neath my shots.

Years had gone by, when one evening Aphtanides came in, slender as a
reed, strong and brown. He kissed us all, and had much to tell of the
fortifications of Malta, of the great ocean, and of the marvellous
sepulchres of Egypt. It sounded strange as a legend of the priests,
and I looked up to him with a kind of veneration.

"How much you know!" I exclaimed; "what wonders you can tell of!"

"But you have told me the finest thing, after all," he replied. "You
told me of a thing that has never been out of my thoughts--of the good
old custom of the bond of friendship, a custom I should like to
follow. Brother, let you and I go to church, as your father and
Anastasia's went before us: your sister Anastasia is the most
beautiful and most innocent of girls; she shall consecrate us! No
people has such grand old customs as we Greeks."

Anastasia blushed like a young rose, and my mother kissed Aphtanides.

A couple of miles from our house there, where loose earth lies on the
hill, and a few scattered trees give a shelter, stood the little
church; a silver lamp hung in front of the altar.

I had put on my best clothes: the white fustanella fell in rich folds
around my hips, the red jacket fitted tight and close, the tassel on
my fez cap was silver, and in my girdle gleamed a knife and my
pistols. Aphtanides was clad in the blue garb worn by Greek sailors;
on his chest hung a silver plate with the figure of the Virgin Mary;
his scarf was as costly as those worn by rich lords. Every one could
see that we were about to go through a solemn ceremony. We stepped
into the little simple church, where the evening sunlight, streaming
through the door, gleamed on the burning lamp and the pictures on
golden ground. We knelt down on the altar steps, and Anastasia came
before us. A long white garment hung loose over her graceful form; on
her white neck and bosom hung a chain, covered with old and new coins,
forming a kind of collar. Her black hair was fastened in a knot, and
confined by a head-dress made of silver and gold coins that had been
found in an old temple. No Greek girl had more beautiful ornaments
than she. Her countenance glowed, and her eyes were like two stars.

We all three prayed silently; and then she said to us, "Will you be
friends in life and in death?" "Yes," we replied. "Will you, whatever
may happen, remember this--my brother is a part of myself. My secret
is his, my happiness is his. Self-sacrifice