ly watched by all his friends, who sat in
silence, following with their eyes each mouthful on its way from the
newspaper to his lips. They had previously made their own repasts in the
same meagre fashion, but perhaps they derived some small additional
nourishment from watching the mastication of their friend. When his fish
had disappeared, accompanied by one slender little slice of bread, our
neighbor lifted the wine-bottle, and gave himself a swallow of wine;
then, after a pause of a minute or two, another. This was all. The
bottle was recorked, and with the remaining provisions put carefully
away. All foreign residents in Greece, whether they like the people or
dislike them, agree in pronouncing them extraordinarily abstemious.
Drunkenness hardly exists among them.

[Illustration: ALBANIAN MALE COSTUME]

At one of the islands a prisoner was brought on board by two policemen.
He was a slender youth--an apprentice to a mason, probably, for his poor
clothes were stained with mortar and lime. He held himself stiffly
erect, making a determined effort to present a brave countenance to the
world. He was led to a place in the centre of the deck, and then one of
his guardians departed, leaving the second in charge. The steamer lay in
the harbor for an hour or more, and four times skiffs put out from the
shore, each bringing two or three young men--or, rather, boys--who came
up the ladder furtively. Reaching the deck, they edged their way along,
first to the right, then to the left, until they perceived their
comrade. Even then they did not approach him directly; they assumed an
air of indifference, and walked about a little among the other
passengers. But after a while, one by one, they came to him, and, taking
bread from under their jackets, they put it hastily and silently into
his pockets, the policeman watching them, but not interfering. Then,
moving off quickly, they disappeared down the ladder in the same
stealthy way, and returned to the shore. Through all their manoeuvres
the prisoner did not once look at them; he kept his eyes fixed upon a
distant point in the bay, as though there was something out there which
he was obliged to watch without an instant's cessation. All his pockets
meanwhile, and the space under his jacket, grew so full that he was
swathed in bread. Finally came the whistle, and the steamer started.
Then, as the island began to recede, the set young face quivered, and
the arm in its ragged sleeve went