There lived and
still lives at Sorrento, a certain old man known as the Greek. The Greek
is old and infirm and has a vicious predilection for wine and cards, so
that he is quite unfit for the sea. But he owns a couple of smart
sailing boats and gets a living by letting them to strangers. It is
necessary, however, to have at least one perfectly reliable man in
charge of each, and so soon as the Children of the King had returned
from their last long voyage the Greek had engaged them both for this
purpose, as being in every way superior to the common run of boatmen who
hung about the place waiting for jobs. It was consequently impossible
that the two brothers could be in the same boat's crew during the
summer.
Ruggiero found the Cripple asleep in the shade, having been out all
night fishing, and the Son of the Fool was seated not far from him,
plaiting sinnet for gaskets. The two were inseparable, so far as their
varied life permitted them to be together, and were generally to be
found in the same crew. Average able seamen both, much of the same
height and build, broad, heavy fellows good at the oar, peaceable and
uncomplaining.
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