“But the monk?”
“He has only received the tithe of the spoils, according to custom from time immemorial. Do not reproach him, but rather be grateful to him in his wish to save us, when his convent would have benefited by our capture.”
This conversation was interrupted by Dimitri’s departure. They had told him that he was free. “Wait for me,” I said to him, “we will return together.” He sadly shook his head and answered in English, so that the ladies could understand:
“You are prisoners for a time, and you will not see Athens again until you have paid a ransom. I am going to inform milord. Have the to him?”
“Tell him,” cried Mrs. Simons, “that he must hurry to the Ambassador, that he must go to Piraeus to find the Admiral, that he must complain at the Foreign Officedermes, and he must surely write to Lord Palmerston! That we must be rescued from here by force of arms, if necessary, or by political authority; but that I will not hear of paying one penny for my liberty.”
“And I,” I said with less anger, “I pray thee to tell my friends in whose hands thou hast left me. If it is necessary to have a few hundred drachmas to ransom a poor devil of a naturalist, they will furnish them without doubt. The lords of the road will not put a very high price on me. I wish whilst thou art still here, that thou wouldst ask them the priMrs. Simons leaned toward me and whispered: “Is he dictating our sentence to his brigands?”
I replied: “No, Madame; he is writing to his daughter.”
“Concerning our capture?”
“Concerning a piano, a crinoline, and Neo skin labWalter Scott.”
“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.”
