In Greek Waters: A Story of the Grecian War of Independence, Page 4

  CHAPTER III

  THE WRECK

  Those were glorious holidays for Horace Beveridge. He was seldom athome; sometimes two of his cousins, the Hendons, accompanied him inhis trips, and they were away for three or four days at a time. Threetimes Mr. Beveridge with Zaimes went out for a day's sail, and Horacewas pleased to see that his father really enjoyed it, talking butlittle, but sitting among some cushions Zaimes arranged for himastern, and basking in the bright sun and fresh air. That he did enjoyit was evident from the fact that, instead of having the yacht laid upat the end of the holidays, Mr. Beveridge decided to keep her afloat,and retained Tom Burdett's services permanently.

  "Do you think, Tom, we shall get any sailing in the winter holidays?"

  "We are sure to, sir, if your father has not laid her up by that time.There are plenty of days on this coast when the sailing is as pleasantin winter as it is in summer. The harbour is a safe one though it isso small, and I don't see any reason why she shouldn't be kept afloat.Of course we shall have to put a stove in the cabin to make it snug;but with that, a good thick pea-jacket, warm gloves, and high boots,you would be as right as a nail."

  And so at Christmas and through the next summer holidays Horaceenjoyed almost constant sailing. He was now thoroughly at home in theboat, could steer without the supervision of the skipper, and was ashandy with the ropes as Dick himself.

  "This is the best job I ever fell into, Mr. Horace," Tom Burdett saidat the end of the second summer. "Your father pays liberal; and as forgrub, when that Greek is on board a post-captain could not wantbetter. It is wonderful how that chap does cook, and he seemsdownright to like it. Then you see I have got a first-rate crew. Dickis as good as a man now; I will say for the Greek, he is a good sailoras well as a good cook; and then you see you have got a deal biggerand stronger than you were a year ago, and are just as handy either atthe tiller or the sheets as a man would be, so we are regularstrong-handed, and that makes a wonderful difference in the comfort ona craft."

  That summer they sailed up to Portsmouth, and cruised for a weekinside the Isle of Wight, and as Horace had one of his school-fellowsspending the holidays with him, he enjoyed himself to the fullest ofhis capacity. During the holidays Horace did not see much of hisfather, who, quite content that the boy was enjoying himself, andgaining health and strength, went on in his own way, and only oncewent out with him during his stay at home, although, as Marco toldhim, he generally went out once a week at other times.

  The first morning after his return, at the following Christmas, Horacedid not as usual get up as soon as it was light. The rattle of thewindow and the howl of the wind outside sufficed to tell him thatthere would be no sailing that day. Being in no hurry to move, he satover breakfast longer than usual, talking to Zaimes of what hadhappened at home and in the village since he last went away. Hisfather was absent, having gone up to town a week before, and Horacehad, on his arrival, found a letter from him, saying that he was sorrynot to be there for his return, but that he found he could not getthrough the work on which he was engaged for another two days; heshould, however, be down at any rate by Christmas-eve.

  After breakfast Horace went out and looked over the sea. The wind wasalmost dead on shore, blowing in such violent gusts that he couldscarce keep his feet. The sky was a dull lead colour, the low cloudshurrying past overhead. The sea was covered with white breakers, andthe roar of the surf, as it broke on the shore, could be heard evenabove the noise of the wind. Putting on his pea-jacket and highboots, he went down to the port. As it had been specially constructedas a shelter against south-westerly winds, with the western pieroverlapping the other, the sea did not make a direct sweep into it;but the craft inside were all rolling heavily in the swell.

  "How are you, Tom? It is a wild day, isn't it?"

  "Don't want to see a worse, sir. Glad to see you back again, Mr.Horace. Quite well, I hope?"

  "First-rate, Tom. It is a nuisance this gale the first day of cominghome. I have been looking forward to a sail. I am afraid there is nochance of one to-day?"

  "Well, sir, I should say they would take us and send us all to theloonatic asylum at Exeter if they saw us getting ready to go out. Justlook at the sea coming over the west pier. It has carried away a bitof that stone wall at the end."

  "Yes. I didn't really think of going out, Tom, though I suppose if wehad been caught out in it we should have managed somehow."

  "We should have done our best, in course," the sailor said, "and Ihave that belief in the boat that I think she might weather it; but Iwould not take six months' pay to be out a quarter of an hour."

  "What would you do, Tom, if you were caught in a gale like this?"

  "If there weren't land under our lee I should lay to, sir, under thestorm-jib and a try-sail. Maybe I would unship the main-sail with theboom and gaff, get the top-mast on deck and lash that to them; thenmake a bridle with a strong rope, launch it overboard, lower all sail,and ride to that; that would keep us nearer head on to the sea than wecould lie under any sail. That is what they call a floating anchor. Inever heard of a ship being hove-to that way; but I was out on boatservice in the Indian Ocean when we were caught in a heavy blow, andthe lieutenant who was in charge made us lash the mast and sails andoars together and heave them overboard, and we rode to them rightthrough the gale. We had to bale a bit occasionally, but there wasnever any danger, and I don't think we should have lived through itany other way. I made a note of it at the time, and if ever I amcaught in the same way again that is what I shall do, and what wouldbe good for a boat would be good for a craft like the _Surf_."

  This conversation was carried on with some difficulty, although theywere standing under the lee of the wall of a cottage.

  "She rolls about heavily, Tom."

  "She does that, sir. It is lucky we have got our moorings in themiddle of the harbour, and none of the fishing-boats are near enoughto interfere with her. You see most of them have got their sails andnets rolled up as fenders, but in spite of that they have been rippingand tearing each other shocking. There will be jobs for the carpenterfor some time to come. Five or six of them have torn away theirbulwarks already."

  After waiting down by the port for an hour Horace returned to thehouse. When luncheon was over he was just about to start again for theport, when Marco said to him:

  "Dick has just been in, sir. There is going to be a wreck. There are alot of fishermen gathered on the cliff half a mile away to the right.They say there is a ship that will come ashore somewhere along there."

  "Come on, then, Marco. Did you hear whether they thought that anythingcould be done?"

  "I did not hear anything about it. I don't think they know where shewill go ashore yet."

  In a few minutes they reached the group of fishermen standing on thecliff. It was a headland beyond which the land fell away, forming abay some three miles across. A large barque was to be seen some twomiles off shore. She was wallowing heavily in the seas, and each waveseemed to smother her in spray. Tom Burdett was among the group, andHorace went up to him at once.

  "What's to prevent her from beating off, Tom? She ought to be able towork out without difficulty."

  "So she would at ordinary times," the skipper said; "but she isevidently a heavy sailer and deep laden. She could do it now if theycould put more sail on her, but I expect her canvas is all old. Yousee her topsails are all in ribbons. Each of them seas heaves herbodily to leeward. She is a doomed ship, sir, there ain't no sort ofdoubt about that; the question is, Where is she coming ashore?"

  "Will it make much difference, Tom?"

  "Well, it might make a difference if her master knew the coast. Thebest thing he could do would be to get her round and run straight infor this point. The water is deeper here than it is in the bay, andshe would get nearer ashore before she struck, and we might save a fewof them if they lashed themselves to spars and her coops and suchlike. Deep as she is she would strike half a mile out if she wentstraight up the bay. The tide is nearly dead low,
and in that case nota man will get ashore through that line of breakers. Then, again, shemight strike near Ram's Head over there, which is like enough if sheholds on as she is doing at present. The Head runs a long way outunder water, and it is shallower half a mile out than it is nearer thepoint. There is a clump of rocks there."

  "I don't remember anything about them, Tom, and we have sailed alongthere a score of times."

  "No, sir, we don't take no account of them in small craft, and thereis a fathom and a half of water over them even in spring-tides.Springs are on now, and there ain't much above nine foot just now; andthat craft draws two fathom and a half or thereabouts, over twelvefoot anyhow. But it don't make much difference; wherever she strikesshe will go to pieces in this sea in a few minutes."

  "Surely there is something to be done, Tom?"

  "Some of us are just going down to get ropes and go along the shore,Mr. Horace; but Lor' bless you, one just does it for the sake of doingsomething. One knows well enough that it ain't likely we shall get achance of saving a soul."

  "But couldn't some of the boats go out, Tom? There would be plenty ofwater for them where she strikes."

  "The fishermen have been talking about it, sir; but they are all ofone opinion; the sea is altogether too heavy for them."

  "But the _Surf_ could go, couldn't she, Tom? You have always said shecould stand any sea."

  "Any reasonable sort of sea, Mr. Horace, but this is a downrightonreasonable sort of sea for a craft of her size, and it is a dealworse near shore where the water begins to shallow than it would beout in the channel."

  But though Tom Burdett spoke strongly, Horace noticed that his tonewas not so decided as when he said that the fishing-boats could not goout.

  "Look here, Tom," he said, "I suppose there must be thirty hands onboard that ship. We can't see them drowned without making a try tosave them. We have got the best boat here on the coast. We have beenout in some bad weather in her, and she has always behaved splendidly.I vote we try. She can fetch out between the piers all right fromwhere she is moored; and if, when we get fairly out, we find it isaltogether too much for her, we could put back again."

  Tom made no answer. He was standing looking at the ship. He had beenalready turning it over in his mind whether it would not be possiblefor the _Surf_ to put out. He had himself an immense faith in hersea-going qualities, and believed that she might be able to stand eventhis sea.

  "But you wouldn't be thinking of going in her, Mr. Horace?" he saiddoubtfully at last.

  "Of course I should," the lad said indignantly. "You don't supposethat I would let the _Surf_ go out if I were afraid to go in hermyself."

  "Your father would never agree to that if he were at home, sir."

  "Yes, he would," Horace said. "I am sure my father would say thatif the _Surf_ went out I ought to go in her, and that it would becowardly to let other people do what one is afraid to do one's self.Besides, I can swim better than either you or Dick, and should havemore chance of getting ashore if she went down; but I don't think shewould go down. I am nearly sixteen now; and as my father isn't here Ishall have my own way. If you say that you think there is no chance ofthe _Surf_ getting out to her there is an end of it; but if you saythat you think she could live through it, we will go."

  HORACE SUGGESTS A RESCUE]

  "I think she might do it, Mr. Horace; I have been a saying so to theothers. They all say that it would be just madness, but then theydon't know the craft as I do."

  "Well, look here, Tom, I will put it this way: if the storm had beenyesterday, and my father and I had both been away, wouldn't you havetaken her out?"

  "Well, sir, I should; I can't say the contrary. I have always saidthat the boat could go anywhere, and I believe she could, and I ain'tgoing to back down now from my opinion; but I say as it ain't rightfor you to go."

  "That is my business," Horace said. "Marco, I am going out in the_Surf_ to try to save some of the men on board that ship. Are youdisposed to come too?"

  "I will go if you go," the Greek said slowly; "but I don't know whatyour father would say."

  "He would say, if there was a chance of saving life it ought to betried, Marco. Of course there is some danger in it, but Tom thinks shecan do it, and so do I. We can't stand here and see thirty men drownedwithout making an effort to save them. I have quite made up my mind togo."

  "Very well, sir, then I will go."

  Horace went back to Tom Burdett, who was talking with Dick apart fromthe rest.

  "We will take a couple of extra hands if we can get them," the skippersaid. "We shall want to be strong-handed."

  He went to the group of fishermen and said:

  "We are going out in the _Surf_ to see if we can lend a hand to bringsome of those poor fellows ashore. Young Mr. Beveridge is coming, butwe want a couple more hands. Who will go with us?"

  There was silence for a minute, and then a young fisherman said:

  "I will go, Tom. My brother Nat is big enough to take my place in theboat if I don't come back again. I am willing to try it with you,though I doubt if the yacht will get twice her own length beyond thepier."

  "And I will go with you, Tom," an older man said. "If my son Dick isgoing, I don't see why I should hang back."

  "That will do, then, that makes up our crew. Now we had best bestarting at once. That barque will be ashore in another hour, and shewill go to pieces pretty near as soon as she strikes. So if we aregoing to do anything, there ain't no time to be lost. The rest of youhad better go along with stout ropes as you was talking of just now;that will give us a bit of a chance if things go wrong."

  The six hurried along the cliff and then down to the port, followed bythe whole of the fishermen. A couple of trips with the dinghy tookthem on board.

  "Now, then," Tom Burdett said to Dick's father, "we will get thefore-sail out and rig it as a try-sail. Dick, you cut the lashings andget the main-sail off the hoops. We will leave it and the spars here;do you lend him a hand, Jack Thompson."

  In five minutes the main-sail with its boom and gaff was taken off themast and tied together. A rope was attached to them and the end flungashore, where they were at once hauled in by the fishermen, whocrowded the wharf, every soul in the village having come down at thenews that the _Surf_ was going out. By this time holes had been madealong the leach of the sail, and by these it was lashed to themast-hoops. The top-mast was sent down to the deck, launchedoverboard, and hauled ashore; the mizzen was closely reefed, but nothoisted.

  "We will see how she does without it," Tom said; "she may like it andshe may not. Now, up with the try-sail and jib, and stand by to castoff the moorings as she gets weigh on her; I will take the tiller.Marco, do you and Mr. Horace stand by the mizzen-halliards ready tohoist if I tell you."

  As the _Surf_ began to move through the water a loud cheer broke fromthe crowd on shore, followed by a dead silence. She moved but slowlyas she was under the lee of the west pier.

  "Ben, do you and the other two kick out the lower plank of thebulwark," Tom Burdett said; "we shall want to get rid of the water asfast as it comes on board."

  The three men with their heavy sea-boots knocked out the plank with afew kicks.

  "Now, the one on the other side," Tom said; and this was done just asthey reached the entrance between the piers. She was gathering wayfast now.

  "Ease off that jib-sheet, Dick," the skipper cried. "Stand by to haulit in as soon as the wind catches the try-sail."

  Tom put down the helm as he reached the end of the pier, but a greatwave caught her head and swept her half round. A moment later the windin its full force struck the try-sail and she heeled far over with theblow.

  "Up with the mizzen!" Tom shouted. "Give her more sheet, Dick!" As themizzen drew, its action and that of the helm told, and the _Surf_swept up into the wind. "Haul in the jib-sheet, Dick. That is enough;make it fast. Ease off the mizzen-sheet a little, Marco! That will do.Now lash yourselves with lines to the bulwark."

  For the first minute or t
wo it seemed to Horace that the _Surf_, goodboat as she was, could not live through those tremendous waves, eachof which seemed as if it must overwhelm her; but although the waterpoured in torrents across her deck it went off as quickly through thehole in the lee bulwark, and but little came over her bow.

  "She will do, sir!" Tom, close to whom he had lashed himself,shouted. "It will be better when we get a bit farther out. She is abeauty, she is, and she answers to her helm well."

  Gradually the _Surf_ drew out from the shore.

  "Are you going to come about, Tom?"

  "Not yet, sir; we must get more sea-room before we try. Like enoughshe may miss stays in this sea. If she does we must wear her round."

  "Now we will try," he said five minutes later. "Get those lashingsoff. Mr. Horace, you will have to go up to the other side when she isround. Get ready to go about!" he shouted. "I will put the helm downat the first lull. Now!"

  The _Surf_ came round like a top, and had gathered way on the othertack before the next big wave struck her.

  "Well done!" Tom Burdett shouted joyously, and the others echoed theshout. In ten minutes they were far enough out to get a sight of theship as they rose on the waves.

  "Just as I thought," Ben muttered; "he thinks he will weather Ram'sHead, and he will go ashore somewhere on that reef of rocks to acertainty."

  In another five minutes the course was again changed, and the _Surf_bore directly for the barque. In spite of the small sail she carriedthe water was two feet up the lee planks of her deck, and she wasdeluged every time by the seas, which struck her now almost abeam. Buteverything was battened down, and they heeded the water but little.

  "What do you think of her now?" Tom shouted to his brother-in-law."Didn't I tell you she would stand a sea when your fishing-boats darenot show their noses out of the port?"

  "She is a good 'un and no mistake, Tom. I did not think a craft hersize could have lived in such a sea as this. You may brag about her asyou like in future, and there ain't a man in Seaport as willcontradict you."

  They were going through the water four feet to the barque's one, andthey were but a quarter of a mile astern of her when Horaceexclaimed, "She has struck!" and at the same moment her main andforemast went over the side.

  "She is just about on the shallowest point of the reef," Ben Harpersaid. "Now, how are you going to manage this job, Tom?"

  "There is only one way to do it," the skipper said. "There is waterenough for us. Tide has flowed an hour and a half, and there must betwo fathoms where she is lying. We must run up under her lee closeenough to chuck a rope on board. Get a light rope bent on to thehawser. They must pull that on board, and we will hang to it as nearas we dare."

  "You must go near her stern, Tom, or we shall get stove in with themasts and spars."

  "Yes, it is lucky the mizzen is standing, else we could not have gonealongside till they got rid of them all, and they would never do thatafore she broke up."

  Horace, as he watched the ship, expected to see her go to pieces everymoment. Each wave struck her with tremendous force, sending cataractsof water over her weather gunwale and across her deck. Many of theseas broke before they reached her, and the line of the reef could betraced far beyond her by the white and broken water.

  "Now, then," the skipper shouted, "I shall keep the _Surf_ about twiceher own length from the wreck, and then put the helm hard down andshoot right up to her."

  "That will be the safest plan, Tom. There are two men with ropesstanding ready in the mizzen-shrouds."

  "I shall bring her in a little beyond that, Ben, if the wreck of themainmast isn't in the way; the mizzen may come out of her any moment,and if it fell on our decks it would be good-bye to us all."

  A cheer broke from the men huddled up under shelter of the weatherbulwark as the little craft swept past her stern.

  "Mind the wreck!" a voice shouted.

  Tom held up his hand, and a moment later put the helm down hard. The_Surf_ swept round towards the ship, and her way carried her on untilthe end of the bowsprit was but five or six yards distant. Then Tomshouted:

  "Now is your time, Dick;" and the rope was thrown right across thebarque, where it was grasped by half a dozen hands.

  "Haul in till you get the hawser," Dick shouted; "then make it fast."At the same moment two ropes from the ship were thrown, and caught byMarco and Ben. Tom left the tiller now and lowered the try-sail. Bythe time the hawser was fast on board, the _Surf_ had drifted twiceher own length from the ship. "That will do, Ben; make the hawser fastthere." Two strong hawsers were hauled in from the ship and also madefast.

  "Now you can come as soon as you like," Tom shouted. As the hawserswere fastened to the weather-side of the vessel, which was now heeledfar over, it was a sharp incline down to the deck of the _Surf_, andthe crew, throwing their arms and legs round the hawsers, slid downwithout difficulty, the pressure of the wind on the yacht keeping theropes perfectly taut. As the men came within reach, Tom Burdett andBen seized them by the collars and hauled them on board.

  "Any woman on board?" he asked the first.

  "No, we have no passengers."

  "That is a comfort. How many of a crew?"

  "There were thirty-three all told, but four were killed by the fallingmast, and three were washed overboard before we struck, so there aretwenty-six now."

  In five minutes from the ropes being thrown the captain, who was lastman, was on board the yacht. The _Surf's_ own hawser had been thrownoff by him before he left, drawn in, and coiled down, and as soon ashe was safe on board the other two hawsers were thrown off.

  "Haul the jib a-weather, Dick," Tom Burdett shouted as he took thehelm again. "Slack the mizzen-sheet off altogether, Marco; up with thetry-sail again."

  For a short distance the yacht drifted astern, and then, as thepressure of the jib began to make itself felt, her head graduallypayed off. "Haul in the try-sail and jib-sheets. Let go theweather-sheet, Dick, and haul in the other. That is it, now she beginsto move again."

  "You are only just in time," the captain said to Tom; "she was justbeginning to part in the middle when I left. You have saved all ourlives, and I thank you heartily."

  "This is the owner of the yacht, sir," Tom said, motioning to Horace."It is his doing that we came out."

  "Oh, that is all nonsense, Tom! You would have come just the same if Ihadn't been there."

  "Well, sir, it has been a gallant rescue," the captain said. "I couldhardly believe my eyes when I saw your sail coming after us, and Iexpected every moment to see it disappear."

  "Now, captain," Tom said, "make all your men sit down as close as theycan pack under the weather bulwark; we ain't in yet."

  It was an anxious time as they struggled through the heavy sea on theway back, but the _Surf_ stood it bravely, and the weight to windwardenabled her to stand up more stiffly to her canvas. When they wereabreast of the port half the men went over to the other side, the helmwas put up, and she rushed towards the shore dead before the wind. Theextra weight on deck told on her now, and it needed the most carefulsteering on Tom's part to keep her straight before the waves, severalof which broke over her taffrail and swept along the deck, one of thembursting out her bulwarks at the bow.

  "Get ready to haul in the sheets smartly," Tom shouted as they nearedthe pier.

  He kept her course close to the pier-head, and as the _Surf_ cameabreast of it jammed down the tiller, while Ben and Dick hauled in themizzen-sheet. A moment later she was shooting along under the shelterof the wall, while a loud shout of welcome rose above the howling ofthe wind from those on shore.

  "Now, sir, I will see about getting her moored," Tom said, "if youwill run down and get some rum bottles out of the locker; I am prettywell frozen and these poor fellows must be nigh perished, but it wouldnever have done to open the hatchway in that sea."

  "Come down, men," Horace cried, as he dived below. "We had no time tolight the fire before starting, but a glass of spirits will do yougood all round."

 
Two or three of the fishermen rowed out as soon as the yacht wasmoored, and in a few minutes all were ashore.

  "Now you had better run up to the house and change, Mr. Horace," TomBurdett said. "We will look after the men here and get them some drythings, and put them up amongst us. We have done a big thing, sir, andthe _Surf_ has been tried as I hope she will never be tried again aslong as we have anything to do with her."

  "All right, Tom! Will you come up with me, captain? There is no one athome but myself, and we will manage to rig you up somehow."

  The captain, however, declined the invitation, saying that he wouldrather see after his men and put up himself at the public-house on thebeach.

  "I will come up later, sir, when I have seen everything all snughere."

  Horace had some difficulty in making his way up through the crowd, forboth men and women wished to shake hands with him. At last he gotthrough, and, followed by Marco, ran up through the village to thehouse. Zaimes had been among the crowd assembled to see the _Surf_re-enter the port; and when Horace changed his things and came downstairs he found a bowl of hot soup ready for him.

  "You have given me a nice fright, Mr. Horace," the Greek said as heentered the room. "I have been scolding Marco, I can tell you."

  "It was not his fault, Zaimes. I made up my mind to go, and told himso, and he had the choice whether he would go or stay behind, and hewent."

  "Of course he went," Zaimes said; "but he ought to have come and toldme. Then I should have gone too. How could I have met your father, doyou think, if you had been drowned?"

  "Well, you would not have been to blame, Zaimes, as you knew nothingabout it until after we had started."

  "No, you had been gone half an hour before someone from the villagecame up and told them in the kitchen. Then one of the servants broughtme the news, and I ran down like a madman, without even stopping toget a hat. Then I found that most of the men had gone up to the cliffto keep you in sight, and I went up there and waited with them untilyou were nearly back again. Once or twice, as you were running in tothe pier, I thought the yacht was gone."

  "That was the worst bit, Zaimes. The sea came tumbling over her stern,and I was washed off my feet two or three times. I almost thought thatshe was going down head-foremost. Well, I am glad I was at home thismorning. I would not have missed it for anything."

  "No, it is a good thing, now it is done, and something to be proud of.I am told very few of the fishermen thought that you would ever comeback again."

  "They didn't know the boat as we did, Zaimes. I felt sure she would gothrough anything; and, besides, Tom kicked out the lower plank of thebulwarks on each side, so as to help her to free herself from water asit came on board, and flush-decked as she is, there was nothing tocarry away; but she hasn't taken a cupful of water down below."

  In the evening the captain of the barque came up, and Horace learnedfrom him that she was on her way from New Orleans laden with cotton.

  "The ship and cargo are insured," the captain said; "and, as far asthat goes, it is a good thing she is knocked into match-wood. She wasa dull sailer at the best of times, and when laden you could not gether to lay anywhere near the wind. She would have done better than shedid, though, hadn't her rudder got damaged somehow in the night. Sheought to have clawed off the shore easy enough; but, as you saw, shesagged to leeward a foot for every foot she went for'ard. I waspart-owner in her, and I am not sorry she has gone. We tried to sellher last year, but they have been selling so many ships out of thenavy that we could not get anything of a price for her; but as she waswell insured, I shall get a handier craft next time. I was well offshore when the storm began to get heavy last night, and felt noanxiety about our position till the rudder went wrong. But when I sawthe coast this morning, I felt sure that unless there was a change inthe weather nothing could save her. Well, if it hadn't been for theloss of those seven hands, I should, thanks to you, have nothing tocomplain of."

  Fires had been lit on the shore as night came on; but except fragmentsof the wreck and a number of bales of cotton nothing was recovered. Inthe morning the captain and crew left Seaport, two hands remainingbehind to look after the cotton and recover as much as they could. Twodays later Mr. Beveridge returned home.

  "I saw in the paper before I left town, Horace, an account of yourgoing out to the wreck and saving the lives of those, on board. I amvery glad I was not here, my lad. I don't think I should have let yougo; but as I knew nothing about it until it was all over, I had noanxiety about it, and felt quite proud of you when I read the account.The money was well laid out on that yacht, my boy. I don't say that Ididn't think so before, but I certainly think so now. However,directly I read it I wrote to the Lifeboat Society and told them thatI would pay for a boat to be placed here. Then there will be nooccasion to tempt Providence the next time a vessel comes ashore onthis part of the coast. You succeeded once, Horace, but you might notsucceed another time; and knowing what a sea sets in here in asouth-westerly gale, I quite tremble now at the thought of your beingout in it in that little craft."

  The news that Mr. Beveridge had ordered a lifeboat for the port gavegreat satisfaction among the fishermen, not so much perhaps because itwould enable them to go out to wrecks, as because any of their owncraft approaching the harbour in bad weather, and needing assistance,could then receive it.

  Horace became very popular in Seaport after the rescue, and was spokenof affectionately as the young squire, although they were unable toassociate the term with his father; but the latter's interest in thesea, and his occasionally going out in the yacht, seemed to havebrought him nearer to the fishing people. There had before beenabsolutely nothing in common between them and the studious recluse,and even the Greeks, who had before been held in marked disfavour inthe village as outlandish followers, were now regarded with differenteyes when it was learned that Marco had been a fisherman too in histime, and his share in the adventure of the _Surf_ dissipated the lastshadow of prejudice against them.

  The weather continued more or less broken through the whole of theholidays, and Horace had but little sailing. He spent a good deal ofhis time over at his cousins', rode occasionally after the hounds withthem, and did some shooting. A week after coming home his father hadagain gone up to town, and remained there until after Horace hadreturned to Eton. He was, the lad observed, more abstracted even thanusual, but was at the same time restless and unsettled. He lookedeagerly for the post, and received and despatched a large number ofletters. Horace supposed that he must be engaged in some very sharpand interesting controversy as to a disputed reading, or the meaningof some obscure passage, until the evening before he went away hisfather said:

  "I suppose, Horace, you are following with interest the course ofevents in Thessaly?"

  "Well, father, we see the papers of course. There seems to be a rowgoing on there; they are always fighting about something. From what Icould understand of it, Ali Pasha of Janina has revolted against theSultan, and the Turks are besieging him. What sort of a chap is he? Heis an Albanian, isn't he?"

  "Yes, with all the virtues and vices of his race--ambitious,avaricious, revengeful, and cruel, but brave and astute. He has beenthe instrument of the Porte in breaking down the last remnants ofindependence in the wide districts he rules. As you know, very many ofthe Christian and Mussulman villages possessed armed guards calledarmatoli, who are responsible not only for the safety of the village,but for the security of the roads; the defence of the passes wascommitted to them, and they were able to keep the numerous bands ofbrigands within moderate bounds. This organization Ali Pasha sethimself to work to weaken as soon as he came into power. He played offone party against the other--the Mussulmans against the Christians,the brigands against the armatoli, one powerful chief against another.He crushed the Suliots, who possessed a greater amount ofindependence, perhaps, than any of the other tribes, and who, it mustbe owned, were a scourge to all their neighbours. He took away allreal power from the armatoli, crippled the Mussulman communities aswell
as weakened the Christian villages; inspired terror in the wholepopulation by the massacre of such as resisted his will, and thosewhom he could not crush by force he removed by poison; finally, hebecame so strong that it was evident his design was to becomealtogether independent of the Sultan. But he miscalculated his power,his armies fled almost without striking a blow; his sons, whocommanded them, are either fugitives or prisoners; and now we hearthat he is besieged in his fortress, which is capable of withstandinga very long siege."

  "He must be a thorough old scoundrel, I should say, father."

  "Yes," Mr. Beveridge assented somewhat unwillingly. "No doubt he is abad man, Horace; but he might have been--he may even yet be, useful toGreece. When it first became evident that matters would come to astruggle between him and the Porte he issued proclamations callingupon the Christians to assist him and make common cause against theTurks, and specially invited Greece to declare her independence ofTurkey, and to join him."

  "But I should say, father, the Albanians would be even worse mastersthan the Turks."

  "No doubt, Horace, no doubt. The Turks, I may own, have not on thewhole been hard masters to the Christians. They are much harder uponthe Mussulman population than upon the Christian, as the latter cancomplain to the Russians, who, as their co-religionists, claim toexercise a special protection over them. But, indeed, all theChristian powers give protection, more or less, to the ChristianGreeks, who, especially in the Morea, have something approachingmunicipal institutions, and are governed largely by men chosen bythemselves. Therefore the pashas take good care not to bring troubleon themselves or the Porte by interfering with them so long as theypay their taxes, which are by no means excessive; while the Mussulmanpart of the population, having no protectors, are exposed to all sortsof exactions, which are limited only by the fear of driving them intoinsurrection. Still this rebellion of Ali Pasha has naturally excitedhopes in the minds of the Greeks and their friends that some resultsmay arise from it, and no better opportunity is likely to occur forthem to make an effort to shake off the yoke of the Turks. You mayimagine, Horace, how exciting all this is to one who, like myself, isthe son of a Greek mother, and to whom, therefore, the glorioustraditions of Greece are the story of his own people. As yet my hopesare faint, but there is a greater prospect now than there has been forthe last two hundred years, and I would give all I am worth in theworld to live to see Greece recover her independence."