"Concerning our capture?"
"Concerning a piano, a crinoline, and Walter Scott."
"That takes a long time. Will he invite us to breakfast?"
"There comes a servant with refreshments."
The King's coffee-bearer came to us, bringing three cups of coffee, a
box of rahat-loukoum, and a pot of preserves. Mrs. Simons and her
daughter rejected the beverage with disgust, because it was made like
Turkish coffee, and was like thickened milk. I emptied my cup like a
veritable gourmand of the Orient. The pot of sweets was a rose sorbet,
and received only a small share of our attention, as we were forced to
eat it with one spoon. Delicate eaters are unfortunate when in this
country of primitive simplicity. But the rahat-loukoum, cut in pieces,
pleased the palates of the ladies, without shocking too much, their
ordinary tastes. They took in their beautiful fingers that perfumed
jellied paste, and emptied the box, while the King dictated the
following letter:
"Messrs. Barley and Company,
"31 Cavendish Square,
"London.
"I see by your honored letter of the 5th of April and the current
account which accompanies it, that I have, at the present time,
22,750 livres sterling, to my credit. Please place these funds,
half in English three per cents, half in shares of the company,
before the coupons are cut. Sell my shares of the Royal Britannic
Bank; it is an institution in which I have no longer any
confidence. Take for me, in exchange, all in Bank of London. If you
can get 15,000 livres for my house in the Strand (it was valued at
that in 1852), you may buy for me, in the Vieille-Montagne, an
equal amount. Send to the firm, Rhalli Brothers, 100 guineas; it is
my subscription for the Hellenic School at Liverpool. I have
seriously pondered the proposition which you have done me the honor
to submit to me, and, after many reflections, I have decided to
persist in my line of conduct and transact business strictly on a
cash basis. Purchases in future are of a speculative character,
which ought to prevent any good father of a family from dealing in
them. I am assured that you would not expose my capital to danger,
and would use it with a prudence which has always characterized
your house; but even where the benefit of which you write, seems
sure, I experience, I must confess it, a certain repugnance to
leaving to my heirs a fortune augmented by gambling. Accept, etc.,
"Hadgi-Stavros,
"Proprietor."
"Is it about us?" Mary-Ann whispered.
"Not yet, Mademoiselle, His Majesty is investing in stocks."
"In stocks! Here? I thought that was only done at home."
"Is Monsieur, your father, associated with a banking establishment?"
"Yes; with the firm of Barley & Co."
"Are there two bankers of the same name in London?"
"Not that I am aware of."
"Have you ever heard that the firm transacted business with the
Orient?"
"Certainly, all over the world."
"And do you live in Cavendish Square?"
"No, the offices are there. Our house is in Piccadilly."
"Thank you, Mademoiselle. Allow me to listen to the next. This old man's
correspondence is very interesting."
The King dictated, without stopping, a long report of the shares of his
band. This curious document was addressed to M. Georges Micrommati,
Officer of Ordinance, at the Palaces, that he might read it in the
General Assembly to those interested.
"Account rendered of the operations of the National
Company by the King of the Mountains.
Receipts and Expenditures, 1855-56.
Camp of the King, April 30, '56.
Sirs:
The agent whom you have honored with your confidence, to-day, for
the fourteenth time, submits for your approval the report of the
year's transactions. Since the day when the constitutional act of
our society was signed in the office of Master Tsappas, Royal
Notary of Athens, never has our enterprise encountered more
obstacles, never has the progress of our labors been embarrassed by
more serious difficulties. It is in the presence of a strange
occupation, under the eyes of two armies, if not hostile, at least
ill-disposed, that the regular practice of an eminently national
institution must be carried on. Piraeus is occupied by the
military; the Turkish frontier is watched with a zealousness
without precedent in history, and this restricts our activity to a
very narrow circle, and confines our zeal to impassable limits.
Within these narrow boundaries, our resources are still more
reduced by the general penury, the scarcity of money, and the small
crops. The olive trees have not yielded as they promised; the
cereal harvests have been small, and the vines are not yet rid of
the oïdium. In these circumstances it has been difficult to profit
by the tolerance of the authorities and the kindness of a friendly
government. Our enterprise is so identified with the interests of
the country, that it can flourish only in the general prosperity,
and so repulse the counterstrokes of all public calamities; for
from those who have nothing, one can take nothing, or little of
anything.
The strangers traveling in this country, whose curiosity is so
useful to the kingdom and to us, have become rare. English
tourists, who, formerly, composed an important branch of our
revenue, are totally lacking. Two young Americans, stopped upon the
road to Pentelicus, lost us their ransom. The French and English
papers had inspired them with a spirit of defiance, and they
escaped from our hands, at a time when their capture would have
been most useful.
And now, gentlemen, this is our record, a report of our society
which has resisted the fatal crisis better than agriculture,
industries and commerce. Your funds, confided to my keeping, have
been made profitable, not as much so as I could wish, but better
than any one could hope for. I will say no more; I leave the
figures to speak for themselves. Arithmetic is more eloquent than
Demosthenes.
The society capital, limited at first to the modest sum of 50,000
francs, has increased to 120,000 by three successive issuings of
bonds of 500 francs.
Our gross receipts, from May 1, 1855, to April 30, 1856, are
261,482 francs.
Expenses as follows: