The Cruise of the Branwen

CHAPTER VI THE GAMES IN ATHENS Sunt quos curriculo pulverem Olympicum collegisse juvat ••• WE dropped anchor in the Bay of Phalerum at five o'clock on the aftern9on of Saturday, April 21, and forthwith went up to Athens on a queer little railway which runs from Piraeus to the town. In our carriage was an enthusiastic young foot– baller from Smyrna who was anxious to know what we thought of the chances of his team. We concealed our ignorance as far as possible, and saw no more of him. I hope he won. He had no English teams to beat. In the Hotel Imperial, close to the central square of Athens, we found Newton Robinson and Seligman awaiting us, together with a message that the Captain of the team was expected at the club. I hurried there, while the others went to dinner, and found an animated meeting in process of discussing the fencing rules. This they did for hours, and I secured the passing of as many of our amendments as possible, until sheer hunger drove me back to dinner, carrying numbers of tickets, invitations, and free passes for everything to my companions, some of whom slept in the 59