
CHAPTER I YOUTHFUL ENTHUSIASM
CHAPTER II ON FRIENDLY SHORES
CHAPTER III A COMIC OPERA TOWN
CHAPTER IV A DINNER OF HERBS
CHAPTER V SOME PICTURES AND A RECITATION
CHAPTER VI THE FIRST OF MAY
CHAPTER VII A DEMAND, AND A COWARD
CHAPTER VIII SMOKE BY DAY AND FIRE BY NIGHT
CHAPTER IX AWAITING THE SIGNAL
CHAPTER X WAR IN EARNEST
A sun‑drenched evening in March 1897 finds a modest Greek caique slipping out of Piraeus under a veil of contraband. Its hold is packed with cognac, provisions, and, hidden among the barrels, a cache of rifles and a revolving cannon destined for the embattled Cretan insurgents. The vivid tableau of creaking rigging, roaring waves, and a chorus of prayers from the ship’s captain sets a tone that mixes gritty realism with a hint of the uncanny.
On deck, three young men—one unmistakably American, the others Greek—balance the vessel’s tilt while exchanging nervous jokes, their camaraderie tested by the perilous voyage. As they navigate past watchful foreign gunboats toward the secretive harbor, the narrative captures the feverish optimism of youth confronting a volatile world. The story unfolds as a rich, atmospheric portrait of a historic struggle, where personal daring and the promise of liberty collide on the restless Aegean seas.
Language
en
Duration
~6 hours (391K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Al Haines
Release date
2018-10-16
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1860–1942
An American diplomat and writer, he spent decades in Greece and the Ottoman Empire and turned those experiences into novels, poetry, translations, and memoirs. He is especially remembered for his firsthand account of the destruction of Smyrna in 1922.
View all books
by Philippe Aubert de Gaspé

by Friedrich Gerstäcker

by Albert Bigelow Paine

by Ernest Thompson Seton

by James Otis