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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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