Sydney C. Grier

“ There was little room in the tower for anything but the rude capstan or windlass which worked the rope and the monks who pushed at its bars, and Zoe tottered out with the help of Maurice’s arm, to find herself in a stone-paved court, with Eirene lying on the stones in a dead faint, and an old woman wailing over her, while a group of monks wavered at a discreet distance, alternately drawn by curiosity and withheld by the consciousness that they ought not to be present. ”

“ When it had been despatched, she and Eirene looked at one another rather anxiously. It was undeniable that their appearance was not distinguished. A badly fitting blouse, a home-made skirt, moccasins instead of shoes, and a paucity of hairpins—for none had been obtainable in the village—are drawbacks which only beauty of a very exceptional order can successfully surmount.
“I shouldn’t mind a bit, if it wasn’t that we want to look so particularly dignified,” said Zoe. “Suppose you put on the famous girdle, Eirene. That ought to make an impression.” ”

“ The energy of the prisoners astonished their captors, who seemed to think it the height of bliss to lie in the sun, smoking and quarrelling, or playing various rudimentary games of chance, and at first every movement was regarded with suspicion. But by degrees Maurice established with them a feeling almost akin to good fellowship, and would sit among them round the fire, listening to their talk, which he was beginning to understand without the intervention of Milosch. Eirene objected strongly to this habit of his, and, as was her wont, spoke her mind freely on the subject. ”

“ He went away abruptly, and Zoe gazed after him with mingled feelings.
“Of course we shall meet again,” she said to herself. “It’s all nonsense about forgetting. He can’t forget if he really cares. And we shall be older then, and more tolerant, and get into one another’s ways better.” A vision crossed her mind of herself and Wylie placed farther apart by the passage of years, both more fixed in their own ways and opinions, each finding it more difficult to understand the other, but she brushed it aside. ”

“ As I came here, Madame Ladoguin, the wife of our Consul-General at Therma, begged me to place her house and her services at your disposal for as long as you required them. She is a charming and accomplished woman, and her society will cheer and refresh you.”
“Very well,” said Eirene, rising. “I hardly dare indulge hope for the future, after what I have suffered to-day. You will pardon me if I leave you now, monsieur. I can endure no more.” ”

“ One side of the ladder seemed to drop, and the rungs hung drooping. Wylie felt for his revolver, but it was in Maurice’s sash as he clung half-way down the ladder, and before Armitage could thrust his into his hand, the remaining side-rope parted with a sound like the report of a gun, and Maurice seemed to fly outwards through the air. He came to the ground with a thud which drew an agonised shriek from Zoe, and Wylie scarcely doubted that he must be killed. ”

“ Happily, the stone was soft enough to allow the cutting of holes for feet and hands, but the brigands had not considered the comfort of ladies in preparing these. It was almost impossible for Zoe to support both feet or both hands at the same time, and she spent some of the most frightful moments in her life in standing with one foot wedged into a crevice while Zeko, hanging in some miraculous way below her in front, guided the other to the next foothold, and Wylie, gripping the rock firmly with one hand, held out the other that she might cling to it as she swung herself on. ”

“ It’s all very well to swagger through a village with your belt full of weapons, with all the girls pointing at you, and whispering, ‘There goes the valiant Zeko of Stoyan’s band,’ and all the lads wanting to join you, but it’s different when you come to the village, frozen and starving, on a winter’s night, and want food and shelter. The people dare not refuse you, but you can see their black looks, and you know they are cursing you under their breath. ”

“ She followed his muttered directions as if in a dream, for the imaginary world in which she had spent the greater part of her captivity still lay about her, and it was as though her mind received and her body obeyed his orders, while her real self was not there at all.
At last they came to a ledge of rock, on which Wylie allowed a rest from sheer necessity, for he found himself forced to cling to the ladder even when standing on firm ground. ”

“ After all, I am the head of Eirene’s family, and who has the right to arrange for her marriage if I haven’t? And if I choose to marry her myself, instead of handing her over to some one else, and she doesn’t object, who has any right to prevent me?”
“All very well,” said Wylie. “It sounds most logical and convincing, but you know there are a good many people who both could and would prevent you. Don’t be afraid; I’ll exhaust my eloquence on Sir Frank, and if nothing else will bring him, I’ll persuade him it’s his duty to be present to make sure that I am not marrying the Princess after all. ”

“ No doubt she wanted some consolation—or perhaps she was going crazy,” said Zoe. “I expect you led her a life.”
“You consider me very unamiable?” asked Eirene curiously. “Tell me, then; what do you think of me, honestly?”
“I don’t think you are unamiable really, but you seem to think of no one but yourself, and you are always thinking of yourself. You told me to say what I thought.”
“I know; I suppose it is true. You consider me selfish. Well, I will try to improve. And to begin, I beg you will go to Maurice and ask him from me to take you for a long walk. ”

“ Makes a man feel so undeniably married, don’t you know?”
“Oh, that’s all very well,” said Zoe. “It’s no use trying to wear a mask before me. You forget that I have an advantage which no other living bridesmaid possesses. I am like the Infant Phenomenon, going away with Mr and Mrs Lillyvick on their wedding tour. Have you read ‘Nicholas Nickleby,’ Eirene? Not? What a lot of things we have to teach her, haven’t we, Maurice?”
“There’s one thing I should like to teach you, and that is to know a good man when you see one,” growled Maurice. ”

“ You were too cross or too miserable—I don’t know which—to talk, so that I heard the others the whole time.”
“Awfully sorry to have bored you,” said Wylie. “You see, I thought it might help your sister along if I drew on my recollections of old days.”
“It did,” cried Zoe. “I don’t believe I could have kept up without it. Why did you listen, if you were bored, Eirene?”
“It wasn’t that exactly,” explained Eirene; “but it seemed so silly. We are not children; what good can it do to pretend?”
“If it helps us to bear things more cheerfully, surely that’s some good?” suggested Zoe. ”

“ There are the taxes, and the troubles with the police, and the blood-feuds—all the different reasons that made us take to the hills; how can we go back to them? All you rich people who grind the faces of the poor shriek loud enough when we make you taste a little of what our life is, but you drive us to it. Perhaps you will pity us a little now that you have tried what hunger and cold and hardship really are.”
“I pitied you long before I came to Emathia,” said Maurice, “but I pity you less now. Your misfortunes are so much your own fault. ”

“ Once you were established, the Roumis could not long hold Czarigrad. For four centuries they have occupied European soil, though only as birds of passage. They will leave no monuments, their very houses are temporary lodging-places. They have always kept one eye on Asia, and when the moment comes they will return thither—perhaps without striking a blow. You will have delivered Europe from its most shameful stain.”
“Oh, Maurice, you will do it?” entreated Zoe. ”

“ She had been right, after all, when she suspected Maurice of being a prince in disguise. But even as the thought crossed her mind, she read in the Scythian’s expression that she had betrayed herself, and she saw her course clear before her. To remain at Hadgi-Antoniou, throwing in her lot with that of Maurice and Zoe, would do no good. The monastery which had guarded the faith for centuries could guard secrets as well. The prisoners might remain in a living death, unsuspected by the outside world, while it would be announced to Europe that they had met their fate at the hands of the brigands. ”

“ The Grand Seignior will insist on managing everything himself, and of course he can’t do more than a certain amount, and so business gets into frightful arrears all over the empire.”
“I don’t care,” said Eirene stubbornly. “I shall trust no one; that is the lesson life has taught me. The ruler’s eye will be everywhere, the ruler’s hand always ready.”
“Maternal or elder-sisterly government,” muttered Maurice. “Well, Eirene, have it your own way, and go ahead, and Zoe and I will come and preach revolution to your people. What would you do to us?” ”

“ The temptation to reveal the truth was so overwhelming that Zoe took refuge in a highly moral tone. “You have such a horribly snobbish way of looking at things,” she said severely, “thinking whether people are noble instead of whether they are nice. Maurice and Captain Wylie are English gentlemen, and an English gentleman is the equal of any one in the world.”
“And an English lady?” demanded Eirene smartly. ”

“ Sometimes I have wished that I had not done it, when I saw how you and Maurice thought of such things. But then I remembered that I could not possibly have let it go, so I felt that there was nothing else to be done.”
“You are not really sorry,” said Zoe with severity. “If you were, I suppose you would give it up to the brigands now.”
“That is quite impossible,” said Eirene calmly.
“Well, you must have a funny sort of conscience. You are afraid something will happen to you because you have to sleep in a church, and yet you tell a deliberate lie without a qualm.” ”

“ You can promise that, can’t you?”
“No, no,” said Eirene eagerly. “It is a deception, a snare—I am sure of it. Doubtless the way is easy, and lies through villages, where it would cause suspicion if you were seen to be fettered, and the brigands think they will make us appear as tourists guided by them. Surely you won’t cripple yourselves by such a promise?”
“It does seem rather insane,” agreed Maurice. “What do you say, Wylie? We should feel pretty small if we found we had debarred ourselves from accepting a good chance of escape.” ”

“ Oh, I am so glad!” she cried, abandoning disguise, and drying her eyes vigorously. “Evdotia Vladimirovna—my aunt, I mean—is so frightened, and I have been obliged to encourage her, and I was so frightened myself. Every one might be a spy or a secret agent. Then I saw the luggage with the name ‘Smith,’ and I saw you and your brother, and your faces looked trustworthy, and I thought we should be safe with you. I shall never forget this service, you may be sure,” with a return to stateliness, as she rose and departed.
“I feel a regular fool!” said Zoe viciously to herself. ”

“ For the moment it looked as though Wylie had actually brought about the death of his friends, for the brigands were now thoroughly roused. “Kill the European dogs, kill them and get rid of them!” was the murmur. “They have brought us to this pass. Let us kill them and leave their bodies here on the track for their friend to find.” Daggers were once more unsheathed, and revolvers drawn.
“Why don’t you pray? Are you an atheist?” demanded Eirene of Zoe, breaking off in the middle of a catalogue of saints, whose aid she was audibly imploring. ”

“ A number of men were standing round, leaning on their rifles, but they wore rough brown clothes instead of the dirty kilts and long leggings of Stoyan and his band. There was not a familiar face to be seen. As if by magic, an entirely new set of brigands had taken the place of the old.
“Do help us down, Maurice,” said Zoe, rather impatiently. “I am too stiff to move,” and he complied mechanically. But while he fumbled with the knot of the handkerchief which covered her eyes, he tried to prepare her.
“Zoe—Eirene—there’s something wrong. None of our brigands are here. ”

“ A curious thought, almost a certainty, had occurred to her, and she put a question which had to do with it. “But won’t there be a king or prince to be considered in this kingdom of yours? or do you expect your husband will let you do as you like with his possessions?”
“There will be no husband,” said Eirene haughtily. “The possessions will be mine, mine alone. And you are making attempts to discover who I am.”
“We aren’t,” said Maurice indignantly, while the guilty Zoe maintained a judicious silence. “How horribly suspicious you are, Eirene! ”

“ I will own that I have had moments of alarm. I imagined that I distinguished on her face a look resembling relief when I first revealed to her the nature of the deception. But it passed quickly when I pointed out its sordid motive, and the bourgeois origin of the plotters. A peasant would have been infinitely more welcome as a rival than a respectable youth of the middle class.”
“But I had the idea that these Teffanys—these Smiths, I should say—belonged to the petite noblesse, what the English call ‘gentry,’” said Mme. Ladoguin. M. Kirileff smiled meaningly. ”

“ Why, Eirene, the brigands wouldn’t do anything that they thought would make the saints angry, and they belong to the Greek Church just as much as you do.”
“They? They are miserable schismatics—followers of the upstart heretical church of Thracia, outcasts from Orthodoxy!” cried Eirene.
“Oh, do be quiet!” cried Zoe anxiously. “That new man whom Milosch brought with him to-day may understand English. I saw him staring hard at you when you were kissing all those old worn-out saints on the screen.”
“But what harm could it do if he did? These men know that they are schismatics.” ”

“ Eirene shrugged her shoulders. “She is determined that he is dead; how could my sole opinion change her mind? If I thought it would comfort her I would tell her; but suppose that we see him no more again until we are all ransomed and set free? She would determine again that he was dead, and suffer twice over.”
“I only hope you may be right, and that he is alive,” said Maurice gloomily.
The brigands had finished their meal, and were peacefully employed in mending their clothes and moccasins, while the chief was seated under a tree, in close confabulation with Milosch. ”

“ I have always had Maurice on my mind, but now I can hand the dear boy over with an easy conscience to Eirene, and do just as I like. I want to be able to shut myself up and write, or start off on my travels, and go on, or come back, or break my journey, just as the fancy takes me—not to have to feel that I ought to be doing anything whatever. ”