bright and glorious, and as we drew nearer to our enchanted isle we distinguished its features and conformation. The coast was rocky save where a small harbour opened to the sea, and the rocks ran up from the coast, rising higher and higher till they culminated in a quite respectable peak in the centre. The telescope showed cultivated ground and vineyards, mingled with woods, on the slopes of the mountain; and about half-way up, sheltered on three sides, backed by thick woods, and commanding a splendid sea-view, stood an old grey battlemented house. ‘There’s my house,’ I cried in natural exultation, pointing with my finger. It was a moment in my life, a moment to mark. ‘Hurrah!’ cried Denny, throwing up his hat in sympathy. [Pg 26] [Pg 26] Demetri was standing near and met this ebullition with a grim smile. ‘I hope my lord will find the house comfortable,’ said he. ‘We shall soon make it comfortable,’ said Hogvardt; ‘I daresay it’s half a ruin now.’ ‘It’s good enough now for a Stefanopoulos,’ said the fellow with a surly frown. The inference we were meant to draw was plain even to the point of incivility. At five o’clock in the evening we entered the harbour of Neopalia, and brought up alongside a rather crazy wooden jetty which ran some fifty feet out from the shore. Our arrival appeared to create great excitement. Men, women, and children came running down the narrow steep street which climbed up the hill from the harbour. We heard shrill cries, and a hundred fingers were pointed at us. We landed; nobody came forward to greet us. I looked round, but saw no one who could be the old lord; but I perceived a stout man who wore an air of importance, and walking up to him I asked him very politely if he would be so good as to direct me to the inn; for I had discovered from Demetri that there was a modest house where we could lodge that night; I was too much in love with my island to think of sleeping on board the yacht. The stout man[Pg 27] looked at Denny and me; then he looked at Demetri and Spiro, who stood near us, smiling their usual grim
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