"There were no wars to journey after and no adventures; but there
was danger and adventure here. This land was full of cockle,
winnowed out of Italy, Austria and the whole south of Europe. It
took courage and the iron hand of the state to keep the peace.
Here was a life of danger; and this Ionian - big, powerful,
muscled like the heroes of the Circus Maximus - entered this
perilous service.
"Monsieur, I have said his mind was Hellenic, like his big,
wonderful body. Mark you how of heroic antiquity it was! It was
his boast, among the perils that constantly beset him, that no
criminal should ever take his life; that, if ever he should
receive a mortal wound from the hand of the assassins about him,
he would not wait to die in agony by it. He himself would sever
the damaged thread of life and go out like a man!
"Observe, monsieur, how like the great heroes of legend - like
the wounded Saul when he ordered his armor-bearer to kill him;
like Brutus when he fell on his sword!"
He looked intently at the American.
"Doubtless, monsieur," he went on, "those near this man along the
Monongahela did not appreciate his attitude of grandeur; but to
us, in the distance, it seemed great and noble.
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