i'liulu ijy Canull S. Aldcn 



A MONK RETURNING FROM WORK ON THK MOUNTAIN FARM 



and its exposure for centuries to smoky 

 candles. It is of the Virgin and Child. 

 and is ascribed to Saint Luke, for tradi- 

 tion says that Luke was a painter as well 

 as a physician, and that this picture he 

 made from life. 



Some of the Greeks affirm that the 

 images in this marvelous picture spoke 

 plainly to them during the war of inde- 

 pendence, weeping at times of defeat 

 and encouraging them with the promise 

 of ultimate victory. It is certain that the 

 painting is very old ; Murray in his 

 Handbook dates it from the 8th or 9th 

 century. 



After the service a man whose duties 

 were about the same as Georgios' showed 

 me over the monastery. As he was not 

 an accomplished linguist like Georgios, 

 we got on well together. He understood 

 my explanation of what my camera was 

 for, and he took me down long jiassages, 

 dark as night, past the monks' cells, up 

 a crazy, creaking stairway that uttered a 

 long complaint of old age and weariness, 

 until we reached the very top. 



A young monk who had one of the 

 better rooms happened to pass, and my 

 cicerone induced him to play the host. 

 Dionysos (the young monk had the most 

 pagan name) was scarcely more than a 

 boy, perhaps 17, and his beard — the in- 

 variable sign of the Greek priest and his 

 chief pride — was just beginning to ap- 

 pear. His cheeks were thin and lacking 

 in color, and his long hair gave him al- 

 most a feminine appearance. His coun- 

 tenance expressed, as I fancied, some- 

 thing of sadness and disappointment, but 

 as I told him T wanted a picture of him 

 and his room it lighted up responsively. 



I saw him for only a few moments, 

 but if the first impression is to be relied 

 on the lad possessed rare qualities ; he 

 needed only inspiration and a great pur- 

 pose to bring them out. 



THE WINE TUNS OF TIIE MONASTERY 



Having been to the summit of the 

 monastery, we next proceeded to the very 

 depths, catching a glimpse in passing of 

 the library, a small room with one 



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