CHAPTER FOUR.
There is an old saying, that, "Give a dog a bad name, it is sure tostick by him." On this account I suppose it is that Jews are alwaysconsidered rogues. I am very far from saying that they really are soinvariably, or even generally. On the contrary, I believe that thereare a great number of very honest, generous, kind-hearted, hard-workingpeople among them in all countries where they enjoy the privileges offree men.
That, in those times and countries where they have been treated as worsethan slaves, despised, insulted, and robbed on every occasion, theyshould have become, what they are often described as being, is not onlynot surprising, but is according to the laws which govern mankind.Tyranny and wrong, invariably make the people, who submit to them, growmean, treacherous, and false. Cut off from all honourable pursuits,they have recourse to such as are within their power; and thus the Jews,who were unable to hold even land in their possession, became themoney-makers; and, consequently, moneylenders of the world--and, as theywere frequently pillaged and deprived by extortion of their wealth, theynaturally endeavoured to regain, by every means left to them, that ofwhich they had been robbed.
Now, though there are many Jews whose upright conduct is sufficient toretrieve the characters of their whole people, such cannot be said forthe old Maltese Jew, Aaron Bannech. He was a rogue ingrain. To lie,cheat, and rob, where he could do so without risk of detection, was hisoccupation and delight. Lying, cheating, and robbery, were in him asecond nature. He considered them not only lawful, but praiseworthyemployments. He could not help lying and cheating if he tried. By sodoing, he had heaped up hoards of wealth--he had raised himself fromabject penury, and how could he be expected to persuade his conscience,or what stood him in place of one, that he had not been acting rightly.True his gold was of no real use to him--he had no one to enjoy it withhim--he had no relative to whom he could leave it. Some might say thatit would serve to repurchase Judea for his people; but he cared no morefor Judea than he did for Home. He would not have parted with asixpence to rebuild Jerusalem, unless he could have got a very largeinterest for his money--indeed he would probably have required verysufficient security, before he would have consented to part with it.His appearance was far from peculiar or striking as he sat in a dingyunderground den, which he appeared to have burrowed out for himselfbeneath the groaning walls of one of the old mansions of Valetta. Hehad sharp, ferrety eyes, a hooked nose, and a long, dirty, grey beard;indeed, no difference could be discerned between him and his countrymenemployed in selling old clothes in London. He wore a brown cap on hishead, anila, long serge overcoat, the colour of which it was impossibleto determine; and a pair of slippers, which had once been yellow, butwere now stained with many a varied tinge. The chamber in which he satwas fitted up with a desk, and a table covered with packages of papersand account-books, two high stools, and three or four rickety chairs.He was by himself, waiting in expectation of the arrival of the Greek.The time appointed had already passed, and he was beginning to thinkthat some accident must have occurred to his acquaintance. Ten minutesmore elapsed--his suspicions increased.
"Can the myrmidons of the law have got hold of him?" he muttered. "Thatrascal Giacomo--he may have informed, and will receive the reward whichought to be mine. If I dared, I would secure the prize at once--butthen, I suspect, before long, the amount will be increased. Yes, itmust be. The fruit is not yet ripe for plucking."
He stopped, either to chuckle at his own wit, or to calculate the sum hemight expect for betraying the man who trusted him. His virtuousmeditations were interrupted by the entrance of the Greek. His mannerwas as free and joyous as ever. He addressed the Jew in Italian, with aremarkably pure accent.
"Ah! my dear correspondent--my noble friend--my prince of money-lenders,how fares it with you? Still at the old trade of coining gold, eh?Well, we must all live either by fraud or force; cunning or strength arethe weapons put by nature into our hands. To some she gives one; toothers the latter: nature is most impartial. To the lion she givesclaws and teeth; to the horse his hoofs and fleetness. To a woman,beauty and softness; to a man, strength and courage. She intends allthese attributes to be employed. So, friend Bannech, you live by fraud,and I by force. Is it not so?"
"I cannot dispute the correctness of your assertion: for, to say thetruth, you have spoken so rapidly, that my poor comprehension could notfollow you, noble signor," said the Jew, bending low, and placing achair for his visitor. "But may I inquire what thus unexpectedly bringsyou to Malta?"
"Pleasure, Bannech--pleasure, and, perhaps, the hopes of a littleprofit," said the Greek, laughing. "Now, though I may not just yet tellyou what brings me to Malta, I will tell you a little more of my historythan you are at present acquainted with. Know, then, most worthy Jew,that I am, by name, Argiri Caramitzo, a patriot Greek chief, or prince,call me, of Graditza. That I have been educated in Italy--that yearshave passed since I set foot in my native land--and that I am nowhastening thither to join in the noble struggle to emancipate Greecefrom the thraldom of the infidel Turk. I have travelled from that cityof learning and piety, Pisa, to Naples, thence to Syracuse; and fromthat ancient city, I have crossed the sea hither. All this you mustremember, Bannech, should you be questioned."
"I will not forget it, most noble prince," said the Jew, bending hishead. "I like the story much. It has a probability about it whichcannot fail to make it be believed--an essential point too frequentlyoverlooked by bunglers in lying."
"I am glad you like it," observed the Greek, or prince--as we may nowcall him. He took no notice of the last, not very flattering,observation of the Jew. "But now, Bannech, I wish to know what vesselsare sailing hence for Greece, as I desire, you must remember, to securea passage by one of them."
The Jew looked at him for a moment, doubting whether he was in earnest.
"Oh, I understand," he said at length. "Why, there are several sailingin the course of a few days, but the one which will best suit yourpurpose quits the harbour to-morrow. She carries passengers--one ofwhom an English colonel is said to be rich, so he will doubtless have astore of gold on board. He has a daughter or niece with him, who isreported handsome. If she was, by chance, to fall into the hands ofsuch gentry, as we wot of, she would gain them a large amount for herransom. The vessel I speak of is the _Zodiac_, John Bowse, master."
"I passed her as we entered the harbour," remarked the Greek. "I willgo on board this very evening. But I wish to know more about herpassengers. Could not they be induced to carry a large amount of goldwith them? It would be very convenient. Tell me, how can I becomeacquainted with them?"
The Jew shook his head.
"I do not know how it can be managed. These English people, with theirproud manners, do not like making the acquaintance of foreigners ofwhose history they are ignorant."
"Do not tell me that it cannot be done," exclaimed the Greekimpatiently. "I tell you, signor, that you must find means of doing it.Surely a Greek prince would not be refused admittance into the bestsociety of an insignificant island dependency like this."
"There are a great many arrant rogues bearing that title," said the Jew,his eyes twinkling as he spoke. "And among the English here the rankalone does not bear much weight. You should have letters ofintroduction, and how they are to be procured, I cannot say."
"How they are to be procured! Why, forge them to be sure, my friend,"exclaimed the Greek. "Nothing is so easy. Come, come, you are wellaccustomed to the work, I know."
"Oh, father Abraham, suppose I was to be discovered!" ejaculated theJew. "My credit would be gone, and I should be completely ruined andundone."
"Oh, no fear of that, while your wits are as keen as at present," saidthe Greek. "Come, has not the colonel some acquaintance or other inItaly, who would be likely to introduce a distinguished foreigner, hisfriend, visiting the island, or do you know of some other person to whoma letter of introduction might be addressed?"
The Jew meditated for some ti
me, and if with any other sensation thanthat of grasping avarice, and all its accompanying hopes and fears, itwas with that of admiration for the Greek's daring and versatility oftalent. He was thinking of the value of which they might be to himself.
"I have it," he exclaimed. "There is a client of mine, a youngspendthrift, who has lived much in Italy, and many of whose acquaintanceI know. Stay, I have a letter by me from his friend the CountMontebello of Florence. He shall be your introducer. Do you know him?"
"I know nothing of him," said the Greek, "make me a friend of hisfriend. It will be safer and will be sufficient."
"Excellent, excellent," exclaimed the Jew, chuckling at the thoughts ofthe fraud. "You should have been bred a lawyer instead of a sailor,prince. Now, remember, this client of mine is acquainted with ColonelGauntlett, and is, indeed, a suitor of his niece's, for the sake of themoney he expects she will receive from her uncle. You will know how totalk to him."
"Admirable! My plan must prosper. There is a ball, too, I understandto-night, at which I suppose all the principal people in the place willbe present, and among them, the colonel, his niece, and my new friend.I must be prepared for the occasion; so, friend Bannech, send for thebest tailor in the place forthwith; for it will never do to appear inthis barbarian costume."
The Greek having thus fully concocted his plan, overruled all theobjections thrown out by the Jew, and, as he was a man of action, heinsisted on a tailor being instantly sent for. In ten minutesafterwards the well-known artist Paolo Muhajiar made his appearance,and, though he was somewhat astounded at the shortness of the timeallowed him to rig the Greek stranger in a suit of mufti, a show of somebroad gold pieces overcame all difficulties, and he promised to setevery hand at his establishment on to the work.
Little did the honest Paolo dream, as with a profound bow, he gatheredup his measures and patterns, and took his departure, who was thedistinguished foreigner for whom he was about to labour. The Greekdesiring the Jew to detain the beggar Giacomo till his return, with atriumphant look soon after set out to inspect the good brig the_Zodiac_.
Argiri Caramitzo was a man who hated inactivity; he was never happyexcept he was in motion, and never contented unless he had a prospect ofchange before him. Born in England, he would have been a universalphilanthropist or a radical reformer, or an inventor of patent machines,or, in late days, a railroad projector; he would have employed his timein haranguing popular assemblies on the rights of man, and the freedomof religion, and he would have been a loud advocate of the cause of thePoles, and Greeks, and Hungarians; but, as he happened to have been bornin Greece, he cared not a jot for the Greeks, and employed his talents,sharpened by use, in making a fortune in the way most clearly open tohim, and most suited to his taste.
He now hurried down to the quay, off which he saw Manuel at his post,waiting for his return. He beckoned him to approach, and, taking hisseat, ordered him to pull alongside the English brig the _Zodiac_; hesoon stood on her deck, to the no small astonishment of Captain Bowse,who had just before got on board. It may be supposed that they wouldhave had no little difficulty in understanding each other; but there isa _lingua Franca_ used in the Mediterranean, which all mariners, whotraverse that sea, very quickly pick up; and, what with that and the aidof signs, they made themselves tolerably intelligible to each other; atall events the Greek learned all he wished to know; even before he hadspoken, his quick glance had made him acquainted with the armament ofthe vessel, and her probable seaworthy qualities. His foot, too, as hewalked aft, happened to strike one of the carronades, the look of whichhe considered suspicious, and he smiled as he found that it was of wood.He soon made known his object in visiting the ship; he was looking outfor a passage to Greece by some vessel shortly to sail thither, and, asthe appearance of the _Zodiac_ pleased him, he should like to engage acabin on board her.
"Cannot, though, receive you on board, sir; sorry for it: but all myaccommodation is taken up by an English colonel and his family, and hewould not allow anybody else on board, even if it was the Pope himself,"answered Captain Bowse.
"But I am not at all particular as to the sort of accommodation you canfind for me," urged the Greek. "I have been at sea before, and canrough it as well as any of you mariners."
"No matter, Mr Prince; the colonel would not allow any stranger onboard, so, with all the will in the world to serve you, I cannot do it."
"But suppose the colonel should not object, would you then receive me?"asked the stranger.
"That would alter the case, sir, and we would rig you up the best berthwe could manage," answered Captain Bowse.
"So far, so good," said the Greek. "About the passage-money we shallnot disagree; but tell me of what does your cargo consist? I have thegreatest horror of sleeping over gunpowder, or anything likely toexplode."
"Oh, we have no gunpowder except a few charges for our guns there; butwe have some cases of muskets consigned to a merchant at Cephalonia, andwhich will, I suspect, soon find their way over to your friends on themain; and we have besides an assortment of hard goods, and of silks andclothes, and cottons, and such things, indeed, as would only be shippedin a sound ship--high up in Lloyd's list, let me tell you, sir. Thereisn't a finer craft out of London than the _Zodiac_, and none but a goodship would have weathered the gale we fell in with t'other day, though,as it was, we met with a little damage, which made us put in here torepair."
"I have no doubt of the _Zodiac's_ good qualities, and I hope that I mayyet have the satisfaction of proving them," said the Greek, as hestepped over the side. "Adieu, captain; a prosperous voyage whether Isail with you or not."