The King appeared to be little troubled. His eyebrows were, however,
drawn a little nearer together than was usual, and the wrinkles on his
forehead formed an acute angle between his eyes. He asked the courier:
"Where are they?"
"Near Castia."
"How many companies?"
"One."
"Whose?"
"I do not know."
"Wait!"
A second messenger was seen running toward the King. Hadgi-Stavros cried
out to him: "Is it Pericles' company?"
"I do not know; I did not see their number." A shot was heard at a
distance. "Listen!" commanded the King, taking out his watch. The men
were silent. Four shots followed, a minute apart. The last one was
followed by a thundering detonation which resembled platoon-firing. The
King, with a smile, put his watch back in his pocket.
"It is all right! Return the baggage to the storeroom, and serve me with
wine of Aegina; it is Pericles' company."
He saw me just as he finished the sentence. He called to me, in a
jeering tone:
"Come, Monsieur German, you are not _de trop_. It is well to rise early;
one sees curious things. Your thirst has awakened you! Will you drink a
glass of wine of Aegina with our brave gendarmes?"
Five minutes later three enormous goat-skin bottles were brought from
some secret hiding place. A sentinel approached the King.
"Good news! They are Pericles' men!"
A few of the bandits were in advance of the troops. The Corfuan, a fine
talker, skipped along by the Captain's side, his tongue running. A drum
was heard; then a blue flag was seen, and sixty men, fully armed,
marched in double file to the King's Cabinet. I recognized M. Pericles,
because I had admired him on the promenade at Athens. He was a young
officer of thirty-five, dark, a coxcomb, admired by the ladies, the best
waltzer at Court, and wearing his epaulets with grace. He put up his
sword, ran to the King of the Mountains, who kissed him on the mouth,
saying, "Good morning, godfather!"
"Good morning, little one," the King replied, caressing his cheek with
his hand. "Thou art well?"
"Yes. And thou?"
"As thou seest. And thy family?"
"My uncle, the Bishop, has a fever."
"Bring him here, I will cure him. The Prefect of Police is better?"
"A little; he sends his kind regards; the Minister also."
"What is new?"
"A ball at the Palace on the 15th. It is decided; the 'Siècle' publishes
it!"
"Thou dancest, then, all the time? And what about the Bourse?"
"There is a general fall in stocks."
"Good! hast thou letters for me?"
"Yes; here they are. Photini's was not ready. She will send it by the
post."
"A glass of wine: ... Thy health, little one!"
"God bless thee, godfather! Who is this Frank who is listening to us?"
"Nothing! A German of no consequence. Thou hast not news for us?"
"The paymaster-general sends 20,000 francs to Argos. They will pass by
the Sciromian Rocks to-morrow night."
"I will be there. Will a large band be necessary?"
"Yes! the coffer is guarded by two companies."
"Good or bad?"
"Detestable! Men who are dead shots."
"I will take all my band. In my absence thou wilt guard our prisoners?"
"With pleasure. Apropos, I have the most rigid orders. Thy English
prisoners have written to their Ambassador. They have called the entire
army to their aid."
"And it is I who furnished them the paper!"
"It is necessary, in consequence, that I write my report. I will recount
a bloody battle."
"We will write it out together."
"Yes. This time, godfather, I must be the victor."
"No!"
"Yes! I wish to be decorated."
"Thou shalt be, some other time. What an insatiable! It is only a year
since I made thee Captain."
"But understand, dear godfather, that it is for thy interest to be
conquered. When the world shall learn that thy band is dispersed,
confidence will be restored, travelers will again pour into the country
and thou wilt make thy fortune."
"Yes, but if I am conquered the Bourse will send up stocks, and I am
speculating on a fall."
"That is another affair! At least, let me kill a dozen men!"
"So be it! That will harm no one. On my side I must kill ten."
"How! One will see on our return that our company is full."
"Not so! Thou shalt leave them here; I need recruits."
"In that case, I recommend to thee little Spiro, my adjutant. He is a
graduate of the military school, he has been well instructed and is
intelligent. The poor boy gets only 78 francs a month, and his parents
are not very well satisfied. If he remains in the army he will not
become a sub-lieutenant under five or six years; the staffs are
complete. But let him make himself remarked in thy troop; they will
offer to bribe him, and he would have his nomination in six months."
"Good for the little Spiro! Does he speak French?"
"Passably."
"I will keep him, perhaps. If he does well for me, I will include him in
the enterprise; he might be a stockholder. Thou wilt receive our account
rendered for the year. I give 82 per cent."
"Bravo! my eight shares will bring me more than my Captain's pay. Ah!
godfather, what career is mine?"
"What dost thou risk? Thou couldst be a brigand, but for thy mother's
notions. She has always pretended that thou hast lacked a vocation. To
thy health! And to yours, M. German! I present to you my godson, Captain
Pericles, a charming young man who knows many languages, and who will
replace me during my absence. My dear Pericles, I present to thee
Monsieur, who is a doctor and is valued at fifteen thousand francs.
Canst thou believe that this tall doctor, all doctor as he is, has not
yet found out how to pay his ransom through our English captives. The
world has degenerated, little one: it was better in my day."
Thereupon, he nimbly rose and hastened to give some orders for
departure. Was it the pleasure of entering on a campaign, or the joy of
seeing his godson? He seemed rejuvenated; he was twenty years younger,
he laughed, he jested, he shook off his royal dignity. I would never
have supposed that the only event capable of cheering a brigand would be
the arrival of the gendarmerie. Sophocles, Vasile, the Corfuan and the
other chiefs carried the King's orders through the camp. Every one was
soon ready to depart, owing to the morning's activity. The young
adjutant, Spiro, and the nine men chosen from among the gendarmes
exchanged their uniforms for the picturesque dress of the bandits. This
was a veritable lightning-change; the Minister of War, if he had been
there, would have almost been unable to have told how it was done. The
newly-made brigands seemed to feel no regret for their former
employment. The only ones who murmured were those who remained under the
old flag. Two or three veterans loudly complained that the selection had
not been well made, and that no account had been taken of seniority. A
few old soldiers vaunted their exploits and laid claim to having served
the required time in brigandage. The Captain soothed them as best he
could, and promised them that their turn should come.
Hadgi-Stavros, before departing, gave all his keys to his
representative. He showed him the grotto where the wine was kept, in the
cave in which was the flour, the cheese packed in a crevice, and the
trunk of a tree in which was kept the coffee. He instructed him in every
precaution which was to be taken to prevent our escape and to keep
possession of so splendid a sum. The handsome Pericles smilingly
replied: "What dost thou fear? I am a stockholder."
At seven o'clock in the morning the King put himself at the head of his
band, and the men marched forth in single file. They marched toward the
north, keeping their backs to the Sciromian Rocks. They made a long
detour, by a path which was easy, to the bottom of the ravine which was
below our camping place. The bandits sang at the top of their voices
while wading through the brook formed by the waters of the cascade as
they fell into the ravine. The war-song was a story of Hadgi-Stavros'
youth, consisting of four verses:
"The Clephte aux yeux noirs descend dans les plaines;
Sonfusil doré----"
"You ought to know it; the little Athenian lads sing nothing else on the
way to Catechism."
Mrs. Simons, who slept near her daughter, and who was always dreaming of
the gendarmes, jumped up and ran to the window, that is to say, the
cascade. She was cruelly disappointed in seeing enemies, when she
expected to find saviors. She recognized the King, the Corfuan, and
several others. What was the most astonishing thing to her was the
formidable appearance and numbers of this morning expedition. She
counted sixty men following Hadgi-Stavros. "Sixty," she thought; "there
only remains twenty, then, to guard us?" The idea of escape, which she
had scorned the night before, now presented itself to her with some
favor. In the midst of these reflections she saw the rear-guard appear,
and which she had not counted. Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen,
twenty men! Then there was no one left in the camp! "We are free!
Mary-Ann," she cried. The men still filed past. The band itself
consisted of eighty men; ninety marched by; a dozen dogs came behind,
but she took no trouble to count them.
Mary-Ann arose at her mother's call and came quickly from the tent.
"Free!" cried Mrs. Simons. "They have all left, What did I say? all!
Even a larger number has gone than was here. Let us hasten away, my
daughter!"
She hurried to the top of the staircase and saw the King's camp occupied
by the soldiers. The Greek flag floated triumphantly at the summit of
the pine tree. Hadgi-Stavros' place was occupied by M. Pericles. Mrs.
Simons threw herself into his arms in such a transport that he had hard
work to free himself from her embrace.
"Angel of God!" she said to him, "the brigands have gone."