Thanks to the Demarch’s wisdom in placing his money with his London solicitors, he had plenty of capital on which to draw, and when things were once more quiet, and Melnos repopulated from the adjacent islands, he made up his mind at once to restore the tunnel to its former perfection. Certainly it would take some time to gather a number of pure-blooded Hellenes for his colony, but with plenty of capital at his back, and the productions of the island in a flourishing condition, he could afford to wait. Besides, he had Maurice now beside him, and the young fellow was a man after his own heart, for, in contrast to his former listlessness when in England, he flung himself into Justinian’s schemes with an ardor which delighted the old man. With himself to conceive, and his nephew to carry out, the Demarch was quite jubilant in spite of his late reverses, for he foresaw that in such capable hands Melnos would soon be restored to its pristine glory.
The only thing, therefore, which agitated his mind, was the dread he felt lest Caliphronas should again assault Melnos with another army of cut-throats. Calmly as Justinian had taken the treachery of the Greek, yet in his own soul he felt deeply hurt that his years of kindness had met with so base a return. He had found Caliphronas a poor shepherd lad on the island of Andros, he had educated, clothed, and fed him for many years, and now, when perilous times came, not only was the ungrateful scamp absent from his side, but actually arrayed against him, being in every way an active agent in bringing ruin on his benefactor. However, if the pirates, headed by this accomplished villain, did appear again, the Demarch knew well that he could not hope to hold out against them for any lengthy period, as, owing to the smallness of his garrison, incessant watching, fighting, and suspense would wear out even the bravest among them.
In this dilemma there was only one thing left to do, should the pirates reappear, and that was to close up the pass by means of the overhanging rocks at the cliff entrance. True, it would shut all within the island up in a crater which threatened to break out; still, from all appearances, such a volcanic outburst did not seem likely to take place, therefore, if the pass were firmly sealed, they would at least be free from their dangerous enemies without, until such time as Melnos could be repeopled, and thus defend itself. Notwithstanding the earthquake, the disappearance of the lake, the activity of the hot springs, the Demarch could not believe that this crater, extinct for so many thousands of years, would break out in eruption without giving, at least, some serious warning; therefore, with this idea, he determined, if the worst came to the worst, to shut himself and his people in, by closing up the gorge, rather than abandon his forty years of work to the mercy of a band of Levantine black-guards.
As to Helena and Maurice, they were perfectly happy in making love to each other; and, in the intervals of such a delightful occupation, the young Englishman looked after the palisade, at which two sentries were constantly posted, wandered about the village with his uncle, attending to local matters, and twice or thrice a day went to the vantage-point above the side staircase, in order to watch for the appearance of Crispin and his yacht. Daily both Maurice and his uncle swept the offing with their glasses, but no thin line of smoke or glancing white sail showed that The Eunice was on her way to aid these unfortunates.
Nor during all this time was Dick idle, for, with a small body of men, he had posted himself above the overhanging rocks at the entrance of the pass, and there they drilled holes in the soft volcanic soil for the reception of dynamite cartridges. When these were placed sufficiently deep, Alexandros attached his wires to them, and then threw these thread-like conductors across the abyss to the opposite side of the pass. At the point where Crispin had gone over the cliff a few nights previously, he established a small battery and fixed the wires thereto, so, in the event of the pirates approaching the island, the man who was on the look-out at the vantage-point had simply to touch the button of the battery, when the enormous rocks on the other side of the gorge would crash down in Titanic fragments, closing up the narrow way irretrievably. Still, as before stated, the Demarch, on account of a lurking suspicion of the extinct volcano, was unwilling to avail himself of this aid until the last moment, but in any event, if that last moment did come, the rocks could be exploded from the vantage-point with the greatest ease. The ropes which had been used to let down Crispin and Gurt were still attached to the trunk of the pine tree, but had been carefully drawn up, lest by chance, if the pirates arrived, they could enter the island by ascending such a convenient ladder, notwithstanding the closing of the pass.
On the early morning of the fourth day after Crispin had departed, Justinian and his nephew, ascending the path at the back of the Acropolis, went down to the vantage-point through the altar glade, according to custom, in order to look for signs of the poet’s return. The east was yet rosy with the dawn, and the great expanse of ocean slept below them in serene calm. The long white waves broke gently on the sandy beach, there was not a breath of wind, and when the sun arose suddenly out of the sea, his long yellow rays shot like bridges of gold across the water, while his orb, invisible to the watchers, projected the shadow of the island on the liquid plain in front.
Temistocles had been on the watch for some considerable time, and as the electric light was kept all night constantly sweeping the surface of the sea in search of strange boats, Justinian asked the runner if there had been any indications of approaching danger. Receiving a reply in the negative, he put up his glass in hopes of discovering some signs of the long-expected and much-desired yacht, but not a speck could he behold, in spite of the power of his glasses and the keenness of his eyesight.
“It’s four days since he went away,” said the Demarch to Maurice, with a sigh, as he put down his glass; “yet he does not seem to be coming back.”
“You must allow him more time, uncle,” replied Maurice comfortingly; “you know everything may not have gone exactly as we thought. He may have cruised about some time before being picked up by the Cretan steamer, and even if he were fortunate in meeting a boat at once on his arrival at Syra, the yacht may not have been lying there.”
“The yacht has had plenty of time to get to Syra, Maurice; but either he has missed the steamer, or else he finds some difficulty in obtaining men from the Eparch of Syra.”