Turkish
delight, and preserved fruit. Having put us at our ease, the king went
on with his correspondence.

"This," he said, "is to Messrs. Barley and Co., 31 Cavendish Square,
London."

"Excuse me, sire," said his secretary, bending over and whispering in
his ear.

"What does it matter?" said the king in a haughty tone. "I've done
nothing wrong. Let all the world come and listen if they want to. Now,
take this down."

And he dictated the following letter:

"GENTLEMEN,--I observe by your note of April 5 that I now
have L22,750 on current account. Please invest half of this
sum in 3 per cent. Consols and half in bearer bonds before the
coupons are detached. I shall be obliged if you will sell my
shares in the Bank of England, and put the proceeds in London
omnibuses. That will be a safe investment and, I think, a
profitable one. Your obedient servant,

"HADGI STAVROS.

"P. S. Oblige me by sending a hundred guineas to Messrs. Ralli
Brothers as my subscription towards the Hellenic School at
Liverpool."

Mrs. Simons, who, like her daughter, did not speak Greek, leaned towards
me.

"Mr. Schultz, is he dictating the terms of our ransom?" she asked.

"No, madam," I replied. "He is writing to his bankers."

Mrs. Simons turned to the box of Turkish delight. I found more pleasure
in listening to the king's business correspondence. It was
extraordinarily interesting.

The next letter was addressed to George Micrommati, Secretary of the
King of the Mountains Co., Ltd., the Courts of Justice, Athens.

"I am sorry to say," Hadgi Stavros dictated, "that the company's
operations have been much restricted owing to the bad harvest and to the
occupation of a part of our beloved land by foreign troops.

"Our gross receipts from May 1, 1855, to April 30, 1856, amount only to:

fr.
261,482
"While our expenses come to 135,482
----------
"Leaving fr. 126,000
Which I propose to divide as follows:
One-third of the profits payable to me as managing
director 40,000
Amount added to reserve fund at Bank of Athens 6,000
Amount available for dividend