The Vintage: A Romance of the Greek War of IndependenceBenson, E. F. (Edward Frederic)
History
The Vintage: A Romance of the Greek War of Independence
Benson, E. F. (Edward Frederic)
Greece -- History -- War of Independence, 1821-1829 -- Fiction
Mitsos stared at him a moment like a chidden child; the fit ended
as suddenly as it had begun, and he sat still a minute or two, idly
plucking the fragrant shoots of thyme, or tossing them in the air.
"It has been a great day, Yanni," he said. "This sort of adventure is
like wine to me. I think it must have made me drunk. And now I have
cursed that devil I feel better. But I was so angry all the way here
that I thought I should have burst. I wonder what made me laugh just
now. Uncle Nicholas told me once that men sometimes went crazed the
first time they killed any one. He told me that I should probably be
blooded before I came home again. My eyes! it was so funny," and he
began laughing again.
"Oh, Mitsos, dear Mitsos, for God's sake don't laugh. It's horrible to
hear you," said Yanni, with a sudden panic fear that Mitsos was indeed
possessed.
Mitsos made a great effort and checked himself.
"That's right," said Yanni, soothing him as he would soothe a child.
"Drink some more wine, and then stop quiet a while. Go to sleep if you
like."
Mitsos drank some wine, shifted to an easier position, and putting
his head on Yanni's knee, who was leaning against a tree-trunk just
above him, stretched out his great length, and in a couple of minutes
was fast asleep. Yanni was not very comfortable, but he sat as still
as a stone for fear of waking Mitsos. How odd it was, he thought to
himself, that this great cousin of his should have behaved so queerly.
He had been so perfectly cool and collected while there was anything
to be done, but as soon as the need for doing anything was over he was
just a baby. During his struggle with the Turk he remembered seeing
Mitsos' face as he threw Krinos, and that mask of fury seemed to bear
no resemblance to the cheerful cousin; he was like a wild beast. If
anything had been wanting to put the final touch on Yanni's conviction
that Mitsos was the king of men, it was that uprising of the wild beast
within him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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