New-York tribune., 1903-11-04
BY #. #. BENSON.

cvnras mere ana there narcned grave LII lines OF
four miles away. cleaned white against the plain
rose my Bible picture hills. To the right, and a
little behind. Taygetus climbed and met the sky
below. and somewhere up on the hills a shepherd
was Was singing perhaps not very sweetly. but very
Pleasantly. Then, when the sank and the
shadows marched the plain. a came
an iron hoop That was the church bell and one
nun left her spinning and another tied up the
goat and they went in and said their vespers to-
After dinner last. night we had a great excite
peared while l was at Mistra, and, with the con-
stage outside the cafe, and were to give a per
forInance The place was in ferment. and the
drew up and disclosed ferocious brigand sitting
in his cave with several prisoners by him. To these
for mercy in oHS moSins terms @ But the bTgand
proceeded to bare brawny right arm and draw
his sword in order to execute them. At this pain
tights and wearing a helmet and and sword whom
confidently believe to have represented colonel in
a terrific conflict with the brigand. In which she
1s no a less & than rsnsg real bet table eo and On %
chest and unfurled the Greek fag The enthusi-
% we are @ going to have the play again tonight
In these tbings alone, there seems to one one ,1 as
golden & Sarah. and SO many days of gray Picca-
real reason for my stopping here has ceased 70
curiosity about Anastasi's love affairs.
Anastasi and l are old friends; twice he and his
taken me round the Peioponnesus. and my interest
in his affairs is of long standing For has ne not
garda Pass and wept salt tears over the obd1rafs are
refusals of the young lady's father? shared MS
sorrows and sharing his JOY:
The case was this. Anastasis father is a
to mouth and when Anastasi fell in love with the
Mayors ID ugh fnG "as o ali the aws of
etiquette Sparta generally sided with the the. mayo5 Gd
foISade ~ him to speak to his daughter again IF
he had five thousand francs" said the infgriated
This was, Of course. pure rhetoric. and everybody
test had five thousand francs that Mayor would oe
delighted. ,,.-.. ...,,. .,as-
tasi's father rented land from him. ana
when Anastasi came to pay the rent: the Mayor
him cigarette for Anastasis deft fingers rolled
cigarettes in a way that was ressToeo . as n[S1e ,
short Of miraculous in Sparta, and they were COLI
straight from Athens. Anastass cgarett,es were tbe
Mayor makes himself-I know It to my cost for ne
made me only this morning-are wet anu
So lhnasatasi sat with the Mayor and Theodora
and after the second glass of wine the Mayor usu
ally went TO sleep. and Anastasi made love -d3 20
boy and Theodora and he enjoyed themselves very
much. But the deluge came when ne propose.u,
J and the Mayor went back to his wet ana empty
/ had written to Anastasi before I came here
for few trips In the neghborhood. and expressing
hope t1 that his sI suit ts %as EBToBs RBen ne ved
and asked me If he might come and see me tnas s
I waited for developments I was sitting at the
cafe after dinner that night when heard whistle
from somewhere in the darkness which was twice
repeated before I looked around Anastasi from
under the shsd9w Of & es % WAS ese ans
went He walked on ahead . OF me 1.ad until we were
out % Fl tRe Reu sm to nv a9 he said he old
devil'-he alluded 70 his father-'is out ana
He would give no further explanations: and we
walked in silence to the mill. He lighted
ap5T and aeIEp me 10 "
to the further corner Of the room. and after some
which it is paved dived his hand in. and brought
out an old shirt which evidently contained some
Trdd li It. and disclosed big brown handkerchief
This again was united. and showed Greek black
vase. the mouth Of which was stured with
newspaper He took out the newspaper stopper
five hundred and six hundred coins. some silver.
four Of Hiexander There were at least two hun
dred silver Athenian coins OF the fourth and third
the Arcadian league Of EDaninondas. There was
gold coin Of Epidaurus, which am sure is.
Anastasi watched turned them over.
.S71l-t, What shall Ts.ododo DO? :. ne said
He laughed. showing his white teeth.
ditch into the vinevard in order to water It from
utes. ute and went back to close it again As went
saw near the corner where those Americans dug
shiny thing sticking out Of the earth So damned
up the water, and went back to look And I found
L
hid IT in the corner of the room and waited for
you to come Shall get five thousand francs?'
was not and ] not. acquainted with the
Greek law about treasure trove. so in nv tG-
norance I advised Anastasi to the best OF my
ability put aside the Tenos coin and the coin
from Epidaurus and certain others which had
which were worth about four thousand francs mar
honorable antiquity dealer who buys slightly under
market value. and sells for slightly over. and with
him I have had MANY transactions.
SO I gave Anastasi note to him. and packed
him or to Athens next day. He returned yester-
day with receipt from the Ionian Bank for $40
francs The rest OF the coins remained in their
ache
This morning we paid visit to the Mayor. and
the upshot is that Anastasi Is betrothed to Theo-
dora.
morrow.
I wish you would go TO the British Museum for
me and inquire about a gold coin OF Tenos. 1t has
| on the reverse a quadriga driven bv Nike. and on
the diverse n helmeted head. II they have It, !
should like to know how much they paid for It: II
not. YOU may tell C that shall bring them
one for sale on behalf Of n friend in fortnghts
time. and hone TO drive hard bargain: also a
unique coin Of Fpidaurus. both IN excellent condi-
ton. There will be others well.
This is whv I have stayed at Sparta. and this is
nartIy why I coming home at once--CTenple
Bar.
second-st. will be duly and publicly acknovyIedsed