Page:A child of the Orient (IA childoforient00vakarich).pdf/33

 "I don't think I hate Arif Bey—and as for killing him, I hope I shall never have to."

"But if we are not to kill them, how are we going to be free again, and how can the Greek flag fly over the Galata Tower?"

"Look here, baby, what you need is to play more and not think so much. Now come, and I'll teach you to climb trees, and for every tree you climb yourself I'll tell you a tale about the time when I lived on Mount Olympus."

I was agile by nature, in spite of being frail, and in no time I learned to climb even the tallest trees on our place, an occupation which delighted me as much as anything I had ever done.

Arif Bey I saw again and again, for I became the constant companion of either my father or my brother, and I could not find it in my heart to hate him. A few years older than my brother, he was taller and his shoulders were broader, and he carried himself with a dash worthy of the old demi-gods of Greece. As for his eyes they were as kind and good to look into as those of my brother. What is more I was never afraid in his presence, and one day he spoke so tenderly of his sick mother that I pretty much changed my mind about the delight of seeing him killed. It was then that I talked very eulogistically about him to my brother; but one never can tell what grown-ups will do—they are the most inconsistent of human beings.