In Greek Waters Part 31

"Yes, Hypsilantes is likely to be succeeded by his rival Mavrocordatos. A Samian adventurer named Lykourgos has got together a fleet and has proposed a landing at Chios; there can be no doubt that his intention is simply plunder, for even if he could drive the Turks out of Chios he could not possibly hold the island, as a large Turkish fleet will very shortly be ready to sail out of the Dardanelles. The worst of it is that the Chiots are utterly opposed to any movement of the kind. They are an agricultural people, and the island has always been mildly governed and lightly taxed; their munic.i.p.al administration is already in their own hands, and their taxes collected by themselves. When Admiral Tombazes appeared off Chios with the Greek fleet during its first cruise, the inhabitants turned a deaf ear to his invitation to them to rise. In fact there is no doubt that the people of Chios have everything to lose and nothing to gain by becoming a part of Greece.

"They have sent urgent remonstrances against the landing of any Greek troops on the island, pointing out that there is a strong body of Turkish troops there; that the citadel could not be captured, and that the attempt would only inflame the pa.s.sions of the Mohammedan population and end in ruin and disaster to the Christian inhabitants.

Hypsilantes has written a mild letter to Lykourgos suggesting that it would at any rate be prudent to defer the enterprise. It is feared, however, that, like Greek commanders in general, the fellow will pay no attention to this, but will proceed on his own account. Martyn agrees with me that it would be as well for us to cruise about the island and see how matters go on, and endeavour to rescue some of the Turks from the fury of the Greeks, or some of the Greeks from the fury of the Turks."

"I should say the best thing to do, father," Horace said indignantly, "would be to attack the s.h.i.+p of this fellow Lykourgos and to hang him at his own yard-arm."

"It would be a good action, no doubt, Horace; but as he has with him a fleet of seventy or eighty vessels it is probable that if we made the attempt we should decorate the yard-arms and not Lykourgos. At any rate we will stop here for two or three days, and give the men a run on sh.o.r.e. Just at present, owing to the fact of our having destroyed that Turkish frigate, they will be very popular characters, and are not likely to get into any serious row. They have still got the money I paid them for their conduct at Cyprus, and when sailors have got money in their pockets they are never happy until they have got a chance of spending it."

Accordingly, the crew had twelve hours on sh.o.r.e, a third of their number going each day. On the fourth day the vessel sailed for Chios.

They cruised round the island for a fortnight and frequently overhauled fis.h.i.+ng-boats and had conversations with the crews. They learned that fresh troops had lately arrived at Chios, and that as these bands were princ.i.p.ally composed of volunteers, Vehid Pasha, the governor, had great difficulty in maintaining order among them. He had persuaded the Christians to raise a monthly contribution of thirty-four thousand piastres to give regular pay and rations to the troops and so keep them in a good temper.

On the 22d of March the schooner made out a large fleet of vessels approaching the island. They kept away until they saw them anchor, and then themselves cast anchor at a short distance from them. A boat at once put off from the s.h.i.+p flying the flag of Lykourgos, to demand who they were and with what intentions they were there.

"We fly, as you see, the flag of Greece," Mr. Beveridge replied to the officer, "and we have the authority of the Greek government to fight against its enemies. I do not, however, recognize any authority on the part of your commander, unless he is acting at the present time under the explicit orders of Prince Mavrocordatos, who is now President of Greece, and shall therefore consult only my own feelings as to whether or not I take any part in the proceedings on sh.o.r.e."

"Our admiral will know how to make you obey orders," the officer said angrily.

"Is he an admiral?" Mr. Beveridge asked, as if for information. "I was not aware that he had received any commission that would authorize him to use that t.i.tle either from the last president or from the present one. When I am well a.s.sured that this is the case it will naturally modify my views; as to compelling me, you can look round at the armament of this craft. Three months ago we destroyed a Turkish frigate, and I fancy that if we were interfered with we could give a good account of many of those vessels anch.o.r.ed there. If, therefore, Lykourgos is really bent upon the capture of Chios, I should advise him to set about it without wasting his time in meddling with us. You may mention to him that I am an English gentleman who has fitted up this vessel for the purpose of aiding Greece to achieve her independence, and that in all honourable warfare I am ready to take my part. If I see that the object of your expedition is honourable warfare I shall lend all a.s.sistance in my power. If I find that it is merely plunder and destruction, I shall also do all in my power to prevent the Greek flag from being disgraced by acts only worthy of pirates; and, moreover, I will take care that my countrymen and the various nations of Europe shall obtain a fair account of what has been done here."

The Greek was completely cowed by the calmness and confidence of the owner of the schooner, and returned to his boat without any of the swagger with which he had quitted it. Horace translated his father's speech to Martyn and the other two officers as soon as Mr. Beveridge had returned to his cabin.

"The chief is a perfect brick," Martyn said enthusiastically. "Fancy sending off such a message as that from this schooner to a fellow commanding sixty or seventy sail. Sir Richard Grenville could hardly have sent from the deck of the _Revenge_ a more defiant message to the Spanish fleet."

Miller rubbed his hands. "Shall I get the men in readiness for making sail and casting off the guns, Captain Martyn?"

"There will be time enough," Martyn said, "when we make out a movement among them. We can get up sail in half the time they can. I should not be surprised if this fellow Lykourgos knuckles down. Did you see how his officer came down from his stilts? If this fellow had any pluck he would be sailing to meet the Turkish fleet instead of landing to pillage here, for, from what Mr. Beveridge said, that can be his only motive. Still, we will keep a sharp look-out on them. If we see the flag-s.h.i.+p signalling to the others, or her boats putting off to them, we shall know what to expect. You may as well get a buoy on the anchor-chain and have everything ready to slip. We are too near them to be pleasant if they open fire. Once under way and out of close range we can talk to them as we like."

CHAPTER XIV

CHIOS

A quarter of an hour after the Greek officer left the schooner Miller said: "They are lowering a large boat from the Greek flag-s.h.i.+p, sir."

Martyn brought his gla.s.s to bear upon it.

"There is a stir on board," he said. "It looks as if the commander were going on sh.o.r.e."

"Yes, there is some officer of importance being handed down the ladder. Now she is putting off. By Jove! I believe she is coming here; at any rate she is heading straight for us. Perhaps Lykourgos himself is coming to blow us out of the water."

"Quite as likely he is coming to pay his respects," Miller said. "The betting is ten to one the fellow is a coward; and that if the officer gave the message as he got it, he is impressed with the idea that the chief is an Englishman of great importance, possessed, perhaps, of unknown powers of destruction."

"Horace," Martyn said, "you had better tell your father. I can make out that the fellow in the stern is got up in gorgeous uniform. I expect it is Lykourgos himself."

Mr. Beveridge came up on to the quarter-deck just as the boat came alongside. Martyn went to the gangway as a Greek officer came up and announced that Admiral Lykourgos had come to pay a visit to the English lord. Lykourgos mounted to the deck.

"I am the commandant of this craft, sir," Martyn said. "This is Mr.

Beveridge, the owner."

Lykourgos advanced with an air of great pleasure and with outstretched hand.

"I am delighted to make the acquaintance of an English friend of Greece," he said.

Mr. Beveridge bowed and shook hands with the Greek.

"What a contrast there is between them!" Miller whispered to Horace.

"This theatrical-looking Greek with his oily manners, and your father in his quiet blue serge! Ah! he is asking him to go down into the cabin."

The interview lasted about ten minutes, and then the two men returned on deck. Lykourgos entered his boat and rowed away.

"Well, sir, is it peace or war?" Martyn asked.

"Peace, as far as we are concerned," Mr. Beveridge said. "The fellow made no allusion to my message to him, paid me a large number of absurd compliments, expressed boundless admiration at the result of Miller's action with the frigate, of which he had heard, and hoped that he would have our a.s.sistance against the Turks. I told him what I thought of his enterprise, and that he was bringing destruction upon the heads of the unfortunate Christians. He a.s.sured me that I had been misinformed, that the Christians would join him to a man, and that he should make short work of the Turks, and should at once besiege them in their citadel. I said that I wished him success in that part of his undertaking, and that there would be no time to waste, as the Turkish fleet might, I understood, appear any day. But that, if he undertook siege operations, and his own force proved inadequate, we would land a party to a.s.sist him. He hinted that money might be required to support the siege. I told him that I had arranged with the central government that any a.s.sistance I had to give in that way should be given through them; but that, if the people of the island really did rise, I should be happy to furnish a thousand muskets and ammunition for their use.

Seeing that nothing was to be got out of me he took his leave. He said the landing was to take place in half an hour."

"Shall we send a party on sh.o.r.e with him, Mr. Beveridge?" Martyn asked.

"No, Martyn. He says he has got two thousand five hundred fighting men ready to land, and that being the case we should be powerless to interfere in any way. Besides, for the present I think it would be best to keep the men on board. I don't trust the fellow in the slightest; and if he thought the vessel was left weak-handed, he is perfectly capable of making a sudden attack on her. No doubt he thinks we have money untold below, and I should say a great proportion of his vessels are no better than pirates, who have merely joined him in the hope of booty. I know that he has none of the Psara s.h.i.+ps with him, for Chios lies so near their island that they would have no wish to draw the vengeance of the Turks upon themselves; and I know that they, as well as the Chiots, sent to Corinth to protest against the expedition. I don't think he has any of the Hydriot s.h.i.+ps with him either. They only sail under their own admirals, and do, to a certain extent, respect the orders of the central government. His s.h.i.+ps, I fancy, all belong to the smaller islands, and are the sort of craft that are honest traders one day and pirates the next if they see a chance--the riffraff of the islands, in fact. If they really do besiege the Turks in the citadel, and I see that we can be of any a.s.sistance, we will land a party; but at any rate we will take matters quietly until we see how things go."

"The vessels are all lowering their boats, Captain Martyn," Tarleton reported.

"Very well, Mr. Tarleton. Let the men go to their quarters, unloose the guns and load with grape. It is quite upon the cards that these fellows may make a sudden dash upon us, thinking to catch us napping."

The boatswain's whistle was heard, and then Tom Burdett shouted out: "All hands to quarters! Cast loose the guns and load with grape!" And in a moment a scene of animated bustle succeeded the quiet that had reigned on board the schooner since her anchor had been dropped. In a few minutes, however, the crowded boats left the s.h.i.+ps and rowed towards sh.o.r.e.

"That will do, boatswain; you can call the men away from the guns,"

said Martyn.

"Shall we take the cartridges out, sir?"

"No, leave them as they are. Put a fold or two of sailcloth over the touch-holes. It is just as well to be on guard as long as we are in the neighbourhood of these slippery gentry. Horace, you take my gla.s.s and go aloft, and see if you can make out any Turks in the neighbourhood. It is four or five hours since the Greek fleet first hove in sight, and there is ample time for the Turks to have come down to oppose their landing if they thought themselves strong enough to fight in the open."

Horace ascended the shrouds, and sitting on the cap of the mainmast examined the sh.o.r.e.

"There are half a dozen hors.e.m.e.n riding about, a short distance from the sh.o.r.e, sir," he called down, "but I can see no signs of troops anywhere."

"Then it is evident they don't mean to fight," Martyn said to the first lieutenant. "Between ourselves, Miller, I am very glad they are not here to oppose a landing; for if they had been, no doubt the chief would have wanted to fire a few shots to help cover the operations, and I should be sorry to lift even a finger to help in this wretched business. It is like a landing from one of the old buccaneer fleets on the Spanish Main. They used to pretend they went to attack the Spaniards, while in reality they simply fought for plunder. Still, those fellows had courage--plenty of it, which is more, I fancy, than these Greeks are likely to exhibit when they once get in front of the Turks."

Lykourgos, with his twenty-five hundred men, marched without opposition into the town of Chios, where they burnt the custom-houses, destroyed two mosques, and plundered generally the houses of the inhabitants. They occupied the houses nearest the citadel, and placing riflemen in them opened fire, while a party began to throw up a battery on a commanding position known as Turloti.

The following morning Mr. Beveridge landed, and, accompanied by Miller and Horace, and a party of twenty sailors armed with rifle, cutla.s.s, and pistol, proceeded to Chios. He found the streets of the town in disorder, the troops--or rather the armed men, for they were under neither discipline nor control--were wandering about, occasionally going within sight of the citadel, and discharging their muskets two or three times in that direction. They looked with surprise at the orderly little party of British sailors; but as they supposed these had come to help them, they received them with exclamations of good-will. They visited Turloti, where a score or two of men were working lazily, and then went down to the port, where another battery had also been begun.

"What on earth are they putting up a battery here for?" Miller said.

"At this distance they might as well fire potatoes at the citadel. Ask that officer, Horace, what they are up to?"