Pascali's Island

'This is Mister Anthony Bowles,' Lydia said. 'Doctor Michael Hogan. Our beloved physician. Mister Bowles is a recent arrival on the island.'

'I hope you enjoy your stay here.' The doctor detached himself from Lydia to shake hands. I have described him before to Your Excellency's officials. He stood now just inside the studio, bulky, untidy-looking, grey hair slightly dishevelled, as always, small blue eyes full of a cheerful guile.

'You are an old resident here, I take it,' Mister Bowles said, his blurting habit of speech more noticeable now that he was addressing a stranger.

'Been here thirty years,' the doctor said.

'He came here first on a cruise, didn't you, Michael?' Lydia said. 'He liked it so much he decided to stay.' She said this with evident pleasure and affection, making Mister Bowles a gift of it.

'That is about the sum of it,' the doctor said.

Mister Bowles nodded, without much expression. It was not clear how he regarded this distant impulse of the doctor's.

'He had a practice in Dublin,' Lydia said. 'He went home, sold his practice, then came back here. Didn't you, Michael?'

'I've been here ever since,' the doctor said.

It was at this point that I got up to go. Rather to my surprise, Mister Bowles offered to accompany me. Now, of course, I know why.

Mister Bowles's reference to lying a

I was feeling rather spruce, in my linen suit, with a clean white shirt buttoned up to the neck, my hair parted carefully with a wet comb, my monogrammed handkerchief and my ruby ring. Not having a watch now, I was afraid of being late. There is a clock in the shipping office of Gavros et Fils and that is the one I invariably go by, not because it keeps good time – in fact it doesn't – but because I prefer not to be confused by different versions. I glanced at this clock as I passed by, saw that I had time to spare and decided to walk the longer way, by the road. Plaints of sheep loud on the hillside. I saw the Petroulis boy herding sheep on the slope between the road and the shore. He will be bringing them into town today, to sell for the Sacrifice Bayram. He is about fourteen now, and good-looking.

I was on time at the Metropole and found Mister Bowles waiting in the lounge, sitting upright in a rattan chair. On the wall beyond him Zeus in the guise of a somewhat puny swan was descending on a Leda who looked quite capable of strangling him with one hand.

I could see that Mister Bowles too had taken extra care with his appearance this morning. He was wearing a grey suit of thin fla

We walked across the square together, to where the fiacre drivers wait, in the shade of the municipal acacia trees. Costas Gavroulis was at the head of the line. I was afraid he would refuse me as a passenger, but he agreed at once to take us, though his ma

We kept to the lower road, which follows the line of the bay, for some time, in the direction away from the promontory, away from the ruins that Mister Bowles is interested in, before turning inland. On our right the long fluid line of Mt Laris, and on the other side the blue water of the bay.

We did not talk much on the way. The Pasha's house is on the northern side of the island, where the hills come in nearer to the shore, dip towards the sea in long slopes that have been terraced for vines and olives. In the narrow fertile strip between hills and shore, maize and vegetables grow well, and there are extensive orange groves. All this land, whether tended by Greek or Turk, belongs to the Pasha. After a mile or so, the road begins to climb and curve inland, into the foothills. The Pasha's house and the garrison barracks are on the landward side, soon after this curve begins. The house is set well back from the road, its white walls only partially visible beyond clumps of umbrella pines.

The driver set us down on the road – he was unwilling to turn into the drive. We asked him to wait, and passed through the wrought iron gates, open and unguarded. The driveway is short. It opens directly on to the house, which is wide-fronted, Italianate in style, with steps going up to a colo

At the foot of the steps a soldier with a slung rifle emerged from a sentry-box and barred our way. He said nothing, asked us no questions, simply stood silently in front of us, effectively barring all further progress. Young, not more than twenty I should think, with a flat, expressionless Anatolian face. After a moment or two of impassive scrutiny, he unslung the rifle and held it loosely before him, pointing somewhere between Mister Bowles and me.

'We have an appointment to see the Commandant,' I said to him in Turkish, taking care to stand quite still – I had not at all liked his gesture with the rifle. The garrison troops are ill-trained, Excellency, and they are unhappy, for the most part, on this western island, far from the plateaus of home. They do not like the people here, least of all foreigners. And the recent ambushes, the deaths of their comrades, have unsettled them even further. It seemed to me within the bounds of possibility for this savage to shoot us. Mister Bowles, however, obviously not thinking along the same lines as myself, took an impatient step forward. The rifle swung upwards. It was now pointing at Mister Bowles's chest.

'This is ridiculous,' Mister Bowles said. His face had flushed darkly beneath the tan. He showed no sign of fear. 'Tell the fool to let us pass,' he said.

Fortunately at this moment Izzet Effendi appeared at the top of the steps. He spoke sharply to the guard, who even then hesitated noticeably before turning back.

At the top of the steps I introduced Mister Bowles. 'They are over-zealous,' Izzet said, in his dry querulous voice, in part apology for the behaviour of the guard. He looked carefully at Mister Bowles. 'Tell him,' he said, 'these days we must be on our guard. There are many undesirable persons on the island, professional revolutionaries, agents of all kinds. They are receiving support from foreign powers, among whom, regrettably, we must include the English. Indeed the English are prominent among them. They are anarchists, dangerous people.'

'Tell him,' Mister Bowles said, when this had been explained to him, 'that there are not many anarchists in the House of Commons as yet.'

It was the first thing approaching a joke that I had heard him say. I did not translate it, however. I said simply that Mister Bowles quite understood the situation.

Izzet led us inside, through a small ante-room, into the reception room, where we sat in uncomfortable brocaded chairs. Izzet enquired about the state of things in England. Mister Bowles spoke about Asquith's government. While this went on I was able to look around the room, survey the fruits of office: gilt roccoco tables; jade boxes; a large ormolu and gold clock with a decorative frame of cherubs around a central sun; a grand piano; silk roses under a glass dome. Excellency, I wonder if you know what injustice and malpractice of every sort is represented by these expensive European imports? Every inch of alabaster and rosewood is charged with suffering. Their sounds, if they could make sounds, would be a shriek. In fact, in the pauses of conversation, I seemed to hear it, this shriek of extortion. My ears have become sensitive, now that my days are ru