At five o'clock in the evening we entered the harbor of Neopalia and brought up alongside a rather crazy wooden jetty that ran some fifty feet out from the shore. Our arrival appeared to create great excitement. Men, women, and children came running down the narrow, steep street which climbed up the hill from the harbor. We heard shrill cries, and a hundred fingers were pointed at us. We landed; nobody came forward to greet us. I looked round, and saw no one who could be the old lord; but I perceived a stout man who wore an air of importance, and, walking up to him, I asked him very politely if he would be so good as to direct me to the inn, for I had discovered from Demetri that there was a modest house where we could lodge that night, and I was too much in love with my island to think of sleeping on board the yacht. The stout man looked at Denny and me; then he looked at Demetri and Spiro, who stood near us, smiling their usual grim smile. And he answered my question by another, a rather abrupt one: "What do you want, sir?" And he slightly lifted his tasselled cap and replaced it on his head.
"I want to know the way to the inn," I answered.
"You have come to visit Neopalia?" he asked.
A number of people had gathered round us now, and all fixed their eyes on my face.
"Oh," I said carelessly, "I am the purchaser of the island, you know. I have come to take possession."
Nobody spoke. Perfect silence reigned for half a minute.
"I hope we shall get on well together," I said, with my pleasantest smile.
Still no answer came. The people round still stared.
At last the stout man, altogether ignoring my friendly advances, said, curtly:
"I keep the inn. Come. I will take you to it."
He turned and led the way up the street. We followed, the people making a lane for us, and still regarding us with stony stares. Denny gave expression to my feelings, as well as his own:
"It can hardly be described as an ovation," he observed.
"It is not the way to receive his lordship," agreed Watkins, more in sorrow than in anger. Watkins had very high ideas of the deference due to "his lordship."
The fat innkeeper walked ahead. I quickened my pace and overtook him.
"The people do not seem very pleased to see me," I remarked.