Rain by W. Somerset Maughan www.world-english.

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It was nearly bed-time and when they awoke next morning land would be in
sight. Dr. Macphail lit his pipe and, leaning oer the rail, searched the
heaens !or the Southern "ross. #!ter two years at the !ront and a wound
that had taken longer to heal than it should, he was glad to settle down
$uietly at #pia !or twele months at least, and he !elt already better !or the
%ourney. Since some o! the passengers were leaing the ship next day at
&ago-&ago they had had a little dance that eening and in his ears hammered
still the harsh notes o! the mechanical piano. 'ut the deck was $uiet at last. #
little way o!! he saw his wi!e in a long chair talking with the Daidsons, and he
strolled oer to her. When he sat down under the light and took o!! his hat
you saw that he had ery red hair, with a bald patch on the crown, and the
red, !reckled skin which accompanies red hair( he was a man o! !orty, thin,
with a pinched !ace, precise and rather pedantic( and he spoke with a Scots
accent in a ery low, $uiet oice.
'etween the Macphails and the Daidsons, who were missionaries, there had
arisen the intimacy o! shipboard, which is due to propin$uity rather than to
any community o! taste. )heir chie! tie was the disapproal they shared o! the
men who spent their days and nights in the smoking-room playing poker or
bridge and drinking. Mrs. Macphail was not a little !lattered to think that she
and her husband were the only people on board with whom the Daidsons
were willing to associate, and een the doctor, shy but no !ool, hal!
unconsciously acknowledged the compliment. It was only because he was o!
an argumentatie mind that in their cabin at night he permitted himsel! to
carp.
*Mrs. Daidson was saying she didn+t know how they+d hae got through the
%ourney i! it hadn+t been !or us,* said Mrs. Macphail, as she neatly brushed
out her trans!ormation. *She said we were really the only people on the ship
they cared to know.*
*I shouldn+t hae thought a missionary was such a big bug that he could
a!!ord to put on !rills.*
*It+s not !rills. I $uite understand what she means. It wouldn+t hae been
ery nice !or the Daidsons to hae to mix with all that rough lot in the
smoking-room.*
*)he !ounder o! their religion wasn+t so exclusie,* said Dr. Macphail with a
chuckle.
*I+e asked you oer and oer again not to %oke about religion,* answered his
wi!e. *I shouldn+t like to hae a nature like yours, #lec. ,ou neer look !or
the best in people.*
-e gae her a sidelong glance with his pale, blue eyes, but did not reply. #!ter
many years o! married li!e he had learned that it was more conducie to
peace to leae his wi!e with the last word. -e was undressed be!ore she was,
and climbing into the upper bunk he settled down to read himsel! to sleep.
When he came on deck next morning they were close to land. -e looked at it
with greedy eyes. )here was a thin strip o! siler beach rising $uickly to hills
coered to the top with luxuriant egetation. )he coconut trees, thick and
green, came nearly to the water+s edge, and among them you saw the grass
houses o! the Samoaris( and here and there, gleaming white, a little church.
Mrs. Daidson came and stood beside him. She was dressed in black, and
wore round her neck a gold chain, !rom which dangled a small cross. She was
a little woman, with brown, dull hair ery elaborately arranged, and she had
prominent blue eyes behind inisible pince-ne.. -er !ace was long, like a
sheep+s, but she gae no impression o! !oolishness, rather o! extreme
alertness( she had the $uick moements o! a bird. )he most remarkable thing
about her was her oice, high, metallic, and without in!lection( it !ell on the
ear with a hard monotony, irritating to the neres like the pitiless clamour o!
the pneumatic drill.
*)his must seem like home to you,* said Dr. Macphail, with his thin, di!!icult
smile.
*/urs are low islands, you know, not like these. "oral. )hese are olcanic.
We+e got another ten days+ %ourney to reach them.*
*In these parts that+s almost like being in the next street at home,* said Dr.
Macphail !acetiously.
*Well, that+s rather an exaggerated way o! putting it, but one does look at
distances di!!erently in the 0 South Seas. So !ar you+re right.*
Dr. Macphail sighed !aintly.
*I+m glad we+re not stationed here,* she went on. *)hey say this is a terribly
di!!icult place to work in. )he steamers+ touching makes the people
unsettled( and then there+s the naal station( that+s bad !or the naties. In
our district we don+t hae di!!iculties like that to contend with. )here are one
or two traders, o! course, but we take care to make them behae, and i! they
don+t we make the place so hot !or them they+re glad to go.*
1ixing the glasses on her nose she looked at the green island with a ruthless
stare.
*It+s almost a hopeless task !or the missionaries here. I can neer be
su!!iciently thank!ul to 2od that we are at least spared that.*
Daidson+s district consisted o! a group o! islands to the 3orth o! Samoa(
they were widely separated and he had !re$uently to go long distances by
canoe. #t these times his wi!e remained at their head$uarters and managed
the mission. Dr. Macphail !elt his heart sink when he considered the e!!iciency
with which she certainly managed it. She spoke o! the depraity o! the
naties in a oice which nothing could hush, but with a ehemently unctuous
horror. -er sense o! delicacy was singular. 4arly in their ac$uaintance she had
said to him5
*,ou know, their marriage customs when we !irst settled in the islands were
so shocking that I couldn+t possibly describe them to you. 'ut I+ll tell Mrs.
Macphail and she+ll tell you.*
)hen he had seen his wi!e and Mrs. Daidson, their deck-chairs close
together, in earnest conersation !or about two hours. #s he walked past
them backwards and !orwards !or the sake o! exercise, he had heard Mrs.
Daidson+s agitated whisper, like the distant !low o! a mountain torrent, and
he saw by his wi!e+s open mouth and pale !ace that she was en%oying an
alarming experience. #t night in their cabin she repeated to him with bated
breath all she had heard.
*Well, what did I say to you6* cried Mrs. Daidson, exultant, next morning.
*Did you eer hear anything more dread!ul6 ,ou don+t wonder that I couldn+t
tell you mysel!, do you6 4en though you are a doctor.*
Mrs. Daidson scanned his !ace. She had a dramatic eagerness to see that
she had achieed the desired e!!ect.
*"an you wonder that when we !irst went there our hearts sank6 ,ou+ll hardly
beliee me when I tell you it was impossible to !ind a single good girl in any o!
the illages.*
She used the word good in a seerely technical manner.
*Mr. Daidson and I talked it oer, and we made up our minds the !irst thing
to do was to put down the dancing. )he naties were cra.y about dancing.*
*I was not aerse to it mysel! when I was a young man,* said Dr. Macphail.
*I guessed as much when I heard you ask Mrs. Macphail to hae a turn with
you last night. I don+t think there+s any real harm i! a man dances with his
wi!e, but I was relieed that she wouldn+t. 7nder the circumstances I thought
it better that we should keep ourseles to ourseles.*
*7nder what circumstances6 *
Mrs. Daidson gae him a $uick look through her pince-ne., but did not
answer his $uestion.
*'ut among white people it+s not $uite the same,* she went on, *though I
must say I agree with Mr. Daidson, who says he can+t understand how a
husband can stand by and see his wi!e in another man+s arms, and as !ar as
I+m concerned I+e neer danced a step since I married. 'ut the natie
dancing is $uite another matter. It+s not only immoral in itsel!, but it
distinctly leads to immorality. -oweer, I+m thank!ul to 2od that we stamped
it out, and I don+t think I+m wrong in saying that no one has danced in our
district !or eight years.*
'ut now they came to the mouth o! the harbour and Mrs. Macphail %oined
them. )he ship turned sharply and steamed slowly in. It was a great
landlocked harbour big enough to hold a !leet o! battleships( and all around it
rose, high and steep, the green hills. 3ear the entrance, getting such bree.e
as blew !rom the sea, stood the goernor+s house in a garden. )he Stars and
Stripes dangled languidly !rom a !lagsta!!. )hey passed two or three trim
bungalows, and a tennis court, and then they came to the $uay with its
warehouses. Mrs. Daidson pointed out the schooner, moored two or three
hundred yards !rom the side, which was to take them to #pia. )here was a
crowd o! eager, noisy, and good-humoured naties come !rom all parts o! the
island, some !rom curiosity, others to barter with the traellers on their way
to Sydney( and they brought pineapples and huge bunches o! bananas, tapa
cloths, necklaces o! shells or sharks+ teeth, kaa-bowls, and models o! war
canoes. #merican sailors, neat and trim, clean-shaen and !rank e!!ace,
sauntered among them, and there was a little group o! o!!icials. While their
luggage was being landed the Macphails and Mrs. Daidson watched the
crowd. Dr. Macphail looked at the yaws !rom which most o! the children and
the young boys seemed to su!!er, dis!iguring sores like torpid ulcers, and his
pro!essional eyes glistened when he saw !or the !irst time in his experience
cases o! elephantiasis, men going about with a huge, heay arm or dragging
along a grossly dis!igured leg. Men and women wore the laa-laa.
*It+s a ery indecent costume,* said Mrs. Daidson. *Mr. Daidson thinks it
should be prohibited by law. -ow can you expect people to be moral when
they wear nothing but a strip o! red cotton round their loins6*
*It+s suitable enough to the climate,* said the doctor, wiping the sweat o!! his
head.
3ow that they were on land the heat, though it was so early in the morning,
was already oppressie. "losed in by its hills, not a breath o! air came in to
&ago-&ago.
*In our islands,* Mrs. Daidson went on in her high-pitched tones, *we+e
practically eradicated the laa-laa. # !ew old men still continue to wear it,
but that+s all. )he women hae all taken to the Mother -ubbard, and the men
wear trousers and singlets. #t the ery beginning o! our stay Mr. Daidson
said in one o! his reports5 the inhabitants o! these islands will neer be
thoroughly "hristianised till eery boy o! more than ten years is made to wear
a pair o! trousers.*
'ut Mrs. Daidson had gien two or three o! her birdlike glances at heay
grey clouds that came !loating oer the mouth o! the harbour. # !ew drops
began to !all.
*We+d better take shelter,* she said.
)hey made their way with all the crowd to a great shed o! corrugated iron,
and the rain began to !all in torrents. )hey stood there !or some time and
then were %oined by Mr. Daidson. -e had been polite enough to the
Macphails during the %ourney, but he had not his wi!e+s sociability, and had
spent much o! his time reading. -e was a silent, rather sullen man, and you
!elt that his a!!ability was a duty that he imposed upon himsel! "hristianly( he
was by nature resered and een morose. -is appearance was singular. -e
was ery tall and thin, with long limbs loosely %ointed( hollow cheeks and
curiously high cheek-bones( he had so cadaerous an air that it surprised you
to notice how !ull and sensual were his lips. -e wore his hair ery long. -is
dark eyes, set deep in their sockets, were large and tragic( and his hands
with their big, long !ingers, were !inely shaped( they gae him a look o! great
strength. 'ut the most striking thing about him was the !eeling he gae you
o! suppressed !ire. It was impressie and aguely troubling. -e was not a
man with whom any intimacy was possible.
-e brought now unwelcome news. )here was an epidemic o! measles, a
serious and o!ten !atal disease among the 8anakas, on the island, and a case
had deeloped among the crew o! the schooner which was to take them on
their %ourney. )he sick man had been brought ashore and put in hospital on
the $uarantine station, but telegraphic instructions had been sent !rom #pia
to say that the schooner would not be allowed to enter the harbour till it was
certain no other member o! the crew was a!!ected.
*It means we shall hae to stay here !or ten days at least.*
*'ut I+m urgently needed a #pia,* said Dr. Macphail.
*)hat can+t be helped. I! no more cases deelop on board, the schooner will
be allowed to sail with white passengers, but all natie tra!!ic is prohibited !or
three months.*
*Is there a hotel here6* asked Mrs. Macphail.
Daidson gae a low chuckle.
*)here+s not.*
*What shall we do then6*
*I+e been talking to the goernor. )here+s a trader along the !ront who has
rooms that he rents, and my proposition is that as soon as the rain lets up we
should go along there and see what we can do. Don+t expect com!ort. ,ou+e
%ust got to be thank!ul i! we get a bed to sleep on and a roo! oer our heads.*
'ut the rain showed no sign o! stopping, and at length with umbrellas and
waterproo!s they set out. )here was no town, but merely a group o! o!!icial
buildings, a store or two, and at the back, among the coconut trees and
plantains, a !ew natie dwellings. )he house they sought was about !ie
minutes+ walk !rom the whar!. It was a !rame house o! two storeys, with
broad erandahs on both !loors and a roo! o! corrugated iron. )he owner was
a hal!-caste named -orn, with a natie wi!e surrounded by little brown
children, and on the ground-!loor he had a store where he sold canned goods
and cottons. )he rooms he showed them were almost bare o! !urniture. In the
Macphails+ there was nothing but a poor, worn bed with a ragged mos$uito
net, a rickety chair, and a washstand. )hey looked round with dismay. )he
rain poured down without ceasing.
*I+m not going to unpack more than we actually need,* said Mrs. Macphail.
Mrs. Daidson came into the room as she was unlocking a portmanteau. She
was ery brisk and alert. )he cheerless surroundings had no e!!ect on her.
*I! you+ll take my adice you+ll get a needle and cotton and start right in to
mend the mos$uito net, she said, or you+ll not be able to get a wink o! sleep
tonight.*
*Will they be ery bad6* asked Dr. Macphail.
*)his is the season !or them. When you+re asked to a party at 2oernment
-ouse at #pia you+ll notice that all the ladies are gien a pillow-slip to put
their - their lower extremities in.*
*I wish the rain would stop !or a moment,* said Mrs. Macphail. *I could try to
make the place com!ortable with more heart i! the sun were shining.*
*/h, i! you wait !or that, you+ll wait a long time. &ago-&ago is about the
rainiest place in the &aci!ic. ,ou see, the hills, and that bay, they attract the
water, and one expects rain at this time o! year anyway.*
She looked !rom Macphail to his wi!e, standing helplessly in di!!erent parts o!
the room, like lost souls, and she pursed her lips. She saw that she must take
them in hand. 1eckless people like that made her impatient, but her hands
itched to put eerything in the order which came so naturally to her.
*-ere, you gie me a needle and cotton and I+ll mend that net o! yours, while
you go on with your unpacking. Dinner+s at one. Dr. Macphail, you+d better
go down to the whar! and see that your heay luggage has been put in a dry
place. ,ou know what these naties are, they+re $uite capable o! storing it
where the rain will beat in on it all the time.*
)he doctor put on his waterproo! again and went downstairs. #t the door Mr.
-orn was standing in conersation with the $uartermaster o! the ship they
had %ust arried in and a second-class passenger whom Dr. Macphail had seen
seeral times on board. )he $uartermaster, a little, shrielled man, extremely
dirty, nodded to him as he passed.
*)his is a bad %ob about the measles, doc,* he said. *I see you+e !ixed
yoursel! up already.*
Dr. Macphail thought he was rather !amiliar, but he was a timid Man and he
did not take o!!ence easily.
*,es, we+e got a room upstairs.*
*Miss )hompson was sailing with you to #pia, so I+e brought her along
here.*
)he $uartermaster pointed with his thumb to the woman standing by his side.
She was twenty-seen perhaps, plump, and in a coarse !ashion pretty. She
wore a white dress and a large white hat. -er !at cales in white cotton
stockings bulged oer the tops o! long white boots in glace kid. She gae
Macphail an ingratiating smile.
*)he !eller+s tryin+ to soak me a dollar and a hal! a day !or the meanest si.ed
room,* she said in a hoarse oice.
*I tell you she+s a !riend o! mine, 0o,* said the $uartermaster. *She can+t pay
more than a dollar, and you+e sure got to take her !or that.*
)he trader was !at and smooth and $uietly smiling. *Well, i! you put it like
that, Mr. Swan, I+ll see what I can do about it. I+ll talk to Mrs. -orn and i! we
think we can make a reduction we will.*
*Don+t try to pull that stu!! with me,* said Miss )hompson. *We+ll settle this
right now. ,ou get a dollar a day !or the room and not one bean more.*
Dr. Macphail smiled. -e admired the e!!rontery with which she bargained. -e
was the sort o! man who always paid what he was asked. -e pre!erred to be
oer-charged than to haggle. )he trader sighed.
*Well, to oblige Mr. Swan I+ll take it.*
*)hat+s the goods,* said Miss )hompson. *"ome right in and hae a shot o!
hooch. I+e got some real good rye in that grip i! you+ll bring it+ along, Mr.
Swan. ,ou come along too, doctor.*
*/h, I don+t think I will, thank you,* he answered. *I+m %ust going down to
see that our luggage is all right.*
-e stepped out into the rain. It swept in !rom the opening o! the harbour in
sheets and the opposite shore was all blurred. -e passed two or three naties
clad in nothing but the laa-laa, with huge umbrellas oer them. )hey
walked !inely, with leisurely moements, ery upright( and they smiled and
greeted him in a strange tongue as they went by.
It was nearly dinner-time when he got back, and their meal was laid in the
trader+s parlour. It was a room designed not to lie in but !or purposes o!
prestige, and it had a musty, melancholy air. # suite o! stamped plush was
arranged neatly round the walls, and !rom the middle o! the ceiling, protected
!rom the !lies by yellow tissue paper, hung a gilt chandelier. Daidson did not
come.
*I know he went to call on the goernor,* said Mrs. Daidson, *and I guess
he+s kept him to dinner.*
# little natie girl brought them a dish o! -amburger steak, and a!ter a while
the trader came up to see that they had eerything they wanted.
*I see we hae a !ellow lodger, Mr. -orn.* said Dr. Macphail.
*She+s taken a room, that+s all,* answered the trader. *She+s getting her
own board.*
-e looked at the two ladies with an obse$uious air.
*I put her downstairs so she shouldn+t be in the way. She won+t be any
trouble to you.*
*Is it someone who was on the boat6* asked Mrs. Macphail.
*,es, ma+am, she was in the second cabin. She was going to #pia. She has a
position as cashier waiting !or her.*
*/h9*
When the trader was gone Macphail said5
*I shouldn+t think she+d !ind it exactly cheer!ul haing her meals in her
room.*
*I! she was in the second cabin I guess she+d rather,* answered Mrs.
Daidson. *I don+t exactly know who it can be.*
*I happened to be there when the $uartermaster brought her along. -er
name+s )hompson.*
*It+s not the woman who was dancing with the $uartermaster last night6 *
asked Mrs. Daidson.
*)hat+s who it must be,* said Mrs. Macphail. *I wondered at the time what
she was. She looked rather !ast to me.*
*3ot good style at all,* said Mrs. Daidson.
)hey began to talk o! other things, and a!ter dinner, tired with their early rise,
they separated and slept. When they awoke, though the sky was still grey
and the clouds hung low, it was not raining, and they went !or a walk on the
high road which the #mericans had built along the bay.
/n their return they !ound that Daidson had %ust come in.
We may be here !or a !ortnight, he said irritably. *I+e argued it out with the
goernor, but he says there is nothing to be done.*
*Mr. Daidson+s %ust longing to get back to his work,* said his wi!e, with an
anxious glance at him.
*We+e been away !or a year,* he said, walking up and down the erandah.
*)he mission has been in charge o! natie missionaries and I+m terribly
nerous that they+e let things slide. )hey+re good men, I+m not saying a
word against them, 2od-!earing, deout, and truly "hristian men - their
"hristianity would put many so-called "hristians at home to the blush - but
they+re piti!ully lacking in energy, )hey can make a stand once, they can
make a stand twice, but they can+t make a stand all the time. I! you leae a
mission in charge o! a natie missionary, no matter how trust-worhy he
seems, in course o! time you+ll !ind he+s let abuses creep in.*
Mr. Daidson stood still. With his tall, spare !orm, and his great eyes !lashing
out o! his pale !ace, he was an impressie !igure. -is sincerity was obious in
the !ire o! his gestures and in his deep, ringing oice.
*I expect to hae my work cut out !or me. I shall act and I shall act promptly.
I! the tree is rotten it shall be cut down and cast into the !lames.*
#nd in the eening a!ter the high tea which was their last meal, while they sat
in the sti!! parlour, the ladies working and Dr. Macphail smoking his pipe, the
missionary told them o! his work in the islands.
*When we went there they had no sense o! sin at all,* he said. *)hey broke
the commandments one a!ter the other and neer knew they were doing
wrong. #nd I think that was the most di!!icult part o! my work, to instil into
the naties the sense o! sin.*
)he Macphails knew already that Daidson had worked in the Solomons !or
!ie years be!ore he met his wi!e. She had been a missionary in "hina, and
they had become ac$uainted in 'oston, where they were both spending part
o! their leae to attend a missionary congress. /n their marriage they had
been appointed to the islands in which they had laboured eer since.
In the course o! all the conersations they had had with Mr. Daidson one
thing had shone out clearly and that was the man+s un!linching courage. -e
was a medical missionary, and he was liable to be called at any time to one or
other o! the islands in the group. 4en the whaleboat is not so ery sa!e a
coneyance in the stormy paci!ic o! the wet season, but o!ten he would be
sent !or in a canoe, and then the danger was great. In cases o! illness or
accident he neer hesitated. # do.en times he had spent the whole night
baling !or his li!e, and more than once Mrs. Daidson had gien him up !or
lost.
*I+d beg him not to go sometimes,* she said, *or at least to wait till the
weather was more settled, but he+d neer listen. -e+s obstinate, and when
he+s once made up his mind, nothing can moe him.*
*-ow can I ask the naties to put their trust in the :ord i! I am a!raid to do so
mysel!6* cried Daidson. *#nd I+m not, I+m not. )hey know that i! they send
!or me in their trouble I+ll come i! it+s humanly possible. #nd do you think
the :ord is going to abandon me when I am on his business6 )he wind blows
at his bidding and the waes toss and rage at his word.*
Dr. Macphail was a timid man. -e had neer been able to get used to the
hurtling o! the shells oer the trenches, and when he was operating in an
adanced dressing-station the sweat poured !rom his brow and dimmed his
spectacles in the e!!ort he made to control his unsteady hand. -e shuddered a
little as he looked at the missionary.
*I wish I could say that I+e neer been a!raid,* he said.
*I wish you could say that you belieed in 2od,* retorted the other.
'ut !or some reason, that eening the missionary+s thoughts traelled back
to the early days he and his wi!e had spent on the islands.
*Sometimes Mrs. Daidson and I would look at one another and the tears
would stream down our cheeks. We worked without ceasing, day and night,
and we seemed to make no progress. I don+t know what I should hae done
without her then. When I !elt my heart sink, when I was ery near despair,
she gae me courage and hope.*
Mrs. Daidson looked down at her work, and a slight colour rose to her thin
cheeks. -er hands trembled a little. She did not trust hersel! to speak.
*We had no one to help us. We were alone, thousands o! miles !rom any o!
our own people, surrounded by darkness. When I was broken and weary she
would put her work aside and take the 'ible and read to me till peace came
and settled upon me like sleep upon the eyelids o! a child, and when at last
she closed the book she+d say5 +We+ll sae them in spite o! themseles.+
#nd I !elt strong again in the :ord, and I answered5 +,es, with 2od+s help I+ll
sae them. I must sae them.+*
-e came oer to the table and stood in !ront o! it as though it were a lectern.
*,ou see, they were so naturally depraed that they couldn+t be brought to
see their wickedness. We had to make sins out o! what they thought were
natural actions. We had to make it a sin, not only to commit adultery and to
lie and thiee, but to expose their bodies, and to dance and not to come to
church. I made it a sin !or a girl to show her bosom and a sin !or a man not to
wear trousers.*
*-ow6* asked Dr. Macphail, not without surprise.
*I instituted !ines. /biously the only way to make people realise that an
action is sin!ul is to punish them i! they commit it. I !ined them i! they didn+t
come to church, and I !ined them i! they danced. I !ined them i! they were
improperly dressed. I had a tari!!, and eery sin had to be paid !or either in
money or work. #nd at last I made them understand.*
*'ut did they neer re!use to pay6*
*-ow could they6* asked the missionary.
*It would be a brae man who tried to stand up against Mr. Daidson,* said
his wi!e, tightening her lips.
Dr. Macphail looked at Daidson with troubled eyes. What he heard shocked
him, but he hesitated to express his disapproal.
*,ou must remember that in the last resort I could expel them !rom their
church membership.**
*Did they mind that6*
Daidson smiled a little and gently rubbed his hands.
*)hey couldn+t sell their copra. When the men !ished they got no share o! the
catch. It meant something ery like staration. ,es, they minded $uite a lot.*
*)ell him about 1red /hlson,* said Mrs. Daidson.
)he missionary !ixed his !iery eyes on Dr. Macphail.
*1red /hlson was a Danish trader who had been in the islands a good many
years. -e was a pretty rich man as traders go and he wasn+t ery pleased
when we came. ,ou see, he+d had things ery much his own way. -e paid
the naties what he liked !or their copra, and he paid in goods and whiskey.
-e had a natie wi!e, but he was !lagrantly un!aith!ul to her. -e was a
drunkard. I gae him a chance to mend his ways, but he wouldn+t take it. -e
laughed at me.*
Daidson+s oice !ell to a deep bass as he said the last words, and he was
silent !or a minute or two. )he silence was heay with menace.
*In two years he was a ruined man. -e+d lost eerything he+d saed in a
$uarter o! a century. I broke him, and at last he was !orced to come to me
like a beggar and beseech me to gie him a passage back to Sydney.*
*I wish you could hae seen him when he came to see Mr. Daidson,* said the
missionary+s wi!e.
*-e had been a !ine, power!ul man, with a lot o! !at on him, and he had a
great big oice, but now he was hal! the si.e, and he was shaking all oer.
-e+d suddenly become an old man.*
With abstracted ga.e Daidson looked out into the night. )he rain was !alling
again.
Suddenly !rom below came a sound, and Daidson turned and looked
$uestioningly at his wi!e. It was the sound o! a gramophone, harsh and loud,
whee.ing out a syncopated tune.
*What+s that6* he asked.
Mrs. Daidson !ixed her pince-ne. more !irmly on her nose.
*/ne o! the second-class passengers has a room in the house. I guess it
comes !rom there.*
)hey listened in silence, and presently they heard the sound o! dancing. )hen
the music stopped, and they heard the popping o! corks and oices raised in
animated conersation.
*I daresay she+s giing a !arewell party to her !riends on board,* said Dr.
Macphail. *)he ship sails at twele, doesn+t it6*
Daidson made no remark, but he looked at his watch.
*#re you ready6* he asked his wi!e.
She got up and !olded her work.
*,es, I guess I am,* she answered.
*It+s early to go to bed yet, isn+t it6* said the doctor.
*We hae a good deal o! reading to do,* explained Mrs. Daidson. *Whereer
we are, we read a chapter o! the 'ible be!ore retiring !or the night and we
study it with the commentaries, you know, and discuss it thoroughly. It+s a
wonder!ul training !or the mind.*
)he two couples bade one another good night. Dr. and Mrs. Macphail were le!t
alone. 1or two or three minutes they did not speak.
*I think I+ll go and !etch the cards,* the doctor said at last.
Mrs. Macphail looked at him doubt!ully. -er conersation with the Daidsons
had le!t her a little uneasy, but she did not like to say that she thought they
had better not play cards when the Daidsons might come in at any moment.
Dr. Macphail brought them and she watched him, though with a ague sense
o! guilt, while he laid out his patience. 'elow the sound o! reelry continued.
It was !ine enough next day, and the Macphails, condemned to spend a
!ortnight o! idleness at &ago-&ago, set about making the best o! things. )hey
went down to the $uay and got out o! their boxes a number o! books. )he
doctor called on the chie! surgeon o! the naal hospital and went round the
beds with him. )hey le!t cards on the goernor. )hey passed Miss )hompson
on the road. )he doctor took o!! his hat, and she gae him a *2ood morning,
doc.,* in a loud, cheer!ul oice. She was dressed as on the day be!ore, in a
white !rock, and her shiny white boots with their high heels, her !at legs
bulging oer the tops o! them, were strange things on that exotic scene.
*I don+t think she+s ery suitably dressed, I must say,* said Mrs. Macphail.
*She looks extremely common to me.*
When they got back to their house, she was on the erandah playing with one
o! the trader+s dark children.
*Say a word to her,* Dr. Macphail whispered to his wi!e. *She+s all alone
here, and it seems rather unkind to ignore her.*
Mrs. Macphail was shy, but she was in the habit o! doing what her husband
bade her.
*I think we+re !ellow lodgers here,* she said rather !oolishly.
*)errible, ain+t it, bein+ cooped up in a one-horse burg like this6* answered
Miss )hompson. *#nd they tell me I+m lucky to hae gotten a room. I don+t
see mysel! liin+ in a natie house, and that+s what some hae to do. I don+t
know why they don+t hae a hotel.*
)hey exchanged a !ew more words. Miss )hompson, loud-oiced and
garrulous, was eidently $uite willing to gossip, but Mrs. Macphail had a poor
stock o! small talk and presently she said5
*Well, I think we must go upstairs.*
In the eening when they sat down to their high tea Daidson on coming in
said5
*I see that woman downstairs has a couple o! sailors sitting there. I wonder
how she+s gotten ac$uainted with them.*
*She can+t be ery particular,* said Mrs. Daidson.
)hey were all rather tired a!ter the idle, aimless day.
*I! there+s going to be a !ortnight o! this I don+t know what we shall !eel like
at the end o! it,* said Dr. Macphail.
*)he only thing to do is to portion out the day to di!!erent actiities,*
answered the missionary. *I shall set aside a certain number o! hours to study
and a certain number to exercise, rain or !ine - in the wet season you can+t
a!!ord to pay any attention to the rain - and a certain number to recreation.*
Dr. Macphail looked at his companion with misgiing. Daidson+s programme
oppressed him. )hey were eating -amburger steak again. It seemed the only
dish the cook knew how to make. )hen below the grama-phone began.
Daidson started nerously when he heard it, but said nothing. Men+s oices
!loated up. Miss )hompson+s guests were %oining in a well-known song and
presently they heard her oice too, hoarse and loud. )here was a good deal o!
shouting and laughing. )he !our people upstairs, trying to make conersation,
listened despite themseles to the clink o! glasses and the scrape o! chairs.
More people had eidently come. Miss )hompson was giing a party.
*I wonder how she gets them all in,* said Mrs. Macphail, suddenly breaking
into a medical conersation between the missionary and her husband.
It showed whither her thoughts were wandering. )he twitch o! Daidson+s
!ace proed that, though he spoke o! scienti!ic things, his mind was busy in
the same direction. Suddenly, while the doctor was giing some experience o!
practice on the 1landers !ront, rather prosily, he sprang to his !eet with a cry.
*What+s the matter, #l!red6* asked Mrs. Daidson.
*/! course9 It neer occurred to me. She+s out o! Iwelei.*
*She can+t be.*
*She came on board at -onolulu. It+s obious. #nd she+s carrying on her
trade here. -ere.*
-e uttered the last word with a passion o! indignation.
*What+s Iwelei6* asked Mrs. Macphail.
-e turned his gloomy eyes on her and his oice trembled with horror.
*)he plague spot o! -onolulu. )he Red :ight district. It was a blot on our
ciilisation.*
Iwelei was on the edge o! the city. ,ou went down side streets by the
harbour, in the darkness, across a rickety bridge, till you came to a deserted
road, all ruts and holes, and then suddenly you came out into the light. )here
was parking room !or motors on each side o! the road, and there were
saloons, tawdry and bright, each one noisy with its mechanical piano, and
there were barbers+ shops and tobacconists. )here was a stir in the air and a
sense o! expectant gaiety. ,ou turned down a narrow alley, either to the right
or to the le!t, !or the road diided Iwelei into two parts, and you !ound
yoursel! in the district. )here were rows o! little bungalows, trim and neatly
painted in green, and the pathway between them was broad and straight. It
was laid out like a garden-city. In its respectable regularity, its order and
spruceness, it gae an impression o! sardonic horror( !or neer can the search
!or loe hae been so systematised and ordered. )he pathways were lit by a
rare lamp, but they would hae been dark except !or the lights that came
!rom the open windows o! the bungalows. Men wandered about, looking at
the women who sat at their windows, reading or sewing, !or the most part
taking no notice o! the passers-by( and like the women they were o! all
nationalities. )here were #mericans, sailors !rom the ships in port, enlisted
men o!! the gunboats, sombrely drunk, and soldiers !rom the regiments,
white and black, $uartered on the island( there were 0apanese, walking in
twos and threes( -awaiians, "hinese in long robes, and 1ilipinos in
preposterous hats. )hey were silent and as it were oppressed. Desire is sad.
*It was the most crying scandal o! the &aci!ic,* exclaimed Daidson
ehemently. *)he missionaries had been agitating against it !or years, and at
last the local press took it up. )he police re!used to stir. ,ou know their
argument. )hey say that ice is ineitable and conse$uently the best thing is
to localise and control it. )he truth is, they were paid. &aid. )hey were paid by
the saloon-keepers, paid by the bullies, paid by the women themseles. #t
last they were !orced to moe.*
*I read about it in the papers that came on board in -onolulu,* said Dr.
Macphail.
*Iwelei, with its sin and shame, ceased to exist on the ery day we arried.
)he whole population was brought be!ore the %ustices. I don+t know why I
didn+t understand at once what that woman was.*
*3ow you come to speak o! it,* said Mrs. Macphail, *I remember seeing her
come on board only a !ew minutes be!ore the boat sailed. I remember
thinking at the time she was cutting it rather !ine.*
*-ow dare she come here9* cried Daidson indignantly. *I+m not going to
allow it.*
-e strode towards the door.
*What are you going to do6* asked Macphail.
*What do you expect me to do6 I+m going to stop it. I+m not going to hae
this house turned into - into...*
-e sought !or a word that should not o!!end the ladies+ ears. -is eyes were
!lashing and his pale !ace was paler still in his emotion.
*It sounds as though there were three or !our men down there,* said the
doctor. *Don+t you think it+s rather rash to go in %ust now6*
)he missionary gae him a contemptuous look and without a word !lung out
o! the room.
*,ou know Mr. Daidson ery little i! you think the !ear o! personal danger
can stop him in the per!ormance o! his duty,* said his wi!e.
She sat with her hands nerously clasped, a spot o! colour on her high cheek
bones, listening to what was about to happen below. )hey all listened. )hey
heard him clatter down the wooden stairs and throw open the door. )he
singing stopped suddenly, but the gramophone continued to bray out its
ulgar tune. )hey heard Daidson+s oice and then the noise o! something
heay !alling. )he music stopped. -e had hurled the gramophone on the !loor.
)hen again they heard Daidson+s oice, they could not make out the words,
then Miss )hompson+s, loud and shrill, then a con!used clamour as though
seeral people were shouting together at the top o! their lungs. Mrs. Daidson
gae a little gasp, and she clenched her hands more tightly. Dr. Macphail
looked uncertainly !rom her to his wi!e. -e did not want to go down, but he
wondered i! they expected him to. )hen there was something that sounded
like a scu!!le. )he noise now was more distinct. It might be that Daidson was
being thrown out o! the room. )he door was slammed. )here was a
moment+s silence and they heard Daidson come up the stairs again. -e
went to his room.
*I think I+ll go to him,* said Mrs. Daidson.
She got up and went out.
*I! you want me, %ust call,* said Mrs. Macphail, and then when the other was
gone5 *I hope he isn+t hurt.*
*Why couldn+t he mind his own business6* said Dr. Macphail.
)hey sat in silence !or a minute or two and then they both started, !or the
gramophone began to play once more, de!iantly, and mocking oices shouted
hoarsely the words o! an obscene song.
3ext day Mrs. Daidson was pale and tired. She complained o! headache, and
she looked old and wi.ened. She told Mrs. Macphail that the missionary had
not slept at all( he had passed the night in a state o! !right!ul agitation and at
!ie had got up and gone out. # glass o! beer had been thrown oer him and
his clothes were stained and stinking. 'ut a sombre !ire glowed in Mrs.
Daidson+s eyes when she spoke o! Miss )hompson.
*She+ll bitterly rue the day when she !louted Mr. Daidson,* she said. *Mr.
Daidson has a wonder!ul heart and no one who is in trouble has eer gone to
I him without being com!orted, but he has no mercy !or sin, and when his
righteous wrath is excited he+s terrible.*
*Why, what will he do6* asked Mrs. Macphail.
*I don+t know, but I wouldn+t stand in that creature+s shoes !or anything in
the world.*
Mrs. Macphail shuddered. )here was something positiely alarming in the
triumphant assurance o! the little woman+s manner. )hey were going out
together that morning, and they went down the stairs side by side. Miss
)hompson+s door was open, and they saw her in a bedraggled dressing-
gown, cooking something in a cha!ing - dish.
*2ood morning,* she called. *Is Mrs. Daidson better this morning6*
)hey passed her in silence, with their noses in the air, as i! she did not exist.
)hey !lushed, howeer, when she burst into a shout o! derisie laughter. Mrs.
Daidson turned on her suddenly. *Don+t you dare to speak to me,* she
screamed. *I! you insult me I shall hae you turned out o! here.*
*Say, did I ask M. Daidson to isit with me6*
*Don+t answer her,* whispered Mrs. Macphail hurriedly.
)hey walked on till they were out o! earshot.
*She s bra.en, bra.en,* burst !rom Mrs. Daidson.
-er anger almost su!!ocated her.
#nd on their way home they met her strolling towards the $uay. She had all
her !inery on. -er great white hat with its ulgar, showy !lowers was an
a!!ront. She called out cheerily to them as she went by, and a couple o!
#merican sailors who were standing there grinned as the ladies set their !aces
to an icy stare. )hey got in %ust be!ore the rain began to !all again.
*I guess she+ll get her !ine clothes spoilt,* said Mrs. Daidson with a bitter
sneer.
Daidson did not come in till they were hal! way through dinner. -e was wet
through, but he would not change. -e sat, morose and silent, re!using to eat
more than a mouth!ul, and he stared at the slanting rain. When Mrs.
Daidson told him o! their two encounters with Miss )hompson he did not
answer. -is deepening !rown alone showed that he had heard.
*Don+t you think we ought to make Mr. -orn turn her out o! here6* asked
Mrs. Daidson. *We can+t allow her to insult us.*
*)here doesn+t seem to be any other place !or her to go,* said Macphail.
*She can lie with one o! the naties.*
*In weather like this a natie hut must be a rather uncom!ortable place to lie
in.*
*I lied in one !or years,* said the missionary.
When the little natie girl brought in the !ried bananas which !ormed the
sweet they had eery day, Daidson turned to her.
*#sk Miss )hompson when it would be conenient !or me to see her,* he said.
)he girl nodded shyly and went out.
*What do you want to see her !or, #l!red6* asked his wi!e.
*It+s my duty to see her. I won+t act till I+e gien her eery chance.*
*,ou don+t know what she is. She+ll insult you.*
*:et her insult me. :et her spit on me. She has an immortal soul, and I must
do all that is in my power to sae it.*
Mrs. Daidson+s ears rang still with the harlot+s mocking laughter.
*She+s gone too !ar.*
*)oo !ar !or the mercy o! 2od6* -is eyes lit up suddenly and his oice grew
mellow and so!t.
*3eer. )he sinner may be deeper in sin than the depth o! hell itsel!, but the
loe o! the :ord 0esus can reach him still.*
)he girl came back with the message.
*Miss )hompson+s compliments and as long as Re. Daidson don+t come in
business hours she+ll be glad to see him any time.*
)he party receied it in stony silence, and Dr. Macphail $uickly e!!aced !rom
his lips the smile which had come upon them. -e knew his wi!e would be
exed with him i! he !ound Miss )hompson+s e!!rontery amusing.
)hey !inished the meal in silence. When it was oer the two ladies got up and
took their work, Mrs. Macphail was making another o! the innumerable
com!orters which she had turned out since the beginning o! the war, and the
doctor lit his pipe. 'ut Daidson remained in his chair and with abstracted
eyes stared at the table. #t last he got up and without a word went out o! the
room. )hey heard him go down and they heard Miss )hompson+s de!iant
*"ome in* when he knocked at the door. -e remained with her !or an hour.
#nd Dr. Macphail watched the rain. It was beginning to get on his neres. It
was not like our so!t 4nglish rain that drops gently on the earth( it was
unmerci!ul and somehow terrible( you !elt in it the malignancy o! the primitie
powers o! nature. It did not pour, it !lowed. It was like a deluge !rom heaen,
and it rattled on the roo! o! corrugated iron with a steady persistence that
was maddening. It seemed to hae a !ury o! its own. #nd sometimes you !elt
that you must scream i! it did not stop, and then suddenly you !elt powerless,
as though your bones had suddenly become so!t( and you were miserable and
hopeless.
Macphail turned his head when the missionary came back. )he two women
looked up.
*I+e gien her eery chance. I hae exhorted her to repent. She is an eil
woman.*
-e paused, and Dr. Macphail saw his eyes darken and his pale !ace grow hard
and stern.
*3ow I shall take the whips with which the :ord 0esus droe the usurers and
the money changers out o! the )emple o! the Most -igh.*
-e walked up and down the room. -is mouth was close set, and his black
brows were !rowning.
*I! she !led to the uttermost parts o! the earth I should pursue her.*
With a sudden moement he turned round and strode out o! the room. )hey
heard him go downstairs again.
*What is he going to do6* asked Mrs. Macphail. I!
*I don+t know.* Mrs. Daidson took o!! her pince-ne. and wiped them. *When
he is on the :ord+s work I neer ask him $uestions.*
She sighed a little.
*What is the matter6*
*-e+ll wear himsel! out. -e doesn+t know what it is to spare himsel!.*
Dr. Macphail learnt the !irst results o! the missionary+s actiity !rom the hal!-
caste trader in whose house they lodged. -e stopped the doctor when he
passed the store +and came out to speak to him on the stoop. -is !at !ace
was worried.
*)he Re. Daidson has been at me !or letting Miss )hompson hae a room
here,* he said, *but I didn+t know what she was when I rented it to her.
When people come and ask i! I can rent them a room all I want to know is i!
they+e the money to pay !or it. #nd she paid me !or hers a week in
adance.*
Dr. Macphail did not want to commit himsel!. *When all+s said and done it+s
your housed We+re ery much obliged to you !or taking us in at all.*
-orn looked at him doubt!ully. -e was not certain yet how de!initely Macphail
stood on the missionary+s side.
*)he missionaries are in with one another,* he said, hesitatingly ol! they get it
in !or a trader he may %ust as well shut up his store and $uit.*
*Did he want you to turn her out6*
*3o, he said so long as she behaed hersel! he couldn+t ask me to do that.
-e said he wanted to be %ust to me. I promised she shouldn+t hae no more
isitors. I+e %ust been and told her.
*-ow did she take it6*
*She gae me -ell.*
)he trader s$uirmed in his old ducks. -e had !ound Miss )hompson a rough
customer.
*/h, well, I daresay she+ll get out. I don+t suppose she wants to stay here i!
she can+t hae anyone in.*
*)here+s nowhere she can go, only a natie house, and no natie+ll take her
now, not now that the missionaries hae got their kni!e in her.*
Dr. Macphail looked at the !alling rain.
*Well, I don+t suppose it+s any good waiting !or it to clear up.*
In the eening when they sat in the parlour Daidson talked to them o! his
early days at college. -e had had no means and had worked his way through
by doing odd %obs during the acations. )here was silence downstairs. Miss
)hompson was sitting in her little room alone. 'ut suddenly the gramophone
began to play. She had set it on in de!iance, to cheat her loneliness, but there
was no one to sing, and it had a melancholy note. It was like a cry !or help
Daidson took no notice. -e was in the middle o! a long anecdote and without
change o! expression went on. )he gramophone continued. Miss )hompson
put on one reel a!ter another. It looked as though the silence o! the night
were getting on her neres. It was breathless and sultry. When the Macphails
went to bed they could not sleep. )hey lay side by side with their eyes wide
open, listening to the cruel singing o! the mos$uitoes outside their curtain.
*What+s that6* whispered Mrs. Macphail at last.
)hey heard a oice, Daidson+s oice, through the wooden partition. It went
on with a monotonous, earnest insistence. -e was praying aloud. -e was
praying !or the soul o! Miss )hompson.
)wo or three days went by. 3ow when they passed Miss )hompson on the
road she did not greet them with ironic cordiality or smile( she passed with
her nose in the air, a sulky look on her painted !ace, !rowning, as though she
did not see them. )he trader told Macphail that she had tried to get lodging
elsewhere, but had !ailed. In the eening she played through the arious reels
o! her gramophone, but the pretence o! mirth was obious now. )he ragtime
had a cracked, heart-broken rhythm as though it were a one-step o! despair.
When she began to play on Sunday Daidson sent -orn to beg her to stop at
once since it was the :ord+s day. )he reel was taken o!! and the house was
silent except !or the steady pattering o! the rain on the iron roo!.
*I think she+s getting a bit worked up,* said the trader next day to Macphail.
*She don+t know what Mr. Daidson+s up to and it makes her scared.*
Macphail had caught a glimpse o! her that morning and it struck him that her
arrogant expression had changed. )here was in her !ace a hunted look. )he
hal!-caste gae him a sidelong glance.
*I suppose you don+t know what Mr. Daidson is doing about it6* he
ha.arded.
*3o, I don+t.*
It was singular that -orn should ask him that $uestion, !or he also had the
idea that the misssionary was mysteriously at work. -e had an impression
that he was weaing a net around the woman, care!ully, systematically, and
suddenly, when eerything was ready, would pull the strings tight.
*-e told me to tell her,* said the trader, *that i! at any time she wanted him
she only had to send and he+d come.*
*What did she say when you told her that6*
*She didn+t say nothing. I didn+t stop. I %ust said what he said I was to and
then I beat it. I thought she might be going to start weepin+.*
*I hae no doubt the loneliness is getting on her neres,* said the doctor.
*#nd the rain - that+s enough to make anyone %umpy,* he continued irritably.
*Doesn+t it eer stop in this con!ounded place6*
*It goes on pretty steady in the rainy season. We hae three hundred inches
in the year. ,ou see, it+s the shape o! the bay. It seems to attract the rain
!rom all oer the &aci!ic.*
*Damn the shape o! the bay,* said the doctor.
-e scratched his mos$uito bites. -e !elt ery short-tempered. When the rain
stopped and the sun shone, it was like a hothouse, seething, humid, sultry,
breathless, and you had a strange !eeling that eerything was growing with a
saage iolence. )he naties, blithe and childlike by reputation, seemed then,
with their tattooing an their dyed hair, to hae something sinister in their
appearance( and when they pattered along at your heels with their naked !eet
you looked back instinctiely. ,ou !elt they might at any moment come
behind you swi!tly and thrust long kni!e between your shoulder blades. ,ou
could not tell what dark thoughts lurked behind their wide-set eyes. )hey had
a little the look o! ancient 4gyptians painted on a temple wall, and there was
about them the terror o! what is immeasurably old.
)he missionary came and went. -e was busy, but the Macphails did not know
what he was doing. -orn told the doctor that he saw the goernor eery day,
and once Daidson mentioned him.
*-e looks as i! he had plenty o! determination,* he said, *but when you come
down to brass tacks he has no backbone.*
*I suppose that means he won+t do exactly what you want,* suggested the
doctor !acetiously.
)he missionary did not smile.
*I want him to do what+s right. It shouldn+t be necessary to persuade a man
to do that.*
*'ut there may be di!!erences o! opinion about what is right.*
*I! a man had a gangrenous !oot would you hae patience with anyone who
hesitated to amputate it6*
*2angrene is a matter o! !act.*
*#nd 4il6*
What Daidson had done soon appeared. )he !our o! them had %ust !inished
their midday meal, and they had not yet separated !or the siesta which the
heat imposed on the ladies and on the doctor. Daidson had little patience
with the sloth!ul habit. )he door was suddenly !lung open and Miss )hompson
came in. She looked round the room and then went up to Daidson.
*,ou low-down skunk, what hae you been saying about me to the
goernor6*
She was spluttering with rage. )here was a moment+s pause. )hen the
missionary drew !orward a chair.
*Won+t you be seated, Miss )hompson6 I+e been hoping to hae another
talk with you.*
*,ou poor low-li!e bastard.*
She burst into a torrent o! insult, !oul and insolent. Daidson kept his grae
eyes on her.
*I+m indi!!erent to the abuse you think !it to heap on me, Miss )hompson,* he
said, *but I must beg you to remember that ladies are present.*
)ears by now were struggling with her anger. -er !ace was red and swollen as
though she were choking.
*What has happened6* asked Dr. Macphail.
*# !eller+s %ust been in here and he says I gotter beat it on the next boat.*
Was there a gleam in the missionary+s eyes6 -is !ace remained impassie.
*,ou could hardly expect the goernor to let you stay here under the
circumstances.*
*,ou done it,* she shrieked. *,ou can+t kid me. ,ou done it.*
*I don+t want to deceie you. I urged the goernor to take the only possible
step consistent with his obligations.*
*Why couldn+t you leae me be6 I wasn+t doin+ you no harm.*
*,ou may be sure that i! you had I should be the last man to resent it.*
*Do you think I want to stay on in this poor imitation o! a burg6 I don+t look
no busher, do I6*
*In that case I don+t see what cause o! complaint you hae,* he answered.
She gae an inarticulate cry o! rage and !lung out o! the room. )here was a
short silence.
*It+s a relie! to know that the goernor has acted at last,* said Daidson
!inally. *-e+s a weak man and he shilly-shallied. -e said she was only here
!or a !ortnight anyway, and i! she went on to #pia that was under 'ritish
%urisdiction and had nothing to do with him.*
)he missionary sprang to his !eet and strode across the room.
*It+s terrible the way the men who are in authority seek to eade their
responsibility. )hey speak as though eil that was out o! sight ceased to be
eil. )he ery existence o! that woman is a scandal and it does not help
matters to shi!t it to another o! the islands. In the end I had to speak straight
!rom the shoulder.*
Daidson+s brow lowered, and he protruded his !irm chin. -e looked !ierce
and determined.
*What do you mean by that6*
*/ur mission is not entirely without in!luence at Washington. I pointed out to
the goernor that it wouldn+t do him any good i! there was a complaint about
the way he managed things here.*
*When has she got to go6* asked the doctor, a!ter a pause.
*)he San 1rancisco boat is due here !rom Sydney next )uesday. She+s to sail
on that.*
)hat was in !ie days+ time. It was next day, when he was coining back !rom
the hospital where !or want o! something better to do Macphail spent most o!
his mornings, that the hal!-caste stopped him as he was going upstairs.
*4xcuse me, Dr. Macphail, Miss )hompson+s sick. Will you hae a look at
her.*
*"ertainly.*
-orn led him to her room. She was sitting in a chair idly, neither reading nor
sewing, staring in !ront o! her. She wore her white dress and the large hat
with the !lowers on it. Macphail noticed that her skin was yellow and muddy
under her powder, and her eyes were heay.
*I+m sorry to hear you+re not well,* he said.
*/h, I ain+t sick really. I %ust said that, because I %ust had to see you. I+e
got to clear on a boat that+s going to +1risco.*
She looked at him and he saw that her eyes were suddenly startled. She
opened and clenched her hands spasmodically. )he trader stood at the door,
listening.
*So I understand,* said the doctor.
She gae a little gulp
*I guess it ain+t ery conenient !or me to go to 1risco %ust now. ) went to
see the goernor yesterday a!ternoon, but I couldn+t get to him. I saw the
secretary, and he told me I+d got to take that boat and that was all there was
to it. I %ust had to see the goernor, so I waited outside his house this
morning, and when he come out I spoke to him. -e didn+t want to speak to
me, I+ll say, but I wouldn+t let him shake me o!!, and at last he said he
hadn+t no ob%ection to my staying here till the next boat to Sydney i! the Re.
Daidson will stand !or it.*
She stopped and looked at Dr. Macphail anxiously.
*I don+t know exactly what I can do,* he said.
*Well, I thought maybe you wouldn+t mind asking him. I swear to 2od I
won+t start anything here i! he+ll %ust only let me stay. I won+t go out o! the
house i! that+ll suit him. It+s no more+n a !ortnight.*
*I+ll ask him.*
*-e won+t stand !or it,* said -orn. *-e+ll hae you out on )uesday, so you
may as well make up your mind to it.*
*)ell him I can get work in Sydney, straight stu!!, I mean. )ain+t asking ery
much.*
*I+ll do what I can.*
*#nd come and tell me right away, will you6 I can+t set down to a thing till I
get the dope one way or the other.*
It was not an errand that much pleased the doctor, and, characteristically
perhaps, he went about it indirectly. -e told his wi!e what Miss )hompson had
said to him and asked her to speak to Mrs. Daidson. )he missionary+s
attitude seemed rather arbitrary and it could do no harm i! the girl were
allowed to stay in &ago-&ago another !ortnight. 'ut he was not prepared !or
the result o! his diplomacy. )he missionary came to him straightway.
*Mrs. Daidson tells me that )hompson has been speaking to you.*
Dr. Macphail, thus directly tackled, had the shy man+s resentment at being
!orced out into the open. -e !elt his temper rising, and he !lushed.
*I don+t see that it can make any di!!erence i! she goes to Sydney rather than
to San 1rancisco, and so long as she promises to behae while she+s here
it+s dashed hard to persecute her.*
)he missionary !ixed him with his stern eyes. *Why is she unwilling to go back
to San 1rancisco6*
*I didn+t in$uire,* answered the doctor with some asperity. *#nd I think one
does better to mind one+s own business.*
&erhaps it was not a ery tact!ul answer.
*)he goernor has ordered her to be deported by the !irst boat that leaes
the island. -e+s only done his duty and I will not inter!ere. -er presence is a
peril here.*
*I think you+re ery harsh and tyrannical.*
)he two ladies looked up at the doctor with some alarm, but they need not
hae !eared a $uarrel, !or the missionary smiled gently.
*I+m terribly sorry you should think that o! Dr. Macphail. 'eliee me, my
heart bleeds !or the un!ortunate woman, but I+m only trying to do my duty.*
)he doctor made no answer. -e looked out o! the window sullenly. 1or once it
was not raining and across the bay you saw nestling among the trees the huts
o! a natie illage.
*I think I+ll take adantage o! the rain stopping to go out,* he said.
*&lease don+t bear me malice because I can+t accede to your wish,* said
Daidson, with a melancholy smile. *I respect you ery much, doctor, and I
should be sorry i! you thought ill o! me.*
*I hae no doubt you hae a su!!iciently good opinion o! yoursel! to bear mine
with e$uanimity,* he retorted.
*)hat+s one on me,* chuckled Daidson.
When Dr. Macphail, exed with himsel! because he had been unciil to no
purpose, went downstairs, Miss )hompson was waiting !or him with her door
a%ar.
*Well,* she said, *hae you spoken to him6*
*,es, I+m sorry, he won+t do anything,* he answered, not looking at her in
his embarrassment.
'ut then he gae her a $uick glance, !or a sob broke !rom her. -e saw that
her !ace was white with !ear. It gae him a shock o! dismay. #nd suddenly he
had an idea.
*'ut don+t gie up hope yet. I think it+s a shame the way they+re treating
you and I+m going5 to see the goernor mysel!.*
*3ow6*
-e nodded. -er !ace brightened.
*Say, that+s real good o! you. I+m sure he+ll let me stay i! you speak !or me.
I %ust won+t do a thing I didn+t ought all the time I+m here.*
Dr. Macphail hardly knew why he had made up his mind to appeal to the
goernor. -e was per!ectly indi!!erent to Miss )hompson+s a!!airs, the
missionary had irritated him, and with him temper was a smouldering thing.
-e !ound the goernor at home. -e was a large, handsome man, a sailor,
with a grey toothbrush moustache( and he wore a spotless uni!orm o! white
drill.
*I+e come to see you about a woman who+s lodging in the same house as
we are,* he said. *-er name+s )hompson.*
*I guess I+e heard nearly enough about her, Dr. Macphail,* said the
goernor, smiling. *I+e gien her the order to get out next )uesday and
that+s all I can do.*
*I wanted to ask you i! you couldn+t stretch a point and let her stay here till
the boat comes in !rom San 1rancisco so that she can go to Sydney. I will
guarantee her good behaiour.*
)he goernor continued to smile, but his eyes grew small and serious.
*I+d be ery glad to oblige you, Dr. Macphail, but I+e gien the order and it
must stand.*
)he doctor put the case as reasonably as he could, but now the goernor
ceased to smile at all. -e listened sullenly, with aerted ga.e. Macphail saw
that he was making no impression.
*I+m sorry to cause any lady inconenience, but she+ll hae to sail on
)uesday and that+s all there is to it.*
*'ut what di!!erence can it make6*
*&ardon me, doctor, but I don+t !eel called upon to explain my o!!icial actions
except to the, proper authorities.*
Macphail looked at him shrewdly. -e remembered Daidson+s hint that he
had used threats, and in the goernor+s attitude he read a singular
embarrassment.
*Daidson+s a damned busybody,* he said hotly.
*'etween ourseles, Dr. Macphail, I don+t say that I hae !ormed a ery
!aourable opinion o! Mr. Daidson, but I am bound to con!ess that he was
within his rights in pointing out to me the danger that the presence o! a
woman o! Miss )hompson+s character was to a place like this where a
number o! enlisted men are stationed among a natie population.*
-e got up and Dr. Macphail was obliged to do so too.
*I must ask you to excuse me. I hae an engagement. &lease gie my
respects to Mrs. Macphail.*
)he doctor le!t him crest-!allen. -e knew that Miss )hompson would be
waiting !or him, and unwilling to tell her himsel! that he had !ailed, he went
into the house by the back door and sneaked up the stairs as though he had
something to hide.
#t supper he was silent and ill-at-ease, but the missionary was %oial and
animated. Dr. Macphail thought his eyes rested on him now and then with
triumphant good-humour. It struck him suddenly that Daidson knew o! his
isit to the goernor and o! its ill success. 'ut how on earth could he hae
heard o! it6 )here was something sinister about the power o! that man. #!ter
supper he saw -orn on the erandah and, as though to hae a casual word
with him, went out.
*She wants to know i! you+e seen the goernor,* the trader whispered.
*,es. -e wouldn+t do anything. I+m aw!ully sorry, I can+t do anything more.*
*I knew he wouldn+t. )hey daren+t go against the missionaries.*
*What are you talking about6* said Daidson a!!ably, corning out to %oin them.
*I was %ust saying there was no chance o! your getting oer to #pia !or at
least another week,* said the trader glibly.
-e le!t them, and the two men returned into the parlour. Mr. Daidson
deoted one hour a!ter each meal to recreation. &resently a timid knock was
heard at the door.
*"ome in,* said Mrs. Daidson, in her sharp oice.
)he door was not opened. She got up and opened it. )hey saw Miss
)hompson standing at the threshold. 'ut the change in her appearance was
extraordinary. )his was no longer the !launting hussy who had %eered at them
in the road, but a broken, !rightened woman. -er hair, as a rule so
elaborately arranged, was tumbling untidily oer her neck. She wore bedroom
slippers and a skirt and blouse. )hey were un!resh and bedraggled. She stood
at the door with the tears streaming down her !ace and did not dare to enter.
*What do you want6* said Mrs. Daidson harshly.
*May I speak to Mr. Daidson6* she said in a choking oice.
)he missionary rose and went towards her.
*"ome right in, Miss )hompson,* he said in cordial tones. *What can I do !or
you6*
She entered the room.
*Say, I+m sorry !or what I said to you the other day an+ !or - !or eerythin+
else. I guess I was a bit lit up. I beg pardon.*
*/h, it was nothing. I guess my back+s broad enough to bear a !ew hard
words.*
She stepped towards him with a moement that was horribly cringing.
*,ou+e got me beat. I+m all in. ,ou won+t make me go back to +1risco6*
-is genial manner anished and his oice grew on a sudden hard and stern.
*Why don+t you want to go back there6*
She cowered be!ore him.
*I guess my people lie there. I don+t want them to see me like this. I+ll go
anywhere else you say.*
*Why don+t you want to go back to San 1rancisco6*
*I+e told you.*
-e leaned !orward, staring at her, and his great, shining eyes seemed to try
to bore into her soul. -e gae a sudden gasp.
*)he penitentiary.*
She screamed, and then she !ell at his !eet, clasping his legs.
*Don+t send me back there. I swear to you be!ore 2od I+ll be a good woman.
I+ll gie all this up.*
She burst into a torrent o! con!used supplication and the tears coursed down
her painted cheeks. -e leaned oer her and, li!ting her !ace, !orced her to
look at him.
*Is that it, the penitentiary6*
*I beat it be!ore they could get me, she gasped. *I! the bulls grab me it+s
three years !or mine.*
-e let go his hold o! her and she !ell in a heap on the !loor, sobbing bitterly.
Dr. Macphail stood up.
*)his alters the whole thing,* he said. *,ou can+t make her go back when you
know this. 2ie her another chance. She wants to turn oer a new lea!.*
*I+m going to gie her the !inest chance she+s eer had. I! she repents let
her accept her punishment.*
She misunderstood the words and looked up. )here was a gleam o! hope in
her heay eyes.
*,ou+ll let me go6*
*3o. ,ou shall sail !or San 1rancisco on )uesday.*
She gae a groan o! horror and then burst into low, hoarse shrieks which
sounded hardly human, and she beat her head passionately on the ground.
Dr. Macphail sprang to her and li!ted her up5
*"ome on, you mustn+t do that. ,ou+d better go to your room and lie down.
I+ll get you something.*
-e raised her to her !eet and partly dragging her, partly carrying her, got her
downstairs. -e was !urious with Mrs. Daidson and with his wi!e because they
made no e!!ort to help. )he hal!-caste was standing on the landing and with
his assistanc he managed to get her on the bed. She was moaning and
crying. She was almost insensible. -e gae her a hypodermic in%ection. -e
was hot and exhausted when he went upstairs again.
*I+e got her to lie down.*
)he two women and Daidson were in the same, positions as when he had
le!t them. )hey could not hae moed or spoken since he went.
*I was waiting !or you,* said Daidson, in a strange, distant oice. *I want
you all to pray with me !or the soul o! our erring sister.*
-e took the 'ible o!! a shel!, and sat down at the table at which they had
supped. It had not been cleared, and he pushed the tea-pot out o! the way.
In a power!ul oice, resonant and deep, he read to them the chapter in which
is narrated the meeting o! 0esus "hrist with the woman taken in adultery.
*3ow kneel with me and let us pray !or the soul o! our dear sister, Sadie
)hompson.*
-e burst into a long, passionate prayer in which he implored 2od to hae
mercy on the sin!ul woman. Mrs. Macphail and Mrs. Daidson knelt with
coered eyes. )he doctor, taken by surprise, awkward and sheepish, knelt
too. )he missionary+s prayer had a saage elo$uence. -e was extraordinarily
moed, and as he spoke the tears ran down his cheeks. /utside, the pitiless
rain !ell, !ell steadily, with a !ierce malignity that was all too human.
#t last he stopped. -e paused !or a moment and said5
*We will now repeat the :ord+s prayer.*
)hey said it and then, !ollowing him, they rose !rom their knees. Mrs.
Daidson+s !ace was pale and rest!ul. She was com!orted and at peace, but
the Macphails !elt suddenly bash!ul. )hey did not know which way to look.
*I+ll %ust go down and see how she is now,* said Dr. Macphail.
When he knocked at her door it was opened !or him by -orn. Miss )hompson
was in a rocking-chair, sobbing $uietly.
*What are you doing there6* exclaimed Macphail. * I told you to lie down.*
*I can+t lie down. I want to see Mr. Daidson.*
*My poor child, what do you think is the good o! it6 ,ou+ll neer moe him.*
*-e said he+d come i! I sent !or him.*
Macphail motioned to the trader.
*2o and !etch him.*
-e waited with her in silence while the trader went upstairs. Daidson came
in.
*4xcuse me !or asking you to come here,* she said, looking at him sombrely.
*I was expecting you to send !or me. I knew the :ord would answer my
prayer.*
)hey stared at one another !or a moment and then she looked away. She
kept her eyes aerted when she spoke.
*I+e been a bad woman. I want to repent,*
*)hank 2od9 thank 2od9 -e has heard our prayers.*
-e turned to the two men. *
*:eae me alone with her. )ell Mrs. Daidson that, our prayers hae been
answered.*
)hey went out and closed the door behind them.
*2ee whi..,* said the trader.
)hat night Dr. Macphail could not get to sleep till late, and when he heard the
missionary come upstairs he looked at his watch. It was two o+clock. 'ut
een then he did not go to bed at once, !or through the wooden partition that
separated their rooms he heard him praying aloud, till he himsel!, exhausted,
!ell asleep.
When he saw him next morning he was surprised at his appearance. -e was
paler than eer, tired, but his eyes shone with an inhuman !ire. It looked as
though he were !illed with an oerwhelming %oy.
*I want you to go down presently and see Sadie,* he said. *I can+t hope that
her body is better, but her soul - her soul is trans!ormed.*
)he doctor was !eeling wan and nerous.
*,ou were with her ery late last night,* he said.
*,es, she couldn+t bear to hae me leae her.*
*,ou look as pleased as &unch,* the doctor said irritably.
Daidson+s eyes shone with ecstasy.
*# great mercy has been ouchsa!ed me. :ast night I was priileged to bring
a lost soul to the loing arms o! 0esus.*
Miss )hompson was again in the rocking-chair. )he bed had not been made.
)he room was in disorder. She had not troubled to dress hersel!, but wore a
dirty dressing-gown, and her hair was tied in a sluttish knot. She had gien
her !ace a dab with a wet towel, but it was all swollen and creased with
crying. She looked a drab.
She raised her eyes dully when the doctor came in. She was cowed and
broken.
*Where+s Mr. Daidson6* she asked(
*-e+ll come presently i! you want him,* answered Macphail acidly. *I came
here to see how you were.*
*/h, I guess I+m /8. ,ou needn+t worry about that*
*-ae you had anything to eat6*
*-orn brought me some co!!ee.*
She looked anxiously at the door.
*D+you think he+ll come down soon6 I !eel as i! it wasn+t so terrible when
he+s with me.*
*#re you still going on )uesday6*
*,es, he says I+e got to go. &lease tell him to come right along. ,ou can+t
do me any good. -e+s the only one as can help me now.*
*;ery well,* said Dr. Macphail.
During the next three days the missionary spent almost all his time with
Sadie )hompson. -e %oined the others only to hae his meals. Dr. Macphail
noticed that he hardly ate.
*-e+s wearing himsel! out,* said Mrs. Daidson piti!ully. *-e+ll hae a
breakdown i! he, doesn+t take care, but he won+t spare himsel!.*
She hersel! was white and pale. She told Mrs. Macphail that she had no sleep.
When the missionary came upstairs !rom Miss )hompson he prayed till he was
exhausted, but een then he did not sleep !or long. #!ter an hour or two he
got up and dressed himsel!, and went !or a tramp along the bay. -e had
strange dreams.
*)his morning he told me that he+d been dreaming about the mountains o!
3ebraska,* said Mrs. Daidson.
*)hat+s curious,* said Dr. Macphail.
-e remembered seeing them !rom the windows o! the train when he crossed
#merica. )hey were like huge mole-hills, rounded and smooth, an they rose
!rom the plain abruptly. Dr. Macphail remembered how it struck him that they
were like a woman+s breasts.
Daidson+s restlessness was intolerable een to himsel!. 'ut he was buoyed
up by a wonder!ul exhilaration. -e was tearing out by the roots the last
estiges o! sin that lurked in the hidden corners o! that poor woman+s heart.
-e read with her and prayed with her.
*It+s wonder!ul,* he said to them one day at supper. *It+s a true rebirth. -er
soul, which was black as night, is now pure and white like the new-!allen
snow. I am humble and a!raid. -er remorse !or all her sins is beauti!ul. I am
not worthy to touch the hem o! her garment.*
*-ae you the heart to send her back to San 1rancisco6* said the doctor.
*)hree years in an #merican prison. I should hae thought you might hae
saed her !rom that.*
*#h, but don+t you see6 It+s necessary. Do you think my heart doesn+t bleed
!or her6 I loe her as I loe my wi!e and my sister. #ll the time that she is in
prison I shall su!!er all the pain that she su!!ers.*
*'unkum,* cried the doctor impatiently.
*,ou don+t understand because you+re blind. She+s sinned, and she must
su!!er. I know what she+ll end-dure. She+ll be stared and tortured and
humiliated. I want her to accept the punishment o! man as a sacri!ice to 2od.
I want her to accept it %oy!ully. She has an opportunity which is o!!ered to
ery !ew o! us. 2od is ery good and ery merci!ul.*
Daidson+s oice trembled with excitement. -e could hardly articulate the
words that tumbled passionately !rom his lips.
*#ll day I pray with her and when I leae her I pray again, I pray with all my
might and main, so that 0esus may grant her this great mercy. I want to put
in her heart the passionate desire to be punished so that at the end, een i! I
o!!ered to let her go, she would re!use. I want her to !eel that the bitter
punishment o! prison is the thank-o!!ering that she places at the !eet o! our
'lessed :ord, who gae his li!e !or her.*
)he days passed slowly. )he whole household, intent on the wretched,
tortured woman down-stairs, lied in a state o! unnatural excitement. She
was like a ictim that was being prepared !or the saage rites o! a bloody
idolatry. -er terror numbed her. She could not bear to let Daidson out o! her
sight( it was only when he was with her that she had courage, and she hung
upon him with a slaish dependence. She cried a great deal, and she read the
'ible, and prayed. Sometimes she was exhausted and apathetic. )hen she did
indeed look !orward to her ordeal, !or it seemed to o!!er an escape, direct and
concrete, !rom the anguish she was enduring. She could not bear much
longer the ague terrors which now assailed her. With her sins she had put
aside all personal anity, and she slopped about her room, unkempt and
disheelled, in her tawdry dressing-gown. She had not taken o!! her
nightdress !or !our days, nor put on stockings. -er room was littered and
untidy. Meanwhile the rain !ell with a cruel persistence. ,ou !elt that the
heaens must at last be empty o! water, but still it poured down, straight and
heay, with a maddening iteration, on the iron roo!. 4erything was damp
and clammy. )here was mildew on the wail and on the boots that stood on
the !loor. )hrough the sleepless nights the mos$uitoes droned their angry
chant.
*I! it would only stop raining !or a single day it wouldn+t be so bad,* said Dr.
Macphail.
)hey all looked !orward to the )uesday when the boat !or San 1rancisco was
to arrie !rom Sydney. )he strain was intolerable. So !ar as Dr. Macphail was
concerned, his pity and his resentment were alike extinguished by his desire
to be rid o! the un!ortunate woman. )he ineitable must be accepted. -e !elt
he would breathe more !reely when the ship had sailed. Sadie )hompson was
to be escorted on board by a clerk in the goernor+s o!!ice. )his person called
on the Monday eening and told Miss )hompson to be prepared at eleen in
the morning. Daidson was with her.
*I+ll see that eerything is ready. I mean to come on board with her mysel!.*
Miss )hompson did not speak.
When Dr. Macphail blew out his candle and crawled cautiously under his
mos$uito curtains, he gae a sigh o! relie!.
*Well, thank 2od that+s oer. 'y this time tomorrow she+ll be gone.*
*Mrs. Daidson will be glad too. She says he+s wearing himsel! to a shadow,*
said Mrs. Macphail. *She+s a di!!erent woman.*
*Who6*
*Sadie, I should neer hae thought it possible. It makes one humble.*
Dr. Macphail did not answer, and presently he !ell asleep. -e was tired out,
and he slept more soundly than usual.
-e was awakened in the morning by a hand placed on his arm, and, starting
up, saw -orn by the side o! his bed. )he trader put his !inger on his mouth to
preent any exclamation !rom Dr. Macphail and beckoned to him to come. #s
a rule he wore shabby ducks, but now he was bare!oot and wore only the
laa-laa o! the naties. -e looked suddenly saage, and Dr. Macphail,
getting out o! bed, saw that he was heaily tattooed. -orn made him a sign
to come on to the erandah. Dr. Macphail got out o! bed and !ollowed the
trader out.
*Don+t make a noise,* he whispered. *,ou+re wanted. &ut on a coat and
some shoes. <uick.*
Dr. Macphail+s !irst thought was that something had happened to Miss
)hompson.
*What is it6 Shall I bring my instruments6*
*-urry, please, hurry.*
Dr. Macphail crept back into the bedroom, put on a waterproo! oer his
py%amas, and a pair o! rubber-soled shoes. -e re%oined the trader, and
together they tiptoed down the stairs. )he door leading out to the road was
open and at it were standing hal! a do.en naties.
*What is it6* repeated the doctor.
*"ome along with me,* said -orn.
-e walked out and the doctor !ollowed him. )he naties came a!ter them in a
little bunch. )hey crossed the road and came on to the beach. )he doctor saw
a group o! naties standing round some ob%ect at the water+s edge. )hey
hurried along, a couple o! do.en yards perhaps, and the naties opened out
as the doctor came up. )he trader pushed him !orwards. )hen he saw, lying
hal! in the water and hal! out, a dread!ul ob%ect, the body o! Daidson. Dr.
Macphail bent down - he was not a man to lose his head in an emergency -
and turned the body oer. )he throat was cut !rom ear to ear, and in the right
hand was still the ra.or with which the deed was done.
*-e+s $uite cold,* said the doctor. *-e must hae been dead some time.*
*/ne o! the boys saw him lying there on his way to work %ust now and came
and told me. Do you think he did it himsel!6*
*,es. Someone ought to go !or the police.*
-orn said something in the natie tongue, and two youths started o!!.
*We must leae him here till they come,* said the doctor.
*)hey mustn+t take him into my house. I won+t hae him in my house.*
*,ou+ll do what the authorities say,* replied the doctor sharply. *In point o!
!act I expect they+ll take him to the mortuary.*
)hey stood waiting where they were. )he trader took a cigarette !rom a !old
in his laa-laa and gae one to Dr. Macphail. )hey smoked while they stared
at the corpse. Dr. Macphail could not understand.
*Why do you think he did it6* asked -orn.
)he doctor shrugged his shoulders. In a little while natie police came along,
under the charge o! a marine, with a stretcher, and immediately a!terwards a
couple o! naal o!!icers and a naal doctor. )hey managed eerything in
businesslike manner.
*What about the wi!e.* said one o! the o!!icers.
*3ow that you+e come I+ll go back to the house and get some things on. I+ll
see that it+s broken to her. She+d better not see him till he+s been !ixed up a
little.*
*I guess that+s right,* said the naal doctor. When Dr. Macphail went back he
!ound his wi!e nearly dressed.
*Mrs. Daidson+s in a dread!ul state about her husband,* she said to him as
soon as he appeared. *-e hasn+t been to bed all night. She heard him leae
Miss )hompson+s room at two, but he went out. I! he+s been walking about
since then he+ll be absolutely dead.*
Dr. Macphail told her what had happened and asked her to break the news to
Mrs. Daidson.
*'ut why did he do it6* she asked, horror-stricken.
*I don+t know.*
*'ut I can+t. I can+t.*
*,ou must.*
She gae him a !rightened look and went out -e heard her go into Mrs.
Daidson+s room. -e waited a minute to gather himsel! together and then
began to shae and wash. When he was dressed he sat down on the bed and
waited !or his wi!e. #t last she came.
*She wants to see him,* she said.
*)hey+e taken him to the mortuary. We+d better go down with her. -ow did
she take it6*
*I think she+s stunned. She didn+t cry. 'ut she+s trembling like a lea!.*
*We+d better go at once.*
When they knocked at her door Mrs. Daidson came out. She was ery pale,
but dry-eyed. )o the doctor she seemed unnaturally composed. 3o word was
exchanged, and they set out in silence down the road. When they arried at
the mortuary Mrs. Daidson spoke.
*:et me go in and see him alone.*
)hey stood aside. # natie opened a door !or her and closed it behind her.
)hey sat down and waited. /ne or two white men came and talked to them in
undertones. Dr. Macphail told them again what he knew o! the tragedy. #t
last the door was $uietly opened and Mrs. Daidson came out. Silence !ell
upon them.
*I+m ready to go back now,* she said.
-er oice was hard and steady. Dr. Macphail could not understand the look in
her eyes. -er pale !ace was ery stern. )hey walked back slowly, neer
saying a word, and at last they came round the bend on the other side o!
which stood the ir house. Mrs. Daidson gae a gasp, and !or moment they
stopped still. #n incredible sound assaulted their ears. )he gramophone which
had been silent !or so long was playing, playing ragtime loud and harsh.
*What+s that6* cried Mrs. Macphail with horror.
*:et+s go on,* said Mrs. Daidson.
)hey walked up the steps and entered the hall. Miss )hompson was standing
at her door, chatting with a sailor. # sudden change had taken place in her.
She was no longer the cowed drudge o! the last days. She was dressed in all
her !inery, in her white dress, with the high shiny boots oer which her !at
legs bulged in their cotton stockings( her hair was elaborately arranged( and
she wore that enormous hat coered with gaudy !lowers. -er !ace was
painted, her eyebrows were boldly black, and her lips were scarlet. She held
hersel! erect. She was the !launting $uean that they had known at !irst. #s
they came in she broke into a loud, %eering laugh( and then, when Mrs.
Daidson inoluntarily stopped, she collected the spittle in her mouth and
spat. Mrs. Daidson cowered back, and two red spots rose suddenly to her
cheeks. )hen, coering her !ace with her hands, she broke away and ran
$uickly up the stairs. Dr. Macphail was outraged. -e pushed past the woman
into her room.
*What the deil are you doing6* he cried. *Stop that, damned machine.*
-e went up to it and tore the record o!!. She turned on him.
*Say, doc, you can=t do that stu!! with me. What the hell are you doin+ in my
room6 *
*What do you mean6* he cried. *What d+you mean6*
She gathered hersel! together. 3o one could describe the scorn o! her
expression or the contemptuous hatred she put into her answer.
*,ou men9 ,ou !ilthy, dirty pigs9 ,ou+re all the same, all o! you. &igs9 &igs9*
Dr. Macphail gasped. -e understood.
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