The musket-barrels were leveled upon us.  It seemed to me that they stretched out immeasurably, and that their muzzles were about to join above our heads.  It was not that fear disturbed my vision; but I had never remarked so sensibly the desperate length of the Greek muskets!  The whole arsenal soon debouched into the road, and every barrel showed its stock and its master.

The only difference which exists between devils and brigands is, that devils are less black than they are said to be, and brigands more dirty than people suppose.  The eight bullies, who packed themselves in a circle around us, were so filthy in appearance that I should have wished to give them my money with a pair of tongs.  You might guess, with a little effort, that their caps had been red; but lye-wash itself could not have restored the original color of their clothes.  All the rocks of the kingdom had stained their cotton shirts, and their vests preserved a sample of the different soils on which they had reposed.  Their hands, their faces, and even their moustachios were of a reddish-gray, like the soil which supports them.  Every animal is colored according to its abode and its habits:  the foxes of Greenland are of the color of snow; lions, of the desert; partridges, of the furrow; Greek brigands, of the highway.

The chief of the little troop which had made us prisoners was distinguished by no outward mark.  Perhaps, however, his face, his hands, and his clothes were richer in dust than those of his comrades.  He leaned toward us from the height of his tall figure, and examined us so closely that I felt the grazing of his moustachios.  You would have pronounced him a tiger, who smells of his prey before tasting it.  When his curiosity was satisfied, he said to Dimitri, “Empty your pockets!”

Dimitri did not give him cause to repeat the order:  he threw down before him a knife, a tobacco-pouch, and three Mexican dollars, which compose a sum of about sixteen francs.

“Is that all?” demanded the brigand.

“Yes, brother.”

“You are the servant?”

“Yes, brother.”

“Take back one dollar.  You must not return to the city without money.”

Dimitri haggled.  “You could well allow me two,” said he:  “I have two horses below; they are hired from the riding-school; I shall have to pay for the day.”

“You will explain to Zimmerman that we have taken your money from you.”

“And if he wishes to be paid, notwithstanding?”

“Answer that he is lucky enough to see his horses again.”

“He knows very well that you do not take horses.  What would you do with them in the mountains?”

“Enough!  What is this big raw-boned animal next you?”

I answered for myself:  “An honest German, whose spoils will not enrich you.”

“You speak Greek well.  Empty your pockets.”

I deposited on the road a score of francs, my tobacco, my pipe, and my handkerchief.