"No doubt," I said, "many of the gallant officers IN the Greek Army have
shares in it."
_III.--A Way of Escape_
And so it proved. Two days afterwards the king was explaining to me his
scheme for transforming brigandage into a peaceful orderly system of
taxation, when four shots were fired in the distance.
"Get out the Aegean wine," he said. "Pericles is coming with some
troops."
Sixty soldiers came marching into the camp. Captain Pericles, whose
figure I had often admired at Athens, ran up to Hadgi Stavros, and
kissed him.
"Good news, my dear godfather! The paymaster-general is sending £1,000
to Argos this morning by the path near the Scironian Rocks," said the
captain.
"Splendid, my boy!" said the king. "I'll go with all my men at once.
Guard the camp, and write out the report of our battle. Defeat me if you
like, but leave ten of your best troops dead on the field. I am in need
of recruits. Look after the three prisoners. They're worth £4,600."
As Hadgi Stavros marched out at the head of his men, they sang a song
composed by their king when he knew Lord Byron:
Down the winding valleys a hillsman went his way;
His eyes were black and flaming, his gun was clean and bright
He cried unto the vultures: "Oh, follow me to-day,
And you shall have my foeman to feed upon to-night!"
When Mrs. Simons saw that the brigands had gone, and the troops had
arrived, she was wild with excitement. I told her of the real state of
affairs; but she wouldn't believe me, and gave Pericles her money and
jewels when asked for them. In the evening the king returned with his
men, and the troops departed. Mrs. Simons then broke down.
"If you were an Englishman, you would rescue us, and marry my daughter,"
she exclaimed. "I suppose I must write to Barley & Co., and get Edward
to send our ransom."
"Barley & Co. of Cavendish Square?"
"Yes," said Mary Ann. "Didn't you know my mother and my uncle were
bankers?"
"Then I have found a way of escape," I exclaimed. "Hadgi Stavros banks
with your firm. Do you remember the letter he was dictating when we
arrived? That was to Barley & Co. about an investment."
"I see. I must explain the position at once to him," said Mrs. Simons.
"And he will want half a million or more ransom," I said. "No! Write at
once to your agents in Athens to send you £4,600. Pay Hadgi Stavros;
make him give you a receipt. Enclose this in the next letter from
Messrs. Barley & Co., with the note--'Item. £4,600 personally remitted
by our partner, Mrs. Simons, as per enclosed receipt.'"
I raised my head, and saw the sweet brown eyes of Mary Ann looking at
me, radiant with joy. I then went to Hadgi Stavros, and explained that
the £4,600 would be paid into his account at the Bank of Athens on the
production of his receipt for that amount. He refused at first to give a
receipt. He had never done such a thing. Then I took him on his weak
side, and said that perhaps it was more prudent not to give one. If ever
he were captured it might be used against him. This touched him.
"I will not give one receipt," he cried. "I will give two--one for Mrs.
and Miss Simons, one for Hermann Schultz."
Alas! from my point of view the result was deplorable. The ransom of the
two ladies was paid, and they were set free. But as Messrs. Barley & Co.
could not recover any money on a receipt given to me, their agent
refused to pay my ransom.
"It doesn't matter," said Mrs. Simons, as she and Mary Ann departed.
"You can escape by the way down the cascade. Your first plan was
impossible with two women, but now you are alone, it is admirable. Come
and see us as soon as you get away."
That night I made friends with the ruffian set to watch over me, and I
plied him with wine until he fell on the grass and was unable to rise. I
then dammed the stream, and climbed down its empty bed. It was difficult
work, as the rocks were wet and the night was very dark. I was covered
with bruises when I reached a platform of rock about ten feet from the
bottom of the precipice. Just as I was about to jump down, a white form
appeared below, and a savage growl came from it. I had forgotten the
pack of fierce dogs, which, as the King of the Mountains had told me,
were the best of all his sentries. Happily, I carried my collecting
case, and in it was a packet of arsenic which I used for stuffing birds.
I put some of the powder on a piece of bread, and threw the poisoned
food to the dog; but arsenic takes a long time to act. In about half an
hour's time the creature began to howl in a frightful manner, and it did
not expire until daybreak. It also succeeded in arousing the camp, and I
was recaptured and brought before the king.
"I don't mind your trying to escape," he said, with a terrible look;
"but in your wild prank you have, drowned the man I set to watch over
you. Were I to give way to my feelings I would have you killed. But I
will be merciful. You will merely be bastinadoed to prevent you from
wandering out of bounds until your ransom is paid."
I received twenty strokes on my feet. At the third I began to bleed. At
the fourth I began to howl. At the tenth I was insensible to pain. When
I came to I was in such an agony that I would have given my soul to kill
Hadgi Stavros. I tried to, but failed. But I would hurt him, though I
knew I should die for it. So, with a torrent of invectives, I explained
how I tricked him over the ransom of Mrs. Simons and her daughter.
"She's a partner in Barley's Bank, you fool, you ass!" I shrieked. "She
will get back all the £4,000 on your receipt."
Hadgi Stavros turned pale and trembled.
"No," he said, very slowly; "I will not kill you. You have not suffered
enough. Four thousand pounds! It is a fortune. You have stolen my
daughter's fortune. What can I do to you? Find me, you brutes," he
cried, turning to his men, "a torture of £4,000."
Then he left me in their hands.
"Treat him gently," he said. "I don't want him to get so exhausted that
he dies before I begin to play with him."
As a beginning, they stripped me to the waist, and their cook put me
close to a great fierce fire, where some lambs were being fried. The red
cinders fell about me, and the heat was unsupportable. I dragged myself
away on my hands--I could not use my feet--but the ruffian kicked me
back. Then he left me for a moment to get some salt and pepper. I
remembered that I had put the arsenic in my trousers pocket. With a
supreme effort I rose up and scattered the powder over the meat.
"What are you doing?" said the cook. "Trying to cast a spell on our
food?"
He had only seen, from a distance, the motion of my hand. I was avenged!
Suddenly I heard a cry: "The king! Where is the king?" And Dimitri, the
son of Christodulos, came running up.
"Good God!" he said when he saw me. "The poor girl!"
The cook was so astonished that he forgot me for a minute; and I managed
to crawl away and lay on the cold grass. Then Hadgi Stavros appeared.
With a cry of anguish he took me gently in his arms, and carried me to
the cave among the rocks.
"Poor boy!" he said. "How you have suffered! But you will soon be well.
I once had sixty strokes of the bastinado, and two days afterwards I was
dancing the Romaika. It was this ointment that cured me."
"But what has happened?" I murmured.
"Read that!" he cried, throwing me a letter. "What a pirate! What an
assassin! If I only had you and your friend, one in each hand! Oh, he
won't do it! Will he?"
The letter was from John Harris. It ran:
"Hadgi Stavros,--Photini is now on my ship, the _Fancy_,
which carries four guns. She remains a hostage as long as
Hermann Schultz remains a prisoner. As you treat my friend, so
I will treat your daughter. She shall pay hair for hair, tooth
for tooth, head for head. Answer at once, or I will come and
see you.--JOHN HARRIS."
"I know Photini," I said to the king, "and I swear that she will not be
harmed. But I must return to Athens at once. Get four of your men to
carry me down the mountains in a litter."
The king rose up, and then groaned and staggered. I remembered the
arsenic. He must have eaten some of the meat. I tickled the inside of
his throat, and he brought up most of the poison. Soon afterwards the
other brigands came up to the enclosure, screaming with pain, and wanted
to murder me. I had cast a spell over their meat, and it was torturing
them, they cried. I must be killed at once, and then the spell would be
removed. The king commanded them to withdraw. They resisted. He drew his
saber, and cut down two of the ringleaders. The rest seized their guns
and began to shoot. There were about sixty of them, all suffering, more
or less, from the effects of arsenic poisoning. We were only twelve in
number, but our men had the steadier aim; and the king fought like a
hero, though his hands and feet were swelling painfully.
The fact was that he had eaten some time before his men, and I could not
therefore get the poison completely out of his system. But it was the
arsenic that saved his life. He had at last to come and lie down beside
me. We heard the sound of rapid firing in the distance; and suddenly two
men entered our enclosure, with revolvers in each hand, and shot down
our defenders with an extraordinary quickness of aim. They were Harris
and Lobster.
"Hermann, where are you?" Harris yelled at last, with all his strength,
as he turned and found nothing more to shoot at.
"Here," I replied. "The men you've just killed have been fighting for
me. There has been civil war in the camp."
"Well, we've stamped it out!" said Harris. "What's the matter with the
old scoundrel lying beside you?"
"It's Hadgi Stavros," I said. "He and his men have been eating some
arsenic I had in my collecting case."
My friends managed to carry me down the mountain, and at the first
village we came to they got a carriage and took me to Athens. The
ointment used by Hadgi Stavros was, as he had said, marvelous; and in
two days I could walk as well as ever. I at once called on Mrs. and Miss
Simons.
"They departed yesterday for Trieste," said the servant, "on their way
to London."
As I was returning to Hermes Street I met Hadgi Stavros and Photini.
"How is it that the King of the Mountains is found walking in the
streets of Athens?" I said.
"What can I do in the mountains now?" he replied. "All my men are
killed, wounded or fled. I might get others. But look at my swollen
hands. How can I use a sword? No; let some one younger now take my
place. But I defy him to equal me in fame or fortune. And I have not
done yet. Before six months are gone, you will see Hadgi Stavros, Prime
Minister of Greece. Oh, there are more ways of making money than one!"
And that was the last I saw of the King of the Mountains. On the advice
of Harris, I at once returned to Hamburg, lest some of the remaining
brigands found me out, and take vengeance for the spell I had cast on
their meat. But some day I hope to go to London, and call at 31,
Cavendish Square.
* * * * *