CHIOS
A quarter of an hour after the Greek officer left the schooner Miller
said: “They are lowering a large boat from the Greek flag-ship, sir.”
Martyn brought his glass to bear upon it.
“There is a stir on board,” he said. “It looks as if the commander
were going on shore.”
“Yes, there is some officer of importance being handed down the
ladder. Now she is putting off. By Jove! I believe she is coming here;
at any rate she is heading straight for us. Perhaps Lykourgos himself
is coming to blow us out of the water.”
“Quite as likely he is coming to pay his respects,” Miller said. “The
betting is ten to one the fellow is a coward; and that if the officer
gave the message as he got it, he is impressed with the idea that the
chief is an Englishman of great importance, possessed, perhaps, of
unknown powers of destruction.”
“Horace,” Martyn said, “you had better tell your father. I can make
out that the fellow in the stern is got up in gorgeous uniform. I
expect it is Lykourgos himself.”
Mr. Beveridge came up on to the quarter-deck just as the boat came
alongside. Martyn went to the gangway as a Greek officer came up and
announced that Admiral Lykourgos had come to pay a visit to the
English lord. Lykourgos mounted to the deck.
“I am the commandant of this craft, sir,” Martyn said. “This is Mr.
Beveridge, the owner.”
Lykourgos advanced with an air of great pleasure and with outstretched
hand.
“I am delighted to make the acquaintance of an English friend of
Greece,” he said.
Mr. Beveridge bowed and shook hands with the Greek.
“What a contrast there is between them!” Miller whispered to Horace.
“This theatrical-looking Greek with his oily manners, and your father
in his quiet blue serge! Ah! he is asking him to go down into the
cabin.”
The interview lasted about ten minutes, and then the two men returned
on deck. Lykourgos entered his boat and rowed away.
“Well, sir, is it peace or war?” Martyn asked.
“Peace, as far as we are concerned,” Mr. Beveridge said. “The fellow
made no allusion to my message to him, paid me a large number of
absurd compliments, expressed boundless admiration at the result of
Miller’s action with the frigate, of which he had heard, and hoped
that he would have our assistance against the Turks. I told him what I
thought of his enterprise, and that he was bringing destruction upon
the heads of the unfortunate Christians. He assured me that I had been
misinformed, that the Christians would join him to a man, and that he
should make short work of the Turks, and should at once besiege them
in their citadel. I said that I wished him success in that part of his
undertaking, and that there would be no time to waste, as the Turkish
fleet might, I understood, appear any day. But that, if he undertook
siege operations, and his own force proved inadequate, we would land a
party to assist him. He hinted that money might be required to support
the siege. I told him that I had arranged with the central government
that any assistance I had to give in that way should be given through
them; but that, if the people of the island really did rise, I should
be happy to furnish a thousand muskets and ammunition for their use.
Seeing that nothing was to be got out of me he took his leave. He said
the landing was to take place in half an hour.”
“Shall we send a party on shore with him, Mr. Beveridge?” Martyn
asked.
“No, Martyn. He says he has got two thousand five hundred fighting men
ready to land, and that being the case we should be powerless to
interfere in any way. Besides, for the present I think it would be
best to keep the men on board. I don’t trust the fellow in the
slightest; and if he thought the vessel was left weak-handed, he is
perfectly capable of making a sudden attack on her. No doubt he thinks
we have money untold below, and I should say a great proportion of his
vessels are no better than pirates, who have merely joined him in the
hope of booty. I know that he has none of the Psara ships with him,
for Chios lies so near their island that they would have no wish to
draw the vengeance of the Turks upon themselves; and I know that they,
as well as the Chiots, sent to Corinth to protest against the
expedition. I don’t think he has any of the Hydriot ships with him
either. They only sail under their own admirals, and do, to a certain
extent, respect the orders of the central government. His ships, I
fancy, all belong to the smaller islands, and are the sort of craft
that are honest traders one day and pirates the next if they see a
chance--the riffraff of the islands, in fact. If they really do
besiege the Turks in the citadel, and I see that we can be of any
assistance, we will land a party; but at any rate we will take matters
quietly until we see how things go.”
“The vessels are all lowering their boats, Captain Martyn,” Tarleton
reported.
“Very well, Mr. Tarleton. Let the men go to their quarters, unloose
the guns and load with grape. It is quite upon the cards that these
fellows may make a sudden dash upon us, thinking to catch us napping.”
The boatswain’s whistle was heard, and then Tom Burdett shouted out:
“All hands to quarters! Cast loose the guns and load with grape!” And
in a moment a scene of animated bustle succeeded the quiet that had
reigned on board the schooner since her anchor had been dropped. In a
few minutes, however, the crowded boats left the ships and rowed
towards shore.
“That will do, boatswain; you can call the men away from the guns,”
said Martyn.
“Shall we take the cartridges out, sir?”
“No, leave them as they are. Put a fold or two of sailcloth over the
touch-holes. It is just as well to be on guard as long as we are in
the neighbourhood of these slippery gentry. Horace, you take my glass
and go aloft, and see if you can make out any Turks in the
neighbourhood. It is four or five hours since the Greek fleet first
hove in sight, and there is ample time for the Turks to have come down
to oppose their landing if they thought themselves strong enough to
fight in the open.”
Horace ascended the shrouds, and sitting on the cap of the mainmast
examined the shore.
“There are half a dozen horsemen riding about, a short distance from
the shore, sir,” he called down, “but I can see no signs of troops
anywhere.”
“Then it is evident they don’t mean to fight,” Martyn said to the
first lieutenant. “Between ourselves, Miller, I am very glad they are
not here to oppose a landing; for if they had been, no doubt the chief
would have wanted to fire a few shots to help cover the operations,
and I should be sorry to lift even a finger to help in this wretched
business. It is like a landing from one of the old buccaneer fleets on
the Spanish Main. They used to pretend they went to attack the
Spaniards, while in reality they simply fought for plunder. Still,
those fellows had courage--plenty of it, which is more, I fancy, than
these Greeks are likely to exhibit when they once get in front of the
Turks.”
Lykourgos, with his twenty-five hundred men, marched without
opposition into the town of Chios, where they burnt the custom-houses,
destroyed two mosques, and plundered generally the houses of the
inhabitants. They occupied the houses nearest the citadel, and placing
riflemen in them opened fire, while a party began to throw up a
battery on a commanding position known as Turloti.
The following morning Mr. Beveridge landed, and, accompanied by Miller
and Horace, and a party of twenty sailors armed with rifle, cutlass,
and pistol, proceeded to Chios. He found the streets of the town in
disorder, the troops--or rather the armed men, for they were under
neither discipline nor control--were wandering about, occasionally
going within sight of the citadel, and discharging their muskets two
or three times in that direction. They looked with surprise at the
orderly little party of British sailors; but as they supposed these
had come to help them, they received them with exclamations of
good-will. They visited Turloti, where a score or two of men were
working lazily, and then went down to the port, where another battery
had also been begun.
“What on earth are they putting up a battery here for?” Miller said.
“At this distance they might as well fire potatoes at the citadel. Ask
that officer, Horace, what they are up to?”
The Greek replied that they were going to run their trenches forward
against the citadel from this point.
“Well, then, they are fonder of work than I gave them credit for,”
Miller said when he understood the reply. “If the whole of them were
to set to work in earnest, it would take them a month to run their
trenches from here up to the citadel, and, at the rate at which they
are working now, it would take them a couple of years.”
Returning to the town Mr. Beveridge called upon Lykourgos, who had
taken up his quarters in the bishop’s palace. The Greek received him
with an air of much greater pomposity than he had shown at their first
meeting. He evidently believed that the work was almost accomplished,
and that he was already the conqueror of the island.
“I have been doing some good work this morning,” he said. “I have
deposed the Demogeronts (the Municipal Council). You know they were
poor creatures and lukewarm, and I have appointed a Revolutionary
Committee.”
“Indeed!” Mr. Beveridge said gravely. “And what military work have you
in hand? It seems to me that the men would be much better employed in
working at the batteries than in idling about the streets.”
“The citadel will soon fall,” Lykourgos said loftily. “Cut off from
all succour and surrounded by my army they must speedily surrender.”
“Undoubtedly they must, if they were so situated,” Mr. Beveridge said;
“but, so far as I see, there is nothing whatever to prevent the Turks
from sending reinforcements from the mainland.”
“I am writing to ask the government at Corinth to order the fleet here
to blockade the island and oppose the Turkish fleet when they come in
sight.”
“That would be excellent,” Mr. Beveridge said; “but the central
government are not famous for speed, nor are the ships of Hydra and
Psara very apt to obey orders unless these happen to suit their own
views. Could you not send a few of those vessels of yours to prevent
the Turks from sending reinforcements?”
“That would be quite impossible,” Lykourgos said decidedly. “In the
first place, they are mere transports, the greater proportion carrying
no guns, and those that do have guns of such light calibre that they
could not oppose the Turkish cruisers that would no doubt convoy any
vessels bringing Turkish troops across. In the second place, I could
not spare a ship, for, were the Turkish fleet to arrive before the
Greek fleet comes to my assistance, I should have to re-embark my army
at once. I shall soon be in a position to press the siege more
vigorously. I have already received messages saying the peasantry
among the hills are about to join me.”
Mr. Beveridge, seeing that there was no prospect of any vigorous
efforts to restore discipline among the Greeks, returned to the
schooner. Day after day passed and nothing whatever was done. A few
soldiers, when the fancy took them, worked for an hour or two at the
batteries, or fired away their ammunition in the direction of the
citadel. Neither Lykourgos nor his committee made any attempt to
introduce either discipline among the troops or order in the town.
No news came from Corinth as to the movements of the Greek fleet, but
a vessel arrived with a few heavy guns for siege purposes, and also
brought several Philhellenes--as foreigners who had come to assist the
Greeks were called--to direct the service of the guns.
In consequence of the disorder in the town the position of the better
class of Christians became intolerable. Mr. Beveridge landed but
seldom. He saw that nothing could be done, and that the expedition
must certainly end in disaster, and accordingly preferred to remain on
board and await events.
Two of the officers generally landed every day. Some of the men were
also allowed to go on shore, but were forbidden to approach the
neighbourhood of the town lest they should become involved in quarrels
with the Greeks. One day, when Horace was ashore with Tarleton, he
spoke sharply to a drunken Greek soldier who ran against him.
Presently Tarleton said:
“There has been a Greek following us since you spoke to that drunken
man, Horace. He looks a respectable old card. I fancy he wants to
speak to you, having heard you talking Greek.”
“Why doesn’t he speak then?” Horace said.
“Perhaps he wants to talk to you in quiet, Horace.”
“Very well. Let us turn down this narrow street. There is no one
about, and that will give him a chance of speaking if he wants to.”
The Greek, indeed, quickened his steps as soon as they turned down,
and was soon alongside of them.
“You speak Greek, sir?” he said to Horace. “I have been wanting to
speak to some of you officers, but this is the first time I have heard
one of you speaking Greek.”
“Yes, I speak the language. Is there anything I can do for you, sir?”
“Do you belong to an English ship-of-war, may I ask?”
“No; I belong to an armed ship, which is the property of my father,
who is a Philhellene, and has fitted it out at his own expense for the
service of Greece, whose flag we now fly.”
“Your sailors are taking no part in the siege of the citadel?”
“No, sir. My father does not think the expedition a useful one, and we
are only remaining here to see what takes place, and perhaps to give
assistance to any who may need it.”
“We all need it, sir,” the man said eagerly. “We have been robbed and
plundered by these ruffians, who call themselves our friends, and when
they run away, which they will do directly the Turks come, we shall be
held responsible for all their misdeeds, and a terrible vengeance will
fall upon us. I was a wealthy man, sir, a fortnight ago; now I would
give all I possess to save the lives of my family and myself, and
there are eight or ten of my friends in the same position. We have
jewels and money, and are ready to pay any sum to be taken off the
island before the Turks come. You have but to name a price, and if it
is within our means we shall be happy to pay it.”
“We are not Greeks,” Horace said angrily, “to make money out of the
miseries of others.” And then, seeing the depressed look of the
merchant, he went on more mildly: “We do not wish to make money out of
your misfortune, sir; but I will speak to my father, and I think I can
answer for him that he will be ready to afford you and your friends
and families shelter on board his ship. We lately took five hundred
Christians off from Cyprus and landed them on the Ionian Isles. We
came out to fight, but my father has since named his ship the
_Misericordia_, and his desire is to help persons in distress, whether
they be Turks or Christians. I will speak to him when I return on
board, and if you will be here to-morrow at eleven o’clock in the
morning I will give you his answer.”
The merchant overwhelmed Horace with thanks.
“What is the old chap so excited about, Horace?” Tarleton asked as
they resumed their walk.
Horace repeated the conversation.
“Poor beggars!” Tarleton said. “A nice position they are in! I wish
we had the crew of a man-of-war here; we would clear out the town
pretty sharply of these ruffians who call themselves soldiers, and
send these peasants who are swarming about the streets back to their
mountains. I see they have got the muskets your father sent on shore
yesterday. Much good will they do them! The men had far better be at
home looking after their vineyards and orchards.”
Mr. Beveridge agreed at once to afford shelter to the merchants and
their families.
“I thought it would come to this,” he said, “and expected some of them
would come off and ask to be taken on board before; but I suppose they
did not know our real character. We shall have plenty more applying
before this matter is concluded; but I doubt whether Lykourgos and his
crew will allow them to come on board so long as they have a penny
left to be wrung out of them. The scoundrel ought to be hung, if it
was only for being named as he is. It is downright profanation to hear
such names as Ulysses, Lycurgus, Leonidas, and Miltiades applied to
men who do not seem to possess one single good quality, not even that
of courage. Tell them, Horace, that we will carry out any arrangements
for getting them off that they may suggest, and that at any hour by
night or day the boats shall be at the spot they appoint, and that a
strong body of men shall be sent on shore to cover their embarkation.”
Martyn himself accompanied Horace the next morning to shore, as he
thought it would be better that he should hear what were the plans of
the merchant, and might be able to make suggestions as to their being
carried out. The Christian merchant was awaiting them. When they
approached he entered the house by the door of which he was standing,
and invited them also to enter.
“I know the owner of this house,” he said, “and arranged with him to
have a room where we could speak undisturbed. Did any of the officers
or soldiers happen to come down the lane when I was speaking to you,
suspicion would be at once roused that some plot or other was on
foot. Well, sir, what is your father’s answer?”
“He cordially invites you and your friends and their families to take
refuge on board his vessel, and he will land you at Athens, Corinth,
or in the Ionian Isles, as you may desire.”
The Greek clasped his hands in delight. “Oh, sir, you cannot tell what
a load you have taken off my mind, or what we have been suffering of
late, with the certainty that ere long the Turks will return.”
“This is Captain Martyn, who commands the vessel,” Horace said; “he
has come ashore to concert measures for getting you on board, that is,
if you think that there will be any obstacle in the way of your coming
off openly.”
“Certainly there will. I am sure they would not allow us to leave.
Three of my friends went to Lykourgos yesterday and said they desired
to go with their families on board the Greek ships. He got into a fury
and threatened to have them thrown into prison as traitors, fined them
a thousand piastres each, and said that anyone leaving the island
would be deemed a traitor to the cause of Greece and all his property
confiscated.”
Horace translated this to Martyn.
“Then they must get off quietly, Horace; ask him if they have formed
any plans. Tell him that I will land thirty men and bring them up
close to the town, if they can slip off and join us.”
Horace put the question.
“We were talking it over last night,” the merchant said; “it is not
easy, because we all have men who call themselves officers quartered
in our houses. We think that the best way will be for our daughters
and servants, with the exception of one or two, to slip off as soon as
it becomes dark, going in pairs and carrying with them all the
valuables they can. We ourselves and our wives will remain for two or
three hours, so that the men seeing us will suspect nothing. Some of
our servants, after escorting the ladies and children beyond the
town, can return and take with them another load. It would not do to
take large bundles, but the men can carry casks or barrels on their
shoulders filled with valuable clothes and stuffs, and as there would
be nothing unusual in a man carrying a cask of wine or a barrel of
flour, they might pass without exciting suspicion. Then, at the moment
agreed, we ourselves might slip away and join the rest.”
“That seems a likely plan,” Martyn said when he understood the
details. “Now it is for them to name some spot where we can be
awaiting them.”
“We have arranged that,” the Chiot said. “One of my friends has a
large farm-house where he and his family take up their residence in
summer; it stands half a mile from the town, on the brow looking down
upon the sea; it is a white house with two large store-houses for wine
and produce standing behind it.”
“I know the house,” Horace said; “the road passes a hundred yards
behind it.”
“That is the house, sir. It will be dark by seven o’clock, and at that
hour our servants will begin to start. It is probable that most of the
children will be sent on there during the day. This could certainly be
done without exciting attention. We ourselves will leave our houses as
the clock strikes ten.”
“I should think, Martyn,” Horace said when he had translated this,
“that we might manage to make things more easy for them if we send
Marco on shore with half a dozen men directly we get back to the ship.
We can tell him to hire a couple of carts and then to come to these
people’s houses. At one they could take into the carts a dozen barrels
of wine, that is to say, wine barrels filled with valuables; at
another a dozen barrels of flour, at another a cask of currants or
olives, and so on. I will go round with them, and it will merely seem
as if we were buying stores for the ship. These rich merchants are
certain to have the best of everything, and it will be natural that we
should choose a time like the present to lay in a stock, and that
they would be glad to sell cheaply. Marco and half the men could go
with one cart and I could go with the rest with the other. That way we
should attract less attention than by both going about in a crowd.”
“I think that is a capital plan, Horace; explain it to him, and get
the names and addresses of the people who are going and the houses
that each cart should go to, so that they may not cross each other on
the way.”
Horace explained the matter to the merchant.
“That is kind indeed,” he exclaimed, “and will enable us to save all
our most precious goods without fear of detection. I will go round at
once to my friends and tell them to pack up their things. There are
ten of us who have agreed to make the attempt together, which will
make five houses for each cart to call at.” And taking out his
pocket-book he wrote the addresses on two slips of paper.
There was nothing more to arrange.
“It will take us an hour and a half to get on board,” Horace said.
“That will be one o’clock. At two we will start, and you may expect
the carts to be at the houses somewhere about four.”
He and Martyn walked briskly back to the landing-place, where a boat
met them, having put off as soon as they were seen approaching. Mr.
Beveridge warmly approved of the plan, and at two o’clock ten sailors
were landed. Zaimes as well as Marco accompanied them, and Miller also
went to take charge of one party, as it was thought that they were
less likely to be questioned if an officer went with them. They
stopped at a farm-house by the way and hired two carts. It was
arranged that the two Greeks should purchase in the town several
carcasses of sheep and a quantity of fruit and vegetables to place on
the carts with the other goods, so as to carry out more completely the
idea that they were laying in stores for consumption on board, and on
their way Zaimes suggested they should also get a small cask or two of
currants and a cask of wine for each cart. In packing the goods these
should be placed most conspicuously, so that if necessary they could
knock in the head of the cask with currants, or bore holes in that
with the wine, and show that the contents were what they seemed to be.
The operation was carried out without difficulty. At each place they
visited, casks and barrels were at once rolled out from the warehouses
and placed in the carts. There had evidently been an arrangement
between the various families as to quantity, and by the time the last
houses were visited the carts were filled to their full capacity, and
the meat, vegetables, and fruit piled on the top of all. There was
some joking from the soldiers as the carts passed down the streets,
but the sight of the meat and vegetables dispelled any suspicions, and
the Greeks joked back in return. Neither party knew how the other was
getting on, as they had not caught sight of each other after
separating before entering the town. Horace was first to reach the
spot, a mile out, where they had agreed that whichever came first
should await the other. In ten minutes the second party was seen
coming in the distance, and when it arrived within a quarter of a mile
Horace moved forward again.
Tarleton with the three largest boats was awaiting their coming on the
beach abreast of the schooner, and by the time the contents of the
first cart were transferred to the boats the second arrived. As soon
as everything was on board the drivers of the carts were paid the sum
agreed upon, and the boats rowed off to the schooner.
“Have you had any difficulty?” Mr. Beveridge asked as they came
alongside.
“Not the slightest, father,” Horace replied. “We were chaffed a little
about our stores, but no one had the least suspicion that they were
not what they seemed.”
The casks were soon got on board and were slung down into the hold.
“What do you suppose they contain, father?” Horace asked.
“Well, of course all their jewels and money are in them, and no doubt
all their valuable dresses. I expect that the bulk is made up of silk
and brocades, most of which is extremely costly. Then there will be
embroidered stuffs, some of the more valuable of which are worth
almost a fortune in themselves. Chios is an extremely rich island and
its revenues are a special appanage of the Sultan and his harem, and
doubtless the merchants here supply the ladies of the court with many
of their most valued robes and embroideries.”
While the boats had been ashore the sailors had again rigged up the
screen across the main-deck for the use of the ladies and children,
and had also made a smaller compartment for the use of the merchants.
“There is one comfort,” Miller said, “as these people are swells they
are not likely to turn the ship into such a pig-stye as that last lot
did. How many do you suppose there will be, Horace?”
“I suppose they will run seven or eight to a family, that is
seventy-five, and likely enough they may bring five or six men and
women servants with each family; so I suppose you may calculate on a
hundred and fifty, Miller.”
“Ah! well, we can manage that. I should like to see the face of that
fellow Lykourgos to-morrow morning when he finds that some of the men
out of whom he had expected to make most money have slipped through
his fingers.”
As soon as it became dark thirty men were landed, armed to the teeth.
Miller took command, and Horace accompanied him with the two Greeks to
assist to look after the fugitives. When they reached the farm-house
they found about thirty young children with their nurses assembled
there with some eight or ten older girls. They were evidently in a
state of great alarm, but their spirits rose when Horace and the
Greeks entered and told them that a guard of English sailors were
without and that there was no longer a fear of their being discovered
by any straggling soldiers who might chance to visit the house. In a
short time the servants, accompanied by young women and boys, began to
arrive. Most of them carried bundles, and their bulky appearance
suggested that they had put on a large quantity of clothes under the
plain dresses they wore. The men all carried barrels or boxes. These
all returned to the town and came back by half-past nine with another
load.
Some excellent wine was served out to the sailors by the man who was
in charge of the house, who told Horace that he had received orders
from his master that the sailors were to carry away as many barrels of
wine as they could take for the use of the schooner; and as it was
certain that its owner would never have an opportunity of drinking it,
Horace did not hesitate to accept the present, and thirty barrels of
wine, each containing about five gallons, were brought out and placed
in readiness for the sailors to take up.
“What are you going to do about your loads?” Horace asked one of the
servants.
“We have orders, sir, to carry one of them as we go with you, and then
when the others go off to the ship to return here for the second, if
you will consent to our doing so.”
“Certainly,” Horace said. “There can be no possible objection to that,
providing we all get down to the beach without any alarm being given,
and of that I do not think there is any likelihood. The soldiers will
have all returned to their quarters before this. The only chance is of
our coming across parties of sailors returning to their ships. None of
these would be strong enough to interfere with us, and even if they
reported the matter when they got on board, I should say that none of
the captains would feel sufficient interest in the news to take any
steps about it.”
Soon after ten o’clock the merchants with their wives and grown-up
sons began to arrive, and by half-past the last of the party were in.
No further time was lost. Fifteen of the sailors, each with a barrel
of wine on his shoulder, led the way under Lieutenant Miller. The
merchants and their families followed, then came the servants with
Horace and the rest of the sailors as rear-guard. The road was
entirely deserted, and they reached the shore without encountering a
single person. As soon as they did so, Horace told the servant men to
set down their burdens and start back at once. The merchants with
their wives and families were first transferred to the schooner, the
sailors on shore taking charge of the rest of the fugitives and the
baggage. Another trip conveyed the remaining Chiots to the vessel.
When the boats returned the casks and barrels of wine were placed on
board, and the sailors then took their places and rowed off. Horace
found that the first party had already retired. Hammocks had been
slung for the women and children, the female attendants sleeping on
the deck. The merchants and their sons occupied a compartment screened
off for them. The men-servants coiled themselves away between the guns
on deck.
The two Greeks had gone off in the first boat, and already prepared
some supper, to which Martyn and Horace sat down.
“I did not wait for you,” Mr. Beveridge said, “as I knew that it must
be half-past eleven by the time you reached the shore, and another
good half-hour before you were off. Poor people! their gratitude was
quite distressing; the men considered that it was certain they would
be massacred by the Turks, and their women carried off as slaves. I
was obliged at last in self-defence to pack them off to bed. The women
all wanted to kiss my hand, which would have been well enough for you
young fellows, for some of the girls are lovely. The Chiots are
celebrated for their good looks; but for a man my age it would have
been simply embarrassing.”
“Perhaps they will renew the demonstrations to-morrow,” Miller
laughed. “If so, I shall get Horace to explain to them delicately that
our English custom is to salute on the face and not on the hand. I did
not see any of the girls. I left it to Horace to do the polite
indoors, while I kept a lookout with the men outside. I don’t know
whether he came in for any kisses; if so, he kept it to himself.”
“No,” Horace laughed. “They were all too anxious about their parents’
safety to think of doing the civil thing to me; but, as you say,
Martyn, there will be time enough to-morrow when we see what they are
like. I expect to-morrow we shall have Lykourgos or some of his
officers off here to protest.”
“That we sha’n’t,” Martyn said, “for we will get up the anchor at
daybreak and be off before anyone knows what has happened. Your father
agrees with me that the best plan will be to get rid of this cargo at
once, and then we can come back again for another.”
“I have asked them where they would like to be landed,” Mr. Beveridge
said, “and they had already agreed among themselves to go to Corfu. In
the first place they have no love for the Greeks of the mainland, with
whom they are furious for bringing destruction upon the island by
coming here without a sufficient force to hold the citadel even if
they captured it, and they would vastly rather be landed under the
protection of the British flag. They will have time to settle
afterwards where they will make their homes.”