In August, George and Catherine were renting rooms in Boudja as they had done the previous summer. On weekends they retreated to even higher elevations to escape the heat and humidity. Develikeuy, 15 miles south of Smyrna, was a favorite getaway spot. George had a close friendship with a small farmer there who served as his hunting guide. They walked through the pinewoods in search of woodcock and hare while "swapping Greek and American hunting yarns." Other good friends of the Hortons, naturalized American Adam Adamopoulos and his wife Stella, owned a large estate near Develikeuy. Adam had impressed George with his benevolent treatment of Turkish peasants during the disorders following the Greek landing. 1 After work on August 22, George picked up Catherine and they traveled south to visit the Adamopoulos family. After dinner, they sat in the garden while the Adamopoulos children played nearby. George was composing a letter to Nancy in Greece. He told "Dear Wiggles" they were sitting under big pine trees with Tyi, the family's pet dog, lying at his feet. "So you see, the whole Horton family is here, without the one who Mama considers as the most important member." George shared an anecdote:Mama wants me to write to you about a little boy who said a funny thing today. He was playing with his brother in the garden and all at once the little brother began to bawl, when the little boy said, "Scase, Bre, Siopa! O Americanos tha se akousei" ["Shut up, you be quiet! The American will hear you!"] It seems that since I hit the rooster with a stone everybody here is afraid to make a noise. And a good thing too, for the Greeks are a noisy lot. 2 George asked about Nancy's donkey ride in Greece and described how Mr. Adamopoulos made donkey saddles for his little girls, Bobo and Elle. George had an objection if Nancy was thinking of keeping her donkey: "Mama would let you keep him in the parlor, I am sure, but you see, the United States government would step in and put a stop to that, and that would be a terrible scandal." George closed with some parental advice:You must be a nice little girl and not such a thorn in the flesh to your two poor, suffering aunts. When I was your age, I was a little angel. The only naughty thing I used to do, was to run away from home and hide. Once I stayed away so long that my Papa put up a sign, "Boy lost. About 7 years old with blue eyes and white hair. Answers to name of Georgy." This made me so ashamed that I never ran away again. 3

{"container_title":"The Gentle American","first_page":253,"last_page":276,"publisher":"Gorgias Press"}