“Ah, yes,” our brave general responded, “that was one of the toughest places I was ever in. I led the cavalry against the left, two full brigades with two batteries and howitzers. They cut us up with grape and canister, but we broke them and took all their guns. The general complimented me personally in presence of his whole staff. I had three horses shot under me and two bullet holes in my coat.”
Up to that moment I had never hoped to see a survivor of Marathon, but you cannot always tell what will happen.
CHAPTER XVI—THE GLORY OF ATHENS.—ITS SIGHTS, SCENES, RUINS, AND RELICS.
The Opera at Athens—Handsome Greeks?—The King and Queen—A Lovely Trio—Losing a Heart—Byron’s “Maid of Athens”—How She Looked—Her House and History—The Acropolis by Moonlight—Waking the Guard—A Sham Permit—“Backsheesh”—The Parthenon by Night—Greek Gypsies—Among the Curiosity Shops—Dr. Schliemann and his Trojan Discoveries—The Gold and Silver Vases of King Priam—Where They Were Found—Relics of the Sack of Troy—Curious Workmanship—Some Account of the Excavations—We Leave Athens—A Queer Steamer—“Pay or Go to Prison”—End of Our Steamship Adventure.