CIHM Microfiche Series (i\/ionographs) iCMH Collection de microfiches (monographies) [g] Canadian InatltuM for Historical Microraproduetiona / Inathut Canadian da microraproduetions Mstorlquaa 1995 TvdifHcal and BiMw y ap h ic Ham I Hum lMlm«Mi M r fcliinnilijuuw Tlw IntiiiMiB li«s dnampwd lo otouin th« bmi ori»iul copy amiImMi tor tilmmB. F««tyr«s ot Uii> copy whtcti nwy b« b*Mtogf6^lly umqu*. which m^iy dlur «liU* Uiitraai r^^ Cotaund fntptt nk li.a. oihar than Mm or blackl/ (i.a. awttt qua Maya Cam* taoyaiH i iqyai an aouJaw r~^ Cglwintf L^Encndai □ Boyndwittl Raliaamcd' Cntoarad plaut and/or illustfatiom/ Planchas ai/oy illMiratiMu an eoulaur 1 olha* malarial/ d'awtra* II □ Tiflhl towiduifl may c^um ilMdows Of duiortian ■ ainng inlarior mafgin/ La faliun larraa pavi catisar da roMtora ow da la dilloriMn la lon« da la maf aa Hitaria«fa |~~| BlviklaaMia L_J widiin ttia ua I addad during raitoraiian may i»p n r lun. Whananar poMiiWa, «MM Hat* kaan oninad tram f ilmini/ II w payi qya carumai pagn blanchaa ^aataai Ion d'lHW rattauratian a^pari wi a n t dam la laxtt, I aiait pouiMa. cat pagn n'am L'Imuty a miciefilM* la nMiUaw aaamaiawa wi'ii lui a art iww I M a da m proaunf ■ Lai dautU da «i aaawplaira wd Mni paui'dva unt^iiaa da point da » h i h li in tip»i q y«, «ii pawnnt nwdifiar wia imaga lapcoduiu. ov qui payaant aiufM una moditieaiMn dan U aiatkoda nociMla da f iknata M L__l Kapai da cmdaiii □ P>«a< raaiorad and/or lanunaiad/ Papaa laaiauriaa aiAaa waHiaaMaa Papa* diwolavfad. lainad or I |raaa4?diS^ '"0 .*---p1;J Tha copy fllmad hm hm baan raproduead thank* to tha a*narosltv of: National Library of Canada L'axamplaira film* fut raproduit grica i la g4n4roaM da: BIbllothtqua natlonala du Canada Tha Imaga* appaaring hara ara tha boat quality poaalbia consldaisng tha condition and laglblllty of tha original copy and in icaaping wKh tha filming contract ipaciflcationa. 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(716) 2M - 5989 - Fox K)^q - rs. .<»'■• '.rT-si " MlA r^.Sifta'::^ a ■■..■• ....■■¥* . .j','.-^;;..-iC t'fmj^sm^smMmumtM^m^mic^imp^smws- te^^irii ,c^^t»rwm:'Sf-simi^mmmK^sswifSM LIKE ANOTHER HELEN Turning the hilt towards her father, she threw back her head and closed her eyes MOTHER ''SOlCS HoRTON ■'""*"' H''".f'-ldamth,r 7>„-y> ; riie Ijih towards iier father, site ti»rew back. : tiuscd hei eyes LIKE ANOTHER HELEN ■r Georgb Horton lUUtTRATID »r C. M. RBtYEA "And, Bh another Heltn.fireJ noibtr Trtj' MoLBOD JE ALLKN PUBLI8HEB8 TORONTO ■■"■' *Vl^-: -^Iz^A a. .JiiiJ Batend at Stadonen' Hall, London. Primal b7 Bnunworth, Munn A Barbw, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S. A. m0'-'^?^^''"M-M!- ^"0H^ifM ■k .;«r: ,"m^ vV- D«D,CATBDBVKmoP«M„„ONTO HIS ROYAL HI0HMBS8 GEORGE OF GREECE «roH COIfMISSIOKER m CRJTB |.*i^,^ i«» ,.:f 'iS ,.>'';'^;;--.!i J 'fmMvmmmMsm&^mm^Aimr^MfsimmimsEt CONTENTS I. VODTHFUL BNTHVSIASlf n. ON FIUBNDI.Y SHORSS m. A COMIC OPSRA TOWN IV. A OINNXR OF HSRU V. «OMB PICTUKKS AND A RBCITATIOW VI. TBm FIRST OF MAY Vn. A DXMAND AND A COWARD Vm. •MOM BY DAY AND FIRB BY NIGHT IX. AWAITING THE SIGNAi. X. WAR Df XARNBST XI. AN AMATBVR SURGEON Xn. "I SAY UNTO YOU, COURAGE I" Xm. THE BRAVE THING TO DO XIV. A CRITICAL MOMENT XV. THE MAN IN THE BARHEI, XVI. TO NO AVAIL I 37 45 57 «7 «5 90 96 lOI 'OS 113 118 139 •35 143 M;^mtiBm^msEmi:'^''wmi^mk'.tmmMfM,A-it:3 «i zvn zvni, ZIX. XX. XXI. xzn. XZIU. xxnr. XXV. XXVI. xxvu. zxvin. XXIX. XXX. XXXI. xxxn. xzxni. xxxrv. XXXV. xzxvi. CONTENTS » TH« TRACK or WA« A OIIUTIO TOWN A BLOW IN THB DAMC rOVH AGAINST ONI "HY Ll»«, 1 LOVX YOU" THB AMBUSH A FRIEND WORTH HAVING A 0I.ITTBIUNO BSPLANAOB THRKB WIVES A HOPBLBdS PRISONBP. A PROMISE OF HELP PRIDE AND ITS FALL AGAINST THE COMMON ENEMY A HERO AND A SIX-INCH SHELL A GRATEFUL MAJOR A VIOLENT WOOER THE INNOCENT ONLOKER STILL WITH THE ARMY IN THE MIDST OF ALARMS AN INTEPRUPTED RESCUE PMM 148 «54 161 17a 186 •96 305 an MI »»9 a$a 137 343 »So a6a 369 »74 »85 J91 900 ^■^:^icsir^ CONTENTS «xvn. VB WHO BwTsii m,, ««Vni. THB B«TTBR PAKT OP VAI,0« XXJtlB. TO A PLACB OP SAPBTY BI" A TBOUBLBD MIND *U. BOMANCB AND PBUDBNCB vt 3»9 344 S5» 367 Like Another Helen CHAPTER I YOUTHFUL ENTHUSIASM JUST at sunset one day in the last week of March, 1897, a caique set sail from the harbor of Piraeus, ostensibly laden with cognac for Cairo, but in reality carrying a small revolving cannon and a large number of Gras nfles to the insurgents in Crete, who had nsen for the hundredth time and were hghtmg desperav^ly for liberty and the Chris- tian faith. There were several large barrels conspicuously marked "Koniak" in Greek characters, on the deck, and a number of boxes that bore the legend, "Two dozen bot- tles from Kambas, Athens." The legend was not untruthful, for one of the huge casks, at least, contained the fiery liquid attributed to It; numberless others, in the hold, were filled with guns, and the boxes below deck were packed with ammunition. There were other things, too, in the I a UKE AirOTHEB HXO^EK caique's cargo intended for the Cretan heroes — articles of a seemingly xific nature, such as hams, hardtack, flour, asages, olives and beans. These had been declared contraband by the admirals of the great powers, and the whole cargo, s*iould it be seized by any of the warships prowling about the ancient island, was doomed to confiscation. The captain, a thick-set, square-shouldered Greek, in greasy blue suit, soft woolen shirt and felt hat, held the long tiller in his left hand and made the sign of the cross repeatedly with his right. "Holy Virgin be our helper," he muttered. "St. Nicholas protect and help us!" A stiff breeze was blowing and the vessel leaned over, like a tall man shouldering his way through a storm. The three young men standing upon her deck maintained their equilibrium by shooting one leg out straight, as though it were the prop of a cabin built on the side of a hill; the other being short- ened to half its length by bending at the hip and knee. A strip of canvas stretched on ropes, to keep the waves from rushing over, ran the whole length of either side. Stem and prow were equally pointed, and the iron rings of the boom, that clutched the main masts like the YOUTHPDI KNTTHirsiASM 3 nously. Two Jibs, fluttering fuU-breast-d h» ore. seenied to pull out for^he orentt as a pair of white doves might in old tmrh X''^att1-r^°''^^- ^^^ ffllS^ ^ ''•'* ^ '■°"'"& P'ain of green tl dl."^" '"' blood-red .nemonSn the dying sun, was shredded into lilv-whi , At their right a great fleet of old-time sail >ng ships, many of them painted ^re^n T the =SS "• "" ^'"^" '=»■;' o» 4 UXB AXOTHBB HBUSX But the time had come to tack, and he shouted the order to the sailors. The conven- ient canvas was shifted, the helm was put over, and the caique bore straight for the narrow mouth of the harbor. A great sail was thrown out on either side like a pair of wings. The vessel turned its beak to the south and swooped down the wind like a hawk. The three young men stood with their feet apart now, their legs of equal length. "By Jove, that's glorious I" shouted one of them, his accent betraying the American— probably the Bostonian. The sun stood on the tiptop of Salamis, say- ing good-night to the world. Athens was a pillar of purple dust, shot through and through with lances of flame. The stately columns of the Parthenon were of liquid am- ber. The church on the summit of Mount Lycabettus caught fire and blazed. The mountain itself was hidden in a column of dust and the church floated in mid-air. Then suddenly, as if by a stroke of some grand, ce- lestial magic, the glow died from everything as the blood fades from a frightened face. The Parthenon was a pale, stately -.vhite, the ghost of the temple of a moment ago; the church on the hill had turned gray— ashes in place of TOUTHPUI, BITTHUSIASU 5 fire The sun had dropped behind Salamis. But now came a greater wonder: Hymettus and all the hills that surround the lovely pi of Attica took on a deep, quivering. unJaS; tmt of violet. This light was delicate, fluffy ZT\ ?°" '"''""' '' "- fragrant; you imagined that all the fresh spring violet of a hundred worlds had been plucked and poured sea deep over the hills. ^ A sudden lurch of the ship threw the Amer- ican agamst the man at his side "I beg your pardon," he said, "or perhaps you do not speak English ?» i«™aps "nn?'Jfi '?"''^ *•"= P'^""" addressed; not perfectly, but sufficiently to make my- self understood. Permit me to introduce my- eZ[^^^^^ ' '•"^' ''"''''™ pocketbook. he extracted from its recesses a card. The hand hat presented the bit of pasteboard was ca?;;ad" '"' "'"'' ^°°'"^''- '^''* Ameri- Peter Lindbohm. Lieutenant de Cavalerie. Lieutenant Lindbohm read on the card which he received in return, Mr. John Curtis. 6 UKB AKOTHEB HBUBK "I am happy to meet you, Mr. Curtis," said the Lieutenant, politely lifting his straw hat and then drawing it down over his ears with both hands. The hat was secured to the but- ton-hole by means of a shoe string, and had a startling habit of leaping to the end of its tether every few moments. "And I you, Lieutenant," replied Curtis heartily, extending his hand. "You are going to Crete?" "No, to Cairo," laughed the Lieutenant. "O, we're all onto the secret, or we would- n't be here. And I'm mighty glad there's somebody going along who can speak Eng- lish. I hope we'll be good friends, and I don't sec why we shouldn't be, I'm sure. I'm just out of college — Harvard, you know — and the governor told me to take a trip around the worid. He believes in a year of travel to kind of complete and round out a man's education." "I find it an excellent idea," uaid the Lieu- tenant, grabbing for his hat, that a sudden puff of wind had swept from his head. "Isn't it? It's jolly. Well, I'm going to surprise the governor. I'm going to wri' a book — sort of prose 'Childe Harold.' i wish I had the knack to do it in verse. I TOUTHTOI. taSTBVBXABH y thought this Cretan business would make a anything for an AmerTcan.td ;JTo1 this snap. I oupht tn fir,^ ° .,•.1 J ■ ""8"' 'O nnd some good matp nal down there. I'm Plad fli» „^ Hearoft^thi„g.;\^?;^--;t aske?theLietnf„r" °^ ^^^ ^-''^" ,.,7°" ^''.''^' ''"' *^y &overnor-my old man— my father, you know." ^ "Ah, I beg pardon. You will see that I H„ not know the English so well." **" The Lieutenant was forty vears nf ,»■. thereabouts. His straw hf, «t m ly^^;; to his ttife'He""'"^ 'r"^"""- ^^-^ thatrs"'L«;^:;S^,:t^^^^^^ -K^hehadaLbitShiSwI^r «hSn. BluTvSthtSr^^' ^'''^" ^" colored hair , i!;. u^ ^"* "^y**- ^t^w- th„! r ' * ''""e-shoe mustache, six feet 8 ZJKB AKOTHBB BBUDr fighter in the Argentine, in China, in South Africa. He could smell burning powder half way around the globe, and was off at the first telegram announcing the declaration of a new war. He was brave as a lion, and seemingly immune from danger. He always offered his sword to the under dog first, and if it were refused, gave the other side second choice. He preferred to fight for liberty and right, but felt it a necessity to fight somehow. He looked at you with innocent, inquiring eyes; his manner was gentle as a woman's and his smile as sweet as a babe's. "You have given me your confidence," he said. "I wilt give you mine, thouf'- there is not much to tell. I am a soldier by profes- sion. I was down among the Boers when I heard of this trouble in Crete. I had hoped for war there. I was also at Majuba Hill, ycu see, and President Kruger knows me. But the English will not attack now, so I decided in a moment. I yust came right along, hence my straw hat." Another leap into the air of the article in question had called the speaker's attention to it. Though he spoke grammatically correct English, he mispronounced his "j's" whenever taken off his guard. rovTBTVL narrausuaM 9 who have won their liberty a dor.n ! over," he added d,^ • /. "" '""«» dakes. Student in the NatLl n '" ^"P'" Greece." Watjonal University of "I arn a Cretan, and I ^n to fio-i,f t Athens, refuge rit ZT' T^'' '" what do you call ,> ?i^ ^ * "^ father's- y°" caM it?-con,mand. But had I lO UKB AKOTUKB HBIiBir remained at Athens I should have been a "Coward," interposed the Lieutenant, seiz- ing the young man's hand. "It is you who do us thf honor." "By Jove, you're the right sort I" cried Cur- tis. "I'm glad to know you." "I go to kill Turks," continued Papadakes, shaking both his clenched fists in the air. "They may kill me, but not till I have paid to them the debt which I owe. At least, I shall with my blood the tree of liberty water." When John Curtis suddenly fiew off on a tangent to Crete from the Puck-like circle that he was putting around the earth, he act- ed under the impulse of youth and its ever present enthusiasm. He arrived at Athens in the midst of tremendous popular excitement. Great throngs were gathering daily in front of the king's palace, waving banners and throwing their hats in the air. Curtis could see it all plainly from the balcony of his hotel on Constitution Square. Occasionally some member of the throng would mount the mar- ble steps, and, throwing his arms wildly about, begin to speak; but the speech was always drowned in a hoarse roar. Curtis at first could not understand a word TOUTHFUt XMTHUBIAail n that wa. Mid, but he felt himself seized with •«raw.ng excitement. If he .ui^for le Acropohs or the Garden of Plato, he foreo! knew lt°"H"' '"""' "'"-« ™""-t S knew not where, and longing to shout he 1-ew not what; for as his eVbecaT L^ tomed o the sound, he observed that the :wS.^^-'"^^^«--o:5:;ofe; "What is it they are yelling all the time?" Curtjs asked himself repeatedly, td t , are they smgmg? Tra-Ia-la, tra-la-la la!" he was humming the tune himself. A ertaL fhe hTr"'*' *"' "'''•"^ information flm couriers. He had been no mean Grecian at Harvard, and hadread "Loukes Laras" in the fflodern vernacular. He could speak midern Greek fa.rly well with the fruit men of Bo™ T^l : "'"* *° '''"' ""^e a revelation Three words scrawled or printed, began to appear on all the whitewashed encT and walls of the city. With some dS y Ee tojead. 2,/^ Ho Polemos"-"Hurrah for Then he listened again. Ten minutes later ta ZiOni AXOfTBMB HBIiaH he was in the midit of a iwaying, struggling throng before the palace shouting "Zeh ho pdemosl" At dinner he heard his waiter humming the tunc that seemed on the lips and in the heart of the whole world, and he asked, "What are you singing?" The boy, with eyes blazing, recited in Greek two or three stanzas that sent a chill to the roots of Curtis' hair: I know thee bjr the lightning Of thy terrible twift brind; 1 know thee by the brightening When thy proud eyei sweep the land I From the blood of the Greeks upspringuig Who died that we might be free, And the strength of thy strong youth bringing— Hail, Liberty, hail to thee I It was the grand war hymn of Solomos, one of those songs that march down the years, fighting like a thousand men for liberty. Curtis was twenty-two, and imagined him- self an ancient Greek or a Lord Byron. He would get into this thing somehow. He went back to the hotel and thought it over, and then he discovered that he had been car- ried away by excitement. "I'm crazy," he said; "I'd have gone any- where with those chaps, and the fact of the TOCTHFDI, mSTBVBIAai n day. now." ""^"' ""^ ''«"« ^ere four But his enthmiMm for the Greek, .^a .u • auw would not down Th,, I ^ l^ """ to .eize the island in the cause of h '""^ •nuch good that wS and If"' ^ ~"'^"'* ''^ -ouid give n,e S;;" nt'^^r;;""" company with," •">0'iif'i to fit out a .'?f°'«.'^°"«'>tofthebook. CrelLnXXn'totew:',"'"'''''^"^*''" customs. I'll see sLlt^lu"' '"^""'" ""^ the Turks hav'S a„d n, ""^ '"''^ stories of out«<,.c * . " 8^** » 'ot of selves. riHouch J'°" "•" P'''^"*^ them- to^andpoI^!"*''^'""^"P'*°°'-thhis. John Curtis inherited from his f,.^ ""anger which requires it. He had 14 T.TiriB .AITOTHEB SmXiBN also inherited a regulating strain of Yankee caution. His mind was like a pendulum, cau- tion taking the place of the attraction of grav- ity. Just at the moment when it reached the highest point of oscillation there was an ever present force waiting to pull it the other way. But at present he was only twenty-two, and the struggle between New England prudence and youthful enthusiasm had not yet been de- cided. Besides, his mother had bestowed upon his nature a tinge of romanticism, and that im- pulsiveness which sometimes becomes rash- ness in a man. He was rather short in stat- ure, with a thick neck, lonj arms and sinewy hands. His closely cropped hair was dark brown, and his mustache was more of a prom- ise than a fulfillment. There was a healthy color in his boyish cheek, neither ruddy nor pale. The fact is that John Curtis had been an all-around athlete at colle£;e, whose fame will last for many a day. As he stood now upon the deck of the caique, he looked every inch the thing that he was, a wholesome, healthy-mindet) American youth— clear grit, muscle and '.elf-reliance. He wore an English yachting cap und a TOUTRF i BNTHC8IASM 15 dt7v?: "'T ^""P*'"''^^ ^^^'^ "'« shoul- der by a strap hung a camera. N.ght came on, with a fresh breeze anH » sea that r.se and fell like a great carpet when wind comes m under the door. It melted th^ S^^bttdf r '^ ^"'' washedtm i : bloomed with passionatl l^ T^lr'T: o'fThf drcod''"^ '^ ^^''-'^ '^« -i --^£i^^^r=u/ri-; nes*-sat silent upon the deck A !i 1 approached on tipto'e and okretcur^s atut ?t;otKrk.^^°^'''^^^---P-ei "But perhaps you play and sing," said the latter, offering the instrument to^helwede My fnend is right," replied the litter ^Any^Wuage but Greek would be pri- Wthout further protest Michali struck a wh efer the voace, a so.g that is known wnerever the waves of Greece plash in the i6 UKB AI70THBB HELTSXt sun or her nightingales lift their voices by night in the lemon orchards. The sailors and the captain caught up the melody and as- sisted, for what Greek does not know: NIGHT'S FIRST STAR. The first of all the stars of night In heaven is shyly beaming. The waves play in their gowns of white While mother sea lies dreaming. Among the leaves on gentle wing A balmy zephyr flutters. The nightingale begins to sing And all love's sorrow utters. For you the zephyr sighs, my love, In passion low and tender, For you the little stars above Dispense their yearning splendor. For you the tiny waves, ashore Their garnered foam are bringing; For you his love song, o'er and o'er The nightingale is singing. For you from yonder mountain high The moon pours out her measure, For you all day I moan and sigh. My little dear, my treasurel A moment of silence, which is, after all, the best applause, followed the song. Then some- one ejaculated a long-drawn-out "Ah!"— a TOtJTHPUI, BNTHCaiASM 17 group of shadowy islands, now dimly visible They were sailing across a golden riad 2;Xri^---;-a„d.e„ t.c unearthly glow, the Lef of hf S sailors were idealized. Thevlook A* ^ other in silent wonder. cS paloJ'of ^ awe, the joy. He felt as tL^hTwere i' ! grand temple and the goddesThad re^e L herself; and so did these poor descendan^rJ ancent Greece, though they knew i„ot The Arnencan had seen the moon n"e bete -n Greece, but never on the sea and never in th^ -cety of genuine, unspoiled childrr;; the i8 UKE ANOTHER HEUEN country. It was a revelation, a birth of glory, a miracle. For several days the "Holy Mary," as the caique was called, cruised among islands that seemed to float in an opal sea. Some of them were steep rocks, on which a single shepherd dwelt with his flocks. Often as they flitted through the shadow of a precipice that rose, high and stern as the walls of a medieval cas- tle, which a few scattered pines were perilous- ly scaling, a shaggy head would look down from the overhanging battlement and shout some salutation in Greek. At other times they skirted gfreen valleys, guarded at the shore by a band of sentinel cypress trees, tall and straight; through these, tiny streams came leaping and laughing down to the sea. Arcadian villages, gleaming white in the sun, sat peacefully on distant cliffs, or straggled down through olive orchards toward a bit of whiter beach; old monasteries dreamed in green and lonely nooks. On a cloudy afternoon, when the wind was blowing fresh and fair, and the waves that ran behind shivered blackly ere they broke into foam, the captain set all sail and headed straight for the northern shore of Crete. The caique plunged like a child's rocking horse. TOUTHFUI, BNTHTJSIASM °n the rickety ladder 2 f f""^ ''«^^* and the eikons of M "^ P'^""^ ^^"^ peered frotrun^SuS f ^ ^^' ^'^^ of silver Thpr« " ^^^^'^O' squares that, when ISh„I?;"° ''""''^ ^"d a'table fell back :si:^7-^trci^ °"^ ir^ -^ companions rattled about in .. ^"'^ '^'^ *^° like peas in a foSs ° ii E """T '■°°'" ments water slonn./ ^ """^ ^^^ ""o- deck and brine E "" Z^""^^^'' °" '^e ^^^ ''atcher^wJr^jrhLrtr ^'^^ ■ patter over the planks L ,1^'^ }^^ ^P^^y -s that used to 'untver'tUtrS',:^ '''! a farmhouse wherp t,= ■ ^ * "°°'" "^ in America The \" '7'*""" ^'ept when those inei^^ble c?ir!lS '^°1""*^ °"^ "^ by the meter, broke oV« °"f ''"^^ '" ^'^'^ offered the stick to °*^ "°"P'e of '"ches and fused. Soot a 1" '^^'^P^^"^' who re- ^oat'shairXdJheSin""""'""^ "-"-^ is totcco?'^'^'"''''"'''"' "-hat a comfort Poor Michali collapsed coughmg seasickness. m a spasm of ao UKB AKOTHBR HEUOT Curtis, gnashing his teeth and declaring that he would not yield, scrambled up the lad- der and butted the hatches open with his head. The most incongruous ideas kept running through his brain, sick as he was. As he sprawled out upon the deck and the two trap- doors fell behind him with a slam, he thought of a jack-in-the-box that had been given him on his fourth Christmas. Curtis rose cautious- ly erect, and threw himself at the nearest mast. It was not raining, but occasional faint elec- tric flashes revealed a lurid world full of inky waves. "There's no danger at all in this sort of thing," he muttered, "if these beggars under- stand their business." The hatches came down again with a slam. Michali, kneeling upon the deck, gave vent to his sufferings in elliptical groans. At the point of greatest diameter they were sugges- tive of a strong man vainly striving to yield up the ghost. "Come here, old man," shouted Curtis, "the fresh air will fix you all right in a minute." "That tobacco," gasped Michali, "would have made me to be sick on land or sea." "What's going on up there?" asked the American. The three sailors were gathered TOUTHFUi, mTHCSlAajt there i?L""''''"'^^''"'^^«P«ed. "Ah. "'one in the daSss .r^ "^ ^'^'"^'^ ^''^'•^ Had there been any 'e^ or"l'''' """'■ ''a- been haif way iStTe^'^ •*-"''« to the part of the sholJ u *"'' ^*= <=ome make. They have £h 75''' ^' '''^ '^"^^'n? tain, that ail who ,eJl I"" ."^ '" '''^ ■"«""- camp." ^° '"'* "ay think it a shepherd's downtoth?S"Co:"''"'T'''^''°"''^' we're nearingla;,dr' ' ""' ^'^"tenant. Lin^Xhm\a??efacWr"K'"'' ""'^ «'"« "Whv ,>>rH , ^ *''at bobbed out ^ ny. It s dark as a pocket " i,.. • j , «n any one see whether kS' '^''' ''"'^ Curtis seized the T i " "'^'' °'- "°t?" -tJ> both hands and^rnedw' '"' ^^^^^ nal.TheSwedelllTst;;^^^^'''-'^- Yust so," he said. ^' aa IJKB AKOTHEB BBJJBTi After another twenty minutes a sailor brought a lantern from the cabin and hung it to a hook on the forward mast. For over an hour there had been no lightning, and now a sudden flash hissed and died as though one had attempted to light a match in a gusty room. There was but a moment of light, but that was enough. There, a quarter of a mile distant, extended beckoningly and invitingly toward the little vessel, were the arms of a nar- row bay; and down the shore, perhaps a mile away, a gunboat stole stealthily and slowly along. To the left a stretch of coast, perhaps two miles in length, ended suddenly in a towering cliff. By turning they would have the wind square in the sails and would be making straight for the promontory. This expedient evidently occurred to the captain, who knew every inch of the Cretan coast as well as he knew the deck of his own caique, for he in- stantly gave the necessary orders. "It would never have done to put into the bay," observed Lindbohm, "they would have us like rats in a trap. That's one of the block- ading squadron. They're looking for yust such people as we are." "They haven't seen us, glory to Godl" cried Michali. The three passengers had crowderf .k . thf cap;ai„, who stood at the «.. ""' ca'quj was now sUno- 7 ''"*■■• The «ke a liying fish '^'^ "^ '"'" ^'"' '« crest ''ef-%r;:bZt^^-ofhisn,o„th «hot the spreading , ah a?..'"'\"'' ^'°"'''' wielded by a giant arm ^''^^J'eh spitefully struck the waS^s wS the "l^"' "-"--" ■' five minutes before '^"""^ ''^'^ ''"n ingte'^V' kI;!?! ."^: '" chorus, roll- in the w.^,d for a 'o„^' 't' ''"* ^"''^«'"te Which is exact,;U\tTlt^''^'' "dan,„," hop. he don't tirus:ter"P''^''M'^''««- "I «odIt? Jtt^^^^^^^^ "^''-'^ "« 'here's «g blood „ hL veS>f r '• ^'°' "^^'"^ Vik- instinct. ''uXZZ Z ' ''"'"^ ''°^' ''y we are all rLht and .?1 '"^^ *^^"^^^ h°Id: catch us " ^ ' ^"'' *''" ''«^" himself can't : 34 IXKB ANOTHBB HXIiEir Again the whip fell, again and yet again. At last it struck fairly upon the little ship with blinding radiance. Curtis gave vent to a sur- prised "Ah!" as he had sometimes done in a theater, when the electricity had been unex- pectedly turned on after twenty minutes of midnight murder or burglary on the stage. A sailor was luridly sprawling in the air, half way up the foremast, and the two others were pulling at a rope. The faces of the little group at the tiller looked ghastly in the un- natur.^; iight. The caique rose and fell with the long striding motion of a fleet horse run- ning clc^e to the ground. At regular inter- vals a discharge of fine spray swept length- wise of the deck and stung the face like hand- fuls of rice, flung at a wedding. The light was now a great triangle, lying on the sea, and the caique was flying toward its base. The promontory seemeH to slide rapidly toward them along one of iis sides. A gun boomed in the triangle's apex. Cur- tis and Michali ducked their heads and closed their eyes tight. The captain and crew again cried "Katarrd' in chorus, and Lindbcrfun laughed. "Blank," he said sententiously; "that means •lay to.' " TOUTHFCI, xirrnvsiAsx 25 The promontory slid nearer. Another «,n otUTv"'" ' """^' '=°"«'''"^ »°-<'.^o'- fke th,/ ' ""^'"do-diminuendo scream, like the demoniac wail of winter wind. A shell." explained the Swede. "That means business. If they're Russians, they can t h.t us. If French, they probably won't m th.s sea. If English, they probably w"l' We must yust take our chances What does the captain say?" " "Here's the point." translated Michali once around that they will never find™ ' Curtis looked. The steep clif! photo- r.'^l^l^' -"delibly upon his minr t owered high above their heads, rude, grim, land ^r^"' "''■■• '"* ^* ''^ »«- a^pS^ ^nd sloped into the water, like the foot to a •n-ghty leg. And as he looked, a crashine sound was heard, and the little ve;sel SJe ed and lurched, wounded to death youtff '" ''""'" '"'" L-dbohm. "Can CHAPTER 11 "H ON FRIENDLY SHORES ' OW shall I ever thank you for sav- ing my life?" "Very easily. If you know anything about this part of the island you can yust lead us out of here. If we don't find something to eat to-day we shall be sorry we didn't drown. I'd rather drown than starve any time. It don't last so long, and isn't so painful." The two speakers were Michali and the Lieutenant. They were standing, together with the American, beside a fire of driftwood which the vestas in Curtis' metal matchbox had enabled ihem to light. A bit of sand, sheltered from the waves by a projecting rock, had made it easy for them to land. It is true tliat Michali's strength had soon given out, but his friends, both being powerful swim- mers, had brought him to the shore in safety. After scrambling for a way blindly up the side of a hill, actuated by an instinctive, though perhaps groundless, fear of capture, they had 26 a OK VBIBia>I,T SHOBK8 37 paused and looked down upon the sea Thi^r, were two of the sailors hangingto 'he al of a gallows frame planted fnt^e se ' T^ torn canvas fluttered helpless in the wind tL capta,„ clung to the arLfanotSeTgiloi Ll7 ' ''""'"*• ^"'^ '^' 'hird sailor was float.ng about over the submerged ca qL on the cabin roof. The gunboat shied out !n°o tZZZT '"" '""«"* '""^ filibuster Tn rock wile th?r°T'''" "°"^''^'' »'«•''"'' a Zr'i, , . <^y='0P"n eye of the monster tha hurls deadlier missile, than old Hoier ever dreamed of searched hill and shore. They 11 never try to catch us." said Lind- bohm as the gunboat sailed a;ay "TheJ a8 JJKB ANOTBEn HEUEIT and had performed the same office for Curtis. Lindbohm's straw had not escaped from the tether, and he still wore it, glistening with salt and hanging down on one side like the wmg of a wounded duck. His long coat had shrunk until the tails parted in the middle of his back as though the space between them had been cut out with a triangular stamp. He alone of the three had removed his shoes after reach-ng the shore. Not being able to put them on again, he cut away the uppers, and tied the remnant on with strings, which he passed through the holes slashed in the sides A resourceful and courageous man was the Lieutenant. "Now, we are ready," he said, to Michali: lead on to breakfast." "I think," replied Michali, "that we must to the sea go down, and pass around the shore to where the caique wished to come up. There we shall find Greeks waiting. EmbrosI" (iot- ward.^ But, alas, when they arrived at the beach again they found that the little stretch of sand which had been their salvation ended against an abrupt wall of rock. "We must go around the hUl the other way," said Curtis. OJT irBIX!la>I,T SHOBES vill'Z' '"'^ ""PP'" °" * ^''•Pherd or see a viUage. suggested Michali, cheerfully So they returned again to the bit of sandv beach where they had landed. By th s S It was ten o'clock. ^ ^* "Hello! What's this?" cried Curtis ,, S'-JZ-tsir Sir -■'■■■- Bravol" shouted Michali. "Bravol I ^hj-tw^ll he our breakfast. It if ^1 • bite into a live hedgehog "''^^"^*^^^°°« Michali produced a laree ooclct Vr,i cut the creature in two n . '^* '"'^ spoonful of veloi egg^^^^^^^ ^^°"* =* "Tastes like salt mud." said the Swede. 30 tJKB AXOTHEB HKLBX "Nevertheless, if it will sustain life, and if more of them can be found"f— suggested the American. Removing their shoes and arming them- selves with sticks, the three adventurers waded out a little way from shore and began to poke among the rocks for sea urchins. In a short time a pile of living pincushions rewarded their efforts. The spines moved continually, ,as though rooted in loose skin, and occasionally one of the queer creatures rolled slowly seaward, walking on the tips. "Kind of a globular centipede, with the legs sticking in all directions, isn't he?" observed Curtis, regarding one in motion. "You would have thought so had you on one stepped!" replied Michali; "the spines are sometimes— what you call him, poisonous. You would not have put on your boot for many days." "They are slow eating," said the Swede, sucking the contents from the half of one nois- ily, as though it were a teacup. "Nevertheless, with bread they are deli- cious," persisted Michali. "Anything would be delicious with bread yust now," observed the Lieutenant. At the er.d of the sandy beach a steep, ON FSIEKDI,T 8HOBE8 31 rocky hill uprose. By the time the three com- Surinn '^^ ?^ 1°P <^^ ^^•^' *he sun wTs Md the «A,w were tormenting their vitals with an avenging thirst. At theif rigft soa ed t-rete, at the left and far below stretched the winsome sea, strewn with islandr and flecked With flitting sails. They walked for ha.f an hour over volcanic rock, through spfteful thorny shrubs that clutched at th ir anWes and tore their clothing, and came a ,ai't ^e bnnk of a ravine whose walls were as Lr pend.cular as though they had been cut S a giant saw. In the bed. far below TLoun swhngaLnrhoirSnr" '°''' °' ^The three looked down on it and their thirst "I could drink it all," said Curtis daLT'Ir.'*'"'''^ ^y °" «'^"ting wings atlXarJ"'"^^*^^--^-^^"«'S'-pfd ciaS^jLLr "^^'°' " ^ -"'" - ^wede. The hedgehogs are on fire in- 32 UKE AKOTHER HEia}N side of me. We must reach that water to quench them. It would take the whole stream to put out the ones that I ate." After another hour they came upon a goat trail that, leading from above, ended abruptly and zigzagged from ledge to ledge down the side of the cliflf into the stream. Michali's de- light was unbounded. "Follow this trail," he cried, "and we shall a shepherd find with water, or may be a vil- lage, who knows?" "How far is it?" asked Lindbohm. "Howdolknow? Perhaps one mile— per- haps ten." "If it is two, the hedgehogs will burn • through before I get there," replied Curtis. "I'm going down." "It is very dangerous," replied Michali. "We must yust take our chances," asserted Lmdbohm. The descent was not so difficult as it ap- peared. Within twelve feet of the bottom they found themselves on the edge of a rock. Below them the stream gurgled enticingly be- tween banks of snowy sand. "And now?" asked Curtis. "We must yust yump and take our chances," replied Lindbohm. Instinctively ON FHIBNDiY SHOHB8 33 seizing the t^Is of his coat he held them out hke wings and sprang into the air. tiJ"TJl^" «ied looking up. "It's all nght and throwing himself flat on his stom- ach he sucked up long drafts of the cool, re- freshing water. I„ a moment Michali and Lurtis were lying beside him. C„rJl°T V^'' ^•'^^' ^'* °"' °f •>«'«?" asked which he had just made a flying leap. O, a goat is like a fly ; he can skip up a pane of glass," replied Lindbohm UrTr""!""* ^°"°^ *''«' stream up," said Michah. "We shall surely find somebody. I„ Greece, where th..re is water, men are not fa^ bohm ' T. ''r "°* !" ^'■"^- " °''J"t«d Lind- bohm. The Cretan's eyes blazed. co„?.° "°* '"^ "'''* ^^^" y°" "«= «n'°ng niy countrymen— It would not be safe " Lindbohm seized him by the hand. nght. We are m the very heart of Greece and we are here to shoot down anybody who says the contrary." ^ For some distance up the ravine the path was over fine sand and easy. Then they came to a long stretch tumbled full of round 34 MKB AirOTHEB HEIiEir smooth bowlders. Twice they were obliged to climb steep rocks that extended from one wall to the other Hke the face of a dam. They pulled themselves up the end of these by means of the vines growing in the ravine, whose sides still rose sheer above them to such a height that they seemed almost to meet at the top. Finally, when Michali had clambered before the others to the top of a rocky dam, higher and steeper than usual, he gave a loud shout of joy and pointed dramatically up- stream. Lindbohm followed agilely, and Cur- tis with more difficulty. There, perhaps a mile away, was a white village, sitting in an amphitheater, like an audience of an ancient stadium. Behind and at either side, patches of terraced vineyards lay smiling in the sun, and a flock of goats was grazing on a moun- tain side, at the edge of a pine forest. The mountain stream, broken into half a dozen rivulets, wandered through the streets, and then slid and leaped, like a bevy of children, down a tremendous, steeply slanting ledge' on the edge of which the hither houses peril- ously stood. "How do you know it's not Turkish?" asked Lindbohm. "There are no minarets," replied Michali. ON FBIBNDtY SHOBES 35 "Why, of course! Any one can tell a Greek from a Turkish village as soon as he sees it. Come on, then!" Michali and the Lieutenant sprang gayly forward, but soon they stopped and looked around. "Are you not coming?" asked Michali. Curtis arose and sank down again. His companions ran back I'What's the matter?" they asked in chorus. I can go no farther," replied Curtis. "I scratched my foot on a stone when we were gathenng those sea urchins, and it's swelline up m my shoe." "Why didn't you say something?" asked i-indbohm. "A man doesn't like to squeal about a "p"'n'^L^^? ''"°^'" ''P"*='> the American. Pull the blamed shoe off for me, will you? Hold on I hold on, I teU youl Holy Moses, now that hurts!" "You'll just have to cut the shoe off," sug- gested the Lieutenant. "I don't like to do that. What'll I do with- out shoes?" hnlf?" ^"-"."f^ '^*^'' ^^^ ''•=^"''f"' Cretan bootsi cned Michali enthusiastically. "The yellow, soft, strong boots. There is no such 36 XJXB ANOTHKB HBIiEK leather in tlie world. Do you not know how Crete is famous for the boots?" ^^ "That settles it, then," exclaimed Curtis. "I won't stand this torture any longer. Here, Lindbohm, old man, just slit that shoe right open, win you?" The foot was badly swollen, and, being re- leased from the confining shoe, it straightway pufled up to double the normal size. Lind- bohm and Michali each took one of the lame man's arms, and thus they proceeded quite rapidly. Curtis held tightly to the shoe. • "They cost me eight dollars," he said, "and it's a shame to throw it away." CHAPTER III A COMIC OPERA TOWN IT WAS about one o'clock in the afternoon when they arrived at the foot of the tre- mendous rocky dam which they must scale to reach the village. The sun was shin- mg bnlliantly, and the dozen or more rivu- lets that were racing and leaping downward glittered like molten silver. From the bed of the ravine not a house was visible. Lindbohm made a trumpet of his hands, and, looking up- ward, shouted lustily, drawing out the last syllable of the word as though it were a vocal telescope. "HiUol HiUoI HiUo!" A giri came to the edge. She appeared to be standing on the top of a wall. She was float- mg m sunlight; siie was glorified. Tall, straight, deep-bosomed, she wore a skirt of blue home-spun and a short jacket of the same material, with sleeves that were white from the elbows down. Her hair, that was in real- ity a soft Srown, seemed of gold; one massive strand fell over her bosom quite to her knees. Her face was oval, the features as clearly cut 17 38 UKB AKOTHEB HKUBX as those of a goddess. Her large brown eyes wide apart beneath a low, broad forehead, beamed with fearless innocence and wonder. On her left shoulder rested a huge earthen water jug, two-handled, bulging near the top and dwindling at each end. Her right hand held this in place, and her left rested on her hip. "What is it, strangers?" she caUed down, «n a winning voice. "Sphakiote," said Michali. "What's sphakiote?" asked Lindbohm: "Greek for goddess?" The Cretan shouted back a few words of ex- planation, and the maiden disappeared. Ten minutes later the edge was lined with the citi- zens of Ambellaki; tow-headed children, wom- en, old and young, tall pailikaria, boys and maidens. All the males, of whatever age, wore high yellow boots, voluminous blue trousers and soft red fezzes, that broke across the crown and fell backward, ending in a long black tassel. The women and girls were for the most part attired like the maiden who had first appealed, though several of them wore handkerchiefs tied about their heads. "Here's the demarch," shouted a chorus. "And Papa-Maleko," cried the rest, as though in response. ■ '"iffi>:;2^;;i^^f?^''-;^;"?°ii"<'"- !>!!!■- lo hoid Jjaricy "«,.v.J'!'-« A OOmo OPERA TOW3f jj A majcttic old Cretan, with two s' UKB AirOTHSB HBIiBIT proof of which, a boy qf fifteen sprawled sky- ward again, looking back every moment to laugh and shout "BmbrosI" ^^ "I can do it easily," said Michali, with pride. All Cretans can climb, if some of them can- not swim. Can you follow me?" "I can certainly try," replied the Lieutenant Finally Michali and Lindbohm concluded to mount, and consult with the citizens as to the best means of assisting Curtis to the top. There s some other way to get up," sug- gested the Cretan, "only they are suspicious of us as yet, and will not tell." Michali, true to his boast, climbed the fac- of the terrace with the greatest ease. Lind- bohm reminded Curtis of the frog and the well m the mental arithmetic. "How long will it take him to reach the top, he mused, "if he stops to rest during every seventh minute?" He was a genius at mental arithmetic and had nearly figured out the proposition to sub- mit It to Lindbohm, when he heard people shouting above. Looking „p. he perceived that they were letting down a long rope, and that several young Cretans, accompanied by Michali, were coming with it. A COMIC OPBBA TOWN 41 fatter, they will pull on the other end, and so you w.n go up, slowly, slowly. You can u e your hands and the good foot to he^and to bSes •• "™" '"^^ ^^^ '"« ^'-« -d Several pairs of strong hands pulled Curtis «fe ly up the wall, and he found himself in he puhl c square of a picturesque little village swi ;„r °7 ^T'' '-"°^-d^d an open sp. ce, m the nudst of which stood an immense platane tree. Under this latter were four -kety tables and a do.en or so of chaL, for elvTT"""""" °^ '^°'' ^''^ "^hos^ to enjoy the beauties of nature in the open air enough to support. The influence of the «loon.n politics is felt even in the mountain: Lindbohm and the priest rushed forward and assisted the American to one of the chlJs The mayor brought another and tenderiv placed the lame foot upon it, shouting mean t'urld' IfT- "' ^°'"''"= °^^-«' - - l^olZ tured, blustering voice. Michali rrrived and interpreted, for which Curtis was thILkH j 4> USB AKOTHBB BEIiBK he did not understand the mayor's gutteral, rapid Greek. "He bids you welcome in the name of all Ambellakil He has ordered you a glass of masticha. Ah! Here it comes now. You are to stay in the priest's house, who will say a prayer over your foot as soon as he eets you home." The group was by this time surrounded by Ue entire population of the town, or as much of it as was not out in the vineyards, or on the hills with the sheep and the goats. Curtis rose on one leg. "Behold the human stork," he exclaimed m English, because he did not know the Greek for "stork." "What does he say?" asked the demarch. Michah explained the joke at length. "He compares himself to a stork, because a stork usually stands on one leg. He, being lame, and unable to stand on both legs, rests his entire weight on one, like a stork." "But he does not at all resemble a stork," objected several voices. "They say you do not resemble a stork " explained the interpreter. "O, thanks! But I was joking. Don't you Cretans understand a joke?" A come OFEBA TOWN 43 '•He says he is joking, and he fears we do not understand a joke." arc? 'In '^f'' "^ 'l^''^''"'" '^^^ '•'« dem- Zt ?",.^«"«"' J°ke, and it is the part of hospitahty and poUteness to laugh," where- upon he smote the table with his mighty pito and burst „to a roar of Olympian^ JgE The^constituency looked on in sflent amaze^ "Laugh, you donkeys!" cried the demarch. hke the Turks?" And he strode threateninglv toward the group, which broke in all d S t^ons and darted for cover. They laugLd however, long and conscientiously at first into their mirth. The priest and the demarS assisted Curtis to his temporary residencTon heway shockheaded boys looked out h?m "S go"es trsSi"td'"r' '"''• from h-fcioj -1 ^^^ S"^^ peeping IZh lu *'°°" °' f'^'^^S their bloom .ng faces through screens of trellised vine, gig- gled. How are you, Mr. Stork?" Curtis' name was seldom asked in the moun- a»y. as Kynos Pelargos-Mr. Stork. As soon 44 UKB AXrOTBER BKIJEXI as opportunity presented he made a new head in his note book and entered the following observation: "Character of the modem Cretans. First: Extraordinary sense of humor. CHAPjTER IV A DINNER OF HERBS THE house of Papa-Maleko Nicolaides consisted of three rooms, two down- stairs and one above. Curtis was given a seat upon an antique couch with a wooden frame, upon whose high bacr was carded the date, 1855. Papa-Maleko's father in-law had received it in that year as part of his wtfe's dowiy, and had given h in turn t^h^' owndaughter. It was a highly prized poL;. A trunk studded with brass-headed nails Xted th "/°°''=" ^'°°'^ -^ » l^-ea; JoS pleted the furniture of the apartment. an J hffeTl''™"^''' ' ''°°' ^°' C"rt«' foot, thereon^h -T"'"' "'^'"''^^ *«"deri; ened bv th. ""!! °'''' '"'' ^"°" ^''^ ^ark- three LL ^.°""^^""S Population. Two or three leading citizens pushed through into the room and commenced talking in chorus Ai! gesticulated wildly. Lindbohm kneTdoCl and began to remove the stocking. UKB ANOTHSSB HBUBIT "I know something of medicine," he said. "Do I hurt you?" "Go on," replied Curtis; "that's a mere de- tail." Lindbohm poked the puffy sole here and there until his patient gave a jump, as when the dentist finds a nerve. "There it is," cried Curtis. "There's some- thing in it." Further examination discovered the head of a black sliver, which, after several attempts with a penknife blade and his thumbnail, the Lieutenant succeeded in extracting. The curi- osity of the throng, that now packed the room almost to suffocation, found expression in a storm of volubility. The sliver was passed from hand to hand. Curtis thought he de- tected again and again the syllables, "many, many." He forgot they were speaking Greek. "Do they say there are others?" he asked. "No," replied Michali; "they say 'kaie- mene,' which means poor fellow!" "O, tell 'em it's nothing. Just a sliver in my foot. I'll be all right in an hour." "On the contrary, I regret to say that you a sore foot may have during two or three weeks. It is a spine of the achinoos." "O, the sea hedgehog. Is it poisonous?" A DDnrSB OF HEBB8 47 "Not exactly poisonous, but it will make much irritation. You should have spoken of him immediately, then it would not have been so bad. Did it not hurt very bad?" "Why, it hurt some, of course, but I thought I had scratched my foot on a stone. I wasn't going to delay the game for a little scratch." "Well, by Jupiter!" cried Lindbohm, "you Americans have plenty of gravel." "Plenty of what?" "Plenty of gravel. Isn't that what you say ? I heard the expression once." "Perhaps you mean sand?" "Maybe it is. At any rate, you've got it." At this moment a tremendous hubbub arose. The demarch lunged through the crowd, and, throwing his constituents to right and left, made way for the entry of an old woman, who stabbed the ground at every stq» with a long, quivering staff. She was bent like the new moon, and her wrinkled skm was the color of a mild cigar. In her left hand she held a wisp of dried herbs. The cnes of relief and joy yvhich her presence evoked reminded Curtis of the arrival of a tardy fire engine. "Who's this?" he asked. 48 UEB AXOTHEB HXIJEK "She is the wise woman," replied Michali. "She will put something on the foot that will cure him very quick." Her orders, delivered in a shrill voice, re- sulted in the immediate production of warm water, a towel and a basin. The old woman made the sign of the cross over the foot. She then washed it, applied the leaves and bound them on with rags. "That does feel nice," said Curtis. "How much ought I to offer her?" "Money?" asked Michali. "Yes, of course." "Nothing, nothing. She would be— what you call him? She would suffer in her feel- ings. You are the guest of the village. Bid me to thank her for you." "Sure. Tell her she's a regular old brick. Tell her my own mother couldn't have done it better." "Ah, that, yes. I do not know what is that brick, but the mother w:!! make her very glad." Michali evidently knew what to say, for she patted Curtis' head affectionately, and tears ran dovri her cheeks. "She says she had three boys, all big, strong A DQCKXB or HEBB8 49 kill fellows like you, and the Turks have them all," explained Michali. "Yes," replied Curtis. "I understood the most of that myself. She speaks very plain." The demarch now made a brief speech, which resulted in clearing the house. As the Ambellakians retired, a merry voice shouted- Perastika. Kyrie Pelarget" (May you re^ cover soon, Mr. Stork) and all took up the re- fram, shouting the syllables over and over amid great laughter. To Michali's unbound- ed delight, Curtis cried "Eucharistor (Thanks.) "That was splendid," said Michali, when all had left except himself, Lindbohm, the demarch and Papa-Maleko. "Hovn did you understand what they have said?" "I studied modem Greek in college and used to practice on the Greeks in Boston But I understand hardly anything. I'm disgusted with myself. I said "Eucharisto" because it was the only word I could think of." "O, you are too modest. You answered exactly right. They said, 'May you get well soon, Mr. Stork,' aod you answered, 'Thank you, thank you.' " Curtis took from his pocket a book, badly damaged by the bath .which it had received I so urns .AirOTHBR HXIiBK ^vheri he had jumped for his life from the ilt- fated "Holy Mary," but still serviceable. "This is a new method, just out," he ex- plained, holding it up to view. "O, I shall be talking in a day or two— I lose confidence when there are so many people together. They all jabber at once, and I can't understand a word." The demarch and the priest examined with great reverence the copy of Rangave's excel- lent method. Their ideas of books were chiefly associated with the Holy Scriptures and the "Lives of the Saints." The mayor crossed himself devoutly, but the priest refrained. He had heard that there were profane books. Evening was now at hand, and a girl came in, bringing two lighted candles in tall brass candlesticks. She was the maiden whom the shipwrecked strangers had first seen, stand- ing on the edge of the precipice, with the wa- ter jug on her shoulder. Her height was rather greater than that of the ordinary wom- an, her figure was both slender and athletic. There was something antique and statuesque in her attitude now, as she advanced, holding the two tall candlesticks. Papa-Maleko in- troduced her as his daughter and Michali ex- A DnnrsB or BBRBti 51 plained. She smiled sweetly and replied with charming gradousness of manner that the strangers were welcome. There was no sim- penng nor coyness. She bore herself with the modest courage of innate nobility and innocence. The false standards of so-called civiliMti 1 were unknown to her. She was a daughter of the democracy of the mountains In her theory of the world all women were virtuous, and all men, except Turks, were gentlemen and heroes. When Curtis heard her speak Greek, he redoubled his resolve to ^rfect himself in the language without delay. He even framed a sentence with which to address her, but a certain shyness, the fear of excitmg laughter in those beautiful eyes through some mistake -n accent or grammar deterred him. Lindbohm, as soon as he comprehended that he was being presented to the mistress of the house, brought his heels together, and bowmg low, lifted her hand to his lips. It was a knightly and courtier-like act, that clothe 1 him m dignity despite the shrunken and s.lt mcrusted Prince Albert and the grotesque remnants of shoes. Panayota flushed like a peony and looked inquiringly at Michali. It IS the custom among the gentlemen in St ums AiroTHBR hsubit hit country," replied the young patriot, who had read of similar scenes in foreign romances. "He salutes you as though you were a queen." "It is a beautiful custom," said the demarch. "But is not the American also a gentleman?" for Curtis, rising with difliculty on one leg, had shaken Panayota cordially by the hand. "O, the Americans are great democrats," replied MichiM. "This is a royal salute, you know, and they know nothing about such things." The beautiful young girl brought in a table- cloth and spread it on the floor. The demarch stepped to the door, and, calling a young boy from the street, said something to him in a low tone. A noisy but good-natured discussion imme- diately arose between the mayor on the one hand and Papa-Maleko and his daughter on the other. The priest, darting from the door, called the boy back; the mayor, seizing Lind> bohm's cane, threatened IY.k boy with it, and pushed the priest back into the house. Panayota protested laughingly, calling upon the Virgin and crossing herself. "What's the row, anyway?" asked Curtis, to his great disgust not being able to catch enough words from the rapidly-spoken sen- A DtmrEB OF BEBBS S3 tencM to be quite sure of their meaning. Pan- ayota's enunciation wa' more clear cut and if?!-."'!" ""* ?^ ""■. °""'^'' »"'" ''O"" what ' i*'at the mayor was ' 3 ">'•' a "proceeding ' ' f'-.uqluei ?ood-na- '•<-;:c lion f;r. leir own pctw -.tn Church and she said, he concltv' ordering food from which the priest • i turecly resentc ; li a hospitality. "Seems likr > quan State," observtc Curi i . MichaH explainer the remo i-, «,ily under- stood m Greek, and th, : x.or. sho.tirg great thunder claps of laughter, patted Curtis on the back and cried, "Bravo I bravo!" Panayota placed on the cloth a huge loaf of brown bread, a plate of black olives and a jue of wa.'er. The Sphakiotes do not take kindly to wme. But the feast was not yet complete- a young man entered, bearing a large bowl of brown earthenware, filled with something that emitted a cloud of fragrant steam; and a plate contammg a large chunk of white halve These he deposited upon the tablecloth, and Pana- yota with a graceful wave of the hand and a i!!?"^/T"' '^'' ^'''^"^ fr°"' her white teeth and beamed in her great brown eyes, cned "Oreeste." The demarch sat dowii on the floor, crossing his legs under him. -The 54 I^^^-idS lit^SoC.''^^'''^^'''^-'^^-''- "JCOof kdor repeated Kyr' Nikolaki. Kalo. replied Lindbohm A medium of general communication was now established. Papa-Maleko and Kyr"NT olak, with nearly eve,y hite smiled upon Sir-' 56 IiIKB AKOTHEB HEIiBK tis and Lindbohm and asked "Kalor and they both replied, "Kalo, Mo." After dinner the demarch departed, taking Michali with him, Suid Panayota made up the bed on the floor for Curtis and Lindbohm. She brought in a mattress from outdoors, which somewhat mystified Curtis until he re- membered that the stone stairway to the up- per regions was built on the outside of the he use. She laid a sheet on the mattress and over that, a quilt with a sheet sewed to it in such a manner that the end was doubled over and bore the initials, beautifully embroidered, of Panayota Nicolaides. CHAPTER V SOME PICTURES AND A RECITATION CURTIS was confined to his room four days with the foot, which time he devoted assiduously to the method. On the fifth day he was able, with the aid of a rustic crutch, to get down to the dem- arch s caf^. Michali assisted him as he hob- bled down the stony street, his lame foot clumsily bundled in rags and swinging in the air Lmdbohm strode on ahead, instinctively making sword-like passes with the rattan cane The tetter's appearance had been much digni- fied by the assumption of a swashbuckling pair of yellow boots. He had been repeatedly rtf ^5'**^ ^"' •'"' ''« «='""« with inex- plicable aflfection to the shapeless and uneasy straw, stiU tethered to his buttonhole "Behold!" cried Michali, as they reached a turn in the street whence the view was unob- structed over the tops of the houses. "Yon- der is the ravine where we came up, and there » the sea. You will hardly find a village in all ureece from which the sea is not visible " The village, on this fragrant and dewy S7 I SB UKB AKOTHBB HX!X.ZiN spring morning, was peaceful and idylUc Curtis drew a long breath, and, closing tl!i'^''A ""5'"'*' ''™*«'f '" ancient Ar- kadja. On the balconies of the neatly white- washed houses pots of basil and begonia had been set out, and formed green patches tree m full bloom dispensed wide sweetness, or shook Its snowy petals to the breeze. The site of the town was so uneven that it seemed possible to step from the threshold of some other! ^ ^^' °" *'' *•'* '■''^-'•'''J r^X'fe of °i^Z\^"':"''^^'^'^^^<^ryy>hert. Some- t'mes It ran through wooden troughs and sometimes it darted down clear bywjs worn on which was an aqueduct, and they heard the water gurgling above their heads The wall was overgrown with vines and a long line of popp.es had leaped atop. Slightly bowed by the wind they seemed stooping to dnnk. At the end of the wall theS ■ poured into a round stone basin, sunk int^the ground for the convenience of animals. A the sL-T T'' "'''"'''' ^ '^' ''^i" that the sheep and goats might drink in the shade. A wandering peddler with his donkey came Ind" •'.'f:*'^^ ''''''■ The animal w" sandwiched between two boxes, each as large SOME FICTDBBS o" a frame supforS^bV;"' '"''''''''' °«' wall, made a innn k^ ° P°'''' ^"'^ t^^ young frogs. Kyrios Nikolt ^ ^'"" ^^ the community, combinnjt h SS"'" " person the imoortanf f, -• °"^ '" one tis glanced at the tali v^ii "'^"'y- As Cur- incus breechesX S :5 :^^^^^^^ -'- woolen balls for h,m^ ""^^asted vest with he thought foMheTr"i"'.*''^[^'''^''f". Crete of his camera ThTthT ''"''"^ '" with the "Holy Marv" T. .^"""^ '^°*n clean-shaven, with th;'» '^^"^'^^ ^as mustache, andl shtt,r"^''°" "' '''^ ^'^y *he iron. His cL.r ""^ ^'""^ ^'•"h from «v.-n,,andS;?u tX'°"' "'*'' ^"^'^ save for the fact that mI. f "^'^'^'^ "«" a Mttle, disclo Sg a ed alT" 'f "^^ '^"^" under each eye '^"^ ^°*''''"& ^Pot "Welcoinel welcome!" he cried, as the party r? A 7°'^" Mr. Stork and the Lieliten. ant? And Kyr" Michali? And where is the Church this morning? Why did you not brinir h.m a bng, that he might take a drink of cog- nac with the State?" ^ "I am very well," replied Curtis in Greek. 2 J "t- ""^ '^' ^''''^- ^"^ we aid not see him." Curtis had made great progress in Pana- yota s language. He had found the girl very willing to talk with him and not a litfle inter- ested in his efforts to acquire fluency in her native tongue. He had also made this dis- covery, which pleased him greatly, that the Greek of these sturdy mountaineers was easier for him than that of Athens, as it possessed a more archaic flavor. „'?^*^^'°"'' '"^'^e'ous!" shoated the dem- arch. Your progress is wonderful. I ob- serve it every day." "Ah, this is comfortable," said Curtis, sit- ting on a bench with his back against the plane tree. "Are all the Cretan yilJJZ pretty as this?" ^ " m"?!^* f^r^ '""'='' '""'■^ beautiful," cried Michah. "That is. those which th^ TurS have not destroyed. But this viUage is not » ''o^m ncTCBBg ".ath^'C *■' '" •" " ■«■■■ -^ ;;A ravine," suggested Curtis. allThe time » '''' '''"P^*''*^'' *«t<^h Wn, bec?„lT*'l'*^°" ''''^ "°^ P'-^g^^^ rapidly whose own remarls II ''" *^'='""^''' -^toturnrES--'"— - t'^eEngHsh^rLe'ns^j^c^ra^tr hTdrdTsSirr^-^^^^^^^^ thirty Cret ns slel , T ''"'' '" ^''•^'' sedans.;" which n u""'^'^'^ ^^''^'''^ • *"" '^'•"^ °«=««on he himself had led ^i 6a UKE ANOTHBB HKLBK the victorious party. There seemed to be nothing more to talk about. "I have some very fine pictures inside," said the mayor. "Come, Lieutenant. Mr. Stork, Michali." "Where are the pictures?" asked Curtis, when they had entered, hoping that his host possessed a collection of Byzantine, or per- haps Venetian, works of art. Kyr" Nikolaki glanced about the room and waved his hand majestically. "They are hanging on the walls," he re- plied. Borrowing Lindbohm's cane, he made the circuit of the room, pointing to the wretched prints that were hung high up, close to the ceiling. "This," he explained, "is Marko Botsares, a famous Greek patriot of the war of indepen-' dence. Have you ever heard of him?" "Heard of himl" cried Curtis. "At midnight in his guarded tent The Turk lay dreaming of the how. When Greece, her knee in suppliance bent Should tremble at his power!" "And this is Ali Pasha, with his head in the lap of his favorite wife," continued the mayor. "He lived at Janina. He was finally killed. SOME FICTUBBS X, «s he deserved to be H» t.^c j », «-ia.Epin,3a„daptofMar„Sb1. the Suhotes he could not terri.y ^ tas eyes blazmg with excitement. "He wi with their own powder, or danced «n"°t a stork fly?" asked a black-eyed, roguish maiden, who pos- good Greek from more than one pair of lips. This sally evoked such an inordinate peal of good-natured laughter that Curtis was unable w™tl? -r ^T°P"^t*' --^'y. =nd contented himself «,.th pulhng a rose from the basket hanging at his saddle and throwing it at the saucy girl. " 70 XiIKB AirOTHXiR HEIjEN In the purple twilight they came in sight of the first of the seven mills. A tall, slanting barrel of masonry received the water that turned the stone wheel that lay upon its face in a small building covered with reddish brown tiles. The miller and his wife, dusty <>s moths, came out to greet the merry throng that poured into hi; little plateau with much shouting and singing and strumming of guitars. Two or three shock-headed young>- sters peeped from behind the building, and a girl, probably three years old, clothed only in a flour sack that reached to the middle of h.T stomach, ran, like a frightened chicken, to cover in the folds of her mother's dress. The child was glowing with health and beautiful as an infant Dionysus from the broken arm of a Hermes carved by Praxiteles himself. And now they were come into a region of rank, water-loving trees, great ferns and streams of water that slipped smoothly and silently through square sluices of white masonry. The mills were close together. At the fourth in number they stopped and found that brave preparation had already been made. The plateau before the mill-house was here larger , than ordinary and in its midst grew a wide- spreading oak from a lower branch of which ^PHB FIH8T OF MAT •, roast., upon long .ooden spi^s and^eS comrth. 5 '"'"'y '°'>''ed «P to wel- come the gay and noisy villagers. ^ Is U tender, th.„k you. Barba Spire?" Sin whi "^ "^^'y.^«"«- Kosta? Holy Vir- "And I!" 7a IiIKB AirOTEtEB HEIiEK was assisted from t»ie back of his wilful beast to a comfortable seat. "Whew I I'm glad to get down from there," he exclaimed to Lindbohm. "I think I'll stay here till my foot gets well and walk back. Looks jolly, doesn't it? And how good those lambs smell! I believe I could eat one all by myself." Plates, bottles containing oil floating upon vinegar, decanters of wine, great piles of crisp salad, loaves of brown bread, sardellas ar- ranged upon plates like the spokes of a wheel, tiny snow drifts of country cheese — began to appear upon the table. Lindbohm entered into the spirit of the occasion with genial en- thusiasm. Although he could not speak a word of Greek, he blundered everywhere, eager to assist. He lifted the children from the donkeys, pulled plates and provisions from the baskets, and washed the long tender lettuce at a place where the water leapt from one conduit to another. All this time the old men were patiently turning the lambs. Every now and then one of them would dip half a lemon into a plate of melted butter and rub it over the brown, sizzhng flesh. Beneath each of the lambs was a shallow bed of ashes. The coals that glowed there were not visible, THE FIBST OF KAY 73 for. in roasting meat h la palikari, the best effects are obtained if it be slowly done. The proper roasting of a lamb is a matter of supreme importance. Repu- tations are won thereby in a single day, and as easily lost. The meat must be done clear through, evenly and just to a turn— not one turn of the spit too many nor too few; it must be so tender that it is just ready to drop from the bone, and have that delicious flavor which is imparted from the coals of the fragrant wild thyme, but it must not taste smoky, '/erily a great art this, and the old men who sat squat at the cranks of the spits had no time for social distractions. Everything was ready now except the Iambs, and a great silence fell upon the company. One young fellow, who offered to lay a small wager that Barba Yanne would be the first man ready, was sternly rebuked by the priest: "Silence! do you not know that this is the critical moment, and you may spoil every- thing by distracting their attention?" So they waited for a seeming eternity, sniffing the delicious aroma and watching the appetizing contest with hungry eyes. At last the young man of the wager broke the spell by crying: 74 IiIKB AKOTHXSB HEUIiN i!li "Nal I should have won." For Barba Yanne was indeed rising slowly to his feet, painfully straightening out the hi .ges of hit aged knees. "Praise God I" shouted a chorus of voices. "Do you not see that it is ready?" asked Barba Yanne reproachfully. "O, yes I" exclaimed the demarch, "we must t^ke it up. If it stays one instant over time on the fire the delicate flavor will be ruined." Half a dozen men sprang towards the fire, but Lindbohm, comprehendii tf the action, was before them all. Lifting the lamb by one end of the spit, he advanced '^c wards the tables, and looked inquiringly about. "What shall I do with it?" he asked Michali. "There is no plate big enough, and if I lay it on the table it will spoil the cloth." Shouts of laughter greeted the Swede's evi- dent perplexity, and even the bare teeth of the spitted animal seemed grinning at him in derision. "But you do not put it on the table," cried Michali running to his assistance. "You stick the sharp end of the spit in the ground and stand it up by the side of the tree. So — that's right. Head up." THE FIB8T Or lUT n The dernarch now approacned Lindbohm and laughingly offered him a Cretan knife and a huge fork. J'^-'r^"^' ^°" '° ^'''^'•" "Plained Mich- ali. It 18 a great honor." "No! not" cied the Swede, pushing the dernarch playfully back. "I do\ot know how. Besides, I am too weak from hunger. h^msT'' ?T"'' '^' *•'"'•" And he sea^d himself resolutely at the table. The demarch therefore carved, and piled the meat upon £ fi !!'. ^^^ ^'^' ^'^'^ f*"- ''™- Before he had finished, Barba Spiro brought his lamb Md^solemnly stuck it up by its partly carved "Shall I cut up this one, too?" asked Xjr' Nikolaki; he had finished with number one. Or shall we eat what we have first?" "nnT? If ''*^" ^" ""•' ""' " ^'^ the priest, and I will carve the second." After a playfu struggle he dispossessed the mayor of thl knife and fork and led him to the head of the table. Then the good priest reverently bent bs head and made the sign of the cross, and all of his flock followed his example. Even Lmdbohm and Curtis, watching carefully, did as the others. And now the feast was on in earnest, silentjy at first, till the sharpest pangs I 96 uxmANOTBmBnmLMX of hunger were appeased, with song and laughter later in its course. The three guests and the older members of the community sat at the table. The others and the children found seats upon the ground, in the doorway of the mill-house, on the water troughs. Con- versation began in full-mouthed remarks aa to the quality of the lamb. "This is marvellous 1" "A masterpiece." "Tasty." "A miracle. Done just to a turn. Neither too much nor too little." "Bravo, Barba Yanne," said the mayor, in judicial tones, raising his glass meanwhile. "Barba Yanne! Barba Yanne!" shouted the entire board, and there was a great clink- ing of glasses. The old man swelled and flushed with pleasure. "I ought to know how to roast a lamb," he said. "I have done it this thirty years." A girl brought the head of Barba Spiro's Iamb and laic* it before the demarch, who plucked out one of the eyes with a fork and passed the morsel to Curtis, who took it and looked inquiringly at Michali. "What am I to do with it?" he asked. "Eat it. It is the most delicate tid-bit of the whole lamb — sweet, juicy, delicious." TBB nSMT or MAY 77 "h„TT* "?^''°'''" '''• ^"^y" «P«ed Curtis, care for the eye. If you will give me a littl# -.ofthe.eat.p,eas^..a„?he;^srei'h!: "Not like the eyel" shouted everybody i„ astonuhinent. Lindbohin took theTuccuLi" m^sel from Curtis' hand, and swalloweTi an oyste " "'""' """'' " *''°"^'' '' *"« ^^^Kalol kalol" he exclaimed, smacking his ^ou«,H Turkish cok LVpareT v'" S' "'"'^^ f'^f"'"' t*o O' three little portal We stoves, circular and made of sheetVr^- and cigarettes were lighted. Under The' :£ ;ir"".°' '•^^ •""^ Cretantbact silence feil agam, disturbed only by the soft splashing of waters. Throueh a rift in !t branches of the giant oak Curt^fs coSd s« the' bnght. silver bow of the new moon and. fa below a glittering star, like the tip of an aJ- rmv shot athwart the night. The girls were -tumbling the flowers into a pile beneath thT imamam^^mtJimm^^i^ifmvwrf^m 78 UKB ANOTHEB BELiEJS lamp: bright red geraniums, clusters of the fragrant heliotrope, April roses, small, red and very sweet; aromatic basil, myrtle with its bridal green. Then they sat down about the heap and began to weave garlands, using the myrtle as a background f jr the pied coloring of the blossoms. A nightingale sang some- where among the trees behind the old mill, the waters never ceased to murmur and gur- gle in the moonlight, and a faint breeze from the far sea brought a message of cherry trees in bloom. A young man sitting on the gp'ound with his back against the tree played a few chords upon a guitar, and sang, with much feeling, one line of a couplet: "My little angel, sugar sweet, angelic honey maiden" — That he was not improvising was evident from the fact that all the Greeks present joined him in the second line: "Oh sweeter than cold water is, that angels drink in Eden I" For several moments he strummed the strings softly and then sang: "If I should die at last of love, my grave with basil cover;" — and again came the response, "And when you water it perchance you'll weep for your poor lover I" THB IIBgT or MAT pn The words even in Greek did not mean tw' /'''^ '""""^^^ ^'^y beautiful to those simple peasants, for they were asso- ciated with many such scenes as this; they hood. of others perhaps to their wedding day. They made Panayota think of the little cot- tage among the Sphakiote mountains, and of her mother singing as she paddled Se ta^ .t*'*' '* *•"•= '''°°'^- The words con! tamed the untranslatable spirit of poetry, the tZ'h ^r^"' *'' ''"" "^ association mfe than by their meaning. Some one proposed a dance; one by one he sturxly mountaineers took' the^J.ace in a Ime and soon, hands linked, they were wild Pyrrhic. Loud calls were made for dif- ferent members of the company, famous ^ teaders. and these led the line in 'turr^ng with one another in difficulty of steosTf cuted. WhenLindbohmaroTe?n,mhbS and took his place at the tail ofTh" liie he He hadobserved the simpler stepsof the minor fTl of fl "'"' ^''^^ ''"' girfs. their hands full of flowers and half-finished wreaths, arose 8o UKB AKOTHER HEIiEN IP and came forward, clapping their palms rnd shrieking with delight. And when the hand- kerchief was handed to him and he was motioned to the head of the line, he did not refuse, but leapt into the air, whirled about under the, arm of his nearest neighbor, snapped his fingers in time to the music and cut other terpsichorean pranks, to every- body's intense delight. But dancing is hard work, and even youth will tire. The last capable leader had done his part, and even the girls, with much laughter and many feminine shrieks and pro- tests, had been pulled to their feet and given a turn, when Michali was asked to tell again the story of the shipwreck, as many there present had only heard it at second hand. He complied, and his vivid and picturesque nar- rative held his audience in rapt attention. When he had finished many were fairly carried away with excitement, and a loud-voiced and indignant clamor arose concerning the state of Crete, the action of the powers and mat- ters of like import. "Silence! silence!" cried the mayor, rising to iiis feet and hammering on the table. "These are not matters for the May festival. Our village, moreover, is in no danger from I THB FDBST OF MAT 8l the Turks We have always dwelt quietly and peacefully behind our mountains, making our cheese, harming no one, suffering no harm However that may be, this is not a suitable occasion to discuss war and politics " Truel truel" shouted his faithful con- stituency. "I am to blame," said Michali, "for the manner in which I told the stoty. I will therefore, make amends by singing a sone' quite suitable. I think, to the occasion. Spiro play me the accompaniment." After the applause had died, revived, and died away several times like flames that are brought to life by vagrant gusts of wind. .^T- *^* r"*'*' °^ ^^^ &"'*^' offered to sing. Mind that it's perfectly proper for the ears of the ladies, cautioned Papa-Maleko. as the young man seated himself in a chair and pre- pared to play. ^ "He has a fine voice," said Curtis in Greek, when Spiro had finished. "O, Spiro is one of our most famous singers, replied the demarch. "And now. Kyr Yanne, it's your turn." ''He means yo- " said Michali in English. Yanne is the Greek for John. He means to 83 ImUM),Aln>ACOWAlU> 87 and fingers extended like th# rJh. * , aske?'' '" '"^™'' "«»« » all thia?" he fifty men, has two vill!^ J'"" ''""'''■'«' ^-d «de of mountara^d S '*™^'' °" ^'"^^ -rite letter a„T;ay t^^^f ">! ^^P' '^ ««= the priest's daughter L? ."" ^'""y"''' before him. n exoamV^ ■ . ^. '""^8:er just whitewashed cot Je^^^Va I' ^'l'^^"' °^ » girl standing beneSh Tn \''"^'''"e Greek had soft brown halrtiT^ °^ """• She 'ow. broad forehead' I'uT"''' ^^^^^ «»d a -ed expression crept fnto th!"''^' ^ ^^^t- tumed them upon hirn In ,• ''^"' ^"'^ *he 88 IiIEE AirOTHEB HXXJEir without thinking of his foot, he began to shout the situation excitedly into Lindbohm's ear. The latter listened with apparent stolid- ity, but, making a thrust with the imaginary sword, punched the broad back viciously with his fist. Another of the shepherds mounted the bench. Papa-Maleko surged through the crowd and shook his fist at the speaker. This last orator was about forty years of age, sturdy and florid. He had small, keen eyes and a conciliatory manner. "What does he say?" asked Lindbohm of Michali. "He say, send the girl. We have but little ammunition, few guns. Kostakes Effendi have plenty men, plenty guns. Better one suffer than all. Kostakes, he say is no gen- uine Turk anyway. His mother was a Greek — ^he probably marry the girl." llien an unexpected thing happened. The orator was having a visible effect on a portion of his audience. He was dispersing the patriotic exaltation of the weaker minded, and was causing even the boldest to feel the hopelessness of their condition. At this criti- cal moment the Swede, who had grown deathly pale, gave way to frenzy. He threw I ill, him. The Cretan .«? . " '™"' ""^er his knife 1 Tt^"""^ '° '"» ^««» and drew floor Then L f "^"P"" '«" to the through tt,LTr'' '"'*"' *"« -«- fere, to the door t'h '''°""''*'' '° '"'«'- foot, but was Zr^r ■ .*^"'" ^°'«°^ his was bounding merrily after^h. °.'"" coward, beating hinTover th^ k u '"^"^'"^ ?wn staff. Some Jthe Crl„J'' 1*' '''' •ng^nd others were st^itllLTvo.^''- ^^He^w.,gotoiointheTurls,"saS'M,eha« AJ.'e';?Sn/'"'''"°"^'''*°^^"-P«edthc CHAPTER VIII ill III SMOKE BY DAY AND FTRE BY NIGHT THE peaceful village was transformed into a scene of tumult. An invisible thundercloud seemed hovering in the clear sky, The frightened children and the timid women, nmning about the streets, re- minded Curtis of the sudden motherward flurry of chickens, at the shadow of the swooping hawk. He was left alone in the deserted inn. He dragged a bench to the open door and sat down. Those rapid prep- arations for defense were going on which sug- gest themselves instinctively to people bred and reared in a land of strife. A group c- sturdy mountaineers soon collected on the square, wearing well-filled cartridge belts and carrying Gras rifles. The throng grew, and every new arrival was greeted affectionately by his first name, "Bravo, Kyr" Yanne!" or "Bravo, Kjr' George!" The demarch formed the nucleus of the group, the red marks under his eyes blushing like new cut slashes. A rapid jingling of bells, and the sound as ' of animals running, were heard, and a sentinel w ttoxxAMsnaB 91 wethers. .n/Sd^''^ ^\-er hi. gether, hi, back huZ^'- '""^ '"»'» to- Peared and shd over ..7u .' *^""" «P- W're,ketchcdTa„l.l "'' '^!' '"'P'^'^''' o. mountain, and ,ky "wL ' °" \''"''«'°"nd «ave». But th.y L ^ *^"''=''"«°''ed '•"Visible torrent 'd.' ^'''.""^^t by the Boys .ere disJatcheVZ\r''"*°*"- I"I1». and within an hotThe, "'''°""''-? with bleating flocks tJ ""**'« «"««! 5«^ both been p ovS'^J.-T ''^'^ Micha.i Swede had been inducedlT ^"'- ^l" hat as too conspSutV:, ri''; ^ '^ a dar!t handkerchief abo„»T L ** '° ^'"^ ^=lt himself one o he- ^' "*'• ^"'*" ne was not. ""' '"*' ^^ ^new ihat "W I had a pun r _• t among the rocks and dnT'^u?" "P ""ere t««d. "I can shoo. '"""Wng," he mut- «Icould:n,;«f„t""'""^''"''^-. f Jat's the ma^erwrhVer'S- • ''f ^'^' %ht. r„,„„„.,^^^J- Th,3,sn'tn,y ^''epnest came down, i;argPa„.,„, 92 XiIKB AKOTHEB HEIi^K by the hand and carrying a cross. The girl was white, even to the lips, but there was a proud smile on her face and her eyes were shining. She wore a short Cretan knife in her belt. Papa-Maleko held aloft the cross and solemnly blessed the waiting warriors, after which he presented the sacred symbol to the lips of each in turn. Lindbohm strode over to Panayota and pulling the handkerchief from his head, bowed low, with his hand upon his heart. "Before they get you," he said, "they must yust take us all." Curtis shouted "That's right!" but was not aware of the fact until the little army turned and looked at him inquiringly. "I'll make a fool of myself here yet," he said, sinking back on the bench. Michali translated Lindbohm's speech and a great shout of "Bravo! bravo!" went up. Lindbohm was in his element. "There was," he understood, "no way for tlie enemy to get in from the land side except through the pass. They might ap- proach with difficulty from the seashore, but there was Ciily one place where they could land. Men were watching that, and a smoke by day or a fire by night would warn the vil- lllli SMOKE AXD FmB 93 agers. Very good. Fifty men might defend this pass agamst two hundred and fifty, but they must lose no men and must make every shot^count. How much ammunition had "Not much. Only their belts full, and pos- sibly as much again, curses on the English!" Very well. We must use it the more care- fuHy. We must not get excited. Kostakes Eflfend. cannot possibly reach the ravine be- fore mghtfall-can he get through without a "No," replied the demarch, "impos..ole" Panayota spoke. She said only two word"^ but they fell hke a thunderclap. 'Peter Ampates!" t,.r?'\*'' ?' "*"'" °f ">« ^o^ardly shep- herd whom Lmdbchm had driven from th^ "Is there any way to build fires so as to hght up narrow places in the ravine?" There were two or three such places where bonfires eould be located that would make the fhe roc?'' " '''■ ^^°P'^ ^'-'l'"^ behind the rocks m positions of comparative safety 94 UKB ANOTHEB winr.lix "Send out the boys and girls then to pre- pare these fires and to pile up brushwood enough behind the rocks to keep them burn- ing all night," commanded the Swede. "Build one fire at the mouth of the pass — " bu: here he was interrupted by a chorus of protest. "Let the Turks get into the pass and then we will kill them," cried his listeners. "Very well, but see that they don't get through." Papa-Maleko had a suggestion to make. The Sphakiotes often got the Turks into nar- row defiles and rolled stones down upon their heads. There were half a dozen precipitous places in the gorge where this could be effec- tively lone. "Capital idea," assented Lindbohm. "Let some more women go to those places and pile up heaps of the biggest stones they can carry." Lindbohm suggested that the men, who now numbered sixty, should take their places near the mouth of the defile. In a few brief words he also laid the foundation of an effective commissariat. The mayor's brother, too old a man to fight, was instructed to superintend the sending of food twice a day, in case the siege should be protracted, and above all, water, which could not be found up f^lj SHOKB AND FIBB 9S Women and boys were to among the rocks, act as carriers. A messenger was sent to Korakes, an in- rf"' utf ' ^''°' ^•''> *'''« hundred m« had established is headquarters near the vl' lageofAIikiano. -r me vii- "We might be able to hold out for a week " sa.d Lmdbohm to Curtis, "and Korakes will s«r ly come to our aid. At any rate, we mus yust take our chances." CHAPTER IX AWAITING THE SIGNAL CURTIS was left alone in the priest's house. Papa-Maleko had gone up the ravine. "If one 61 my boys were wounded," he said, "and I were not there to comfort him, God might forgive me, but I should never forgive myself." The day passed very peacefully. Curtis sat in the door of the parsonage, with his ban- daged foot upon a stool. The children, usually so noisy in the streets, were quiet, and the gossips were either gone or were talking in wh'.spers. A woman sat in a doorway op- posite holding her babe, that squealed and shouted with delight at the familiarity of a pet kid. The mother smiled sadly, and then clasped the child to her bosom, smothering it with aflFection. The sudden purple twilight of the orient fell, and a light breeze flew up from the sea, beating the blossoms from the cherry and pear trees and scattering their faint, delicious perfume. The purple changed to black and the nightingales began to sirg. 88 AWAmSO THE SroVAT, 5,7 The flocks had gone to sleep. The antiphon- ous bleating and the jangle of the bells were swallowed up in the darkness that was silence save where now and then a little lamb cried softly to Its mother across the meadows of . :-amland r,r a bell tinkled musically. There was a puning of many waters. "By Jove, war's a queer thing," mused Cur- tis. "It's hate and lust and bigotry. It's a big fiendish lie. and all the time a thousand voices are preaching truth and love. Here am I, sitting among the nightingales, the cherry blossoms and the dreaming sheep, and a mile from here all the men of the vicinity are trymg to cut one another's throats. And I suppose I'd be with 'em if it wasn't for this blamed foot. These Cretans are plucky fel- lows. By George, I glory in their sand I Had they been a lot of cowards they would have given up the girl-but they wouldn't have got her while I could hold a gun! Why she's a natural queen! She'd grace any man's fireside, she would. What beautiful eyes she has! what a mouth! what a carriage, and spirit, too ! Talk about your ancient epics and your ancient heroines! Why, here's the Trojan war right over again, or the spirit of It. We aren't shy on men and women these 98 •pr.Tinii AXOTHEB HEIiSK days; we're shy on Homers. And that g^irl, that Panayota, she's as pure as snow. She'd knife herself in a minute before she'd allow herself to fall into the hands of the Turks. Whatever else the boys do, I hope they'll pink that Kostakes chap. I'd like to pot him my- self." As the time wore on, Curtis found himself leaning forward in the darkness, listening for the sound of distant shots. He wondered if the Turks would attack that night and if he could hear the shots if they did. He went to the door and called to an old man who was talking in a low tone, but ex- citedly, to the woman across the way. The babe had been put to bed. They both came running, and he asked them, framing his sen- tence with much care: "Has the fighting begun? Can the guns be heard from here?" They replied in concert, volubly and at great length. Then they held a conference and withdrew. "That's the trouble with a foreign tongue," mused Curtis. "You can talk to them all right, but they talk so fast that you can't un- derstand what they say to you. Now, I said it correctly," and he repeated the sentence. AWAirmo THE SIOKAL gy After about half an hour the old man re- turned bringing some bread, cheese, halva and .glass of dark wine. Curtis repeated the Greek word for "thank you" half a doTen tunes, and then fell „tK,n the food voraciously. tht;.^?/?' ,''t'"""««d- "Now, I call that thoughtful of the old man." W^*r ''•*' ^'f. '^""''*'' '=*'*"8r J'* tried his foot, beanng h.s weight on it until he could endure the pain no longer. "I believe it's better," he soliloquized, and tften cried mconsequentially: ft, "\lT^ ^ ^"""^^^ " ^^^ °'<1 blockhead thought I was asking for something to eat? Panayota would have .mderstood me in a mmute. Why, she and I get along all right ogether in Greek. But then. I musm't judge the rest of these people by her." He wound up his watch at ten o'clock, and lay down upon the divan. "There's going to be no fight to-night." he muttered '-And. at any rate, it wo Jdn't be my fi if there was." He icil asleep, and dreamed of Panayota Pgantic m size, standing on a cliflF by a wan heaving sea. She was hurling jagged pieces' of rock down at a Une of ant-like Turks, crawl- too UXB ANOTHBH BBtMS ing far below. The wind was blowing her hair straight out from her forehead, and he could only see her mouth and chin, but he knew it was Panayota. He ran to help her, when the demarch seiied him to hold him back. He awoke, and found that an old man was shaking his arm and crying excitedly in Greek, "Fire! fire!" Curtis' first thought was that the house was burning. He put his hand on the old man's shoulder and jumped over to the door. Half a dozen people were standing in the moon- light, pointing toward the hills. Two women, one holding a very young babe in her arms, were crossing themselves hysterically and call- ing on the name of the Virgin. An old man of eighty, whom Curtis had frequently seen bent nearly double and walking with a cane, now stood erect, fingering the trigger of a rifle. A stripling of twelve was shaking his fist toward a red eye of flame that glowed among the rocks, high up and far away. CHAPTER X WAR IN EARNEST THAT was one of Lindbohm's bonfires sure enough. Perhaps a battle was' going on at that moment. Mother of God, save my man!" cried fh. woman with the baby. "Save him u- ,?. 1 m old enough to shoot " ^ fire, as though they could actually see wh^? was taking place there aw \*'* ^"at silent for J, "^^ '""*« t''«y stood Sstenintforr """"'" '°^''''''' ««t«ning, hrscTi:t?ror'^''H^~"S the distance? "' """' *>"'"'' '" "Oo-hoo!" "What is it? What is it?" ♦!,• . ,. -^-arseiy,ioo4:.:L::::tSts; AfS/;°°-''°°' Oo-hool" nearer. At last footsteps were heard, as of one run- II loa XJKB AKOTHliB BBUCK ning and stumbling among loose rocks, and at length little Spiro Kaphtakes staggered up to the group and stood panting before them. His trousers were torn, and blood was flowing from his legs. The women and the old man stared at him open-mouthed for a long minute, and then, pouncing upon him, began to shake him. "What is it? what news?" "Is my Petro safe?" "How goes it with my Yanne?" Others ran up out of dark alleys and from the doorways of distant houses, and soon twenty or more surrounded the poor boy, gesticulating, screaming. They could not wait for him to get his breath. His tongue lolled <^Mt like that of a Oiinese idol, and he swallowed the air instead of breathing, roll- ing his eyes about helplessly the while. At length, with a supreme effort, he gasped: "Yanne!" The woman with the babe reeled as though the earth were slipping from beneath her feet. A neighbor caught the child and the mother fell limply to the ground. Then, while friends dashed water upon her face and rubbed her hands, the boy talked rapidly, shrilly, flinging his arms about with ;oose-elbo\;ed gestures. The wonan opened her eyei and two of tu. •nen helped her to her feet She tlrttr^H f .moment. d»heveH„, her'h^^r 'w t " ^^^j: '"?i"^V»"^ whispering hoar.ely: ^ .hlTZl" ""'' '^''" •"'" ' '^' What S^.y sr r """ ""■■ ""» *• ^M he urted in Grttk. "Killed?" "Silencel" cried ,1. oU m>a „•«, ,k. 104 UKK AKOTUEU HKUBK i musket, raising his right hand in a command- ing gesture above the heads of the too-willing talkers. "No," he replied to Curtis, slowly rnd dis- tinctly, "not killed. Badly wounded." "Thanks," replied the American. "Thanks, thanks, I understand." Just before sunrise Michali, with his leg broken, was brought in on a donkey. CHAPTER XI AN AMATEUR SURGEON THEY laid the wounded Cretan on the lounge in the parsonage. He was pale .„on • '* V ''*"" '°" °' '''°o<^' »nd kept snapping at h:. under lip with hi, teeth, but he did not groan. in!ZVZ' *"'?' "°*» "°* •" •« «id. »niil. ing at Curtis, and then he fainted away Cur- tis cut the trouser from the wounded leu \ ball had struck the shin. "It's not badly splintered, old man." said the American, as Michali opened his eyes again. "I don't know anything about sur! gery but I should think the proper thing would be to wash it, support it w^h som! splints and bind it up tight. Shall I try "What you need?" asked Michali. 'Some warm water, two or three straight sticks and a piece of cloth that I can tear up into stnps." ^ The wounded man called for the necessary articles and they were soon brought. Curtis washed the blood away carefully. lot io6 UKB AlfOTHSB ftELElT II @v The end of a piece of bone pushed against the skin from beneath and made a sharp pro- tuberance. "I'm awfully sorry, old man, but I've got to hurt youi-4ike the devil, I'm afraid." "All right, my friend," replied Michali, "only do not be long." "No, only a minute. Here, lie on your back. That's right. Now take hold of the sides of the lounge and hang on tight. That'll help you. I know it from having teeth filled. Now, tell this old man to take hold of your ankle so, with both hands, and pull, slowly, carefully, till I say 'stop,' and not to com- mence pulling till I say 'now.' You'd better explain— your Greek is some better than mine." Michali explained. "Does he understand?" "Perfectly." Curtis put his hand about the broken shin in such a way that he could push the frag.nent of bone into place. "This can't be wrong," he reflected. "At any rate, there's nothing else to do." Looking at the old man he nodded. "Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!" gurgled Michali, as though the words were being pulled from his AIT AUATEVB. SUB JEOSr fj^ throat with a hook. There was »o rmch than the screams of a weaker person would have rn^nt. that the amateur surgeon felt sick at h.s stomach and it cost him a tremen- th°,? "It A 'r, '" '^™"^'' ^ ^°^* °f blindness that settled like a cloud before his eyes. But the two ends of the bone came together and ZTu'^^ ^""'^'^ '^' ^P''"'«^ i"t° place. M.chah. Great drops of sweat were standing hi? r ^L" ^'"^ ^"^ •'■^ ""derlip was bleedmg, but he smiled bravely "AH over" said Curtis. "Now for the sticks and the strips." Fortunately for the success of the opera- tion the boy who had led the mule was out- side givmg an account of the progress of the 111 -i't '" ''^- ^"""' finding himself akme w,th h.s patient, shut and locked the =.ci!'^°**«l '""^ ^°" ''^'^ ""'=''' °W man?" he asked I suppose the proper thing now would be t^ give you something to put you to sleep Pon't you think you Lld'sleep J little while anyway?" Ic6 USE AirOTRBR BELEV "No, no, I cannot sleep. It hurts me some, but not much — not too much." Curtis sat quietly for some time in the semi- darkness of the room, listening to the chatter of the boy outside, punctuated by the excited exclamations of the listeners. He glanced at the drawn face of Michali, which had a ghastly hue in the wan light. The wounded man's eyes were open, but he made no sound. ^^ "He's a plucky beggar," thought Curtis. "I wonder if it would do him any harm to talk? I say, Michali," he asked aloud, "how is it going? What are tliey doing up there?" "They tried to come through about eleven o'clock— but how can I tell you, since you do not the ravine know? It begins wide on the other side— a deep, steep valley, with many pine trees, and paths along the sides. Near the top of the mountain the ravine becomes narrow, between walls of rock, what you call it?— perpendicular. If the Turk ever gets over the summit we are lost. Very well — ^that devil Ampates! Lindbohm should have killed him!" "Why, what did he do?" "Without him the Turk never could have found the best path. Well, we have men on all the paths with dogs— good dogs, hear half •^•s. •*»■ AUATEUB nmOEOK 109 a mile, bark-O, like the devil/ We stav hiah «de the tnountain. We liste^and ,Ll " how we listenl Nothing. The winH '.?' P>ne trees. For hours we listen T " *'"' very wide awake ?7hVlti ^^ ^«« get -ongtheJS The '^'.t,^''-: "^ -"<« very straip-ht h^,A- °"'^*' ^^ ^it up We sit very ,^^, 'p/r "T '°"" ''^'°"- -ta..Pr^^^^^ J-w.%ttrth^iti'^--^r^^ God!" s'gnai— Ah, mother of wrethTdSSr^"^^""'^^--^ "Never mind, old man. Don't talk anv nior^you'd better lie quiet," sUcu^ Vou drove 'em back, did you?" :£ihSj^^^^.-— r- soon they commence shooting and yelhng no XJKB ANOTHEB BXIiBlT It was moonlight there, you see, but dark like — Uke— " "Like a pocket," suggested Curtis. "Like a pocket in the ravine, where we were. They keep shooting — 'biff, bang, biff, bang' — then all at once — 'r-r-r-r-rl' more than a hundred guns at once. 'That's the Turks,' said Lindbohm. 'By damn! they must not get through. Michali, twenty men must come down with me, twenty stay here.' I pick out twenty, and down we go, and hide. Then the women light the fire. WhoofI the light jumps up and slashes open the ravine. There they come, there come the Turks, running, run- ning. The boys keep shooting from above, 'ping! ping!' but they not hit much, stiaight down so. One, two, three drop, but the rest keep coming. We lay our rifles across the rocks and take aim. Lindbohm, he keep say- ing, very low, 'Not yet, not yet, steady, boys, steady—" "Steady, boys, steady!" cried Curtis; "that's old Lindbohm — yes, yes?" "My God! I think the Turks get right on top of us, when 'bang!' Lindbohm shoot right by my ear and blow a hole through a Turk. Then we all shoot, shoot, shoot, but every time one Turk die, two new ones come around Alf AMATEUa SCHOBOK m the corner. And I think they get through, but the women pry off big piece of rock. O Turks. Then the Turks turn and run-" Hurrah!" sobbed Curtis. "Hurrahl" echoed Michali. "We killed thirty-four damned Turksl" ^. JHow many men did you lose?" asked Cur- "One shoot through the head. He hiirh up and fall down into the ravine. tS dr.t1r"^''--"°-^eyfit^^y\'rf to ring^'^ """' *'''''"^ '^' '^^''^ «>«" began CHAPTER XII "STILL I SAY UNTO YOU, COURAGE" 'H ELLOI What's that for?" asked Curtis. Michali shrugged his shoulders. "Who '-news?" he replied. Curtis hopped to the door, unlocked it and looked out. The church stood across 'he road on the top of a big, flat rock. Though small, it boasted a Byzantine dome. The bell hung in a frame erected over the porch, and the rope was tied about a wooden pillar, to pre- vent its being blown out of reach by the 'vind. "Why, it's Papa-Maleko himself," cried the American. The priest gave the rope two or three more decisive jerks, and then, leaving the end dang- ling, started for the house. His stately black robe was r^nt down the front, and the wind blew the pieces out behind, exposing his vol- uminous Cretan breeches and his yellow boots. His long hair had writhed loose from its fast- enings and had fallen down his back. It was beautiful and reminded Curtis of Panayota. His tall hat was battered at the side, so that 111 "I SAY UNTO TOU. COUBAGB « 1,3 the roof looked as though it were slipping off He spoke a few words to Michali, Sd fhen opening the trunk studded with brass n£ he took out and donned his sacerdotal ve t-' S' %^'r^'='«^ '='°-k with a cross in he stole. Running h>s fingers through his lone glossy ha.r and shaking it out as a lion sh2 his mane, he strode back to the little ch,,rS tolrSrLS:^^^^''^«="^e is about •Tm going across," said Curtis. Can you walk so far?" asked Michali. therJalfrighT^!" '''' -*<=" ' "" ^et over Though the church was crowded ther^ »« ! ;l"^ -'-n «'ence. These lit^X" pie beheved that they were in the very nret ence of God. Kindly hands seized Curtis'^^Jd assisted h.m into one of the high-backed n.r '°:,ril -"^ed along the wl "Tw;Ta j candles threw a flickering light on a crude S oa Z' ""' ,!'' °'^^°"' ''f -ammoth ife S the"f '' r""- ^^"^ "- -«"; UP out of r" °^' f""" ^'^^'" that looked "P out of a gaudy frame, reposing on the "4 UaCB ANOTHBB HXIiBK slanting top of a tall stand near the door. Numerous eikons in gilded frames hung about the wall, and a silent throng of forgotten saints, painted on the dome above, peered dim- ly down upon the worshippers. The windows were narrow, but enough sunlight straggled in to give a ghostly look to the candles, light- ed here and there. Papa-Maleko's voice was musical and tender. He commenced chanting in a low, pleading tone, but as the glorious words of the litany gradually took possession of his soul, the melodious, fuU-voweled Greek syllables rolled more and more confidently from his tongue. The poor, frightened moth- ers and children of his flock raised their faces and sniffed the Wholesome incense that now pervaded the building. The spirit of the scene carried Curtis away. He was awed and mysteriously refreshed, as one who, in a noi- some cavern, feels the cool, sweet air blowing upon him from the darkness. He found him- self beating the arm of his seat and chanting inaudibly, again and again, the sublime words, "£»■«' feste Burg ist unser Gott." "Ah, yes, God will protect usi He is oar very present help in time of trouble." And now, Papa-Maleko is blessing his flock, one by one. Down the aisle he passes, hold- "ItATTOTOTOU.COUHAGBH 1,5 Ing a little cross to the eatrM- iv words of comfort ^ ''"'' "P""""*^ •Vh^rS ~"l'^'' ""^ '''"*"■«'" he says; and 1 1 »\ * "*^ ^°'' "' '"'^ '''^ Holy Virgin and all the saints. Courage, courage!^^' ^ snn„?Tu'"^ .*'" ^''■^" »'« *ith you," re- sponded the priest "Have courage, my children," he reoeateH sm.lmg benignly, "it came t^ meXe fn the mountams, like a voice from God Ve s:d?f"hS"*''^'^°^-°t call upon ti: "Papa-Maleko!" turtd "anr"' **:' f °'* congregation had turned and were looking towards the door hand" aw '''" ^'^^'^^•^ ^•''' ^ "•«' •" h^ anSt . ." ""'^ "=*=''^"«=<^ ^''h powder and he seemed covered with blood. ti6 XilKB AXOTHKB HIEZ.BK "What is it? what is it?" shrieked a do«en voices. "There is a terrible fight. Loukas and Spiro are killed — " The words of the priest rang out clear and strong: "Our God is a very present help— courage, my children!" "My left arm is broken. The Turks got on top of the hill, where the girls were, but the girls all jumped oflf, laughing. Ali killed, Par- askeve, Elene, Maria—" The speaker's voice was drowned in a pan- demonium of shrieks and sobs. But again the priest was heard, reverently, distinctly, firmly, like the voice of Christ cahn- ing the waters. "They are with Christ in paradise. Still I say unto you, courage. Since God is with us who shall stand against us?" "Panayota was with them, but her dress caught in a thorn bush, and before she could tear herself loose the Turks had her." Every eye in the church was riveted upon the priest. The cross rattled to the floor, and his arm dropped to his side. His lips were white and there was a terrible look in the large brown eyes. "ISAYIWTOYOtr.COUlUOEH „y his hand Looking 7 '"^'^''" "'«' ffun from out after hinf and tL a ^''^ fl°<='' poured in the deser^Td house of cSr""''' """"^ of sacred robes and 1?! ' ^'"^ " *» P''« "Po„. : . r, ""ittenng stupidly: Panayotaf Panayotal" " ^ '■ ill CHAPTER XIII THE BRAVE THING TO DO ( ( If ARK I" said Curtis, who was sitting I I in the door of the parsonage. * * "What's that?" "I didn't hear anything," replied Michah*. "I did. I beheve it was a gun. It was a faint throb in the air. There it goes again. There they go!" No mistake was possible this time. "They're coming through," said Michalt, rising upon his elbow. "The Turks will be here pretty quick, now, I think." "Hello," cried Curtis, "there comes the demarch. There he goes into that house. Now he comes out — ^there he goes into an- other — what's up, I wonder? Here he comes!" Kyr' Nikolaki looked in at the door. His face was flabby with fatigue and his under lids had drooped perceptibly, enlarging the red pits beneath his eyes into semicircles. "What is it? what is it?" asked Curtis, who had not clearly understood the few hurried words addressed by the demarch to Michali. "They're nearly out of cartridges. They 118 «HB BHAVB THDfO TO DO 1,9 can't hold the pas, over an hour longer They re go.ng to send the flocks and thewfm en and children down to the sea. The vHlaee own, a lot of caiques there. Then thlS -;;i^r.irea.^ last, fighting, shooting^'l.TJ; '•But what are you quarreling about?" U, nothing. Nothing at all " pack tin "Th*''''""'^'"''""""''"'"""^ to pack up. The most treasured beloneines were thrown into blanket,, which werSd .nto bundles, and then, away for the ravine and unLT'^'f /'"'"' •'^ '^' ''°"« ^ith a babe under her left arm and a bundle over her riehl shoulder. Another dragged two frightened ch^dren along the stony street, clutching tight Hn./ TJ ^'*'' "='' ''^"'^- An aged fouphe doddered by. the man with feeble and i£ dunVtoT;' "^''°" the woman'^who wreaths. From amid the faded orange blos- soms sm.led the youthful eyes of a shy^'mou . ten g,rl and a stout M/:^an_man^s work lasts so much better than man himself. rhe confusion grew to frenzy. A parrot- hke chatter and screaming of women filKl atr. A flond housewife stumbled and lao XJKE ANOTHER HEIiEN wheezed down the street, carrying a pair of long-handled coffee stew pans. She did not know what they were, but had seized them through force of habit. Another bore a cheap chromo, representing skin-clad hunters thrusting spears into a number of colossal polar bears. She fell and jabbed her knee through the picture, but picked up the frame and ran on, with that. Scrips, or bags of pied and brightly-colored wool, of which two or more are to be found in every Cretan peas- ant's house, were hanging from the arms and shoulders of many of the fugitives. At a burst of firing, seemingly more dis- tinct and nearer than anything that had pre- ceded it, an old woman stopped, and fumb- lingly extracted a silver mounted eikon from her scrip. After kissing it and making the sign of the cross several times, she replaced it, and hurried on again. A babe was laugh- ing and clutching with glee at the disheveled locks of its fleeing mother. A girl of six hugged to imminent suffocation a shapeless and wrinkled pup. The demarch came in again, accompanied by Lindbohm and a stalwart mountaineer. The Swede had a gun in his left hand. In the grime of his powder-blackened face his eyes THB BBATB THING TO DO lai looked unnaturaUy blue. But they were no longer childlike. It was rather the blue of an angry sea. "Panayota's taken," he said to Curtis "I know it." "There's nothing to be done now except to rally the men and rescue her." The Swede did not talk like a man in despair. He seemed on the contrary, exalted by a great resolve. ' We will get together and fall -jnon Kos- lakes like a thunderbolt. We'll not let him go far. And if he harms a hair of her head—" He doubled his ponderous fist and shook it. Then he whirled about briskly and gazed at Michah. "We'll take you somehow," he said. "We'll be as careful as we can. They'll kiU you if you stay here." ' "I not go," replied Michali. "I have said «t to the demarch. Take two strong men to cany me. They better be fighting. Leave a gun with me. When they find me I will kill "^ft^'Ji:^" ""'' ^' '^' ' ^"'p^- "Come, no more of this foolishness," said Lmdbohm. "I take him on my back, and the shepherd here take you." turning to Curtis But Curtis had been thinking very fast, and 1-11 133 UKB AXOTBEB BSSUEXt the bright image of his beautiful and high- spirited hostess in the hands of the Turks had sharpened his wits to an extraordinary de- gree. "Look here, Lindbohm," he said, speaking very rapidly, "I'll stay here and look out for Panayota. They won't kiU me, I'm a non- combatant, and the Turks won't be so apt to abuse the. giri when there's a foreigner amongst them. Help me to the wine cave. 1 11 hide there till the right moment and then 1 11 give myself up." Lindbohm saluted. "I would not have asked it," he said, "but It is the brave thing to do. Ah, tell the officer you're a newspaper correspondent That's the safest thing." The firing had ceased entirely for several minutes. Now rapid footsteps were heard. Looking toward the door Curtis saw a Cretan shepherd fling by. He was running low to the ground, carrying his gun horizontally, like a man hunting— or being hunted. Another and another passed. "We have five minutes now," said Lind- bohm, holding out his arms to Michali. "They have given up the pass. Come! Must I take you, or will you come on my back?" THE BBAVX THING TO DO M3 cave."'*""''" "*"'*' ^''''''•' "^° '^"^ «in« Lindbohm kneeled by the divan and Micha- H put his ams about his neck. The Swede arose, wrenching from the Cretan's throat a •^T'^i^u ''"^"^ '" * '°^' *harp shriek. Lrndbohm strode from the door, followed ^^eJS:nrc:Snrcu^r''^^^^^^-^-- fu^rde^trrd^*^""^^^"^^^^"-- tered Lrndbohm. breaking into a run. Mi- chah was breathmg i„ tremulous, faint groans famtcd. and remained unconscious until the fv.r ur*';;^ *•''• '«^*'°"' bounded through the arbor into the dim cafe The demarch ran to his wine barrels, and. pu mg an empty one around parallel with the wall smashed m its end with the butt of a musket, using the weapon as though it were a battering ram. Michali was shoved into the barrel as tenderly as possible ana the broken pieces were laid in beside him. Then they pushed the tun back into place, with the open end against the wall. "And you?" said Lindbohm. turning to ^^ H, 134 ZIKB .AKOTBDBB HBXmr Curtis, who was sitting upon the table where the shepherd had dropped him. "Save yourselves I" cried the American, pointing to the door. A shepherd, standing behind the platane tree, was aiming at some- thing above him. He fired, and jerking the empty shell from his smoking piece, reloaded. Three Cretans darted to the rear of the caf6, trailing blue ropes of smoke from the muzzles of their gilns. The man behind the tree start- ed after them, but stopped at a crash of mus- ketry and dropped his gun with a "ching" among the rocks. His legs broke at the knees as though some one had playfully jabbed them from behind. As he instinctively threw for- ward his arms to save himself from falling, his elbows collapsed and his hands fell flopping at the wrist, like penguin's wings. He was dead before his body reached the ground. Lindbohm snatched his musket from the table and ran from the cafe, followed by the demarch and the shepherd. Curtis slipped into a corner, behind the huge oil crock. The sound of the firing continued, but no one came into the cafe. Ten minutes, twenty minutes passed. They seemed hours to the Ameri- can. Occasionally he heard a sput, sput against the outside of the soft wall. Once MKBHATaiHWOTODO ,35 a "Wia," like the hissing of a cat was *„i owed by a humming sound, TaTulS" "I must see what they are doing," he said Its a good fight! It's a good fightl" He shd around the smooth, cool crock and see nothing but a strip of the open door and a huge v,ne, sturdy as the trunk of a trTe He ^mpe ckjus'i„timetosavehimr.If;The yota and her father. An officer, young slen an" S r "r""*^' '•-PPe^ into a ctjr the table The soldiers fell respectfully back. h3 ''' f ' ^""^ ^''^ P"«» standing faS th officer. Ampates slunk in the backgrouJ? wnh Panayota's Cretan knife in his hafd. It was he who had led the way to the women by a round-about path ' Kolk^sMrSh" ""'''■ '" "''•^'^ 136 UKB .A3TOTHER HEZiXK were honorable, he said. The priest began his reply in a pleading tone but ended with a fiery denunciation. Once or twice a soldier stepped threateningly towards him, but Kostakes waved the would-be murderer back with a slight gesture or an almost imperceptible move- ment of the head. Panayota was magnificent. She seemed at no moment to have any doubt of herself. She stood erect, pale, calm, con- temptuous, until near the end of the interview when, with an incredibly quick movement, she snatched the sword from the table, and, turning the hilt towards her father, threw back her head and closed her eyes. The officer with a loud cry sprang to his feet, tipping over the table, and a soldier knocked the weapon harm- lessly into the air. All the Turks in the room leaped upon Papa-Maleko, who fought like a cornered cat, wounding one, two, three of his assailants. The Turks did not dare shoot, for fear of killing their officer or the girl. Cur- tis came from his hiding place, crying hoarse- ly in English: "Panayota! For God's sake! For God's sake! Panayota!" and then "Don't shoot! Don't shoot! You'll kill Panayota!" But it was no part of Kostakes' plan to kill Panayota's father in her presence. A ran BHAVK THmo TO Do 137 S?' TH'' *"" *•" ^'' '«<=Wn& over the nfle on the man's skuU and he sank to the h.^^f«mbhng m his hair and sobbing. "Papal wh?h if h'« ''"? ''V'" ^""'"'"'''^ °f '** own. the If """^ ^°' ^' P~P'^^' ""-changed in fnto L nffl "" ' ""'" ''' ''"'* ^°^"<» Ws way "Thisisashamel Do you hear me' YouV* nTS blackguard to trL a girl ""haTwa" If I had you alone about five minutes I'd show you what I think of youl" "^^^osnow a JSv oy''''t »'f " ^P""& ^°™»'d. and a petty officer half drew his sword, but Kos- tekes astonished at hearing a language whkh to t "S ""^-^*«"<^. >"t which hi fJiel Semb"l!^^^""^"-^"^»^'''-tioned learned at the high school at Canea. 138 UKB ANOTHEB HEI.BK '7* suis AmMcan, correspondmt dtt—du —New York Age," replied Curtis. "Ah, channfl charm/! Cl nment dites vous en AnglaisT Welcome. Je suis Kostakes, Capitaine de Cavalerie, b voire servfcel" CHAPTER XIV A CRITICAL MOMENT CURTIS did not find it easy to express h.sfeel,„gs,„ French to this smiling officer with the straight, large nose da^zhng white teeth and cordial manner who wore an inverted red flower pot for a Tat French is no language for a self-respectiS Z^- nT';'";'"^^"y- Besides, one does not m Ollendorf. learn a vocabulary suitable to critical occasions. All Curtis could think St it L ' T *"" ''PP™P"«t«. the second ^Vrt •'Vl'"''''*'"^ ''*«" '" his mind hi I,^^ if"*^ ''" ^^^ "°* "rt"*'" whether thjjast was French, Spanish or Italian, so he "Is this lady a prisoner of war?" And Kos takes answered: "Monsieur is as gallant as he is brave I give you my word of honor that neither 'the ?s'ii;i;?-eSr^^- — --^Harm^ us 130 XiIKIl AITOTHBB BOStJBS "A gentleman's word of honor u alwayi sufficient" "And now," continued Kostakes, "being a non-combatant, you are at perfect liberty to follow your own wishes. Will you remain here or go with us? We shall be charmed, I assure you, charmed to have your society." "How long will you stay here?" "About an hour. Just long enough to col- lect any spoils of war and bum the town." "Bum the town?" "Certainly, this is war, and war, even for a nation as highly civilized as Turkey, consists in doing your eneiiiy as much harm as possi- ble." ^ Curtis glanced uneasily at the row of bar- rels in the cave. Here was a new dilemma. Should he give up the brave Cretan and ap- peal to Kostakes' manliness and chivalry? He looked at the Turk shrewdly. Somehow he did not have confidence in him. Besides, Michali could understand French. If he were conscious, he could call out and give himself up, if he thought it were safe. "I would stay here," thought Curtis, "and ask him to leave me the caf^ as a shelter. But there's Panayota, I mustn't desert her." The firing had ceased and the looting had A OBmCAI, KOMBHT 131 begun. Turk, darted by the door in the aban- doned glee of destruction, or passed more slowly, dragging bedticks, doors, pieces of fur- niture and other inflammable articles, which they were casting upon a great bonfire in the iquare. A wave of ribald laughter, that start- ed somewhere in the distance and ran nearer and louder, splashed into the open door. A soldier danced in with an eikon of the Holy Virgin, and held it up for the guard to spit upMi. Then he tossed it into the fire The pnest, who was sitting on the floor, supported by the kneeling Panayota, covered his eyes with his hands and shuddered with horror. The trellH for the demarcb's grape arbor came down with a crash and was wrenched loose from the grip of the despairing vines. The benches whereon the gossip shepherds had sat and sipped their coflfee, bore company in the fire with the only rocking chair in the village, m which a very old lady used to sway to and fro and sing lullabies of her for- eotten childhood. A soldier seized one of the tables w.thin the cafe and tossed it through the t°w 1, ^'" ^' '^"'^^'^ °"' * '°"& bench, that scraped and spluttered on the floor of hard beaten earth. Two others braced themselves 13^ uxB Asormat hxIibk between the wall and the oil erode An in- •piration flashed through Curtis' mind. "Stop! stop I" he shouted. "It is full of oil —the lady on the floor." "Afais. certaiHement." cried fCostalces. and he sent the soldiers from the room. "The same argument will apply to the wine barrels." reflected Curtis. "They would have been at them in a minute more." "Does Monsieur elect to stay with us, or with the Greeks?" asked the Captain. "We must leave here immediately, before the Greeks return with reinforcement and seize the ravine." "If I might be permitted to go with you? But I am lame; I have hurt my foot." "I regret greatly to hear it. Not suiously. I hope?" "No, I stepped on a— a— thorn," he did not know the French word for sea urchin. "I will give a horse— my own, if necessary. I shall be charmed, charmed. And now, per- haps you will excuse me one moment while I marshal the force? Perhaps, also, you will look at the priest's head. I regret that our surgeon was killed in the attack." Rising, he said a few words in Greek to Panayota, bending deferentially with his hand A amncALifomirr ,33 tSv ^H 'P°''' '''^'' G^"'' very di,- ko. hurt, and assured the prl of hi, undying tu JTL' *"" "T °' "" ""' ""'"• '«'' "*»- lure Jie murmured earnestly. "My love for ^ouhtr^'V''' ' ''"""• Not a hair o" your head nor of your father's , hall be harmed. All I ask IS a httle love in return " She made no reply. She did not even look w. hS. J' " ^"' "P^^*" °f "^-^ -°"t" ' utin ;Si '"h ' "'"*" ^"''""' ^^°°P down ZJT' ' *""'*'' '° •'"' KosUkes, he f^hT. Z'^'T'y^^y- Th'-^ancertain- LSn 'hP^'l';^*' '°'' ">' ^'^'; •' « any man's itei o? i' "»•'*• «*aWished from the begin- protestations of protection were exactly what Curt,s wanted, but somehow they made him «ck and mad. In the midst of all this killine why co„,d„, he do a little for himsei ? Then Kostakes bent lower, and attempted to lift arC""'^. 1° ''^ "^'- S"^' *hrew hi arm from her with horror, and, shrinkine back, with doubled fists, looked ^t him S 134 UKB AKOTHBB HBUBK such an ague of open-mouthed, staring dit- gust as no Duse or Bernhardt ever dreamed of. Curtis felt aUnost friendly toward Kos- takes, who bowed solemnly, with hand upon heart, and strode from the room. Two sen- tinels took their places just inside the open door, and closed the entrance with crossed bayonets. CHAPTER XV THE MAN IN THE BARREL CURTIS parted the long hair carefully on Papa-Maleko's head with his fin- gets and looked for the wound toX'ou''''"'''^'''^^"^*'''-''''^-^ She smiled, a little, fleeting smue that was ^dder than tears. Her hair, that had been head, had slipped partly loose. Even as she look,^ up at Curtis, the glossy rope writhed dropped down upon her temple. Though her cheeks were pale, her lips were still red-Cur- tis had never noticed until now how red and velvety they were. "Is he badly hurt?" she asked h..f r't*^"''^!'' •'"''■ ^^* '='<>**«' with blood, but Curtrs made absolutely sure that the skul was not fractured. r^''?* '■'P"**'' "•' '* "ot broken." yota *'"'"'' ^'" "'^ P^""- The priest put his hand on his daughter's us 136 ZiCECX! AXOTHEB HKLBir shoulder and shuffled to his feet. He stag- gered a little and caught his head in his hands. "O papa! papal" cried the girl, throwing her arms about his neck. "Bah! I'm all right. I was a Httle dizzy, that's all." ' "Nothing broken. Nothing broken," re- iterated Curtis. "The blood is from the—" he did not know the word for skin, so he lifted up a little tent on the back of his left hand with the finger and thumb cf his right. "Nothing, nothing at all," said the priest. Panayota turned her eyes toward the smoky and cobwebbed rafters and crossed herself. The steel cross in the door leaped to a parallel of presented muskets, and Kostakes Effendi reappeared. -Twiriing his mustache, he gazed perplexedly at the group within the caf6, but recovered himself in a moment and advanced smiling. "So his reverence is quite well again! lam glad to see it, very glad. I feared that his skull was fractured. A musket butt is no play- thing." ' The Turk assisted Curtis to the door, and into a cavalry saddle on the back of a respect- able looking horse. "It is the horse of my sous-lieutenaut," ex- THK MAN m THB BARBBI, 137 plained Kostakes. "who really prefers to walk -Lieutenant Gadben, Monsieur-but I have not the honor of knowing your name." Curtis — '"John Curtis, American journalist " Half an inch of saber cut disfigured the lieu- tenant s left temple. Curtis wondered at first pot hat. The possessor of the cut was a griz- zled man of fifty, with a short pointed beard and a mustache, into the left side .f which agarettes had burned a semicircular hole Ihe Turkish .roops were d.awn up in march- «g order, dirty, dust-stained, faded, some of them shoeless, but there was something about th«« something in the attitude of the bodies and the obedient expectancy of the counte- nances, that suggested the soldier. Curtis was amazed at the amount of desola- tion which had been accomplished in so short a time. The rufBan hana of war had wrecked the peaceful and idyllic town as a discontented child smites a playhouse of blocks. Every- thing combustible had been set on fire, and even from the stone houses smoke was pour- mg Doors had been torn from the hinges windows smashed in. arbors pulled down The fire m the square filled the nostrils with the Ijfi UKB ANOTHBR HBIiIK fiuniliar odor of burning olive oil. The houses with their denuded window holes reminded Curtis of men whose eyes had been ruthlessly gouged out. Lieutenant Gadben brought the hilt of his sword to his forehead and said something to the Captain in Turkish. The latter glanced at his little army and Curtis followed his eye. The men involuntarily straightened up, stiff as posts. Turning in his saddle Curtis cast a furtive glance at Panayota. She was sitting on a mule, looking sadly to earth. One white hand rested caressingly on the wrist of her father, who stood by, holding to the pommel of her high pack-saddle. She had tied a handker- chief about his wound. He was a manly and appealing, albeit extraordinary figure, as he stood there erect, his dark eyes flashing scorn and defiance. His billowy, spade-shaped beard covered his entire breast. He wore no coat and the enormous Cretan breeches and yellow boots seemed to take on added propor- tions for that reason. An empty cartridge belt, passed under his right arm and over his left shoulder, bore strange comradeship with the cross that hung from his neck. His dark brown hair, that any woman might have en- THBKAirmTHBBABBBI, 139 «ed, feU quite to his waist and rippled in the brec.e. Even as Curtis looked. Panayote gathered It in her hands and hastily twisted Umtoaknot. The Captain said a few woMs tothc lieutenant who, turning to the ranks, pomted to four of the men nearest him and ^nsmuted the order to them. They saluti. a^d stacking their muskets, ran into the cafe Instantly the huge oil crock fell across the door SLt^r^"^' ^'' "P "^ ''''>'^«'"- ««Wen "Monsieur, you will destroy the cafd !" cried «^uf tis m alarm. Over wett the bar with a sound of smash- ing glass. n.I!!-*"' ''^^ ''"' * moment." replied the Captem. apologeticaUy. The tables and X^Th'e7o:r°^"^^"°*''^p"*^-''« "The rascals should have saved the oil to judicially. The sound of dull blows caused the Captem to bend and look in at the door aer. i told them not to spill the wine, but to roll the full barrels close to the fire," h; ex- plained to Curtis. "There is sure to be one or two of them filled with brandy, and their loud 140 iixng juroTHBB Haxiur explosion does more execution than half a dozen axes." Michali's barrel was fourth from this end. Why the devil wasn't I bom with some brams .n my head?" groaned Curtis, inward- M ,J^7,..""'* y°" ''''"'' °f something, blockhead?" He was seized with an almost uncontrollable desire to butt his skull against the stone wall of the cafe. He knew that a happy thought would save poor Michali, and he reahzed also that undue excitement on his part would betray everything. The picture of his friend being dragged from his hiding . place by his broken leg and thrust through with bayonets, leaped before his imagination "Monsieur," he said, "I beg grace for the cafe. Stop the soldiers one moment and I will explain." Kostakes called to the four vandals and they desisted. "I beg of you," he said inquiringly to Cur- tis, "but pray be brief." "I am the correspondent of the New York Age. I am neither Greek nor Turk, I assure you. I wish to write glowing accounts of your heroism— and your magnanimity. I have a sentiment connected with the caf6. It is so passed the parsonage Curtis noticed that it was ,n ruins, but the festal wreath ?f y^J CHAPTER XVI TO NO AVAIL THE priest strode by his daughter's side, his hand still lying upon hers. As the cavalcade started he shuddered, and, looking al Panayota, sobbed: "Oh,' my daughter! Would to God you were in your grave beside your mother!" She put out her white arm, and laid it around his neck. "I am my mother's child," she replied, piously, "I shall find death somehow sooner than dishonor." An occasional corpse lay in their path. Curtis observed with pleasure that red, woolen flower pots were beside two of the bodies, but a wave of indignation and pity passed over him as his horse shied from a cor- pulent body, bent horribly over a sharp backbone of rock. The head lolled downward, and the pupils of the eyes wcj ; rolled upward out of sight. There were two red pits beneath the eyes, that made the whites look doubly ghastly. Curtis lifted his hat. 14* ■*;*! it m H^i •i if W> KO AYAHi »43 Why do you do that?" asked the Captain Because he died like a brave man." reS S« Tl"' '"'"^'•I'ring as he thought o? the jolly and hospitable demarch, who? like an « h« post of duty unta escape becan,* impo.. dollT ^uM*! "" ^'"'«' ''«««' than you do the Turks." observed KosUkes. "You do not know us yet. You will like us better when you have been with us a few days " Curt.s was determined to be politic. Only l.»vf ' ""^I!.^ ^''^ *° ^^^' ^''^ he might have taken oflF my hat just the same." theT;*^ ^''^ ^bout to enter the ravine. From «?.!"* , ^"!*""" t«™«d in his saddle and cast a glance backward. The smoke from a score of fires tumbled heavenward until commmgling, it formed a somber roof above the town, supported by trembling and bend- ing pillars. There was the distant sea-the very spot where the "Holy Mary" had been sunk. The little stream, whose course they 144 un juroTHZB hsubk had followed to the Ml-fated town, looked no larger than a silver thread. There was the square, ending in the ledge upon which he had first seen Panayota with the water jug upon her shoulder. It had been but a short time ago, a few hours comparatively, and here she was now, a captive being led away in all prob- ability to a shameful fate. Curtis seemed to have l\ved ages in the past few days, and yet their whole history flashed through his mind during the brief moment of this parting glance. There was the girl, beautiful, deso- late, defiant, pure as snow; her hand rested on the shoulder of her father, in one of those pitiful, yet sublime feminine caresses that cry "courage" when even God Himself seems to fail. She was a Christian, the father a Chris- tian priest, and this was the nineteenth cen- . tury of our blessed Lord, and there, but a few miles away, lay the great battleships of the Christian powers of Europe, defending the in- tegrity of the Turkish empire! Curtis gave such a violent start that he near- ly fell out of his saddle. Great heavens, was not that the cafe on fire? The caf6, where he had left hidden his comrade and friend, Michali, the brave, the boyish, the noble-minded I ■IP TO KO AVAIL I4S _^^VMon«eur!" he cried, "the cafti It i, bum- ;;0h I think not." replied Kostakes. send nLni'l u"" *'' *' P'^^'^'y: y°" n"»t •end people back to put it out " he hand, of an orderly, and. calmly adjust- ing the focus, looked down the hill, while the lUtle army, escorting Panayota and her father marched rapidly past, and were swallowS up Ml the ravine. ^ ^^2f°»"e right," he said, "it i, indeed the put ?t"outr '" "' ""''"^ '"''"^"y ""•^ *" "Monsieur could hardly ask me to do that much for sentiment. Some of my rascals mus have eluded my vigilance. They shall be pu„ Curtis whirled his horse around, urging it ^th h.3 fists and his so«„d foot, and fS back toward the town. But the way wasTeep and rough, and the animal had ni gone tJ paces before two soldiers sprang to its hi^ and seued the bridle on .^ch fide. CuSs facked and struck at them, and, suddenly ov^! come w>th a paroxysm of rage, swore at them M6 UKB AirOTHXB HULKT but all to DO avail They turned the horM around and led it ttadc to Koetakes. "Monsieur's sentiment must be very strong," said the CapUin, smiling sweetly. "There's a wounded man in that building. A mounded man, I tell you, and he'll bum up aivel" Kostakes shrugged his shoulders. "It|cannot be helped," he repUed, "in war, what is a man more or less? But we must not delay. Allons, Monsieur." And he spurred his horse to a brisk walk, while a stout Turk, throwing the bridle rein of Curtis' animal over his shoulder, trotted along after. The American locdced back. "Ill slip off and run to the caii," he thought, "foot or no foot— damn the foot, anywayl" But another soldier with a loaded musket was following close behind. In his despair, the thought of his passport occurred to him. He pulled it from his pocket with feverish haste. It was badly damaged by wa- ter, but it held together and the big seal was still there. Urging his horse forward, he flourished the document in Kostakes' face and shouted: "I am an American citizen. Do you see TO KO ATAIX. i^ tl»t? VoithI If you do not let me gr vu„ wiUsuflFerforit." ■« r^ juti But ,11 to no avail. He was hustlf., , 0.7 Md the last thing his eyes rested nym as Se plunged into the ravine was a cloud ^f .mok-. Pounng from the front door of the demar^. s CHAPTER XVII IN THE TRACK OF WAR IT DID not require a trained eye to see that the Greeks had defended themselves stubbornly and had inflicted much more injuiy than they had suffered. Curtis counted twenty-five dead Turks in the defile. The con- tinual dread that his horse should step on them kept him in a state of nervousness. But the animal evidently was possessed of as keen sensibilities as his temporary master, for he avoided the corpses with the most patent aver- sion. At a turn in the pass, behind a jutting rock, lay two Greeks. Curtis fancied this must have been the place where Michali had re- ceived his wound. It was evident that a well- organized and desperate stand had been made here, because in the narrowest part of the pass, only a few yards distant, lay seven Turks in a heap. Glancing back at the two dead Greeks, under the impression that he recognized one of them, *he American beheld a sight at once noble and disgusting. The priest had lingered and was leaning toward his slain compatriots makmg the sign of the cross with solemn ges- IK THB TBACK OF WAH 145 tures. the while he cried in tones sorrowful and defiant. "I am the resurrection and the life; he that' ^Tu ,■ '" '"*' *•'"'"«'' •«= *«« dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever Kveth and believ- eth in me shall never die." Panayota, her glorious eyes streaming with tears her white hands clasped to her bosom was lookmg to heaven and silently praying Curtis felt his soul uplifted. The narrow walls of the ravine changed to the dim aisle of a cathedral; he seemed to hear a grand organ pealing forth a funeral march. "Death is swallowed up in victory. O d«ith. where is thy sting? O grave, where IS thy victory?" • Y^^"" i* °P""*^ •"■* «y«=s he found himself in heU. Two or three Turks, grinning with diabolical hate and derision, were spitting at p *f^ ,?'*'"'• ^* '°^^''' '••^"=«y behind Papa-Maleko was jabbing him ii the back viciously with the butt of his musket, while another touched him playfully between the shoulders with the point of a bayonet The pnest shrank from the steel with a gasp of pain, but turned back as he stumbled along chanting: * "Thanks be to God, which giveth us the ISO IiIKXS AirOTHEB HBIiEK victory through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen!" A little farther on they came upon a sight which nade Curtis reel in his saddle— the bod- ies of i..c seven peasant girls who had leaped over the cliff: Four lay together in a heap. Of the remaining thre ;, one had fallen face down upon a rock, and her long hair, shaken loose, 'rippled earthward from the white nape of her neck. Another was sleeping the last sleep peacefully, her head upon her out- stretched arm, a smile upon her lips; and still a third lay upon her back. This one seemed to have suffered, for there was a look of terror in the staring eyes. Again the priest lifted his voice. "I am the resurrection and the life," but the solemn chant was this time interrupted by a shriek from Panayota. Curtis, who had resolutely turned his face from the scene of fascinating horror, looked back quickly at the sound. A slender young girl had arisen upon her elbow, and was stretching her hand im- ploringly toward the priest. The hand was brown and chubby, but. the arm from which the flowing sleeve had slipped away, was very white and shapely. She was dying even then, but the blessed words of her mother's faith and !2X THB TRACK OF WAB 151 her mothers tongue had pierced her swoon- ing ears and she had paused at the very thresh- old of death for the priest's benediction. A Turkish soldier thrust her through the neck with his bayonet, and her head dropped softly upon the bosom of a dead fellow. "But this is barbarous," cried Curtis "The civilized world shall know oi this. Barbarous. I say, uncivilized— you an officer? A eentle- man? Bah!" ^ "But Monsieur is too violent and hasty " replied Kostakes. "Irregularities happen in all armies. The man shall be punished." ^^ "If he is to be shot," said the American, I«ease put me in the firing squad I" Emerging from the pass, they came to a steep, wooded ravine, and their path led through an aisle of tall pine trees. The feet of the soldiers made no noise on the carpet of fallen spines. They found four more dead Turks and picked up two that were wounded After about an hour of forced marching the ravine spread out into a beautiful sunlit valley whereon the new plowed ground lay in patches of rich brown, terra-cotta and black loam. The vines were just putting forth their pale green sprouts. The laborers had been surprised in the act of heaping conical 'S* MKE AWOTHEB HliI.IiK mounds about the roots, and an occasional Jscarded mattock betokened iJtyT^ Poppies lifted evenrwhere their ^slS-' stemmed, scarlet beakers-such glasses to shape as are fit to hold the vintage of th" T; J^' "*"* '^°^' *«« "« thick Uth indeed to belong to regions where the dear u„ .s but a memory. Scattering fruit trt" SolS, fr'''^ ""^ ^'""^ °f their snow^ bloom called to each other with perfume. It was some time after noon now, but thev stopped neither to eat nor rest, c;.;"' f^I sVr 1° fr '^r ^'"^""y- ''"* •»«= »«de no sign. In the midst of such desolation, he felt C K .* ! '^^"' *'^"^- ■"« vines w«e here, but where were the toilers? The p«J trees were in bloom, but where weJe tte laughmg children, the wives and maidens w^th wme and bread for the midday feasJ^ o" e they passed a shock-headed boy of fourte™ or possibly younger, lying deadin a Z^l^^' wuh h« „,attock beside him. and later in' the ZZ' o "' "iT ' P'°* '" *•«= ""finished furrow. One of the oxen was dead, and the other great beast had struggled to his feet DTTHB TRACK OF WAR 153 and^stood patienUy beside the body of hi. a fi^d'n!^."',?"'' P"''' ''^ ^^' " *«y through lS\i? u"^°^" *''^^'- Around neariy «^ shoot the sweet wild-pea had twined ite gmeful spiral, bravely Hftifg the prettrblic o^the fl-wers ajnong the pale g,ee„ of the grain. When the wind swept over th- fi-w it looked like changeable silk ^"^'^ Toward sunset they came within seeing dis- tance of a wh.te village on a mountain ,ide. tT °"^' ?'-'=''"^ surrounded it and a doz^ en or more dark green cypress trees pointed heavenward among the houses, like spC VoM, Monsieur." cried Kostakes, gaily. time t^ ""l '*"!" •■''* *°-"«''*' ^"«i !■" hand. „ on, pr,„„ ^' Dlar» «f * ^ "'* SO"' go to the For he 1 ""'"*' ""^ ^' tortured forUr For he has renounced the Son of O^^ a has slain his holy minister!" ^*^' '"'' A BLOW y» TUB DAHK 169 a long drink. Te wa. trembling so that the tin vessel rattled as...,st his teeth. MonDieur he exclaimed, observing Cur- solhi '"'" *''" '" ""y"''"f »o ""rea- sonable as a woman? Here is her father run away, and she accuses me of killing him and cons.,n^s me to ete.nal torment. Really, she has made me quite nervous. T: I were not 'ZT' V'°"" '"■'''' '">• her curses." And he took another drink of the cool water Curtis thought of the dull, crushing blow and the groan that he had heard, and he in- voluntarily moved a little away from the hand- some and affable Kostakes, who had sat down by him on the rim of the basin .,."^1!".''?/°" ''"P "'^ «'^' f°r, anyway?" he made bold to ask. "You sure'y would 'L lerco'^entV"'" ^°"-^°"' "-""' ^««-' Kostakes sighed. "Monsieur." he .uid, "is a po..^. He will understand and sympathize with me. I bve Panayota. I would make her my sole wi^e m honorable marriage. I desire no otT woman but her. Bah! What are other women compared to her? Is she not magnifi cent? I could not help loving her, even St now, *hen she was cursing me. It Tt^e *90 UKR AXOTHXB BXXJCN tlat I have become a Turk. But what . »! Certainly." I hZf"' ^°" *" ''"■' " ''°t'' 'ove and war '■ "ave possession of Panavota »„/t But your wives?" asked Curtis "Hn„ many have you of them?" "°* The Captain shrugged his shoulders. lures. A Mohammedan has not much diffi cu^y m getting rid of his wives " Curtis arose. "If you will help me to the house," he said I will try to get a little sleep." ' A Blow W THB DAHK 17, Koitakes sprang to his feet. Lean on my shoulder," he said. "So 10 now IS the leg?" ' '°' it "d„^'t7'' ^'^- ^'"^ '""y ^°r">d about «t. Do I bear down on you too heavily?" s'^^^mwrnmcfsmamcsmmammif "'TOi CHAPTER XX FOUR AGAINST ONE THE sound of a reveille awoke Curtis ''ad diCS, ':^Z'ZZ:l Tf f ready fallen in <:-. , V ^""^ "i^d al- a youn? and ii V '^' ^°""'ai„. One, P-^iXJ:^\:;''''': -^^ -patiently Kostafes «lTa?rtaw7" '™''-"^- orders to his second • ' ^'^'"^^ """le with the scar A " '"^"""and. the veteran mg coffee P*" °f ste^m- The r=!^ ■ . ' ^* ^^ """St be off." TheCaptamandhis^Lieutenantrantothe l^UHAGAtV8TOin5 173 tentatiously. After tJ. u ' f°'^'"^ °'- Pa'easdeath,abeaSu4Var:o?^''' her saJdlelT^eW 'f"r"h-^""'"'^ '"^° There were dark ri,,. ^" attentions. 're^^rp--t::::^s.--^ to speak and conSorTher tth' "Tl''" """^ sounded ho„owanT.S:erh7oV::ar^ "You do not know the Turks," she replied D,d I not tell you, my darling?" cried k' f ^ She d.d not even look at hi., Tut ™„r. "Murderer! perjurer!" »74 UKB AirOTHBB HBI^N Kostakes shrugged his shoulders, as who would say. "Seel" and turning to CuAis crS: But Monsieur speaks Greek famously 1" difficJty." "°''' ^"' ^''"''^ -'•> •»"<=" "J/aw no,,, On the contrary I find your Greek very perfect. And now a//o«^/" ' They pushed briskly up the narrow street through a scene of utter desolation. The wh>rlw.nd of war had struck the town and wrecked >t. As they turned a corner a long- egged, half grown fowl broke for cove and ha f IT^; ''""""^ ''^ """''' ^'^h awkward, half-fledged w.ngs. They came unexpectedly upon a httle Orthodox church and a putrij odor assailed Curtis' nostrils. Their path led them around to the front door mslL?^'";''^*^- A sight had met his eyes that was destmed to thrill him with sick- ness and horror to the latest day of his Hfe as often as the black phantom of its recolleSion should anse in his mind. The village prieTan o d gray-bearded man, had died abo'JtTmomh ThZ: 1'' '"^'" ^""^'l '" ''^ robes churl r '^l °'^' '^"^"^ *° '*" °wn bat Naiis had been driven through the clothmg at the shoulders, and the weWS FOUH AGAINST ONB ,75 ml?uT,' .''"'''"«^ **°*" '«° the loose gar- tne semblance of joints in a vampire's wings gatnered from the houses and the church^ a d sgustmg odor arose and filled the ai" T^ eyes tell upon the horrid spectacle. 8ee"nhr'''!'J"^' '^""^'^ -"y vigilance, I n^'aSeTn °f' "' """" "^^^^een h^v- "A-i '" "'"'■ °wn way." about riol»'"°".'r '''^^^^"' ''•^a^ handlJchie^ '^"'^' '^"'•''^ *'^-"^'' "« way XSh'TT ''' *°""' '""'^ P'^^^d their ^?4t?erThV''^',''f u °' '^"•'■y f«="^d o ive trees. The sound of the nocturnal choo- ol? w^ "°^ ''^P'^'"^'^- About Jeven o clock they stopped for dinner in a tr^ turban, ^hich gave to his pallid face a t nt «nnlar t. that of the undersiSe of a o d!too, of blood, that dripped out like the whey froS a J76 MKH ANOTHBH MBMX sack of cottage cheese, upon his yellow sash and blue breeches. He said a few words r ith hT\:"^1 °P*"' " »''°"«'' Ws under jaw had suddenly grown heavy, and then, reeling was caught by two soldiers, dragged from th^' saddle and earned into a hut. "I must ask you to excuse me for several hours," said Kostakes, rising. "My BaS Ba^ouks, whom I left with certainTomml sions to execute, are being defeated at Rev^ aborn^ hour's march from here. How fifty Bash. Bazouks can find any difficulty with a S^dfBuffrtr^'"'^''^*^'^--"^^^^^^ Ss'whr/aS;r^"^"-^-°" inaudS''' ""' '°" '"'''•" ''"^''^ ^"«"' "I shall leave three of my men behind to lady f Zr T-*' ""' ^'^^^ °f '"^^ y-^-S yolf "that t -""^ ''" *" '^' °"'= ^ ''=*^« ^'th you that he IS your servant-that he must bnng you anything you ask for. He spTalc Gj.elcsoyouwillbeabletogetalong'^^ith . Five minui.s afterward Kostakes was rid- Curtis xJeT' '"""."'''^ '"■^ "^"'J *o thetb.,?„!. ''" ^""^"^ "P '"■" •'^t fro*" the table and swung it in the air. FOUH AOAmST ONB 177 "Au revoir. Kostakes," he cried. "The devil confound you and your whole crew of Englir?"'"^ *°"''" " "''' ^'^^" 'P"''' He glanced suspiciously at the tall, sallow- faced Turk who stood a short distance away leaning upon his musket. . 'J°;} ^^^ "°t- He'd give some sign if ne did. Two other Turks, with muskst on shoul- der, were pacing back and forth befoie the door of the hut where Panayota was impris- oned. Curtis could feel his heart thumping against his breast. He struck the place with his doubled fist. "Keep still, curse you," he muttered, "and let me think. Here is the opportunity— but how? how?" The army was crawling along a white road that streamed like a ribbon athwart the foot of a hill. The ribbon fluttered as the dust rose in the wind. The bayonets twinkled in a dun cloud. "Four against one," mused Curtis. "Four Turks against one Yankee trick— but how?" Kostakes plunged into the hill and disap- peared, and the blazing bayonets, line after line, were extinguished in a billow of green 178 ZJKE AI70THBB BBIMXt thyme. The American looked back over his shoulder at the door of a stone hut— the one into which the wounded Bashi Bazouk had been carried. "Hey I" he called, "you there, Hey!" The Turk left ostensibly as Curtis' servant but actually as his guard, stepped briskly for- ward, and, taking in his own the American's extended hand, pulled him to his feet. _ "Help me into the house," said Curtis. Now bnng me that bench." The man complied, after which he went to the door, and, leaning against the jamb, looked wistfully at his fellows. At one end of the room was a fireplace, fiUed with ashes and charred pieces of log. It was a primitive concern, the only vent for smoke being a hole in the roof directly overhead. Board plat- forms on each s:ie the fireplace served as couches for the family. On one of these, flat on his back, lay the wounded man. "I wonder how badly he's hurt," mused Curtis. "There isn't strength enough left in him to put up a fight, but there's enough 'eft to pull a trigger if I tackle the other chap. Hello he s got the hiccoughs; why, that's queer." The man became quiet, and again Curtis W)UH AOAIK8T ONB j^ relapsed into thought, to be disturbed a sec- ond Ume by the sound of knocking on boards. Lookmg around, his eyes fell d.Vectly upon the eyes of the Bashi Bazouk, and he felt as though he heard some one crying fo hefp Ion" "h°'t :"""■■• Thema'nwasresSng upon h,s back and both elbows. For a mo-nent those bloodshot, praying, awful eyes were fixed upon Curtis; then they swept the «3.ngy hut and ^vent out like panes of glas! 1:1 n 'Jf ' " "tinguished il a room. The man fell backward, fluttered on the hard plank! and was st.ll. Curtis shuddered. is J^l'^r'' "'"•" ^' •"""^'•«''' "but this IS no time for sentiment." TTie other Turk stood by the body of his dead comrade, looking down at the ghastW of his own right arm with the fineers anrf tTentl'"/*'" '^"'' ^"^ '"°-'' '^'""''' ^ hst tentatively up and down "Where shall I hit him?" he mused. "In the chin or back of the ear? He must never know what struck him." .w.!"^'"^ f'"''"' *"= """« beheve they're coming, after all l'gue« n go out and take a look." "Keep still I" replied the Swede "Don'f "They may send scouts on foot " Panayota had fallen asleep. They could hear her deep but troubled breathing as hIJ thaUor the moment she had mercifully'or" "Michali was burned alive," said Curtis in a I«v tone, after another stretch of S^! ma AXBvsa »«? during which hi, knee, had become the m«^ Michali." ' *' Kscued . 'Curtis worked himself to hi, W ,„j m..if- 198 IJKB AKOTHEB HBUEN Have you got a he's too mad to be careful, bayonet?" forf:woSr*°'^'^'*- «— aringU MatSr Y?',/'" ""''' ^"-^ ^^^ «"« the thaT Th. r ^"'. ^'' '" *^"^'^'' "P with L!t J''^,^"^ 's s™pler, and the bayonet n the hand, of a man who doesn't know how' o use .t .s a terrible weapon. Give n,ryouT amn;u„.t.6n. Thanks. Here's n,y carjge ch.^i"''^'"" T ^y- ^'*'' the gaiety of a chdd He was about to play his favorite game to mdulge the innocent impulse of boys Sdol untutored men. The clatter m^/ grew louder. '""' ""''^'- "Do you know the orders?" he asktd. h„i'^'K*'r^" '' '° P'"'' °"t '•'^ 'nark and aim, Kos?at°s .' " '° ""'" ^ ''°- ^ ^''"" *^''« kilZg!""' '° '"'^' '"'' °^ ^'"'- "' "«*>» "All right— now, ready!" The galloping changed into the chug! chug! chug! of men sitting upon trotting horses. I he moon had risen and had filled the trees and about half of the square ,with its silver jtT^r. ri£i) AJIBT SH 199 L"!' the h''"r' ''^*"" °f P^'-^ Nike orps; %l';f''°'' -«^e those of a frozen corpse. The horses could now be heard S coo, r 7! ^ '-'"^ ^hen Lindbohm was cool. No detail escaped him. whenlsay^^rir-"^'^^^*''^^^^^'^-''- krkfZ'T\"'°'''^ '"'" the square, and jerking his horse nearlv tn ,-f» 1, , whirled about to face hU T . ''aunches, R;.ci,; r> . "'® Lieutenant and the Bashi Bazouks who debouched kom tht mouth of the street in twos and threeZ-L ,. motley terrible throng. Curtis a leTfirlt at' the Captain's breast and then at his head ThI him=!if ^'"^''°'"n never shoot?" he asked himself every time that the Turk's fornT « squarely in line with his gua T^Tr"! Bazouks continued to pouf into tht square. 300 IJKB AXOTHEB EBIXJK sitting very straight, resting their short guns ov^Jhe.r shoulders or on the necks of S "Hupl" cried Kostakes, flourishing his hU^u^u T^^'P^'^'^ Lindbohm. Curtis glued h.s cheek to the rifle barrel, and aimed full at the breast of Kostakes, who was now sitt ng quietly upon his horse. ^ thought.^"' '"• ''" ^°' ^°"'" ^« ^^^ •» "Twol" he tightened his finger on the trie- ger when "bang!" went the gun of an im pajent Greek on the other side^of the squaTe saddle Lindbohm sprang to his feet, wfth a roar of rage that was cut in two by the terrific clatter of the rifles that were now spittiSe from more than a dozen doors and window^ One sound had wailed out between tf.e T'u't' "^^ "°"^y' ^^ vivid ^sTligh" nmg flash between thunder claps.-Panayotl fa .gued beyond human endurance, had fS th ? !f T." '' '''' f''""'^ »>«««« agin n gu'n Sa°k- '" •"'"'^' "^^ '"^^ --<* °^ the gun, breaking ,n upon her overwrought ^THB AMBUSH ^j nerves, had drawn from h^. , shriek. """ ^" 3 long piercing squ^are'^rd^T ^ "'^'™"' °' "-«« « the shooting into the whSbfoh, '"^ '"'* Strom period was briff T !L ""^ ™^'^'- streets thatga^e ntofh "'"^ ^"^ "'^^^ -•dehorses'b;:rfofX7'^i:?^''-"*- hurled like muHfr^^ ^- ^^^ were exits, and wen^StTerinT" "'^^' •"'° *''- out their riderl u"Jl "f , ""^' ^'"^ °' ^^h" dened beast was St , °"'^ °"^ '"^''- groundaTurkwhol ; '^^'"^ °^^' the stirrup. The trrXVr "" ""^''^ '" the thing pitiful to "e. He V™ "'^ ^°'»^- house. Heplun ' d--„"' 7 ""'""^'y '"to a ;eIiandscraLjtorf?e ;r'"^^^^^^^^ ter's clothing caueht nn , ,^^^'"- His mas- 'eft the saddle behind I'l"'^ '°'^' «"d he attached. Then he ^ . '^' '^^^^ ^urk still street, and 6^X1^:^''^ ^r""^ ^^ ^ hoofs. The cSks dt,^?/ "^"^ *^'^"" of and scurried after SeSk/S-''^ """^^^ wg as they ran Cu^;. k ' '''"^ ^'''J fir- ^ • ^"'^"'«hot into a last tangle 202 T i TKW ANOTHBH HEIiEN of horses, wedged together at the mouth of a lane. They slipped loose and plunged through, scraping off one of the Bashi Ba- zouks, who bounded to his feet uninjured, and, whipping out a long, curved sword, came toward Curtis. He was a big man, bare- headed and hairy as an ape. Curtis threw the Gras to his shoulder and pulled the trigger. He had forgotten to reload it. The Turk laughed. Curtis lowered the gun, and, presenting the bayonet, tiptoed about his foe in a semi-circle. The Turk revolved as on a pivot, squat, alert, weapon deftly advanced. Suddenly, to Curtis' surprise, his enemy turned and ran. The American bounded after, and then, for the first time during the fray, he remembered that he had a sore foot, and that that foot was bare. Panayota came to him. She carried a rifle that she had picked up in the square. "Bravo! Panayota!" said Curtis. "Two to one frightened him away. But why didn't vou shoot?" ^ "I wanted to get close and make sure," re- plied the giri, "and then, when he ran, you were in the way." _ Slipping a fresh shell into his Gras, Curtis picked his way through the stones toward a 1^ THE iUCBVSH 303 distant spot where he heard continued firing Panayota attempted to follow, but he stopped her with a wave of the hand. 'Til be right back," he shouted, "as soon as I get another shot. You're safe here " He left her standing in the deserted squar- among the dead Turks. The moon shone full' upon her there, leaning toward him, holding her gun by the extreme muzzle, the butt trail mg behmd on the ground. Her hair blew into her eyes, and she tossed a great brush of it over her shoulder. A wounded horse rose to Its haunches near her and threw its fore feet dangerously about. Then it pitched over on Jts side with a groan. Curtis had gone some distance up the narrow street, when he heard again the clatter of horses' hoofs. He stepped behind a tree that grew close against a wall and waited. A Greek ran by and darted under a house. He was followed by the Bashi Bazouk, who had ZLZ T'"'"'' ""^^ "^ -«^ trotting by the side of a mounted comrade, holding to the stirrup-strap. One, two, three, four, five horsemen followed. The firing c<;ntinued iri the outskirts of the town. "My God! Panayota!" It flashed over Cur- t.s m a moment. The Greeks had scattered 304 LIKB AKOTHEB m.r.vif ^ too much and the Turks, getting together in r5, ?^"'"' *^^'= returning to the attack. While he was still in the crooked lane, making frantic haste toward Panayota, he heard a shot u the square. His heart stood still for one moment with terror, which instantly gave way to fury. A woman's scream, mingled with brutal laughter, told him that the girl had again been made a prisoner. When he at last reached the square, the six Bashi Bazouks had gone, taking her witi them. CHAPTER XXIII A FRIEND WORTH HAVING CURTIS sat down upon the edge of the fountain. There was a fafnt snSel now °/P°^!'".'"theair. He heard a shot now and again ,„ the distance. A burfe sounded. Fortunately no more of the St Bazouks passed through the square. Gonel said Curtis; "gone!" ..-.i, !^''' ''^^^" t° '^^n'^ in, talking ex- s em dT^K^'^r'^^'"^ ■'"'« madmen. \% about Curti' '"h''^' ^?'"*^- '^'"^^ ^^'^»^^ TZuT' '""^' P°'"''"^ ^t ^^^ dead bodies cl! h^^di s:;th?d^-^""^^''''- «' Kuuiy resist the desire to jumo uo anrf musS t'CdrH*'^" r*'' ''^ """''" musKet. Lindbohm pushed his way through tT'^'i ?""'"^ '''^ ^"" •« his le ft ha„? gaily with the imaginary sword. men obeyed my orders If T i,,^ 90S ao6 UKB AN'OTHER HEIiEX i ders. Still, we taught them a lesson. We have killed, let me see how many, one two, three " "Hell !" interrupted Curtis, rising suddenly. "What!" said Lindbohm, turning upon him, "what's the matter?" "She's gone." Lindbohm clutched at the shoulder of a by- standing insurgent. ■ "Panayotal" he gasped. "Huh! Where were you? Eh? Where were you? Here they came, six of 'em, right down here, and the girl and I all alone. What could I do, one against six? You're a healthy soldier, you ar&— scatter all over the country! Lindbohm, you're to blame for this. You've got to answer to me — somebody's got to settle for this." Flinging his rifle down among the stones, he turned his back con- temptuously and limped toward one of the houses. A kindly insurgent sprang to his as- sistance. "Right up through there they went, carry- ing her with them. Four men could have stopped 'em. Where were you, damn you?" and, pushing the insurgent from him, he shook his fist in his face. "Get out of my sight, get out !" he cried. A FBIX!in> WORTH HAVDTO 307 Lindbohm was sitting on the side of the basin, his face buried in his hands. He was sobbing and talking to himself in Swedish. Those who stood near heard the word "Pana- yota." Reason returned to Curtis as speed- ily as he had lost it. His blind rage passed away, and in its place came a resolve to recover Panayota and to settle with Kostakes according to the present debt and all that might accrue. The spirit 01 Crete had taken thorough possession of him. He had been wronged by the Turk, he lived only for ven- geance. His eye fell upon a Cretan in the act of pulling a boot from a dead Turk's foot. He was tugging with all his might. All at once he flew over back ards with the boot in his hands. His comrades broke into laughter. Lmdbohm did not look up. "They don't feel this thing about Panayota as badly as Lindbohm and I do," soliloquized Curtis. "Poor old Lindbohm! I'll tell him Im in love with Panayota, and then he'll see how foolish it is for him to take on so. He ought to stand it if I can." The insurgent detached the other boot and brought the pair to him. "Will those iit?" he asked. "Good boots " Curtis took the boots and went over to the 908 UKB JLXOTBXR HELEK drinking fountain. He patted Lindbohm on the back. "Cheer up, old man," he said. "They can't get away from us. There's an- other day coming." It was impossible to get the boot upon the sore foot, so one of the insurgents cut it off at the ankle and slit it down nearly to the toe. Then he punched a number of holes, and Curtis was able, by means of a string, to lace on this improvised shoe. As the leather was soft, it proved vTry comfortable. Lindbohm staggered to h: .eet, stretched himself like a man awakening from sleep, and ran his finger through his blond-^ pompadour. "That's right o'd man," said Curtis; "we must brace up. Of course, you feel bad be- cause we sort of fumbled the thing. But con- sider what my feelings must be. Lindbohm, I love that girl." The Swede started violently. "You have made court to her?" he asked. "Why, I told her that I loved her— yes, yes, several times." "And, pardon me, she said that she loved you?" "Now that you ask me, I don't believe she did. No, she didn't. But I didn't have much time, you see." A FBIEirD WOBTH BAVtSO 209 Lindbohm held out his big, soft hand, and as Curtis grasped it, said : "We will not turn back; we will find Pana- yote. And if Kostakes has insulted her we will punish him, though he flee to the ends of the earth." "Old man, you're a friend worth having " r,*. 5t".?"' ^""«'"fi: the hand which he held 1 11 never forget this till the last day of my life." ' One of the insurgents, a former resident of Canea, spoke some French. It was through the medium of this man that Lindbohm had communicated with his troop thus far. He called him now and told him to get the men together, as they must march. He feared lest Kostakes, surmising the smallness of their numbers, might return to the attack Ju!t^^ ''u ^"""^ •" *''"= moonlight, taking with them the arms and other spoils of the dead Turks, of whom the number proved to be eight. Their plan was to conceal them- selves somewhere in the fields and get some sleep. But half a mile out of Galata they en- countered a band of fifty Cretan insurgents, young men of the region, armed to the teeth t'h",. 't -Tl^"' ^^"«^««"«- These, learning that Lmdbohm was a foreign officer of aj^ aiO rjKB AKOTHEB BBIXXt proved mettle, put themselves also under his leadership. Thus reinforced he returned and camped in Galata. The next morning he pushed on vigorously after Kostakes— a pur- suit that was destined to last several weeks, and that was prosecuted with a continually increasing band. Several encounters took place, and three Turkish villages were de- stroyed, by way of reprisal. They did not succeed in capturing Kostakes, but two wounded Turks that fell into their hands at different times, (old them that Panayota was in his camp. CHAPTER XXIV A GLITTERING ESPLANADE EUROPEANISM. that bubbles up in the tailor shops of Regent Street, and pours Its thin coating of dull color on the heels of the ever advancing British musket, has not yet washed over the island of Crete. The Akoond of Swat has donned a sack- coated suit of blue serge and a straw hat; the cousins of native princes go down to the gov- ernment offices with brown linen on iheir backs and Buddha in their hearts; Fuzzy- Wuzzy is cutting his hair-his Samson locks —and buying cork helmets. And the mis- sionary is picking his way through the corpses left m the trail of the machine gun. bringing Christ and calico to the survivors. They are putting pantaloons on the bronze statues of the desert, and are sending the piquant apples of the Tree of Knowledge wrapped up in bun- dles of mother hubbards, to the naked maidens of the South Sea Isles. But Crete, beautiful Crete, is the one comer of the globe nnich the dull, tame wave of iiuropean fashion has not yet touched and Sll ai2 UKB AirOTHEB BEIiEX commonized. The esplanade of Canea to-day, fronting the harbor, is the most picturesque, fantastic, kaleidoscopic spot on earth. Here commingle, swarm, interweave, huddle, scat- ter, pass and repass, costumes from the Greek islands, from the provinces of Asia Minor, from the oases and nomad tents of Africa, from Persia and the farthest East. The trav- eler's first view of Canea, from the rowboat that takes him ashore, is a half moon of white houp's, splashed with red, terra cotta, yellow arid striped awnings, and beneath, a squirming, ever-changing mass of bright tuj- bans and sashes, fluttering black and yellow robes, naked limbs and chests— and donkeys; moth-eaten donkeys laden with sacks, goat- skins of honey and cheese, huge panniers of green vegetables. There on the right, in let- ters that can be read a mile away, is the name of a cafe dedicated "Au Concert Europeen." This is a bait for the foreigners attached to the half-dozen sted hulks floating out yonder in the sea, pointing ever shoreward their great guns that seem to whisper: "Be good. Don't kill each other, or we'll kill you all." All Europeans are supposed to speak French. Several of the cafds announce their A GtlTTEHllfG ESPLANADE 313 business in more than one tongue: Greek Turkish. English. Italian. Unde? the aw "„g of one sits a group of elderly Mohammedans smok, the,r bubbling narghiles and reading he tmy local sheet; these are stout gentlemen harems. They have kindly faces and are really s^ve itT r""'" "''°'" "° P'ovocation! throat. You s.t down and a bare-legged wa.ter whose fez and braid-trimmed jacket 1 "e f ?v t."^' '?'^''' ^-"""^ ^'''^ chairs T^Zr^V """^ >ncarnation of silent and respectful mqu.ry. You are tired and you say: isome cognac and brown soda" The waiter looks distressed, puzzled waZTea" '°" "''"*' "^^"^'^ ^"'^ ^'^ He casts his eye over the group of pillars and one of them, the fattest and most benevo-' lent appeanng. carefully wipes the mouthpiece of his narghile and hands the tube to his nearest neighbor. The latter accepts the trust with a grave bow; u is his duty now to give ^he pipe an occasional pull, that it may net go out dunng his friend's absence. The proprietor of the caf6, for it is he, ap- I 214 UKB A3XOTSEB. HEIiBK proaches you. He bends lew, with a sign as though pressing his hand upon the earth, then, straightening, he touches his heart, his lips, his forehead. It is a most graceful and courteous salutation; it is the greeting of the very heart of the East — the salaam. "We have no cognac nor any intoxicating liquor," he explains in tolerable French. "This is a Mohammedan cafe. You can get spirit- uous drinks yonder at the Greek cafe." "Ah, but we have no desire to change. We are thirsty. Surely he has something to quench thirst?" "Certainly, many things, as for instance, cherry water, lemonade, almond water. ■A cup of Turkish coffee or a piece of loukoiimi with a glass of cold spring water, are also good things to quench the thirst." You decide upon cherry water, an excellent drink made from stirring a quantity of pre- served sour cherries into a glass of cold water, and mine host returns to his narghile. The kaleidoscope keeps turning, presenting new combinations, new colors, new effects. At times the whole square is crowded, and again the mass of humanity breaks up and drifts away, as sometimes happens to a dense cloud. Then some grotesque or sublime AGUtTTBBmGBSFLANADB 2,5 figure or group of figures is sure to straggle OOK up There go two Greek priests, in flow- ing cark robes and high, black hats. They arc tall men with red. swarthy cheeks and luxu- nan beards. They wear their hair long neatly done up in Psyche knots. They walk w«h dignified strides, their hands ij^d upon th«r stomachs and hidden in voluminous sto.es. They both carry strings of large beads of polished wood. The cfowd dosS «ZV ' '"'*"''" *'* » "«* that drags «pon the ground and high, yellow booJ shouts frantically to his flock of scur^- jng turkeys. The birds dart in and out a^J^g the throng with an action that reminds on! thro, "uT "'i'"^ ^'' '^''' »"d stepping through the mud. He is assisted by a boy o? ten, an exact reproduction of himself in minia- ft..^ ^K *'^°^ ^''^" P^''"' •»«' too. in a grace- ful robe that falls to the ground from h^ He St n • ^ *f ''=^ '""'" ^"«^<='« his brow He « tall and slender one moment. coT,uler 9l6 UKB AlfOTHEB HEIiEK the next, according as the wind inflates hii robe or escapes and allows it to collapse. What a feast of color! And you notice that somehow these changing combinations always result in harmonies. One feels the same effect as though he were listening to a clash of bar- barous instruments in a sweet, wild melody of the desert. 1 Here goes a chocolate-colored Nubian, in a terra cotta tunic, can-ying a shining copper kettle under each arm. His glistening feet and legs are bare. That bronze-skinned Arab yonder in the white turban must be a very old man, for his beard and hair are as white as the wool on a sheep that is newly washed and ready for the shearer; yet he is straight and lithe as a figure on a French clock, and his skin is exactly the same color. He wears a bright red sash about his waist and walks with a sta£f as tall as him- self. Red fezzes everywhere and turbans of all bright hues. But we must have another cherry water — zncinada — and move into the shade. Now, who are these somber-looking crea- tures, coming across the square? If there were any such thing on earth they would be agents of the Spanish Inquisition. But that horror AGMTTBBINGBSPLANADB 317 does not exist even in Turkey. Through the warm yeUow sun they move, slowly, silently muffled all in black, with black umbrellas' above their heads— shapeless, sepulchral fig- ures. On the black veil that covers each face are painted white eyes, a nose and a mouth; or a p :1m tree or other device. They stroll by us talking in whispers, but a silvery girlish laugh, stifled almost in its birth, betrays them. Ah, sweet demons, we knopw you now! These are nuns of love, houris of the harem. Who knows what sweet faces, merry eyes, red lips, warm and yielding forms masquerade in those forbidding garments? We know you now; not J..1 the disguises ever .nvented by fanati- cism and jealousy can cover the roguish fea- tures of love. That one little, stifiev augh conjured up more poetry and romance than could be read in a summer's holiday— the Arabian Nights, Don Juan, and the vision of Dudu; the song of the bulbul in old gardens dangerous trystings in the shadow of the cy' press trees; Tom Moore in a city office, dreaming of camel bells and the minarets of Ispahan. Donkeys. Out from under the low stone arches they come, or down the straggling nar- row street, slipping and staggering over the 9l8 IiIKB ANOTHEB HKLBN gre«y cobblestones, yet never falling. There is one driven by a Cretan boy, another by a jet black Nubian, with thick lips and shell- white teeth, another by a shuffling Greek monk in dirty robe. Each in his own outland- ish way curses and threatens his animal, but the stick falls with the same rattling thwack^ on the bony ribs, whether wielded by Chris- tian or Turk. Look at the loads which the donkeys bear in their immense, squeaking baskets, an^ you will gain some idea of the fertility of this garden spot of the world, har- ried though it be by oppression and blood- shed. We see borne by or arranged in heaps yonder on the pavement, great quantities of cu- cumbers, artichokes, beans, cauliflower, gar- lic, tomatoes, courgets, eggplant, medlars, apricots, cherries, and those various wild greens which are so delicious, but which can- not be bought in the cities of America for love or money. If you ask the price of any of these crisp, tender vegetables or fruits dewy fresh, you will find that one penny will go as far as twenty-five would among the stale, withered and niggardly exhibits of Chicago— the em- porium of the great Mississippi valley and the hub of a hundred railroads. But there is no cabbage trust in Crete, and the donkey route AOIJTTBBZtrOESFI.AKADE 319 has no board of directors to fix the price of freight. It is evident that the sea is no less prodigal of her nches here than the land, for ragged urchins dart by every few moments carrying fine catches of fish, strung upon strands of tenacious reed; mullets that gleam like gold in the sun, silvery mackerel, still quivering with he and glittering with dripping brine, baskets of white-bait, leaping upon a bed of green sea- grass; echini and huge lobsters without claws But alasl this seeming plenty is naught more than the crumbs from nature's table- harpy war has seized the feast. Above all the hum of tongues, the braying of donkeys, the rattle of shod feet on the cobbles, rings out at in ervals the bugle's wakening call. Turkish soldiers lounge about the streets, squat greasy, ungroomed, cruel. There is a slight smell of smoke in the air, as the wind drifts over from the smouldering ruins of the Chris- ban quarter, burned during the latest outbreak. Possibly there is a charred body or two among the cinders, but pshawl you cannot smell that It IS only imagination. And here comes a for- eign military demonstration. They are Ital- ians, immaculate in brown linen, with tufts of long blue feathers rustling spitefully in their aao UKB AKOTHEB HBiaSK Garibaldi hats. Down the street they swing at double quick, and through the crowded quay they plunge, while the lazy Orien- tals scramble out of the way. How these Ital- ians glitter! Th^re is a bugle corps in front, with shining instruments, and an Adonis of an officer at the side with flashing, drawn sword; a bayonet slants skyward from every shoulder in the squad, dancing and blazing in the tropic sun. They are gone and the throng closes in again, like Water in the wake of a ship. Such is Canea, below its many colored awn- ings. Cast your eye above them and you see the square white houses of a Greek town. Look higher up, and there is the Grecian sky, the same sky that looked down upon the birth of Jove and the giving of Cretan law, upon the flitting sail that brought the yearly tribute of youths and maidens from Athens, upon the knightly vengeance of Theseus, striding down the labyrinth, all clad in ringing mail. Cen- turies of oppression may drag their slow length along, the children of the desert may come and go as they will, but that chaste sweet sky is patiently waiting above. And beneath it is Greece. P CHAPTER XXV THREE WIVES Wd, with a tult :' LTh"a?'"H' ""*- straight up through a ren in u "'°°*'"» followed with a string ^ ^ '"' ""w hat, ^heaf Of It^L ?Se°'rthT"*'^ ^"' ^ woman passed the little gm,p of^il?"""' ting under the awninw thZ^T ^ . ""*" «"- discreetly to onlsSf no7 "'"^ """'^ ""«''' tive glance a^the dVnt '' V'*''"^ * ^"'- Pers. that now and ttn '^' '"l^™'''«'-«d slip- der the blacrrobe T """"^"^ °"* f™™ "«- --t.shetipt;°eS^,JrbSaSr"^"°- 'ng upper stories of the hn^! • ^ P''°J'^*- tion peculiar to women tt ' '""' ^''^t mo- constructed th:tTheT 3i7o?:f^rr "^ ^ shoved into them at « t '^ *°* "" "o* Stopping for a ^ment £ r*^^'^"^^ ^*«P- chief from her ^080^ 1 5 ''"^ ^ ''^"dker. her veil, wiped herTce ' ^'''""^ '* ""<^«'- "Whew I" she said, "it's hot" tu ',«shot. Then, raising aa» UKE AxnyrBKBsxtiMait her head, she sniffed the air sharply, eagerly. "Allah be praised!" she exclaimed. "I be- lieve that Ayesha is roasting coffee." The thought accelerated her footsteps to such an extent that the rapid sliding of her slippers on the path sounded like the prepar- atory steps of a jig dancer in the sand box. "Yes, that's from our court, surely. I do hope it's nearly ready to grind. What's so delicious as a cup of fresh coffee and a glass of cold water when one is hot and thirsty?" The aroma certainly proceeded from a gar- den which the Turkish woman was now ap- proachir?, and as she arrived at the massive gate in the high adobe wall the sound of a coffee roaster in motion could plainly be heard within. Souleima gave the boy a pen- ny, whereupon he set up such a loud and volu- ble protest that she was obliged to give him five paradhes more, with a threat to open the gate and let out an imaginary dog of fearful biting powers if he did not instantly depart. The boy out of the way, Souleima knocked upon the g^ate and cried. "Ayesha, Ferende! let me inl" "Go open the gate, it's Souleima," said a voice within. *HHrawiVBg *»3 When did I become a door "Go yourself, opener?" peeped out, holding a black veil over th» lower part of her face <:^,.i • shuji^^ndlockinX.SrLr''"' that now held the sheaf of lettuce. ^ vo? ^M '' """"'"« around in the sun for Ayeiha^ ~It I / "T '^ '"" «''•" "Ported Zml.H7 '^' "^ «"■'' ^hen Panayota Z b^te" T:-'°" "•" ''•^^ *« -^'''^'^' WeiturtwC:^;:;-.;?-"'' ting fat, my Souleima?" '" * '''* «''■ -s^t^^s^iSE^^ cock, laid the lettuce in f^I 7 [ "** '^n Ayesha and Soulemia are about of an age aa4 LIKB ANOTHBB HXI.EK —thirty. They are both fat, dark and greasy, with black eyes and black hair. Their lips are thick and their teeth not too good. Their complexions are muddy and their faces some- what pimpled. Ferende is a strapping Albanian girl, about Panayota's age, though of coarser build. Like the beautiful Greek who is under lock and key upstairs, she has soft brown hair and brown eyes, set wide apart in her head. It is easy to see that things are not running smoothly in Kostakes' harem, and the reason is this: Until recently Ferende has been the favorite, and the two elder wives have been little more than h-sr servants. The appear- ance of Panayota has led them to believe that a new mistress will soon be established in the household, and they are looking forward with great delight to the degraCAion of Ferende. The latter, fearing her own downfall, has not openly declared war against her two asso: dates, but is racking her brain night and day in search of some method by which to enlist them with her against Panayota. Ayesha now sits with her bare feet crossed under her, upon a rug spread on the earthen floor of the court. Before her is a charcoal fire, suspended over which on two crotches driven into the ground i.« a thing like a section IIL J Souleima removes her outer earment. .nA -^.3i„herstoc«;X?tot:';x: inZ'ltL'T' ^•*' ^y"^''^" 'he asks, open. tk^W r""^ ' ""^^ •!»<»> from quantity of the brxjwn ^okLl ^^'^ ^ 236 UKS AKOTHEB HKLBK corpulent stomach', while she turned the tiny crank with her right. The ladies of Kostakes' household could converse or carry on their domestic vocations without fear of intruding eyes. The wall was very high, and the one house near enough to overlook it had no windows on that side. A pleasant place was that enclosure, albeit two long, shallow, rectangular tubs leaned against the wall of the house, taking the place of the legendary guitar. They were washtubs, and upon them' Ayesha and Souleima from time to time [dayed the stem music of necessity. A huge copper kettle, with a very black bot- tom, stood near, another adjunct of the home laundry. In the middle of the court was a stone basin, into which water ran through a tiny channel from the hydrant in the wall. "Nal" said Souleima, unscrewing the top of the mill and looking inside, "that will be enough, I think. We'll have a cup of coffee first, and then some dinner, out here under the tree. Look at those fish. Did you ever see finer barbouniaf What do you think I paid an oke for them?" "Ninety paradhes!' suggested Ayesha. "Only eighty. I bought them of a Greek. Ferende, clean them, that's a good girl, while I make a cup of coffee." 'THKEB WTTBS 327 fend. of these u«ults when he comes, and he will make you suffer for them." "Poor Ferendel" cackled Souleima. "He mil uke off those silk trousers and put them now that your turn has come. Better people than you have been through the same thing " r.„i ^« " ''''' **""* ''''**"^'' •''" «°Wed Fe- rende .t was so long ago you can't remem- iZll 1" " ^.^'"^'^i^i^y. she walked m to the house. Souleima raised the coffee m 11 as though to hurl it after her, and then her S °' '^^ "'*' '*' ^^' '«'"*' f''" to "Maybe she'll be able to warm Kostakes over again," she reflected aloud. "I don't believe it," replied Ayesha. "He's "Then why does he " Jo'r^^'"''- ^-"^P^^'e wants the girl br^ttfsSr'^"''^^'"'^"^'^^^*-^'- froS*fr!f f "^ ' '°«?-handled brass dipper coffee, ground fine as dust, together with four I 338 UEB AKOTHXiB HEUEK teaspoonfuls of sugar. Then, screening her face with her left hand, she kneeled in front of the fire and held the dipper in the coals un- til its contents boiled over. Ayesha lifted the smoking cylinder from the crotches and, shaking it violently for a moment, set it up against the side of the house. "Shall I bring two cups or three?" she called from the door of the kitchen. "Only two. Let Ferende make her own coflee." "Hadn't 1 better call her?" "You'll only get insulted if you do. The nasty cat I" CHAPTER XXVI A HOPELESS PRISONER PANAYOTA was walking to and fro in a room whose one window looked straight against the blank wall of a house not ten feet distant. A gmting of L ^?rr'' "- «<=ape in^that direc o„ and the door was locked. .She was very nale and there were deep circles under her ejet She ;ya8 muttering as one distracted (Vca "Dear KtUe Virgin, all Holy One save m« 4eorto7er""'"^"^^''«^'P"'^*°- fhn^'T "•''^ P"^'' '"'-^ *t°od listening as hough waiting for an immediate respoSel some miraculous intervention in her beS? finger, deep mto her thick brown locks' and "No help, no help. O God I O God I" At evety sound of^ footstep without, or asp ZJKB AXOTSER HSZiEN of any commotion in the court below, her pale face grew paler, and she trembled with fear and revulsion. She was expecting Ko»- takes. For a week now the girl had been shut up in this manner. Kostakes had left her in the care of his harem, with stern com- mands that she be kindly treated and all her wants supplied. Ayesha and Souleima had derived much pleasure Irom attending upon Panayota, as though she were indeed a mem- ber of the harem and their lord's favorite; for thus they caused Ferende, whom they cor- dially hated, much unhappiness. It seemed to Panayota that she had been in captivity an age. For the first three or four days she had hoped for a rescue by Lindbohm and Curtis and their band of insurgents. Time and again the wild scenes which she had witnessed passed through her mind as she stood with hands clasped and eyes half closed iu the mid- dle of the floor. She siw again the impet- uous Swede chasing Ampates out of town be- cause the scoundrel had wished to give her up; she saw Curtis standing before her with his smoking rifle, while the fallen Turk, his features still twitching in the death agony, lay at her feet. But as the days passed and no help came. AHOPBLBssFBISOintB 33, h« keen hope faded into the blackness of des- "They cannot find me," she moaned- "oer they not know that I ^oJdS''WhZ° tan y sought for some method by which shl often as she thought of self-destrS on^t!! CHAPTER XXVII A PROMISE OF HELP t< f WONDER if that Greek will cotne to I her senses and supplant me?" mused Ferende. "If she keeps on at her present rate Kostakes will soon get over his infatuation. Lord! But she's growing ugly, with that sallow complexion and those big black marks under her eyes. She never saw the day she was half as beautiful as I am." Going to Panayota's room, she took down the key that was hanging outside the door and went in. Locking the door on the inside she stood for a moment looking at the prl, who sat on the side of the bed, her face buried in her hands. Panayota glanced up when Fe- rende first entered and then took no further notice of her visitor. She knew that this was the favorite, although Ferende, consulting her dignity, had had little to say to her. "Panayota," very sweetly, "I am your friend. I, too, am a Greek, and was brought up in the Greek religion, but the Turks killed my father and mother and took me away 83> A PROMI8B OF mSLP I 333 1« then. WirmeLT "/'•"P'^^'I^vould «to a Turk Ld ' *'^ ^''°"" '"™ «« tool" ^"'^ y°" » Pri«fs daughter, b-o^lre T'T.^'T' ^'-^-»'« ward Ferende w^f.^ '' '"' «"'• «" to- "TheHni V ''""' outstretched. -non husband no sl!r""""^ °^ ^^eir com- HeHro„eo4rerdS:L^;'''-^ tered/some'^re^K ''''" ''" "°"'" ^^e fal- "- c^thTdetVd^-C!!^'' •'>' *''« -<'<'- rota^tS;^Hr,,f^^Y^'^nr Cried Pana. her, leaving her^^ ? 1°^* '^^'"8 vvithin "There is „^o other hi f^*' '"^^ «>«fore. else do I want exc«^ I ?°'^ "'«•' What Vou say you are^^^l" Z llr' *"" P'''-- B« what could I «^' f ^ ^ '*'"^« yon ar*. '^orsethanaTuT^'h"'^""' ^"^ «'« ■«*. for their women beheve 234 UKB AXOTHER HBUBK at least that they are honestly mairied. But you — ^you are a common thing." Ferende winced under this torrent of abuse, but there was a certain point which she wished to make sure. "You talk very bravely now, my lady," she replied. "Many Greek girls have talked like that before. It's easy for a girl to remain Christian as^ long as she can save her honor, but after that is gone the Christians are more cruel than the Turks. Then the only way to remain respectable is to turn Turk." "I swear to you by the soul of my father, whom Kostakes murdered, that I will die be- fore I will yield!" cried Panayota. Ferende with difficulty suppressed an ex- clamation of joy. Simulating sorrow, she laid her hand on Panayota's shoulder and mur- mured: "Did Kostakes kill your father i Forgive me, Panayota, for speaking so harshly, but you were very hard on me. Now we can sympathize with each other, indeed. Both my parents were murdered by the Turks. I must go now, but remember I am your friend. Hold out against Kostakes and I will find some way to help you." .*; \jjC *-■• A FBOMISXI OI« HBXP ^^j She turned to leave the room, but Panavota caught her by the sleeve. "'*^"ayota «>b£f -TJ^ f^'^. ^'°'" ''*«'" »he eve.^ nighufbL /ou .^'" ^''^ ''' ^'^«^" hun?uV"rSr'''''^-''«''^". She certainly d,d not have the appear- vfi xjKB Avoraoi HXUCtr ance of a deposed queen. Her eyet, recently treated with belladonna, had a melting, lus- trous look. The little dash of henna under the lower fringe of lashes added a touch of abandon. Her trousers of magenta silk, and her sleeveless purple jacket embroidered with gold thread, were immaculate, save for a loose hair or two, or a speck of dust, which she removed with dainty finger tips. Twisted carelessly about her waist, with the knotted ends hanging loosely at one side, was a broad sash with yellow and magenta stripes. Passing her hand beneath this, she extracted a silver cigarette case. Putting a brown cigarette no larger in diameter than a slate pencil, into her mouth, she called out lazily between her closed teeth : "Ayesha, bring a match and light my cigar- ette," and Ayesha, with a muttered Moslem im{vecation, obeyed. CHAPTER XXVIII PWDE AND ITS FALL A -r^"- ^'- r struck the proiZ • , ""*''" butts -nest:ti:;j;isSeix^^^^^^ i«^ set a little Sh^ Z h u '^'"**- ^oule- and tried to ™tJer.l"r" T" "'* "We A heavy han^; uJptS'"^ "f '"'^ P'^'". boot, shook the XZlht f'. "■ "'""^ tied. '^ *'" '"* fastenings rat- AZ:1i:;sou?ei.*^^^'"^^•'''--«> «.ey both ^sheJr he"lTet 'T'' '"'' too good Turks to .Z^ '^''' ""^ *«« sweetly: °P" *"bout inquiring "Who is it?" kicl^Si W^'^'"- °P*" ^''^ «f«t« before I U7 »3« XJXI Aiuv ni wm iimr.mif "He'i ingryl" whispered Souleiou, undoing the fasteningi. Kottakes paid no attention to the low n- laams of his two wives. He strode into the middle of the garden and, plucking oS his sword, cried fiercely: "Here! Some of you lazy women, take my sword. Ayesha, bring me a chair. Souleima, KHch my slippers." He sank into the proflfered chair with a sigh of satisfaction. The Effendi had been riding hard and was evidently tired. He was un< comfortable too, and needed a bath and grooming. A prickly black beard had grown upon his square chin, and perspiration had made little water courses in the dust upon his dark brown chedcs. He laid his right foot upon his left knee, slapped his hands side by side upon the high boot tops, and swept the court with inquiring eye. "Barbouma, eh?" he inquired of Ayesha, as his glance fell upon the string of half cleaned mullets. "Yes, Effendi." "Are they fresh, eh? Are they fresh?" "Fresh, Eflfendi? They are alive." "Brava, braval" There was a softer note »«n)»Aln>lT8FAI.t. 239 nave"'t •"f^'fj'"' '?«' in twelve), 'r JrejEffendi; immediately. I .mdi •• P« icalingr the mullet, wi^h co- ,.:•„ d. v. Ko»take» seized the heel »«,'„, , . ««d ««ve an ineffectual tS i,.: h' " *''"' «bout the court ae-i„ ^f , • . •" - '"'"'^ ^tuHiedwithLSpper! ''"""''"^'-'>« Thelffen'^Z;^?;^,,;,^-^^^^ mere force of habit ..^^"^*'*« tumed with an .1 '^^ °P'" ^°°'- He shut it wTh a Sm trf " "^ ^I«ti«nce. in hi, pocket ' ^^"^ " ""*' P« the key «ytoyou. In the first phcerr^°'"8^*° hy «.y hopes of saIvatS„ThS'l Zf' *° ^°" J"™. Now listen to n,l_T ,„ '''" ^°" "° yota." ° "®~I 'ove you, Pana- ;;is that why you murdered my father?" fathl?^ do you say that I mLderS'your ^owtrytSdTot-^''-^^''-^^''^" tains by this tLT f Sphakiote moun- "Then ni... V"''*y *° e« hiffl out " ayota c^e y " Tn *'''* ^°" '°'' <="«"' he pushed ofyouwo.e„rakef„os^1r:^' "'. " ''"^ fact. y^^arTi.^i'^-'-'-f together. I« ThJ. '°*"""S than either of vcMil" Thas was not conciliatory ,a„^age;b«!t 348 IiXKB AXOTBBB BMIMXt I « mi ■ 1 'M' ' It 1^^' accorded so well with what the two women had just been saying to each other, that they could make no reply. Each looked inquiringly at the other for a moment, and then Souleima asked: "Do you think he is in earnest?" "Absolutely. He would have no reason to parley with thr giri, else. She is in his power." ' "We shall all be turned into the street," said Ayesha. "He would never dare," cried Souleima. "He has nothing against us. We are faithful, honest wives. It would make too great a scandal." "He will find a way," replied Fereade, coolly. "What shall we do? O, what shall we do?" sobbed the two elder wives. Poor things! They had no Virgin to take refuge with. "If she should a'l ill and die I" suggested Souleima. Ferende started violently and turned pale. "No!" sheened, so ioud that all three of them glanced apprehensively at the windows. Then lowering her voice: "Don't ever think of such a thing again. It's too dangerous. She must escape." A0AlX8TTHBC0W,0K«Kmcr U9 JBut the Effendi would kil, „, even for n2,«;:c;ur'"-''-»^ that he will li] I '"*■"«*' »B01UTI0N TUT CHAir (ANSI ond ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 1.1 r ^ *^' 1.25 lit 1^ u 1.6 ^ APPLIED IM/OF !„. i«53 Egtl Uatn Strmt ??frf*'t''' •**■ ^Of* 1*609 USA (716) 482 - 0300 - PhQn. C7TB) 2M-39Bfl-Fo» CHAPTER XXX A HERO AND A SIX-INCH SHELL "W li TE must yust take our chances," said Lindbohm. "How far is it from here to the blockhouse?" Curtis w?s lying on his stomach behind a rock, with his rifle beside him. "About sixty or seventy rods," he replied. "Rods? What is a rod?" asked Lindbohm. The Yankee laughed. "The fort is— let me see, between three hundred and four hundred yards from here." There was a puflf of smoke from a window of the square, gray building, followed a mo- ment later by a distant report, and the hum- ming of a guitar string in the air above their heads. Curtis lay down again. "Damn bad shot," observed his companion. "M^kes me sick after being in South Africa. If that had been a Boer now, he would have hit you. But these Turks cannot shoot. So we will make a rush. We will have our best shots crawl in close and fire on the doors and windows. Then I take a detachment and run MO >ng at anchor f h.„ ^ i '-■erman, lay rest- together. SomethLg ove^ a^rn^ '."""'■"^ away, those ereat fll^ ™''= ^"'^ ^ half and terror loSed,,'"^ '"^"^^ °f ''"'h about Lindbohln 1*:' " *''' ""'''' ^" hundred and fifty 7„ nf\''™*''' "'"d, one Cretan insuS 1*^7 ,%'. T ^"*'"^ °^ asts and GreTSrS^, ^ '1^7^- w;stetra:;s^;ir, ^^ ^' - ^^^^^ bright, sn,rrvic of t: ''^" ^^^ ^^^ ;ower slopes, ther T„ ol^l!::^' .^""^ ^"^^ 'agegea.^a.o„,.srrhtr^''- t- ^^„d^orlt7:;r••"■^^''^'•^-■ pink hand to Ss htnJ ""'"8^ '"'^ ^ig PMulpuM '°"*'' '""^*"'"'' gave it a - »ia IflKB ANOTHER HEXiXOr "That's yust what we're going to find out," he replied. Calling an insurgent to him who spoke French, he explained the plan for the assault He himself selected the men who were to accompany him, twenty- five in number, and such as possessed bayo- nets proceeded to fix them to their rifles. The places from which the shooting was to be done were selected, and the men began to get to them as rapidly as possible. Lindbohm and Curtis, at the head of their little band, worked down toward the open spot across which the rush must be made. These movements caused more or less exposure and drew re- peated fusillades from the blockhouse. Most of the bullets passed over the heads of the at- tackers, but occasionally one slapped against the soft face of a rock, or scurried' through the gravel. One glanced near Curtis' head and hummed like a musical top. He turned and looked curiously in the direction of the sound. "It takes yust one good, big battle to break a man of that," observed the Lieutenant "Of what?" "Looking after the bullets. They sing all sorts of tunes, and sometimes they only whis- per, but they always say the same thing- death, death." better stay herr ^" ''"^ ^»*"«n- "You tion of affectionTrhf Swede 'h*^"'* "^^'^■ so childlike, his voice so S ra^dT "T so sad and sweet- he I, J if' '^ •"* *"''« that had ber'ied if - ''''''*=''''' pompadour had fSenr '"'' """ "" wheat field upon " hluT '" '""''' '*^ » rouch in earner n™. * "as very one end o h™ IJS ^7^^°"«'y he swepi his teeth S^ftio ^f h'""'*''^''^''^'^"" quired: ^ °^ *"' *°"S«e. and in- the'tL tl::' "• "^^ ™"'^ — "er "Do you think I'd ffo baclf nn , * • ^ ■ time like this?" asked rt.°-^*°*^^» asked Curtis indignantly. fl54 UKB AStVIBXR HE£EK "But, see here, Lindbohm, since you're un- e^y about me, you'll find my address in my pocket. If anything happens to me, write to my folks. And— and, about Panayota— " Lindbohm dropped the hand that he was holding, and the color faded out from beneath the dust and {rime upon his face. "Auout Panayota?" "Tell her I meant what I said to her that day, every word of it. I— I—, she'll under- stand." Lindbohm made no reply, but still resting upon his left elbow, he slid his face d->wn into his great soft hand, and remained sileut for so long a time that an Italian called impatientlv " from a little distance: "Parati, signorl" Then he looked up suddenly and again seized Curtis by the hand. "You are not going," he said sternly. "I am in command here, and I order you to stay back." Before the American had a chance to reply half a dozen guns roared from a covert near by, a dozen more followed as rapidly as the sound of a boy trailing a stick along a picket fence, and then for a full moment the firing continued as capriciously as the explosions of AHlffiOAOT>ASn:.lK0H8HiniX 255 t ^""•='' °^ ^ crackers. It ceased anH t • ^ O, damn his orders!" miiM»«^ /- _■ scrambling to his feet J,. J! "'*" *"*^ «m to earth, and immediately there was T the blockhouse rt wmdows of flBI I aS6 UKB AirOTHEB BEIXS Straight on, stooping every moment to aim and fire. The others followed his example and they were able thus to keep advancing, and none the less to maintain a fusillade against the doors and windows of the Turkish stronghold. They were still ten or twelve rods away, when a white flag appeared on the roof. Lindbohm turned and motioned to his com- panions, who gathered about him. They walked fearlessly through the open door, into the front rooni of a square stone building. A thin-faced, gray-haired officer in a faded fez, came forward to meet them. Twenty Turks in ragged uniforms were huddled together in a comer. The place was dim and sulphurous with smoke. "To whom have I the Honor of surrender- ing?" asked the Turkish officer in French, unbuckling his sword. "To me, Monsieur," replied Lindbohm, bringing his heels together with a "click," and saluting with great dignity. "I surrender to save bloodshed," said the Turk. "I see that you are not a Cretan and I therefore, with perfect confidence, turn these men over to you as prisoners of war." "They shall give up their arms and suffer their names, they sVdL'h T^''"' "'"'^ handed their weaoon.?'^?"' ^°"^''''l «nd £- to a ^anTSt : Joof 'xht^ ^'^'"^ had scarce! V h«.„ „ ^"* ^ast gun motion Se^t^aT "^ ^'^ ' ^"'^'^^^ ^-n- a dozen ZyTns^ZV^l ""''''^^ '-'^ ^^^ commotion no; swISeio a ho"""- ^'"' and Curtis caught T . ^°^"« "P^ar. "Nof nor &b™.'!; "^■"•"^"'"and ^vityofthe^tuatt'Ht"°''"'!«^''« cause his orders had k,.'' "^^^ ''«■ thought that th whole bL^'r'^' -'^ curiosity, were abouTtoswar^- ''»"'^ ''^ fore leaped to the T ^? '"■ "« there- I aS« XiIKB JUTOTRDR KBZiIiX The half dozen insurgents raised their guns to their shoulders and deliberately pointed them at the body of unarmed Turks, who, seized with panic, assumed all the attitudes of fear. Some crouched against the wall, a« though they would shrink through it; some fell upon the earthen floor; others squatted and doubled their arms in front of their faces. Several tried to seize their companions and hold them before their own bodies. A dreadful laugh, mingled with foul and in- sulting words, broke from the insurgents' throats. The Turkish officer stepped quietly in front of his men, and, crossing his arms over his chest, regarded the Cretans with a look of high scorn. His thin face and gray beard added sublimity to the dauntless soul that spoke in his attitude. He had the beak and eyes of an eagle. Curtis was completely carried away with revulsion and horror. The words, "In the name of God I In the name of God!" beat in his brain with the regular strokes of a trip- hammer, and he fancied that he heard some- one shouting them. An insurgent threatened him with a bayonet and another, with an outburst of expostulation, seized the threat- ener's gun. Then a third Cretan leaped upon AH»BOAJn>A«nc.DfCH. wnewy arms of his oonnn«,» j ^'**'" *"* ... "^ **** 3 great crunchine and trom bling sound and ■» ti,. • . ""'« """ trem- their arras as though thev w^r- wo^mg a6o UKSAKOTBKBHMUBX feet again in an inttant. A« he ran, hii fear grew. Some one shouted to him in a familiar voice, but he did not itop. Lindbohm seized him firmly by the arm and held him. Curtis struggled for a moment, and then he felt weak. He could run no farther. He tried to speak several times, but was entirely out of breath. At last he managed to gasp: "What? What? What?" The Swede was standing on a little emi- nence, with one hand in his pocket; hair, face and clothing were dusted miller-white with powdered lime. He was gazing toward the sea, and there was the ghost of a smile in his childlike blue eyes. "Six-inch shell," he replied. Curtis looked. There was a spurt of flame from one of the toy ships in the duck pond, followed by a mufiSed detonation, and a sound such as the wind sometimes makes at sea. An explosion threw up a gteat cloud of dust about thirty yards beyond the blockhouse — or what re- mained of it "French!" said Lindbohm. Another flash, again the sound of the wind, again the explosion — this time about twenty yards short. I CHAPTER XXXI A GRATEFUL MAJOR MEN, still running, were disappearing into the distant hills. The Swede and the American were entirely alone. The toy ships continued to launch their poly- phetnian missiles. "Are they firing at us?" gasped Curtis. "Yudging from appearances, I should say they were," replied his companion. Four Cretans had turned back and were running toward the ruined blockhouse. One was the color bearer of Lindbohm's company, and he was carrying the Greek flag. Straight up to the house he ran, and, handing -the standard to one of his companions, he climbed upon the wall. As he stood there a shell dropped so near that he was for a moment obscured in a cloud of dust. When the air became again clear he was jamming the flag- pole into the soft mortar. Then he jumped down and ran away, together with his com- rades. Another shell exploded thirty feet from the four Cretans, and only three ran on. "What killed him?" asked Curtis. "A flying piece of rock, probably," replied L OBATEFDZ, MAJOB r . — 263 Lindbohm. "When if ;. • ■ down by a shot which elici Jrf k ''""^'** miration from thrSweSe.l"" "''''' "**• co™eroftheho;s!;t;e^fw;S^^^^^^^ Curtis realized now for tL^F-^' peculiar sensations of! soldit'^of JrtlT S had been risking his life for tW « "* saw it fired upoS witho t^LlhriS'f/ h''=' '*= and rage which wn„M u °^ ''°""0'" his heart had t been the7 '"•^'' *''™"^'' "They are IL!!* Amencan emblem. claimSfnSLfetS''''' '.''^ '^^'" ''^ «^- become Sr^ '' '^' '^''" '" '^e bay had . '"^"** *°'" observed Lindbohm- "and ft.,* « why they commenced in thr'firff . * They mistook the Turkish nffi^l^'^'*- the Greek flag. LtlVrth. '•"" ^°' Sp, trtabtrroTj^s^orr^""?'^ turned toSi:ntCTZ Tl "j upon his heart H. c„ 1 ' "'* ''a"^ hastily preprdan^LC^"""""^ a64 UKB AirOTHSB HEIiEK "Monsieur, in my own behalf and in that of my little band, I thank you for saving our lives. Your heroism and magnanimity do credit to the nation which you represent. I beg of you to accept this sword as a pledge of my Uixdying gratitude." And he grasped with both hands his curved simitar in its richly mounted case and held it impulsively toward the American, who looked amazedly at Lindbohn). "Better take it," said the latter. "Need- lessly offend a brave man if you don't." "But what for? Why the deuce should he give me his sword?" "Very graceful act, seeing you yumped in front of the Cretan guns and saved his life." "Did I do that? I don't remember any- thing about it." "Better take it," repeated Lindbohm. "He is beginning to feel embarrassed." Curtis accepted the simitar, but could not find appropriate words. The occasion seemed to demand a set speech. "Merci! Merci!" he stammered. "My father will be glad to get this. He is fond of *his sort of thing. He already has a pair of pistols and an old Turkish gun." And he fell to examining the hilt, which A ORATEFDI. KAJOB 265 And now, if Monsieur does not c™i,;h., n>e a prisoner of war, I will uke lyTave " Aga,„ saluting Lindbohm and salaamfnl^o Curtjs he turned and walked away. ^ ° th. r!, ^' ''^ "°^- " ^ked Curtis. "Get the band together again'" *^** bohI° ".^l' ^'^I'Jhe band!" exploded Lind- ""°°"'"" ""I !»*« m,,- saM Lind. atf T^iwill ANOTHEB BKIJEXI bohtn, when he had overtaken Hassan Bey. "I wish to ask a question on behalf of my friend here, which you will use your own dis- creticm in answering." Hassan bowed gravely. "My friend is interested in a young Cretan girl, Panayota Nicolaides, whom Kostakes Effendi has abducted. We have been follow- ing Kostakes, but he has disappteared. Do you know anything of him or the girl?" "I know it all. He and the Bashi Bazouks passed by here with the girl, who is now locked up in Kostakes' harem at Canea. He has gone wild over her. That is why he was not here to-day with his band to support the blockhouse as he promised He cannot be depended on. He passes half his time laying siege to the affections of a girl who is already in his power. Bah I Kostakes is no good. He is only half a man^ — he is half Greek." Hassan had grown suddenly voluble.. Kos- takes, with his incomprehensible doings, was evidently a thorn in his flesh. Rage, indig- nation, pity, swooped down upon Curtis like a flood, now hot, now cold, as he thought of Panayota, restrJned in the house of that square-jawed, cruel, supercilious Turk, sub- ject to his vile solicitations. 11!: A OnATEFVL JCAJOn 367 violence? he cned, as the thought that he knew where Panayota was and mi|ht yet save hej^^s„.ed almost to Wt hi^Sr "he "And why not?" demanded Hassan. "But baht It IS the Christian blood in him. I ten you. He wants her to love him-bah !' ' hU„T\u^^ "^^ ''"'''*'' '»"'' h« was trem- bling with eagerness. Lindbohm, pale as lip aZ r'"^ '^^'"^^ '^ ^^l^' biting his Tur? ""5* ^''*^" ^'"'"P*^*^'-." ^-narked the lur*. So, once more au revoir, and a thou- sand, thousand thanks." hoi,'!n'"""T'^°"' '''*'' *•"= *'"°°P'" ''aid Lind- bohm. I cannot control them, and I am a soldier. I will not fight where discipUr is impossible My friend and I wish to go to Canea We-we-desire to take ship and leave the island." ^ "Then, come with me," cried Hassan gai- L I ""t ''?'' ^°" *'''°"^'' ^^^ ''■"«. and I may be able in some way to prove my grati- ' Jide to th.s gentleman who has saved my^fc. Votli. we are comrades!" and, stepping be- aOB UKx .AiroTHxa Haxjor tween Curtis and Lindbohm, he grasped each by the arm. Again the bugle sounded. "They can fight," mused the Swede sadly, stooping and looking back over his shoulder, "but no discipline, no discipline! AUons, Monsieur 1" CHAPTER XXXII A VIOLENT WOOER ' ^ unpleasant/to fnST~'T''''''^ failed to o^ at the fi«^ °' *° ''"'^ ^^-n the lock J^Z and "'"^ °^ ^^'^ ^'y- not always ^e^pond"' CT'! l'^ "^'^ '^^'^ wltnly try again H.^f '''" *"'' "°t kicked noisily at the S2 ^h^""" '"'^ Pven vent in a slighV decree ^n7^ .""'* !"g passion, he again rie?X I "' -i: to hin,self m'^aLh e n Grl'^T language being ir ev^rv Greek— that t^'-y than Tufkl^h In^/'^ .'"°'-^ ^«""^fe<=- profanity. Almost faUing irL'""'"'"^ brought himself un with/- . '■°°'"' ^e !"S: at the unhappy"; ^^^^"''^'-dglar- had always seen hin, h; '., Panayota, who Pe^uasive r^ZZ ^ '" ' ^^""^ ^"^^ Vo ItODB A2TOTHBB HBiaN ■I ing brow, those glaring eyes, that protruding under jaw trembling with rage, well befitted the murderer of her father and the despoiler of her home. If Kostakes should come, mto her room some time when he was drunk! But now he was only angry, seem- ingly speechless with rage. She had been peering through the grating of her window watching a rat that was running to and fro in the sunless court below; he was so fat and his legs were so short that he seemed to be sliding over the pavement like a toy mouse. When she first heard Kostakes' key in the lock she grasped the iron bars to keep herself from falling and, leaning against the wall, stood looking at the door. And thus she stood now, a smile of scorn faintly curling her pale lip. Kostakes strode across the room and, seiz- ing her wrist wrenched her hand loose from the iron bar. "You won't marry me, eh?" he said. 'Tm not good enough for you, eh? I spppose I'm old or ugly or you prefer somebody else? Is that it, eh? Well, now I'm going to tame you. You wouldn't have me as a Christian, you shall have me as a Turk. There aren't going to be any more Giristians, do you hear? Eh? Do you hear? We're going to kill the A nouorr wookr I»la» i. aroused Wh T°? '• ^^ °"« ''ft- he shouted, fltel„ h " '"' *''«'• t^roat^-" "The streets will run^blSf E T ""^• ""believer in Crete m„.^-''"^*'°»<»'an «ndlchi,dre„-i;^;;;j,^'. «-' women vaiK^rKolt^:/-^"' father had pre. *« fom, oTS^7 overwhetaed 4h for blood. HeCdZr".* '^'^•* "^^es Turks, who haS iS a *?"' "^^ ^^^^ Crete, and his ChriZ„ .l*?'!"'"''' '° Mve fast turning into xSh . °'' ^'^"^'"^ *« • a riot of blSoJid ^t^Vr- J' ""''«'' "»» complete. "P"" *° «"«*« the change '"''^tr^thlstaSd"'".^^''"---'' "then you ^1 i S,^** «" «|e door knob; went out. "^^ *^ "e « a Turk." and h^ »oul that she thought nLfu^' "°'''«*y of WJow Christians fhom'^^K'^''^' ''"'"^ ^er '•mminent dan^; uT''* ^f'^'^ to be in and g,Ve them^wai^r'Vt "*=^P« »^-Hought,forsheS.^;i^t;fSS 373 USX AirOTHBB HEIiBK V means again and again. She might sUnd at the window and scream, but »he had already done that, with no effect. Kostakes' house was right in the center of the Turkish quarter, and the screams of an hysterical or angry woman attracted little attention. A girl shout- ing in Greek for help was a time-honored legend of Turkish rule; as old as Islam and as natural as murder. So, as a last resort, she fell upon her knees and be- sought the Virjgin to help and save the people, to pity the mothers and the little children and to turn away from them this danger. Now, while she was praying, a conflict had been Uk- ing place within the breast of Kostakes, of which he felt the effects, but of which he was entirely unconscious. The blood of his Greek mother had been making a last stand against that of his Mohammedan father, and while he was even yet breathing out curses against the Christians and muttering, "She shall have me as a Turk," he turned about automatically, as it were, and retraced his steps to Panayota's room. The girt rose from her knees. "tam praying the Holy Virgin to save my people," she said in a solemn tone. Her eyes were streaming with tears. Kostakes shud- dered, and involuntarily raised his arm, re- 273 A noussT WOOEB 373 ".othefcomd bl- v";y t«rib Jh*^ " °' ''» angry. ^ ""'''* •"'"« when "Panayota," he wid. "I-I-wa, too rouri, Bu-ih, virgin h.d comlonrf P.^yot. .„d Err "■"'*'• ^'"i>°i"»i.«s;» CHAPTER XXXIII THE INNOCENT ONLOOKER KOSTAKES went to the Umw of hit friend Mehemet Effendi. Mehemet wat about of an age with the CapUin, and had attended school with him. He wai young and handsome, with red cheeks, thm, large nose, and thick lips. He affected Euro- pean costume, but, being a fuU-blooded Turk, was a sincere worshiper of the prophet, and an enthusiastic member of that society of youths who believed that Islam was about to be rejuvenated and purified, after which it would rise and overwhelm the unbeUever in a 3cries of victories greater than when it swept Asia and the isles of the sea with the besom of fanaticism and carried its on*, star to the gates of Vienna. Mehemefs partner was a black-bearded, pale-faced Persian, forty years of age, who wore a blue vest, blue trousers that were full about the hips and tight at the ankles, carpet slippers and a red fez. Hassan Ben Sabbath was a Mohamme- dan by profession, but his belief was coloreJ and weakened by the secret influence of an rt naWKCOWTTOiaooKBH 2n Mdent religion. Hi. «,«! wa. haunted bv th« unrecogni^ble gho«. of the de«3 gS. ol Mardonit and Masiitiu« h- ^ ' buwneM and n!w^ ?' * *" P™*"'"' '« Th. il . ''*"y <'eP«'ecatory in goeech The bazaar into which Kostakes „ow walS itod.\,T-L ■ *^"'" portion of iti volver.. ByzanSS rjewZ ""t'- Mrthf.ware TurH.h ^ jewelry, antique the wTiil'^^V" ^'^ ""'''' °^ » • uivan and two chaim q;j. 3^5 UKB ANOTHEB HEIiEN bath, who had been pretending to sleep otts the divan, rose to a sitting position and yawned. "Don't betray your feelings so," said Me- hemet; "the hour when the faithful shall triumph is almost at hand. Be patient." "I'm sick of the whole cursed spawning of Christians," cried Kostakes, making the whip crack on his boot top like a pistol shot. "I want to see the throats of the last one of them slit. I—" "Now, Kosta, Kosta, in the name of Allah," protested Ben Sabbath, springing to the door and looking to right and left. Mehemet patted the excited man on the shoulder soothingly. "He cannot help it," he explained. "It is Islam rising. Patience, Kosta, but a little longer, and you shall have your fill of slitting. We shall spare no one, eh? No Oiristian dogs to breed more litters of Christians; no babes to grow up into Christians!" "Merciful Allah! If you should be heard I" whispered Ben Sabbath in an ague of fear. "You can't make anything out of a Chris- tian, try how you will," continued Kostakes. "They don't appreciate kindness. Now, take that giri of mine, Panayote— " "You are not trifling with her yet?" .i-pi«.«^.h..Mr"!iL,"-'"""" harem t/^ * j "^ *"* head of mw ness now. Th's is , fin / *^^'* ^'* ^'"'i- 't is possible £'; cSritt; fh ""•'^^ "''^" a Turkish gentle^ntdt o'STotS? heard KostS " f^""'' ^°"'<1 '^ve have sto;;?tr" A?ttro''"' '"' '^""'^ however, the entire pplroTIhr"'"" was surging down to the waw-H ''"^'^ '"? an English ship tharS^.'aSr''^':; no-selessty sliding info the haTb r g Jentlv -ks to their L^:::zi:i':^:^':!:'^^ Srr: "el:"" r ^"^^ -^'^ --S '"uws at the approaching vessel. 278 T.Tinn XSOTBKR HMaBK "Here it comes l" cried Ben Sabbath from v the door, as the masU and funnels of the "Hazard" suddenly drifted into the back- ground, above the heads of the throng. M<^ hemet grabbed Kostakes by the arm and dragged him to the door. "See there!" he cried, forgett-ng all re- straint. "There comes the disgrace of Islam, my brother^they have come to enslave us. Those English are Christians, and they hate us But your time has come, dogs, your time has comel" and he shook his fist toward the * '^But in the name of Allah!" expostulated Ben Sabbath. "These English are our best customers. Only yesterday I sold a piece of Rhodes embroidery to an English lieutenant ,or four times its value. And we can't fight the EngUsh; they take the most terrible re- venge. Look at — ' "Bah! Look at nothing! Look at our most glorious Sultan, the light of the worid and the defender of the faith. Has he not been keeping all Europe at bay for the last ten years? There is no God but God, and Mo- hammed is his prophet!" "We must not interfere with the Enghsh, imnwooTOTOKMoniB ,„ madness." 'orce— it s the venest The metallic burr of thp rU,;^ rapidly as the "HaTariV' .' ''"^'"^ °"* came to their tars Si J ''I P'""^"^' lesl we'lTu'?'.*^'*'' ^™" *" ^omtnt, u„. ;s^aris"7h:?r'h""'^^^- Not mto mine while I have two hundred I t* 280 T.Tinr . ANOTHBB HEIiEK Bashi Bazouks at my back!" cried Kostakei ^ "Curse the Christians!" "Have they not given them the privilege of trading in the town? Have they not denied to Mohammedans the right to go out and visit their farms and gardens? You will see what their next move will be." The sharp, clear tones of an English officer could be heard, and the rattle of oars as they were unshipped and boated by the crew of a man-of-war's boat. The crowd at the wharf surged back with groans and cheers. But the wharf was not destined to be the chief center of attraction. The scrannel drone of a bag- pipe sounded faintly in the distance, and grew rapidly more distinct, a waving thread of sound that led the measured tread of many feet, marching to quickstep, out of the silence and nearer, nearer. The three Mohammedans fixed their eyes upon the opening of a street that gave, not far away, into the square. The bagpipe turned the corner, and its defiant wail came straight to their ears. The throng at the wharf turned and looked, then turned back again, like the distracted spectator at a modem circus, where the prodigality of at- tractions prevents the enjoyment of any. But they were not long in doubt as to the principal THB unrocEirr onxookeb 281 attraction, for the street ejected from its mouth at that moment the most devil-may- care picturesque, obstreperous, robust, busi- ness-hke compound of wailing wind and true Macmillan flung across the square, looking ne.ther o r.ght nor left. His hair was red! an h>s facf .^ med in the tropic sun. Every tm-e that he puffed his cheeks full his head shook w.th the effort, and the streamers of his Scotch cap leaped on the breeze. He was a tall, gaunt, awkward Scot, whose projectins kneecaps played in front of the sinewy knees hke round shields. On he fared, with chest thrust out and face thrust up, squeezing the bag beneath his brawny arm and letting out Us protesting squeals in the notes of "Bonnie Pnnce Charlie." Behind him at a distance came a small body of Seaforth Highlanders and a few bluejackets, bound straight for the custom house. The throng scrambled out of the way to right and left, as though from a bayonet charge. In fact, the natives did not wait for the troops, but melted away before the flaming countenance of Tamas Mac millan. One of Kostakes' Bashi Bazouks, a great splendid fellow, with a blue and yellow turban Il ll 383 UKB AITOTHBB HBIiBN about his head and a gaudy sash about his waist, appeared beneath Mehemet's awning and salaamed. "Your men are going up to the custom house," he said. Kostakes was fretting to and fro in the shop like a big lion in a small cage, gnawing his upper lip, twitching at his mustache. Every moment his passion grew, and the snorts of indignation became more and mote frequent. "Doesn't want me, eh? What does she want? Wouldn't have me on any terms? Ha, ha! We'll see about that I" "EflFendi," said the man, in a louder voice. The Captain whirled about with a jerk and glared at the speaker. "Well, whst do you want?" The man retreated a step. Kostakes' face was purple and his eyes looked uncanny in the half light, like a cat's. "Your men, I said, are going to the custom house." "Bahl Tell them to go to the devil!" The Bashi Bazouk salaamed and started away, but Mehemet caught him by the arm. "The Effendi is in a terrible rage about Platonides. Tell the men to go up in twos THB nwocBirr onxookbb 333 and ^threes, and-a„d_to keep out of mi,. "We are not armed, Fffendi," reolied th« leathern sheath, tipped with silver. ^^Je^are not armed," he repeated, "except SaS'^'^'VT'^ ^' "■°"'''*'" whined Ben ^tSs. "' ""^^ ^°^«^- - - best ,nTll^l"* *''* Christians doing now?" sneered Kostakes, standing in the dfor He Mehemet pointed. The British troops and tomZs:%s^^"r ^" ^^°"° "*^' luui nouse. Red jackets and Pleamino- Kiit. .nd httle caps with frisking tails on the othc Numerous Bashi Bazouks were seen standmg among the throng, severa7of ther^ upon its outer ed?e K-ncfoi, . ^" of the hated pLtonide^Tn """^^' "«''* ^'atomttes m company with a a84 TiiTinB AVOTHEB BBXiBlT British officer. The guard saluted, and the Cretan raised his hat, as though the military courtesy were intended for him. "If there is a row," chuckled Kostakes, "my men will attend to you. They'll install you!" And he started briskly across the square, accompanied by Mehemet. Ben Sabbath retired into the shop, trembling with fear. "Our best customers," he muttered, "and they never forgive nor forget I" But he could not restrain his curiosity, and so, after another moment, he peeped from the door ag^in. Everything was proceeding quietly and in or- der. "Bah! There will be no trouble, with all those English there." He tiptoed across the open space in front of the door, ready to scurry back at the least symptom of alarm. He reached the edge of the throng, and forgetting his fear, in the midst of so many friends and neighbors, pushed boldly through, arriving at the farther edge just in time to receive a bullet in his breast. Qutching at the air, he staggered a few steps into the open and fell dead, with one loud cry to Allah for help. Like many an- other peaceful and inoffensive man he had fallen the first victim in a scene of violence. CHAPTER XXXIV STILL WITH THE ARMY KOSTAKEShi^self had been the indirect cause of Ben SaJAath's death. ThS J uousM?htet ''^"'= HeandtheiXf of the Hne of H ' m''?'''"^ '='°^' *° °« «d remark ?„7"'f'^':ders, "^^'""^ '""""ting InH !h r^ ^°' ^^^ ■'^"^fit °f Platonides and their Chnstian neighbors. Stung beyond endurance the excitable Greek pSS'tSe Enghsh oificer's sleeve and pointed to hTs tor mentors with raised am,. Kostakes st pped ttn of hr' '"' ^'°°'' ^» ««' •" the S ton of h.s enemy, whereupon one of the statues .n kilts came to life and dropped the butt of h.s musket on the Turk's tH^l latter sprang back with a cry of pain and T. exclamation in Turkish: ^ ^ '''' "Death to .he Christians!" fered bvM^''°"''' '""^^' ^* t"^* '"«"'* s"f- 'i4 a86 i.-nm aKOTHBB BSLBX of Hassan Ben Sabbath and awakening the demon of massacre that now for many year» had lurked in the towns and villages of Crete, feverishly and fitfully sleeping. And what an inconceivably horrible demon it is! Here is the sweetly wimpling sea, with the Grecian sky above; here are vineyards and pastures on the hillsides and the ancient pipe of the shepherd boy; here are white villages that should hear no sound save such as harmonize with the vesper chime of some monastery bell, drifting across the waters, or the choiring of the Cretan nightingales. And yet, nowhere on earth has hate, irresponsible and pitiless, found so congenial a home as among these idyllic scenes. Mehemet whipped an English navy revolver from beneath his coatjmd • outing "Allah U Allahf fired point Wank at the Lieutenant in charge of the guard, who sank to the earth, gasping: "Steady, boys, steady." . Kostakes" Bashi Bazouks came plunging through the press from all directions, gather- ing about their master. Knives twiried m the sun and flashed above the heads of the people —horrible knives with concave edges, made for the cutting of throats. And now, from windows and from the roofs of houses, com- steady 1" ' ^t«ady, boys, The beardless boy who otnr^A .u command a trifle 0,1- k f """ ""'^ '" anv rate I,. « ij .. ° gentleman. At "' rate, he could die braveiv u doubt about that nart T-fV ^-^^ "°* '" - 11 a88 XJKB AKOTHKB HXiaN across the narrow strip of sea, their oar» mov- ing rapidly, liku the legs of frightened centi- pedes. The tittle sub-lieutenant drew up his company facing the rioters. He then de- tached a squad to put the wounded into the launch. The fall of the first two or three shells had caused a momentary panic in the town, during which the British succeeded in getting into the boats, save one wounded man, who had been overlooked somehow in the excite- ment. "Shove off!" cried the little sub-lieutenant, standing in the stem of one of the boats, whither he had leapt last of all that gallant company. "Shove oflf!" repeated the middy in charge; and the boat drifted a foot or so from the wharf, as the grappling poles were lifted. But at that moment the little "sub." saw the wounded Highlander, lying helpless upon the cobblestones. Even as he locdced, the man rose to his knees, swayed a moment and fell over upon his side, a bundle of bright tartan on the gray cobblestones. It was Tamas the piper. Without a moment's hesitation, the sub-lieutenant sprang to the wharf and ran to the rescue. The place was clear, as the rioters had drawn back from the *nU. WITH TH» ABUT aSa threatening gun. of the British, and were Pounng a galling fire into the boa , Tm IV- dows and comers of houses A. fi- Wo advanced, ai, therrifle. Je^e ,3 «p(iipl of bullets about his ears. His own men now, assisted by the marines wereT stepped slyly out from the shelter of buildinj or arose at the edge of roofs to take aim Tama. w„ clutching one of the pipes of hT. mus.cal mstrument with an unloosab e grJp His rescuer vainly attempted to open ?he bony hand. Seeing that the effort C use S-^'iSS«2s=di S-^S^S'^SS^iS l.eutenant leaped .n and cried "Shove offi" The sheath of his sword was badly bent bv the 'mpact of a bullet and a spot of bKp'^a ed near h.s groin, and rapidly grew iSg^f ' ,nhh J u, '"' ^°"'''*= wouncledl" almost sobbed a burly Scot. But the sub-Iieutenit 290 IJKE XSOTBER EEIiEN was young and familiarity is the death of authority. "Be silent, Ferguson!" he said, sternly, without deigning to look at the flesh wound in his side, which was beginning to smart like a great bum. "Did you bring off my bagpipe?" asked Tamas Macmillan, wounded to the death. " 'Tis the sweetest instrument in a' Scotland." A laugh of derision greeted the question, and even the little sub-lieutenant smiled as he fainted away in the arms of Ferguson, who muttered fiercely, "If they don't give him the Victoria cross for this I'll desert." Mr. Ferguson is still with the army. CHAPTER XXaV IN THE MIDST OF ALARMS THE report soon spread among the Turks that the English had been driven into the sea. Islam, that always believes m final universal triumph and the death of all unbelievers, was drunk with vic- tory. The Mohammedans of Canea did not stop to think how few they were. It seemed to them that the vengeance of Allah was at hand, and that the whole world of the faithful had arisen. A band of howling demons poured down the streets of the Christian quar- ter, shootmg into the windows and doors of the houses, hacking down with their lone kmves all who were not able to get out of sight. The shells which the "Hazard" contin- ued to drop into the town in hopes of quelline the uprising only added to the terror of the vic- tims and the fury of the murderers. The Mo- hammedan has no fear of death when he is on Gods business. Kostakes' terrible Bashi Bazouks were everywhere. These are the ir- regulars who furnish their own arms and equipment. They or their families have suf- fered in some previous conflict with the Chris- II 2g2 XJKB ANOTHER HEUCM tians, and they kill for revenge and the true faith. Some resistance was made and guns barked from half-closed window shutters into the faces of the marauders. But whenever this happened it only hastened the fate of those within. The Christian quarter swarmed with Turks. They crowded the streets, leaped over the garden walls, pried open the doors of the houses. Those who were not there out of pure thirst for blood came from love of plun- der. Kostakes, with his friend Mehemet and a half dozen of the Bashi Bazouks, did terrible execution. The Captain, as with drawn sword he drove his victims to bay in their gardens or into angles of the wall, imagined he was still talking to Panayota. "There'll be no more Christians," he shouted again and again as he thrust home with his sword, or as some form writhed on the bayonet that pinned it to the adobe wall. "We're going to kill them all." For hours murder, rapine and plunder ran riot in the streets of Canea. When the moon came up that night eight hundred dead bodies were lying stark and ghastly in the beautiful gardens. ^TBf mTHB MIDST OP ALABMS 293 At the first "sound of distant firing th. ,:°"- '>^Kostakes' harem were „r£ea^' not mean danger to them. Thoroughly ieno- rant, they beheved that all the ki„iTnd poentates of the wond were vassals ^fS Sultan, who was able to enforce submiss on be a i?n. Sr°'' **;'* '"""^ '^^ ^^ere would be a grand k.Umg of Christians and other un- habued by Turks alone. No doubt the prophecy was even now coming to pass. Sn,J ^^ "' ^'"'"«^ '" *''*' Christians," said Souleima peepmg through the gate. "All the Christians in Canea." "Aren't you sorrv for them'" h2^^'J^^ '''""''^ ^ ^^- I''^ their own fault if they are Christians." Av7^"" 'T^ ^°' *•'" ""'« children," said Ayesha with a shudder, thinking of h^ own httle boy, that had died in infancy sitttf ''"1'°°''''^ ''^'^ '' ^'=«"''«' ^^o *« sming on the stone steps at the outer side of the court, her fingers in her ears. The sound of the guns made the ex-favorite nervous, and she wanted to think. She believed that a cnsishad^ arrived in her Ufe. The terrible 294 IiIKB AXOTHBB BKLXS Turk had been the bogey man of her infancy. Surely he was now conquering the world. Who would be queen of the domestic king- dom which Kostakes would rear, when he should return, covered with blood and glory? Would Panayota remain a Greek when all her countrymen were killed? Alone, — the only Greek in the worid? Ferende laughed scornfully at the thought. The boom of cannon was heard. It sounded very clear and distinct and seemed to cause a slight tremor of the earth where they stood. They looked at each other with startled and wondering eyes. The sound was repeated. Then, in a moment, the Turkish quarter, which had been hushed to whisper- ing silence, broke forth into a babel of femi- nine screams, cries of children and the noise of many frightened women, all chattering at once. "What is it? O, what is it?" shrieked Ayesha and Souleima, in a breath. They looked toward Ferende, but she was gone. Again that dreadful "boom," and now shrieks are heard in the streets, and the sound of fly- ing footsteps. Ayesha and Souleima pull the gate open and look out. They behold a panic. Women clutching their offspring however 1^- ^ INTHIIMlDSTOrAiAHMS 295 elders, screaniing, "Mamal 2a r % tered to herself: "°* '*''"' *''«= """■ mylfieZ.""''^'""- ^'«t>- drudge a., tak«' ^1"°' f ^ *° "''°" concerning Kos- i> I 296 lilKB AirOTHEB HEIiSN The thing that was certain, the situation that she must face, was "the Christians are all being killed, and even the girl upstairs will see that Mohammedanism is triumphant. If I get rid of her, I shall live like a queen the rest of my days." Patiayota was lying on the bed with her face in the pillow, shuddering and whispering to the Virgin. At the first sound of the guns, natuic had given way, and she had fallen faint- ing to the floor. Recovering consciousness, she Had found herself too .weak to rise, and had crept to her couch, where she lay, moaning. Sometimes there would be a few moments of quiet, when she would raise her head and listen, hoping against hope that something had happened, and that the dreadful sound had ceased forever. But no, they always com- menced again; one report, another, and then several following in quick succession, or else a general crash, and she would ag^in bury her head in the pillow. Thus Ferende found her, and, shaking her by the shoulders, cried: "Quick, Panayota, run, run! They ;re killing all the Christians in the world!" "I want to die," cried the Cretan. '\tf. "•"-^-^"•'^ss^.-5i^~....,..,.^ rW THE MIDST OF ALA 'MS 297 "They won't kill you— Kortakes' woman. And he may be here any minute " Panayota ran into the hal! Hope, that is always living where it seems most dead, thrilled her breast with a sudden ecstasy. If there was any opportunity of escaping from the filthy Turk and his pollution, why, then, she did not want to die. Before her was the open door of a bedroom, and upon the bed lay the black garment and veil in which Moham- medan women bundle themselves when about to walk or ride out. She pounced upon these and literally scrambled into them. Then she stepped to a window and looked down into the street. It was nearly deserted, save for the groups of women peeping from windows and half-opened garden gates. She wondered If she would be able to run that gauntlet of eyes without being questioned, discovered. At that very moment the situation was solved for her. The sound of a cannon was heard and the flight from the Turkish quarter began. When she reached the garden the gate was open, and the street was full of frightened \yomen and children, all running in one direc- tion. There was another roar, louder and fuller than the spiteful chatter of the rifles. It was like a giant shouting in a yard full of chil- i. 298 UEB AirOTHXB HXlIiBIT dren, and it was followed by a general shriek from the rabble of fleeing non-combatants. Panayota had heard cannon before, they were simply one of the voices of war — ^in this case a mere phase of the riot of blood which had broken forth upon earth. But she was going to flee from it all. In that brief moment that she stood in the gate the great, faithful righteous mountains rose before her mind; they seemed to call and beckon her. Often had she dreamed of them in the days and nights of her captivity, but then 'Jiey were far away. Now they had moved nearer, the mountains of God— her refuge. Crossing herself, she, too, plunged into the stream of humanity, was swallowed up and swept along by it. Kostakes came back to his home; came back covered with Christian blood, and long- ing, like a Turk, for the Christian maiden whom he had locked up in his harem; came back cursing the Mother of God and gloating over the deed which he had resolved to do. But he found his house rent in twain, and his garden filled with a great heap of smoking rubbish. He looked into the cleft rooms as spectators at a theater behold the interior of a house, and there was no sign of any live IN THB HIDST OF ALABMB 399 thing save himself in all the street. There was Panayota's room, with the bed standing i„ the corner and her Cretan jacket hanging to a nail m the wall. But she was gone Then a great fear seized Kostakes, and his mother's blood awoke m his heart and surged through h.s vems agam. Trembling in every limb, and E ri' k"' ^™'" ^^'"^ '•'•' ""^h °f passion had fled, he unconsciously crossed himself, muttenng hoarsely: "It is the vengeance o^ theViigml I am accursedl" CHAPTER XXXVI AN INTERRUPTED RESCUE < < A H, THE shade is so delicious I" said JJ^ the Turkish Major, stepping under a pine and removing his fez. Lind- bohm dragged the handkercliief, tied turban- fashion, from his brow, and wiped his face with it. The cloth was black with powder- smoke and grimy with dust from previous contact with his features. "It is always cool in the shade in this coun- try," he observed, running his fingers through his damp pompadour, "no matter how white hot it is in the sun." They were following a path that wound like the thread of a screw athwart the face of a hill that had been terraced with infinite pains and labor. Plateaus, from four to twenty feet in width, supported by walls of cobblestones, rose one above the other like steps of a wide' stairway. After the terraces came a forest of small pines, cool and fragrant. It was now near- mg the middle of the afternoon and the locusts were at work, plying their sleepy rasps aoo IPSWr «-»n»iCTTroin«tn „, a pear tree «„ ■ ' ''"''" <>". where down its branches in^.^' ^"^^^ ^"ambled rounded a farTou ' n°/. 5"''"" "''« '"r- "Wa, th,-. , -r . f °' ^^"^ ''"'ant- a^Jirh^-^-'^L^Vin?"^^^^^^ were broken, and a dL J ? ""'^ ''°°" vine, that had once carried ^r"; ^ "'"■'''" "P to the tiny bJlconvT ^'^""' '""'^ ^ihe Major shrugged his shoulders Who Knows?" he rephed "wl u was, the results are the ,7m ^,^'=''«v« ''t around, perhaps we „/ « ' " *« 'o°k where." *^ * ""'y ^"^ a body some- ^^." Ut^ri;^.^^- - W no 4U"Sis?cretfr^™'"^''' '■t -nto the tail pock« of th! f ' '"' ^"PP*^ ««'« "''--yed'sistl afhl: ''"f/°"- "'' s'^ssed such a doll and tv °"" P°*- touched a very tenir ' '"'""'" ^°^^^ '^ '*'°''«r spot in his heart. The 303 UKB AKOTHBB HEUEN Turkish Major, white-haired, erect and slen- der, was strolling away through the stumps of what had been a pear orchard before the ax of the vandal had laid it low. Curtis was fol- lowing, holding the crooked simitar clumsily away from his hip. Lindbohm wiped a tear from the comer of his eye with the back of his big pink hand. "It's nice to have a wife and children," he mused, "to lovp theift and bring them up. I'll help him find her, and then— America 1" They came to a broad white road cutting m twain the level greenness of an interminable vineyard. The vines along the highway were powdered white with dust and the dusty Uttle grapes, green and hard, gave small comfort to the thirsty wayfarer. The three pedestrians cast their eyes down the long, shining stretch, over which the heat quivered visibly. They were standing beneath an olive tree at the edge of the rocky and wooded tract through which they had come. The only other shade visible for at least a mile was that made by a solitary brush watch-tower, far out in mid- field. The Turk sat down upon a rock, and, removing his fez, fanned with it his scanty gray locks. "Do you know?" he asked, smiling sweetly . -"f INTBHHDPTED BESCUB 303 at his companions, "the proverb of thu th.sun.'^"°°'' and Englishmen wallc in now^thltfhavrh^Jd?^ • "' '*'-»•'- actly like thatlt ^3 'Lt AT "°* "- ^^«^u.T.ot^^2j/*^-"en.. C^^L'ssrsf r ^-^"^ ^^-^^'^ politeness, wa^ZVco^- .•"'"' "^''" '''a" Wlf coUnaTraSs't Ctr": T'*'^ oMve tree; his head lolW ! *'""'' °^ tl'e ""outh dropped ope„ '° ^'''^ "'^^ ^"'J Ws hedoes,:r;o„?;^r'-T-»'^^o,and sitting l:;,t. flat :; r'-t '^^^'=' between his palms Jfl °'^- ^"'' ^'^ ^ce -,giitten-„rfrr;'iS;3«sp^'<^'>o' mountains. ^' ^ '^^^e among Curtis lay down upon his back, with hi. 304 UXa AKOTHXB HBIiSK fingers interlocked behind his head, and watched the innumerable twinkling of the pale green olive leaves above him. "I've been in this island so long," he mused, "that I don't believe I shall be able to go around the world. Shame, too, as the gov- ernor had sort of set his heart on it. I haven't spent much money in Crete, it's true, but I promised to be back and take hold in the office." Closing his eyes, he could see the great shoe factory, as plainly as though it were there be- fore him, the neatly fenced enclosure and the path by which the small army of employees came and went every day. There was the office, a one-story building painted white, that stood near the gate. He looked into the front room, and there, on high stools, writing in great ledgers, sat his father's clerks, an old man and four younger ones. And in the little private office was his father. There tie sat tilted back in his swing-chair, a young appear- ing man, cheerful, prosperous, shrewd; not an educated man, but his son's most intimate companion. Curtis laughed as he thought of the "Trilby Club" of which his father was president. They made Welsh RabWts, played penny ante and sang rollicking songs. There WM a club house where fhev ™^ ■ "<1 ale foh din„,„ ^ "" " """»" n'gn pnest of common sense in th^ r .• =SJ^r^a.- s-i l^ s" f" ;„H '' r "i" "^"^^ '"^'^^ « fool of him! tHm?"! *° '''■'** ^""^y^*^ '» European cos- tume he mused, "and she would make ^ cross herself." ^^ *''* «""' Mrs. Curtis represented the religious re- 306 r-TKIt AirOTHER HBIiBK sponsMities of the family. A tall, angulw, bespectacled New England woman, brought up strictly in the Presbyterian faith, she re- garded all foreigners as heathen, pimng to be converted to the doctrine of infant damna- tion; and a taint of papacy was to her as a taint of leprosy. That this woman had eloped with William Curtis when he was a penmless drummer for a shoe house, was no indicaUon that she would countenance similar conduct in her son. "If I could manage in some way to have Panayota educated for a couple of years," he mused, "and then bring mother and the gov- ernor over here to see her— they've long been talking about taking a trip abroad. The first thing is to get her away from Kostakes." But here a thought occurred to him of a more serious nature than any that had yet passed through his mind in connection with Pana- "I wonder if Americans wouldn't look askance at a woman who had lived in a Turk- ish harem? [Wouldn't she bring a tamt of suspicion with her, no matter how pure she might be? Of course, if I caught anybody— His reflections were interrupted by Lind- bohm exclaiming: 3P7 "Hellol What's that?" awa;tow"5ca"ef*°''"^-'a''d looked the "Hazard." * ^"* i^" of bllhouT/aSfn"" 1" "* "^ ''" "^^ °" 'he Greekfl^o. *^ ' ~""nented Curtis. "The sieur?" ^""^ ^''*^' » it not, Mon- . "^*=*ly'" replied the Turk "Perh,„ v »s a sa'ite of «nm. i,- . ' *^erhaps it even as he st the ** 'T '"''"'■" ^--' "PossiMv^ f "'' '"^ ''"^•l again rossibly, „ssented the Swede "=.„/. J-ad spoken ataost together ^"^ ^"* ^^^ould they be bombarding Canea?" asked "Let me see," replied tho Swede «W-n •. >s not probable, but possible T P' " was one n-anrf ..„1- • Suppose there seized"he forts ZT? '"'' °"* P'"^' ''^^ 3o8 T.nrBl AKOTHBB HBIiEK both kill each other; then they might drop a few shells yust to scare them." "But might not some innocent persons be killed by the shells?" "In times of massacre and war, innocent persons must yust take their chances." The sounds continued, irregular but fre- quent. Lindbohm stood gazing in the direc- tion from whence they came, a dreamy look in his blue eyes. The dull detonations seemed to come from half way round the world. They were the heart-beats of war, throbbing fierce- ly in the far jungles of Cuba. He pulled the handkerchief from his brow and picked clum- sily at the knot. "Let 'em yust go it," he muttered; "shoot, kill, bum, and then blow the island off the earth. It's too mixed up for me." Curtis was tired. He sat down beside the Major and listened. The Lieutenant stood looking at the sea, tying and untying the handkerchief, and, as the vision of scientific maneuvers, artillery duels and bayonet charges, took shape in his mind, the flush of excitement ilooded the stubble on his unshaven cheek. "I will join the Americans," he mused. "I will draw my sword for fiberty and progress," and again the imaginary sword leaped from the AN nmiBHUPTBD BBSCCB 309 jcabbard and his pliable wrist moved nervous- ly in unison with his thoughts. Then of a •iii^" ''^;'' down the white road. "whatt th/"'!^""*'"' '"P'"« *° Ws feet, whats the matter, old man? Wait for a chap^ca^'tyou?" and he ran after him '"^ My God!" said Lindbohm, "have we for gotten that .he is there? It may be clSear Gentlemen," expostulated the Turk as he this ,s madness in this hot sun. I was abou to propose that we wait for two o! thr.« ously about the Swede's brow blv Iwtr* "" ""■' ™°™«=nt strike «.e forci- bly that they may be bombardine Canw " 1 Plamed Lindbohm, "and eventfw^doe's n"" »eem possible to me." He talked a one apol op«ng partly to himself and partiv to other for a serious offense. 'ZZ 'X, rescue" Pmnf ■■^' ^* •"""* So to her rescue. Emphasizmg the remark with a vio- 310 LIKB AITOTHBB HBUBK w lent thruat, he ag«in hurried forward The sun beat down with fearful intensity, but the tall Swede forged along the dusty road with doubled fists and a swinging stride. Curtis wondered afterward that the curious figure had not impressed him as 'tdicrous; with the long tails of the shrunken coat falling apart, the pompadour standing erect in the encir- cling handkerchief, like a field of ripe wheat in a fence, the huge fists striking at the trick- ling beads of sweat, as though they were liv- ing things. But no, old Lindbohm was never ridiculous, and Curtis struck out after him, his arm aching with the heavy saber, that would fall between his legs the moment he let it go. "Lindbohm was right, of course. Poor Panayoto, what a fright she must be inl" In utter silence they strode ahead. The Turk said nothing, although he marveled and suffered greatly. He owed his life to these foreigners, and he had determined to see them safely into Canea. If they chose to go there in the broiling sun, and into a storm of can- non balls, and all for a unit in the tribe of women who are as the blades of grass— all alike, why it was "kismet." The four soldiers followed because he was their officer, and a Turkish soldier always goes stupidly wher- *X XNTBBBUFTBO BESCVX 311 ever his officer goes, whether to a massacre of Christian babes or a hell of belching cannon. fi>o, for a fuU hour they walked, till at last they canie into a region of gardens, fenced in with high stone walls, and suddenly, from around a coiner came a man, carrying a small child and holding a woman by the hand. The cou- ple stopped and looked about them in a per- plMity of terror. Then the woman leaped up and seizing the top of the wall, bristling as it was with broken glass, scrambled over like a cat. The man tossed the baby after her and followed. Curtis and Lindbohm both turned and looked inquiringly at the Turk. "They are Christians,"he explained. "Who knows what has happened?" A tall, bare- headed Cretan, holding a little giri mider each arm hke water jugs, appeared, stopped and stared irresolute. A half-dressed woman with a new-bom babe at her breast, and a girf of twelve clmgmg to her skirts, followed him The woman, with a shriek of terror, slid to her knees, beside the man. It was a painting of fear, a Christian family in the Coliseum awaiting the wild beasts. "Backl backl" cried the father hoarsely pushing the woman with his knee. Clutchine wildly at his clothing, she pulled herself to 3" ffTira Alf OTHBB lyiT.'irw her feet, and they all disappeared as they had come. Curtis ran down to the comer, juat in time to see them dart into another lane, be- tween two other gardens. These were but the forerunners of a long stream of terrified Christians, who, at the first sound of the firing at the custom house, had fled from the town. Lindbohm and the Turks came up, at sight of whom the fugitives were thrown into the greatest consternation. Curtis and Lind- bohm, determined to learn what in truth had happened, walked briskly forward, and the motley, gibbering, Dantesque throng blew backward as though struck by a wind, with much looking ovor the shoulder and many pitiful shrieks. As they streamed in the other direction, the weaker and those bearing the greater burdens dropped behind in a thin line; aged women, the halt and the lame, frail moth- ers carrying their children. And now, in all that scene of despair and horror, there fia^hed out a spark of beauty, inspiring as a lone star on a dark night. A stripling — ^he could not have been over twelver— lingered behind, re- treating slowly and threatening the oncomers with an antique gun. He was slender, this boy, bareheaded and coatless, in blue breeches of Cretan make and high, untanned boots. AwnraBHinTPTBDBiiscra 313 GodI" " "" ""^^ of-«ch, my « .h. Mood ,ta, ta, ^"jtrS i Lindbohm caught her hv ft,. - U» from lb. •SLr^ MMh„rf|«„ 314 IXKB AKOTHSa ECBunr The Major stepped up to Lindbohm and Curtis and said firmly: "Gentlemen, I see that a general massacre of Christians is taking place in Canea. If you go there, you will surely be killed. I beg of you to come with me to my country place near here, where I will protect you till the danger is over." "Never!" cried the Swede. "We go to the rcKue of a lady." "You can do nothing," replied the Major, impatiently. "If she has not already escaped, it is too late, and our own position here is be- coming dangerous, for I and my men are un- armed, and a band of armed Christians may appear at any moment. Join your voice with mine. Monsieur," turning to Curtis. "I as- sure you, on the honor of a Turk, you will never even get to the city alive." Curtis hesitated. "Doubtless the lady is at the English con- sul's?" hazarded the Major. "No; she is in the most fearful danger. She is a Cretan in the house of a Turk." "Ah, I remember. But then she is not in danger. At present she couldn't be in a safer place. Whatever her position is, it will remain the same, and you can find her later on. While -^wnrramroxBDMscim 3,5 we'd onlfg^t hVJ^„r! f?^* *"°"«''' «"d sent-mindedly "wTfZ^^TT^' '°°''«d al>- bohm, and. after a m;^^7 ! "P°" ^'n^- certain death r ■^°"'^"^"' ~o advance is tenng vain Berserker frnf I, r^f' "** 'P"'" 3i6 MKB JJf OTHm KKTiBiy "But, listen, old man, damn it, listen a min- ute. The Turk is right, dcm't you see that he's right?" CHAPTER XXXVII YE WHO ENTER HERE PANAYOTA was part of the flight and of the panic, but she was not, even in of ,h. T u°T^ °^ '''='■ «^<=^test fear, a part of the Turks. Her one thought as she repeat- ed the name of the Virgin beneath her Lh- fnok and crossed herself with er hands hid- den withm the loose black robe, was to get way from the Mohammedans. Let The ^^17 ^! V""^ '^' ''"'• y*""' ^° ^^' escape from Kostakes and his kini The ever-increas- mg stream of humanity ran, scrambled, and as It grew denser, fought its way on to the city gate, through which it poured into the dusty road beyond. Once outside the city a mo- mentary feeling of relief possessed the throng, as though they had arrived at a place of safety They did not cease to run, but there was a lull m the nghtened chatter. A woman seized Panayota by the arm and addressed to her a voluble question in Turkish, between gasps for br«th and hysteric sobs. The Cretan not underatanding a word, plucked away he; sleeve and stniggled toward the edge of the II 3l8 UKB ASOTBXR HBIiEN human stream. The woman, following, again seized her by the arm and repeated the ques- tion in a voice of shrill querulousness. In the midst of Panayota's new terror— that of be- trayal — sounded the boom of another gun and the crash of near-by walls. Her tormentor screamed and clutched both hands into the back of a tall Turk, in whom fear had proved a stronger passion than lust or fanaticism, and who was fighting a way to safety through his weaker neighbors. Panayota, suddenly re- leased, fell clear of the human stream against the comer of a hut that stood by the road- side. She ran to the end of the building and looked back. It was absolutely certain that no one erf all that hysterical, panic-stricken flock of human sheep saw her. She stepped behind the building and reeled for a moment against the rough mud wall, hands upon it high up, face between them. She felt faint, but the Virgin answered her prayers with strength. An opening in a hedge of aloes invited her. Through this she stepped and, stooping, ran for a long distance, keeping the hedge between her and the fleeing Turks. She came at last to a little building, long and low, standing by the side of a cross road. She pushed the door opta and gave a ciy t ; i : ■ra WHO BNTBB BKSB 319 Of joy. The tall stand, with its circular toft covered with spikes for holding can- ,n^'' ,^u ™'**^"'** '"^ ^' *e farther end of the room, the crude earthen censer in the window-^U told her that she had taken refuge in a Christian church, which, strange to say, had neither been damaged nor defiled. On the wall beside the curtain was a tiny shelf and upon this stood a bit of board about four inches square, bearing o.. its hither surface li^ 'H" "^"'^ »"« of an oval-faced woman and chubby, naked child. "Ah, the dear Panayeial" cried Panayota, transported with delight. Tearing her Turk- ish garments from her, she threw them to the earth vnth a "Nal" and spat upon them. Then she turned to kiss the eikon, but ere she did so It occurred to her that the place was defiled by the clothing which she had just removed. She therefore gathered the pile up and peeped from the door. Seeing nc one, she hid the clothing rn the hedge and re- turned to light one of the yellow candles which she found upon the stand. She took it as a good omen that half a dozen matches evidently left by a previous worshiper, were scattered about among the candles. Pana- yota had no maiey with her, not a Upton, not I liH 3ao UECB AKOTHTCH mnT.wy a para, so she took a thin gold ring from her finger, once given her by her father, kissed it and laid it among the few copper coins on the stand. Wonderful peace and comfort came to her. The sanctuary of the Most High seemed pervaded by the divine presence. Save for the flicker of the beeswax candle, she was almost in darkness. It was nearly sunset and the only light of day thai entered came through a narrow slit in the thick wall. She went to the' door frequently and listened, whenever she heard excited voices and foot- steps of people hurrying along the road, but all the passers-by were Turks. The world seemed full of Turks. Just at dusk three men stopped opposite the door and fell into a dispute. After wran- gling for a few moments they came directly toward the church. Panayota ran to the cur- tain and then drew back in superstitious ter- ror. Should she enter the Kaly of Holies, even to save her life? A hoarse laugh at the very door decided her. The men entered. She heard their exclamation of surprise at the burning candle, though she could not understand what they said. She looked about her, impotent with terror, her white lips mov- ing mechanically in prayer. In the end of the church above her i,«.-4 admit the 41 EvZju " '^"'"' ''«' *° flitted in and ouf f"?''*^^^''^''«°* seemed to LTLIuT^ ^"^ ^'"r' ^he hands from 'SiS^gptft'r^"^'' there with closed eyes beh^H tl, .''" '*°°'' A fearfuJ scream Z ""^ *'''" ="rt^"- the last e^rir; i^^r ::; bl * "r " •- at first arouse her. TLlJ^ '^''^ "°* "«1 for a woman to h. • P'''**="j' "at- at once, the else ou„^';rT "'"•'"' ^' flashed upon hJTl ^ "'*'' *" ^aved n^isfortunHuJ [rvS SH °"f ^"°^''-''' tain back 'and p r.^' o„t ' '^''^ ^"^ <=«"- been kicked over tS T^i '*'"'' ^'"^ the room was emp^ "S th^ T' '"* screams continuerf J ^ . °^* dreadful ling and Whte? A A '"•'' '''''^''' '^uck- tericall, shrifklSg fo^'r me^rsS/? ''^^• shrieks ceased, an^d then Se forth r^ *'' a greater distance as thZ I ^^° at were holding hisVnd ov°er'L7c: ™''?." mouth as she was being dr^Jn ! ^'S»^' yota tunied sick J!h u^^'^'^y- ^ana- 'or the ^i:^r'.z:t:r'-:''' ror at her own n,,^ ""seen victim, and ter- ofsilenc'enTui^r"';- f^'^'^'^-o, yota olurtp^ ^"*' °^ which Pana- yota plucked up courage to puU the door 333 IiIKB AITOTHEB BXiXiXIN I! I open a trifle and peep out. It was now nearly dark. She heard distant voices, but could see no one. The church had become to her an abode of fear. Mohammedans might enter it at any moment to commit sacrilege. The hedge was near by. If she could only reach that unobserved she could flit along in its shadow toward the open country. Then she could run all night. Several times she nerved herself for the start, but found her courage insufficient. ' Once, when she had really pushed the door open wide enough to let her- self out, she heard men's footsteps. She drew back, and again suffered that dreadful appre- hension that they were coming into the church. They were two Turkish soldiers, and they went right on. As soon as their foot- steps had died away in the night, Panayota crossed herself, and, stooping low, ran to the hedge. She stole by it for some distance until it was cut in two by a gray streak of road that dimly threaded the darkness. "I cannot follow the hedge all night," she reasoned. "If I get out into the country, it must be by the road." Again commending herself to the Virgin, she started down the highway, walking as quietly as possible and stopping every few I "1 WHO aiTTBa HBHB 333 More cautiously than before she stole alon^ beheld a hght that flickered and went ^ L er^ times and then burned feeblyT s?X mt f ^r ^ f'°"^' ""'*«"'l^'^ whether to make a wide detour or to trust to the dark- seemed to nse from the ver;^ ground at her 3^4 UKX iUf OTHBB HBUBM ! feet. Panayota saw them first and managed to slip by them, but her foot hit a stone and sent it rolling down the bank. One of the men called after her in Turkish. She did not dare to run, but, lifting her skirts, tiptoed away with long steps. The men made a sud- den rush for her, and she flew down the road on the wings of fear, screaming once, "Help! HelpI Panayeiar As her pursuers heard the feminine voice and the Greek, they shouted "Ho! Hoi A Greek pullet i" and came stumWing after; but Panayota was a Sphakiote maiden and not so easily caught. On, on, she ran, with the sound of those heavy footsteps and that satyr laughter ever in her ears, and, as it seemed to her, nearer, nearer. She came to a place where the roads forked, and, by some instinct, followed the right branch toward that tiny, flickering beacon that seemed to beckon her in the darkness. All at once her pursuers stopped, burst into a hoarse guffaw and went back. Panayota could not for the moment believe it. She feared they were simply tor- turing her; that they would turn again in a moment and resume the chase. She stag- gered on, too faint, almost, to stand, yet not daring to stop. She was passing a row of Tl.. TB WHO BXTEB HBBB 335 ' "" «™y« and the doors wer» inn,. 1. t of the dead, and the walls of the dwelli^^ r„!fK^"-'""' "' '"'"" "he cried. "Now Ood be praised I" * A bare little room she beheld wifh , a o beaten earth, and contail'^tTa JZ TT ^ ^ °" «»«'' «de of the fireolac^ Upon the wall hung an eiko» of the^dSr blessed Virgin, and upon a shelf beneath sa^' Sordrbuit:.? r ^•^^^ "^- ^-thew..,f.:s:;ght:nzt^ But while Panayota stood in the door bl' fore she could open her „,outh to speTkhe^ fleetmg ,oy gave place to the old terror Th^s wa'ablJtrr"' f " ^'' ^'''^ -"- 'h K.S Sh ^ *'"'« «f«ge, and the Turks were just behmd her and all about Rwayota seized the door jamb to keep 9W XiOCH AirOTRKB BXUtM heneU from falling, and her head drooped against her arm. "Woman," she gasped, "are you not crazy? Why do you not run? The Turksl The Turksl" The woman looked around. She was young and comely, with an oval face from which the black hair was neatly brushed back, low down over the ears. Her eyes were large — unnaturally large and dark— and there was in them an expression which awed Pana- yota. Their utter fearlessness was uncanny at such a time, and back of it was a depth of accepted despair that has tasted all grief and hence knows no further fear. "You are in no danger from the Turks here," said the woman. Her voice was in- finitely calm. It came into Panayota's world of fire, massacre, outrage, like a voice from another sj^ere. Then all at once light seemed to break in upon Panayota's mind as she stood there be- wildered. "She is dazed with fear or some great mis- fortune," she thought. "She is losing her mind," and, springing forward, she seized the woman by the arm, crying in her ear: ■ra WHO XITTEB BKBB «w"y, sistep-the Turksl 337 the "Come Tnrksl" fm^"?*"* *r'" »''°°'' »•" off and ahrank ^ Uo not touch mel" * '^"* ^'I' T"''"'' "P°n you'" w tne 1 urks. Who conies here runs a irreator danger than that of the knife » ^ "Who would offer violence to a leper?" JnA , " ""^ ''°'"" '" " Cretan girl's «ind equal to that of dishonor it is the ho«or of leprosy-that hideous sore on the body of the lovehest siren isle that floats in any sel Panayoa ,„ her vigorous and lifeivS mountain home, had heard leprosy sJok^ it "thtiro"-?^- ''^^^''^Z^^T, Llh,2 T'"""""* °' hell-something to be shuddered at even when mentioned; but the poss.b.hty of coming into contact With it had never entered her mind whSMTht'." ^"u'^''" '"*° *»•« ^"'^^■ fT^SJ. u"* '" *•" '*«''' "'"'ost before the door, the sound of footsteps, and husky. ii K 338 zjXB AKormui HBi on, on, over my whole b^' cL h^l •few years from «,w, When it'gets^t?;" 33* UXB AXOTBXB BXLEOt face, and you will know whether I am a leper or not." Panayota stood for a long time looking out into the darkness. She was weary to very faintness, but it seemed safer to stand there, turning : r face to the night, breathing the cool air. Besides, she could not talk with this woman. She did not know what to say to her. At last Aglaia spoke again: "Forgive me/' she said, with a sob in her voice. "I have no one to talk to, and I sit here and brood over it. And it will be for year*— for years. But you must be very tired, and you must rest so as to go on with your journey. Come and lie down on the baron- gitsa. I will not ccone near you." Panayota lay down upon the hard planks and made a pillow of he/ arm. "I cannot offer you the bed-clothing," said Aglaia. "It might not be safe." So weary was Panayota that she dropped off into a doze, only to be awakened after a few moments by the sound of low sobbing. Listening, she heard the words: "O, my God, I am an outcast, a thing ac- cursed. I am poison to the touch. Holy Vir- gin, save my children, save my little ones." Panayota sat up on the bench. rt>m^^9^ »>iraia»PAaTo»r4xo8 «T , 333 1 cannot sleep, sister Ariaia." .t.- ., J am so sorry fo.- vo« tf r ? ' "'*'' here he wouldknowX to « ^ '''"' ^'^^ was killed by the Turks t ^ '° ^°"- «« She spoke of h" ^^«n<»Phan." .'«'i".Cth:^xxf?tir^^^^^^^^^^^ - not a comfort to thoset t^^^™^^-- My motherTdVhel T"^ t '°^^^ ''™- left me to his care h. "" ' ''"'* &'^' «"d -ordtomeiniws,Jr-''^^""nkind to talk to me about Jlta .LT "''"^ was very, very tende MdhT f ^°'"^ h.s arm around me there in , J T"^ '° P"* little parsonage, at nS h.f '^°''' °^ °"^ bed, and, poi„ti„e to tf» ' * °? '"" '^^t to •When we^C^lth? ' ^ ^""'"^ ''''X-- tell mama thatTwaS^/ ''*="■ ^°" *"' Panayota?' And I usTdl ^°^' ^°"'* ^o"' papa, I ask the Virln ete ° ''^*° ''•"•■ '^''' But mama know^sLe; A.7 ' ^u'^" '''^'•■' it all now." ^^'^''' *he knows 334 ZJKE AXOTHKB BJtUEXI I n of her withi — with horror? As she grew more and more repulsive, would you not have shud- dered even at the thought of her?" "No, no, indeed. I shoult* have thought always of her beautiful soul. Her misfortune would have made my love greater. That is the way any child would feel toward its mother." "Do you really think so?" cried Aglaia. "O, it does de so much good to hear you say so. I have a husband and two children ■ — a girl and a boy. That is why you saw me praying when you came in. I pray all the time to the Virgin to save them from the curse. I never pray for myself. I am past all help. But I pray, pray night and day for my children." "But there is another world," said Pana- yota, solemnly. "Do you never ask for hap- piness in that?" Aglaia laughed bitterly. "Listen," she replied. "My children never come here. I would not allow it. But some- times I go down to the bank by the roadside, where the other lepers go to beg, and my husband brings them, and stands afar oS, and I look at them and stretch my arms toward '111 BBTTBHPAHTOFVAr.OH 335 know how to fix her h^.^' ^'""^ *'°«*"'t come here, „,ama." And We^'' .^T'' my face changes I shan't go down T^ them any more T cU-ii . '° ^*^ melikethaT" ^ ''«^' °^^«'- '« them see Panayota went to the door -.^^ 336 UKE AirOTHEB HEIiBK hills to which she longed to flee — gray giants, moving toward her out of the darkness. The whole earth was swallowed in silence, and the beautiful valley that spread out before her seemed wrapped in the slumber of peace. But alas I if she looked to the right, a few slender columns of smoke rising from Canea bore witness to the dark deeds of yester- eve and last night. Panayota's momentary joy at the coming of day forsook her at sight of that smoke. The light was cheering, but it did not help her to see any escape from her perilous position. An hour passed away, and the sun rose. Aglaia made some coffee, which Panayota drank without revulsion. Everything about the little hut was spotlessly clean, and the stricken woman herself had not yet fallen into those careless ways which come to the leper when all pride is extinguished. "How shall I be able to go on my journey ?" asked Panayota. "God will show a way. He has not deserted you as he has me." "Perhaps He has deserted all Christians. Perhaps the whole world has turned Turk. If so, I'd rather stay here and be a leper." BBTTBBPABTOFVAtOH 337 -h^rrgr^M^vL """"^^ ""' '^^'^'^ will one T^m^ZT'^'' '"' ^"^"^^ and g,Ve C^rb k ' " '" "' ^°'"' English are in ^00,. ""• ^"^^ the water jug. Seeing, th.* ' '^^"^'"8^ a andpje4f„rLtrisr'^^'°^^^^ -o.SSTir^r-^^'^«'''-<«"Good. " Wi;rre'I^"'''''J '"'"""^'■^'^ Panayota. w^tVe7„x:5"^^'--^^-'-^ knows ho^l^XnelT- 5°1 °"'^ only come last night Th/ ^21' '"^ '^' '"^^ Priest's frock, shSfa'nd ^ggel^T "^ ^ to his feet HJc . ^^*°- and reaching 33S XiIEB ANOTHER wmT-miif "Hum." he said. "Adio! Adiol" and he shuffled away, muttering: "God have mercy! God Have mereyl" "That's Papa-Spiro," expUmed Aglaia. "He is a priest. They say that it is a judg- ment on him — that he made love to one of his congregation." A wretched being who wore enormous blue goggles over ihis eyes and who directed his footsteps bV tapping the ground in front of him with a long stafi, held in hands curiously twisted and deformed, looked in at the door. "What is it? What is it?" asked the blind man, with that feverish impatience which the smallest events excite in isolated communi- ties. " 'Tis the new leper. She is very beauti- ful," replied voices. "I'm not a leper," cried Panayota. "God save me and protect me, and keep the evil eye from mel" "Hush!" whispered Aglaia. "Do not be- tray ywirself." "Describe her to me, my brother." "She has beautiful hair and eyes and " But the remainder or the description was drowned in the many questionings of new ar- rivals. The gossip priest hnd told several MTTBBPAHTOFVAI.OH 339 acquaintances of Panayota's advent and th. never think of those pitiable, outraged wrecks of the image of God without tears Iootd"t '°™; ''''''*' '''' *'''°"& ^"d a face looked m-a face infinitely diVustinir InH jnfinitely terrible, and that si hoj ^ nundedPanayotaofahon^shecouldn^ttS mI?!5'D**'" ^'^''y' '''"•^e them awavl" moaned Panayota, covering her face with W hands and retreating beWnd iS^a And m tears and she began to sob violently Aglaia, but little better accustomed to t"; homd spectacle than her euest fo„n^ I voice with difficulty. ^ ' """"^ ^^' "Go away," she said, "for your souls' sakes! Do you not see that you are frightening the poor thing to death?" ^ saiZS" f/ ""^ "?t""'* *'''"'' ^ ^-^ beautiful," s^d the Face, with a laugh. "I had come to asjc ner to many me." 340 UKB AXOTHEB HEIiEN "Are you Christians or Turks?" asked Aglaia, remembering that nearly all the mem- bers of the colony were Greeks. "Go away and come at another time. In God's name, go awayl" She could not shut the door, as two or three of the lepers had crowded into the open- ing. "Doesn't 'like our looks, eh?" said another. "Never mind, brothers; she'll look like the rest of us soon enough — and you, too, for that matter, Madam Aglaia. There's noth- ing in the world like leprosy as a cure for pride." Thanks to Panayota's sobs, she did not hear the remark, but Aglaia did, and felt all of its cruel force. She could make no reply, except: "True, true. God have mercy!" Thus she stood, helpless, when of a sudden the hid- eous faces were all turned away from the door together. "Silence!" cried one of the lepers, for a mil- itary quickstep could be heard in the dis- tance. "Allah be praised!" said one of the Turks. "It is the Sultan's army going forth to con- quer the island." """•"""■" '"Sj;^^;iJ?f^"«..a™...«»u.u MKSOCOrT HSOIUTION TBT CHART (ANSI end ISO TEST CHART No. 2) I.I 1 23 Itt Iti til HI 1:25 i 1.4 1^ 1.8 1.6 /^PPLIED IIVMGE Inc 1S53 Eait Main StrMt RochMtBf, N«w York 14609 uSA (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone (716] 288-59B9 -Fa* *■ f.. ..rk" m^^ "*^^-^\\rOi\^-i ."^■" t'-V-U . BBrrBap^-roFrAi,oH stood listening anrf thL . moment she the Bashi Bazouks'-^n^ • ^"^'^^es and the dooria„,b to keen h '^7/''^ •^^"S''' «' ••Hark!" criej aS''?^ ^""^ '^""^■ H'usfc, neither is it Greek It^ '/ "°' ^""'"^'^ This should mean gS J' '^ '"^^'g" music. here a few moments S-7'- ^°"^='t Aglaia hastenfd d^wt th' ^'^Z"' <^"*'' yota stood in the door '^"^'^ ^"^ ^ana- The sound of the ° I; """'"^ ^"^ '•«'*'»•"?■ "earer. The boj; of"^,^^^ ^ '°"<^er, cam^e the h-ne of the fork thTt f '''?«^«'"& down bounda:y of the ep^J;' !°r' ^'^ °PP°''t« been right. Thar^" ^^ ^^'^'^ had the tune was foU? T't,^"'"'^'' ">»«<=; thri]IedhersomehoTs;:,'^"'r'^ ''"' 't from the door jaX her h '°f''l''^'- «"^«" "- -de and she' sTood ereC '^"''^'^ ''^ a man approach Tr^ Thr'""" °' ^^'^"' that she had of his nr.c * mtimation '^^ <=n,nching f.^ Jr"'^ - the sound ~vered her face^ h , .^"^'mctively she ^- '- the rr^itft;^ 343 UKB ANOTHER UKLEN Was this person, too, about to inflict himself on her? Whoever it was, he had evidently stopped outside, before the house — was waiting there. Perhaps some face, more hideous than anything she had yet seen, would appear at the door. "Will he never go?" she muttered, her teeth chattering. "I must get away from here — away into God's clean, free mountains. No! I believe he is going away. Praise God!" for the crunch, crunch of footsteps in the coarse gravel was renewed — grew fainter in the distance. Panayota was about to peep from the door again when she heard other footsteps, of people walking rapidly. These passed by without stopping. She heard a man call as though shouting to some one far away, and then there was silence for so long that she once more ventured to look out. It had been Hassan Bey calling to Curtis, and begging him to walk more slowly. What trifles affect our destinies! Had Lindbohm lifted up his voice as he was on the point of doing, this story might possibly have a dif- ferent ending. Panayota saw only Aglaia coming down BETTER PAST OF VALOn 343 the road, waving her arms. She lost all fear and ran to meet her. ^ •'It's the English." cried the woman. They are arrestmg Turks right and left. iut^r r'"^ '^^ '*^'^«" '"to prison bLu^'^ *'' ^""^ *"^^ f™*" *"« Bashi •'Now God be praised!" laughed Panayota. The Turks are hiding like hares. Not one dare show his head. Papa-Spiro says that ^1 the pnncpal Turks will be hanged and the rest driven into the sea." Panayota's eyes blazed and she held her head high as she marched back to the leper's hut unconsciously keeping step to the tune of "Tommy Atkins," il- [;..; l! '' CHAPTER XXXIX TO A PLACE OF SAFETY iil WILL walk with you to the other I end of the village," said Aglaia. Papa- Spiro had returned also from the roadside. He had talked with a young man from Canea. The English were thor- oughly angry because their soldiers had been killed. They were going to send over a great army. "O yes, it would be perfectly safe for a Christian to go anywhere now. Not a Turk would dare peep." Panayota had long ago formed her plans, when she had dreamed of escape in the house of Kostakes. Her mother's brother, Kyrios Kurmulidhes, lived at Asprochori, a little vil- lage about twenty miles from Canea. She had often heard her father speak of him as a godly man, and now Papa-Spiro said that Asprochori had not fallen into the hands of the Turks. In the early days of the insur- rection the Cretans had held that region, and since the arrival of Colonel Vassos from Greece the Mohammedans had not been able to get out there at all. It was still early morn- TO A FZjACS of BAFKTY 345 jng; she would be able to reach the place before nightfall. P^" She talked excitedly as she set forth, carry- a h Jn T?u ""'^ '"'° ^'''•='' Ag'«'« had pit a half loaf of bread and some cheese. O yes, this is a glorious thing for Crete Strtlre^?^'"^^'''"'--^^''^"^-- Aglaia's enthusiasm passed away as sud- denly as ,t had come. Her leg felt lam^ than usual and she had great difficult keeping up with the strong, healthy young woman who was going out into a iorld o^ light and joy. They were passing a row of room. The first half dozen that they passed were vacant; their occupants had go' e o s'rt?bTr"''''"'"^'"^''^^'''=^°^^- fal*!.? ^T^c *u' ''"'^ 2;raveyard. at the farther end of the town. Several humble lZ.T'u '*'"^'"^ """""^ '^^ t«" grass and a black cross or two marked the last rest- ing place of lepers who have gone to the com- fort prepared for those who do not get their good thmgs in this lifetime Pawa^°°'^"''^'' '^^ ^ '''"' y°"'" ^^''l 346 ZiIKK JLSOTKEn BBSUSXt "Why, where are you going?" asked Papa- Spiro. "She is not a leper," explained Aglaia. "She came to me last night for refuge, and I took her in." "Not a leperl" exclaimed the priest. "Now pray God that she has not caught it." "Christ and the Virgin save mel Christ and the Virgin!" cried Panayota, crossing herself. "Amen! Amen!" said Aglaia. "Do not even speak of it, Papa-Spiro." "Adio!" said Panayota, moving away. "Adio, and God be with you!" The old priest with the bloated face and the white beard extended his hands. "Before you go, daughter," he said, "take the blessing of a poor old leper, who still be- lieves in the mercy of God." Panayota bowed her head. "God be with this Thine handmaiden," said the priest, solemnly; "bless her and keep her and bring her to a place of safety. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, amen." Once out of the leper village, Panayotai walked very rapidly, once or twice actually breaking into a run. The great hills, upon TOAFLACBOF8AFBTY 347 brother, looked so near that she fancied her- Sri able to cHjnb to the top in half an hour. But she soon lost breath and was obliged to dZn r' T"'' '^ *^"- She had no doubt of her we come by Kyrios Kurmulid- nes. He had often written to her father- wish to see his sister's daughter. "I must not tire myself all out at the start." ?t seem?''- "'' '' ""'='' '''"''«' "^^^ '•>- So she struck out again in the bright sun clatter of horses' hoofs in the distance, rap- hf ff„™T? '""^'^ ^^ '^'y '^^^^ "«r and or som" VH '"' ' P"""^''- ="^ '^''-d bout sne saw half a dozen red-cheeked, light-haired "ST "P°"^-''-''. and ;t fhei'S a mere boy. with a face like a girl, but who nevertheless, sat very straight alid tooJ Iim.' self qu.te seriously. She felt the earth shake «de of the road to see them pound by in a whir of dust. But they had not gone f^r be- f ndVatr? ""^'^ ^""^ '- «™ '" th Sr and called out a single syllable in a clear, sharp 348 UKE ANOTHER HELEM tone, and the horses stopped so suddenly that hey reared on their haunches. The Jficer t^„' ' Z ''°"^' '•"'"'^'^' »«"> one of the t«K,pers fell out and rode back toward her She must have exhibited evidences of frigh ^or^he .an called out in UeeMaughln^ "SSlTir^eifit^r """''•" ™«_5» • . 1 »'"iat is It, fellow country. change had come over the earth! But yes- terday you met o«ly Turks, heard only Turk- jsh.^and now the whole world was sneaking ;;Are you from Canea?" asked the trooper. No, I am a Sphakiote maiden. I Va* U^en pmoner by the Turks, but now, thank "oa, I am escaping." eZ^- k''°"u"\''*PP'" *° •'«°^ Yussuf Effendi by sight, then?" "No." "Did any old Turk with a white beard pass here on a mule?" "Not a soul; but I've only been on the road about half an ho«r. Why, who are you? What has Yussuf done? Where does he__" «„. V '"■'■'/'.'"^ *•'' ringleaders in the mas- sacre. Yussuf is one of them. I'm an inter- PWter with the Fn»r .. ^ ."""^ to CanifofiX Jr^- "°" ^- ^o '" perfect safety. iTSthfJ^' ^"''' """'^ these days. Adio llw "^'''>' *° ''« a Turk "Adia" "'' ^"'^ ""any thanks." ;er'lX.""erarhors''7^°'^ --««' dens and vi„eyards\X;j^^f ""•°"^"' ^«r. overgrown with vines 2 '^'^ "'"'' ^ncc. Je tnangrularh-ttle viJar.^fS" f"^ P'^-n'^ 'ts suburb of tombS? "l' '"P*"' ^'th and the dead. ThTht^ '"' '"^ '^e dying ;-hed, and looked tl""! ^" "'^"^ '^^'t- vines. Farther away were thf '"' ^"^ •"osques. the Christian h „ '"''""d Turkish and the tops of hSrbui^" '^--s of Canea, the gray waJIs. Two Jt^' "^'"^ above 3SO XJKB AirOTHSR KMXSEaX hands in the brook and took tl)e bread from the bag. "Poor Aglaia! Poor A^laia!" she said, shuddering. "Heavenly Virgin comfort Iter!" She pulled the crust off the bread and threw it away, together with the sack and the cheese. "The first thing I shall do when I get to Uncle Petro's," she resolved, "will be to ask htm for somt clothes. Then I will bum these— uh I" Much refreshed with the bread and figs and a drink of the cool mountain water, Pana- yota again set out briskly on her journey, her heart full of hope. Indeed, she seemed to be under the Virgin's special care, for just as she had come to a place where there were two roads, and was in doubt as to which one she ought to take, a venerable priest came trotting around a comer, seated sidewise upon a very small, bluish-gray donkey. "Yes, the road to the right led to Aspro- chori, about ten miles distant," he replied, removing his tall hat and wiping his brow with a red bandanna handkerchief. "O yes, he knew Kyrios KurmuHdhes very well in- deed, a godly and a just man— be quiet there!" The last remark was addressed to a pair of young goats, hung to the saddle in a sack TOAFIuLCKOF&ArBTr 35, ut h!I'7' ''/ 'l!' '*'^"'' '^"8 black robe. He h»d already heard of the arrival of the English, and was in hopes, by the erace of God, to .ell them these two'kids ft twicj th«r value. So he trotted away, bobbTn. .t'al! 'r" °" '" T *'°"''«^' "°* '-5 3^ed^<5;:.^^^'''■^°"^"''''»'-^. And as Panayota fared onward, she had «ver .n her mind that she was coming „to the rSdti'" "^r" --rgents,'a'„7 muttered agam and again- r ';»«,>,■■■ CHAPTER XL A TROUBLED MIND 4 1 F) ITYl Pity!" whined the lepers, ex- p"^ posing thei: hideousness with all the skill of subtle and experienced mer- chants. They were all there by the road- side leading into Canea, and had com- menced business for the day. Curtis stared at them, unable to remove his eyes from the dreadful spectacle. Lindbohm, fumbling nervously in his pock- ets, with averted face, and producing two or three coppers, tossed them to the afflicted group. "Come away," he said, pulling Curtis along. "I cannot bear to look at them." The Turk had been telling them of the leper colony, and they were not totally unpre- pared for this sight; yet the reality far ex- ceeded the description. "But you should see those who are not able to come down here and beg," exclaimed the Major; "these are comparatively well yet, you know." "I hope I may never see them," said Lind- ssa A TBOUBI^D Mmo 353 bohm. "I hope I may never see these again " The Swede bore the Turk no ill-will for the enforced detainment. It had not lasted for long, and the Major had shown his guests ever>- attention, and had explained again and agam that he had carried Lindbohm off to save his life. "But those who are no longer able to bee." asked the Lieutenant, "do they starve?" "O no, indeed! They are living mcmu- ments to the tender-heartedness of my august master, the Sultan. Each of the lepers is fur- nished one loaf of bread a day." "O, I see," said Lindbohm. Curtis took no part in the conversation. He did not even hear what the others were saymg, but walked on beside them with his eyes fixed upon the ground, like a man in a *p""; ,,^J!;7 "°^ =°d then he ejaculated Good God!" with the accent on the "good." At last he stopped so abruptly that the Turk who was directly behind, nearly knocked him over. "I say!" said Curtis, whirling around and chokmg a stream of fluent apologies with a vehement question: "Do people who are not lepers ever go into that village? To see their friends, you 354 ZJKB AKOTHBR HX!£BN Si fit know, or to stop over night, or anything of that sort?" "Impossible. You have seen the disease. Do you think any one would run the risk of catching it?" Curtis strode on and became again im- mersed in thought, vaguely hearing the Major's explanation of the fact that nearly all the lepers of Crete were Greeks. At each side of the gate of Canea stood an English I marine, in red jacket and cork helmet. A buaness-like "Halt!" woke Cur- tis from his abstraction. "I am Peter Lindbohm, Lieutenant of cav- alry in the Swedish army," said Lindbohm in English, pulling an immense portfolio from the breast pocket of the Prince Albert. Here is my card." One if you can A THOUBIED MIITD 355 manage to read it. It's been in the water." What do you want to do now, sir?" "We^ have friends inside," replied Lind- bohm and we wish to find out whether they are safe or not. We wish to go in." "Very sorry, gentlemen, but we 'ave strict borders to admit no one for the present " 'But we two are not Turks-nor Cretans. I am a Swede, and my friend here is an Amer- ican." "Very sorry, gentlemen " "But this may be a matter of life and death • A Christian lady, the betrothed of this young gentleman, is in the hands of the Turks " "Very sorry, gentlemen. Move away from the gate, please." Lindbohm was too good a soldier not to know what that meant. So they went to a house near by, belonging to a friend of the Major, and waited two whole days, during the most of which time the Swede and the American had the place to themselves, for the Major and his friend were arrested and earned off before the end 357 eagerly about him. Curtis' once natty busi- ness s-tt had been torn in several places. He also wore Cretan boots, and his costume was completed by a Turkish fez provided by the hospit^le Major, who had managed, in addi- tion, to afford his two guests a bath, and an opportunity to shave. Lindbohm was quite voluble. "Bear up. my friend." he said; "we shall surely find her. Remember that she was in a Turkish house, the very safest place she could be in." Curtis continued to be silent and preoc- cupied, a condition which the Swede attrib- uted to the fear that something had happened to Panayota, and that their long search would be rendered vain at the very end. Yet he could not understand the American's seem- ing hstlessness. mingled with absorption and perplexity. "He acts like a man who has been hit on the head with a musket butt." thought the Swede glancing shrewdly at his companion. "Great of S' "" '* ^^ ""^^ ''* ^^' * presentiment Then aloud: "We must go straight to the military au- thonties-to the English. We will tell them 358 IiIKB ASOTBXB KKUEOX all about Panayota, and if Kostakes has her yet they will yust make him give her right up —eh, my friend?" "Ye-es," replied Curtis. "Yes, O yes; cer- tainly." The Turks whom they met looked sullen. The foreign troops were everywhere, march- ing in small bodies through the streets. If two or three Mohammedans stopped to talk together an English redcoat was sure to step up to them ^^rith: "Can now, move on I" Not much damage had been done to the part of the town through which they were now passing. There was a sprightly gossiping ol bugles, hailing and re- plying from distant points, and the frequent clatter of shod hoofs as some orderly galloped across an intersecting street. And all the noise and bustle was threaded by a continual tune, not sung loudly, but insistently, like the motif of an opera. The Cretans whom they met, whether jubi- lant or sad of face, seemed to be humming it some joyously, others revengefully. "Do you hear that?" cried Lindbohm, "Panayota will be singing the hymn of liberty herself to-day. We must make her sing it all A TROVBXJDD MIND 359 through for us. I wish I could understand the words." And he beat time with his cane as a tall Cretan strode by. humming very distinctly: "We can tell you by the lightning Of your terrible swift brand, '^wu** ''°°'' ^°^ ^^ ""* brightering When your proud eyes sweep the land I" "Panayota will be singing that at this very moment, eh?" cried Lindbohm, laying his hand upon Curtis' shoulder; but the latter made no reply. From the narrow street they passed into a place of smoldering ruins and roofless, ragged walls. Here a party of marines were at work assisted by townspeople, throwing water on firw that were still burning, or in digging bod.es out of the debris. A cart stood near and an awestruck, silent throng lingered by ready to identify the remains of possible rela- tives or friends. The air was full of powdered smeV"'' ""°'''' """^ ^'"^ ^ '^""^' ?""&«="' "Come on," said Lindbohm, "before they find a body. I don't like to see such things, and don't let this affect you, my friend. Pan- ayota. you know, is in the Turkish quarter" JBO ZiVSX AirOTHKB WOMXt Lindbohm urged this cheering assurance with the insistent frequency of a man who is trying to water his own hopes. On the edge of the ruined quarter was a pile of rubbish which had once been a cottage. Three of the walls had fallen down, but the one facing the street was still standing. A young and beautiful Cretan woman looked in through one of the holes where the win- dows had been, watching a man who was clearing away debris with a shovel and lifting blocks of stone to one side. The woman's face was drawn with agony, and she stared at the man, great eyed and silent, like a tor- tured dumb creature. Every time that he lifted a rock, she gave some sign of a fiercer wrench of pain, as when the executioner gives another twist to the rack; sometimes she thrust one hand against the window sill and swung part way around, as though about to fall; sometimes she clasped her hands to her heart and gasped for breath. Once she cov- ered her eyes for a long time as though feai^ ful of seeing the very thing she was waiting for. And when at last the man lifted a little charred body from the crumbled lime, she broke into a series of dreadful screams, shriek- ing "No! No! No!" until her voice died into A TROTmiiED Hnm 361 a hoarse whisper. The husband tore off his jacket, wrapped it around the tiny body and came into the street, his own grief eclipsed by the greater solicitude for the young wife. And when the woman took the pitiful burden, rocking it on her heart and talking baby talk to it, he walked by her side, patted her disheveled hair, and tried to call her back from the brink of insanity with endearing terms. As they passed through the throng of waiting Cretans, every man removed his head- covering, hat, fez or handkerchief, and made the sign of the cross. "Come away," said Lindbohm, choking "the poor little baby." "I want to get out of this damned place," shouted Curtis with sudden vehemence, shak- mg his fist. "It's a hell of horrors and I'm sick of itl" "Courage, courage," said Lindbohm, "the more horrible it is the more haste we must make to find Panayota. Poor Panayota! She IS no horror, eh, my friend?" They came into the public square, where the Shells from the "Hazard" had fallen thickest, for here the Bashi Bazouks had fired on the British soldiers, and yonder, rising precip- itously to a height of thirty feet, was the forti- 36a XnOB AirOTHBR w«T.«Tf fied stronghold from which Uie Turkish guard had poured a rain of bullets upon the town. English sentries were now pacing to and fro up there. But the chief attraction was a sort of booth in the center of the square, for all the world like a Punch and Judy booth, and in it were hanging by the neck seven figures with bltck caps over their heads, with their hands bound behind them and their feet tied together. "By George, they've been hanging the ringleaders, hanging them higher than Ha- inan I" cried Lindbohm. Curtis could not realize that thos*- were the bodies of human beings, there was something so theatrical about their appearance; they hung so neatly in a row, and the heads all lolled one way, like heads of Brownies in an advertisement. "Maybe they have hanged them m ehigy," he suggested. Lindbohm laughed. "Might as well be now," he replied. "But let us ask the guard where we will find the commandant. Then we shall learn something about Kostakes and Panayota." "You go," said Curtis; "I'll wait for you here." He shrank from the ingenuous expla- A TBOVBLED MUTD 363 nation that Panayota was hit betrothed. The very thought made him shudder. "I can't tell him," he muttered, as he watched Lindbohm forcing his way through the throng. "I must get away from him some way. By Jove, I'll run oflf and leave him, if I can't do any better. Good God, what an eKape Ive had I" "Hi I" shouted Lindbohm, so that every soul in the square turned and looked at him. He was standing on tiptoe and Curtis could •ee the ruddy face with its red bandanna halo floating on a sea of heads. "Hi!" called the Swede again, waving his stick in air. "Come here, quick! I've found Kostakes." "Now, what the devil do I want of Kos- takes?" muttered Curtis, plunging reluctantly into the press. When he had reached Lind- bohm's side, the Swede gripped him by the arm and pointed a long finger at one of the pantomimists in the Punch and Judy booth. A board hung suspended from the neck of vach, with a name and crime inscribed thereon in Turkish and English. Curtis read: KOSTAKES EFFENDI. Captain of Bashi Bazouks, Murder and Arson. 3^4 UKE ANOTHER HEIiEN "It is hard for a soldier to die thus," said _ the Swede sadly. "But a soldier who dis- graces his calling, deserves such a death. Well, my friend," turning to Curtis, "half our work has been done for us, eh? Now the rest will be easy. Is it not so?" Curtis could not take his eyes from the hooded form before him, nor move from the spot where he stood. As long as he stared at the head, covered with its black cloth, he was impressed virith a sense of unreality; so might a row of wax inquisitors be shown in the Eden Musee at New York. And that pitiful, limp tilting of the head was not at all suggestive of Kostakes, who was ever wont to hold his neck stiff and stand upright with a certain jaunty insolence. But when Curtis' eyes traveled downward, the unreality van- ished. The long row of buttons, the dark blue trousers tucked into t'^e tops of the high- ly polished boots, the spurs, the backward bulging of the thick calf of the leg— all these things brought back to him a flood of remi- niscences. He remembered the fight at Am- bellaki, and the long ride across country. He could see those very legs clasping the side of a horse, and he wondered once more how their owner managed to keep the boots so A THOUBrED hutd 365 spotless. Then he saw Panayota again, the most splendid creature he had ever seen de- nouncing the Turk for the murder of her fath- er, and he felt once more the old thrill of admiration and chivalrous purpose. Ah' She had touched the Turk, she had made him wince brave girl, despite those insolent eyes, and that square, protruding under jaw Any one could see that by the way in which he stopped twirling the end of the little black mustache and began nibbling it. The long chase after Kostakes, with those turbulenl Cretans, the night in the square when Cur- tis had fired point blank at him and missed him-all these things passed through nis mind like scenes on a moving panorama, as he gaped at those dark blue breeches and the well-polished boots with their long spurs- but when he raised his eyes again to the black- hooded head, tipped to one side like a man with a stiflf neck, the whole incident seemed ended; this life in Crete became a fantastic dream and took on the unreality of those face- less puppets, hanging all in a row, gently os- cillating in the breeze. ■'Move on!" said a stern voice, sharply. Ihey mean us," said Lindbohm, pulling Curtis away, "it seems they allow no loitering 366 UKB AirOTHEB HEIiEK here. Well, the next thing is to see the com- niandant and make some inquiries about Pan- ayota, eh?" "Lindbohml" cried Curtis, pettishly, "I don't want to go to the commandant. See here, old man, there's something I ^.'ant to tell you. Something I must tell you. I can't stand this any longer." They had passed the crowd and were alone now. The Swede stopped and looked stead- ily at his companion. Curtis glanced up fur- tively. There was nothing but inquiry in those brave, honest blue eyes. "I say, old man," he stammered, "don't you think we ought to go and get some hats and things before we go to the commandant? I Hon't want to offend you, but you — ^but we look like the very devil I" CHAPTER XLI ROMANCE AND PRUDENCE THE Lieucenant found no difficulty in buying another straw hat, as the booths of the town were all open again; and another shoe-string was easily ob- tainable by which he tethered it to his button- hole. An enterprising Jew produced a stock of ready-made clothing from Vienna, and Curtis endeavored to persuade Lindbohm to join him in the purchase of a complete new outfit. "The first thing is to find Panayota," said the Swede. "We must not waste a moment. Ah, my friend, you mistake that girt! She will be so glad to see you that she will not look at your clothes." Clapping a straw hat upon the head of Curtis, he dragged him away. They found the commandant's quarters with little diffi- culty, as every man, woman and child in Ca- nea was able to direct them. It was an ori- ental house with a garden. Two sentinels stood at the gate. Lindbohm sent in his card, and a youthful officer in fatigue uniform came SS7 368 UKB ANOTHER HKLEX out, who stared with evident surprise, and then gazed curiously at the two callers. Lindbohm brought the heels of the yellow boots together and saluted. "Pardon our appearance," he explained, "but the fact of the matter is we have been fighting with the insurgents for the last three months, and we have not yet had an opportu- nity to purchase clothing." The Englishman laughed and held out his hand cordially. "Come in, Lieutenant," he said, "and your friend here." They entered the court. "Take a seat here in the shade. Shall I order you some coffee, Turkish style— or perhaps you'd prefer some whisky and soda." "I'd like a Christian drink!" cried Curtis with great animation. "Something to take the taste out of my mouth." "O, yust bring me some whisky, thank you," said the Swede, sitting on the edge of a chair, impatient to go on with the business that had brought him there. "My name is Jones," said the Englishman, "Lieutenant Alfred Jones, at your service." "Let me present my friend, Mr. Curtis, Mr. John Curtis. And now. Lieutenant, we wish to inquire about a Cretan lady, Panayola novAsrcB and prodbncb 369 Nicolaides, whom Kostakes Effendi captured and carried oflf from her friends. She— " "She was the daughter of some friends of ours, broke in Curtis, volubly, as Lindbohm waved his hand toward him. "Her father a pnest, befriended us. We were shipwrecked .-i I stepped on some sort of a damned thing a ic!nd of s;a-pincushion stuck full of pins, and It poisoned me. And the priest took me in and took care of me, and the Turks swooped down on the village and murdered half the in- habitants and carried the giri and her father off. Then they killed the old man. This Kostakes — " "That must have been one of the chaps that we hanged last night," interrupted Lieutenant Jones. "Yust so," said Lindbohm, "and now we want to know what has become of Panayota My friend here — " "The fact is we feel very grateful and we want to know what has become of the giri " interrupted Curtis, determined at all hazards to head off Lindbohm's explanation to this civilized Englishman, who might be inclined to smile at a tale of romance "The commandant is out, but I think T am the very man you want to see," said the 3?o IiIEB AKOTHEB HBIiEK Englishman. "This gentleman, Kostakes, it seems, had three wives, two Turkish ladies besides the Greek — " "The Greek was not his wife I" interrupted Lindbohm, with dignity. "Well, however that may be, they all came back to the ruins of his house — it seems his house got in the way of one of our shells and there wasn't much left of it. Well, there they all stood, th^ two houris, wringing their hands and howling and the Greek quiet enough, but looking sort of dazed. I was out with a squad and came across them myself. Well, to make a long story short, we're assist- ing all the Turks to emigrate from here that feel so disposed, and we sent off the three women this morning." "My God— where to?" asked Lindbohm. "Why, the Greek, it seems, had some friends in Athens. She has had enough of Mohammedanism, and wanted to be put off there. So we gave her a pass to Athens. The other two go on to Constantinople." "When does the next boat go to Athens?" asked Curtis, looking up suddenly. "There's an Austrian Lloyd to-morrow morning at ten which stops at Athens." "For— ?" m ROMAlfCX} AND PBCBENCB 371 "Trieste." .r7*''*f "^'"'""^" accompanied his two call- ers to the gate. "I'd like to hear the story of your adven- tures w,th the insurgents," he said. "You must have had some lively experiences. Good "•^'j': gentlemen." "By the way," cried Lindbohni, turning back "lest there be any mistake, was thJ ureek girl very beautiful?" woZr-' '"' ' ^'°"'' "" "" ^ -'^ «- '•What was the color of her hair? Brown?" was" '^"'^"'^^'^ exactly. I believe it ''Tall slender, oval face, big, fine eyes?" m.n7^ ^r" '"'. ^ °"'y '"^ •>«■• f"-- « mo. ment. She certamly was tall and slender, and-and-a fine, handsome woman. Held her head back and threw her chest out, and had a sort of mdependent air about her" Lmdbohm had no further doubts; he was not aware of Ferende's existence Preparations for departure on the morrow ^*- begun at once. Curtis had no difficulty m raising some money at Cook's on his letter of credit. His passport and two or three let- ters from home were sufficient identification 3ra lilKB AKOTHEB HEIiEK "How are you off for money, old man?" he asked Lindbohm. The Lieutenant drew from the recesses of the ancient, water-warped pocketbook a five pound note, badly faded and stained. It came in two at one of the creases as he held it up. "I will paste this together," he said, "and it will be yuF;t as good as ever. I have plenty more in Athens." "All right, then," replied Curtis, "I'll get the tickets — " "But I have plenty." '*We must buy some clothes. I'll get the tickets." Lindbohm assented, so far as the tickets were concerned, but he positively refused to buy clothing till he got to Athens. He took a stroll about the town to see what military, preparations were going on, while Curtis fa- rayed himself in a cheap, ill-fitting suit and a new pair of tan shoes, for all of which he paid a high price. He also bought a leather trav- eling bag, into which he put a supply of un- derwear and other necessities. The Cretan boots and the simitar he tied to the handle of the bag as souvenirs. So the next morning Curtis and Lindbohm walked briskly through the kaleidoscopic "*wtA»a» AMD ntin»iroB 3^3 tqutre to the wharf and embarked In a row- iH»t for the steamer waiting out in the bay, ^rtw looked back at the town. The col- ored awnings were aU up, the square was a fflovmg, Bhifting mass of bright costumes, through which trotted, to and fro, the patient, UKful and immemorial ass. The Punch and Judy booth, with its row of pantomimists, had been removed and apparently forgotten. A group of dignified old gentlemen in fezzes sat at a caii, smoking narghiles. It takes an oriental town but half an hoar to recover f*Qni a. massacre or a bombardment The eternal languor of the East flows over and engulfs any outburst of passion, as the sea wings to rest over a subm^ne eruption. A sentmel in red jacket and white helmet paced along the rampart waU. A bugle sounded faint and far and a man-o'-war's boat flew by the petty officer in the stem bending and straightening to the rhythmical splash and rattle of the oars. ^ "There will beno difficulty in finding her in Athens, said Lindbohm as the two stood at last on the deck of the steamer. "Tickets, gentlemen!" The waiting emirfoyee glance4 at the two 874 LZKB JUrOTHKB HBIiBir tickeu and then handed them back, one to Curtis and one to Lindbohm. "Here," said the latter; "he made a mis- take. I've got your ticket, 'John Curtis, Tri— ' What does this mean? Why are you going to Trieste?" "Lindbohm," said Curtis, laying his hand on the Swede's arm, "Panayota isn't in Ath- ens." "Is she in Trieste? Why are you fooling me?" "I'm not fooling you. I couldn't tell you because I thought you'd want me to go and see her, and bid her good-bye. And I couldn't do it. I just couldn't. It would be too pain- ful for both of us, and it wouldn't do any good." "Why shouldn't you go and see her? And why should you bid her good-bye? I don't un- derstand." "You will understand when I tell you. She's a leper. I saw her myself, with my own eyes, as we passed through their village. She isn't like those other horrible creatures yet, of course, but she wi'l be in time. My God, Lindbohm, think of what an escape I've had! I was so wrapped up in the girl that I actually thought of marrying her — after a while. Sup- BOMAXrCB ASTD FBUDBNCll 375 poM I had done 10, and it had broken out on her afterward!" The Lieutenant was very pale. When he ■poke his voice was low and unnaturally dis- tinct, and he divided his sentence into groups of two and three words, like a man who is making a superhuman effort to control him- self. "And what about — ^this young woman — who went to Athens?" "O, she's somebody else. I couldn't be mistaken in Pimayotar— I tell you I saw her, man. Why, I was as close to her as from here to that mast yonder." "But perhaps there's some mistake in the reason for her being there. Perhaps " "Why didn't she come out, then, when she saw me? She clapped her hands in front of her face and shrank away. My first impulse was to go in, and then it flashed over me in a minute. Besides, you heard what Hassan Bey said— that the lepers are nearly all Cre- tans." "Do you mean to say you're yust going away without going back to comfort her or say a word to her?" "But since she showed plainly that she wanted to avoid me? I tell you, old man, I'm Sf6 AKOKBBB BSbUr doing the kindest thing for both ol nib It'» incurable, you know, and even if it wam't, my mother and my governor would never consent. I shouU have had « circus with them, anyway." Lindbohm walked to the tafiErail and looked dreamily away toward Canca. There was an unexpected roar of a great whistle— a boat's whistle is always unexpected— and the anchor chain began to rattle and dick. "It takes a 'long time to get the anchor up, doesn't it?" asked Curtis. Lindbohm made no reply, but when the chain finally ceased to rattle, he asked in a low tone, and without looking at his com- panion: , . , "So you give her up, eh?" •nsfi. ,.h.«.'" "Why, of course, old man. Seems to me I've made that plain enough)" The ringing of a bell seemed to awaken the sleeping ship. She shuddered as the ma- chmery started. There was a patter of hast- ening feet on the deck and a great churning, as the wheel made ite first revolutions in the water. Shore boats were cast off, with much shouting and gesticulating of picturesque Cretans, standing erect in their tiny craft, vtolently rocked by the agitated sea. As the BOKAlfOIII A3tD PBUmBNCII 377 ■hip moved majntically tway, a few boats dungf to her tide like whiffets to a itately itag. One by one they dropped off and drifted aitern. Lindbohm turned and looked about the deck. Spying hi* satchel, he picked it up and walked to the ladder, at the foot of which one boat was still tied. Curtis ran to him and seized him by the shoulder. "Where are you going, old man?" "To Panayota." "But this is madness. You can't do any< tWng. I tell you the girl is a leper." The Swede, muttering "I'll yust take my chances," continued down the steps and took his seat in the boat Curtis stood watching him as he was rowed away, hoping against hope that he would turn around and wave his hand or make some •Ign. But no, he sat up very straight, his arms hanging a little out from his body, the back of his neck looking very broad and red. The straw hat leaped from his head. He caught it in midair, jammed it back and held it in place with one big hand. And so Peter Lindbohm went back to his love— Peter Lindbohm, true knight and noble gentleman, with the heart of a lion and the soul of a child. As friend he was stanch 378 JJKE AKOTHBB BEIXS even to his own seeming undoing, and made no moan; as lover, he was great enough to be faithful unto more than death, and for such there is a full reward. No sacrifice awaited him, but a long lifetime of peaceful joys. If Peter Lindbohm ever goes to war again, it will be in defense of wife and children. And John Curtis, to whose romantic and brave nature there was attached an auto- matic brake of New England prudence, sailed away to his own land. And the last sound that he heard from Crete was the voice of the Swede's boatman singing: From the bones of the Greeks upspringing. Who died that we might be free, And the strength of thy strong youth bringing,— Hail, Liberty, hail to thee I He stood for a long time leaning over the rail, watching the receding isle. As the land became more distant, it grew more beautiful. The purple haze of Greece settled upon the mountains. Curtis thought of Panayota as of a lovely Greek whom he had met in his dreams; he sighed and mur- mured: I enter thy garden of roaes. Beloved and fair Haidecl BOMANCB AOT> I aUDENCE 379 A steward touched hii/. on the s .oulder and said in German: "Lunch is ready." Curtis turned briskly around, and followed the man half the length of the deck, strug- gling to drag a sentence from the unfre- quented German comer of his brain. At last it came: "I am ready, too. This sea air makes one hungry." He was glad to see there were genuine Frankfurters for lunch. He ordered a bot- tle of Rhine wine and talked German with the Captain. When he came up on deck to smoke his cigar, the ship was purring through a placid, opalescent sea, and Crete was a faint outline sketched against a gray-blue sky. THE END. *'^^ •^jyrafijfcr .iva m j;', i/oTi Tji)li;o(irirj'(::iv;.i'! trh di'iv/ nsirfiTitJ s-jA'sU bur. yn'ui '•ni-i;l Jo ■?!: U'-' -%^*». m «J' «i A tJtS»' (>F RECENT FICTION OF TI|B ioWEN-iaijiiiU. COMPANY 0KB QDAMTO WLUOH COHBS MUatthto (Teat ^_ Ustorioa 10 loTe-stoiT of PrlnccM Mary Tudor, litlerof BuutTIII Price, $1^ ASK Tore BOOKSELLER FOR ff A VIVACIOUS ROMANCE OF REVOLU- TIONARY DAYS ALICE 0/ OLD VINCENNES By MAURICE THOMPSON rA# Atlamta Constitution tayt : niMto ttroke of gram, in tlu. hinimcj noyd of rerol™ OonMy day. in the We«." ri* Dtnver Daily Ntwi uyt : mtnt on A.hby fi.|d, GtncnU Wallace', cliariot rac^Td now Mauncc Tl,„mp«n-. dad wn. and tl,. „dSg „f Alice', flag o»er old Fort VlncennH." ^^ ri. CfcVi^. Vmti-Heralduy,.- 4th,- .uch,. Maurice Thon.p«,„'. .„peri, CriJn^ m«.ce, 'Ahce of Old Vincenne... Tt i., in^"tiot more uunc and Hwottneou. Chan an; of it. rinl,." ' limo. with five iUiutrttions ind a frond«iriece In color, «n drawn by Mr. F. C. Yohn Price, Ji.jo The Bowen-Merrill Company, IniiamtptHt ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL HISTORICAL NOVEL THE BLACJC WOLF'S BREED Bjr HARRIS DICKSON From ibt Somn Glohtt " A Tigoroui alt of France In the oM and otw wocU duiint therdijnofLoui^XIV." rnm iht f/a/adilfUa Frtii : " Ai ddightfiilly seducdye u certain mint-Aa\ fine a piece of suitained adrentuie aa h» appeand In recent fiction." Fnm iht St. Louii Ghtt-Dmatrat i " There ii action, yi»id deicriplion and intenatlr dramatic stuadona.** ' ... From tht IntUanapoIh Nnot: " So fuU of tender lore-nulcin(, of gallant fi(ht]n(, that one regkca it'a no longer,'* IUu8tr«ted by C. M. Rdjrea. Price * i . 50 The Bowen-Merrill Compiny, IndUnafilit A NOVEL OF EARLY NEW YORK PATROON VAN VOLKENBERG By HENKY THEW STEPHENSON From lit Nm Ttrt tna: "^.rjT," T^'^ ■'■"'"" ^•" VoUrenba,,- with it. ^ .qrl. .„a vmJ,ty with ' Rich«J Sn^'nd in th« «ip«t they W.U b« n«ht, M one would comp.™ the Kn,« iturdy uA ipreading ehn with a .lender uph'ng." ^' wuTn'ttV d,!! '^?^ ?^« "°^ ■««'"' *'»" New York The OoTemor hn forbidden the port to the free tr.d« „. S,"?.;^"dl'! """"."""'^ -^- their o^nfl^^rhi' ?h^ i^TtK""; '1°' r"."* ""' ■"'"•«"' •"''■ niicitS! The Boryof he clash of these conflicting intentt. ind Ae ■culbng exciting happening, i. ab»rtin. * " "" .ri™^ '?'"S'T- "'' '1".'^ " '™1' i« fiction, the plot U •timng and weD knit, uid the author i. poMemd rfthe SS.^ to write fcre,&l,ftagnmtEogli.h. P"""*" M the abUity Fnm lit BnMjm £u«^r^Ui/„.- "Thi tale ia one of vibtint quality. It can no* fc. i^j .. iimo, niiutrtted in color by C. M. Relyea THE SUBTLE SPIRIT OF THE SEA SWEEPERS OF THE SEA Bjr CLAUDE H. WETMORB From tAt St. Leuh Mirrtrt "The recital of thadndi of the 'Sweepen of the Sea' b • bnathlen one. The romance ii hei|htened by the realiim of the technique of naval warfare, hy the auROCM and voluminoiitjr of nautical knowledge." Frnm tit Buffalo Riview : " It rival! Stevenion in ita ingenultjr of plot and dnmatic mtereat. 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The ' at the Utth charch at Sao Ralad, whan tlia ptiaa the PaateMaa at aoaia ia the earhr dam «f tt* Ala t^mnAm,^'' iMf, Kill m ill icwiljr to the i I )l«»l™ii Tba Imtritr uyi t "Mr. HawhaiiloiiealniljrreiiutkaUcpleceorwork Hjr hood, howcMT pracdccd, miiht well bo proU mamloual; |eo4 daactipdoM, tha dtamaik, hlfhljr > Mry, the able charaMeriaatioiit.** I into. Cloth, Ornimenttl Price, f ■■$<) • • • of the The BowcD-Merrill Compinjr, IiitU*iiap4lb