“But surely in an urgent case like this the Eparch will send you help at once. You say he is your friend.”
“Certainly he says he is, but my belief is that he is jealous of my independent sovereignty, and would not be sorry to see my little government come to an end.”
“What a nice old gentleman he must be! But tell me, uncle, what is the difference between a Demarch and an Eparch?”
“One rules over one island, the other over many. As a matter of fact, a Demarch is a kind of mayor, and really it is too small a title for me, seeing I have a whole island to myself. Still, I am quite satisfied with it, as King of Melnos is out of the question, and Prince of Melnos sounds like the hero of a penny novelette.”
“And what islands does the Eparch of Syra rule over?”
“Well, really, I quite forget; but the Eparch of Santorin rules over Amorgos, Anapli, Santorin, and Ios.”
“Of course all these Epachs—or what is it?—Eparchs—are subject to the government of King George?”
“Certainly.”
“Then I don’t wonder they envy you this island. I suppose you are the only independent prince in the Ægean?”
“I am now, but in former times there were many. An Italian family ruled as Dukes of Naxos, another line governed Seriphos, but those potentates were somewhere about the fifteenth century. I think the ruler likest to myself was one Capsi, a kind of ancient pirate, of the Alcibiades type, who became ruler of Melos.”