We have a Spaniard, a Greek, and a Syrian, all of whom act as interpreters in different places." "And make a handsome thing in the way of secret commissions, I suppose ?" I laughed.
"Of course.

But to cruise in comfort one must pay and be pleasant," declared the man with the fair beard.

"In Greece and the Levant they are more rapacious than in Naples, and the Customs officers always want squaring, otherwise they are for ever rummaging and discovering mares' nests." "Did you have any trouble here ?" I inquired.
"They didn't visit us," he said with a smile, and at the same time he rubbed his thumb and finger together, the action of feeling paper money.
This increased my surprise, for I happened to know that the Leghorn Customs officers were not at all given to the acceptance of bribes.

They were too well watched by their superiors.

If the yacht had really escaped a search, then it was a most unusual thing.