THE VINTAGE
mood veered, and he began to laugh, rocking himself to and fro.
"Did you hear his head crack?" he jerked ont. "It cracked like a green nut in September. No, it was more like a pomegranate under the heel. Is my head as messy inside as that, think you, Yanni? He thought his powder would make him a rich man, and the powder has made chicken-food of him. Oh, Yanni, what shall I do? I shall laugh till the Judgment Day."
Yanni's experience had not included an exhibition of hysterics, but he judged that they were not healthy things, and must be stopped if possible.
"Mitsos," he said, angrily, "don't make a fool of yourself. Stop laughing at once. Stop langhing!" he shouted.
Mitsos stared at hima moment like a chidden child; the fit ended as suddenly as it had begun, and he sat still a minute or two, idly plucking the fragrant shoots of thyme, or tossing them in the air.
"It has been a great day, Yanni," he said. "This sort of adventure is like wine to me. I think it must have made me drunk, And now I have cursed that devil I feel better. But I was so angry all the way here that I thought I should have burst. I wonder what made me laugh just now. Uncle Nicholas told me once that men sometimes went crazed the first time they killed any one. He told me that I should probably be blooded before I came home again. My eyes! it was so funny," and he began laughing again.
"Oh, Mitsos, dear Mitsos, for God's sake don't laugh. It's horrible to hear you," said Yanni, with a sudden panic fear that Mitsos was indeed possessed.
Mitsos made a great effort and checked himself.
"That's right," said Yanni, soothing him as he would
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