latch of the room in the courtyard, while -“Madmazella” was out giving <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb54" href="#pb54" name="pb54">54</a>]</span>lessons, and sweep, and -dust, and tidy, and put fresh water into the pretty vase with the -flowers, and clean the trim little house shoes, and fill the spirit -lamp.</p> -<p>But on the fifth day, a carriage came to the door of the next house, -and the coachman went into the ground floor room and brought out a -trunk, which he lifted to the box, and “Madmazella” came -out also in a dark blue dress, with a gray veil tied over her hat, and -a little bag in her hand, ready to go away to her own country.</p> -<p>Mattina stood outside on the pavement looking on, and there was a -lump in her throat.</p> -<p>“Madmazella” got into the open one-horse carriage and -beckoned to her.</p> -<p>“Come here, my little one! You have been of a -goodness,—but of a goodness to me that I do not know how to thank -you; I shall bring you a whole big box of chocolates from Paris when I -return; and now take this very little present, and buy something as a -souvenir of me! Is it not so?”</p> -<p>She smiled and waved her hand as the carriage drove off, and only -when it was quite out of sight did Mattina look at what had been -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb55" href="#pb55" name= -"pb55">55</a>]</span>pressed into her hand. It was a crumpled five -drachmæ note and Mattina looked at it with awe. She wondered -whether it would be enough to buy the picture with the boat, in case -the New Year present should be something else. In the meanwhile where -should she keep it?</p> -<p>Suddenly she thought of the pocket Kyra Sophoula had stitched into -her brown dress. She ran up to the little dark room, half way up the -stairs, reached down her bundle from the nail on which it hung, pulled -out a much crumpled brown dress, shook it out, found the pocket, and -placed the five drachmæ note in it, pinning up the opening -carefully for fear the note might fall out. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb56" href="#pb56" name="pb56">56</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">V</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">It had been agreed that Mattina should be allowed to -go to see her uncle and aunt every other Sunday, in the afternoon. But -it had happened lately that Sunday after Sunday her mistress had said, -“I have to go out myself, a friend expects me,” or, -“My head aches; I cannot be troubled with the children; you can -go out another day.” But the “other day” never came. -An older serving maid, or one who knew town ways better, would have -asked for the outing on a week day; but Mattina did not know. She cried -a little over her lost holiday and stayed in week after week, in the -narrow street and the close rooms that always smelt of stale smoke.</p> -<p>It was a blazing hot Sunday morning in September, and the fifth -since Mattina had last been out, when as she was sitting in the small -kitchen listlessly peeling and slicing a pile of purple -aubergines<a href="#n1.21"><sup>21</sup></a> which seemed as though it -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb57" href="#pb57" name= -"pb57">57</a>]</span>would never lessen, someone shuffled along the -street outside and stopped at the little window which was level with -the pavement.</p> -<p>It was Kyra Polyxene, the old washerwoman who lived on the top floor -of the next house, and who went out washing to nearly all the houses of -the neighborhood. Mattina knew her quite well. She had been engaged two -or three times to help for a day when the big monthly wash had been an -extra heavy one. The brown old face and the gray hair made Mattina -think a little of Kyra Sophoula when she looked at her, except that -Kyra Polyxene was taller and stouter and wore no kerchief on her -head.</p> -<p>She put her face close to the window bars and peered in.</p> -<p>“Good day, Mattina, what are you doing in there?”</p> -<p>Mattina let drop the slice she was holding, into the basin of cold -water beside her, and came close to the window.</p> -<p>“Good day to you, Kyra Polyxene; I am cutting up aubergines to -make a ‘moussaka.’ ”<a href= -"#n1.22"><sup>22</sup></a></p> -<p>“How is it you have so many aubergines?”</p> -<p>“We have people to-day for dinner. The <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb58" href="#pb58" name= -"pb58">58</a>]</span>Kyria’s sisters are coming, and Taki’s -godfather also.”</p> -<p>“And your mistress does not help you?”</p> -<p>“She is upstairs dressing the children to take them to hear -music in the square. When I first came here she showed me, but now I -can make ‘moussaka’ all alone and it tastes as good as -hers.” There was a certain pride in Mattina’s voice.</p> -<p>“Shall you go with them to the music?”</p> -<p>“I? No! There is this to finish, and the dining room to sweep, -and the table to lay, and if the dinner be not ready at twelve, the -master is angered.”</p> -<p>“And after they have eaten?”</p> -<p>“There will be all the plates to wash.”</p> -<p>“And then?”</p> -<p>“Do I know? There is always something.”</p> -<p>“Listen to me, my girl! Yesterday I washed at a house up at -the Kolonaki, and they sent me for a loaf to your uncle’s oven, -and he was saying that they had not seen you for many days; and he told -me to tell you that you must go there this afternoon and that if your -mistress makes difficulties, you are to tell her that if she keeps you -always closed up, he, your <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb59" href= -"#pb59" name="pb59">59</a>]</span>uncle will come and take you away, -and find another house for you.”</p> -<p>Mattina opened her eyes widely.</p> -<p>“Did he say so to you, Kyra Polyxene?”</p> -<p>“Just as I tell you, my daughter.”</p> -<p>Mattina wiped her hands on her apron and ran upstairs to her -mistress’s bedroom. She found her struggling with Taki’s -stiffly starched sailor collar, while Bebeko sitting on the unmade bed, -with unbuttoned boots, was howling for his hat which had been placed -out of his reach.</p> -<p>“How many more hours are you going to be, cleaning those -aubergines, lazy one? How do you want me to dress two children and -myself? Have I four hands do you think? Fasten the child’s boots -and make him stop that crying.”</p> -<p>Mattina lifted the heavy screaming boy off the bed, and sat down on -the floor with him.</p> -<p>“Why does Bebeko want his hat?” she whispered. -“Now in a minute after I have fastened his little boots for him, -I shall tie it on his head and he will go with Mamma and Babba and -Taki, and hear the pretty music; and when he comes -back ….” The child stopped crying <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb60" href="#pb60" name="pb60">60</a>]</span>and -looked at her, “and when he comes back, if he be a good child, I -shall have <i>such</i> a beautiful boat ready for him, cut out of an -aubergine! It will have two seats and a helm.”</p> -<p>“And a mast. Will it have a mast too, Mattina?”</p> -<p>“And a mast, of course.”</p> -<p>“And a sail?”</p> -<p>“No,” said Mattina seriously, looking out of the window, -“it will not want a sail, there is no wind to-day.”</p> -<p>“But I want it to have a sail,” persisted the child.</p> -<p>“I have no rag for a sail,” said Mattina. “Bebeko -must ask his Mamma for some when the boat is ready.”</p> -<p>When both children were dressed, there was a search for the -Kyria’s parasol which was nowhere to be found. At first she -accused Mattina of having broken it and hidden the pieces, and at last -remembered that she had left it at her sister’s house. Then her -keys were mislaid, looked for in all sorts of places, and discovered at -last under her pillow. Lastly she searched angrily for a twenty-five -drachmæ note, which she declared she had folded up <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb61" href="#pb61" name="pb61">61</a>]</span>and -placed under her gloves in the early morning.</p> -<p>“I put it there on purpose to change it when I went out, and -buy ‘pastas’<a href="#n1.23"><sup>23</sup></a> for dinner -to-day. It was here, I tell you, just under these gloves; or stay, -perhaps I pinned it on the pincushion.”</p> -<p>But neither under the gloves nor on the pincushion was the note to -be found.</p> -<p>“Well,” said the Kyria at last, “your master must -have taken it for something, and have forgotten to tell me. I shall -meet him at the square. Come, let us go!”</p> -<p>“Kyria,” and Mattina stood in her way.</p> -<p>“What do you want? It is late.”</p> -<p>“Kyria, my uncle has sent me word that they have not seen me -for many days, and that I must go there this afternoon, and also if you -make difficulties, and keep me closed up, I am to tell you that he, my -uncle, will come and take me away and find another house for -me.”</p> -<p>All this was repeated very quickly, and as though Mattina had just -learned it by heart.</p> -<p>Her mistress stared at her.</p> -<p>“Another house, indeed! And what house will take a lazy one -like you? Do you think <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb62" href="#pb62" -name="pb62">62</a>]</span>there are many mistresses who have as good a -heart as I have, and will keep you only because they are sorry for you -being an orphan? Besides, who says I keep you closed up? Do you not go -for a walk nearly every day with the children? Also I was just going to -tell you that as I have my sisters here this afternoon, who will help -me with the children, you could go out. Of course I mean after you have -washed up your plates, and put all in their places. And you are not to -be late, mind!” she added as an afterthought. “Do you -hear?”</p> -<p>“I hear,” said Mattina.</p> -<p>After the street door had banged to, she finished cutting up the -aubergines, lined the baking dish thickly with the slices, added a -layer of mince-meat, another of aubergines, broke two eggs over them, -bread-crumbed them and carried them off to the oven in the next street, -so quickly and so deftly that even her mistress, had she been there to -watch her, could not have called her “lazy one.” After that -she carved Bebeko’s promised boat from a large aubergine which -she had kept back, and sharpened a bit of firewood for the mast. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb63" href="#pb63" name= -"pb63">63</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">VI</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">It was nearly four that afternoon before she got up to -the baker’s shop, and her uncle had already gone round to the -coffee-house. Her aunt was in the courtyard, sorting out wood for the -night’s baking, from a load which had been brought down from the -hills the day before. Mattina set to work to help her, and her aunt -told her that her uncle had said he was to be sent for as soon as she -arrived, because he meant to take them both out to see something, -… “something,” she added mysteriously, “that -your eyes have never seen!” And then she went off to send the boy -to call her husband.</p> -<p>When Kyra Demetroula returned after a few minutes’ absence, it -was to find Mattina, who had come across a little sprig of thyme among -the firewood, holding it tightly between her hands, close to her face, -and smelling it with long indrawn breaths, the tears trickling down her -cheeks. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb64" href="#pb64" name= -"pb64">64</a>]</span></p> -<p>Her aunt stared at her dumfounded. She had always been of the -town.</p> -<p>“Are you mad, my child?” she exclaimed, throwing up her -arms. “To be spoiling your heart over a bit of old herb! Give it -to me! Let me throw it into the oven! What will your uncle say when he -comes? He will think I have been giving you stick! Look at your -eyes!”</p> -<p>“Never mind! Let me keep it! Oh, let me keep it! I beg of you -to let me keep it, my aunt! Oh, it is so beautiful! It … it -… brings back Poros to me,” and Mattina gulped down her -sobs and dried her eyes on the back of her sleeve.</p> -<p>“Hush, now, I hear your uncle.”</p> -<p>He came in laughing, dressed in his Sunday best.</p> -<p>“Health to you, Mattina! You have been forgetting us for so -long! And if you only knew where we are going! If you only but -knew!”</p> -<p>And it is true they went to a wonderful place.</p> -<div class="figure p064width" id="p064"><img src="images/p064.jpg" alt= -"MATTINA SET TO WORK" width="464" height="720"> -<p class="figureHead">MATTINA SET TO WORK</p> -</div> -<p>In a broad street, up and down which the crowded street cars were -constantly running, they stopped at an entrance where a man sat -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb65" href="#pb65" name= -"pb65">65</a>]</span>behind a tiny little window, and Mastro Anastasi -paid some money to him. Then they passed into a great big dimly lighted -room, with many seats all in a row placed from one end to another; and -a great many people and children were sitting in them. Mattina sat -between her aunt and her uncle, and waited.</p> -<p>“Why do we sit here?” she asked at last, “and why -is it dark?”</p> -<p>Suddenly a little bell tinkled, and at one end of the hall it became -light; and then all sorts of extraordinary things passed before -Mattina’s eyes.</p> -<p>She saw a motor car such as those which she had seen outside in the -streets, but this one climbed up the walls of houses. She saw a funny -short man running away, and a great number of people chasing him, and -he upset a woman carrying a bottle of wine, and the wine was all spilt; -and the woman was very angry, and got up, and followed after him with -the rest; and he upset two men on a ladder who were painting a house, -and all the paint ran over him, and they also chased him; and he upset -a cart laden with eggs, and all the eggs broke, <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb66" href="#pb66" name="pb66">66</a>]</span>and the -carter also ran after him, brandishing his whip; and he upset a whole -shop front of plates and dishes, and they all broke, too, and came -tumbling all over everyone; and when the people who were chasing had -nearly caught him, the man ran upon some railway lines, and a railway -train ran over him, and made him quite flat, but he sprang up quite -well again; and he came to a bridge, and he jumped right into the -water, and swam across to the other side, and all the other people -jumped in after him, but they could not swim and they made a great -splash in the water, and suddenly all the picture went out and Mattina -did not know what happened afterwards.</p> -<p>But she saw many other things.</p> -<p>She saw a little girl in a lovely frock of lace playing with a big -dog in a garden, and some men came and stole her and hid her in a dark -cellar, and a lady and a gentleman who came into the garden wept and -tore their hair, but the big dog sniffed the ground, and ran and ran, -and sniffed again, and jumped over walls and found the child, and -dragged her by her frock and brought her back to her father and mother; -and the last Mattina saw of them, they <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb67" href="#pb67" name="pb67">67</a>]</span>were all sitting in the -garden and patting and stroking the big dog.</p> -<p>Then she saw a seashore and rocks, in a place that her uncle told -them was called Spain, which was so like the second little bay on the -Monastery Road that she felt like crying again, but that picture went -out at once; and when she saw a man putting a lighted candle in his -mouth and swallowing it, she forgot to feel sad.</p> -<p>When at last they left the wonderful place, her uncle gave her a ten -“lepta” copper coin, and stopped a street car that was -passing. He told her to be sure to get out when she saw the -grocer’s shop in the Piræus Road at the corner of the -street where her master lived, and Mattina climbed into the car with a -big sigh. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb68" href="#pb68" name= -"pb68">68</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">VII</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">It was still light when she got down off the car step -and turned into the narrow street, still sniffing at the dry sprig of -thyme which she had kept tightly clasped in her hand all the time.</p> -<p>Out of the gathering dusk, an old woman came running towards -her.</p> -<p>“It is you, Mattina! It is you! And they said you would never -come back.”</p> -<p>Mattina looked around her anxiously.</p> -<p>“Why did they say that, Kyra Polyxene? Is it so -late?”</p> -<p>“No, it is not late. But you will find trouble for you at the -house. Your mistress has lost money … much money … a -twenty-five drachmæ note, and she says that only you can have -taken it.”</p> -<p>Mattina fell back a step and stared up at the old woman.</p> -<p>“I?”</p> -<p>“Yes, and your mistress got your bundle and <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb69" href="#pb69" name="pb69">69</a>]</span>took out -all your things and threw them here and there; but she found naught, -and she is spoiling the world with her screams.”</p> -<p>“Come!” said Mattina, “let me go and tell her she -does not know what she says.”</p> -<p>But the old woman pulled her back.</p> -<p>“Listen, my girl! You are but a little one, without a whole -shoe to your foot, and these people count every mouthful of bread you -put into your mouth …. If it was in an evil -moment?… Give it to me! and if it be not changed, I will put it -where they may find it and the noise will be over.”</p> -<p>“You, also, do not know what you say,” and Mattina -dragged her arm away and ran into the house.</p> -<p>The door of the living-room was open, and from it came the sound of -angry voices and loud cries.</p> -<p>Mattina walked right in.</p> -<p>“I am here,” she announced, “and neither have I -seen your ….”</p> -<p>But she could not finish her sentence; a furiously angry woman -rushed at her, caught her by the shoulder, and shook her viciously.</p> -<p>“You thief!” she screamed. “You little -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb70" href="#pb70" name= -"pb70">70</a>]</span>thief! This is how you repay me for taking you in! -And you have the face to speak also!”</p> -<p>If Mattina had been a poor little servant all her life, and if her -parents had been servants before her, she would perhaps have insisted -on her innocence more respectfully, but until lately she had always -lived with her equals, and also she was the child of free islanders, -who had never called any one their master.</p> -<p>With both hands she pushed her mistress away from her as hard as she -could push.</p> -<p>“Leave me! Leave me I tell you! I a thief! I! It is you are a -liar for saying so!”</p> -<p>But two heavy blows sent her staggering against the table.</p> -<p>Then it seemed as though all the people in the room were about to -fall upon her, and she crouched there with uplifted arm to protect her -head.</p> -<p>The master pushed aside his wife.</p> -<p>“Wait a moment!” he said. “Let <i>me</i> speak to -her!” then to Mattina:—</p> -<p>“Tell me now what you have done with the money?”</p> -<p>“I never saw it, I tell you.” <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb71" href="#pb71" name="pb71">71</a>]</span></p> -<p>“That does not pass with me; you have hidden it somewhere, or -given it to someone.”</p> -<p>“Since I tell you I never saw it!”</p> -<p>“There is no one else in the house to take it. If you did not -see it, where is it?”</p> -<p>“Do I know?” said Mattina, sullenly. “Is she not -always losing her things?” and she pointed to her mistress.</p> -<p>Now because the woman was really constantly mislaying her -belongings, this made her still more furious. She darted at -Mattina.</p> -<p>“Wait till I show her!” and she struck her so hard a -blow on the mouth, that Mattina screamed and covered her face with both -arms.</p> -<p>Her mistress raised her hand again but one of her sisters pulled her -back.</p> -<p>“Find the money first,” she said. “What do you -gain by beating her?”</p> -<p>“You are right. If she has it on her, I will find -it.”</p> -<p>And the woman went down on her knees and felt over Mattina, pulling -her frock roughly about. In a moment she found the pins that closed the -opening of the pocket, and dragged them out, thrusting her hand inside. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb72" href="#pb72" name= -"pb72">72</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Here it is!” she screamed triumphantly. “See! I -have it!” and she waved the folded note which she pulled out of -the pocket. But as soon as she looked at it, her tone changed to one of -bitter disappointment.</p> -<p>“She has changed it, the shameless one, and this is all that -remains!”</p> -<p>Mattina tried to snatch it from her.</p> -<p>“That is mine! That is mine! That is not yours! It is five -drachmæ. Give it to me! It is mine I tell you.”</p> -<p>Her mistress laughed aloud.</p> -<p>“She told Taki here that she had not a ‘lepton’ of -her own.”</p> -<p>“That was before,” cried Mattina, wildly, beginning to -sob. “That was before I had this. This is mine! It is mine! On my -father’s soul, I tell you it is mine!”</p> -<p>“If it be yours,” asked one of the sisters, “where -did you find it?”</p> -<p>“She gave it to me.”</p> -<p>“She! What she?”</p> -<p>“She, the Madmazella from the next house.”</p> -<p>“She tells lies!” broke in her mistress. “A -governess, who works one day that she may eat the next! Has she money -to give?” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb73" href="#pb73" name= -"pb73">73</a>]</span></p> -<p>“When did she give it to you?” asked the master.</p> -<p>“When she went away in the carriage to go to her -country.”</p> -<p>Then they all laughed.</p> -<p>“Ah, of course, you thought of someone who has gone away and -whom we cannot ask! You are very clever, my girl, but your cleverness -will not pass with us!”</p> -<p>“Now, enough words,” said her mistress. “I shall -lock her up in her room and send for the police inspector. Perhaps in -prison they may get the truth out of her.”</p> -<p>Mattina turned as pale as wax.</p> -<p>She knew what prison was. Even in Poros she had seen men with their -arms tied back with ropes, taken to Nauplia<a href= -"#n1.24"><sup>24</sup></a> to the big prison of the -“Palamidi”;<a href="#n1.25"><sup>25</sup></a> and she had -heard tales of those who had returned from there!</p> -<p>“To prison!” she gasped. “To prison! I?”</p> -<p>“Of course,” said her mistress, enjoying her terror. -“Did you think that you could steal and then stay in honest -houses? Now you will see what will happen to you, you little -thief!”</p> -<p>Mattina stumbled back against the wall. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb74" href="#pb74" name="pb74">74</a>]</span>The -sweat sprang out on her face, she kept wetting her lips, and her hands -groped before her as though she were in the dark.</p> -<p>Her mistress seized hold of her arm and pulled her towards the open -door of the room. For the first moments she struggled wildly, and then -feeling how useless it was, she let herself be dragged out of the door -and up the few steps to her little dark room. Her mistress pushed open -the door with her foot and thrust Mattina in so violently that she fell -upon the mattress in the further corner. Then the key was pulled out of -the keyhole, and the door locked and double-locked on the outside; then -Mattina heard her mistress’s heavy tread descending to the room -below.</p> -<p>It was quite dark already. Mattina was never allowed a candle in her -room, nor even a floating wick in a tumbler of oil. “As -though,” her mistress had said, “it were necessary to burn -good oil for a serving maid to pull off her clothes and tumble on to -her mattress.” As a rule she was so tired and sleepy, she did not -mind; but now she was very frightened indeed, and fear is always worse -in the dark. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb75" href="#pb75" name= -"pb75">75</a>]</span></p> -<p>She lay there, where she had been flung, huddled up against the -wall, her eyes hidden in the bend of her arm.</p> -<p>Prison! They would send her to prison! She had heard of a man in -Poros, Andoni, the joiner, who had broken open the money box of Sotiro, -the coffee-house keeper, in the night, and he had been kept ten years -in prison! She did not know how much money he had taken; she had never -heard. How long would they keep her in prison if they thought she had -stolen twenty-five drachmæ; it was a great deal of money! And -what would they do to her in prison? Was it a dark place under the -ground? Oh, why was her father, her own “babba,” not alive -to beat off the men of the police who would soon be coming to fetch -her?</p> -<p>For a long time she cried and sobbed on the mattress without moving. -When she opened her eyes she could distinguish nothing in the room, the -darkness was like a thick black veil covering everything. There were -voices, but they seemed distant; the house seemed still, with the -stillness that brings terror with it.</p> -<p>Suddenly the dark seemed full of big hands <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb76" href="#pb76" name="pb76">76</a>]</span>with -hooked fingers stretching out to clutch at her.</p> -<p>She ran wildly to the door and shook it, screaming aloud.</p> -<p>“Oh, my mother! My mother! Manitsa!<a href= -"#n1.26"><sup>26</sup></a> Where are you?” <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb77" href="#pb77" name="pb77">77</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">VIII</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">In the meanwhile, her mistress, downstairs, was urging -her husband to go to the police station.</p> -<p>“Just think of the little thief,” she was saying. -“And I who kept her out of charity, though she broke a fortune in -plates, because I thought that at least she had ‘clean -hands.’ ”</p> -<p>“I wonder,” said an elderly man who had not yet spoken, -and who was Taki’s godfather, “where the girl can have -found this twenty-five drachmæ note?”</p> -<p>“I put it myself on my chest of drawers under my pincushion -this morning,” explained Mattina’s mistress. “When I -came to go out with the children it was missing; and she, the little -hypocrite, helped me to look for it everywhere.”</p> -<p>“Had the girl been alone in your room, since you had put the -money there?” inquired the elderly man.</p> -<p>“Do I know? But she was there a long time <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb78" href="#pb78" name="pb78">78</a>]</span>messing -about with the children and pretending to help to dress them. A note is -easily slipped up a sleeve. Is it such a big thing? Well, when I could -not find it I said to myself that doubtless Theophani must have taken -it, and forgotten to tell me before he went out. You know how -absent-minded he is. And when I met him in the square, I forgot to ask -him, and never remembered till late this afternoon; and when he said he -had never touched it, of course I knew at once it could only have been -Mattina who had stolen it. Who else? And I, the stupid one, who have -such confidence in people and never lock things up! Who knows how much -more money she has taken at times?”</p> -<p>“Have you missed any, besides this?” asked the elderly -man.</p> -<p>“I would have you know, my friend, that money is not so scarce -in this house that we have to count exactly how many drachmæ we -leave about!” Then turning to her sisters: “Someone is -knocking outside,” she said, “I must go and see who it is. -You just take those children and put them to bed. They are fighting the -whole time.”</p> -<p>It is true, there was a great noise and much <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb79" href="#pb79" name= -"pb79">79</a>]</span>whimpering when Bebeko was dragged out by one of -his aunts from under the table, holding to a purple limp-looking object -which was the half of his boat.</p> -<p>“Taki,” he sobbed, had “boken” his boat.</p> -<p>“He is a stupid one,” announced Taki. “What is it -but a piece of aubergine, his boat?”</p> -<p>“Never mind, my little bird!” said the aunt, picking -Bebeko up, “to-morrow I will buy you a new one; a real boat of -wood!”</p> -<p>But to-morrow was far away for Bebeko. He kept tight hold of his -half boat.</p> -<p>“The mast!” he cried as his aunt was carrying him off, -“the mast, and my sail! They are under the table! They fell off! -Taki made them fall!”</p> -<p>The aunt, who was a kind young woman, put down the child and stooped -to look for “the mast and the sail,” creeping under the -long table-cover to do so. When she found them, she stopped for a -moment, looking at them, and then called to her sister who came back -into the room with a newspaper in her hand.</p> -<p>“Angeliki! Look at this! Do you see with what the child has -been playing?”</p> -<p>And she held out a piece of paper with two <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb80" href="#pb80" name="pb80">80</a>]</span>small -holes pierced in it, through which was passed a sharpened stick.</p> -<p>And the piece of paper was a twenty-five drachmæ note.</p> -<p>Bebeko’s mother snatched the note from her sister’s -hand, and seized the child roughly.</p> -<p>“From where did you get this, you bad child? Who gave it to -you? Was it Mattina?”</p> -<p>The child began to cry loudly.</p> -<p>“I want my sail! I want my sail! It is mine! It is not -Mattina’s; it is mine!”</p> -<p>“From where did you get it? Tell me at once, or you will eat -stick.”</p> -<p>“Do not frighten the child,” said the father, and he -picked up Bebeko and set him on the table.</p> -<p>“Now tell me like a golden little boy that you are, where did -you find this paper? Tell me, and Babba will give you a -‘loukoumi.’ ”<a href= -"#n1.27"><sup>27</sup></a></p> -<p>The child gulped down a big sob.</p> -<p>“Mattina had no rag to make a sail; she said to ask -Mamma ….”</p> -<p>“And then?”</p> -<p>“I asked Mamma, and she said, ‘I have no rag, go -away,’ and then I put the paper in my own self. It is -mine.” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb81" href="#pb81" name= -"pb81">81</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Where did you find the paper?”</p> -<p>“On the floor.”</p> -<p>“But where on the floor.”</p> -<p>“Down on the floor.”</p> -<p>Then the youngest aunt said:—</p> -<p>“Come and show me where, Bebeko, and Babba will get the -‘loukoumi.’ ”</p> -<p>Bebeko scrambled down and took hold of her hand, and led her, all -the others following, into his parents’ bedroom. Then, pointing -to a spot at the foot of the chest of drawers, he said -triumphantly:—</p> -<p>“There.”</p> -<p>His mother looked very vexed.</p> -<p>“Those children!” she cried. “Whatever they see, -they take. All this fuss we have had for nothing!”</p> -<p>“Go upstairs, now,” said her husband, “and tell -that poor girl that you have found the money. She was half mad with -fright when you told her you would send her to prison.”</p> -<p>“It does not do her any harm,” said Mattina’s -mistress, “if she did not do it this time, it will be a lesson -for her if she ever feels inclined to steal in the future. However, she -may as well come down and take the children to <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb82" href="#pb82" name= -"pb82">82</a>]</span>bed,” and she took a lighted candle, and -went upstairs to unlock the door.</p> -<p>In a moment the others heard an astounded voice -exclaiming:—</p> -<p>“Bah! She is not here!”</p> -<p>“Not there! Nonsense!” cried her husband; and they all -ran up and peered into the little dark room.</p> -<p>But it was quite true, Mattina was not there.</p> -<p>They looked all round, but there was only the tumbled mattress on -the floor, a red cotton coverlet hanging on a nail in the wall over it, -a straw chair, a pitcher of water in a tin basin, and not a single -cupboard, nook, or corner in which anyone could hide.</p> -<p>“The girl must have crept down quietly while we were talking, -and run away to her uncle’s,” said the master.</p> -<p>“But the door was locked,” objected his wife.</p> -<p>“Impossible.”</p> -<p>“But it was, I tell you.”</p> -<p>“You meant to lock it but you did not.”</p> -<p>“I locked it and double locked it.”</p> -<p>“You were in a passion at the moment, and you did not know -what you were doing.”</p> -<p>“Since I tell you I turned the key twice with <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb83" href="#pb83" name="pb83">83</a>]</span>my -hand,” screamed his wife, getting very red. “Do I eat -straw? I locked it and I locked it well. Do you not understand Greek? -Shall I say it in Chinese?”</p> -<p>Her husband strode into the little room and, taking the lighted -candle, lifted it high above his head.</p> -<p>“You women have no logic! Look!” turning to the others, -“can the girl have climbed through the window?”</p> -<p>It was a tiny barred window over their heads, looking out upon a -courtyard far below.</p> -<p>They all laughed.</p> -<p>“No, certainly!”</p> -<p>“Well, then, she must have got through the door! Come -downstairs now, there is no use in staying up here. In the morning I -will go to her uncle’s.”</p> -<p>Then as they left the room he turned to his wife who was still -protesting violently that she had locked the door; she would lay her -head that she had.</p> -<p>“Now enough words, wife! Perhaps you think the girl passed -through the wall?” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb84" href= -"#pb84" name="pb84">84</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">IX</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">And yet, had he but known it, that was very nearly -what had happened. When Mattina, worn out with crying, had sunk down on -the floor against the door, sobbing out every now and then, “My -mother, my manitsa,” she suddenly heard a very low muffled -knocking which seemed to come from the other side of the room. At first -she took no heed. It was someone, she supposed, in the next house; she -had often heard people moving there. But it came again, a soft little -knock repeated twice; then her name just whispered.</p> -<p>“Mattina! Mattina! Are you there?”</p> -<p>The voice was Kyra Polyxene’s, she was quite sure, but from -where did it come? She crossed the little room. The knock was quite -clear now.</p> -<p>“Mattina!”</p> -<p>“But where are you, Kyra Polyxene?”</p> -<p>“Now you will see; can you hear what I say?” -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb85" href="#pb85" name= -"pb85">85</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Yes, I hear you.”</p> -<p>“Move your mattress!”</p> -<p>“What did you say?”</p> -<p>“I dare not speak any louder; move your mattress away from the -wall!”</p> -<p>Mattina seized hold of the heavy straw mattress with both hands, and -dragged it aside.</p> -<p>“Have you done it?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>Then slowly, very slowly, a narrow door painted exactly the same -color as the rest of the room, with no handle, no crack even to show -its outline or to distinguish it from the surrounding wall, a door -which Mattina had certainly never seen before, was pushed open from the -other side and Kyra Polyxene’s kind old face appeared in the -opening.</p> -<p>“Not a word!” she whispered, with a finger on her lips. -“Not a word for your life! Come!”</p> -<p>Mattina was very bewildered.</p> -<p>“Where shall I come? How did you get in?”</p> -<p>“Hush! Lest they hear us from below. Once this was all one big -house, and when they made it two, they left this door. It was -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb86" href="#pb86" name= -"pb86">86</a>]</span>all painted over, and no one knew; but I -remembered. Wait!” and she came right in. “Give me your -coverlet! See I will hang it over the opening, so … because now -that I have opened the door, when it is light they will see that the -paint has cracked. And before that lazy mistress of yours takes the -coverlet down to shake it, many days will pass. Come! Why are you -waiting?”</p> -<p>“Kyra Polyxene,” said Mattina, “they all tell -lies! I never saw their money!”</p> -<p>“And for that, will you stay here and let them take you and -lock you in prison?”</p> -<p>There was a loud knocking at the door below.</p> -<p>Mattina clung desperately to Kyra Polyxene’s skirts.</p> -<p>“Do you hear?”</p> -<p>“I hear,” said the old woman grimly. “Come, I tell -you! Come!”</p> -<p>She pushed Mattina first through the half-open door and followed, -closing it softly behind her and turning a rusty key on the other side. -They were standing in a small dark room filled with cases and lighted -by one candle. Kyra Polyxene took up the candle. Then she <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb87" href="#pb87" name="pb87">87</a>]</span>clasped -Mattina’s hand tightly in hers, and together, treading very -softly, they crossed a long narrow passage outside the room, passed -through a glass door, went down a flight of stone steps into a cellar -where piles of wood were stacked, and then went up three or four steps -again to a little back door that opened on the pavement.</p> -<p>The night air that blew in their faces felt fresh and cool.</p> -<p>“Listen, my daughter!” said the old woman. “Now -you go straight to your uncle’s house! You know the way. If -to-morrow dawns well, I will come and tell you what is happening. Go! -Run! And the Holy Virgin be with you!”</p> -<p>At that moment loud voices came to them from the open window of the -house which they had just left. Mattina thought she caught her name, -and then she heard her master say very distinctly:—</p> -<p>“Go upstairs, now!…” but she did not hear the end -of the sentence.</p> -<p>The men of the police must have come, and they were going upstairs -to look for her!</p> -<p>Without a word, she dragged her hand from <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb88" href="#pb88" name="pb88">88</a>]</span>the old -woman’s and ran wildly down the dark street.</p> -<p>She ran on and on, panting, stumbling, falling, picking herself up -again, her plaits of hair which had come loose in the struggle with her -mistress flying behind her. When she came out to the Piræus Road, -where a few people were still about, she stopped, and leaning against a -lamp post, tried with trembling fingers to tie up her hair.</p> -<p>To her uncle’s! No! She would not go there!</p> -<p>She had not had time to explain to Kyra Polyxene that her master -knew where the baker’s shop was. He had asked her one day. And of -course it was there they would search for her at once. No, no! Not to -her uncle’s! But where then? Where?</p> -<p>She tried hard to remember where Antigone had said that her brother -lived. Perhaps <i>she</i> would hide her; she knew how bad mistresses -could be! But try as she would, she could not remember. Athens names -were all new and strange to her.</p> -<p>And there was no one else.</p> -<p>Perhaps she could walk about all night, or <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb89" href="#pb89" name="pb89">89</a>]</span>sit down -on a bench? But when it dawned, what then? Suddenly she heard running -steps in the street behind her and loud voices, … men’s -voices. Was the one her master’s? She looked wildly round like a -trapped thing and once more started running, as she had never run -before, down the middle of the broad road. Every moment it seemed as if -a hand were grasping her shoulder. She flew past the lighted -grocer’s shop where they might know her, and her head struck -against the open shutter, but she did not feel the pain. On she ran, -her breath coming in loud gasps, and great throbs beating in her -throat. She heard steps again …. Were they behind her?</p> -<p>Suddenly, under a lamp post, she came into violent contact with a -big man, who was walking leisurely before her, his hands crossed behind -his back, fiddling with a short string of black beads.</p> -<p>He caught hold of the lamp post to save himself from falling and -turned round.</p> -<p>“Who falls in this way on people? Have you gone mad, my girl? -One would think someone was hunting you.”</p> -<p>It was a Poros voice, and Mattina clung desperately <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb90" href="#pb90" name="pb90">90</a>]</span>to the -baggy blue breeches of Thanassi Nika, as the old sea-captain bent over -her.</p> -<p>“They are! They are!” she cried wildly, “they -<i>are</i> hunting me! Save me! Save me! And may all your dead become -saints!”</p> -<p>“Why? Why? What is happening here? Are you not Aristoteli -Dorri’s daughter? Who is hunting you?”</p> -<p>“The people of the house; the master … the mistress -… they have called the men of the police; they will put me in -prison!”</p> -<p>“What have you done?” asked the old man sharply.</p> -<p>“I have done nothing. On the soul of my father, I have taken -nothing of theirs. But money was lost, and they say I took it. Save me! -Take me from here!”</p> -<p>Capetan Thanassi looked up and down the road.</p> -<p>Farther up towards the grocer’s shop two or three men seemed -hurrying towards them, but just at that moment a bright light flashed -in their eyes, and a street car going to the square came to a stop a -few paces away.</p> -<p>The old man lifted Mattina bodily to the step and followed her. The -little platform was <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb91" href="#pb91" -name="pb91">91</a>]</span>crowded, and as they stood there tightly -wedged between many people, he put his finger on his lips so that -Mattina should keep silent. Almost at once in the big lighted square -they got down again, and before Mattina had time to think where they -might be going, she had been run across the road, down a broad street, -through a crowded waiting-room, down an endless flight of stone steps, -and was seated once more in a railway carriage, which started almost as -soon as Capetan Thanassi threw himself down puffing and panting on the -seat beside her.</p> -<p>“Well,” he said, wiping his forehead with a big red -handkerchief, “it is not a good thing to be hunted and to run; -but to let these Athenians, here, seize hold of Aristoteli -Dorri’s daughter, and call her a thief! That could not be! Now, -listen to me, little one! If you have done anything crooked, that is -between God and your soul, but for me it is sufficient that I knew your -father. My caique<a href="#n1.28"><sup>28</sup></a> leaves to-night, -now, with the turn of the wind. I shall put you in it and take you back -to your own country, and once there,… we shall see what can be -done.” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb92" href="#pb92" name= -"pb92">92</a>]</span></p> -<p>Mattina had seized his hand and was kissing it.</p> -<p>“To my own island? To Poros? God make your years many, Capetan -Thanassi, for this that you are doing for me!” <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb93" href="#pb93" name="pb93">93</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">X</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">The big white caique at Piræus was ready laden, -only waiting for its captain, and an hour later, Mattina, in a little -corner between two planks of wood and a big case, lay curled up on the -low deck, with the cool night wind blowing salt and fresh on her face. -She listened to the water flap-flapping against the wooden sides of the -boat, and dimly saw the great white sails bellying out above her head. -She heaved a big sigh of content and stretched out her feet under a -loose piece of sack-cloth.</p> -<p>The harbor lights of Piræus were already far behind them when, -rocked by the softly swaying movement, she fell asleep.</p> -<p>And how good it was the next morning to awake at sea, with the sun -high above the horizon on a blue September day, to feel safe and free, -to lean over the side of the boat, munching the hunk of bread and the -piece of “touloumi”<a href="#n1.29"><sup>29</sup></a> -cheese which one of the sailors had <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb94" -href="#pb94" name="pb94">94</a>]</span>given her, while she watched the -swish and sparkle of the water as the tall prow of the caique divided -it, and listened to Capetan Thanassi’s loud orders to his men, as -they tacked round by the lighthouse.</p> -<p>Ah! and how good it was, as soon as they turned the corner, to see -in the distance the white houses of Poros!</p> -<p>It was even better when she stepped down the plank thrown from the -boat to the shore and was treading Poros soil once more. Then it was -like dreams coming true! The caique had anchored far away from the -village, in a little creek before one came to the Beach of the Little -Pines. Someone from Athens was building a house there, a big house with -balconies and terraces. Capetan Thanassi had brought a boat load of -wood-work for the doors and windows, and the workmen were busy -unloading it almost before the anchor had been dropped.</p> -<p>“What will you do?” the old captain asked Mattina. -“Before noon, when this unloading is over, I shall sail into the -village. Will you wait?”</p> -<p>“I thank you, Capetan Thanassi. For the <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb95" href="#pb95" name="pb95">95</a>]</span>good -that you have done me, may you find it from God; but I cannot wait. I -will go along the shore, and reach the house and the little one long -before you have finished your work.”</p> -<p>“Go then, my girl! Go!” and Mattina ran up the slope of -the hill leading to the Beach of the Little Pines, and did not stop to -take breath until she reached the top.</p> -<p>There she stood still, waist-high in a tangle of bushes. The thyme -was all dried up of course, but the heather was in bloom and the -lentisk bushes were laden with thick clusters of red berries.</p> -<p>She dropped on her knees, with a little cry of joy, beside a big -bush on which the bright crimson berries seemed thicker than the tiny -leaves. “Fairy-cherries<span class="corr" id="xd25e1761" title= -"Not in source">,</span>” the children of the Red House on the -hill, called them. Mattina had never heard this, but she loved the -little tight bunches of red berries because they were so pretty and -because she had never seen them but in Poros. In a moment she got up -and began the descent of the hill.</p> -<p>The glorious curve of the Beach of the Little Pines seemed almost -entirely deserted. The morning sea in lines of deep golden green near -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb96" href="#pb96" name= -"pb96">96</a>]</span>the pines of the shore, and of deep blue beyond, -blue as the sky, blue as the flag, bore not a single fisher boat on its -surface. Only far away in the distance under the big round fig tree -Mattina could distinguish a flock of sheep, and still farther away the -figure of a man coming down the next hill, but whether it was the -shepherd or not she could not tell. Down she came through the tall -white spikes of the dog-onions waving all over the hill side, till she -stood at last on a flat gray rock on the very edge of the sea. The -perfectly smooth water showed the shining yellow and green and gray -pebbles lying below, as though a sheet of glass had been placed over -them. In and out between the stones swam tiny black-striped fishes, and -now and then a ripple trembled over the surface and broke softly -against the rock. And it was clear and beautiful, and her <i>very</i> -own sea, and she lifted her face to its breath, and she fell on her -knees and stretched out her bare brown arms that the water might flow -and ripple over them!</p> -<p>In the water close to the shore, every tiny green branch, and every -vein of the gray rocks, and every clump of red earth, was reflected -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb97" href="#pb97" name= -"pb97">97</a>]</span>line for line, and tint for tint, and through -these reflections ran long straight lines of bright, bright blue. -Suddenly Mattina remembered Antigone, the serving maid of the next -house, who had said to her, “You! with your trees, and your -rocks, and your sea!” And she thought, “She has never seen -them, the poor one! If she were only here now!”</p> -<p>But she did not know that Antigone was of those people who would -never see some things, even if she were to touch them with her hand. -She would find that the rocks hurt her feet and spoiled her Sunday -shoes.</p> -<p>The morning light would never bring a light into her eyes, and -certainly a little cool soft breeze blowing in her face could never -have made her feel so entirely and unreasonably joyful.</p> -<p>Mattina could never have explained, nor did she understand as other -children might, who had read books, or who had lived with people who -had read books, that it was just the beauty of everything around her -that made her feel so happy, that for some moments wiped all her -troubles off her mind as though by a magic sponge. She had never heard -that her ancestors <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb98" href="#pb98" -name="pb98">98</a>]</span>were of the race which above all other had -always worshipped beautiful things.</p> -<p>However, in a few moments she stood up, wiped her arms on her frock, -and walked along the shore more soberly. She must get on, she felt; she -must see the child—Zacharia. How he would laugh when he saw her! -“’Attina! My ’Attina!” he would cry. Kyra -Sophoula would say a good word to her also; but the others, her uncle -Yoryi, and her aunt Kanella, what would they say? They would ask why -she had returned. They would ask so many things; and what could she -say? She had come back not much richer than she went; and now what -could she do? She thought for a moment of the mayor and the doctor. -Each of them kept a little maid. If only one of them would take her! -How good that would be! She was stronger now, and had learned much in -the town. But she knew it was not likely that either of them would be -requiring a new serving maid just then. People here did not change -their servants like shirts as they did in Athens. In Poros, one took a -little girl, one did not even call her a servant, but a -“soul-child”; one taught her, one fed her, one dressed -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb99" href="#pb99" name= -"pb99">99</a>]</span>her, and in due time one prepared her dowry for -her. The doctor, she knew, had got Panouria, the widow’s -daughter, as a “soul-child.” No, it was not at all likely; -and Mattina heaved a big sigh as she filled her hands with cyclamen for -Zacharia. Poros had its troubles too.</p> -<p>She had nearly reached the end of the big beach, and was stooping to -pick a bright crimson cyclamen growing in the shadow of a lentisk bush, -when suddenly a flat pebble skimmed past her, touched the surface of -the water, and then flew from ripple to ripple like a thing alive.</p> -<p>“It is many years since I did that,” said a boyish voice -just behind her. But when she wheeled round, it was no boy who stood -there laughing and following the pebble with his eyes. It was a grown -man, the one whom she had seen in the distance, coming down the hill, -and it was certainly not a shepherd. It was a man wearing good clothes, -like the men she had seen in Athens in the fine streets; better far -than those her master wore; with a gold chain across his waistcoat. It -was a man whom she had never seen before; tall, with thick brown -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb100" href="#pb100" name= -"pb100">100</a>]</span>hair and a small moustache, but whose sunburnt -face did not seem strange to her.</p> -<p>He flung another pebble, swinging his arm well back and making it go -still farther than the last.</p> -<p>“Did you see that one, my girl?” he said without looking -at her. “I thought I had forgotten,… but see there,” -as he flung a third and began counting,… -“eleven,—twelve,—thirteen,—fourteen! I wish -some of the lads from Lexington were here to see me. They never would -believe that I could make it go more than ten times.”</p> -<p>“Throw another,” said Mattina who was interested, -picking up a good flat one.</p> -<p>The man held out his hand for it and, as he did so, looked at the -girl for the first time.</p> -<p>The pebble dropped to the shore between them.</p> -<p>“Why!” he said slowly, “Why! From where did you -come? Not from the village?”</p> -<p>Mattina, her empty hand stretched out as though still holding the -stone, looked at him.</p> -<p>“No,—I come from Athens. Only just now we have -arrived.”</p> -<p>“Now?” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb101" href= -"#pb101" name="pb101">101</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Yes, in Capetan Thanassi’s caique.”</p> -<p>“You are from Athens?”</p> -<p>“Oh, no; from the island. I was only serving in the -town.”</p> -<p>The man put his hand under Mattina’s chin, turned her face up, -and took a long look at her.</p> -<p>“If you are not Aristoteli’s daughter, may they never -call me Petro again.”</p> -<p>Mattina stared in wonderment. How came this well-dressed stranger to -know her?</p> -<p>“Yes; I am Aristoteli Dorri’s the sponge -diver’s.”</p> -<p>“God rest his soul,” added the man, “and your -mother’s also! Little did I think to return to the island and -find them both under the soil. And when I looked for you, they told me -you had gone to serve in the town! How did this good thing happen that -you should just have come back today? Now I need not take the steamer -for Athens to go and search for you.”</p> -<p>“For me?”</p> -<p>“For who else? Do you think I mean to return to America all -alone, and leave my brother’s daughter working for strange folk -in strange houses!” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb102" href= -"#pb102" name="pb102">102</a>]</span></p> -<p>Mattina was beyond speech.</p> -<p>The young man put his arm round her shoulders.</p> -<p>“So you do not know me? Your uncle Petro? Truly how should -you? You were a babe in swaddling clothes when I left the island. But -look at me! Look at me, then! Have I not the same face as your -father—the blessed one? All have told me so.”</p> -<p>A sudden enlightenment came into Mattina’s eyes. Of course he -had her father’s face! The hair which came down in a point, the -eyes that laughed; that was why he had not seemed strange. But her -father had never worn such fine clothes, and his back had not been so -straight.</p> -<p>Timidly she crept a little closer.</p> -<p>“My uncle,” she whispered looking up into the laughing -boyish eyes, “are you my ‘family’ now?”</p> -<p>“Is it a question? Of course I am your family; and you are -mine. Your mother’s cousins here and her brother in Athens, they -good people, I do not say the contrary, but they have their own -families for which to provide. I have no one, and you are mine now, -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb103" href="#pb103" name= -"pb103">103</a>]</span>and I shall work for you. It is ended now that -you should work for strangers. You did well to leave them!”</p> -<p>“I did not mean to leave them; I did not know you were here on -the island, my uncle, but I was afraid, and I ran away from their -house.”</p> -<p>“Afraid! Why?”</p> -<p>Mattina flushed very red.</p> -<p>“They said I stole their money.”</p> -<p>“They called you a thief! My brother’s daughter! A bad -year to them! But why did you run away as thieves run? You should have -stayed and told them that they lied.”</p> -<p>“I told them. But they would not believe me though I swore it -on my father’s soul; and the master was going to fetch the men to -take me to prison, and I was afraid.”</p> -<p>“It is true, you are but a little one. But rest easy; no one -shall make you afraid, now that I am here! We will go together to these -people and if the master dares to say you stole, I will break his face -for him!”</p> -<p>And Mattina saw that her uncle’s laughing eyes could look very -fierce.</p> -<p>“Have you the money for which you served?” <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb104" href="#pb104" name="pb104">104</a>]</span></p> -<p>“No, they had not given it to me yet.”</p> -<p>“We will get it. Rest easy! And how much did they agree to pay -you for every month?”</p> -<p>“Eight drachmæ.”</p> -<p>“Are they not ashamed? It is not even two dollars. And -doubtless they made you work hard for it, eh?”</p> -<p>“There was always work, yes; but ….”</p> -<p>“But what?”</p> -<p>“She said that … that at New Year I should have a -present. And now … now ….”</p> -<p>And Mattina suddenly realizing that the present, the long dreamed of -present, was lost for ever, burst into wild sobs.</p> -<p>“Bah! Bah! And is it for their miserable present that you are -spoiling your heart’s content? Am I not here to get you a far -more beautiful present?”</p> -<p>Mattina lifted streaming eyes, full of wonder.</p> -<p>“You!”</p> -<p>“Who else? And what shall the present be?”</p> -<p>The heavens seemed opening in glory before Mattina’s dazzled -eyes. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb105" href="#pb105" name= -"pb105">105</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Can I say whatever I like?”</p> -<p>“Surely.”</p> -<p>“Then I want … there is a picture in a shop in Athens, -with a broad golden frame; it is the sea, and a boat on it with a white -sail, and you can see the sail in the water all long and wavy, and if -you touch the water, you think your finger will be wet. That is what I -want.”</p> -<p>“You shall have your picture; we will hang it in our house in -Lexington, where there is no sea, and it will remind us of our -island.”</p> -<p>“Shall we not live here in Poros, my uncle?”</p> -<p>“Here? Not yet! I am young still, and strong, and I mean to -earn more money in America than I have done already. Besides, I have to -think of providing your dowry now, you see. In good time, when I am -older, and you are a woman grown, then, if God wills it, we will return -to the island. It is not good to leave one’s bones in a strange -land. No; in eight days we go down to Piræus to leave for America -in a great big ship, bigger than you have ever seen before, even in -your sleep, and when we get there, to America, you shall see what your -eyes will see!” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb106" href= -"#pb106" name="pb106">106</a>]</span></p> -<p>“My uncle!”</p> -<p>“Yes.” Then as no words came, he added, “Say what -you want! You must not fear to ask for whatever your heart -desires.”</p> -<p>“My uncle, there is Zacharia too ….”</p> -<p>“What? The little one? I saw him at Kyra Kanella’s. He -is very little.” Just for a second the young man hesitated, -then—</p> -<p>“Can you care for him on the journey, my maid? A journey of -many days, mind you, with a sea which may make you ill; a rough green -sea with waves as high as houses; not like this blue joy here. Can -you?”</p> -<p>“Surely,” said Mattina, “I can do many -things.”</p> -<p>Her uncle looked at the sturdy little figure, and at the strong firm -little chin.</p> -<p>“I believe you can,” he said. “Come!” -holding out his hand, “let us go and find the little -rascal.” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb109" href="#pb109" name= -"pb109">109</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div class="footnotes"> -<hr class="fnsep"> -<div class="footnote-body"> -<p class="footnote"><span class="label"><a class="noteref" id= -"xd25e378" href="#xd25e378src" name="xd25e378">1</a></span> <i>Kyra</i> -means Dame, or Goody: thus, Goody Kanella was Mattina’s aunt. At -the end of the book there are notes marked 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., explaining -the meaning of the Greek words used, and describing briefly certain -events in Greek history. <a class="fnarrow" href= -"#xd25e378src">↑</a></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch2" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#xd25e302">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">THE FINDING OF THE CAVE</h2> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">I</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">It is a great thing to be a Zamana, and of the right -branch, too. At least that is what little Pavlo Zamana had always been -told.</p> -<p>Was it not his own great-grandfather who had fought at the siege of -Missolonghi?<a href="#n2.1"><sup>1</sup></a> Was it not he who had -suggested the famous message to the Turks: “If you want our town, -come and take it!” though it was the sender who got the credit -for it? Was not he one of the leaders of the last heroic sortie, on the -never-to-be-forgotten tenth of April? And did not Botzari say of him, -“Without my right hand, I can do something, without Zamana, -nothing”?</p> -<p>All this was most gratifying when Pavlo was at school; especially -when new boys arrived, for the old ones had heard the story pretty -often. And of course it was always a proud moment when the history -master came <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb110" href="#pb110" name= -"pb110">110</a>]</span>to the siege of Missolonghi, and rolled out the -names of Botzari,<a href="#n2.2"><sup>2</sup></a> Palama, Tricoupi, -Pappalouka, Razikotsika, Kapsali, Zamana, to be able to whisper very -audibly, “That was my great-grandfather!”</p> -<p>But it was less interesting at home, when he could never cry in -peace over a barked knee, or howl if there were a splinter to be dug -out which had gone in deeply, or feel very sad when a visit to the -dentist was projected, without being always told:—</p> -<p>“Shame! Shame! And you a Zamana!”</p> -<p>And the fact remained, whether it was that the blood had weakened by -the time it had come down to Pavlo, or whether some of his other -grandfathers or grandmothers had been built in a less heroic mould, -that when he had to go up into a dark attic to look for a book for his -uncle, or to face an aggressive band of schoolboys waiting with stones -in their hands round a street corner, he did not feel at all as a -Zamana should; oh, but not at all!</p> -<p>There had been a great many Zamanas, but they had all died, some at -home and some abroad, and only two were left now; a middle-aged doctor, -and a little boy. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb111" href="#pb111" -name="pb111">111</a>]</span></p> -<p>The doctor was Pavlo’s uncle, and he lived in a gloomy house -in Solon Street, in Athens, and when he was at home he was always very -busy writing, and had to be called again and again when dinner or -supper was ready.</p> -<p>“I have come; I have come!” he would answer impatiently, -but he never came till the pilaf<a href="#n2.3"><sup>3</sup></a> was -all sodden, or the “keftedes”<a href= -"#n2.4"><sup>4</sup></a> had stuck to the dish in little rounds of cold -fat.</p> -<p>The little boy was Pavlo, and he lived with his uncle.</p> -<p>The house in Solon Street was not an interesting house to live in -one bit. It was tall and narrow, jammed in between another tall narrow -house on one side, and a green grocer’s shop on the other, and -one could only see the Acropolis,<a href="#n2.5"><sup>5</sup></a> and -Phalerum and the sea if one got up to the terrace on the roof, where -they hung out the clothes to dry; and even from there it looked very -far off. There was not a scrap of garden, only a small paved courtyard -at the back, generally littered with empty cases which had come from -abroad with new instruments and new books for the doctor. Pavlo -sometimes attempted to play house or shop in the biggest of these, but -Marina, the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb112" href="#pb112" name= -"pb112">112</a>]</span>cook, used to get very cross if he brought in -damp straw on his shoes over her freshly scrubbed kitchen, and the -other maid, Aphrodite, would screw up her ugly brown face, and bring -her thick black eyebrows together, and threaten that the next time he -got another big tear in his clothes from those great long packing nails -for her to mend, if she did not tell his uncle, they need never call -her “Aphrodite” again! His uncle heard her once, and said -laughingly that they need never have called her “Aphrodite” -at all, but Pavlo got his scolding all the same, for causing -unnecessary work, so that the packing cases had to be abandoned.</p> -<p>In winter it was better. After his preparation for next day’s -school was over, and before the long delayed supper, he would stay in -the little dining room, and lying flat on the floor in the warmth of -the big white Viennese stove, he would colour the pictures in the odd -numbers of an English illustrated medical journal, which his uncle had -given to be thrown away. There were very rarely what Pavlo considered -real pictures in them, and he got rather tired of colouring -“thoracic aortas” in <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb113" -href="#pb113" name="pb113">113</a>]</span>bright orange, and -“abdominal aortas” in pale green, and -“tracheæ” in stripes of purple and yellow; but now -and then he would come across some funny groups of little insects, and -once there was a picture of an operation in a hospital, where there -were any amount of doctors and nurses to be coloured, each one -differently. That picture lasted him three whole evenings, and would -have been even more successful than it was, if only the very best and -softest of his chalks, the crimson one, had not somehow got broken -inside the wood, so that it all came away in little pieces when he -tried to sharpen it, till at last there was nothing left but a little -stump of chalk without any wood, and anyone who has tried, knows how -hard it is to colour a whole dress with a little bit of chalk that one -cannot hold properly.</p> -<p>But when the days grew longer and warmer the dining room was too hot -for comfort; the study, even when the doctor was out, was always kept -locked, and Pavlo’s own bedroom on the third floor was even -hotter than the dining room. So he would end by taking his books or his -chalks into the hall, where at least there was a little coolness to be -had from the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb114" href="#pb114" name= -"pb114">114</a>]</span>chink under the front door. There he would sit -on the stairs, or lie flat on the floor, kicking up his heels as he -read or painted, till he knew every stringy part of the long strip of -gray, red-edged carpet that crossed the middle of the passage, and -every place where the paint, which had peeled off the once-painted -floor, had left curiously shaped patches, which only needed the touch -of a pencil here and there to turn into all sorts of faces. The yellow -walls, imitating veined marble, offered terrible temptation of the same -kind, but it was too dangerous; pencil marks on the walls would have -been seen at once. There was one spot, indeed, where the criss-cross of -veins made such an exact head of Hermes,<a href= -"#n2.6"><sup>6</sup></a> winged cap and all, with only the back of the -head and one ear missing, that Pavlo absolutely could not resist -touching it up, one long hot afternoon. He rubbed all the pencil marks -very carefully off afterwards, with his piece of india rubber, but this -had got so mixed up in his pocket with odds and ends of chalk and with -half a “loucoumi” that the rubbing-away marks were very red -and sticky and showed worse than the pencil ones. So Pavlo had been -rather frightened, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb115" href="#pb115" -name="pb115">115</a>]</span>till he discovered that by pushing the hat -stand a little nearer the study door, the place was quite hidden. -However, he dared not make any more attempts on the wall, and the -afternoon dragged wearily.</p> -<p>Of course, no playing in the street was ever allowed, but sometimes -when Marina the cook slipped out late to buy a bowl of -“yaourti”<a href="#n2.7"><sup>7</sup></a> for supper, or -some chicory for salad, she would take him with her, and he would stand -about while she bargained, envying the blue-pinafored boys of the -neighborhood tearing and whooping down the street or gathered together -over their marbles on the edge of the pavement. Pavlo played marbles at -his school near the National Library, when he managed to get there ten -minutes before lessons began; but the class-bell always rang in the -middle of the most interesting game, and the ten minutes between each -lesson were of no good because no play was allowed then, at that -school. Only the bigger classes could do as they liked, the little boys -were marshaled in order of size by one of the overlookers and marched -round and round the big courtyard, so that, as Pavlo heard the director -explaining to his uncle one <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb116" href= -"#pb116" name="pb116">116</a>]</span>day, “the little pupils -should have all the benefit of fresh air and exercise during this short -interval, without any danger of their minds being distracted from the -lesson they had just been taught!” But the “little -pupils’ ” minds were as a rule more occupied with the -secret exchange of pen nibs, the recognized school currency, than in -pondering over the last lesson.</p> -<p>And then, when June had passed into July, when summer in town was at -its hottest and dustiest, when the examinations were just over, and -there was not even school to break the monotony of the long empty days, -a wonderful change came into Pavlo’s life.</p> -<p>It happened like this.</p> -<p>One afternoon he had just got up from the enforced lying down with a -book, which he hated—especially as the book was not a new one, -but only <i>Louki Laras</i><a href="#n2.8"><sup>8</sup></a> which he -had read already four times, so that even if one skipped the -descriptions, the exciting parts were too familiar—and was -wandering about the house, a piece of bread in one hand and a piece of -chocolate in the other, when he came across Aphrodite packing his -uncle’s valise. He was <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb117" href= -"#pb117" name="pb117">117</a>]</span>going away, she told Pavlo, for -some days. There was nothing extraordinary in that. People were always -sending for the doctor from one part and another of the provinces, to -come and cure them, and Pavlo was quite accustomed to being alone in -the house with the two maids, and having his dinner and supper served -on a tray at one end of the dining room table. The only advantage of -this was that Marina let him choose his dinners, and that he could have -pilaf or even “halva”<a href="#n2.9"><sup>9</sup></a> two -days running, and need never touch soup or boiled meat all the time his -uncle was away.</p> -<p>But the extraordinary thing happened a few moments later, when his -uncle let himself into the house, and walked right up into the room -where the packing was going on.</p> -<p>“Is the valise full?” he inquired.</p> -<p>Aphrodite straightened herself up.</p> -<p>“It is full, Kyrie. I have put three soft shirts at the bottom -and the little black box which you gave me last night; the rest of your -things are in the middle, and there are two starched shirts under the -covering, and your traveling cap at the very top.”</p> -<p>“Is it quite full?” he repeated. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb118" href="#pb118" name="pb118">118</a>]</span></p> -<p>“If there is any other small thing you have forgotten, I can -slip it in between the clothes.”</p> -<p>“No, …” and his eyes wandered round the room and -rested on Pavlo who was looking out of the window with great interest -at two newspaper boys having a fight. “No, … I meant if -you could perhaps get a few things of the child’s in with mine. I -think that this time I shall take him with me.”</p> -<p>The street fight was forgotten, and a flushed, bewildered Pavlo with -wide open eyes caught hold of his uncle’s hand.</p> -<p>“Me! Take me with you!”</p> -<p>“Yes. How does the idea seem to you? This time I am going to -visit a sick man in Poros, the deputy of the island; and in that same -island I have an old school friend who lives there all summer through -with his family, and who has asked me again and again to go to see him; -so, how would you like to come with me to Poros, and all day long, -while I am busy, to play on the hill and in the woods behind the house -with the children? There are three or four of them, I -believe.”</p> -<p>“This evening shall we go?” <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb119" href="#pb119" name="pb119">119</a>]</span></p> -<p>“No,” laughed his uncle, “early to-morrow -morning.”</p> -<p>Even Aphrodite was quite nice about it, and turned all the -doctor’s things into a larger valise where there would be room -for Pavlo’s clothes also, without any grumbling or bringing -together of her thick black eyebrows as she did when she was cross; and -Marina sat up quite late mixing some -“kourabiedes”—cookies—for him to eat on the -way. She gave them to him herself wrapped up in two papers so that his -clothes should not get “all over fine sugar” when he was -starting for the station in the open carriage with his uncle, at six -o’clock the next morning. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb120" -href="#pb120" name="pb120">120</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">II</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">It was a wonderful day! The drive to the station -through the great empty squares and the half-awakened streets; the wait -in the railway station of the Monastiraki while his uncle bought the -tickets and Pavlo gazed open eyed at the little railed-in bookstall, -hung round with very brightly coloured pictures of various heroes of -the Revolution; the railway journey down to Piræus with all the -people getting out at Phalerum, towels in hand, for sea baths; the -landing stage at Piræus with the multitude of little blue and red -and green boats swaying on the sunny water; the climb up the side of -the white steamer; the fat kind-faced captain who greeted his uncle as -an old friend and himself as a new one and gave him the freedom of his -bridge; the steaming out of the harbour past the King’s Summer -House<a href="#n2.10"><sup>10</sup></a> surrounded by its great aloes -and its little baby pines, past the grave of Themistocles<a href= -"#n2.11"><sup>11</sup></a> <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb121" href= -"#pb121" name="pb121">121</a>]</span>gloriously placed in eternal view -of Salamis,<a href="#n2.12"><sup>12</sup></a> past the long breakwater -and the lighthouse, and so out into the open sea; the stop at -Ægina with its big-sailed boats and shouting boatmen crowding all -round the steamer; the sighting opposite Methana of the “stone -ship” and the breathless listening to its legend, of its captain -the nereid who was turned into stone with all her ship for -presumptuously attempting to surpass the moon in swiftness; the thrill -of seeing a real dolphin swimming alongside the steamer, … all -these and more, made the journey a dream of delight to Pavlo, from -which he was almost in fear of awaking to the ordinary every-day life -of Solon Street. He forgot to be hungry. It was his uncle who after all -reminded him of the packet of crushed and crumbly -“kourabiedes” which he had quite forgotten on a bench -beside him; and though he did eat them, they might as well have been -dry bread for all the pleasure he got out of them.</p> -<p>In a little while after leaving Methana they passed a lighthouse on -a rock, and the steamer turned round the corner of it.</p> -<p>“There is Poros!” said his uncle, suddenly <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb122" href="#pb122" name= -"pb122">122</a>]</span>laying his hand on Pavlo’s shoulder and -twisting him round; and there it was.</p> -<p>A little white village with red roofs, and here and there a big -round pine or a tall narrow cypress all climbing up a hill to an old -ruined mill at the top.</p> -<p>There was a glorious open bay, and red and orange-sailed fishing -boats were sailing about it, and there were tall hills covered with -olive trees to the right, and tall hills covered with pine trees to the -left. And in the pines nestled a red house, and Pavlo’s uncle -pointed it out to him.</p> -<p>“See, there is my friend’s house! There is where you -will play with the children; across there! Do you see?”</p> -<p>Pavlo saw, and his cup of happiness was full, for he saw no trimly -set-out garden with elaborate flower-beds such as he had once seen at -Kiphissia, with “Do not touch” plainly written all over it, -but hollows and crags where lentisk and thyme bushes grew strong and -thick, and open hillside, and trees and trees and trees around and -behind the house, from the top of the hill right down to the seashore, -promising endless possibilities for climbing and hiding. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb123" href="#pb123" name="pb123">123</a>]</span></p> -<p>The steamer stopped quite close up to the village, and Pavlo and his -uncle shook hands with the fat kind-faced captain and thanked him and -climbed down into a little swaying boat which in three or four -oar-strokes brought them to the side of the sea-wall. Doctor Zamana got -out.</p> -<p>“Stay there, Pavlo,” he said, “while I go up and -keep a room at the hotel, and then we shall go on at once to the Red -House; and after I leave you there, I can return and see my -patient.”</p> -<p>So Pavlo stayed, dipping his hands over the side of the boat into -the sea, and watching the boy not much bigger than himself, and the -brown-faced, blind, old boatman, at their oars, but feeling too shy to -speak to them.</p> -<p>In a few minutes his uncle came out of the hotel door, crossed the -sea-road and stepped down into the boat. Then the oars were dipped into -the water, the shining drops ran off the long blades, and they were off -again.</p> -<p>Pavlo, who was more accustomed to carriages than to boats, pulled -timidly at his uncle’s sleeve. <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb124" href="#pb124" name="pb124">124</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Will you not tell them, my uncle, to go to the Red -House?”</p> -<p>His uncle looked at him and laughed.</p> -<p>“Is not the helm in my own hand, little stupid one?”</p> -<p>And the old blind boatman and the boy rowed right across the shining -bay, getting nearer and nearer to the Red House.</p> -<p>Pavlo’s eyes opened wider at each plash of the oars, and he -quite forgot to be shy at the thought that he was going to meet new -people.</p> -<p>He had never seen such a pretty house before in all his life!</p> -<p>The villagers called it “the Red House on the hill”; but -in reality it was rather a soft old Venetian pink than red, and the -blending of this old pink into the masses of golden green around it, -was a joy to the eyes; even to the eyes of little boys, though they did -not exactly know why. The shape of the house was delightful, it was -low, wide, two-storied, with jutting stone balconies on the second -floor. A monster bougainvillea spread its dark leaves and regally -purple flowers round the southern windows, and the eastern ones looked -out on <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb125" href="#pb125" name= -"pb125">125</a>]</span>the open sea through the pretty paler green -leaves of a wistaria, whose mauve bunches of flowers reached up to the -round balcony. The whole house was set on a very long and very wide -terrace, and at equal distances along the balustrade of short columns, -were placed big stone vases of geraniums of all colours. There was a -ruby one with the sunshine on it which made Pavlo think with regret of -his crimson chalk, the one that had broken all to bits. A long broad -flight of stone steps flanked by more geraniums, by big flowering -oleanders and great gray-green aloes led down from the side of the -terrace to the little landing stage. It seemed to Pavlo that a whole -multitude of people was coming down these steps to meet them, and he -felt very shy again; but after he had stepped out of the boat helped by -various outstretched hands, the multitude resolved itself into five -people and three dogs.</p> -<p>There was the master of the Red House, tall and broad, who looked, -Pavlo thought, like an officer without his uniform, and there were four -children, two little girls and two smaller boys; there was a big black -poodle, a fox-terrier, and a little white dog, of no particular -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb126" href="#pb126" name= -"pb126">126</a>]</span>breed, with pointed ears. He was the special -property of the eldest girl, and when Pavlo first caught sight of him, -he had got hold of her skirt between his teeth and was shaking it -vigorously, which he always did whenever he felt excited.</p> -<p>When Pavlo’s uncle was also out of the boat, there was the -usual exchange of useless and embarrassing remarks, which according to -Pavlo’s experience grown-ups always make on first meetings. Later -on, when he came to compare impressions, he found that it was also the -painful experience of the Four!</p> -<p>“Oh, is this your little nephew?”</p> -<p>“Are all the four yours? Fine children truly! May they live to -you, my friend! Quite a Zamana, did you say? Well, yes; but is there -not something of his mother in the shape of the mouth? This boy now, is -you all over again, I think I see you at his age!”</p> -<p>“Yes, they tell me he is like me.”</p> -<p>“The little one also, I think.”</p> -<p>“Oh, no! Nikias has the long face of his mother’s -family.” And Nikias, the little boy, whose legs were too thin for -his socks, wriggled uncomfortably. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb127" -href="#pb127" name="pb127">127</a>]</span></p> -<p>“The second girl is the image of your mother. What a fine -woman she was! And this one, what lovely fair hair, and how -long!”</p> -<p>And Pavlo from the bottom of his heart pitied the poor eldest girl -who with a crimsoning face had to submit to be turned round and round -while the fair hair was duly admired and while she was told that she -was worthy of her name, which was Chryseis.</p> -<p>“You had a good journey?”</p> -<p>“Excellent. The sea was oil, not water.”</p> -<p>“You will stay long I hope.”</p> -<p>“It depends on my patient; I heard in the village that he was -better to-day.”</p> -<p>“This young man will stay with us, of course?”</p> -<p>“He will be delighted to come, as often as your children want -him.”</p> -<p>“To come! Nonsense! He must stay here entirely. I only wish I -had room to keep you also, but he can sleep with the boys. What would -he do at the hotel or in the village while you are absent? Of course he -must stay here. There can be no question about it. What do you say, -little one? Will you not stay?”</p> -<p>The second girl, Andromache, whose hair had <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb128" href="#pb128" name="pb128">128</a>]</span>been -cut short after a fever, and now waved all round her head, nudged his -arm.</p> -<p>“Say yes! Say yes! It will be splendid!”</p> -<p>Pavlo, wishing nothing better, nodded shyly, and was at once taken -possession of by the Four, the three dogs barking and yapping at their -heels, to be shown all the delights of the Red House and of its -hill.</p> -<p>First of all he was taken into the long cool dining room to be -introduced to the mother of the Four, who had been arranging fruit in -glass dishes, and who hurried forward to greet his uncle. Then, with a -big bunch of grapes thrust into his bewildered hands by Andromache, who -declared that “Mother has plenty more in the basket,” they -started to see everything. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb129" href= -"#pb129" name="pb129">129</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">III</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">And what was Pavlo not shown on that first wonderful -day?</p> -<p>Everyone knows how one’s nice things feel nicer when they are -shown to a stranger for the first time, and how even old things of -which one has tired regain something of their first charm. The Four -were very proud and very fond, each in his or her different way, of -their house, and their hill and their sea; so it seemed as though they -would never tire of showing little things to Pavlo.</p> -<p>First of all he was taken up to the big pine, the oldest tree on the -hill. Under this were benches and a round table where, as they told -him, they had their lessons out of doors when the governess was in a -particularly good mood. For there was a temporary summer governess -somewhere in the house, but as it was holiday time, she was not allowed -to make herself too much of a nuisance except for an hour or so every -morning. From the big pine, one could <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb130" href="#pb130" name="pb130">130</a>]</span>see all the hills -around, and the Monastery Road, and the open sea, and the Naval School, -and the Narrow Beach, on which as Pavlo was told, one could see the -sailors drilling.</p> -<p>Behind the big pine was the wood of small pines, all over anemones -in the spring and cyclamen in the autumn. It was softly and greenly -dark in this little wood; the ground was strewn with pine needles, so -many of them that they made a thick carpet, and there were shady -corners where, as Chryseis told Pavlo, you could lie on the pine -needles and read, and read, and read, for ages before you were -discovered. Higher still was an open clearing and, at the end of it, -the little hill-gate through which one passed from the hill of the Red -House on to the other hills, and if one turned to the left, one got -down to the big Beach of the little Pines.</p> -<p>He was raced down to the bath cabin on the shore, and shown all the -extraordinary drawings which decorated the inside of it, to which all -the members of the family had contributed, but more especially Chryseis -and Iason the eldest boy. Pavlo, in fact, admired the funny faces drawn -by the latter so whole-heartedly as to make the artist flush with -pride. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb131" href="#pb131" name= -"pb131">131</a>]</span></p> -<p>“To-morrow you will bathe with us,” announced -Andromache. For that day the bath was already over; besides, the -grown-ups had some sort of an idiotic notion that one must let a day -pass after a journey, before beginning sea-baths.</p> -<p>Then up they raced again among the pines, scrambling through the -lentisk and thyme bushes, to show Pavlo the little house which they had -built themselves of stones and branches. One could really get into this -if one took care to stoop properly; and it was a splendid place for the -hoarding of biscuits and raisins, and for amateur cooking of all sorts. -By this time, it was getting too hot even for the Four, so that they -got under the wide-spreading shadow of the big pine and sat around on -the benches and talked, while the warm pine smell filled their -nostrils, and the tettix<a href="#n2.13"><sup>13</sup></a> chirped -loudly on all sides. Andromache, who was of an uncanny cleverness in -catching them, swarmed up a pine tree and brought one down enclosed in -her two hands turned into an impromptu cage, through the fingers of -which, Pavlo peeped at the whirring prisoner. The black poodle, -Kerberos, threw himself <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb132" href= -"#pb132" name="pb132">132</a>]</span>panting loudly on the ground; -Deko, the little dog, sat on his haunches beside Chryseis, cocked his -little pointed ears and looked about him; while Philos, the fox -terrier, dug vigorously at the roots of the nearest lentisk bush. He -scratched his face, he stopped repeatedly to shake his head violently -and to sneeze, then he would begin again, snuffing and digging as if -the work were very important indeed, and there were no time to -lose.</p> -<p>“Where do you live in Athens?” asked Iason, nursing a -much scratched knee.</p> -<p>Pavlo told them.</p> -<p>“Just alone with your uncle?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“And your father and mother? Do you not remember -them?”</p> -<p>“My mother, … no, … I was very small. My father -just a little. I remember playing with the tassel of his sword. You -know that my great-grandfather ….”</p> -<p>“Oh, stop! Stop!” cried the two boys and Andromache in -chorus; “we know all <i>that</i>!”</p> -<p>Chryseis told them that they were very rude, but they went on -determinedly:—</p> -<p>“Four times yesterday, when they knew you <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb133" href="#pb133" name="pb133">133</a>]</span>were -coming, did we hear the story. Once father told us, once mother, once -Kyria Penelope, that is the governess, you know, and once we had it for -a dictation lesson out of the History of the Revolution; so we know all -about what your great-grandfather did, and all Botzari said about him, -and how brave you must be and everything.”</p> -<p>Pavlo flushed a little, and felt quite grateful to Chryseis who -changed the subject.</p> -<p>“What do you do all alone in the house?” she asked.</p> -<p>“Oh, just nothing; I paint sometimes, and once I went to -Kiphissia, and once to a circus.”</p> -<p>“Can you ride?”</p> -<p>Pavlo shook his head.</p> -<p>“Ride? Oh, no!”</p> -<p>“<i>I</i> can,” said Iason, “and she can, -too,” nodding his head towards Chryseis. “Father has -another horse over on the mainland, besides his own, which can be -ridden; and we go with him in turns.”</p> -<p>“Mother says,” put in Andromache, “that when her -ship comes in, she will buy horses for all of us, and a real motor -boat, too.”</p> -<p>“When I am big,” said Chryseis, whose <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb134" href="#pb134" name= -"pb134">134</a>]</span>stories “out of her head,” were -generally in request, “I shall write a lot of stories in a book, -and sell hundreds and thousands of it, and give all the money to -mother, and then she can buy anything, and a new grand piano, too, for -father!”</p> -<p>“You cannot write a real book, if you cannot spell -properly,” retorted Andromache, whose spelling was her strong -point.</p> -<p>“Yes, I can. The printers do all that part.”</p> -<p>“No, you cannot!”</p> -<p>“Yes, I can!”</p> -<p>“Well, try then! But when <i>I</i> am big I shall marry a very -rich American and I shall go away with him to America, and I shall send -a whole ship full of money back to mother, so that she will not need -your stupid old books.”</p> -<p>“No one will ever marry you,” put in Iason, “you -are too cross!”</p> -<p>“Yes, they will, I tell you!”</p> -<p>“I know!” cried the little boy, Nikias; “I know -why she is so sure, because she has taught Katerina when she finishes -washing her hair instead of wishing her as she always used to, -‘And a fine bridegroom some day,’ to say ‘And an -American!’ I know because I heard her <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb135" href="#pb135" name="pb135">135</a>]</span>when -I was waiting my turn for the bath in mother’s room!”</p> -<p>There was loud laughter and Andromache flew at Nikias with tooth and -nail for telling overheard secrets, and the struggle which ensued, and -at which Pavlo looked on in secret dismay, was Homeric. Traces of it -were visible at lunch time but were attributed to “playing -soldiers.” The Four of the Red House were not tell-tales; that is -one good thing I can say of them.</p> -<p>After lunch they were condemned to afternoon rest. The reason given -being that Pavlo had been up so early, and they trooped sadly upstairs; -but Iason, who was nothing if not inventive, comforted them.</p> -<p>“When they are all asleep, you girls come into our room and we -will take all the sheets off the beds and fix them up with broom -handles and pretend we are deserters in a cave and soldiers coming -after them.”</p> -<p>The sheets, with the aid of the broom handles and sundry wooden -clothes pegs, which Andromache managed to secure by a barefooted -expedition to the wash house, made a splendid cave, but the triumphant -discovery of the deserters <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb136" href= -"#pb136" name="pb136">136</a>]</span>by the soldiers was a little -noisy, and the mother of the Four coming unexpectedly on the scene, -wisely chose the lesser of two evils, and turned them all out of doors -quite early in the afternoon while the soft wind was still -blowing,—the soft sweet sea “batti”<a href= -"#n2.14"><sup>14</sup></a> that makes a swish, swish in the pine -branches and shakes down the geranium petals from the stone vases on -the terrace; that blows coolly in one’s face while all the -grown-ups are stupidly lying down for afternoon sleeps.</p> -<p>The Four and Pavlo tore madly up the hill and, throwing themselves -down on the pine needles under the trees, graciously signified to -Chryseis that she “might tell stories.”</p> -<p>So the long fair hair was tossed back, the eyebrows were puckered -for a moment, and then the quick little voice began:—</p> -<p>“There was once upon a time a dryad who lived in a great big -tree ….”</p> -<p>Good old Kerberos had allowed Nikias to make a pillow of his soft -black body, Philos lay curled up with his nose between his paws, and -Deko stretched out his forelegs as far as they would stretch, making a -prodigious curve in the middle of his back; then suddenly righting -himself <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb137" href="#pb137" name= -"pb137">137</a>]</span>he sat back on his haunches, twitched his -pointed ears backwards and forwards and prepared to listen with the -rest.</p> -<p>Over their heads the “batti” made a soft roar as of the -sea, in the pine branches the fir cones cracked in the heat, and far -away over the Narrow Beach there were white-tipped waves on the open -sea, that made Andromache whisper to Pavlo, “It will not be too -hot later on; they will let us go to the Monastery.”</p> -<p>It was glorious! glorious! glorious! Certainly the Four had no words -then to describe how they loved it all. Since then, Iason has turned -some of the glory of those days into verse, and those who read it, feel -the warm scent of the pine, the note of the tettix, and the blue of -that sea, but he and the other three know that only when colour-words -are invented can the real beauty of those sights and sounds be -expressed! <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb138" href="#pb138" name= -"pb138">138</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">IV</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">In the days that followed, Athens and Solon Street and -the thick dust of the streets and Aphrodite’s cross frown seemed -very far away indeed to Pavlo; even of his uncle he saw very little; -now and then the doctor came to luncheon or to dinner on the terrace, -but already he seemed to belong to a past life. There was so much to -see and to do! There were delightful torpedo boats to watch, steaming -in and out of the bay and sometimes passing quite close under the -terrace; there were the long narrow boats from the Naval School, full -of new sailors learning how to row; there was fishing with home-made -bamboo rods off the end of the landing stage, while the broad flapping -straw hats which they were all obliged to wear because of the sun were -weighted down on the ground with stones, so as to be better out of -their way, as soon as the grown-ups were not looking; there was -fire-fishing with spearing rods from the boat at nights when there was -no moon; <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb139" href="#pb139" name= -"pb139">139</a>]</span>there were rambling afternoon walks to the -Monastery or to the beach of the little pines; there were longer -expeditions to the Devil’s Bridge, to the lemon wood, or up to -the Seven Mills;<a href="#n2.15"><sup>15</sup></a> there were visits to -the funny little shops of the village in search of picture post cards, -or even of what sweets Poros could supply, when the town stock ran out. -For of course, visiting aunts and uncles and cousins generally brought -proper boxes of chocolates and sweets from Athens; and though the -grown-ups never failed to repeat the same stupid remarks such as, -“How you are spoiling the children!” or, “Indeed that -was quite unnecessary!” still visitors scarcely ever failed to -fulfill this elementary duty. Once, a certain absent-minded uncle so -far forgot his obligations, as to bring only some silly old caramels, -and Pavlo heard all the abuse that was lavished on him.</p> -<div class="figure p138width" id="p138"><img src="images/p138.jpg" alt= -"THERE WAS SO MUCH TO DO" width="468" height="720"> -<p class="figureHead">THERE WAS SO MUCH TO DO</p> -</div> -<p>There were the delicious long-stretched-out sea baths, -notwithstanding the unfortunate governess’s cries of, “You -are staying too long in the water! Come out this very minute!” -There were swimming matches between Chryseis and Iason; and there was -under water swimming by Andromache. As for poor Nikias, <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb140" href="#pb140" name="pb140">140</a>]</span>his -sea-bathing usually took place on dry land, under the shelter of the -pines, where he would flee wet and naked for refuge, till his elders -were safely out of the water. It is true, the others were very -merciless and he was only eight years old, and when they caught him and -dipped him, they dipped him <i>so</i> far down, and kept him <i>so</i> -long under!</p> -<p>There were endless games on the hill, of soldiers, of robbers, of -outlaws, of Turks, in which Pavlo for the first two or three days was -politely allowed to be Kanaris, Athanasios Diakos, Odysseus Androutsos, -Marcos Botzaris, or his own great-grandfather, according to the moment, -but afterwards was obliged to take his turn at being a Turk, or at -commanding a big Turkish frigate represented by three long planks -behind the servants’ quarters. Two of the Four were his crew, and -the two others,—for of course they always had to be inferior in -numbers or where would the bravery be?—were Miaoulis<a href= -"#n2.16"><sup>16</sup></a> and his devoted followers, heroically bent -on blowing up the frigate, or perishing in the attempt.</p> -<p>Then there were stories read or told on the terrace in the hour -before dinner, by the mother <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb141" href= -"#pb141" name="pb141">141</a>]</span>of the Four, when Nikias would -climb up on the arm of her chair, or even sometimes, if it were getting -pretty dark, on her knees, and listen with both eyes and ears, and -Iason would draw funny men or officers while he listened. All the old -tales of Theseus and Heracles, and King Midas, and the winged Pegasus -were retold, and the fairy tales of the King’s daughter with her -three wonderful dresses, the Sea with its Fish, the Earth with its -Flowers, and the Heavens with their Stars; and the tale of the Pacha -with his three pairs of slippers. There were French tales too, of the -heroes who rode through the valley of Roncesvalles, of Roland, and -Ganelon; and even, for the mother of the Four had lived abroad in -England in the remote past, English tales, of knights and ladies with -curious names, of whom Pavlo had never heard; of Enid and -Geraint<span class="corr" id="xd25e2331" title="Not in source">,</span> -of Lancelot, of Pelleas, and Gareth and the Lady Lyonors.</p> -<p>And while the tales were told the sky turned into a lovely golden -pink behind the pines, and the stars came out one by one. Iason knew -many of their names and would show Pavlo the exact spot on the terrace -from which one <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb142" href="#pb142" name= -"pb142">142</a>]</span>could see the whole of the Great Bear, and how -the Scorpion dipped its tail behind the hill over Galata.<a href= -"#n2.17"><sup>17</sup></a></p> -<p>Of course the shadow of lessons did occasionally fall across the -sunshine. The village schoolmaster came over in a boat twice a week for -the boys, and there was a family of friends living in the -“Garden” on the mainland who had a French holiday -governess, and every other day the Four went across in the small boat -with Kyria Penelope, and Greek and French lessons were exchanged. But -even so, there were ways and means. Pavlo overheard Chryseis early one -morning reproaching her sister:—</p> -<p>“You have only written half your verb, and you do not know -your poetry at all! Mademoiselle will be furious again. You will have -pages and pages to write afterwards.”</p> -<p>“No!” declared Andromache stoutly, “I shall -not!”</p> -<p>“But you will. There is no time to learn anything now. It is -time to start.”</p> -<p>“I shall learn nothing, and I shall have nothing to -write.”</p> -<p>“How will you manage?” <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb143" href="#pb143" name="pb143">143</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Wait, and you will see,” answered Andromache darkly, -shaking her short wavy hair.</p> -<p>They all ran down the long flight of steps to the sea, and Yanni the -boatman was already settling the boat cushions. The big clock of the -Naval School was just on the last stroke of eight and the boys had -entreated Kyria Penelope to wait till the flag went up on the tower, as -Iason wanted to run their boat flag up on its pole at the same -moment.</p> -<p>His hand was holding the rope loosely, and all eyes were fixed on -the square tower of the Naval School, waiting for the signal.</p> -<p>Bam! Boum! went the morning gun, and the lovely old blue and white -flag rose majestically to the top of the flagstaff.</p> -<p>At the same moment, with naval precision, Iason pulled the rope, and -the little boat flag was waving at the top of its pole; and almost at -the same moment, Splash! went Andromache into the sea, books and -all.</p> -<p>A shrill shriek followed, as Kyria Penelope went down on her knees -on the landing stage, and flapped helpless arms over the water.</p> -<p>But the boatman was there and the boys too, and the next moment a -drenched, dripping, sea-weedy <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb144" -href="#pb144" name="pb144">144</a>]</span>Andromache was standing in -the midst of them, little pools of water rapidly forming all round her. -Yanni was reaching out for two floating books, and a soaked copy-book -was slowly sinking beyond recovery.</p> -<p>“If I could possibly imagine,” said the poor innocent -governess, who had no small brothers and sisters at home, “that -you would jump into the sea on purpose, I would keep all the others -waiting, till you changed your wet clothes; but as such a thing is -<i>quite</i> impossible, you may stay at home to-day and not delay -us.”</p> -<p>And such a thing being <i>quite</i> impossible, naughty Andromache -stayed comfortably at home, finished all the chocolates out of her box; -successfully fished out a big bunch of grapes through a hole in the -wire netting of the store room window, carefully enlarged by the boys; -visited the kitchen and learned all about the cook’s little -nieces and nephews and what their names were and how old they were; -stood outside the gate watching the “trata”<a href= -"#n2.18"><sup>18</sup></a> and did a whole host of other equally -pleasant and forbidden things.</p> -<p>That same afternoon they went to the Monastery <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb145" href="#pb145" name="pb145">145</a>]</span>with -ten “lepta” each, with which to buy and light a taper in -the Chapel.</p> -<p>“Look at Kyria Penelope!” cried Chryseis. “She has -stopped to tie her shoe lace again; it is always coming untied. Let us -run on to the cave; we shall have time to get in before she reaches -us!”</p> -<p>The magic word “cave” sufficed, and they were all off -racing down the hill and up again towards the second bridge.</p> -<p>It was not a real cave, Chryseis jerkily explained to Pavlo as they -ran; only a dark hole in the earth under the bridge, and it was not -mysterious at all and did not seem to lead anywhere, but the governess -would never let them look properly into it. Over on the mainland there -were some splendid real caves, that real robbers and deserters had -hidden in; and in the old days people who were escaping from the Turks; -but the Four had only been there once and then they were with -grown-ups.</p> -<p>“Lambro the shepherd told me,” panted Iason, “that -there is one here on the island over on the other side of the hills, -near the beach of Vayonia. A great big dark cave with a small opening, -and you go in and in and never <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb146" -href="#pb146" name="pb146">146</a>]</span>find the end. He says there -were old swords and guns hidden there and … all sorts of things. -I mean to look for it some day.”</p> -<p>“Will they let us?” asked Nikias, stooping to pull up a -sock which threatened to cover his shoe entirely.</p> -<p>“Let us!” said Iason contemptuously; “they -<i>never</i> let us! But we will go!”</p> -<p>The cave under the bridge was nothing but a small hole full of -cobwebs and dry leaves. However, they all managed to wriggle in and -wriggle out again, dirty, but triumphant, before Kyria Penelope, hot -and protesting, came up to them. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb147" -href="#pb147" name="pb147">147</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">V</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">Of course Pavlo’s uncle had finished all he had -to do in Poros long before this time, but it so happened that another -summons had called him on to Nauplia, and it had been settled that -while he was there, Pavlo should stay on at the Red House and that his -uncle should spend one more day in Poros on his way back, and then that -both should return together to Athens. There had been cries of delight -over this arrangement, and Andromache had expressed a wish that the -patient in Nauplia might have a nice proper illness. He need not die, -of course, she added, but just be ill enough to want to keep the doctor -from Athens near him for a long time.</p> -<p>So it was strange that the very day after this, Pavlo should have -been lying on his face under the pines in the small wood, crying his -heart out.</p> -<p>For alas and alack, it had daily been getting more and more -difficult to live up to all that <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb148" -href="#pb148" name="pb148">148</a>]</span>was expected of his name, and -this particular morning it had been worse than impossible. He had been -at the gate with the girls and the three dogs watching the -“trata.” For him, it was a new sight, and the Four were -never tired of looking at the fishermen and the fisher boys with their -bare brown limbs, wet and glistening in the sun, pulling all together -at the ropes, and emptying all the squirming little silver fishes out -of the long net.</p> -<p>And while they were standing about and watching, a big yellow sheep -dog had rushed down the hill, and though at first he had contented -himself harmlessly enough with sniffing at ropes and the nets, Deko -who, it is true, was always very impertinent to big dogs, had provoked -him. Chryseis snatched Deko up in her arms, and Andromache seizing -Philos screamed for help, for the sheep dog was ready to spring at -them. Then the two boys rushing down to the rescue from the top of the -hill, instead of finding Pavlo standing in front of the girls, found -him <i>behind</i> the trunk of a mimosa tree, staring horror-struck at -the big snarling yellow brute, whom they drove howling away with two -well-directed stones. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb149" href= -"#pb149" name="pb149">149</a>]</span></p> -<p>Then Iason had turned fiercely on Pavlo:—</p> -<p>“You may be a Zamana as much as you like; you are a coward all -the same!” and even Nikias had echoed jeeringly:—</p> -<p>“Coward! Coward!”</p> -<p>And then Pavlo had fled blindly to the shelter of the dark little -wood.</p> -<p>He longed, as he lay there sobbing, that it might be possible never -to see any of them again. For he had found out from the first that for -the Four the great rule was, “Never be afraid, and if you are, -mind you hide it!” Of course they knew that Nikias shirked being -dipped far down, or being held long under water. That was a family -misfortune, never mentioned before strangers, but on the other hand -even Nikias had only two days ago boldly attacked a long snake when it -glided out of a thick bush, round which Philos had been sniffing for so -long. He had struck at it with all his might on its flat head, and -while Anneza, the Andriote serving maid, had picked up her skirts -knee-high and fled down the hillside shrieking loud enough to be heard -over at Galata, he had followed, his little long face flushed with -triumph, his socks hanging <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb150" href= -"#pb150" name="pb150">150</a>]</span>over his shoes, and the corpse of -the victim dangling horribly at the end of a long stick.</p> -<p>“Were you not afraid, you little one?” his father had -asked; and Nikias answered that he had been just a little afraid when -it raised its head and hissed, but that Chryseis was so stupid that he -knew she would never sit comfortably under the big pine again with her -book, if she felt there were a snake, however harmless, wriggling about -in the bushes beside her, so that he had to kill it all the same; did -they not understand? And the mother of the Four had looked rather -proud, and the father had said:—</p> -<p>“Of course I understand.”</p> -<p>And Nikias was not yet eight years old, and he, Pavlo, was over -eleven!</p> -<p>So he lay there and sobbed, till Chryseis found him out and sat -beside him, and expressed her energetic opinion that her brothers were -“Pigs” because, of course, as she said, Pavlo had always -lived in Athens, and how was he to know that those fierce-looking sheep -dogs only require a stone thrown at them to run away; she even -succeeded in making him laugh a little, by relating how Andromache had -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb151" href="#pb151" name= -"pb151">151</a>]</span>once, when she was quite little, called an -officer who had offended her in some way “A <i>green</i> -pig!” No one had understood why, but the insult had evidently -been intended to be terrible. Then Chryseis had wiped his eyes with a -handkerchief which happened to be not so much “a rag of all -work” as the handkerchiefs of the Four generally were, and -brought him down to the house, to show him the pictures in the -Doré Dante which was usually reserved for rainy days or for -convalescence. The mother of the Four had wondered a little at this -very peaceful occupation in the middle of the morning, but was too wise -to make awkward enquiries.</p> -<p>There was a prolonged visit that same afternoon from the children of -the house in the “Garden,” which had made matters easier -for all, and by the evening everyone was too busy making plans for the -morrow, to think of past disagreeables.</p> -<p>It was to be the last day of Pavlo’s stay, and a picnic had -been proposed, a real picnic, with no accompanying governess. There was -some hesitation over this, but Andromache had urged that it was really -only fair to the poor creature <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb152" -href="#pb152" name="pb152">152</a>]</span>herself to give her a whole -day’s freedom now and then. “I suppose,” she added -thoughtfully, “we may be <i>rather</i> tiring -sometimes.”</p> -<p>At last, consent was obtained on two conditions, the first being -that they should be back early, the second, that they must promise to -obey Chryseis. This, they did not mind much, knowing of old that her -rule was mild. The picnic was to be somewhere on the hills behind the -Red House, wherever a nice shady spot should be found. Eatables were to -be packed in small hand baskets, so that each might carry his share; -and everyone was to wear his very oldest clothes.</p> -<p>The master of the House wanted to know why the enjoyment would not -be just the same if they simply carried their food to the big pine and -ate it there? But this question was treated with the contempt it -deserved. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb153" href="#pb153" name= -"pb153">153</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">VI</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">Happily, the next morning was wonderfully cool, for -July, for though they had all got up at impossible hours, by the time -all the baskets were packed and all the last recommendations given to -Kyria Penelope to look after poor Deko who had run a big thorn into his -foot and had to be left behind, it was nearly nine o’clock. In -fact the clock of the Naval School had just boomed out the -three-quarters when Iason turned the big key in the lock of the hill -gate.</p> -<p>They passed out in single file; all except Philos, who had found it -simpler to climb up the wall and jump down on the other side.</p> -<p>Iason hid the padlock safely in a big lentisk bush just outside the -gate, and then, standing up, faced the others, pointing up the thickly -wooded hill.</p> -<p>“Listen you! We are going straight up there, and down on the -other side towards Vayonia. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb154" href= -"#pb154" name="pb154">154</a>]</span>I am going to find that cave of -which Lambro the shepherd told me.”</p> -<p>Andromache and Nikias gave a united whoop of joy and were rushing -forward in the direction of the pointing finger, when Chryseis -cried:—</p> -<p>“Stop! Stop! It will be ever so much too far. We had better go -to the little chapel of Saint Stathi.”</p> -<p>“We have been there hundreds of times; and I tell you we may -never get such a splendid opportunity for the cave again.”</p> -<p>“But to Vayonia! So far …!” objected -Chryseis.</p> -<p>“Now, listen!” persisted Iason. “What did father -say last week, when I said we wanted to go to Vayonia?”</p> -<p>“He said, ‘We shall see.’ ”</p> -<p>“Well, that does not mean ‘no,’ does it? Only when -the grown-ups say, ‘We shall see,’ sometimes it does not -happen for a long time, and we want this to happen now, to-day, at -once!” Then as Chryseis still hung back, he added, “Of -course we will say where we have been, directly we get back. Come, -then!”</p> -<p>And Chryseis came. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb155" href= -"#pb155" name="pb155">155</a>]</span></p> -<p>The first part of the climb was uneventful. Kerberos plodded on -heavily and sedately, Philos of course stopped to dig round the roots -of nearly all the thyme and lentisk bushes on their way. Andromache, -who considered him her special dog, would catch him by the neck and -pull him off by main force, but in an instant he was back again, -digging frantically, shaking his head, sneezing and beginning all over -again.</p> -<p>After some time there was a rest under a clump of pines, and Nikias -suggested opening the baskets. But when the others all told him he was -“A greedy little pig!” he explained that he had only wanted -to see if Athanasia had not forgotten the peaches which he had seen on -the pantry shelf.</p> -<p>“And of course you would run back for them if she had!” -said Iason derisively.</p> -<p>“Wait till we get to the top,” said Chryseis.</p> -<p>So they started off again.</p> -<p>“Where shall you look for the big cave?” asked -Andromache, who was beginning to find her basket heavy and the sun hot. -“Did Lambro say if it were high on the hills above Vayonia, or to -the right near the vineyards?”</p> -<p>“Did you ever hear of a cave near vineyards, <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb156" href="#pb156" name= -"pb156">156</a>]</span>stupid?” answered Iason, whose basket was -heavier still as it had the bottles of water in it. “Lambro said -near the sea; so of course it will be to the left in the big -rocks.”</p> -<p>“You do not know really,” persisted Andromache, -“you only say ‘it will be.’ ”</p> -<p>“I never said I knew; I said ‘let us go and find -it!’ ” Suddenly he pointed some way above them, -“There is a shepherd! No, not there; on that little footpath -where the hill is bare. Let us ask if he knows!”</p> -<p>“Perhaps,” suggested Pavlo hopefully, “it may be -Lambro himself.”</p> -<p>“No,” answered the Four in chorus, “Lambro is -lame. See how this man jumps from one rock to another! Bah! Whatever is -he doing?”</p> -<p>The distant shepherd who seemed taller than any man they knew, was -waving his arms above his head, and the movements looked curious and -almost startling against the sky. When he caught sight of the children, -instead of continuing on his way quietly and heavily as most peasants -do, he seemed to stop short, to hesitate, and then suddenly using his -long shepherd’s crook as a vaulting pole he leapt over -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb157" href="#pb157" name= -"pb157">157</a>]</span>a piece of rock in his way, and came running -towards them.</p> -<p>“Good-day to you!” cried all the children as soon as he -was within hearing distance. He swung himself down to the little -plateau on which they were standing.</p> -<p>“May your day be good!” he answered, but as he said it, -he laughed a little.</p> -<p>The children looked at him curiously. At first sight he seemed one -of the ordinary shepherds of the hills with his short -“foustanella,”<a href="#n2.19"><sup>19</sup></a> his -coloured kerchief knotted over his head, and the long -“glitsa”<a href="#n2.20"><sup>20</sup></a> in his hand; but -certainly they had never seen such a strange-looking shepherd before. -He was extraordinarily tall and broad, a matted unkempt reddish beard -covered most of his face, and round the pale blue eyes nearly all the -white seemed to show. The “foustanella” was incredibly -dirty and ragged, the red kerchief greasy with age, half fallen off his -head. A brightly striped “tagari”<a href= -"#n2.21"><sup>21</sup></a> was slung over his shoulder.</p> -<p>“Perhaps you know,” asked Iason, “where there is a -big cave over on the other side of the slope, near Vayonia?”</p> -<p>“A cave?” the man twisted his fingers in the -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb158" href="#pb158" name= -"pb158">158</a>]</span>tangled beard as he spoke, “Who told you -of a cave?”</p> -<p>“Lambro, the shepherd, told me.”</p> -<p>“Many things does Lambro, the lame one know! Did he tell you -perhaps how one enters into this cave?” and the pale blue eyes -peered eagerly into the boy’s face.</p> -<p>“No; why? One enters by the entrance I suppose.”</p> -<p>The shepherd laughed.</p> -<p>“You say well! By the entrance of course, … by the -entrance. Ask also of Lambro who is so wise, how you may find the road -to the cave!”</p> -<p>Andromache pushed forward.</p> -<p>“And is Lambro here that we may ask him?” she said -impatiently. “What foolish talk is this? If you know where the -cave is, speak!”</p> -<p>The man turned his pale blue eyes on her.</p> -<p>“I must speak, must I? The little hens are crowing to-day, as -well as the little cocks!”</p> -<p>Iason turned to the others.</p> -<p>“Come!” he said, speaking in French, “the man -knows nothing, and he is trying to amuse himself with us.”</p> -<p>And they turned to continue their way up <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb159" href="#pb159" name="pb159">159</a>]</span>the -hill. But the shepherd touched the last one, who happened to be -Chryseis, on the shoulder, and unslinging his “tagari” -offered it to her.</p> -<p>“Take one!” he said; “let me befriend you with -one.”</p> -<p>He was still laughing, and he pushed his face close to hers as he -spoke. Chryseis, who was rather dainty, shrank back a little, but the -familiar words reassured her. The tagari evidently contained figs, or -perhaps almonds; and she knew what an insult the peasants consider it, -that one should refuse anything with which they offer to -“befriend” you. So she stretched out her hand over the -half-closed tagari, but drew back in alarm. It was full of earth and -stones!</p> -<p>The man threw his head back and laughed loudly and discordantly.</p> -<p>Iason turned on him, like the little cock he had been called.</p> -<p>“Now then!” he cried, pushing the huge man violently, -“now then! What foolishness is this? Leave us alone and go your -way! Do you hear?” And when he raised his voice Pavlo thought it -sounded just like the master of the Red House. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb160" href="#pb160" name="pb160">160</a>]</span></p> -<p>The shepherd’s laugh died off in a silly cackle, and he stood -where Iason had pushed him, looking after the children as they climbed -on rather hurriedly; but to Pavlo’s intense relief, he made no -attempt to follow them.</p> -<p>“Who was it?” asked Andromache.</p> -<p>“I am not sure,” said Iason, “but I think it must -be one of the Pelekas. His brother Yoryi had our pasture land for his -sheep last year. I saw him when I went up to the -‘stania’<a href="#n2.22"><sup>22</sup></a> with father. -They are all red-haired, and there are many brothers; but I do not know -this one.”</p> -<p>“He was horrid!” said Chryseis, shifting her basket to -her other arm; “he must have been drinking too much -‘ouzo.’ ”<a href="#n2.23"><sup>23</sup></a></p> -<p>“Father says they never drink, these shepherds, except on big -holidays when they come down to the villages,” said Iason, -“but I suppose this one must have.”</p> -<p>It was worth the long hot climb, when they reached the top of the -hill, to feel the cool air blowing in their faces. As they scrambled -over the very last ridge, Nikias, who was first, pulled at a falling -sock which threatened to <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb161" href= -"#pb161" name="pb161">161</a>]</span>cover his shoe, then stood up and -pointing far below, shouted triumphantly:—</p> -<p>“There is the other sea!”</p> -<p>And there, if not the “other sea” as the children called -it, was the other side of the island, where there were no houses, no -gardens, no lemon orchards, no olive trees, no signs of familiar -every-day life, nothing but pines, of all shapes and sizes, from the -dark green rugged old pines, to the pale green baby ones; and lentisk, -and arbutus, and thyme bushes on the slopes, and far below them the -wide-sweeping beautiful beach of Vayonia with the open sea beyond. The -soft plash of the little waves against the rocks came up to them where -they stood.</p> -<p>Pavlo was told that on a bright clear winter day you could -distinguish all Athens and the Acropolis perfectly well, “over -there,” and four outstretched fingers pointed to the exact -direction behind Ægina.</p> -<p>Just then a big white caique, all sails open to the wind, was -gliding majestically across the opening of the bay, its little landing -boat dancing and skipping on the waves behind it. And <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb162" href="#pb162" name= -"pb162">162</a>]</span>closer to the shore was a tiny puffing steam -launch belonging to the Naval School. Andromache, whose eyes were the -best, declared that she could recognize the officers on board.</p> -<p>“I am sure that one there is the Admiral,” she said, -“I can see his hair white in the sun.”</p> -<p>“Now then!” jeered the others, “can you not count -the stripes also on the sleeve of his uniform?”</p> -<p>But Chryseis had been unpacking the baskets.</p> -<p>“We will eat now,” she announced quietly, and there was -not one to say “no” to her.</p> -<p>Before they had left the house even the children themselves had -exclaimed at the quantity of cold “keftedes” which -Athanasia had prepared for them, but there were very few left when they -had eaten as much as they wanted. There were some -“skaltsounia”<a href="#n2.24"><sup>24</sup></a> too, -smothered in fine sugar; and of these there were none left at all; but -there never are, of course. There were plenty of grapes, and the -peaches about which Nikias had been anxious. Pavlo amused himself by -digging holes in the hard sun-baked earth, and planting the kernels as -far down as he could reach,—</p> -<p>“So that when you come up here another <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb163" href="#pb163" name= -"pb163">163</a>]</span>time, you will find peaches growing ready for -you.”</p> -<p>The boys laughed at him.</p> -<p>“We had better not come here for two or three months, and by -then your trees will of course be laden with fruit.”</p> -<p>Pavlo had lived much alone, and he was accustomed to people who -meant exactly what they said.</p> -<p>“No,” he said slowly, “I did not mean in two or -three months, but some time.”</p> -<p>“Even if they were ever to become trees, without watering or -digging or anything,” said Andromache, struggling with Philos, -who had left his dinner to attack the roots of a monster lentisk bush, -“do you think the shepherds would leave any peaches on -them?”</p> -<p>But the word “shepherd” reminded Iason of their -object.</p> -<p>“I am going down there,” he said, pointing to the left, -where the bushes were rarer and the gray crags began. “It looks -cave-y. Leave the baskets there under that bush. No one will touch -them.”</p> -<p>The children began to scramble down towards the rocks, and the scent -of the thyme as they <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb164" href="#pb164" -name="pb164">164</a>]</span>crushed it mingled little by little with -the fresh smell of the sea, as they got nearer and nearer the -shore.</p> -<p>The search for the cave was very thorough. Every big bush growing -near a rock was pushed aside, every shadow was peered into.</p> -<p>“You never know,” as Iason said, “how small the -entrance may be!”</p> -<p>But after all it was by pure accident that they found it. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb165" href="#pb165" name= -"pb165">165</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">VII</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">They were pretty close to the shore, close enough for -all to distinguish that the officers from the steam launch had got into -a little boat and were being rowed to land. Chryseis was standing on -the top of a big stone, when she slipped on the pine needles which -covered it, and suddenly disappeared from view as entirely and -completely as though a trap door had opened and swallowed her up.</p> -<p>“Chryseis!” screamed Andromache, “Chryseis, where -are you?” And the boys and Pavlo rushed to the spot.</p> -<p>The stone had been on the edge of a sheep track, and as they looked -fearfully over, they saw Chryseis lying on her elbow on a little ledge -a few feet below.</p> -<p>“I am not hurt,” she called up at once, “not at -all; but do not any of you climb down this way; there are a lot of -prickly pears and I have got some of the thorns in my hand. Come round -by those arbutus there!” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb166" -href="#pb166" name="pb166">166</a>]</span></p> -<p>When they got round to her she was picking the tiny thorns out of -her hand, and wetting it in a little stream which seemed to come out of -the gray rock.</p> -<p>“Look!” she said, “there is water here!” She -put her finger to her mouth, “and it is fresh water, too. How -funny! It is coming round this side of the rock. See!”</p> -<p>“Why!” said Iason, leaning both hands on the top of the -rock, and bending his whole body round the corner, “why it -is ….”</p> -<p>And it was. When they all clambered on the big rock and slipped down -to the other side, they found Iason lifting up with all his strength a -tangled mass of wild ivy and other creepers which fell over it like a -thick curtain. And there was a hole; big enough for anyone to pass -through if he stooped a little.</p> -<p>It looked dark inside, and there was a step going down.</p> -<p>“No one need come,” said Iason, “if he feels -afraid!”</p> -<p>And of course everyone said, “I am not afraid!” Pavlo -first of all. And he really and truly was not. He was far too excited -to think of being afraid. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb167" href= -"#pb167" name="pb167">167</a>]</span></p> -<p>The children went down two steps, bending their heads low, and then -stood upright.</p> -<p>They were in a high narrow cave; so long that it was impossible to -tell the depth. A cave like those of which they had often read, and -often dreamt of discovering, but in which they had very certainly never -before found themselves.</p> -<p>“It is quite a real cave!” said Nikias in an awestruck -whisper. And the others looked round in silence. It seemed a moment too -great for ordinary words. Their adventurous hearts were beating -quickly.</p> -<p>Then Iason triumphantly produced a bit of candle and a box of -matches from his pocket, and when he lighted it the tiny flame cast -rounds of light and mysterious shadows over rough gray walls. This was -for the first moment after coming in from the blinding sunlight, but as -soon as their eyes got accustomed to the green darkness, Iason threw -the candle away and the flame sputtered as it fell into the little -stream of water which seemed to trickle down one end of the cave near -the wall. The whole place smelt rather nasty and musty, but as Chryseis -said,— <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb168" href="#pb168" name= -"pb168">168</a>]</span></p> -<p>“What do smells matter when we have found a real -cave?”</p> -<p>And a real cave it was! There were curious niches in the walls; the -stone was fretted away into arches and hollows; in some parts natural -columns had formed themselves, and in others dimly seen stalactites -hung in the darkness above their heads.</p> -<p>Kerberos whined rather uncomfortably and kept very close to -Chryseis, but Philos sniffed round excitedly, bent on investigating -every nook and corner, till Andromache lifted him up struggling and -barking and insisted on carrying him, for fear he might fall into some -“unseen chasm.” Iason told her that Philos could take care -of himself “a thousand times” better than she could; but -Andromache was never easy to convince.</p> -<p>They went along very cautiously in Indian file. Iason came first, -then the two girls, then Nikias, and Pavlo last of all.</p> -<p>After they had walked a little way in, they found a heap of charred -sticks and a broken necked pitcher.</p> -<p>“Perhaps,” suggested Chryseis, “they may have -remained here ever since the times when <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb169" href="#pb169" name="pb169">169</a>]</span>the women and -children were hiding from the Turks. They may have had to cook and -sleep in here, you know, while the men were outside fighting. And -perhaps,” she added, stooping down to touch the broken pitcher, -“we may be the very first people to touch them since -then!”</p> -<p>“Well,” put in Andromache, the practical, “I -should not care to have to eat or sleep in here. It smells just -awful!”</p> -<p>“It is getting very dark too, and I cannot see where to step -any more,” suggested little Nikias; then he added hurriedly, -“Perhaps it will get lighter further in!”</p> -<p>“No, you little stupid, it will be darker further in,” -said Iason, “because it winds away from the entrance!”</p> -<p>Chryseis stopped short.</p> -<p>“Let us turn back! perhaps it turns and turns like the -Labyrinth and we may never be able to get out again.”</p> -<p>“And then,” added Nikias cheerfully, “people will -come after many years and find only our bones!”</p> -<p>“Stop that kind of talk, you horrid little pig!” cried -Andromache. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb170" href="#pb170" name= -"pb170">170</a>]</span></p> -<p>Iason hesitated.</p> -<p>“If only I had not thrown the candle away! Oh, well, never -mind! I suppose we had better turn back.”</p> -<p>And they retraced their steps in the same order. Pavlo who came last -lagged behind for a moment. About half way, on the left side, was -something he had not noticed when they had been going in; a bright -spot, a speck of light, something white and shining in the dim -twilight. But as he wondered what it could be, he saw that he was alone -and hurried on to join the others; and as soon as he had taken two -steps forward, the speck of light disappeared suddenly, as though -someone had blown it out.</p> -<p>He caught up with the others at the entrance.</p> -<p>“Listen!” he said, catching hold of Nikias, who was just -stepping out into the daylight, “Down there I -saw ….”</p> -<p>But they never heard what he saw, for at that moment he heard a -series of loud thuds, a scream from Chryseis who had been the first to -get out of the entrance, and a muttered exclamation from Iason as he -sprang forward <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb171" href="#pb171" name= -"pb171">171</a>]</span>and pushed both his sisters so violently -backward into the cave, that they fell over the two smaller boys, -dragging them down.</p> -<p>At the same moment Pavlo, lifting himself up, saw two large stones -fall from above, right in front of the opening of the cave.</p> -<p>“What is it?”</p> -<p>“What was that?”</p> -<p>“What fell?” He and Nikias and Andromache all cried -together.</p> -<p>“Stones! A great many,” Chryseis answered, lifting a -pale face to theirs as they pulled her up. “They nearly fell on -our heads, but Iason pushed us back. Iason! What is it? -Iason!”</p> -<p>For Iason, flattened against the opening, was cautiously trying to -find out what had happened.</p> -<p>“I do not know,” he said, without turning round. -“I cannot think. Something must have loosened the stones from the -top of the rock above, and they fell. But what? The first rains have -not begun yet. Well,” he continued after a moment’s pause, -“let us get out! That was all.”</p> -<p>But that was not all! At the step forward <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb172" href="#pb172" name= -"pb172">172</a>]</span>which he took, a shower of earth and stones came -rattling down on the ledge outside.</p> -<p>He sprang back only just in time.</p> -<p>“But what is it then? What can it be?”</p> -<p>They soon found out. No sooner had the last stone rebounded and -rolled over the ledge to the rocks below them, than a loud discordant -laugh sounded from above the opening of the cave.</p> -<p>“Come out of your hole, my little cockerels! Come out! You -would not have my stones before. Get them on your heads now! Come out! -Come out!”</p> -<p>The children looked at each other in horror.</p> -<p>“The shepherd! The red-bearded man!”</p> -<p>There was a fresh shower of stones and the laugh again, which -sounded closer. Chryseis caught hold of her brother’s arm.</p> -<p>“Iason! He will get in! He will get in! Oh, what shall we -do?”</p> -<p>“We will not let him!” cried little Nikias, running -forward, “let us push this big stone right in front of the -opening! Here! This one; if you push hard we can roll it down. Iason! -Pavlo! Girls! Help me!”</p> -<p>“He is right, the little one,” said Iason, and -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb173" href="#pb173" name= -"pb173">173</a>]</span>they all pulled, and pushed and tugged as they -could never have done if they had not been terribly frightened, and -little by little the big rounded piece of rock was rolled in front of -the entrance to the cave, and the green darkness grew darker and -darker. The opening was not entirely blocked. Any of the children could -have squeezed in or out, but they felt almost certain no grown man -could.</p> -<p>“Besides, if he only puts his hand in, we will chop it off so! -Like the Persians and the man with the ship,” declared -Andromache, becoming vaguely historical.</p> -<p>“Where is your hatchet?” asked Iason. “No, I am -sure he cannot get in. Now we must sit and think what to do. It does no -good to cry like that!”</p> -<p>“I am not crying!” sobbed Nikias. “It comes by -itself,” and he sniffed very hard for a few minutes.</p> -<p>“I expect this man is so drunk he does not know what he is -doing,” continued Iason. “At the very worst we shall have -to stay in here till he gets tired of waiting and goes away. We are -safe in the cave.”</p> -<p>“I tell you what,” said Nikias rubbing his <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb174" href="#pb174" name= -"pb174">174</a>]</span>knuckles very hard into his eyes, “it must -be ‘the mad shepherd.’ ”</p> -<p>All the others stared at him.</p> -<p>“The mad shepherd? What do you mean?”</p> -<p>“I heard Kyra Calliope the other day telling Yanni. She said -there was a mad shepherd on the hills, and that he had killed a lot of -sheep of the other shepherds, and she said the mayor and the doctor -wanted to tie him up and send him to Athens in the steamer, but they -could not catch him, because he was so cunning and hid in the hills for -days.”</p> -<p>“You little fool!” cried his brother, seizing him by the -shoulder. “You—You—Idiot—You—Why did you -not tell us when we first met him down there, so that we might have -turned back. Do you think it is a joke—a mad man?”</p> -<p>“Did I know?” whimpered Nikias. “Did I know when -we met him? He looked like all shepherds then.”</p> -<p>“If you had only …” began Iason, but he was -interrupted by a shriek of horror from Chryseis. She was pointed to the -small opening left above the rock that blocked the entrance.</p> -<p>There, clearly outlined against the sky, was <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb175" href="#pb175" name="pb175">175</a>]</span>a -grinning, red-bearded face. Part of a hairy hand could be seen pushing -against the stone.</p> -<p>Iason lost no time. Stooping he seized hold of a big round pebble -and sent it crashing right on the fingers that were working round the -stone.</p> -<p>There was a howl of pain and the face disappeared, then after a -moment came a sound of retreating footsteps and of broken bushes, and -stones rolling down the rock overhead.</p> -<p>The children huddled together, listened, pale and terrified, till -all was silence again. Then Iason pushed them aside and advanced to the -opening.</p> -<p>“Listen!” he said, “I have just thought of it. -Perhaps the officers we saw are still on the shore. Now that the man is -not there I shall get outside and call to them.”</p> -<p>“No! No, Iason! Stop! Iason!…”</p> -<p>But before any of them could stop him, Iason was squeezing himself -round the side of the rock. He was out all but one leg, when a stone -bigger than any of those that had been thrown before, bounded against -the rock, and struck him on the side of the head. He fell forward with -a smothered “Ah!” and the others with <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb176" href="#pb176" name="pb176">176</a>]</span>a -scream of fear rushed to the blocked entrance.</p> -<p>Iason was lying half in and half out, and the short fair hair was -dabbled with blood.</p> -<p>Nikias and Pavlo were for trying to push out the rock, but -Andromache stopped them.</p> -<p>“No! No!” she cried, “we can drag him in without -that.” And by combined pulling and pushing they succeeded in -getting Iason safely inside. He opened his eyes and said, “It is -nothing,” but he closed them again.</p> -<p>Chryseis lifted his head to her knees and looked round -desperately.</p> -<p>“We must wash the place in the water from the stream,” -she said, “but I have no handkerchief.”</p> -<p>Andromache, the practical, lifted up her frock and tore a big strip -from the white petticoat underneath.</p> -<p>“Here, this is better, and there is plenty more,” and -she dipped the rag in the running water and washed off the blood that -was trickling down over Iason’s ear and neck, while Chryseis -raised his head higher.</p> -<p>Nikias was at the entrance trying to push his thin little body round -the rock. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb177" href="#pb177" name= -"pb177">177</a>]</span></p> -<p>“I will get out now,” he said, “and shout for the -officers.”</p> -<p>“Nikias!” cried Chryseis, her voice shrill with terror, -“come back at once! You must not get out! I tell you, you must -not! Pavlo! Pavlo! Stop him!”</p> -<p>But she looked around in vain; Pavlo was not there. He seemed to -have completely disappeared.</p> -<p>“The coward!” exclaimed Andromache, in furious -indignation. “The coward! He has managed to slip out somehow, and -left us here all alone!”</p> -<p>But she was quite wrong.</p> -<p>The moment poor Iason had been pulled back into the cave, Pavlo -suddenly remembered the speck of light in the wall that he had noticed -as they were coming out, and without saying a word to anyone, he ran -back into the depths of the cave to see if he could find the spot. -Almost at once he came upon it, like a little white star in the dark -wall of the cave.</p> -<p>Now Pavlo’s mind was of the kind that grown-up people call -“logical,” which means that he knew that something could -not exist without a reason for it; therefore he argued <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb178" href="#pb178" name="pb178">178</a>]</span>that -if there was a light, there <i>must</i> be an opening; and even if the -opening were only large enough for a head or even a hand to be passed -through, it might be useful.</p> -<p>So he began feeling all over the rough damp wall with both -hands.</p> -<p>He felt and he felt for some time in vain, then suddenly when he had -nearly given up, he came upon a hole.</p> -<p>Kneeling, he felt that a little barrier of stone divided the hole -from the floor of the cave, and that it was more than wide enough to -admit him. He scarcely hesitated a second before he climbed over the -barrier and found himself in a narrow tunnel at the end of which the -speck of light was shining.</p> -<p>Pavlo advanced a few steps very slowly. It was a dark, damp, up-hill -passage, and so narrow that he could feel the walls on either side -without stretching his arms.</p> -<p>Suddenly he gave a violent shudder.</p> -<p>Something alive, something that felt heavy and cold, a rat perhaps, -or a toad or a lizard, ran over his foot. Still he kept on. If the -light, which was growing larger, should prove to be a side opening to -the cave, he would run <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb179" href= -"#pb179" name="pb179">179</a>]</span>back for the others, and they -would all get out that way, managing somehow to carry Iason between -them if he could not walk, while the man went on throwing stones and -waiting for them at the big entrance. The idea of the man waiting there -perhaps all day, appealed to Pavlo, and he laughed a little to himself -as he got nearer to the light.</p> -<p>He found, as he had expected, that it came from a small hole in the -rock which led out to the hillside, and was almost quite hidden by -hanging creepers.</p> -<p>The opening was not large, but they could easily crawl out. In fact -it would have been safer had it been a smaller hole.</p> -<p>Pavlo could see the purple flowers of an osier bush waving in the -open air before he quite reached the opening. He was just on the point -of crawling out to make quite sure of his discovery before returning by -the same way, when his eye caught sight of some sort of a white rag, -fluttering above the osier bush. He drew back and, lying flat on the -ground of the passage so as to see better, peered cautiously out.</p> -<p>What he saw made him nearly scream out aloud with terror, in fact it -was really the horrible <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb180" href= -"#pb180" name="pb180">180</a>]</span>nightmare-ish sort of fear which -came over him, that prevented a sound escaping from his lips.</p> -<p>The fluttering white rag was a fold of the red-bearded man’s -foustanella!</p> -<p>His back was turned towards the narrow opening, and he looked -gigantic as he stood there in the light, a big stone poised in his -hands ready to fling over the rocks down on the ledge before the -entrance of the cave.</p> -<p>Pavlo lay in the dark passage, shaking all over and not daring to -move hand or foot lest he should be heard. What should he do? Oh, what -should he do? Suppose he were simply to wriggle back the way he had -come and tell the others what he had seen; what was the good? They -could never crawl all five out of this side tunnel while the shepherd -was standing so close to it. Poor Iason’s mishap had proved that -it was not possible to get through the blocked entrance without being -struck by the falling stones. What then? Must they stay in the cave -till the man was wearied out? All night perhaps? But what more probable -than that when the shepherd found that his stones were falling -harmlessly, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb181" href="#pb181" name= -"pb181">181</a>]</span>he should discover this opening so close to his -feet, and creep slowly through it till he got to them? Pavlo shivered -coldly all over.</p> -<p>Then a horrible thought came to him.</p> -<p>It might be possible for one alone to creep out very softly the -first moment that the shepherd moved a little off. It would not be -difficult to creep silently on all fours, till one was at a safe -distance!</p> -<p>The next moment the thought turned him really sick. What! Leave them -alone? Leave them with Iason wounded and useless? Leave them and let -this horrible man creep on them unawares? On Chryseis who had been so -good to him? On all the brave bright little comrades? Oh, no! No! No! -No! The good old Zamana blood, weakened though it might be, turned in -revolt at the cowardly thought.</p> -<p>Just then the man outside in the light stooped to pick up another -stone, and as he did so, Pavlo saw the gleam of a long curved knife in -his belt. The Turks, thought the poor boy, the terrible Turks of the -times of the Revolution must have looked just like that. Oh, if it only -were in those days! If the dreadful man were a <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb182" href="#pb182" name="pb182">182</a>]</span>real -Turk and Pavlo’s great-grandfather or one of his brave companions -were in hiding as he was now! How they would spring out on him and -seize him. But no! If they were unarmed they would not -“spring” out. They were wise as well as brave, those old -Greeks.</p> -<p>What would they do?</p> -<p>Palvo’s mind worked quickly.</p> -<p>They would creep slowly, slowly on all fours out of the hole, and -while the Turk’s back was turned they would seize hold of his -ankles and pull back, … pull hard.</p> -<p>The attack would be unexpected, and the “Turk” would -fall forward on his face. He would <i>have</i> to fall so; he could not -fall in any other way. And once he was on his face, it would be easy, -before he could see who had attacked him, to wrench back his arms and -tie them. It would be the best way! The only way!</p> -<p>Suppose he tried it!</p> -<p>No! No! Oh, no! It was brave men who feared nothing who did such -things, not little terrified boys.</p> -<p>Then a very curious thing happened.</p> -<p>Pavlo did not feel as though he were making <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb183" href="#pb183" name="pb183">183</a>]</span>up -his mind to anything, but quite suddenly he unwound a thin knitted belt -which he wore round his waist, and held it between his teeth, then he -crawled noiselessly out of the hole and looked around him with a look -in his eyes which no one had ever seen in them before.</p> -<p>Had he been in a street in Athens, the man who stood there would -have been simply a villainous looking peasant, and he, Pavlo, a small -boy half dead with fright. But now, on this calm Poros hillside, the -man became a Turk, a Turk of 1821 armed to the teeth with -yatagan<a href="#n2.25"><sup>25</sup></a> and scimitar, and he, the -little terrified boy, was a brave patriot of the times of the -Revolution, ready to do or die.</p> -<p>“Let us pretend,” had its uses; and Pavlo had not lived -a week in vain with the Four of the Red House.</p> -<p>He crept closer, closer still. His body was not brave at all; in -fact it was shaking and trembling in every limb, and the cold sweat -trickled down his face; but at that moment his heart was very brave, -and because the heart is greater than the body, there was a sudden -lightning spring forward, and two desperate little hands clutched the -shepherd’s bare ankles <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb184" href= -"#pb184" name="pb184">184</a>]</span>and pulled backwards, pulled -strongly, and swiftly.</p> -<p>There was a helpless grasp at the empty air, a howl of dismay, and a -loud thud as the tall man’s body fell flat, face down, on the -ground.</p> -<p>Pavlo with an excited, triumphant little shout rushed forward, and -caught hold of one outstretched arm which he pulled back with a jerk, -but already the shepherd was groaning, swearing, and moving, and how -could Pavlo hold the hand he had already seized, and manage to reach -the other one also?</p> -<p>“Children!” he screamed aloud, not knowing whether they -could hear him or not, below in the cave. “Children! Come quick! -I have got him!”</p> -<p>And help came, though not from the children.</p> -<p>There were running footsteps behind him and many cries.</p> -<p>“Hold well! Hold fast! We are here!”</p> -<p>And in a moment Pavlo was surrounded by linen-clad, white-capped -officers, and someone’s arms had lifted him off the prostrate -shepherd, and stronger, though not braver hands than his had securely -tied the arms of the struggling man behind his back. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb185" href="#pb185" name="pb185">185</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">VIII</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">In the meantime the hours had gone by, and the -afternoon was drawing towards evening, and the grown people in the Red -House, the father and the mother of the Four, and Pavlo’s uncle, -who had arrived that morning and was to leave the next day, had been -getting very anxious; for there was no sign of the children, though -they had promised to be home early. And the Four got into plenty of -mischief, but they kept their promises.</p> -<p>So the mother of the Four walked from one window to another and -could not keep still, and Kyria Penelope wrung her hands and shook her -head, and Deko rushed about after them; whining and yelping and limping -on his bad foot, till they shut him up in a room upstairs, and he had -to stay there; and Athanasia the cook stationed herself at the gate -near the sea to watch for the children, and Anneza the serving maid -tore up through the pines to <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb186" href= -"#pb186" name="pb186">186</a>]</span>the top gate to see if they were -in sight on the hill.</p> -<p>The doctor and the master of the Red House were pacing nervously up -and down the terrace.</p> -<p>Suddenly the latter sent up a big shout.</p> -<p>“There they are!”</p> -<p>Everyone, from the mother of the Four to Yanni the boatman, rushed -down to the little landing stage.</p> -<p>“They are in that,” said the master of the house, -pointing to a puffing little steam launch which was fast approaching. -“I heard their voices shouting, and saw one of the girls’ -frocks, but how the little rascals got there is beyond me. I only hope -they have not been in any mischief.”</p> -<p>The steam launch had stopped alongside, and he caught sight of a -bandaged head.</p> -<p>“… or in any danger!” he gasped.</p> -<p>When everyone had landed, Iason looking very pale under his white -bandage but walking without help, there was at first such confusion, so -many speaking all together and such a tangle of officers and children -and dogs, that it was very difficult for the grown-ups to get -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb187" href="#pb187" name= -"pb187">187</a>]</span>any clear idea of what had occurred. But the -mother of the Four gathered at last that something out of the common -had certainly happened, that the children had certainly been in some -peril, and that the officers had rescued them and brought them home. So -she tried, though her voice shook a little, to thank the Chief.</p> -<p>“You must not thank us,” said the gray-haired admiral -standing cap in hand, before her. “We did nothing but arrive at a -lucky moment, and bring the children home. It is another you must -thank, another who deserves your deepest gratitude; one who by his -presence of mind and coolness saved them all in a moment of great -danger, … of very real danger. This is the boy!” he said, -putting his hand on Pavlo’s shoulder. “This is a real -Zamana, who when he grows up will be an honor to his glorious name! And -in the meantime I for one, am proud to know him!”</p> -<p>Oh, how they shouted for him when they heard it all! And while the -mother of the Four was holding him very tight to her, and while the -master of the house and Pavlo’s uncle were shaking each -other’s hand as though they <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb188" -href="#pb188" name="pb188">188</a>]</span>would never stop, Deko, who -had been set free, limped nimbly down all the steps, and leaped upon -Chryseis, and licked her hands, and whined for joy, and caught hold of -her skirt and shook it so hard that he tore it.</p> -<p>But he was forgiven that time.</p> -<p>And joy followed for Pavlo as well as glory, for though his uncle -was obliged to leave for Athens the next day, no one in the Red House -felt as if Pavlo could be spared. So his uncle was persuaded to leave -him behind; to leave him indefinitely, till it should be autumn, and -school time, and everyone returned to town.</p> -<hr class="tb"> -<p>So it came to pass, that when the doctor was being rowed across the -bay the next morning, in the boat that was taking him to the steamer, -the Four and Pavlo stood all together on the little landing stage and -waved good-by to him.</p> -<p>They waved and waved, till he was a speck in the blue distance, and -then they turned and ran with cries and whoops of joy, back into the -pine woods, back to the sea, back to the hillside, back for a whole -long summer to all the manifold delights of the Red House on the Hill. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb191" href="#pb191" name= -"pb191">191</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div id="ch3" class="div1 chapter"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#xd25e310">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">ALEXANDER THE SON OF PHILIP</h2> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">I</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">On a very hot morning in May, at the corner of the -Hotel de la Grande Bretagne, in the Square of the Constitution, in -Athens, a dirty little boy with a sheaf of unsold newspapers under his -arm was sitting on a shoeblack’s box, alternately munching a -piece of bread and wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve.</p> -<p>Another boy, not so dirty, stood beside him, with one foot on the -edge of the box, watching the people in the square. He was fair for a -Greek boy, with light hair which showed through the many holes of his -cloth cap.</p> -<p>There was a tug at his ragged tunic:—</p> -<p>“Aleko! Aleko! You are not listening!”</p> -<p>“What is it? I hear.” But he did not look down at the -grubby little fellow who continued sniffing:—</p> -<p>“I dreamt, I tell you, as truly as I see you <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb192" href="#pb192" name="pb192">192</a>]</span>here -I did, that I went away somewhere, and that I found a great big sweet -shop, bigger than Yannaki’s or Doree’s, ever so much -bigger, and in the shop there were dishes and jars and trays, and -trays, and trays all around of chocolates, and baklava,<a href= -"#n3.1"><sup>1</sup></a> and kourabiedes, and little cakes with pink -and green and white sugar all over them; and there were piles of -comfits, and caramels,—oh, and heaps of other things; and -…” warming to his description, “bottles and bottles -of cherry syrup and lemonade, and I dreamt that the man of the shop -waved his hand—so,—over everything and said -‘Please,’—Aleko, do you hear? ‘Please eat all -the things you want.’ And then,” with a savage tug at the -tunic, “then you came and waked me!”</p> -<p>Aleko looked down at him for a minute:—</p> -<p>“Did I want to wake you? It was time to get up. The big one -sent me. And what are you crying about now, any way? For the sweets you -never had?”</p> -<p>The small boy, Andoni, gulped down a sob.</p> -<p>“No!”</p> -<p>“What then?” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb193" href= -"#pb193" name="pb193">193</a>]</span></p> -<p>“I only sold two newspapers; the other boys got before me; and -the big one will beat me when he sees all these left.”</p> -<p>Aleko shrugged his shoulders.</p> -<p>“You will cry when he beats you; what is the use of crying -now?” Then he looked out again, over the square.</p> -<p>Watching people and things always kept him very busy. There were so -many things going on at once. Two coachmen, on the side of the square -where the carriages stand, were swearing at each other, and they were -using swear-words quite different from those Aleko had heard in his -village. A man from Rhodes was trying to sell his embroidered bags to -some foreigners, of those who walk about with little red books in their -hands, at double the price he usually asked for them. Some men were -carrying big trunks down the steps of the hotel, and three ladies with -bright coloured sunshades were going towards the street of the -shops.</p> -<p>Two men, an old white bearded one and a fat one who walked with his -legs wide apart and his hands behind his back, passed in front of the -two boys.</p> -<p>“Ah, my friend,” the older one was saying; <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb194" href="#pb194" name= -"pb194">194</a>]</span>“you are quite right, but <span class= -"trans" title="gnōthi seauton"><span class="Greek" lang= -"grc">γνῶθι -σεαυτόν</span></span>, know -thyself, is a very difficult thing.”</p> -<p>Suddenly Aleko stooped and pushed Andoni off the box.</p> -<p>“Run!” he said, “they have no newspapers; run -after them!”</p> -<p>The dirty little boy picked up his sheaf of papers and rushed after -the men, who had already turned the corner.</p> -<p>In a few minutes he returned, jingling some copper coins in his -hand.</p> -<p>“They bought three,” he said, “the old one took -the <i>Acropolis</i> and the fat one the <i>Embros</i>, and the <i>Nea -Himera</i>. Why did you not sell them yours? You have some -left.”</p> -<p>“Because I am waiting here for a man whose shoes I black every -morning. He always comes at this time, and I wait for him.”</p> -<p>“Do you mean,” asked Andoni eagerly, “a big man -with a beard, who wears a soft gray hat?”</p> -<p>“Yes; why?”</p> -<p>“Because I saw him now at the corner where the flower boys -stand. Yoryi, the one who squints, had just polished his boots for him, -and the gentleman was paying him.” <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb195" href="#pb195" name="pb195">195</a>]</span></p> -<p>Aleko wasted no words. He seized his box, and ran round the corner -of the square with such speed that his feet raised a cloud of dust all -around him.</p> -<p>A group of shoeblacks and flower boys were standing about the end of -the Kiphissia Road, but there was no sign of a client of any sort.</p> -<p>Aleko rushed up to a boy much bigger than himself, with squinting -eyes, and caught hold of his arm:—</p> -<p>“Did you clean the boots of the man with the black -beard?” he asked. “Do you not know he is <i>my</i> -client?”</p> -<p>The elder boy shook him off roughly.</p> -<p>“You, with your clients!” he muttered.</p> -<p>The other boys sniggered.</p> -<p>“You are late, you see, to-day, Aleko; another got before -you.”</p> -<p>The lad’s face reddened.</p> -<p>“He always asks for me, and I was waiting for him just -there.”</p> -<p>“Oh,” said one of the flower boys, tying up a big bunch -of scarlet carnations as he spoke, “your client asked for you all -right, but Yoryi here, told him that you had been sent on a message and -that he was your partner.” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb196" -href="#pb196" name="pb196">196</a>]</span></p> -<p>Yoryi laughed noisily.</p> -<p>“That is how <i>I</i> do business.”</p> -<p>But his laugh broke off in the middle. Aleko had come close to him, -and with one well-directed kick had sent the big shoeblack’s box -flying into the middle of the road.</p> -<p>Brushes flew here and there, bottles of yellow and black polish were -broken and their contents spilt in the dust, and round metal boxes -rolled in all directions. Yoryi seized hold of Aleko by the neck and -struck him savagely on the head.</p> -<p>“A bad year to you!” he shouted, as blow followed blow. -“Did you not know that you would eat stick if you played those -tricks on me? Did you not know it? Take that then! And that! And that! -Did you think you could touch me and go free?” and the blows came -down like rain. At last he flung the smaller boy away from him and -began sullenly collecting the scattered contents of his box.</p> -<p>Aleko picked himself up, staggering a little as he stood.</p> -<p>“Oh, I knew!” he shouted, staunching a bleeding nose on -the sleeve of his tunic. “Of <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb197" -href="#pb197" name="pb197">197</a>]</span>course I knew. Do I not eat -stick every day? Am I not the smallest? But it was <i>you</i> who did -not know! <i>You</i> who thought you could cheat me and be safe! You -did not know that your box would be all over the road, that your -bottles would be broken, that all your things would be so spoiled that -you could not steal other lads’ clients this morning again! Pick -them up then! Stoop! Yes, stoop in the dust and pick them -up!”</p> -<p>The other boys were laughing at Yoryi now.</p> -<p>“He has played you a good trick, the little one!”</p> -<p>“Did you think,” shouted Aleko, “that you could -touch me and go free?” and before Yoryi, furious now with rage, -could catch him a second time, he doubled, and ran round the corner of -the University Road.</p> -<p>Being fleet of foot, he left Yoryi far behind him, and running up -one street and down another and across a third, he soon arrived safe -and unpursued at the top end of Stadium Street and back again in -Constitution Square.</p> -<p>A sound of music came from the direction of the Palace and he looked -up eagerly. The guard was changing; he could hear the measured -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb198" href="#pb198" name= -"pb198">198</a>]</span>tread of the soldiers. Though he had been in -Athens nearly two years the spectacle had never lost its charm for -him.</p> -<p>Pushing, stooping, dodging, he elbowed his way to the edge of the -pavement and waited.</p> -<p>On they came, the officer, the band, the marching men, the beautiful -blue flag held aloft by a white-gloved sergeant. Aleko knew all about -it, for a soldier had told him one day that you had to be a -good-conduct man to be allowed to carry the flag, and that you had to -wear white gloves: and the boy had long ago decided that when his time -came to serve as a soldier, he would always carry the flag.</p> -<p>Up sprang all the officers who happened to be sitting at the little -café tables in the square, and stood saluting. Civilians who -were passing stopped and uncovered; coachmen stood up on their boxes -bare-headed; Aleko pulled off his tattered cap in imitation and stood -with the hot sun shining on his tumbled fair hair.</p> -<p>An old man looked down on him and smiled. Then, catching sight of -the dust and smears of blood on the boy’s face, he remarked with -a chiding gesture:— <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb199" href= -"#pb199" name="pb199">199</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Ah! you have been fighting.”</p> -<p>“No,” answered Aleko, “I have been beaten.” -Then emboldened he asked, “Tell me, why do people take their hats -off?”</p> -<p>The old man stared at the question.</p> -<p>“Why, to the flag, of course.”</p> -<p>“Yes, I know; but why?”</p> -<p>“Why? To show respect to the flag, of course.”</p> -<p>“Why does it show respect when one takes one’s hat -off?”</p> -<p>The old man answered by another question:—</p> -<p>“From where are you my lad?”</p> -<p>“From Megaloupolis.”</p> -<p>“Ah, you do not see flags there, do you?”</p> -<p>“At Easter, and on the twenty-fifth of March,<a href= -"#n3.2"><sup>2</sup></a> there was always a flag put up at the Town -Hall but no one took his hat off.”</p> -<p>“Well, in Athens you will learn many things,” said the -old man walking away. Aleko looked after him.</p> -<p>“I do not think,” he muttered, “that he knew why. -How many people do not know things when you ask them.” Then he -ran up the steps of the Hotel Grande Bretagne where one <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb200" href="#pb200" name="pb200">200</a>]</span>of -the head servants, standing on the verandah, had beckoned to him to -clean his boots.</p> -<p>“Make them shine well,” said the man, putting his foot -on the little inclined rest of the box.</p> -<p>“Be easy,” answered Aleko, “you will see your face -in them.”</p> -<p>He scraped, and rubbed, and polished vigorously; then when one foot -was changed for the other, he suddenly asked without looking -up:—</p> -<p>“What does ‘Know thyself’ mean?”</p> -<p>“Where did you pick up that fine phrase?”</p> -<p>“One man who was passing said it to another, and he said it -was a very difficult thing. What does it mean?”</p> -<p>“If it be difficult how should I know it?” answered the -head servant. “Do poor folk have time to go beyond the municipal -classes at school?”</p> -<p>“Does <i>he</i> know?” and Aleko with a backward jerk of -his thumb indicated another servant, stout and gray-haired, standing -within the portal of the hotel.</p> -<p>“He! He can scarcely read the newspaper!”</p> -<p>“Then who knows?” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb201" -href="#pb201" name="pb201">201</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Do you not go to the Parnassos School every night?”</p> -<p>“Of course I go.”</p> -<p>“Well, ask your schoolmaster.”</p> -<p>“Oh, he has no time; we are many boys. You see I thought as -you stand here so often doing nothing, if you knew you would have time -to tell me.”</p> -<p>The man scowled.</p> -<p>“Enough words! There are your ten lepta. Go about your -business and leave me to mine.”</p> -<p>Aleko slung his box over his shoulder and descended the hotel steps -slowly. He was beginning to feel sore all over and his head ached. He -decided that he would go home and have a sleep. Home meant the cellar -which he shared with the other boy, Andoni, and with the older -shoeblack, “the big one” who had brought them over from -Megaloupolis, and for whom they worked, till such time as they should -have earned enough to set up for themselves.</p> -<p>Bells were ringing for noon, and after that no one would be out in -the sun-blaze of the streets to want boots cleaned; there would be -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb202" href="#pb202" name= -"pb202">202</a>]</span>no work again until the sales of the evening -newspapers began.</p> -<p>He trudged rather wearily up the steep streets towards the Square of -the Kolonaki, near which he lived; and as he went, he wondered once -more why so many people did not know things when you asked them.</p> -<p>There were so many things he wanted to find out.</p> -<p>Who lived in the Academy with the two statues on the tall columns, -which he passed two or three times a day, and what did people do inside -it? What was in the red books which the foreigners held in their hands -when they looked up at the old temples? What was that statue in the -Zappion Gardens where a woman was putting a crown of leaves on a -man’s head? And most of all, what made automobiles go without -horses when the driver turned that round wheel? The whole town was one -great “Why” to him.</p> -<p>When he reached the street behind the Kolonaki Square, and went down -the steps to the cellar, he found it empty. From a shelf in one corner -he took down the half of a loaf of bread, and a piece of white cheese -wrapped in a sheet <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb203" href="#pb203" -name="pb203">203</a>]</span>of paper. His mother was renowned in -Megaloupolis as one of the tidiest housewives of the place, and it was -from her that he had learned not to leave food about uncovered; this -was also probably the reason why his face and hands were generally less -grimy than those of most of the other shoeblacks.</p> -<p>Nearly all the boys he knew were shoeblacks, or newspaper sellers -and messenger boys, or they combined the three trades; and nearly all -came from Megaloupolis in the charge of an older boy of eighteen or -twenty years old, “the big one,” as they called him. He -paid them a yearly wage and, except what was necessary for food, all -their earnings went to him. Aleko was paid one hundred and fifty -drachmæ a year; next year he was to have two hundred. Later on, -he would work for himself, and doubtless when he was old enough he -would in his turn employ smaller boys. He had no father, and the money -was required to help his mother and the two small sisters in -Megaloupolis. How could they live else?</p> -<p>After he had eaten, he sat down and pulled out his morning’s -earnings from the breast of his tunic. The copper coins and nickels -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb204" href="#pb204" name= -"pb204">204</a>]</span>amounted to one drachma and thirty-five lepta; -of these, he put aside thirty lepta for his supper, and screwing up the -rest in a piece of old newspaper pushed it underneath a painted wooden -chest to give to “the big one” when accounts were made in -the evening. Then he threw himself on his mattress, doubled his arm -under his head, and slept till the loud barking of a dog on the -pavement outside awoke him with a start.</p> -<p>He rushed up the cellar steps which led to the pavement of the -narrow street, banging the door behind him, and nearly fell headlong -over a fox-terrier busily occupied with the rubbish tin of the next -house. The little dog yelped sharply as Aleko stumbled over him, and -abandoning the rubbish tin, trotted quickly off towards the square.</p> -<p>“Solon!” called Aleko. “Here Solon! Why do you run -away? It is only I.”</p> -<p>Solon stopped short, listened for a moment with uplifted paw, and -then with a series of little joyful barks ran back towards the boy.</p> -<p>Aleko stooped, and catching him up by the middle of his well-fed, -white little body tucked him under his arm. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb205" href="#pb205" name="pb205">205</a>]</span></p> -<p>“You little rascal! What do you mean by rooting in the -rubbish? Have you not enough to eat in your house? I should be glad to -have your luck.”</p> -<p>Two little ears were cocked on one side of Aleko’s arm and a -short tail wagged frantically on the other.</p> -<p>“I wonder how it happens that you are out alone? Has Anneza -lost you?”</p> -<p>Just then, coming out on the Kolonaki Square, Aleko descried a young -woman carrying a basket, who was looking all around her and peering -under the bushes of the enclosure seemingly in great distress. He put -his fingers to his mouth and whistled sharply.</p> -<p>“Anneza! Eh! Here is your dog! It is I who have -him!”</p> -<p>The young woman wheeled around and came rapidly towards him. She was -pretty, with black hair and a big white apron crossed over a pink -cotton frock.</p> -<p>“Do you not feed him enough?” Aleko asked her as he put -down the dog. “I found him in my street with his nose in the -rubbish tin.”</p> -<p>“Feed him, indeed?” snorted the young woman, “he -has of the best. If all poor people <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb206" href="#pb206" name="pb206">206</a>]</span>fared as he does, it -would be well. The master is so fond of him he fears lest the wind -should blow or the rain should drop on his body. He often comes himself -into the kitchen to see what I give him to eat. But all the same the -dirty dog is always grubbing in the rubbish tins. When I take him out -he is always straying and making me go cold with fright for fear the -‘boya’<a href="#n3.3"><sup>3</sup></a> should catch -him.”</p> -<p>“The ‘boya’ only takes dogs who belong to no one. -He would not take yours,” said Aleko, turning Solon over on his -back with his foot as he spoke.</p> -<p>“Do I know? Now, in this hot weather when dogs go mad, they -say that the ‘boya’ gets paid one drachma for every dog he -catches; and all he can lay hand on are thrown into his cart. If I had -my way the dog should never stir out, but the master says he must have -exercise, and if he sees me out without Solon, bad luck for -me!”</p> -<p>“Take your dog now,” said the boy, “I must go for -my newspapers.”</p> -<p>“Listen, Aleko.”</p> -<p>“What?” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb207" href= -"#pb207" name="pb207">207</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Come to the house in the morning; there are some curtains to -beat.”</p> -<p>“I will come.” Then, as he turned to go, he added, -“Keep the dog by you! Do not let him stray again.”</p> -<p>“I have no strap,” answered Anneza.</p> -<p>Aleko was already some way off, but he called back over his -shoulder:—</p> -<p>“You need not tie him. Talk to him.”</p> -<p>Anneza looked after the boy, whose bare feet were raising a cloud of -dust as he ran, and tapped her forehead.</p> -<p>“A good boy,” she murmured, “but …” -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb208" href="#pb208" name= -"pb208">208</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">II</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">It was nearly sunset when Aleko came up to the -Kolonaki again with his evening papers, after having sold all he could -in the big squares and at the little tables outside the cafés -and confectioners’ shops where people sit to eat ices and look at -the passers-by.</p> -<p>He was walking slowly up the long straight street, dotted here and -there with trees, which leads out of the square, dragging his feet as -he walked, for the day had been long and hot. There were not many -papers left in his sheaf but every now and then he raised his piercing -cry:—</p> -<p>“<i>Astrapi! Hesperini! Hestia!</i>” These were the -names of his newspapers.</p> -<p>Suddenly from a narrow side street which he had already passed he -heard an answering call.</p> -<p>“Newspapers! Here!”</p> -<p>He turned on his steps and looked down the alley. At the door of a -low house stood an old <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb209" href= -"#pb209" name="pb209">209</a>]</span>man leaning on a stick. He did not -beckon nor make any sign but continued to call, “Newspapers! -Here!”</p> -<p>Aleko ran up.</p> -<p>“Which do you want?”</p> -<p>“Have you the <i>Embros</i>?”</p> -<p>“No, that is published in the morning.”</p> -<p>“I know it, but I thought you might have one left. I always -take the <i>Embros</i>, but no one passed here this morning.”</p> -<p>“I have only the evening papers.”</p> -<p>“Well, give me the <i>Hestia</i>, then.”</p> -<p>Aleko picked out one of his three remaining <i>Hestias</i> and held -it out, but the old man made no movement to take it. He was tall, -straight, and gray haired, and somehow it was not easy to imagine his -face as ever having been young. He wore shabby gray clothes, very -frayed and stained.</p> -<p>“Here is your <i>Hestia</i>.”</p> -<p>“Put it down here on the step beside me. Take your five -lepta,” and from an inner pocket the old man produced a copper -coin, but as he held it out, his stick came into sharp contact with -Aleko’s elbow. The boy gave a little cry and began to rub it. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb210" href="#pb210" name= -"pb210">210</a>]</span></p> -<p>“I have hurt you, my lad,” said the old man, bending -forward and dropping his stick with a clatter. “You must forgive -me! I cannot see; I am blind.”</p> -<p>Aleko stopped rubbing his elbow and looked curiously into the old -man’s face. The wide open brown eyes seemed to be looking at him. -He remembered an old blind woman who used to go about asking for alms -in Megaloupolis, but her head was always sunk on her chest, and her -eyes were closed.</p> -<p>“Are you quite blind?”</p> -<p>“Quite.”</p> -<p>“Your eyes do not look blind.”</p> -<p>“But they are.”</p> -<p>Aleko held up his hand, high above his head.</p> -<p>“Can you not see how many fingers I am holding up -now?”</p> -<p>“Not even that you have lifted your hand; not even that you -stand before me.”</p> -<p>“That is a pity you should be blind,” said the boy -slowly. “You are not very old yet. Have you been blind -long?”</p> -<p>“Two years now.”</p> -<p>“That was before I came to the town. And how did you lose your -light?” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb211" href="#pb211" name= -"pb211">211</a>]</span></p> -<p>“I had a bad fever for many months, and afterwards my eyes -never got well; then they grew worse and worse, till the darkness fell. -There is a good man who was once my pupil and who is rich now, and he -took me to the best oculists; but they said they could do -nothing.”</p> -<p>Aleko passed his fingers through his hair and hesitated; but his -curiosity got the better of him.</p> -<p>“Tell me, master, why do you buy a newspaper if you cannot see -to read it?”</p> -<p>“It is read to me.”</p> -<p>“Your children read it to you?” queried the boy.</p> -<p>“No, I have no children. There is a young man,—a -student, who lives in the next house,—and every day at noon I -give him ten lepta to read the whole newspaper to me. One <i>must</i> -know the news and what the outside world is doing.” Then half to -himself he added, “Though the eyes be blind the mind must -see.”</p> -<p>But Aleko frowned.</p> -<p>“What! Pay lepta to have the news read to you! That is a sin! -Better keep the good money for bread. In our village, he who can -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb212" href="#pb212" name= -"pb212">212</a>]</span>read reads aloud, and the others listen, but no -one pays.”</p> -<p>“In the town it is different,” sighed the old man. -“In small places people are kinder. I know, for I taught school -for many years at Lixuri in Cephalonia and one helped the other when -there was trouble.”</p> -<p>Aleko looked up suddenly.</p> -<p>“Give me your name, master.”</p> -<p>“My name is Themistocli.”</p> -<p>“Listen, then, Kyr Themistocli; now, with the sun-blaze, no -one comes out to have their boots cleaned after noon, so there is no -work before the evening newspapers are published. I will keep you an -<i>Embros</i> every day, and at two, or at three, after you have had -your sleep, I will bring it and read it to you, and then you need not -spend your lepta.”</p> -<p>“But, my child …”</p> -<p>“Oh, I can read. I can read without stopping at the big words. -Also I do not sing when I read. It is not I who say so; it was one of -the members of the Parnassos at our examinations, when we all read out -aloud. He said to the master, ‘That boy there, with the yellow -hair, is the only one who can read without singing.’ <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb213" href="#pb213" name= -"pb213">213</a>]</span>Shall I come, Kyr Themistocli? Shall I come -to-morrow?”</p> -<p>The old man groped with his hand until he found Aleko’s arm -and patted it gently.</p> -<p>“You are a good boy to a poor blind man.”</p> -<p>“No,” said Aleko wriggling a little, “I like to -read, and since you were a schoolmaster perhaps you will know things -when I ask you.”</p> -<p>The old man, stooping, felt for the newspaper on the doorstep and -turned towards the house.</p> -<p>“Come inside with me for a minute, my lad.”</p> -<p>Aleko followed him through a narrow passage and into a little -living-room, containing a round table covered with a red and white -checked cloth, two cupboards, a high one and a low one, and three odd -chairs. On the floor were two or three torn newspapers, and on the low -cupboard was a pile of unwashed plates. The dust lay thick -everywhere.</p> -<p>Just as they entered, a door leading to another room opened and a -stout woman with a dirty blue apron tied round her, looked in; she held -a pan in one hand and a plate of salad in the other.</p> -<p>“Your soup is ready,” she began, then catching -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb214" href="#pb214" name= -"pb214">214</a>]</span>sight of Aleko she added quickly, “A -loustro<a href="#n3.4"><sup>4</sup></a> has followed you in. What does -he want?”</p> -<p>“I brought him,” answered Kyr Themistocli. “Sit -down, my child.”</p> -<p>But Aleko had been taught that one should never stay when people are -about to sit down to a meal.</p> -<p>“With your permission, master, I go to eat bread, and I shall -return.”</p> -<p>“No, do not go. Stay and take your soup with me.”</p> -<p>The stout woman muttered something about a rat whose hole was too -small for him, but who would drag a pumpkin in as well.</p> -<p>“What is it, Kyra Katerina?” asked the old man sharply. -“Is there not sufficient soup for two?”</p> -<p>“As for that, yes, there is sufficient.”</p> -<p>“Then pour it into two soup plates, and stay … there -was a dish of potatoes left ….”</p> -<p>“Those are for to-morrow,” said the woman sullenly.</p> -<p>“I wish for them to-night.”</p> -<p>The woman said nothing. She pushed the red and white cover half off -the table and put down the pan and the plate of salad on the yellow -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb215" href="#pb215" name= -"pb215">215</a>]</span>oilcloth underneath. Then, opening the low -cupboard, she produced two soup plates and the half of a ring-shaped -loaf. Then she poured the thick rice soup into the plates: it was red -with tomato and smelt very good. Lastly, she took the empty pan into -the back room and returned with a dish of cold potatoes and a pitcher -full of water.</p> -<p>“I have served,” she said. “Is there perhaps -anything else you want?”</p> -<p>Her voice sounded angry, but Kyr Themistocli took no notice of -it.</p> -<p>“No, there is nothing. You can go.”</p> -<p>The stout woman pulled down her sleeves, and untying her apron threw -it on the top of the unwashed plates.</p> -<p>“As you like.” Then, as she opened the door, she added, -“A nice work it will be in the morning to have to clean the floor -after a shoeblack’s dusty feet.” Then she passed out and -shut the door quickly before Kyr Themistocli could answer.</p> -<p>“Eat your soup, and do not mind her,” he said to -Aleko.</p> -<p>“I do not mind her,” said Aleko, taking a big spoonful -of soup; and after swallowing it, he <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb216" href="#pb216" name="pb216">216</a>]</span>added sagely, -“Women always make much noise.”</p> -<p>The blind man ate slowly and did not always find his mouth exactly. -Aleko saw, now, why there were so many stains on his clothes. When he -had finished he pushed his plate back.</p> -<p>“Tell me, now, what do they call you?”</p> -<p>“They call me Aleko.”</p> -<p>“From where?”</p> -<p>“My mother lives in Megaloupolis, and I was born there and the -little ones, but my father was not from there.”</p> -<p>Kyr Themistocli noticed the past tense.</p> -<p>“He is dead, your father?”</p> -<p>“Yes, it is two years ago that he died.”</p> -<p>“And from where was he?”</p> -<p>“From Siatista.”</p> -<p>“Ah, a Macedonian! And what was his name?”</p> -<p>“Philippos Vasiliou.”</p> -<p>“So your name is Alexandros Vasiliou?”</p> -<p>Aleko nodded.</p> -<p>“Alexander of the King! Alexander the son of Philip!<a href= -"#n3.5"><sup>5</sup></a> Your master has taught you about him at -school?”</p> -<p>“Of course,” said Aleko frowning. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb217" href="#pb217" name="pb217">217</a>]</span></p> -<p>The old man smiled. “There is a story about him which you have -not heard perhaps. Do you know how Alexander the King got the Water of -Life?”</p> -<p>Aleko shook his head: “We have not reached such a -part.”</p> -<p>“Well, I will tell you about it. Listen:—</p> -<hr class="tb"> -<p>“When Alexander the King had conquered all the Kingdoms of the -world, and when all the universe trembled at his glance, he called -before him the most celebrated magicians of those days and said to -them:—</p> -<p>“ ‘Ye who are wise, and who know all that is -written in the Book of Fate, tell me what I must do to live for many -years and to enjoy this world which I have made mine?’</p> -<p>“ ‘O King!’ said the magicians, ‘great -is thy power! But what is written in the book of Fate is written, and -no one in Heaven or on Earth can efface it. There is one thing only, -that can make thee enjoy thy kingdom and thy glory beyond the lives of -men; that can make thee endure as long as the hills, but it is very -hard to accomplish.’</p> -<p>“ ‘I did not ask ye,’ said the great King -Alexander, <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb218" href="#pb218" name= -"pb218">218</a>]</span>‘whether it be hard, I asked only what it -was.’</p> -<p>“ ‘O King, we are at thy feet to command! Know -then that he alone who drinks of the Water of Life need not fear death. -But he who seeks this water, must pass through two mountains which open -and close constantly, and scarce a bird on the wing can fly between -them and not be crushed to death. The bones lie in high piles, of the -kings’ sons who have lost their lives in this terrible trap. But -if thou shouldst pass safely through the closing mountains, even then -thou wilt find beyond them a sleepless dragon who guards the Water of -Life. Him also must thou slay before thou canst take the priceless -treasure.’</p> -<p>“Then Alexander the King smiled, and ordered his slaves to -bring forth his horse Bucephalus, who had no wings yet flew like a -bird. The king mounted on his back and the good horse neighed for joy. -With one triumphant bound he was through the closing mountains so -swiftly that only three hairs of his flowing tail were caught in -between the giant rocks when they closed. Then Alexander the King -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb219" href="#pb219" name= -"pb219">219</a>]</span>slew the sleepless dragon, filled his vial with -the Water of Life, and returned.</p> -<p>“But when he reached his palace, so weary was he that he fell -into a deep sleep and left the Water of Life unguarded. And it so -happened that his sister, not knowing the value of the water, threw it -away. And some of the water fell on a wild onion plant, and that is -why, to this day, wild onion plants never fade. Now when Alexander -awoke, he stretched out his hand to seize and drink the Water of Life -and found naught; and in his rage he would have killed the slaves who -guarded his sleep, but his sister, being of royal blood, could not hide -the truth, and she told him that not knowing, she had thrown the Water -of Life away.</p> -<p>“Then the king waxed terrible in his wrath, and he cast a -curse upon his sister, and prayed that from the waist downward she -might be turned into a fish, and live always in the open sea far from -all land and habitation of man. And the gods granted his prayer, so it -happens that to this day those who sail over the open sea in ships -often see Alexander’s sister, half a woman and half a fish, -tossing in the waves. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb220" href= -"#pb220" name="pb220">220</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Strange to say, she does not hate Alexander, and when a ship -passes close to her she cries out:—</p> -<p>“ ‘Does Alexander live?’</p> -<p>“And should the captain, not knowing who it is that speaks, -answer, ‘He is dead,’ then the maid in her great grief -tosses her white arms and her long golden hair wildly about, and -troubles the water, and sinks the ship.</p> -<p>“But if, when the question comes up with the voice of the -wind, ‘Does Alexander live?’ the captain answers at once, -‘He lives and reigns,’ then the maid’s heart is -joyful, and she sings sweet songs till the ship is out of sight.</p> -<p>“And this is how sailors learn new love songs, and sing them -when they return to land.”</p> -<hr class="tb"> -<p>When the old man ceased speaking Aleko waited a moment and then said -slowly,—</p> -<p>“That is not true—but I like it.”</p> -<p>“Do you know, my lad,” said Kyr Themistocli, “that -with a name such as yours you ought to grow up a great man.”</p> -<p>“But if one cannot?”</p> -<p>“That is only if one is not born so,” said the -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb221" href="#pb221" name= -"pb221">221</a>]</span>old man shaking his head, “but if one is -born with brains, and will, one always can.”</p> -<p>“No!” burst out Aleko, “without learning one -<i>cannot</i> and when one is poor how is one to get -learning?”</p> -<p>“We live in a country, my boy, where learning is -free.”</p> -<p>“And must not one live while one is learning? And must one not -keep one’s mother and the little ones who cannot work?”</p> -<p>“Did you not say that you go to the Parnassos -School?”</p> -<p>“Of course I go, but already I am in the third class, next -year I shall be in the fourth, which is like the first Hellenic class -in municipal schools, and after that, there are no more classes at the -Parnassos.”</p> -<p>Kyr Themistocli thought for a moment.</p> -<p>“How old are you?”</p> -<p>“In August, on the Virgin’s Day, I close my twelve -years.”</p> -<p>“Why are you in the third class if you have only been here two -years?”</p> -<p>“Oh, the first is only for those who cannot read, I did not -pass through it at all.” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb222" -href="#pb222" name="pb222">222</a>]</span></p> -<p>“You could read already, when you came from your -village?”</p> -<p>“Long before that.”</p> -<p>“Who taught you?”</p> -<p>Aleko shifted from one bare foot to another and thought for a -moment.</p> -<p>“I do not know,” he said at last. “My father had -three books, and there were newspapers which the coffee-house keeper -threw away, and … I learnt.”</p> -<p>“If you finish the fourth class of the Parnassos, you will -know a good many things.”</p> -<p>“What will be the benefit? When there is no more night school -and I have to work with my hands all day, as the years pass I shall -forget all they have taught me, and I shall be an unlearned man. The -member who spoke at the examinations last year, told us that an -unlearned man is like wood that has not been hewn.”</p> -<p>The boy pushed back his chair and stood up.</p> -<p>“Why do they say such things to us? Can we help it if we are -poor? It is bad to know only the beginning of things! It is worse I -think than to know nothing. Sometimes I am <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb223" href="#pb223" name= -"pb223">223</a>]</span>sorry that I went to the Parnassos!” And -Aleko turned towards the window and began drawing his finger over the -dust on the pane. But the old schoolmaster called him:—</p> -<p>“Find the <i>Hestia</i>,” he said, “and read to -me, will you?”</p> -<p>So Aleko read for some time by the fading light. He read of many -things, and amongst others of how a great big warship had been launched -and was soon to be brought to Greece … the <i>Averoff</i>.</p> -<p>“Why do they call it the <i>Averoff</i>? What does it -mean?”</p> -<p>“It is the name of a very good, and very rich man, who gave -the money to build it.”</p> -<p>“Will it fight the Turks?” asked Aleko eagerly.</p> -<p>“Good grant it, my boy! And may I be alive to hear of -it.”</p> -<p>“When it does, I will read all about it to you.”</p> -<p>“Thank you,” said the old man very seriously.</p> -<p>Then Aleko went on reading till he could see no longer. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb224" href="#pb224" name="pb224">224</a>]</span></p> -<p>“You read well,” said Kyr Themistocli slowly. -“Will you come again? you will give me pleasure.”</p> -<p>“I will come every day.” Then Aleko got up and began -carrying the plates off the table into the kitchen at the back. He -returned with a lighted candle.</p> -<p>“Now,” he said, “I will tidy up a little so that -the cross woman will not have so many words to say to-morrow. As for -her floor …” and he looked at it with disgust, “it -is <i>so</i> dusty that anyone who walks over it will take dust away -instead of adding any! Does she come every day?” he asked -suddenly.</p> -<p>“Yes, she cleans and cooks for me.”</p> -<p>“And you pay her?”</p> -<p>“Naturally.”</p> -<p>“Kyr Themistocli, you must find another woman who will have a -little conscience; this one, because you cannot see … she lets -you live in dirt.” He took up the cover and shook it vigorously -out of the window. “But what dust! It is a sin to take money for -such dirty work! Ah,” he continued, polishing the window panes -with a piece of torn newspaper, “you ought to have my mother to -work for <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb225" href="#pb225" name= -"pb225">225</a>]</span>you! Then you would see what your house would be -like!”</p> -<p>“Your mother is a good housewife?”</p> -<p>“She is the best in Megaloupolis; all say it. What would she -say if she saw this room? And my clothes also,” he added, looking -at them ruefully. “But when one works, what can one -do?”</p> -<p>When he had finished, he blew out the candle. “Since it is -useless to you,” he remarked, “why should it burn in -vain?” Then he came close to the old man and laid his hand on his -knee.</p> -<p>“I thank you for the good food. To-morrow, then, I shall come -at three.”</p> -<p>The old man stood up and felt for Aleko’s head.</p> -<p>“I want to see how tall you are. Ah, you are well above my -shoulder, that is a good height for twelve. Are you strong? Do you have -gymnastics at the Parnassos?”</p> -<p>“Yes, in the square outside. I know all the movements; and -there is one member—not the one who comes to the lessons, another -who has been abroad—and he is teaching us boxing.” -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb226" href="#pb226" name= -"pb226">226</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Boxing?” echoed the old man. This was new for him.</p> -<p>“It is how to fight with your hands; and he says that I shall -learn well and soon.”</p> -<p>“That is not real learning,” objected Kyr Themistocli, -“that is play.”</p> -<p>“I do not know,” answered Aleko, “but it is very -useful for me, because there are some of the boys who will not -understand things unless you explain with your fists. Now I go,” -he added. “I must be at the school at eight o’clock. Good -night, master.”</p> -<p>“Good night, my child.”</p> -<p>But from the door he rushed back again.</p> -<p>“What is that statue in the Zappion Gardens, of the man who -stands at the woman’s knee; she who is putting a crown of leaves -on his head?”</p> -<p>Kyr Themistocli put his hand to his forehead in a bewildered -fashion.</p> -<p>“At the Zappion? A crown of leaves? Oh, I see; you mean Byron. -Well, he was a great poet—a stranger—and because he left -his own country and came and fought for us against the Turks, and -helped us, and sang <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb227" href="#pb227" -name="pb227">227</a>]</span>about us, and loved us, the woman, who -means Greece, is crowning him with laurels.”</p> -<p>“Is it like when you take your hat off—to the -flag—to show respect?”</p> -<p>“Well, in a way, perhaps,” said the old man smiling.</p> -<p>“Is he dead now, that poet?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>Aleko thought for a moment.</p> -<p>“I will fight for his country when I grow up if they want -me.”</p> -<p>Then he ran very fast because he was afraid he would be late for -school. In winter the hours were from seven to nine in the evening, but -in summer they were from eight to ten, for the members of the Parnassos -who arranged all about the night school, knew that the little -shoeblacks and newspaper boys could find work in the streets much -later, now that the days were long and people dined at such late hours. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb228" href="#pb228" name= -"pb228">228</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">III</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">Aleko rushed through the Kolonaki Square and all the -length of the street called after the brave Kanaris,<a href= -"#n3.6"><sup>6</sup></a> into Academy Road, crossed it, and tearing -down two narrow streets one after the other, came out into Stadium -Street; this also he crossed, dodging in and out between the tram-cars -and the streams of people, and only slackened his pace when he got into -the short street that leads to the Church of St. George and the -building of the Parnassos.</p> -<p>He pushed open the big door, and dumping down his shoeblack’s -box in the outer hall beside a long line of others, was in the class -room and seated in his place, just one moment before the master took -his.</p> -<p>Two members were present this evening. One of them heard the -boys’ grammar and arithmetic lessons, and commented on them; the -other, a young man with a small dark moustache, leaned against the wall -and looked <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb229" href="#pb229" name= -"pb229">229</a>]</span>on without speaking. Just before the books were -closed he crossed the big room and exchanged a few words with the -master, who smiled, nodded his head, and gave up his place on the -platform to him. The whole class looked up with astonishment; members -never took the master’s place except to make speeches on the -twenty-fifth of March, or on examination day. This member was very -tall, his back was very straight, and his eyes were always -laughing.</p> -<p>He leaned carelessly across the desk.</p> -<p>“Listen to me, boys!” he said. “Some people have -been blaming me for teaching you boxing. They say you are ready enough -to fight without being taught any more about it. So I want to explain, -here, why I think it such a good thing for you. Now—until all men -become saints, and I believe that we, at least, shall not see that -day—a boy will always need to defend himself, or his people, or -his things, by fighting, sometimes. Well, boxing makes a fine healthy -animal of him, ready to face anything that may happen.”</p> -<p>Some of the older boys scowled at the word “animal,” and -the young member saw it. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb230" href= -"#pb230" name="pb230">230</a>]</span></p> -<p>“I am sorry you do not like being called -‘animals,’ ” he continued, “because in -reality, you are far worse off than animals when it comes to fighting, -and that is why you must learn how to use your strength, so as not to -be at the mercy of any who choose to attack you. Why, many insects, -even, are stronger than you are!”</p> -<p>The boys laughed out loudly.</p> -<p>“An ant,” continued the young member gravely, “can -bear nearly a thousand times the weight of its own body over it, -without being crushed. How many times your own weight do you think -<i>you</i> could carry? But science can supply what nature has denied -to us. We can make our fists be to us just what its horns are to a -bull, or its claws and its teeth to a lion; only, you see, we have to -learn how to do this carefully, and systematically. When a horse kicks, -or a dog bites, no one in the world can teach them to do it better, but -most men have no idea how to hit straight from the shoulder with all -the strength of the body behind the blow. A boy who has learned how to -defend himself will be a thousand times less molested by others, and -more independent. When <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb231" href= -"#pb231" name="pb231">231</a>]</span>grown men, in a fit of passion, -pull out a knife to avenge an injury, it is, nine times out of ten, -because they have not learned the use of their fists.”</p> -<p>Then the young member, suddenly leaving the platform, came down -amongst them.</p> -<p>“Who will learn?” he asked smiling.</p> -<p>Not a boy but came pressing around him. Benches were pushed against -the walls, and the lesson began.</p> -<p>He made the boys who were to fight take off their tunics and roll up -the sleeves of their more or less ragged shirts. He placed them in the -correct attitude of defense, the right fist closed and held near the -body and the left slightly extended. He showed them how to thrust -straight from the shoulder for the right-hand stroke, and for the -left-hand stroke; then how to parry the right-hand stroke with the left -arm raised and slightly bent, and how to parry the left-hand stroke -with the right arm bent forward and protecting the face. He showed them -how to take their opponent’s head prisoner, and he showed the -imprisoned one how to get free.</p> -<p>“Now, Kosta!” he cried, “straight out from -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb232" href="#pb232" name= -"pb232">232</a>]</span>the shoulder! Follow your blow! Come with it! -Come with it! Be ready, Aleko! Raise your left arm. There you -see …. That is the way!”</p> -<p>When the lesson was over and the boys had shouldered their boxes, -Aleko lingered until the two members came out down the steps into the -street smoking their cigarettes. He stood himself right in the way of -the younger member.</p> -<p>“Tell me, Kyrie, if you please, when you strike straight out -from the shoulder and the other one does not know how to parry the -blow, what happens?”</p> -<p>The member laughed.</p> -<p>“Why, he will see stars, my boy, especially if your blow lands -on his chin.”</p> -<p>“Ah!” said Aleko. “Yoryi who squints shall not -take my client from me again!”</p> -<p>“Does Yoryi ‘who squints’ come to school?” -asked the member.</p> -<p>“Not he!”</p> -<p>“Then I certainly think your client will remain -yours.”</p> -<p>“Good night, Kyrie.”</p> -<p>“Good night to you, my lad.” <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb233" href="#pb233" name="pb233">233</a>]</span></p> -<p>Then as Aleko ran off, the younger member turned to the older -one.</p> -<p>“I wish a few more of the boys had his spirit.”</p> -<p>“How fair he is! From what part does he come, I -wonder?”</p> -<p>“Oh, they all come from Megaloupolis, but I believe that this -one’s father is originally from Macedonia.”</p> -<p>“Ah, a good race,” said the older man. “One of our -best.” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb234" href="#pb234" name= -"pb234">234</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">IV</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">The next day, early in the afternoon, Aleko duly took -the <i>Embros</i> to the little street off the Kolonaki Square, where -the old, blind schoolmaster sat waiting for him, just inside his door. -The boy sat down on the doorstep and read out all the news to him. Then -he told him all about his boxing lesson, and left only when it was time -for the evening newspapers to come out. And after that, the afternoon -readings became a regular thing. Sometimes the boy was tired after the -long, hot, hard-working morning, and would have willingly thrown -himself down on his mattress for an hour or two, but he never failed -the old man.</p> -<p>Of course the readings were frequently interrupted by questions, for -Aleko soon discovered that Kyr Themistocli was of those who “knew -things when you asked them.”</p> -<p>“What is an ‘agonistes’?” he asked one day, -after reading of the death of an old veteran. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb235" href="#pb235" name="pb235">235</a>]</span></p> -<p>“An ‘agonistes’ is one who fights; but now it has -come to mean one who has fought in the Revolution of 1821. My father -was one.”</p> -<p>The newspaper fluttered down on the doorstep and Aleko was on his -knees beside the old man, his eyes eagerly fixed on the sightless ones -above him.</p> -<p>“Your father! Did he kill Turks himself? Did he blow up a -Turkish ship? Did he come down from Souli<a href= -"#n3.7"><sup>7</sup></a> with Marcos Botzaris? Did he see Kanaris and -Miaoulis? Did he fight at Missolonghi? Was he there when the Turks -passed the stake through Diakos?”<a href= -"#n3.8"><sup>8</sup></a></p> -<p>“Stop, stop, my child! you want the whole of the Revolution at -once!”</p> -<p>However, he was very patient, the old man, and Aleko heard many of -those things which never get into the history books, at least into -those from which he read at school. Little incidents of the many -battles and sieges, tales of the misery and the hardships, and of the -braving of all the misery and the hardships, for the sake of freedom. -Of the Christian children who were stolen and turned into infidels! Of -the boys who were taken as babes and brought up to hate and to fight -against <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb236" href="#pb236" name= -"pb236">236</a>]</span>their own people; of the girls who were made -slaves in the harems; of the bloodshed, and the tortures, until at last -the day came at Navarino when even strangers joined in arms against the -cruel oppressors.</p> -<p>“I am afraid,” said Kyr Themistocli, “that you -cannot quite understand yet, how it all came to pass.”</p> -<p>“There is only one thing I cannot understand,” said -Aleko slowly.</p> -<p>“What thing?”</p> -<p>“When they had the strangers to help them, why they did not go -everywhere, and cut off <i>all</i> the Turks’ heads so that none -should be left.”</p> -<p>The old man leaned back in his chair and laughed aloud.</p> -<p>“He is terrible, the little one!” and he tried to -explain, but Aleko remained rather unsatisfied on this point.</p> -<p>“Now, will you find me some water to drink. I have talked -much.”</p> -<p>Aleko found the water, and was just putting the pitcher back in its -place, when he heard a series of short sharp barks in the distance. -Instead of passing out of the house door, before <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb237" href="#pb237" name= -"pb237">237</a>]</span>which the old man was sitting, he vaulted out of -the low kitchen window and went tearing down the street.</p> -<p>“Aleko!” called Kyr Themistocli who heard the clatter. -“Aleko! Where are you?” But there was only silence. He -sighed and leaned back in his chair crossing his hands.</p> -<p>“Of course the boy cannot stay long; it is well he comes at -all,” and he sighed again.</p> -<p>Suddenly he felt something warm, and soft, and alive on his hands. -He was startled.</p> -<p>“What is it?”</p> -<p>“It is only Solon,” said Aleko. “Did you not hear -me return? He was barking down the street and I knew he had strayed -again from the cook—Anneza—and I brought him for you to -see.”</p> -<p>Kyr Themistocli always talked of “seeing” and Aleko had -got into the same habit.</p> -<p>“Put your hands over him,—so,—Is he not soft? And -clever! as clever as a Christian! Whatever I tell him he -understands.”</p> -<p>Kyr Themistocli smiled.</p> -<p>“He is not yours?”</p> -<p>“Mine! No! He belongs to the big house higher up, the one -which has the garden. Do <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb238" href= -"#pb238" name="pb238">238</a>]</span>you know it? Someone lives there -who is called ‘Spinotti.’ ”</p> -<p>“Kyrios Spinotti, the banker; he is a very rich -man.”</p> -<p>“Is he?” said Aleko indifferently. “Well, Solon is -his dog, and he is so fond of him that he fears lest the wind should -blow or the rain should drop on his body; and he often goes into the -kitchen to see what he eats, and Anneza says that if all poor people -fared as well as this dog does, it would be well. So that is why he is -so fat, you see! And when Anneza goes out, her master says she must -take the dog with her for exercise, and if she does not … bad -luck to her! But he is always straying. She is a stupid woman and Solon -will not stay with her. Some day she will lose him and never find him -again, and then there will be trouble. Now I must take him -back.”</p> -<p>“His master,” said the old man slowly, “is so fond -of the dog because it was his wife’s dog, and she is -dead.”</p> -<p>Aleko, with Solon contentedly tucked under his arm, stopped -short.</p> -<p>“You know him then?” <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb239" href="#pb239" name="pb239">239</a>]</span></p> -<p>“This house in which I live, is his, and because of that, I -pay very little rent for it. He, Nico Spinotti, is my old pupil from -Cephalonia, of whom I told you; he who took me to the oculists. Once, a -long time ago, when I first came to Athens, when I could still see, I -went to his house. His wife was alive then—a beautiful woman, of -one of the first names of the island—and as she was talking to me -and smiling, she had the little dog, who was but a puppy, in her arms. -She died—God rest her soul—of typhoid fever. Since then I -have not seen Nico often, but he never forgets his old -master.”</p> -<p>“Of course not,” said Aleko, “why should -he?”</p> -<p>“Many would, my boy; many would. But he is a good man; take -his dog back to him that he may not be anxious.”</p> -<p>After Aleko had left Solon at the big house, it was already dark. He -hurried down the Kiphissia Road and through the Square of the -Constitution, thinking he would have more chance of selling the few -papers he still held, if he went to school by that way.</p> -<p>It was getting cooler, and the streets were <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb240" href="#pb240" name= -"pb240">240</a>]</span>filled with people pouring out of all quarters -of the city to breathe the night air after the weariness of the day -spent behind closed shutters.</p> -<p>Crowded street cars and carriages crossed and recrossed, carrying -family parties down to Phalerum and the sea.</p> -<p>The little round tables at Yannaki’s, Doree’s, and -Zacharato’s were all occupied, in fact those of the latter had -spread right out across the square. All around rose the hum of summer -night noises, of music, of the cries of the café waiters, the -tinkling of many glasses and spoons, and the distant whistle of the -Kiphissia train.</p> -<p>Groups of men lounged past, talking and laughing.</p> -<p>A man in one of the groups beckoned to Aleko, a young man with a -small dark moustache:—</p> -<p>“Here! Have you any newspapers left?”</p> -<p>Aleko looked up into the pleasant, laughing eyes of his boxing -master.</p> -<p>“Oristé!”<a href="#n3.9"><sup>9</sup></a> he -cried eagerly. “Certainly, all you want.”</p> -<p>“Ah, is it you, Aleko! Good evening to you! <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb241" href="#pb241" name= -"pb241">241</a>]</span>Well, give me the <i>Hestia</i>, the -<i>Astrapi</i>, the <i>Hesperini</i>—and the <i>Romios</i>, if -you have it.”</p> -<p>Then, when he had gathered them up, he asked laughingly:—</p> -<p>“Now, as we are old friends and I have bought so many -newspapers, surely you will take off a discount for me! What shall I -give you?”</p> -<p>Aleko, being of pure Greek blood, answered in the good old Greek -fashion:—</p> -<p>“Whatever you please to give.”</p> -<p>The young man laughed and held out a five lepta copper coin, the -value of one newspaper alone.</p> -<p>“Suppose then I please to give only this.”</p> -<p>Not a muscle moved in Aleko’s face.</p> -<p>“You shall give it,” he answered, then taking the coin -he dropped it into his pocket, and was turning away, when the young man -called him back.</p> -<p>“Here! Stop! Did you take it seriously?” and while he -was searching for more coins, he asked, “Do you boys not have to -account for all the papers you sell?”</p> -<p>“Of course; the ‘big one’ keeps count of -everything.” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb242" href="#pb242" -name="pb242">242</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Well then, what would you have said when the ‘big -one’ as you call him, found fifteen lepta too little?”</p> -<p>“He would have found his money right.”</p> -<p>“How could he?”</p> -<p>“I would have put it there from my supper money.”</p> -<p>The young man looked at Aleko rather curiously, and two of the other -men who were with him laughed. The one of them, an older man, -said:—</p> -<p>“This is an original little specimen!” and the other, an -officer, asked:—</p> -<p>“And why should you be taking from your supper money to make -this gentleman a present of three newspapers? Do you not think he is -richer than you?”</p> -<p>“That does not matter at all,” answered Aleko. “My -father told me that it is a shame always to take, and never to give, -however poor you are. He …” pointing with his thumb -backwards, “has given me much; may I not befriend him with three -newspapers?”</p> -<p>“Ah, that of course alters the question,” remarked the -officer.</p> -<p>“I assure you,” began the young man, “that -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb243" href="#pb243" name= -"pb243">243</a>]</span>I have never given the child a single -thing!” Then turning to Aleko, “Are you thinking of the -‘tsourekia’<a href="#n3.10"><sup>10</sup></a> and red eggs -at Easter? but that was from all the members of the Parnassos, not from -me alone.”</p> -<p>“No,” said Aleko, “I mean that you have taught me -many things, and that is more than things which are eaten and -<span class="corr" id="xd25e4028" title= -"Source: finish">finished</span>.”</p> -<p>“Oh, ho!” laughed the officer, “this is a -philosopher we have here.”</p> -<p>“No,” said Aleko gravely, “I have not enough -learning; perhaps if I could go to school all day, I might be one, some -time.”</p> -<p>The older man shook his head.</p> -<p>“That is the way of the world. <i>My</i> son can go to school -all day, and every day, and his one object is to stay away.”</p> -<p>“What do you want to be when you grow up?” asked the -officer of Aleko.</p> -<p>“I do not know … yet,” he answered slowly. -“I want to learn how to do many things, and then to go and do -them.”</p> -<p>“You could not wish better,” said his boxing master. -“I think you will be a man anyway. Here is your money, and run -off to the Parnassos; I am not coming this evening; it is too -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb244" href="#pb244" name= -"pb244">244</a>]</span>hot for boxing.” Then turning to the -officer he quoted smilingly:—</p> -<p class="xd25e123"><span class="trans" title= -"hōs charien esth’ anthrōpos hotan anthrōpos ē"> -<span class="Greek" lang="grc">ὡς -χαρίεν ἔσθ’ -ἄνθρωπος -ὅταν -ἄνθρωπος -ᾖ</span></span></p> -<p>Aleko heard him, though he did not understand; and as he ran down -Stadium Street, he kept repeating the words to himself for fear of -forgetting them, and when he sat down in his place in the class, the -first thing he did was to borrow a stump of a pencil from his -neighbour, and write the words on the fly leaf of his reading book. Of -course they were spelled and accented all wrong, but they could be read -quite plainly. The arithmetic lesson came last, and Aleko was the last -pupil called up to the blackboard, so that when the boys were leaving -the class he ventured to show his sentence to the schoolmaster.</p> -<p>“What does this mean, master?”</p> -<p>The schoolmaster took up the book.</p> -<p>“Why do you write on your school books?” he asked -sharply.</p> -<p>“I had no paper. What does it mean?”</p> -<p>The master read the sentence slowly.</p> -<p>“This is ancient Greek,” he said. “You have not -done any yet: you could not understand <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb245" href="#pb245" name="pb245">245</a>]</span>it. Even next year in -the higher class, you will only do Æsop’s fables, and a -little Xenophon. Better leave it,” he added laughing. “Do -not trouble your head! It is not for you!”</p> -<p>But Aleko put his book into his shoeblack box to take away with him. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb246" href="#pb246" name= -"pb246">246</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">V</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">The next day it was four o’clock before he went -up to the Kolonaki and found the blind old man seated on a chair -outside his door, waiting for him patiently. The daily newspaper was -read, but without the usual stopping for questions. When the reading -was over Aleko opened his box and pulled out his book. Then he flung -himself down and resting the book on the old man’s knees opened -the tattered, scribbled-over blue paper cover.</p> -<p>“Master,” he said, “these are ancient Greek words; -I heard a man say them to another, and I wrote them down. What do they -mean?” and he read the words aloud slowly:—</p> -<p class="xd25e123"><span class="trans" title= -"hōs charien esth’ anthrōpos hotan anthrōpos ē"> -<span class="Greek" lang="grc">ὡς -χαρίεν ἔσθ’ -ἄνθρωπος -ὅταν -ἄνθρωπος -ᾖ</span></span></p> -<p>“Ah, my child!” and the old man’s voice trembled a -little, “they knew so much, those old forefathers of -ours,—</p> -<p class="xd25e123"><span class="trans" title= -"hōs charien esth’ anthrōpos hotan anthrōpos ē"> -<span class="Greek" lang="grc">ὡς -χαρίεν ἔσθ’ -ἄνθρωπος -ὅταν -ἄνθρωπος -ᾖ</span></span> <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb247" href= -"#pb247" name="pb247">247</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Yes, that is from Menander. How shall I tell you? It means so -many things and so many different things at different times. Sometimes, -I think, it may mean simply, that it is a duty to be a man and not a -brute. Let me explain ….”</p> -<p>“I know!” broke in Aleko, whose eyes had been fixed on -the entrance of the narrow street. “You mean, to be like you and -not like that fruit-seller over there who is kicking his donkey because -he has laden it too heavily, and it cannot walk.” Kyr Themistocli -smiled.</p> -<p>“Well, … yes, if you like, my boy … yes. -Sometimes it means that it is a glorious thing to be all that a man can -be! to be afraid of no evil talk, to hold your head very high, to -remember that we have sprung from a race which has given light to all -the civilized world, to become all that an ancient Greek of the best -might have been. I do not mean that there were no bad men among them! -Which race has been without? There were Ephialtes<a href= -"#n3.11"><sup>11</sup></a> … Antipater<a href= -"#n3.12"><sup>12</sup></a> … and many others. But to approach -the noblest, … to touch the hem of their garment … who -would not be proud? Sometimes, Aleko, it means that like <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb248" href="#pb248" name= -"pb248">248</a>]</span>Socrates, one must give work, and strength, and -patience, and forgiveness to others, and look for nothing in return. -Sometimes it means that a man, to be a man, must give the thing that is -hardest to give of all—his life even!”</p> -<p>“But …” began Aleko hesitatingly.</p> -<p>“What, my child? Ask all that you wish.”</p> -<p>“If a man—a great man, and a good man as you -say—gives his life, then it is finished; he cannot help anyone, -or be great, or strong, any more.”</p> -<p>“Ah, no! Many people have said that, little one, but I must -make you see further. There are those who will say, if this man had not -done this deed of sacrifice, if he had kept his own valuable life, he -might have done many more great things later on. Ah, but they -forget ….” and the blind man stretched out his arms -as though appealing to an unseen audience. “They forget that all -the useful and good things which he might still have done, are as -nothing before the wonderful example he has given, -before …. Oh, how shall I tell you, my child? … -before the way in which he has <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb249" -href="#pb249" name="pb249">249</a>]</span>made thousands of men’s -and women’s hearts beat with noble thoughts,—before the way -in which he has made the little children of his land lift up their -heads, and say, ‘I, too, will be like him some day!’ No, -Aleko, no! What he has done lasts through the years; and the bravery of -great men of whom you will read some day, such a deed for instance as -that of Paul Melas<a href="#n3.13"><sup>13</sup></a> in our own time, -makes all the world nobler and stronger for them, even after their -names come to be forgotten!”</p> -<p>There was silence for some minutes, then Aleko said:—</p> -<p>“When I am twenty-one years old, and my time comes to serve in -the army, if there be a war while I am a soldier, then I may be very -brave and perhaps …” his eyes brightened as he spoke, -“they may print it in the newspaper, and someone will read it to -you, and you will say, ‘That is Aleko, I know him.’ But if -there is no war, … then what can I do?”</p> -<p>“It is of your age, my child, to think that only in fighting -can one be brave; but I could fill a big book with all the different -kinds of courage.” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb250" href= -"#pb250" name="pb250">250</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Tell me, then! How could I be brave if there were no -war?”</p> -<p>The blind man groped for the boy’s hand and held it for a -moment.</p> -<p>“I think you are brave <i>now</i>.”</p> -<p>“But that is impossible; I have done naught.”</p> -<p>“Suppose that next year when you finish the highest class of -the Parnassos, you were to get the first prize?”</p> -<p>“Yes,” assented Aleko, “I shall get it.”</p> -<p>“Very well; how much is it?”</p> -<p>“Three hundred drachmæ.”</p> -<p>“Would that sum not be sufficient to keep you for a year at -least without working, if you wished to go to a higher class in the -Municipal School?”</p> -<p>“It would be sufficient for me alone, but who would send money -to my mother and the little ones, if I did not work?”</p> -<p>“That is just what I meant; you go on working for them, -instead of getting more learning for yourself, as you would like to do. -Well, that is a brave deed!”</p> -<p>“But, no,” said the boy, his face puckered with -perplexity, “that is not brave. I do not like it at all!” -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb251" href="#pb251" name= -"pb251">251</a>]</span></p> -<p>“But you do it.”</p> -<p>Aleko got up from his knees.</p> -<p>“I do not do it; it does itself. How can I help it?” -then, as he shouldered his box to go, he asked, “After I have -read to-morrow, will you tell me about some more great men?”</p> -<p>“I will tell you all I know; … only come!” -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb252" href="#pb252" name= -"pb252">252</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">VI</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">And as the days became hotter and hotter, as May -melted into June and June into July, Kyr Themistocli got to depend more -and more on the boy’s daily visits, and as he was an old man and -had lost many things in his life, he would tremble sometimes at the -thought of losing this new joy. For it <i>was</i> a joy as all creating -and all planting is a joy. In all the years he had been a schoolmaster, -it was the first time he had come across an intellect where all seeds -once sown bore fruit; where there were no barren spots.</p> -<p>But Aleko never failed him; every day he would bring the newspaper -and read it all through to the blind man. When the heat was intense, -and the white light in the streets was blinding, they would sit indoors -behind closed shutters, and when it became cooler, late in the -afternoon, the old man’s chair would be placed outside the house, -and Aleko sat on the step below him, and asked all the questions that -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb253" href="#pb253" name= -"pb253">253</a>]</span>crowded into his mind. He had more time now, for -examinations were over and school was closed until September again. One -evening, when the sounds of passing guitars and men’s voices -singing, floated up to the narrow little street, mingled with the cries -of boys racing and calling to each other, the old man asked -him:—</p> -<p>“Do you not want to run with the other lads, Aleko?”</p> -<p>And Aleko answered:—</p> -<p>“I run all day; now it is good to sit. Tell me about some -great men, Kyr Themistocli.”</p> -<p>And the old schoolmaster, well content, tilted his chair back -against the sun-baked wall of the house, and told him many things.</p> -<p>He told him of the old, old times even before the ancients, when men -were almost like brutes, but with something manlike in them which set -them apart from the wild beasts; when they made weapons of stones, and -lighted fires by the rubbing of sticks; when they crossed over the -barrier of water by hollowing boats out of trees. He told him of the -terrible wild animals which existed in those days, so monstrous that -the heads of some would reach up to the <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb254" href="#pb254" name="pb254">254</a>]</span>third floor windows -of a house; and how they would long ago have devoured all the men if -these had not used their brains to defend themselves. How men followed -men through the centuries and how, little by little, their brains grew -cleverer and cleverer through much using, until at last, from those -wild men sprang the minds, and the hearts, and the hands, of Socrates -and Plato, and Aristotle, the philosophers, and Leonidas, the warrior, -and Pericles, the statesman, and Phidias and Praxiteles, the sculptors. -Then, he went on to tell him of all the poor boys through many ages who -had the spirit of the old cave dwellers in them—who would not -stay as they had been born. He told him of Æsop, who was only a -poor slave boy, so ugly and deformed that people laughed and jeered at -him; and yet his fables have been translated into all languages of -Europe, and even into Arabic and Chinese; of Christopher Columbus, the -son of a poor comber of wool in Genoa, who discovered America; of the -shepherd boy Giotto, who drew pictures on stones whilst watching the -sheep, and who grew up to be a celebrated painter; of Lully, the -musician, who was a cook-boy; of Metastasio <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb255" href="#pb255" name="pb255">255</a>]</span>the -Italian poet, who as a boy recited verses in the streets of Rome; and -to come to our own days, he told him all he had read before he lost his -sight, of Edison, the American, who was a poor boy, and—like -Aleko—had at one time sold newspapers to earn his bread, and of -what wonderful things he had invented, and how there were few in the -world who were not indebted to him; he told him of others—of all -he could remember; then he tried to explain to him, a little, how hard -all these men had worked, each in his own way, and how they had not -only <i>wished</i> to do great things, but had <i>willed</i> it very -hard, and had gone on willing it every moment of their lives, and how -it was this great will that had made them conquer all obstacles, and -all discouragement. He told him also how it was not enough to work, and -to be brave, in order to grow up into a great man, or even simply into -a good and just one, but how he must think as well; how he must always -look for the cause, always ask himself the why and the wherefore, of -everything ….<a id="xd25e4218" name="xd25e4218"></a></p> -<p>“Of course,” interrupted Aleko, “I know that. If -you do not you are stupid. Yesterday, <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb256" href="#pb256" name="pb256">256</a>]</span>the drawer of a -boy’s box would not open; you know the drawer, where all the -shoe-polishes and rags are kept; and this boy—Dino—he -pulled, and he pulled, and he could not get it open, and he was very -angry, because a man got tired of waiting for him to clean his boots -and went to another boy’s stand. Then I looked at Dino’s -box, and I pulled a little, and it was one side only of the drawer -which stuck, so I turned it to the light, and I found that a little -nail had fallen between the side of the box and the drawer, and jammed -it, and when I pulled it out with a bit of wire it opened as -before.”</p> -<p>“And Dino was glad?”</p> -<p>“He was glad, but he did not look why the drawer had stuck, -and when another nail falls in he will be stupid again; he will not -know how to open it. His head is stuffed with straw!”</p> -<p>Then Aleko got up from the step, and gathered his remaining -newspapers under his arm.</p> -<p>“The good hour be with you, Kyr Themistocli!”</p> -<p>“You are going?”</p> -<p>“Yes, I want to go and see if that Anneza has found the dog -yet.” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb257" href="#pb257" name= -"pb257">257</a>]</span></p> -<p>“What? She has lost him again?”</p> -<p>“Since noon to-day, and she was trembling with fear of what -her master would say.”</p> -<p>“You will remember, Aleko, to bring the coffee to-morrow -afternoon.”</p> -<p>“I will remember. Be easy! I have the money you gave me safe -here.” Then as he turned to go, he said, “You have -sufficient for the morning?”</p> -<p>“No,” answered the old man, “it is all finished; -but for one day it does not matter if one eats one’s bread -dry.”</p> -<p>“For you it matters,” pronounced Aleko. “I shall -bring the coffee in the morning, ready ground.”</p> -<p>“Do not trouble, my boy; in the mornings you have no -time.”</p> -<p>“I shall have time, and I shall bring it when I come with the -newspapers for the Spinotti house,” and without waiting for -further objections he ran down the street and up the wider one, till he -came to the railings of the Spinotti garden.</p> -<p>Anneza, leaning out of her kitchen window, was explaining something -vehemently to the next-door cook. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb258" -href="#pb258" name="pb258">258</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Have you found the dog?” asked Aleko.</p> -<p>“If only I could find him, I would give twenty drachmæ -out of my wages, that I would! The master was like mad when he heard I -had lost him; he says the dog must have been stolen, and he has gone -now to put it in the newspapers.”</p> -<p>“Did he give it to you badly?” asked the next-door cook -curiously.</p> -<p>Anneza became tearful.</p> -<p>“He scolded me,” she said, “till I have been -trembling ever since.”</p> -<p>“He did well,” pronounced Aleko as he turned away, -“if your head were not fixed on, you would lose it every -day.”</p> -<p>“Wait a moment!” shouted Anneza. “Wait till I get -the jam stick to you!” but Aleko was already out of sight.</p> -<p>When he got back to his cellar home he folded the left-over -newspapers to be returned on the morrow, and looked doubtfully at his -mattress; Andoni, the other boy, was already fast asleep in the farther -corner. But it was stiflingly hot in the cellar and there was bright -moonlight outside, so he sauntered up the steps again and looked about -him. There were few <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb259" href="#pb259" -name="pb259">259</a>]</span>passers-by, and the shadows of the houses -lay in deep blue-black patches on the moonlit street.</p> -<p>Farther down, outside a closed fruit shop, were some empty baskets, -and on one of these he sat down, his elbows on his knees, and his face -cupped in his hands. A cooling breeze came from one of the side streets -leading up to the first slopes of Mount Lycabettus,<a href= -"#n3.14"><sup>14</sup></a> and though Aleko drowsed a little as he sat -there, he did not feel inclined to return to his cellar.</p> -<p>Suddenly, behind him came a soft patter and something sniffed at his -bare ankles.</p> -<p>He jumped up, overturning the basket.</p> -<p>“Solon!”</p> -<p>And Solon it was, not smooth and white and clean as usual, but -muddy, and draggled, and gray with dust.</p> -<p>“You bad dog! How did you find yourself here? Do you know that -your master is searching for you in all the town? Do you know that he -has paid money to have it printed in the newspaper that you are lost? -Are you not ashamed then? Bad dog!”</p> -<p>Solon did not like this tone of voice so he sat up and begged with -his dusty little forepaws. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb260" href= -"#pb260" name="pb260">260</a>]</span>All at once, Aleko saw that a -broken piece of coarse string was tied round the dog’s neck.</p> -<p>“Bah! Your master was right then that you had been stolen! -Some one tried to tie you up, and you must have broken the string and -run away. You are a very clever dog! Bravo, Solon!”</p> -<p>Solon opened his mouth very wide and curled up his tongue in a long -yawn.</p> -<p>“Come, I will carry you home so that you may not stray -again.” And Aleko stooped to pick him up; but as he did so, a man -who was coming along the other side of the pavement some distance off, -a tall man wearing a Panama hat, called out loudly:—</p> -<p>“Who is there? What are you doing with that dog?” and -hastened his steps. He crossed the road to Aleko’s side, and -stooped over him to see what he held.</p> -<p>Suddenly Solon gave a shrill, joyous bark and the man snatched him -out of Aleko’s arms, at the same time giving the boy a violent -push which sent him staggering against the closed shutters of the -shop.</p> -<div class="figure p260width" id="p260"><img src="images/p260.jpg" alt= -"Alexander with dog." width="464" height="720"></div> -<p>“You young scoundrel, you! So I have <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb261" href="#pb261" name= -"pb261">261</a>]</span>caught you, have I? Do you know that this is my -dog?”</p> -<p>Aleko looked up. It was the man he had often seen coming out of the -big house in the garden; it was Solon’s master.</p> -<p>“Yes,” he said, “I know; but you need not push -people in that way. I was going to bring the dog to your house. Now -that you have found him, you can take him yourself.”</p> -<p>And turning his back he was walking off. But Nico Spinotti had been -searching for his dog for the whole long hot afternoon; he had walked -up and down likely and unlikely streets; he had visited most of the -shops at which Anneza dealt, he had been to the police station, and to -three newspaper offices, and now that he thought he had found the -culprit, and that this culprit was mocking him, his fury knew no -bounds. He put Solon down and darting forward seized Aleko by the arm -and brought down his walking stick with force across the boy’s -shoulders.</p> -<p>“You young limb!” he shouted. “You thieving little -blackguard! From where did you steal that dog? Tell me! Tell me or I -will pull your ears off!” and each word was accompanied -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb262" href="#pb262" name= -"pb262">262</a>]</span>by a fresh blow. The poor boy twisted and -writhed, but he had no chance in those strong hands.</p> -<p>“Leave me!” he screamed. “Let go! Why do you -strike me? Leave me, I tell you! I never stole your dog …. -I found him …. He knows me …. He came to -me!”</p> -<p>“You can tell those lies to others! They will not pass with -me,” cried the furious man, pushing Aleko away at last and -stooping to pick up Solon. “How should my dog know a ragamuffin -like you?”</p> -<p>Aleko, who had fallen on his knees beside the overturned basket, put -up his arm to ward off further blows.</p> -<p>“But he does! It is I who bring the newspapers to your house, -and he sees me every day. Ask Anneza if it be not true?”</p> -<p>“So much the worse if you know him! I suppose someone has put -you up to steal the dog. Now, hark you! You are not to dare to come to -my house or anywhere near it, and if ever I see your dirty face in our -neighbourhood again, I shall hand you over to the police. So now you -know!” and picking up the little dog under his arm he turned to -go. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb263" href="#pb263" name= -"pb263">263</a>]</span></p> -<p>“The street is not yours!” burst out Aleko with sudden -fury, rubbing his shoulder. “And I shall sell my newspapers there -every day!”</p> -<p>“You will! Will you? Very well, when you want any change out -of the beating you got just now, you can come to me for it! Do you -hear?”</p> -<p>“I hear.”</p> -<p>“Well, remember it then!” and turning on his heel he -walked quickly down the street.</p> -<p>Aleko was sore all over, sore in body and sore in mind. Wearily he -staggered back to his cellar, threw himself on his mattress, and there -in the dark, dropped his head on his arms and sobbed himself to sleep. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb264" href="#pb264" name= -"pb264">264</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">VII</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">Next morning, when he got up, part of the bodily -soreness had disappeared, but his indignation was, if anything, -greater.</p> -<p>“Just let him wait and see!” he kept muttering to -himself as, carrying his morning newspapers, he waited in a little -grocer’s shop while Kyr Themistocli’s coffee was being -weighed. “Just let him wait! The next time I find his dog -straying—and that will be to-morrow or the day after, unless he -turns Anneza away—I will take it and give it to someone else, to -someone who lives <i>very</i> far away, where he will <i>never</i> find -it again. May they never call me Aleko again if I do not!” As he -was leaving the shop with the bag of coffee in his hand, he found -outside the door an empty petroleum tin which he kicked viciously right -out into the middle of the square. It fell bounding and rebounding with -tremendous clatter against the curbstone, and the noise did him -good.</p> -<p>However, he was not to wait even until to-morrow <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb265" href="#pb265" name="pb265">265</a>]</span>for -his revenge, though it did not happen exactly as he had planned it.</p> -<p>Before the clang of the falling tin had ceased, he saw at the end of -the square, just where the street car tracks come into it, a little -flash of something white tearing along at full speed. In hot pursuit, -but very far behind, came Anneza, with a packet of macaroni in one hand -and two cucumbers in the other. At first Aleko could not understand why -she seemed in such terrible haste, but in another second he had -understood.</p> -<p>From behind the corner of a chemist’s shop a man darted out, a -man armed with an open bag of thin knotted rope mounted on a long -stick, something which looked like a monstrous butterfly net; and this -net came down with a dexterous swoop, born of long practice, and rose -again into the air, carrying with it the little white, squealing, -wriggling bundle which was Solon.</p> -<p>Anneza, in the distance, gave a loud shriek, and one of her -cucumbers fell unheeded to the ground. On she rushed, her apron strings -flying behind her; but the man was quicker.</p> -<p>The iron cage on wheels, with its load of <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb266" href="#pb266" name= -"pb266">266</a>]</span>barking, snarling prisoners, stood behind him; -with one hand, he lifted up the little spring door at the top of it, -and with a twist of the other he emptied poor Solon on top of the other -dogs. Then he dropped the lid and whipped up the horse.</p> -<p>“Stop!” panted Anneza, waving her arms wildly, -“stop I tell you!”</p> -<p>She was close to the cart by this time; but just at that moment, the -street car which was going up towards the Maraslion met the one which -was coming down, at the corner, and for a moment there was a block. -Anneza, trying to squeeze herself between the two, was pushed here and -there by mounting and descending passengers, and by the time she got -clear the man with the iron cage was out of sight.</p> -<p>But Aleko had been quicker. He had wheeled round as soon as he saw -the dog caught, and running down a short cut had met the cart as it -came out on the street below. He stood right in its way and signaled to -the man.</p> -<p>“The little dog you have just taken,” he cried, -“is not a stray dog. He belongs ….”</p> -<p>“Stand out of my way,” shouted the man <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb267" href="#pb267" name= -"pb267">267</a>]</span>savagely, “or I will bring my whip down on -your head!” and he brandished a heavy whip dangerously near the -boy.</p> -<p>Aleko jumped aside only just in time, and the cart went rattling -down the steep incline with a clatter of its iron laths which drowned -the barking of its occupants.</p> -<p>Instinctively Aleko ran back to the square.</p> -<p>Anneza was gone.</p> -<p>“Do you know,” he asked of a woman who was weighing some -purple figs at the door of a fruit shop, “where the serving maid -has gone who was here just now?”</p> -<p>“Anneza, from the Spinotti’s, you mean?” answered -the woman. “The ‘boya’ took her dog away in his cart, -and she has run back to the house to tell her master.”</p> -<p>“By the time she finds him,” said Aleko, “it will -be too late.” And he tore across the square and down the street -leading to Academy Road. A street car was passing. He leaped on the -platform dragging his box after him. The conductor looked at him -angrily.</p> -<p>“Do you not know that you cannot sell your newspapers while -the car is in motion?”</p> -<p>“I am not selling anything,” answered Aleko <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb268" href="#pb268" name="pb268">268</a>]</span>with -dignity; “I am riding.” And he produced ten lepta from a -pocket inside his tunic.</p> -<p>He got off the street car at Patissia Road and turned to his right. -When he came to a large house, standing somewhat back from the road, he -stopped short. An older boy, also with a shoeblack’s box beside -him, was leaning against the railings of the enclosure.</p> -<p>“Is this the Central Police Station?” inquired -Aleko.</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“Does the Chief of the Police live here?”</p> -<p>The older boy stared at him.</p> -<p>“He does not live here, he has a fine house of his own near -the Palace, but he comes here every day. I know, because this -<span class="corr" id="xd25e4422" title="Source: in">is</span> my -stand, and I see him when he comes and goes.”</p> -<p>Then Aleko asked another question.</p> -<p>“Does the ‘boya’ bring the dogs he catches -here?”</p> -<p>“He brings them here first, to be counted, and then he takes -them down there.” And the strange shoeblack jerked with his thumb -over his shoulder towards the Homonoia<a href= -"#n3.15"><sup>15</sup></a> Square.</p> -<p>“Down where?”</p> -<p>“Far down the Piræus Road.” <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb269" href="#pb269" name="pb269">269</a>]</span></p> -<p>“What does he do with them there?”</p> -<p>“Puts them into a room which kills them.”</p> -<p>“How can it kill them—a room?”</p> -<p>“Do I know?”</p> -<p>“When does the cart come here?”</p> -<p>The elder boy looked up at the sun.</p> -<p>“Now, any minute.”</p> -<p>“Listen,” said Aleko, “the ‘boya’ has -taken just now up at the Kolonaki a dog that is not a stray one. It is -a very good dog, and it belongs to someone who counts for something. If -I wait here, and show the Chief of the Police which it is, will he give -it to me?”</p> -<p>“Are you mad?” asked the strange boy contemptuously. -“Do you think the Chief himself sees the dogs, or that he will -listen to <i>you</i>?”</p> -<p>“Then what shall I do?”</p> -<p>“If you want the dog, go down to the place in the Piræus -Road, and find the ‘boya’ alone. Now, these hot days, they -are afraid of mad dogs, and they pay him one drachma for every dog he -catches: so, perhaps, if you were to give him -more ….”</p> -<p>“Where is the place?”</p> -<p>“I have never been there. Go down the Piræus Road and -ask.” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb270" href="#pb270" name= -"pb270">270</a>]</span></p> -<p>Aleko started off towards the square at a good pace. The heat of the -day had begun and he had eaten nothing yet. But he wiped his forehead -with the back of his sleeve and plunged into the Piræus Road. The -strange boy had told him that the place was “far down,” -therefore it was no good inquiring before he reached the Gas Works. It -was a long way; if the “boya’s” cart only stopped a -few moments at the Police Station, it might almost be there before him; -so he hurried on, quickening his pace, and now and then breaking into a -little run.</p> -<p>He <i>must</i> get there in time! He must! Poor little Solon! Poor -little warm, white creature, so full of life! “As clever as a -Christian,” as he had told Kyr Themistocli the other day. At this -point, he looked at the paper bag of coffee still unconsciously -clutched in one hand.</p> -<p>“The old man will eat his bread dry this morning after all; -well, what is to be done? It is a small evil.”</p> -<p>After passing the Gas Works he began to ask his way; but most of the -passers-by seemed vague. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb271" href= -"#pb271" name="pb271">271</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Somewhere down there,” they said. A carter told him the -place was after Phalerum, but a second man contradicted him.</p> -<p>“What are you saying, brother? It is far closer than -that!”</p> -<p>Aleko remembered that his father used to say:—</p> -<p>“By asking one can find the way to Constantinople.” And -as it was not to Constantinople that he wanted to go, but only to the -“boya’s” place, to the “room that killed” -he went on asking.</p> -<p>At last an old woman directed him.</p> -<p>“Go over those fields there, where the goats are; and behind -that wall you will find a small house with an iron door; that is the -place.”</p> -<p>Aleko ran across the dreary, stony fields which were neither town -nor country, and climbed over the wall.</p> -<p>A small house stood alone on a bare plot of ground, with two closely -shuttered windows, and an iron door. Aleko tried the door and found it -locked. There was no sign of life anywhere about; the cart had -evidently not arrived yet. He was in time!</p> -<p>As he stood there, on the coarse down-trodden <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb272" href="#pb272" name= -"pb272">272</a>]</span>grass, he gave a little gasp of dismay and felt -in his pocket.</p> -<p>The boy had said, “They pay him a drachma for each -dog—perhaps if you were to give him -more ….”</p> -<p>And Aleko, thinking of the dog’s master who would willingly, -gladly, pay so very much more, had raced off confidently, not -remembering that he himself had no more than three five-lepta pieces on -him at this moment.</p> -<p>Just then he heard the clatter of the iron cage rattling in the -distance, and the deep bark of a big dog. The “boya” was -coming.</p> -<p>Well, he must promise him the money, that was all. Surely, if he -told him that the master of the dog would pay him well, the man would -bring it up to the house himself, even if he did not trust Aleko to -take it away.</p> -<p>The clatter came nearer and nearer, and now Aleko could distinguish -the two-wheeled cart with its monster iron cage, between whose flat -bars dogs’ heads and paws of all shapes and sizes were thrust -out.</p> -<p>Behind the cart ran the usual following of ragged urchins who always -seem to spring up about the “boya’s” route. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb273" href="#pb273" name= -"pb273">273</a>]</span></p> -<p>Aleko was grasping the bars of the cart before it came to a -stand-still. He thought he had seen something small and white at the -farthest end of the cage. And as he got round to the back there was a -shrill bark which rose above the rest, and the something small and -white sat up inside the cart and begged very piteously.</p> -<p>Aleko suddenly felt a wave of fury go over him.</p> -<p>He forgot all his pre-arranged plans; all the promises he was to -have made.</p> -<p>The man had stopped the cart, and was raising his arms in a -prodigious yawn. Aleko caught hold of his sleeve, and pulled him -towards the rear of the cart.</p> -<p>“Open it!” he cried. “Open it this minute! I want -that dog! That little white one there, with the black patch over the -eye. You took it from the Kolonaki, and it was <i>not</i> a stray dog. -You took it while the woman who had it was in a shop! You had no right -to touch it! Give it to me! Give it to me quickly!” and the more -Solon inside the cage heard the familiar voice, the more vigorously his -little paws shook up and down. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb274" -href="#pb274" name="pb274">274</a>]</span></p> -<p>The man, a short, sickly-looking man, with an evil, lowering face, -dragged his sleeve away from the boy’s grasp.</p> -<p>“Give it to you, indeed!” he shouted, “and from -where have you sprung to be giving me orders? Now clear off!”</p> -<p>“I tell you,” persisted the boy, seeing that he had -angered the man, “I tell you it will benefit you to give that dog -to me; it belongs to a rich man, and he is so fond of it he will pay -you much money to have it returned to him; more than you can get for -all your other dogs together.”</p> -<p>“I do not listen to such lies! You cannot cheat me!”</p> -<p>“I am <i>not</i> cheating you. Give me the dog and you will -see! Or if you do not believe me, bring him yourself! I will show you -the house.”</p> -<p>“And have I no other work to do than to be running to -people’s houses?” snarled the “boya.” -“Those who want their dogs safe can keep them indoors.”</p> -<p>“I tell you,” said Aleko flushing very red, “that -if you do not give me that dog you will <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb275" href="#pb275" name="pb275">275</a>]</span>find trouble. It -belongs to Kyrios Spinotti and ….”</p> -<p>“If it belonged to the King I would not give it!” -shouted the man. “What goes into the cart stops there!”</p> -<p>“Keep the dog somewhere safe, then,” pleaded Aleko, -“and I will bring his master down here to pay you!”</p> -<p>“No,” said the man, unlocking the iron door. “The -dogs are going in here; and,” he added with an ugly laugh, -“yours shall go in first of all!”</p> -<p>Aleko seized hold of his arm.</p> -<p>“Keep him till noon!”</p> -<p>“He shall go in <i>first</i>, I tell you. Now, leave -go!”</p> -<p>“Keep him just one hour!”</p> -<p>“You, with your hours! Clear off this minute unless you want -your face smashed!”</p> -<p>But these last words were the man’s undoing. If he had not -talked of smashing faces, Aleko might not have thought of it, but as he -stood there, his head thrown back, his blue eyes glittering with rage, -some familiar words flashed across his mind. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb276" href="#pb276" name="pb276">276</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Straight out from the shoulder, Aleko! Follow your blow! Come -with it!”</p> -<p>All encumbrances were flung aside; newspapers were carried away by -the breeze, a shower of coffee fell on the ground from a burst paper -bag, and straight as a dart, and steady, and strong, the boy’s -fist flew out from his shoulder with all the weight of the sturdy -little body behind it, and landed with crashing force on the -man’s chin.</p> -<p>The man staggered back, striking his head against the iron bars of -the cart, and went down like a tree that is felled. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb277" href="#pb277" name="pb277">277</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">VIII</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first">In the meanwhile Kyr Themistocli had dragged his straw -chair outside his door, where, as the house faced west, there was shade -for some hours in the morning, and sat waiting. In his hand, he held a -piece of bread, but he was not eating it. Not because it was dry, there -being no coffee to drink with it; but because for the first time Aleko -had not come when he had said he would.</p> -<p>It was long past the hour for morning newspapers. Other boys had -cried them up and down the street, but now they had ceased.</p> -<p>Two or three times the old man muttered to himself:—</p> -<p>“He is a child! May he not forget sometimes?” but in a -moment he would rise from his chair, and feeling with one hand for the -wall of the houses, he would advance slowly down the narrow street and -listen to the noises that came from the wider one and the square -beyond. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb278" href="#pb278" name= -"pb278">278</a>]</span></p> -<p>Fish was being cried, fresh from Phalerum, and summer vegetables of -all kinds, greens for salad, and fruit.</p> -<p>“Cool, cool mulberries!” cried a man with a good tenor -voice, making a song of the words. “Black are the mulberries! -Sweet are the mulberries! Buy mulberries! Cool, cool mulberries!” -Then an old voice quavered out, “Pitchers from Ægina! -Pitchers for cold water! Big pitchers! Little pitchers!”</p> -<p>But no one cried newspapers. The hour for them was long past, and -slowly, and stumblingly, Kyr Themistocli found his way back to his -straw chair. The sun was gaining on the shade.</p> -<p>“He will not come now before the afternoon,” muttered -the old man; but still he did not go indoors.</p> -<p>Suddenly, a voice hailed him close at hand.</p> -<p>“Good day to you, Kyr Themistocli!” It was not -Aleko’s voice. It was a man’s voice; a voice he knew.</p> -<p>“How is it that you are sitting outside at this hour? The sun -will be on your head in a moment.” <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb279" href="#pb279" name="pb279">279</a>]</span></p> -<p>The old man stretched out a groping hand in the direction of the -voice.</p> -<p>“Is it you, Nico? You are welcome. Yes, I will go indoors just -now. But you? How come you here at this time? How is it you are not at -the Bank?”</p> -<p>“I have no head for business this morning, Kyr Themistocli; I -saw you sitting here as I passed by the end of the street and I came to -wish you good morning.”</p> -<p>“Are you not well, Nico?”</p> -<p>“I am well; but from early morning I cannot rest. Perhaps it -will seem a small thing to you—but to me it is a great -one—I have lost my dog!”</p> -<p>“The little white one? The one you call -‘Solon’?”</p> -<p>“Yes. Twice this week he has been lost and found. Those who -believe in such things are right it seems when they tell you to beware -of the third time. I am a fool, Kyr Themistocli, about this dog. I -… I love him as I would a man. Some tell me it is a sin to care -so much for an animal. But when I think how she ….” -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb280" href="#pb280" name= -"pb280">280</a>]</span></p> -<p>“It is no sin,” said the old schoolmaster, “there -are dogs that understand one better than men, and when old memories are -mixed up with the caring …” he broke off suddenly. -“But do not vex your heart! You will find him.”</p> -<p>Nico Spinotti shook his head.</p> -<p>“The ‘boya’ took him. He was out with my cook, and -while she was in a shop the dog was picked up. She ran after the cart -in vain; and then she returned weeping to the house to tell me. It was -well she had that much sense at least.”</p> -<p>“But why are you staying here?” asked Kyr Themistocli -excitedly. “Why do you not run to the Police Station? They will -give him back to you. Even should there be any difficulty, if the dog -was not muzzled, as it writes in the newspapers that they must be now, -you can always pay the fine, and as much more as the ‘boya’ -wants ….”</p> -<p>“My secretary went at once; and the man-servant also—if -only they are in time! I could not go myself; I dared not! If I were to -see the man who caught the dog in that net, and threw him into that -vile cart … I … I could have killed him! I know myself; -when I think of <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb281" href="#pb281" -name="pb281">281</a>]</span>anyone ill-treating Solon or indeed any -animal, I lose consciousness of what I do. Why, only last night I gave -the boy who had tried to steal him such a beating that it will be days -before he forgets it.”</p> -<p>“A boy stole him?”</p> -<p>“Yes, a newspaper boy with fair hair; and those shoeblacks and -newspaper boys are generally so honest; but this one it seems came to -my house regularly with newspapers, and knew the dog; and someone, I -suppose, must have paid him well to steal it. I found him just -preparing to carry it off under his arm. Well, he got his year’s -beating from me any way, and I forbade him to show his face in this -neighbourhood again. I told him I would give him to the police if he -did!”</p> -<p>The old man had risen from his chair and his blind eyes were wide -open and staring.</p> -<p>“You …. You … hurt the lad!” he -burst out wildly. “You drove him away! You …. -You ….”</p> -<p>But his sentence was never finished.</p> -<p>At that moment there was a patter of running feet at the entrance of -the narrow street, a sudden flash of something white in the sun, -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb282" href="#pb282" name= -"pb282">282</a>]</span>and Solon, taking a flying leap from -Aleko’s arms, made a bee line for his master.</p> -<p>There was a bewildered cry of,—“Solon!” and then a -mingling of shrill barks of joy and of broken words:—</p> -<p>“Why, the poor little dog! Why, Solon! My poor one!”</p> -<p>In the meantime Aleko went straight up to the old schoolmaster.</p> -<p>“Kyr Themistocli,” he began, “your coffee is all -spilt. It fell from my hand and the bag burst, but this -afternoon ….”</p> -<p>But the blind man did not wait to hear what was to happen that -afternoon, his arms groped for the boy and finding him, clung about his -neck, and the old head fell forward on Aleko’s shoulder.</p> -<p>“I thought I had lost you …. I thought that you -would never come back! My boy!… My son!…”</p> -<p>The banker looked from the old man to the boy, with bewildered -eyes.</p> -<p>“Why?” he gasped, “I never knew …. Is -he yours?”</p> -<p>“Mine? <i>Makari!</i>” exclaimed Kyr Themistocli. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb283" href="#pb283" name= -"pb283">283</a>]</span></p> -<p>Now when a real Greek says “Makari,” it means so many -things that no single word in any other language can translate it. It -means, “If only it could be so!” it means, “I could -wish for nothing better!” it means, “It is too good to come -true!” it means, “Such a thing would be perfect -happiness!” It means all this and much more. Some think the word -a corruption of “makarios,” meaning blessed, some believe -it was taken from old Italian. It is not a dictionary word, but it -expresses so much that the old schoolmaster dropped into common speech -and said “Makari,” with all his heart.</p> -<p>“But then …” said Nico Spinotti looking from one -to the other, “I do not understand. How came the dog here? Is -this the boy …?”</p> -<p>Kyr Themistocli left his hand on Aleko’s shoulder, and drew -himself up to his full height.</p> -<p>“Yes,” he said, “this is the boy you ill-treated, -whom you called a thief; and it is he, I am sure, who has saved your -dog and brought him back to you. Tell us, Aleko—what -happened?”</p> -<p>“I saw the ‘boya,’ ” related Aleko, -“pick up the dog. It was while Anneza, who never knows what is -being done around her, was in <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb284" -href="#pb284" name="pb284">284</a>]</span>the shop; I ran after him but -he drove me off with his big whip; so I took the street car to make -more haste, and went down to the Central Police Station; there, a boy -told me where the ‘boya’ takes all the dogs after they are -counted, far down the Piræus Road, to a ‘room that -kills.’ So I went there and found the place and waited for the -cart. When it came I told the man that the dog was his …” -pointing to Spinotti, “and that he would pay him well, but he -would not listen. I asked him to bring it up himself if he did not -believe me, or, to wait till noon or even for an hour … and he -… he … jeered at me.”</p> -<p>“And did you not call some one of the police?” asked Kyr -Themistocli.</p> -<p>“No,” said Aleko, and he laughed a little, “I -remembered what the gentleman at the Parnassos told us: that if you -have the science and the other has not, you need not fear one twice -your size, so I gave him the straight blow from the shoulder under the -chin, the one that makes you see stars.”</p> -<p>Nico Spinotti laughed out delightedly.</p> -<p>“Bravo! And did he see them?” <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb285" href="#pb285" name="pb285">285</a>]</span></p> -<p>“Yes,” said Aleko quietly, “because afterwards, he -lay in the dust and saw nothing.”</p> -<p>“And then?”</p> -<p>“Then I opened the cart and let all the dogs out.”</p> -<p>“What … all?”</p> -<p>“Of course. Since it had happened that I was there, it was for -the good luck of all the poor creatures. The boys who were there helped -me; we held open the door at the top of the cage; the big dogs jumped -out alone, and we lifted the little ones. I took Solon, and if the -‘boya’ wants the rest again, he will have another -day’s run for them!”</p> -<p>“And what became of the man?”</p> -<p>“Do I know?” said Aleko with sublime indifference.</p> -<p>Then the banker came a step nearer to Aleko.</p> -<p>“If I were to speak till to-morrow, my boy, I could not tell -you how indebted I am to you; and I am terribly ashamed to think that -you, whom I accused of being a thief, and ill treated only last night, -should have saved my dog for me to-day.”</p> -<p>“It was not for you that I did it,” answered -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb286" href="#pb286" name= -"pb286">286</a>]</span>the boy shortly, “it was the dog for whom -I was sorry.”</p> -<p>“I understand that. Still you knew that he was mine, and -another boy might have let the dog be killed, to be revenged on -me.”</p> -<p>“What you did,” said Aleko, averting his eyes, -“was not the dog’s fault. Why should <i>he</i> -suffer?”</p> -<p>“You have saved me also from great suffering; greater, -perhaps, than the dog’s would have been. I thank you with all my -heart, also I … I ask your forgiveness.” And he held out -his hand.</p> -<p>Aleko frowned. At that moment for some inexplicable reason, Solon -sat up on his hind legs and began energetically sawing the air with his -forepaws as though pleading for his master.</p> -<p>Aleko looked at him and his face relaxed a little. Then he wiped his -hand carefully on his clothes and laid it in the banker’s, saying -gravely:—</p> -<p>“You are forgiven.”</p> -<p>“And now, will you tell me what I may do for you to show my -gratitude?” <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb287" href="#pb287" -name="pb287">287</a>]</span></p> -<p>“May I bring the newspapers to your house again?” asked -Aleko, his eyes brightening.</p> -<p>The banker laughed.</p> -<p>“Do you like to sell newspapers?”</p> -<p>“It is my work,” answered Aleko.</p> -<p>“Is there nothing else you would prefer to do?”</p> -<p>“He wants to study, Nico,” cried the old man, “he -wants it as none of you, my old pupils, ever wished it, and he cannot, -because he must work all day to keep himself, and to help his mother -and his little sisters.”</p> -<p>The banker gathered his eyebrows together thoughtfully.</p> -<p>“What are your earnings, a year, do you know?” he asked -Aleko.</p> -<p>“The ‘big one’ sends one hundred and fifty -drachmæ to my mother; he feeds me, and I give him all I -earn.”</p> -<p>“What would you do if you were free?”</p> -<p>“I want to learn.”</p> -<p>“To learn what?”</p> -<p>“To learn many things.”</p> -<p>“And out of the many,” said the old schoolmaster, -“will grow the one; the one that fills <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb288" href="#pb288" name="pb288">288</a>]</span>the -life of a man. It is well. Let him learn ‘many -things.’ ”</p> -<p>“If,” said the banker slowly, “if I were to send -three hundred drachmæ every year to your family, and if you were -to go to school all day and live with Kyr Themistocli here, who should -have three hundred more to keep you and help you with your lessons when -you returned from school in the evenings, would you be pleased for the -present? Later on we shall see again.”</p> -<p>But it was the old man who thanked and blessed Nico Spinotti, who -stretched out tremulous hands to him, while tears of joy filled his -sightless eyes.</p> -<p>Aleko stood still with wide open eyes. His wildest day dreams were -coming true, and the magnitude of the joy suddenly made him feel faint. -His heart seemed to be beating up in his throat, and he felt as though -the throbs would choke him. His hands grew moist, his knees trembled -and speech failed him utterly.</p> -<p>To the hard work that lay before him, he gave never a thought; the -daily discipline to which his free and untrammeled boyhood must bend -seemed a necessary trifle. Nothing mattered <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb289" href="#pb289" name="pb289">289</a>]</span>any -more! He only knew that the smiling faces of the two men beside him -seemed quivering in a golden mist, he only knew that the words he had -just heard were making music in his brain; for the lad in whose veins -ran the blood of the old scholars of Greece, had come into his -inheritance. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb293" href="#pb293" name= -"pb293">293</a>]</span></p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div class="back"> -<div class="div1 notes"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h2 class="main">NOTES</h2> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">NOTES FOR “MATTINA”</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p class="first"><i>No. 1, Kyra</i>. A title of respect or a prefix -before the name, used to old women of the people. You would say -“Kyra Sophoula” or “Kyra Calliope” if the women -were old or elderly, instead of plain “Sophoula” or -“Calliope.” It corresponds I fancy to “Dame” -which was used in England in the middle ages, or even I think they -sometimes used “Goody.”</p> -<p><i>Kyr</i> is the masculine equivalent for old men. Sometimes -“Barba” meaning “uncle” colloquially is -instead, as it is with you in the South I think for old negroes.</p> -<p><i>Kyria</i> is simply “Mrs.” or “Madame” -and is used either before the name as, “Kyria Dragoumis” -for instance; or alone if you do not use the name as, “Yes, -Kyria” for “Oui, Madame.”</p> -<p id="n1.2"><i>No. 2, Monastery Road</i>. The Monastery on the hills -in Poros is an old one of the Byzantine epoch restored about a hundred -years ago. It has a beautiful little chapel with a wonderfully carved -wooden “templon” (the screen which separates the altar from -the body of the church). There are a few old monks left but not many. -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb294" href="#pb294" name= -"pb294">294</a>]</span></p> -<p id="n1.3"><i>No. 3, Sponge-divers</i>. Some Greeks earn their living -by diving for sponges. The best sponges in Greece are found in Hydra, -but the sponge-captains often take their divers to the north coast of -Africa.</p> -<p id="n1.4"><i>No. 4, The Naval School of Poros</i> is for sailors, -not for officers (the Naval School for the latter is quite near -Piræus). The sailors come to the School in Poros for the first -six months of their service, and after they are well drilled they are -drafted on to the war ships. There is a high grade officer as Director -of the School, and younger officers are in residence to drill the -men.</p> -<p id="n1.5"><i>No. 5</i>, The “Great Week” means the Holy -Week before Easter.</p> -<p id="n1.6"><i>No. 6, Methana</i>. A little village on the sea -(Saronic Gulf) known for its natural sulphur springs. People suffering -from rheumatism and eczema, etc., go there for baths.</p> -<p id="n1.7"><i>No. 7, Ægina</i>. The well-known island sixteen -miles from Athens in the Gulf of Ægina. It was a very celebrated -place in the ancient days of Greece. The population now of 10,000 was -then 600,000. Ægina contributed thirty warships to the battle of -Salamis against the Persians. There are the ruins now of a temple to -Venus and those of one to the Pentelic Jupiter.</p> -<p id="n1.8"><i>No. 8, Piræus</i>. The port of Athens: population -about 27,000: five miles to the southwest of the city, to which it used -to be joined in antiquity by the <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb295" -href="#pb295" name="pb295">295</a>]</span>famous Long Walls built by -Themistocles and Pericles.</p> -<p id="n1.9"><i>No. 9, Phalerum</i>. One of the three ports of ancient -Athens, about three miles from the city; it is now a much frequented -seaside resort, with hotels, and private villas. In the hot summer -days, people go down from Athens, morning and evening, for sea -baths.</p> -<p id="n1.10"><i>No. 10, The Theseum</i>. A temple consecrated in 470 -B. C. in Athens, to Theseus, the national hero of Attica. In ancient -days it often served as a sanctuary for slaves. It is situated on a low -hill, northeast of the Acropolis, and is a fine monument in very good -preservation. It is a peripteric, hexastyle temple, in Pentelic marble. -Any children wanting to know more about Theseus, have only to read -“The Minotaur,” in Hawthorne’s <i>Tanglewood -Tales</i>.</p> -<p id="n1.11"><i>No. 11, Monastiraki</i>. One of the stations of the -Athens Piræus railway line.</p> -<p id="n1.12"><i>No. 12</i><span class="corr" id="xd25e4852" title= -"Source: .">,</span> <i>Drachma</i>. Worth one franc; about 20 cents in -American money.</p> -<p id="n1.13"><i>No. 13, Oke</i>. A measure of weight equal in English -weight to 2 lbs., 12 oz.</p> -<p id="n1.14"><i>No. 14, Lepton</i>. The one-hundredth part of the -drachma: one centime. The smallest coin in Greek money is of five -lepta.</p> -<p id="n1.15"><i>No. 15, Kiphissia</i>. A country place about half an -hour by train from Athens: takes its name from the ancient river -Kephissos or Kiphissos: a very <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb296" -href="#pb296" name="pb296">296</a>]</span>wooded, pretty, green place -full of hotels and country houses, much cooler than Athens in the -summer, and consequently much frequented.</p> -<p id="n1.16"><i>No. 16, The Kolonaki</i>. A small square in Athens, -behind the Kiphissia Road; the little bootblacks congregate there a -good deal.</p> -<p id="n1.17"><i>No. 17, The Zappion</i>. A large handsome building in -the ancient style of architecture, built originally for exhibition -purposes by two rich brothers called Zappa (hence its name), situated -on a height, and commanding perhaps the most beautiful view in the -whole world, certainly in Europe. It comprises the columns of the -temple of Olympic Jupiter in the foreground, the Acropolis to the -right, the Stadium to the left, and in the distance Phalerum, the sea, -and Salamis. The Zappion terrace and gardens are a very favorite -walking place for children, babies, and their nurses.</p> -<p id="n1.18"><i>No. 18, Acropolis</i>. The immortal Rock bearing the -Parthenon, the Propylæa, the Erechtheum,—It is an isolated -rock of oval form, inaccessible except from the west. It is entered -to-day by the famous “Porte Beulé”. There is too -much to be said about the Acropolis, I can only quote Rennell Rodd, -that perfect modern singer of Greece:—</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">“Here wrought the strong creator and he laid</p> -<p class="line">The marble on the limestone in the crag,</p> -<p class="line">Morticed the sure foundations line to line</p> -<p class="line">And arc to arc repeating as it grew;</p> -<p class="line">Veiling the secret of its strength in grace, -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb297" href="#pb297" name= -"pb297">297</a>]</span></p> -<p class="line">Till like a marble flower in blue Greek air</p> -<p class="line">Perfect it rose, an afterworld’s -despair.”</p> -</div> -<p id="n1.19" class="first"><i>No. 19, Stadium</i>. The stadium was in -ancient days the oblong foot-race course of the length of one stadium -(equivalent to about 606 English feet), hence its name. The present -Stadium in Athens was restored in marble for the Olympic Games of -1896.</p> -<p id="n1.20"><i>No. 20, The Plaka</i>. A populous quarter in Athens -inhabited mostly by the poorer classes.</p> -<p id="n1.21"><i>No. 21, Aubergines</i>. An aubergine is a vegetable -belonging to the family of cucumbers and vegetable marrows. It is of a -rich dark purple colour when ripe. “Aubergine” is the -English name for this vegetable, and is always used by cooks and -greengrocers in England. In America it is called egg-plant.</p> -<p id="n1.22"><i>No. 22, Moussaka</i>. This is a dish made of slices of -aubergines, mincemeat, butter, eggs, etc.</p> -<p id="n1.23"><i>No. 23, Pastas</i>. Rich cakes, or portions of cake, -made of almond paste, or of sponge cake sandwiched with jam, or cream, -and iced over with chocolate, or with various coloured icings. They are -sold at all confectioners, and often eaten at the shops between meals, -or bought to serve as a dessert course. They are like the French -“petits fours,” only larger.</p> -<p id="n1.24"><i>No. 24, Nauplia</i>. Sea town of Argolis in the -Peloponnesus: about 10,000 inhabitants. It was the capital of modern -Greece until 1834. <span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb298" href="#pb298" -name="pb298">298</a>]</span></p> -<p id="n1.25"><i>No. 25, The Palamidi</i>. A large prison at -Nauplia.</p> -<p id="n1.26"><i>No. 26</i>, “<i>Manitsa</i>” means -“little mother.” A diminutive of “Mana” which -means “mother” in peasant Greek.</p> -<p id="n1.27"><i>No. 27, Loukoumi</i>. A kind of sweetmeat made of -starch and sugar, which in England they call “Turkish -delight.” It is principally made in Constantinople, and in -Syra.</p> -<p id="n1.28"><i>No. 28, Caique</i>. A long narrow boat.</p> -<p id="n1.29"><i>No. 29, Touloumi</i> means really a skin-bag; so that -“touloumi” cheese is a sort of white Greek cheese, so -called because it is transported in bags of skin from place to -place.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">NOTES FOR “THE FINDING OF THE CAVE.”</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p id="n2.1" class="first"><i>No. 1, Missolonghi</i>. A maritime town -of central Greece; it is principally celebrated for the part it played -in the War of Independence of 1821. It was three times besieged by the -Turks, in 1822, 1823, and 1825. In 1822 it resisted successfully -against Rechid-Pasha and Omer-Pasha. In 1823 it was fortified on the -instance, and by the advice, of Lord Byron (who died there in 1824), -and bravely defended by Botzaris; it was besieged by the terrible -Omer-Vrioni, and relieved by Mavrocordato. In April, 1825, Rechid-Pasha -reappeared with 35,000 men before Missolonghi, which at the time had -only 4,000 defenders. Protected by the Turkish fleet, and afterwards -helped by Ibrahim Pasha’s army, Rechid-Pasha <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb299" href="#pb299" name= -"pb299">299</a>]</span>after a long siege brought the defenders to -their last extremity, and rather than fall into the hands of the Turks, -they blew themselves up with gun-powder, with their women and -children.</p> -<p>The war of 1821 was the war of independence, in which Greece threw -off the Turkish yoke.</p> -<p id="n2.2"><i>No. 2, Botzaris or Botzari</i>. One of the greatest -heroes of the War of Independence, born in 1788, died in 1823.</p> -<p>Palamas, Pappaloukas, Tricoupis, Razikotsikas, Kapsalis, all brave -fighters and defenders of Missolonghi.</p> -<p>“Zamana” is an imaginary name.</p> -<p id="n2.3"><i>No. 3, Pilaf</i>. A national Turkish dish much eaten in -Greece: it is made with rice, butter, and tomatoes. It is a popular -saying that “pilaf” is the only good thing we ever got from -the Turks.</p> -<p id="n2.4"><i>No. 4, Keftedes</i>. Flat, round, meat cakes made of -mince-meat, eggs, etc., and fried in butter.</p> -<p id="n2.5"><i>No. 5, Acropolis</i>. See notes for -“Mattina” No. 18.</p> -<p id="n2.6"><i>No. 6, Hermes</i>. Otherwise Mercury; the son of -Jupiter, messenger of the gods, and god himself of Eloquence and -Commerce. Nathaniel Hawthorne in his delightful <i>Tanglewood -Tales</i>, talks of him often, calling him -“Quicksilver.”</p> -<p id="n2.7"><i>No. 7, Yaourti</i>. A sort of curd, or thick, sour -milk: much eaten in Greece, and of late years introduced into France, -and I believe into England, under the name of “Lait -Bulgare” and much recommended by doctors. <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb300" href="#pb300" name="pb300">300</a>]</span></p> -<p id="n2.8"><i>No. 8, Louki Laras</i>. An interesting book on the life -of a young boy, in the Greek War of Independence, written by Demetrius -Vikelas. It has been translated into French and I believe other -languages.</p> -<p id="n2.9"><i>No. 9, Halva</i>. A sweet, made of flour, butter, milk, -and honey.</p> -<p id="n2.10"><i>No. 10, The King’s Summer House</i>. A little -summer residence or lodge belonging to the King, situated just inside -the Piræus harbour.</p> -<p id="n2.11"><i>No. 11, Themistocles</i>. The great Athenian general, -born about 525 B. C. At the time of the invasion of Greece by the -Persians, he commanded the Athenian fleet. It was he who persuaded the -Greeks to give battle at Salamis. The Spartan Eurybiades, general of -the confederate forces of Greece, being of the contrary opinion to -Themistocles, raised his rod of commander as though to strike him, and -it was then that Themistocles calmly answered the furious Spartan by -the famous words: “Strike but listen!”</p> -<p id="n2.12"><i>No. 12, Salamis</i>. An island ten miles to the west -of Athens, celebrated for the naval victory which the united fleet of -Greece gained over the Persians in 486 B. C.</p> -<p id="n2.13"><i>No. 13, Tettix</i>. A sort of cricket which in hot -weather chirps all day long, in trees and bushes.</p> -<p id="n2.14"><i>No. 14, Batti</i>. The afternoon breeze which comes -from the open sea.</p> -<p id="n2.15"><i>No. 15, The Seven Mills</i>. A place on the heights, -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb301" href="#pb301" name= -"pb301">301</a>]</span>opposite Poros, on the Peloponnesus, so called -because seven water mills were placed at intervals up to the top of the -hill.</p> -<p id="n2.16"><i>No. 16<span class="corr" id="xd25e5030" title= -"Source: .">,</span> Miaoulis (Andreas)</i>. Greek admiral, born in -Eubœa, in 1768, died in Athens in 1835. Between the years 1822 -and 1827 he had the supreme command of the naval forces of the country -in the War of Independence.</p> -<p id="n2.17"><i>No. 17, Galata</i>. Small village of the Peloponnesus, -opposite the island of Poros.</p> -<p id="n2.18"><i>No. 18, Trata</i>. The dragging the sea by a big net -which gathers in all the small fish. The net is cast from boats and -then the men stand in two lines on the shore and drag it in. I rather -fancy this is called a seine-net and seine-fishing in English.</p> -<p id="n2.19"><i>No. 19, Foustanella</i>. The short linen pleated kilt -reaching to the knees, which is part of the national Greek and Albanian -costume. It is worn by the Royal Guards and by certain troops called -the “Evzones.”</p> -<p id="n2.20"><i>No. 20, Glitsa</i>. A tall crook used by shepherds; it -very often has a carved handle.</p> -<p id="n2.21"><i>No. 21, Tagari</i>. A woolen bag, generally -bright-coloured, carried by peasants to transport fruit, or nuts, or -any small objects.</p> -<p id="n2.22"><i>No. 22, Stania</i>. A sheep fold, generally on the -hills.</p> -<p id="n2.23"><i>No. 23, Ouzo</i>. A strong spirit which is drunk -mostly by the poorer classes and peasants.</p> -<p id="n2.24"><i>No. 24, Skaltsounia</i>. A sort of almond cakes made -<span class="pagenum">[<a id="pb302" href="#pb302" name= -"pb302">302</a>]</span>principally in the islands; something like -German marzipan.</p> -<p id="n2.25"><i>No. 25, Yatagan</i>. A Turkish or Arabic curved -sword.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class="div2 section"><span class="pagenum">[<a href= -"#toc">Contents</a>]</span> -<div class="divHead"> -<h3 class="main">NOTES FOR “ALEXANDER THE SON OF -PHILIP”</h3> -</div> -<div class="divBody"> -<p id="n3.1" class="first"><i>No. 1, Baklava</i>. A kind of sweet made -with pounded almonds between very thin layers of paste soaked in -honey.</p> -<p id="n3.2"><i>No. 2, The Twenty-fifth of March</i>. The Anniversary -of Greek Independence.</p> -<p id="n3.3"><i>No. 3, Boya</i>. A Turkish word meaning -“executioner”; generally applied in Athens to the man who -seizes stray dogs in hot weather and takes them away in his cart to the -pound.</p> -<p id="n3.4"><i>No. 4, Loustro</i>. Literally “a shiner”; -applied to shoeblacks originally and now used for all newspaper -sellers, errand boys, etc.</p> -<p id="n3.5"><i>No. 5, Alexander the Great</i>. Born 356 B. C., died in -Babylon, 323 B. C. The most famous warrior and captain of antiquity. -His father, Philip II of Macedonia, confided his education to -Aristotle, the greatest philosopher of that age. Alexander, after his -father’s death, succeeded in making himself general-in-chief of -the Hellenes at Corinth, in 335 B. C., where he was surrounded by the -most illustrious men of the nation. He crossed the Hellespont to -penetrate into Asia with an army of 30,000 foot and 5,000 horse -soldiers. He crossed the Taurus, penetrated into Syria, <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb303" href="#pb303" name= -"pb303">303</a>]</span>crushed the innumerable army of Darius, treating -the vanquished king and his family with noble clemency. His many -conquests would take far too long to enumerate. He always endeavoured -to consolidate his conquests by good and wise treatment of the -conquered provinces. At Babylon he received ambassadors from all points -of the then known world. He was in the midst of new projects of -conquest and exploration when he died in a few days of a fever (June, -323 B. C).</p> -<p id="n3.6"><i>No. 6, Kanaris (Constantine)</i>. Hero of the War of -Independence; born in 1790, died in 1877. He was captain of a merchant -ship when Greece rose against the Turks. In the night of the 18th to to -the 19th of June, 1822, helped by a companion, he burned two Turkish -vessels. In the following November he burned the admiral’s ship -of the Turkish fleet in the port of Tenedos. He continued his work of -destruction, always at the extreme peril of his life and the lives of -his brave companions, at Samos and Mytilene, and during all the -duration of the war fought valiantly at the side of Miaoulis. He is the -hero of one of Victor Hugo’s celebrated -“Orientales.”</p> -<p id="n3.7"><i>No. 7, Souli or Suli</i>. Site in the province of -Jannina in Epirus; celebrated in the War of Independence for the -heroism of its inhabitants and for the death-dance of its women who, on -the approach of the Turks, danced for the last time their national -dance on the plateau of the mountain of <span class="pagenum">[<a id= -"pb304" href="#pb304" name="pb304">304</a>]</span>Zalongos, and then, -one by one, flung themselves and their children over the precipice. -Rennell Rodd in <i>The Violet Crown</i> has a beautiful poem about this -episode called “Zalongos. The last fight of Suli.” The last -words, as far as I remember, are:—</p> -<div class="lgouter"> -<p class="line">“… thus beneath Zalongos side</p> -<p class="line">The mothers and the children died</p> -<p class="line">That Suli ne’er might breed again</p> -<p class="line">A race of less heroic men.”</p> -</div> -<p class="first">The word “Suliote” is almost synonymous in -Greece with hero or heroine. If anyone is asked to undertake any very -daring or desperate deed, the answer often is, “Do you think I am -a Suliote?”</p> -<p id="n3.8"><i>No. 8, Diakos (Athanasius)</i>. A Greek hero before the -War of Independence. Born 1788, died 1820. He led several successful -attacks against the Turks but was at last taken prisoner by them and -put to death by impalement.</p> -<p id="n3.9"><i>No. 9, Oristé</i>. Literally “Command -me,” used in the sense of, “Yes, at once. At your -service!”</p> -<p id="n3.10"><i>No. 10<span class="corr" id="xd25e5134" title= -"Source: .">,</span> Tsourekia</i>. Cakes, made principally for Easter, -of flour, eggs, butter and sugar.</p> -<p id="n3.11"><i>No. 11, Ephialtes</i>. The traitor who guided the -Persians to the Pass of Thermopylæ.</p> -<p id="n3.12"><i>No. 12, Antipater</i>. The betrayer of -Demosthenes.</p> -<p id="n3.13"><i>No. 13, Paul Melas</i>. A young officer in the Greek -army, of one of the best families in Athens, who <span class= -"pagenum">[<a id="pb305" href="#pb305" name="pb305">305</a>]</span>left -wife and children and career, a few years ago, to go to Macedonia and -with a handful of brave men protect the helpless villages against -Turkish tyranny and cruelty. He was killed at Siatista in Macedonia in -the month of October, 1904, and his name has remained as that of one of -the pioneers of Macedonian liberty.</p> -<p id="n3.14"><i>No. 14, Mount Lycabettus</i>. A rock rising in the -middle of the plain of Athens, from which there is a beautiful view of -all the town below. On the summit is a small chapel of St. George.</p> -<p id="n3.15"><i>No. 15, Homonoia</i>. “Concord,” in Greek. -It is the name of one of the principal squares near the Piræus -Road.</p> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div class="transcribernote"> -<h2 class="main">Colophon</h2> -<h3 class="main">Availability</h3> -<p class="first">This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no -cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give -it away or re-use it under the terms of the <a class="seclink xd25e45" -title="External link" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/license" rel= -"license">Project Gutenberg License</a> included with this eBook or -online at <a class="seclink xd25e45" title="External link" href= -"https://www.gutenberg.org/" rel="home">www.gutenberg.org</a>.</p> -<p>This eBook is produced by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team -at <a class="exlink xd25e45" title="External link" href= -"http://www.pgdp.net/">www.pgdp.net</a>.</p> -<p>Scans of this work are available from the Internet Archive (copy -<a class="seclink xd25e45" title="External link" href= -"https://archive.org/details/undergreekskies00drag">1</a>).</p> -<p>Name of the author in Greek: <span class="trans" title= -"Ioulia D. Dragoumē"><span class="Greek" lang= -"grc">Ιουλία Δ. -Δραγούμη</span></span>.</p> -<h3 class="main">Metadata</h3> -<table class="colophonMetadata"> -<tr> -<td><b>Title:</b></td> -<td>Under Greek Skies</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><b>Author:</b></td> -<td>Julia D. Dragoumis (1858–1937)</td> -<td><a href="https://viaf.org/viaf/58273088/" class= -"seclink">Info</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><b>Language:</b></td> -<td>English</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><b>Original publication date:</b></td> -<td>1913</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><b>Keywords:</b></td> -<td>Children in Greece</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -</table> -<h3>Catalog entries</h3> -<table class="catalogEntries"> -<tr> -<td>Related Library of Congress catalog page:</td> -<td><a href="https://lccn.loc.gov/13022450" class= -"seclink">13022450</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Related Open Library catalog page (for source):</td> -<td><a href="https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7236920M" class= -"seclink">OL7236920M</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td>Related Open Library catalog page (for work):</td> -<td><a href="https://openlibrary.org/works/OL7906245W" class= -"seclink">OL7906245W</a></td> -</tr> -</table> -<h3 class="main">Encoding</h3> -<p class="first"></p> -<h3 class="main">Revision History</h3> -<ul> -<li>2017-09-09 Started.</li> -</ul> -<h3 class="main">External References</h3> -<p>This Project Gutenberg eBook contains external references. These -links may not work for you.</p> -<h3 class="main">Corrections</h3> -<p>The following corrections have been applied to the text:</p> -<table class="correctiontable" summary= -"Overview of corrections applied to the text."> -<tr> -<th>Page</th> -<th>Source</th> -<th>Correction</th> -<th>Edit distance</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd25e424">8</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">childrens’</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">children’s</td> -<td class="bottom">2</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd25e1761">95</a>, -<a class="pageref" href="#xd25e2331">141</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">[<i>Not in source</i>]</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">,</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd25e4028">243</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">finish</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">finished</td> -<td class="bottom">2</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd25e4218">255</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">”</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">[<i>Deleted</i>]</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd25e4422">268</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">in</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">is</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="width20"><a class="pageref" href="#xd25e4852">295</a>, -<a class="pageref" href="#xd25e5030">301</a>, <a class="pageref" href= -"#xd25e5134">304</a></td> -<td class="width40 bottom">.</td> -<td class="width40 bottom">,</td> -<td class="bottom">1</td> -</tr> -</table> -</div> -</div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Under Greek Skies, by Julia D. 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