The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-12-01
THE BRIGANDS OF GREECE
TYPES Oh THE f WHO CARRIED
OFF MISS HELEN NJ. STONE.
Picturesauc i'm Costume and Proud OF
Their Professional Robber Chief
out of n MeIOdrama.

E0AA1 -
with brigands of the type of her captors
CLEANED and jotted down in a far-off corner
of Europe.
They are ~fsr-wandering fellows, these
bandits; now prowling among the mountain
Businesses of Bulgaria, again summing them
selves in the soft air of southern Greece.
of many bloods are they, but wherever one
finds them or Of whatever nationality or
mixture of nationalities they may be, es-
s~entially the bands are much alike.
1t was in the northeast end of Greece in
the smiling valley that marks the Greco
Turkish frontier, by the sacred spot famous
for the memory of Leonidas and his gallant
Spartans that I had my first confidential
talk with a band of genuine brigands of the
brave old school.
They were nearly ninety in Eumber, mag
nifcent most of them in costume, splendid
ly armed with the richly chased weapons
that the Eastern races love; handsome, too.
in appearance for the greater part and all
charming companions. In qualification of
this last statement L must mention that L
did not meet them in their professional ca
pacity; l was a guest, not a victim, and
they were off duty for the nonce, or rather
they had temporarily changed their al
~legiance. Instead of plying their daily
BUSINESS Oh lOIClDle dDuuCICn OF InOuey6u
travellers they were enrolled as irregular
cOmbatants under the Greek flag in the war
then raging against Turkey.
AS soon as the war broke out their chief,
Mavroyenis, who had for years covered
the mountainous district between Lamia
and DhomOkes. FASTENED without any dis
OF war the services of his band Of twenty
picked Klephts, the terror of the rich Turks
who still ride camels and pray in mosques
in that border territory. The minister ac-
copied gladly.
These men knew the ground-wild regions
of mountain and forest and desert plain,
where no mapmakers have yet penetrated.
They were hardy and enduring; beyond
belief. Clad in the traditional f1stanelIe,
like the kilt of the Scots, and carrying
slung loosely over their shoulders an I'M
cured sheepskin, they could march for
days without tents or other shelter, with
out any of the cumbrous baggage and
commissariat which regular troops require,
of which the Greek War Office was entirely
destitute.
They were splendid marksmen and won
derfully deft in welding the formidable
y"ataghan; "a very distinct acquisition, "
said the minister. and so, with the assent
of Gen. Smolenski, Mavroyenis received
full plenary absolution of all his pecca-
dilloes and n warrant emitting him to the
title of kapetanos, with authority to form
a flying brigade of Klephts to harry the
enemy's tanks.
To him were joined two Cretans, chiefs
of similar organizations, Karakitron and
49, 1850
their bands in Athens on the same patriotic
mission. TIL three Kapetanoi were, stripped
of the too melodramic items of their
costume, clad somewhat after the sem
blance OF the regulars of the Hellenic army
and sent by boat to Agia Marina, the near
est port TO their chosen region.
PATRIOTISM AND BOOTY.
In a week they had formed n corps of
patriotic %rufiians, numbering some days
two hundred or three hundred, falling off
sometimes to fifty or sixty. as the chances
CT spoil or the within OF the moment die
tated.
1t was curious TO notice in their con-
versation, in the long evening talks round
the campfres, how absolutely they blended
the two apparently contradictory senti-
ments, a burning love Of country and an
intense desire of booty. They were rs
proud of being Creeks. or as they pra-
ferred to say, Hellenes, as an American Is
of his proud citizenship of the great Re
public; yet they were equally pro al of be-
ing Klepths-i. e. thieves, for the wori
means nothing else, as witness our deriya-
tive kleptomaniac.
"ZetO Hellas! (Long live GreeceD they
would cry with superb enthusiasm, waving
their terrible yataghans in the red light
of the fires; and "Zeto hOi Klephtoi!'
(Long live the thievesD they would yell
with the same fervor, making the noun
tains echo with the reports of their rifles,
or the cracking of their jeweled pistols.
And they saw no difference.
When 1 remarked this inconsistency of
sentiment in a laughing way to Mavroyenis
he smiled charmingly over the cup of cof-
fee he held in his hand and said:,
What do you wish, my brother? 1t is
our life, our trade. We ennohle it by
g~lorying in it. If we We're ashamed Of it,
it would be base"
He further explained that he looked
upon himself as a kind of prince without {
definite throne or capital, and the people
that fell into the hands of his lhen were
simply a kind of taxpayers. He never
took more than they or their families could
afford. He never mOlested poor people
except for a little passing hospitality,
which he said was gladly given. His band,
ne begged me to believe, was much es-
teemed in the district.
This remarkable statement, strange
though it may seem, is literally true. The
Chorikoi, or small peasants in the valleys
OF Thessaly, do absolutely respect and adj
mire the Klephtoi, looking upon their life
as entirely dignihed and as proving great
courage and a romantic spirit 81 adven-
ture greatly to the credit of the pbssessors.
This it is that makes any ATTEMPT TO can
ture these bandits so difficult.
Wherever they may be they are among
friends. When the Archon Of La ~issa was
captured some six years ago by, the ter.
rible band of Chief OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES and
carried away with his secretary ITO Mount
Othrys, the whole peasaDtry Of tie district
became spies i'm the interests of 1.-THE brig
ands, carrying information by nisht Of the
of the small army sent 10
rescue the officials ;
ILL OMEN FOR MISS STCNE.
The fate of the Archon BODIES if for Miss
Stone, for although the Archos himself
sent a written request that tht soldiers
cease to attempt his rescue. they, persisted
and did finally surprise the cams. only tc
find the two captives dead. stabbed by
the ferocious chief himself Just. as the
Greek soldiers swarmed into the brigands
f-astness. The victims were amply'revenged
for every single one of the KItphts Vas
killed in the dreadful struggle :that fol.
lowed.
MaVroyenis himself is not. believe
E~uiltless OF blood. 1t rather hard &c
put SO delicate a question TO a: generous
and charming host. whose tobacco anc
lambs flesh one has shared. land viii
whom one has taken the risks OF war.
time ON the enemy's border for r-any DAYS
But once when we lay on our sheapskins a.
the rocky foot Of Olympus, watching tn.
klcphtoi dancing hand i'm hand the solemn
grave Romaik TO the accompaniment of the
curious waiting Eastern chant chat from
time immemorial goes with thi dance
ventured near the subject OF his persona
deeds:
You yourself. Kapetane mou, have yol
not had TO be severe
The Kapetanos took the tube OF his mar
gilch from between mis- teeth. pointed IL a
lac b-igands dancing between th4 fires ant
l the scrub sparselv scattered oVee the grin