George the Greek’s Story.
“When I was a boy I lived with my parents at Smyrna. My father was a fisherman, and I often used to go with him in his boat. I was passionately fond of the water and all things connected with it, fond of athletics, and could swim, run, jump or wrestle with any boy in Smyrna, and was utterly fearless. All the fishermen of the port knew me and were very good to me.
“My dear old father and mother were good, God-fearing people. Their dearest and most honoured friend was good Padre Nicola. The dear old Padre, how he loved me and watched over my young life. He taught me, with other lessons, to be a brave loving boy, and when I was old enough he taught me to sing in the little church that his loving flock had built for him, it was just outside Smyrna on the road to Ephesus. Often when he came to our house and sat in the little garden that was so full of flowers and sweet-scented herbs, he would pat me on the head and say he hoped and prayed that I would grow up a good man, and a comfort and help to my dear father and mother.
“Oh, Jesu Christi,” he groaned, and for a few minutes he could not speak, but after a while he controlled himself and proceeded:
“When I was fourteen years old, an old friend of my father’s, Captain Petri, came to Smyrna in his brig the ‘Alexanovitch.’ He was a dear old man, he and my father were boys together in Patras, and they had not met for years. He spent all his spare time at my little home and took a great fancy to me. He soon found out that I was fond of the sea, and asked my father to let me go with him, promising he would watch over me and treat me as his own son, and make a sailor of me too. My father and mother were very loth to part with me, but Captain Petri had no son or daughter of his own, and they knew he would do all he had promised for me.
“So they spoke to the Padre about it. The dear old man said how sorry he, too, would be to lose me from the choir of the little church, but it was a good chance for me. He would pray the good God to bless me, and keep me good and true, and so, to my delight, it was settled that I was to go with Captain Petri in the ‘Alexanovitch.’
“My poor mother was heartbroken to lose her boy, for deep down in her heart she had hoped to see me settle at home, and become the village schoolmaster, but it was not to be.
“The following week was both a busy and a happy one for me, the happiest week of my life. The choir of the church in which I had now sung for several years got up a grand supper and the dear old Padre took the chair. What good wishes were given to me, what earnest prayers for my future. They presented me with a beautiful Douay Bible and Missal with my name on the fly leaf, written by the dear Padre himself. Oh, it was a cursed day for me when I left the place and home I loved so well.
“The brig ‘Alexanovitch’ was 300 tons register and carried a crew of eight all told, the captain, mate, cook, four seamen and one boy.
“The following week saw me on board with my kit, I was to receive 20 drachmas per month. I was delighted, I seemed a rich man all at once, my word but I did.