“What a disappointment for Alcibiades & Company when they find no treasure here!” cried Crispin, laughing.
“They must never get here!” said the Demarch resolutely; “I will defend the island to the bitter end, and, in spite of their strength, I fancy they will find it difficult to force either the western pass or the tunnel.”
“If you had the western pass as an entrance to Melnos, why did you pierce the tunnel?” asked Maurice curiously; “would it not have been better to have only one entrance?”
“Decidedly. But you see the western side of Melnos is exposed to the gales; and, in spite of the harbor, its anchorage is hardly safe; so I was forced to build a breakwater on the eastern side of the island. Of course, this being the case, when ships were loaded or unloaded there, the goods could not be taken round to the western pass,—hence the tunnel.”
“I think your scheme is a wonderful one,” said Maurice, with great admiration; “and wonderfully carried out.”
“It is yet only in its infancy, and needs a wise ruler to carry it on to ripe fruition. That ruler, Maurice, I expect to find in you.”
“I trust you will not be disappointed in my administrative ability.”
“Well, I am satisfied so far. You have courage, judgment, and self-control, which are the main things needed to control these excitable Greeks. But let us not go too fast, for I know not yet if you intend to stay in Melnos.”
“Assuredly I do; especially now I have discovered you are my uncle. Why did you not tell me of our relationship before?”
“Because I wished you to fall in love with your cousin on your own account. Had I revealed myself, and suggested the marriage, with the natural dislike of a young man to be forced into matrimony, you might have objected. Oh, my dear nephew, I have had these plans in my head for a long time. Long ago I saw that neither Crispin nor Andros, whom I had trained as my successors, would suit the post. You, Crispin, are a poet, and not a ruler, while as for Andros, whom you know better as Caliphronas, he is but an idle scamp, who would undo all my forty years’ work. When I saw my failure in this respect, I married a Greek girl, more from policy than love, in order to beget an heir, but she died when Helena was born, and thus I was disappointed of a son.”