Word Count: 15251
It
was nearly bed-time and when they awoke next morning land would be in
sight. Dr. Macphail lit his pipe and, leaning over the rail, searched
the heavens for the Southern Cross. After two years at the front and
a wound that had taken longer to heal than it should, he was glad to
settle down quietly at Apia for twelve months at least, and he felt
already better for the journey. Since some of the passengers were
leaving the ship next day at Pago-Pago they had had a little dance
that evening and in his ears hammered still the harsh notes of the
mechanical piano. But the deck was quiet at last. A little way off he
saw his wife in a long chair talking with the Davidsons, and he
strolled over to her. When he sat down under the light and took off
his hat you saw that he had very red hair, with a bald patch on the
crown, and the red, freckled skin which accompanies red hair; he was
a man of forty, thin, with a pinched face, precise and rather
pedantic; and he spoke with a Scots accent in a very low, quiet
voice.
Between
the Macphails and the Davidsons, who were missionaries, there had
arisen the intimacy of shipboard, which is due to propinquity rather
than to any community of taste. Their chief tie was the disapproval
they shared of the men who spent their days and nights in the
smoking-room playing poker or bridge and drinking. Mrs. Macphail was
not a little flattered to think that she and her husband were the
only people on board with whom the Davidsons were willing to
associate, and even the doctor, shy but no fool, half unconsciously
acknowledged the compliment. It was only because he was of an
argumentative mind that in their cabin at night he permitted himself
to carp.
"Mrs.
Davidson was saying she didn`t know how they`d have got through the
journey if it hadn`t been for us," said Mrs. Macphail, as she
neatly brushed out her transformation. "She said we were really
the only people on the ship they cared to know."
"I
shouldn`t have thought a missionary was such a big bug that he could
afford to put on frills."
"It`s
not frills. I quite understand what she means. It wouldn`t have been
very nice for the Davidsons to have to mix with all that rough lot in
the smoking-room."
"The
founder of their religion wasn`t so exclusive," said Dr.
Macphail with a chuckle.
"I`ve
asked you over and over again not to joke about religion,"
answered his wife. "I shouldn`t like to have a nature like
yours, Alec. You never look for the best in people."
He
gave her a sidelong glance with his pale, blue eyes, but did not
reply. After many years of married life he had learned that it was
more conducive to peace to leave his wife with the last word. He was
undressed before she was, and climbing into the upper bunk he settled
down to read himself to sleep.
When
he came on deck next morning they were close to land. He looked at it
with greedy eyes. There was a thin strip of silver beach rising
quickly to hills covered to the top with luxuriant vegetation. The
coconut trees, thick and green, came nearly to the water`s edge, and
among them you saw the grass houses of the Samoaris; and here and
there, gleaming white, a little church. Mrs. Davidson came and stood
beside him. She was dressed in black, and wore round her neck a gold
chain, from which dangled a small cross. She was a little woman, with
brown, dull hair very elaborately arranged, and she had prominent
blue eyes behind invisible pince-nez. Her face was long, like a
sheep`s, but she gave no impression of foolishness, rather of extreme
alertness; she had the quick movements of a bird. The most remarkable
thing about her was her voice, high, metallic, and without
inflection; it fell on the ear with a hard monotony, irritating to
the nerves like the pitiless clamour of the pneumatic drill.
"This
must seem like home to you," said Dr. Macphail, with his thin,
difficult smile.
"Ours
are low islands, you know, not like these. Coral. These are volcanic.
We`ve got another ten days` journey to reach them."
"In
these parts that`s almost like being in the next street at home,"
said Dr. Macphail facetiously.
"Well,
that`s rather an exaggerated way of putting it, but one does look at
distances differently in the J South Seas. So far you`re right."
Dr.
Macphail sighed faintly.
"I`m
glad we`re not stationed here," she went on. "They say this
is a terribly difficult place to work in. The steamers` touching
makes the people unsettled; and then there`s the naval station;
that`s bad for the natives. In our district we don`t have
difficulties like that to contend with. There are one or two traders,
of course, but we take care to make them behave, and if they don`t we
make the place so hot for them they`re glad to go."
Fixing
the glasses on her nose she looked at the green island with a
ruthless stare.
"It`s
almost a hopeless task for the missionaries here. I can never be
sufficiently thankful to God that we are at least spared that."
Davidson`s
district consisted of a group of islands to the North of Samoa; they
were widely separated and he had frequently to go long distances by
canoe. At these times his wife remained at their headquarters and
managed the mission. Dr. Macphail felt his heart sink when he
considered the efficiency with which she certainly managed it. She
spoke of the depravity of the natives in a voice which nothing could
hush, but with a vehemently unctuous horror. Her sense of delicacy
was singular. Early in their acquaintance she had said to him:
"You
know, their marriage customs when we first settled in the islands
were so shocking that I couldn`t possibly describe them to you. But
I`ll tell Mrs. Macphail and she`ll tell you."
Then
he had seen his wife and Mrs. Davidson, their deck-chairs close
together, in earnest conversation for about two hours. As he walked
past them backwards and forwards for the sake of exercise, he had
heard Mrs. Davidson`s agitated whisper, like the distant flow of a
mountain torrent, and he saw by his wife`s open mouth and pale face
that she was enjoying an alarming experience. At night in their cabin
she repeated to him with bated breath all she had heard.
"Well,
what did I say to you?" cried Mrs. Davidson, exultant, next
morning. "Did you ever hear anything more dreadful? You don`t
wonder that I couldn`t tell you myself, do you? Even though you are a
doctor."
Mrs.
Davidson scanned his face. She had a dramatic eagerness to see that
she had achieved the desired effect.
"Can
you wonder that when we first went there our hearts sank? You`ll
hardly believe me when I tell you it was impossible to find a single
good girl in any of the villages."
She
used the word good in a severely technical manner.
"Mr.
Davidson and I talked it over, and we made up our minds the first
thing to do was to put down the dancing. The natives were crazy about
dancing."
"I
was not averse to it myself when I was a young man," said Dr.
Macphail.
"I
guessed as much when I heard you ask Mrs. Macphail to have a turn
with you last night. I don`t think there`s any real harm if a man
dances with his wife, but I was relieved that she wouldn`t. Under the
circumstances I thought it better that we should keep ourselves to
ourselves."
"Under
what circumstances? "
Mrs.
Davidson gave him a quick look through her pince-nez, but did not
answer his question.
"But
among white people it`s not quite the same," she went on,
"though I must say I agree with Mr. Davidson, who says he can`t
understand how a husband can stand by and see his wife in another
man`s arms, and as far as I`m concerned I`ve never danced a step
since I married. But the native dancing is quite another matter. It`s
not only immoral in itself, but it distinctly leads to immorality.
However, I`m thankful to God that we stamped it out, and I don`t
think I`m wrong in saying that no one has danced in our district for
eight years."
But
now they came to the mouth of the harbour and Mrs. Macphail joined
them. The ship turned sharply and steamed slowly in. It was a great
landlocked harbour big enough to hold a fleet of battleships; and all
around it rose, high and steep, the green hills. Near the entrance,
getting such breeze as blew from the sea, stood the governor`s house
in a garden. The Stars and Stripes dangled languidly from a
flagstaff. They passed two or three trim bungalows, and a tennis
court, and then they came to the quay with its warehouses. Mrs.
Davidson pointed out the schooner, moored two or three hundred yards
from the side, which was to take them to Apia. There was a crowd of
eager, noisy, and good-humoured natives come from all parts of the
island, some from curiosity, others to barter with the travellers on
their way to Sydney; and they brought pineapples and huge bunches of
bananas, tapa cloths, necklaces of shells or sharks` teeth,
kava-bowls, and models of war canoes. American sailors, neat and
trim, clean-shaven and frank efface, sauntered among them, and there
was a little group of officials. While their luggage was being landed
the Macphails and Mrs. Davidson watched the crowd. Dr. Macphail
looked at the yaws from which most of the children and the young boys
seemed to suffer, disfiguring sores like torpid ulcers, and his
professional eyes glistened when he saw for the first time in his
experience cases of elephantiasis, men going about with a huge, heavy
arm or dragging along a grossly disfigured leg. Men and women wore
the lava-lava.
"It`s
a very indecent costume," said Mrs. Davidson. "Mr. Davidson
thinks it should be prohibited by law. How can you expect people to
be moral when they wear nothing but a strip of red cotton round their
loins?"
"It`s
suitable enough to the climate," said the doctor, wiping the
sweat off his head.
Now
that they were on land the heat, though it was so early in the
morning, was already oppressive. Closed in by its hills, not a breath
of air came in to Pago-Pago.
"In
our islands," Mrs. Davidson went on in her high-pitched tones,
"we`ve practically eradicated the lava-lava. A few old men still
continue to wear it, but that`s all. The women have all taken to the
Mother Hubbard, and the men wear trousers and singlets. At the very
beginning of our stay Mr. Davidson said in one of his reports: the
inhabitants of these islands will never be thoroughly Christianised
till every boy of more than ten years is made to wear a pair of
trousers."
But
Mrs. Davidson had given two or three of her birdlike glances at heavy
grey clouds that came floating over the mouth of the harbour. A few
drops began to fall.
"We`d
better take shelter," she said.
They
made their way with all the crowd to a great shed of corrugated iron,
and the rain began to fall in torrents. They stood there for some
time and then were joined by Mr. Davidson. He had been polite enough
to the Macphails during the journey, but he had not his wife`s
sociability, and had spent much of his time reading. He was a silent,
rather sullen man, and you felt that his affability was a duty that
he imposed upon himself Christianly; he was by nature reserved and
even morose. His appearance was singular. He was very tall and thin,
with long limbs loosely jointed; hollow cheeks and curiously high
cheek-bones; he had so cadaverous an air that it surprised you to
notice how full and sensual were his lips. He wore his hair very
long. His dark eyes, set deep in their sockets, were large and
tragic; and his hands with their big, long fingers, were finely
shaped; they gave him a look of great strength. But the most striking
thing about him was the feeling he gave you of suppressed fire. It
was impressive and vaguely troubling. He was not a man with whom any
intimacy was possible.
He
brought now unwelcome news. There was an epidemic of measles, a
serious and often fatal disease among the Kanakas, on the island, and
a case had developed among the crew of the schooner which was to take
them on their journey. The sick man had been brought ashore and put
in hospital on the quarantine station, but telegraphic instructions
had been sent from Apia to say that the schooner would not be allowed
to enter the harbour till it was certain no other member of the crew
was affected.
"It
means we shall have to stay here for ten days at least."
"But
I`m urgently needed a Apia," said Dr. Macphail.
"That
can`t be helped. If no more cases develop on board, the schooner will
be allowed to sail with white passengers, but all native traffic is
prohibited for three months."
"Is
there a hotel here?" asked Mrs. Macphail.
Davidson
gave a low chuckle.
"There`s
not."
"What
shall we do then?"
"I`ve
been talking to the governor. There`s a trader along the front 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 comfort. You`ve just got to be thankful if we get a bed to
sleep on and a roof over our heads."
But
the rain showed no sign of stopping, and at length with umbrellas and
waterproofs they set out. There was no town, but merely a group of
official buildings, a store or two, and at the back, among the
coconut trees and plantains, a few native dwellings. The house they
sought was about five minutes` walk from the wharf. It was a frame
house of two storeys, with broad verandahs on both floors and a roof
of corrugated iron. The owner was a half-caste named Horn, with a
native wife surrounded by little brown children, and on the
ground-floor he had a store where he sold canned goods and cottons.
The rooms he showed them were almost bare of furniture. In the
Macphails` there was nothing but a poor, worn bed with a ragged
mosquito net, a rickety chair, and a washstand. They looked round
with dismay. The rain poured down without ceasing.
"I`m
not going to unpack more than we actually need," said Mrs.
Macphail.
Mrs.
Davidson came into the room as she was unlocking a portmanteau. She
was very brisk and alert. The cheerless surroundings had no effect on
her.
"If
you`ll take my advice you`ll get a needle and cotton and start right
in to mend the mosquito net, she said, or you`ll not be able to get a
wink of sleep tonight."
"Will
they be very bad?" asked Dr. Macphail.
"This
is the season for them. When you`re asked to a party at Government
House at Apia you`ll notice that all the ladies are given a
pillow-slip to put their - their lower extremities in."
"I
wish the rain would stop for a moment," said Mrs. Macphail. "I
could try to make the place comfortable with more heart if the sun
were shining."
"Oh,
if you wait for that, you`ll wait a long time. Pago-Pago is about the
rainiest place in the Pacific. You see, the hills, and that bay, they
attract the water, and one expects rain at this time of year anyway."
She
looked from Macphail to his wife, standing helplessly in different
parts of the room, like lost souls, and she pursed her lips. She saw
that she must take them in hand. Feckless people like that made her
impatient, but her hands itched to put everything in the order which
came so naturally to her.
"Here,
you give me a needle and cotton and I`ll mend that net of yours,
while you go on with your unpacking. Dinner`s at one. Dr. Macphail,
you`d better go down to the wharf and see that your heavy luggage has
been put in a dry place. You know what these natives are, they`re
quite capable of storing it where the rain will beat in on it all the
time."
The
doctor put on his waterproof again and went downstairs. At the door
Mr. Horn was standing in conversation with the quartermaster of the
ship they had just arrived in and a second-class passenger whom Dr.
Macphail had seen several times on board. The quartermaster, a
little, shrivelled man, extremely dirty, nodded to him as he passed.
"This
is a bad job about the measles, doc," he said. "I see
you`ve fixed yourself up already."
Dr.
Macphail thought he was rather familiar, but he was a timid Man and
he did not take offence easily.
"Yes,
we`ve got a room upstairs."
"Miss
Thompson was sailing with you to Apia, so I`ve brought her along
here."
The
quartermaster pointed with his thumb to the woman standing by his
side. She was twenty-seven perhaps, plump, and in a coarse fashion
pretty. She wore a white dress and a large white hat. Her fat calves
in white cotton stockings bulged over the tops of long white boots in
glace kid. She gave Macphail an ingratiating smile.
"The
feller`s tryin` to soak me a dollar and a half a day for the meanest
sized room," she said in a hoarse voice.
"I
tell you she`s a friend of mine, Jo," said the quartermaster.
"She can`t pay more than a dollar, and you`ve sure got to take
her for that."
The
trader was fat and smooth and quietly smiling. "Well, if you put
it like that, Mr. Swan, I`ll see what I can do about it. I`ll talk to
Mrs. Horn and if we think we can make a reduction we will."
"Don`t
try to pull that stuff with me," said Miss Thompson. "We`ll
settle this right now. You get a dollar a day for the room and not
one bean more."
Dr.
Macphail smiled. He admired the effrontery with which she bargained.
He was the sort of man who always paid what he was asked. He
preferred to be over-charged than to haggle. The trader sighed.
"Well,
to oblige Mr. Swan I`ll take it."
"That`s
the goods," said Miss Thompson. "Come right in and have a
shot of hooch. I`ve got some real good rye in that grip if you`ll
bring it` along, Mr. Swan. You come along too, doctor."
"Oh,
I don`t think I will, thank you," he answered. "I`m just
going down to see that our luggage is all right."
He
stepped out into the rain. It swept in from the opening of the
harbour in sheets and the opposite shore was all blurred. He passed
two or three natives clad in nothing but the lava-lava, with huge
umbrellas over them. They walked finely, with leisurely movements,
very 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 live in but for
purposes of prestige, and it had a musty, melancholy air. A suite of
stamped plush was arranged neatly round the walls, and from the
middle of the ceiling, protected from the flies by yellow tissue
paper, hung a gilt chandelier. Davidson did not come.
"I
know he went to call on the governor," said Mrs. Davidson, "and
I guess he`s kept him to dinner."
A
little native girl brought them a dish of Hamburger steak, and after
a while the trader came up to see that they had everything they
wanted.
"I
see we have a fellow lodger, Mr. Horn." said Dr. Macphail.
"She`s
taken a room, that`s all," answered the trader. "She`s
getting her own board."
He
looked at the two ladies with an obsequious 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 boat?" asked Mrs. Macphail.
"Yes,
ma`am, she was in the second cabin. She was going to Apia. She has a
position as cashier waiting for her."
"Oh!"
When
the trader was gone Macphail said:
"I
shouldn`t think she`d find it exactly cheerful having her meals in
her room."
"If
she was in the second cabin I guess she`d rather," answered Mrs.
Davidson. "I don`t exactly know who it can be."
"I
happened to be there when the quartermaster brought her along. Her
name`s Thompson."
"It`s
not the woman who was dancing with the quartermaster last night? "
asked Mrs. Davidson.
"That`s
who it must be," said Mrs. Macphail. "I wondered at the
time what she was. She looked rather fast to me."
"Not
good style at all," said Mrs. Davidson.
They
began to talk of other things, and after 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 for a walk on the high road which the Americans had built along
the bay.
On
their return they found that Davidson had just come in.
We
may be here for a fortnight, he said irritably. "I`ve argued it
out with the governor, but he says there is nothing to be done."
"Mr.
Davidson`s just longing to get back to his work," said his wife,
with an anxious glance at him.
"We`ve
been away for a year," he said, walking up and down the
verandah. "The mission has been in charge of native missionaries
and I`m terribly nervous that they`ve let things slide. They`re good
men, I`m not saying a word against them, God-fearing, devout, and
truly Christian men - their Christianity would put many so-called
Christians at home to the blush - but they`re pitifully lacking in
energy, They can make a stand once, they can make a stand twice, but
they can`t make a stand all the time. If you leave a mission in
charge of a native missionary, no matter how trust-worhy he seems, in
course of time you`ll find he`s let abuses creep in."
Mr.
Davidson stood still. With his tall, spare form, and his great eyes
flashing out of his pale face, he was an impressive figure. His
sincerity was obvious in the fire of his gestures and in his deep,
ringing voice.
"I
expect to have my work cut out for me. I shall act and I shall act
promptly. If the tree is rotten it shall be cut down and cast into
the flames."
And
in the evening after the high tea which was their last meal, while
they sat in the stiff parlour, the ladies working and Dr. Macphail
smoking his pipe, the missionary told them of his work in the
islands.
"When
we went there they had no sense of sin at all," he said. "They
broke the commandments one after the other and never knew they were
doing wrong. And I think that was the most difficult part of my work,
to instil into the natives the sense of sin."
The
Macphails knew already that Davidson had worked in the Solomons for
five years before he met his wife. She had been a missionary in
China, and they had become acquainted in Boston, where they were both
spending part of their leave to attend a missionary congress. On
their marriage they had been appointed to the islands in which they
had laboured ever since.
In
the course of all the conversations they had had with Mr. Davidson
one thing had shone out clearly and that was the man`s unflinching
courage. He was a medical missionary, and he was liable to be called
at any time to one or other of the islands in the group. Even the
whaleboat is not so very safe a conveyance in the stormy pacific of
the wet season, but often he would be sent for in a canoe, and then
the danger was great. In cases of illness or accident he never
hesitated. A dozen times he had spent the whole night baling for his
life, and more than once Mrs. Davidson had given him up for 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 never listen. He`s
obstinate, and when he`s once made up his mind, nothing can move
him."
"How
can I ask the natives to put their trust in the Lord if I am afraid
to do so myself?" cried Davidson. "And I`m not, I`m not.
They know that if they send for me in their trouble I`ll come if it`s
humanly possible. And do you think the Lord is going to abandon me
when I am on his business? The wind blows at his bidding and the
waves toss and rage at his word."
Dr.
Macphail was a timid man. He had never been able to get used to the
hurtling of the shells over the trenches, and when he was operating
in an advanced dressing-station the sweat poured from his brow and
dimmed his spectacles in the effort he made to control his unsteady
hand. He shuddered a little as he looked at the missionary.
"I
wish I could say that I`ve never been afraid," he said.
"I
wish you could say that you believed in God," retorted the
other.
But
for some reason, that evening the missionary`s thoughts travelled
back to the early days he and his wife had spent on the islands.
"Sometimes
Mrs. Davidson 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 have done
without her then. When I felt my heart sink, when I was very near
despair, she gave me courage and hope."
Mrs.
Davidson looked down at her work, and a slight colour rose to her
thin cheeks. Her hands trembled a little. She did not trust herself
to speak.
"We
had no one to help us. We were alone, thousands of miles from any of
our own people, surrounded by darkness. When I was broken and weary
she would put her work aside and take the Bible and read to me till
peace came and settled upon me like sleep upon the eyelids of a
child, and when at last she closed the book she`d say: `We`ll save
them in spite of themselves.` And I felt strong again in the Lord,
and I answered: `Yes, with God`s help I`ll save them. I must save
them.`"
He
came over to the table and stood in front of it as though it were a
lectern.
"You
see, they were so naturally depraved that they couldn`t be brought to
see their wickedness. We had to make sins out of what they thought
were natural actions. We had to make it a sin, not only to commit
adultery and to lie and thieve, but to expose their bodies, and to
dance and not to come to church. I made it a sin for a girl to show
her bosom and a sin for a man not to wear trousers."
"How?"
asked Dr. Macphail, not without surprise.
"I
instituted fines. Obviously the only way to make people realise that
an action is sinful is to punish them if they commit it. I fined them
if they didn`t come to church, and I fined them if they danced. I
fined them if they were improperly dressed. I had a tariff, and every
sin had to be paid for either in money or work. And at last I made
them understand."
"But
did they never refuse to pay?"
"How
could they?" asked the missionary.
"It
would be a brave man who tried to stand up against Mr. Davidson,"
said his wife, tightening her lips.
Dr.
Macphail looked at Davidson with troubled eyes. What he heard shocked
him, but he hesitated to express his disapproval.
"You
must remember that in the last resort I could expel them from their
church membership.""
"Did
they mind that?"
Davidson
smiled a little and gently rubbed his hands.
"They
couldn`t sell their copra. When the men fished they got no share of
the catch. It meant something very like starvation. Yes, they minded
quite a lot."
"Tell
him about Fred Ohlson," said Mrs. Davidson.
The
missionary fixed his fiery eyes on Dr. Macphail.
"Fred
Ohlson was a Danish trader who had been in the islands a good many
years. He was a pretty rich man as traders go and he wasn`t very
pleased when we came. You see, he`d had things very much his own way.
He paid the natives what he liked for their copra, and he paid in
goods and whiskey. He had a native wife, but he was flagrantly
unfaithful to her. He was a drunkard. I gave him a chance to mend his
ways, but he wouldn`t take it. He laughed at me."
Davidson`s
voice fell to a deep bass as he said the last words, and he was
silent for a minute or two. The silence was heavy with menace.
"In
two years he was a ruined man. He`d lost everything he`d saved in a
quarter of a century. I broke him, and at last he was forced to come
to me like a beggar and beseech me to give him a passage back to
Sydney."
"I
wish you could have seen him when he came to see Mr. Davidson,"
said the missionary`s wife.
"He
had been a fine, powerful man, with a lot of fat on him, and he had a
great big voice, but now he was half the size, and he was shaking all
over. He`d suddenly become an old man."
With
abstracted gaze Davidson looked out into the night. The rain was
falling again.
Suddenly
from below came a sound, and Davidson turned and looked questioningly
at his wife. It was the sound of a gramophone, harsh and loud,
wheezing out a syncopated tune.
"What`s
that?" he asked.
Mrs.
Davidson fixed her pince-nez more firmly on her nose.
"One
of the second-class passengers has a room in the house. I guess it
comes from there."
They
listened in silence, and presently they heard the sound of dancing.
Then the music stopped, and they heard the popping of corks and
voices raised in animated conversation.
"I
daresay she`s giving a farewell party to her friends on board,"
said Dr. Macphail. "The ship sails at twelve, doesn`t it?"
Davidson
made no remark, but he looked at his watch.
"Are
you ready?" he asked his wife.
She
got up and folded her work.
"Yes,
I guess I am," she answered.
"It`s
early to go to bed yet, isn`t it?" said the doctor.
"We
have a good deal of reading to do," explained Mrs. Davidson.
"Wherever we are, we read a chapter of the Bible before retiring
for the night and we study it with the commentaries, you know, and
discuss it thoroughly. It`s a wonderful training for the mind."
The
two couples bade one another good night. Dr. and Mrs. Macphail were
left alone. For two or three minutes they did not speak.
"I
think I`ll go and fetch the cards," the doctor said at last.
Mrs.
Macphail looked at him doubtfully. Her conversation with the
Davidsons had left her a little uneasy, but she did not like to say
that she thought they had better not play cards when the Davidsons
might come in at any moment. Dr. Macphail brought them and she
watched him, though with a vague sense of guilt, while he laid out
his patience. Below the sound of revelry continued.
It
was fine enough next day, and the Macphails, condemned to spend a
fortnight of idleness at Pago-Pago, set about making the best of
things. They went down to the quay and got out of their boxes a
number of books. The doctor called on the chief surgeon of the naval
hospital and went round the beds with him. They left cards on the
governor. They passed Miss Thompson on the road. The doctor took off
his hat, and she gave him a "Good morning, doc.," in a
loud, cheerful voice. She was dressed as on the day before, in a
white frock, and her shiny white boots with their high heels, her fat
legs bulging over the tops of them, were strange things on that
exotic scene.
"I
don`t think she`s very 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 verandah playing with
one of the trader`s dark children.
"Say
a word to her," Dr. Macphail whispered to his wife. "She`s
all alone here, and it seems rather unkind to ignore her."
Mrs.
Macphail was shy, but she was in the habit of doing what her husband
bade her.
"I
think we`re fellow lodgers here," she said rather foolishly.
"Terrible,
ain`t it, bein` cooped up in a one-horse burg like this?"
answered Miss Thompson. "And they tell me I`m lucky to have
gotten a room. I don`t see myself livin` in a native house, and
that`s what some have to do. I don`t know why they don`t have a
hotel."
They
exchanged a few more words. Miss Thompson, loud-voiced and garrulous,
was evidently quite willing to gossip, but Mrs. Macphail had a poor
stock of small talk and presently she said:
"Well,
I think we must go upstairs."
In
the evening when they sat down to their high tea Davidson on coming
in said:
"I
see that woman downstairs has a couple of sailors sitting there. I
wonder how she`s gotten acquainted with them."
"She
can`t be very particular," said Mrs. Davidson.
They
were all rather tired after the idle, aimless day.
"If
there`s going to be a fortnight of this I don`t know what we shall
feel like at the end of it," said Dr. Macphail.
"The
only thing to do is to portion out the day to different activities,"
answered the missionary. "I shall set aside a certain number of
hours to study and a certain number to exercise, rain or fine - in
the wet season you can`t afford to pay any attention to the rain -
and a certain number to recreation."
Dr.
Macphail looked at his companion with misgiving. Davidson`s programme
oppressed him. They were eating Hamburger steak again. It seemed the
only dish the cook knew how to make. Then below the grama-phone
began. Davidson started nervously when he heard it, but said nothing.
Men`s voices floated up. Miss Thompson`s guests were joining in a
well-known song and presently they heard her voice too, hoarse and
loud. There was a good deal of shouting and laughing. The four people
upstairs, trying to make conversation, listened despite themselves to
the clink of glasses and the scrape of chairs. More people had
evidently come. Miss Thompson was giving a party.
"I
wonder how she gets them all in," said Mrs. Macphail, suddenly
breaking into a medical conversation between the missionary and her
husband.
It
showed whither her thoughts were wandering. The twitch of Davidson`s
face proved that, though he spoke of scientific things, his mind was
busy in the same direction. Suddenly, while the doctor was giving
some experience of practice on the Flanders front, rather prosily, he
sprang to his feet with a cry.
"What`s
the matter, Alfred?" asked Mrs. Davidson.
"Of
course! It never occurred to me. She`s out of Iwelei."
"She
can`t be."
"She
came on board at Honolulu. It`s obvious. And she`s carrying on her
trade here. Here."
He
uttered the last word with a passion of indignation.
"What`s
Iwelei?" asked Mrs. Macphail.
He
turned his gloomy eyes on her and his voice trembled with horror.
"The
plague spot of Honolulu. The Red Light district. It was a blot on our
civilisation."
Iwelei
was on the edge of the city. You 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. There was parking room for motors on each side of the
road, and there were saloons, tawdry and bright, each one noisy with
its mechanical piano, and there were barbers` shops and tobacconists.
There was a stir in the air and a sense of expectant gaiety. You
turned down a narrow alley, either to the right or to the left, for
the road divided Iwelei into two parts, and you found yourself in the
district. There were rows of 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 gave an impression of
sardonic horror; for never can the search for love have been so
systematised and ordered. The pathways were lit by a rare lamp, but
they would have been dark except for the lights that came from the
open windows of the bungalows. Men wandered about, looking at the
women who sat at their windows, reading or sewing, for the most part
taking no notice of the passers-by; and like the women they were of
all nationalities. There were Americans, sailors from the ships in
port, enlisted men off the gunboats, sombrely drunk, and soldiers
from the regiments, white and black, quartered on the island; there
were Japanese, walking in twos and threes; Hawaiians, Chinese in long
robes, and Filipinos in preposterous hats. They were silent and as it
were oppressed. Desire is sad.
"It
was the most crying scandal of the Pacific," exclaimed Davidson
vehemently. "The missionaries had been agitating against it for
years, and at last the local press took it up. The police refused to
stir. You know their argument. They say that vice is inevitable and
consequently the best thing is to localise and control it. The truth
is, they were paid. Paid. They were paid by the saloon-keepers, paid
by the bullies, paid by the women themselves. At last they were
forced to move."
"I
read about it in the papers that came on board in Honolulu,"
said Dr. Macphail.
"Iwelei,
with its sin and shame, ceased to exist on the very day we arrived.
The whole population was brought before the justices. I don`t know
why I didn`t understand at once what that woman was."
"Now
you come to speak of it," said Mrs. Macphail, "I remember
seeing her come on board only a few minutes before the boat sailed. I
remember thinking at the time she was cutting it rather fine."
"How
dare she come here!" cried Davidson indignantly. "I`m not
going to allow it."
He
strode towards the door.
"What
are you going to do?" asked Macphail.
"What
do you expect me to do? I`m going to stop it. I`m not going to have
this house turned into - into..."
He
sought for a word that should not offend the ladies` ears. His eyes
were flashing and his pale face was paler still in his emotion.
"It
sounds as though there were three or four men down there," said
the doctor. "Don`t you think it`s rather rash to go in just
now?"
The
missionary gave him a contemptuous look and without a word flung out
of the room.
"You
know Mr. Davidson very little if you think the fear of personal
danger can stop him in the performance of his duty," said his
wife.
She
sat with her hands nervously clasped, a spot of colour on her high
cheek bones, listening to what was about to happen below. They all
listened. They heard him clatter down the wooden stairs and throw
open the door. The singing stopped suddenly, but the gramophone
continued to bray out its vulgar tune. They heard Davidson`s voice
and then the noise of something heavy falling. The music stopped. He
had hurled the gramophone on the floor. Then again they heard
Davidson`s voice, they could not make out the words, then Miss
Thompson`s, loud and shrill, then a confused clamour as though
several people were shouting together at the top of their lungs. Mrs.
Davidson gave a little gasp, and she clenched her hands more tightly.
Dr. Macphail looked uncertainly from her to his wife. He did not want
to go down, but he wondered if they expected him to. Then there was
something that sounded like a scuffle. The noise now was more
distinct. It might be that Davidson was being thrown out of the room.
The door was slammed. There was a moment`s silence and they heard
Davidson come up the stairs again. He went to his room.
"I
think I`ll go to him," said Mrs. Davidson.
She
got up and went out.
"If
you want me, just call," said Mrs. Macphail, and then when the
other was gone: "I hope he isn`t hurt."
"Why
couldn`t he mind his own business?" said Dr. Macphail.
They
sat in silence for a minute or two and then they both started, for
the gramophone began to play once more, defiantly, and mocking voices
shouted hoarsely the words of an obscene song.
Next
day Mrs. Davidson was pale and tired. She complained of headache, and
she looked old and wizened. She told Mrs. Macphail that the
missionary had not slept at all; he had passed the night in a state
of frightful agitation and at five had got up and gone out. A glass
of beer had been thrown over him and his clothes were stained and
stinking. But a sombre fire glowed in Mrs. Davidson`s eyes when she
spoke of Miss Thompson.
"She`ll
bitterly rue the day when she flouted Mr. Davidson," she said.
"Mr. Davidson has a wonderful heart and no one who is in trouble
has ever gone to I him without being comforted, but he has no mercy
for sin, and when his righteous wrath is excited he`s terrible."
"Why,
what will he do?" asked Mrs. Macphail.
"I
don`t know, but I wouldn`t stand in that creature`s shoes for
anything in the world."
Mrs.
Macphail shuddered. There was something positively alarming in the
triumphant assurance of the little woman`s manner. They were going
out together that morning, and they went down the stairs side by
side. Miss Thompson`s door was open, and they saw her in a bedraggled
dressing-gown, cooking something in a chafing - dish.
"Good
morning," she called. "Is Mrs. Davidson better this
morning?"
They
passed her in silence, with their noses in the air, as if she did not
exist. They flushed, however, when she burst into a shout of derisive
laughter. Mrs. Davidson turned on her suddenly. "Don`t you dare
to speak to me," she screamed. "If you insult me I shall
have you turned out of here."
"Say,
did I ask M. Davidson to visit with me?"
"Don`t
answer her," whispered Mrs. Macphail hurriedly.
They
walked on till they were out of earshot.
"She
s brazen, brazen," burst from Mrs. Davidson.
Her
anger almost suffocated her.
And
on their way home they met her strolling towards the quay. She had
all her finery on. Her great white hat with its vulgar, showy flowers
was an affront. She called out cheerily to them as she went by, and a
couple of American sailors who were standing there grinned as the
ladies set their faces to an icy stare. They got in just before the
rain began to fall again.
"I
guess she`ll get her fine clothes spoilt," said Mrs. Davidson
with a bitter sneer.
Davidson
did not come in till they were half way through dinner. He was wet
through, but he would not change. He sat, morose and silent, refusing
to eat more than a mouthful, and he stared at the slanting rain. When
Mrs. Davidson told him of their two encounters with Miss Thompson he
did not answer. His deepening frown alone showed that he had heard.
"Don`t
you think we ought to make Mr. Horn turn her out of here?" asked
Mrs. Davidson. "We can`t allow her to insult us."
"There
doesn`t seem to be any other place for her to go," said
Macphail.
"She
can live with one of the natives."
"In
weather like this a native hut must be a rather uncomfortable place
to live in."
"I
lived in one for years," said the missionary.
When
the little native girl brought in the fried bananas which formed the
sweet they had every day, Davidson turned to her.
"Ask
Miss Thompson when it would be convenient for me to see her," he
said.
The
girl nodded shyly and went out.
"What
do you want to see her for, Alfred?" asked his wife.
"It`s
my duty to see her. I won`t act till I`ve given her every chance."
"You
don`t know what she is. She`ll insult you."
"Let
her insult me. Let her spit on me. She has an immortal soul, and I
must do all that is in my power to save it."
Mrs.
Davidson`s ears rang still with the harlot`s mocking laughter.
"She`s
gone too far."
"Too
far for the mercy of God?" His eyes lit up suddenly and his
voice grew mellow and soft.
"Never.
The sinner may be deeper in sin than the depth of hell itself, but
the love of the Lord Jesus can reach him still."
The
girl came back with the message.
"Miss
Thompson`s compliments and as long as Rev. Davidson don`t come in
business hours she`ll be glad to see him any time."
The
party received it in stony silence, and Dr. Macphail quickly effaced
from his lips the smile which had come upon them. He knew his wife
would be vexed with him if he found Miss Thompson`s effrontery
amusing.
They
finished the meal in silence. When it was over the two ladies got up
and took their work, Mrs. Macphail was making another of the
innumerable comforters which she had turned out since the beginning
of the war, and the doctor lit his pipe. But Davidson remained in his
chair and with abstracted eyes stared at the table. At last he got up
and without a word went out of the room. They heard him go down and
they heard Miss Thompson`s defiant "Come in" when he
knocked at the door. He remained with her for an hour. And Dr.
Macphail watched the rain. It was beginning to get on his nerves. It
was not like our soft English rain that drops gently on the earth; it
was unmerciful and somehow terrible; you felt in it the malignancy of
the primitive powers of nature. It did not pour, it flowed. It was
like a deluge from heaven, and it rattled on the roof of corrugated
iron with a steady persistence that was maddening. It seemed to have
a fury of its own. And sometimes you felt that you must scream if it
did not stop, and then suddenly you felt powerless, as though your
bones had suddenly become soft; and you were miserable and hopeless.
Macphail
turned his head when the missionary came back. The two women looked
up.
"I`ve
given her every chance. I have exhorted her to repent. She is an evil
woman."
He
paused, and Dr. Macphail saw his eyes darken and his pale face grow
hard and stern.
"Now
I shall take the whips with which the Lord Jesus drove the usurers
and the money changers out of the Temple of the Most High."
He
walked up and down the room. His mouth was close set, and his black
brows were frowning.
"If
she fled to the uttermost parts of the earth I should pursue her."
With
a sudden movement he turned round and strode out of the room. They
heard him go downstairs again.
"What
is he going to do?" asked Mrs. Macphail. If
"I
don`t know." Mrs. Davidson took off her pince-nez and wiped
them. "When he is on the Lord`s work I never ask him questions."
She
sighed a little.
"What
is the matter?"
"He`ll
wear himself out. He doesn`t know what it is to spare himself."
Dr.
Macphail learnt the first results of the missionary`s activity from
the half-caste trader in whose house they lodged. He stopped the
doctor when he passed the store `and came out to speak to him on the
stoop. His fat face was worried.
"The
Rev. Davidson has been at me for letting Miss Thompson have a room
here," he said, "but I didn`t know what she was when I
rented it to her. When people come and ask if I can rent them a room
all I want to know is if they`ve the money to pay for it. And she
paid me for hers a week in advance."
Dr.
Macphail did not want to commit himself. "When all`s said and
done it`s your housed We`re very much obliged to you for taking us in
at all."
Horn
looked at him doubtfully. He was not certain yet how definitely
Macphail stood on the missionary`s side.
"The
missionaries are in with one another," he said, hesitatingly olf
they get it in for a trader he may just as well shut up his store and
quit."
"Did
he want you to turn her out?"
"No,
he said so long as she behaved herself he couldn`t ask me to do that.
He said he wanted to be just to me. I promised she shouldn`t have no
more visitors. I`ve just been and told her.
"How
did she take it?"
"She
gave me Hell."
The
trader squirmed in his old ducks. He had found Miss Thompson a rough
customer.
"Oh,
well, I daresay she`ll get out. I don`t suppose she wants to stay
here if she can`t have anyone in."
"There`s
nowhere she can go, only a native house, and no native`ll take her
now, not now that the missionaries have got their knife in her."
Dr.
Macphail looked at the falling rain.
"Well,
I don`t suppose it`s any good waiting for it to clear up."
In
the evening when they sat in the parlour Davidson talked to them of
his early days at college. He had had no means and had worked his way
through by doing odd jobs during the vacations. There was silence
downstairs. Miss Thompson was sitting in her little room alone. But
suddenly the gramophone began to play. She had set it on in defiance,
to cheat her loneliness, but there was no one to sing, and it had a
melancholy note. It was like a cry for help Davidson took no notice.
He was in the middle of a long anecdote and without change of
expression went on. The gramophone continued. Miss Thompson put on
one reel after another. It looked as though the silence of the night
were getting on her nerves. It was breathless and sultry. When the
Macphails went to bed they could not sleep. They lay side by side
with their eyes wide open, listening to the cruel singing of the
mosquitoes outside their curtain.
"What`s
that?" whispered Mrs. Macphail at last.
They
heard a voice, Davidson`s voice, through the wooden partition. It
went on with a monotonous, earnest insistence. He was praying aloud.
He was praying for the soul of Miss Thompson.
Two
or three days went by. Now when they passed Miss Thompson 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 face, frowning,
as though she did not see them. The trader told Macphail that she had
tried to get lodging elsewhere, but had failed. In the evening she
played through the various reels of her gramophone, but the pretence
of mirth was obvious now. The ragtime had a cracked, heart-broken
rhythm as though it were a one-step of despair. When she began to
play on Sunday Davidson sent Horn to beg her to stop at once since it
was the Lord`s day. The reel was taken off and the house was silent
except for the steady pattering of the rain on the iron roof.
"I
think she`s getting a bit worked up," said the trader next day
to Macphail. "She don`t know what Mr. Davidson`s up to and it
makes her scared."
Macphail
had caught a glimpse of her that morning and it struck him that her
arrogant expression had changed. There was in her face a hunted look.
The half-caste gave him a sidelong glance.
"I
suppose you don`t know what Mr. Davidson is doing about it?" he
hazarded.
"No,
I don`t."
It
was singular that Horn should ask him that question, for he also had
the idea that the misssionary was mysteriously at work. He had an
impression that he was weaving a net around the woman, carefully,
systematically, and suddenly, when everything was ready, would pull
the strings tight.
"He
told me to tell her," said the trader, "that if at any time
she wanted him she only had to send and he`d come."
"What
did she say when you told her that?"
"She
didn`t say nothing. I didn`t stop. I just said what he said I was to
and then I beat it. I thought she might be going to start weepin`."
"I
have no doubt the loneliness is getting on her nerves," said the
doctor. "And the rain - that`s enough to make anyone jumpy,"
he continued irritably. "Doesn`t it ever stop in this confounded
place?"
"It
goes on pretty steady in the rainy season. We have three hundred
inches in the year. You see, it`s the shape of the bay. It seems to
attract the rain from all over the Pacific."
"Damn
the shape of the bay," said the doctor.
He
scratched his mosquito bites. He felt very short-tempered. When the
rain stopped and the sun shone, it was like a hothouse, seething,
humid, sultry, breathless, and you had a strange feeling that
everything was growing with a savage violence. The natives, blithe
and childlike by reputation, seemed then, with their tattooing an
their dyed hair, to have something sinister in their appearance; and
when they pattered along at your heels with their naked feet you
looked back instinctively. You felt they might at any moment come
behind you swiftly and thrust long knife between your shoulder
blades. You could not tell what dark thoughts lurked behind their
wide-set eyes. They had a little the look of ancient Egyptians
painted on a temple wall, and there was about them the terror of what
is immeasurably old.
The
missionary came and went. He was busy, but the Macphails did not know
what he was doing. Horn told the doctor that he saw the governor
every day, and once Davidson mentioned him.
"He
looks as if he had plenty of 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 facetiously.
The
missionary did not smile.
"I
want him to do what`s right. It shouldn`t be necessary to persuade a
man to do that."
"But
there may be differences of opinion about what is right."
"If
a man had a gangrenous foot would you have patience with anyone who
hesitated to amputate it?"
"Gangrene
is a matter of fact."
"And
Evil?"
What
Davidson had done soon appeared. The four of them had just finished
their midday meal, and they had not yet separated for the siesta
which the heat imposed on the ladies and on the doctor. Davidson had
little patience with the slothful habit. The door was suddenly flung
open and Miss Thompson came in. She looked round the room and then
went up to Davidson.
"You
low-down skunk, what have you been saying about me to the governor?"
She
was spluttering with rage. There was a moment`s pause. Then the
missionary drew forward a chair.
"Won`t
you be seated, Miss Thompson? I`ve been hoping to have another talk
with you."
"You
poor low-life bastard."
She
burst into a torrent of insult, foul and insolent. Davidson kept his
grave eyes on her.
"I`m
indifferent to the abuse you think fit to heap on me, Miss Thompson,"
he said, "but I must beg you to remember that ladies are
present."
Tears
by now were struggling with her anger. Her face was red and swollen
as though she were choking.
"What
has happened?" asked Dr. Macphail.
"A
feller`s just been in here and he says I gotter beat it on the next
boat."
Was
there a gleam in the missionary`s eyes? His face remained impassive.
"You
could hardly expect the governor to let you stay here under the
circumstances."
"You
done it," she shrieked. "You can`t kid me. You done it."
"I
don`t want to deceive you. I urged the governor to take the only
possible step consistent with his obligations."
"Why
couldn`t you leave me be? I wasn`t doin` you no harm."
"You
may be sure that if you had I should be the last man to resent it."
"Do
you think I want to stay on in this poor imitation of a burg? I don`t
look no busher, do I?"
"In
that case I don`t see what cause of complaint you have," he
answered.
She
gave an inarticulate cry of rage and flung out of the room. There was
a short silence.
"It`s
a relief to know that the governor has acted at last," said
Davidson finally. "He`s a weak man and he shilly-shallied. He
said she was only here for a fortnight anyway, and if she went on to
Apia that was under British jurisdiction and had nothing to do with
him."
The
missionary sprang to his feet and strode across the room.
"It`s
terrible the way the men who are in authority seek to evade their
responsibility. They speak as though evil that was out of sight
ceased to be evil. The very existence of that woman is a scandal and
it does not help matters to shift it to another of the islands. In
the end I had to speak straight from the shoulder."
Davidson`s
brow lowered, and he protruded his firm chin. He looked fierce and
determined.
"What
do you mean by that?"
"Our
mission is not entirely without influence at Washington. I pointed
out to the governor that it wouldn`t do him any good if there was a
complaint about the way he managed things here."
"When
has she got to go?" asked the doctor, after a pause.
"The
San Francisco boat is due here from Sydney next Tuesday. She`s to
sail on that."
That
was in five days` time. It was next day, when he was coining back
from the hospital where for want of something better to do Macphail
spent most of his mornings, that the half-caste stopped him as he was
going upstairs.
"Excuse
me, Dr. Macphail, Miss Thompson`s sick. Will you have a look at her."
"Certainly."
Horn
led him to her room. She was sitting in a chair idly, neither reading
nor sewing, staring in front of her. She wore her white dress and the
large hat with the flowers on it. Macphail noticed that her skin was
yellow and muddy under her powder, and her eyes were heavy.
"I`m
sorry to hear you`re not well," he said.
"Oh,
I ain`t sick really. I just said that, because I just had to see you.
I`ve got to clear on a boat that`s going to `Frisco."
She
looked at him and he saw that her eyes were suddenly startled. She
opened and clenched her hands spasmodically. The trader stood at the
door, listening.
"So
I understand," said the doctor.
She
gave a little gulp
"I
guess it ain`t very convenient for me to go to Frisco just now. T
went to see the governor yesterday afternoon, 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 just had to see the governor, so
I waited outside his house this morning, and when he come out I spoke
to him. He didn`t want to speak to me, I`ll say, but I wouldn`t let
him shake me off, and at last he said he hadn`t no objection to my
staying here till the next boat to Sydney if the Rev. Davidson will
stand for 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 God I won`t
start anything here if he`ll just only let me stay. I won`t go out of
the house if that`ll suit him. It`s no more`n a fortnight."
"I`ll
ask him."
"He
won`t stand for it," said Horn. "He`ll have you out on
Tuesday, so you may as well make up your mind to it."
"Tell
him I can get work in Sydney, straight stuff, I mean. Tain`t asking
very much."
"I`ll
do what I can."
"And
come and tell me right away, will you? 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. He told his
wife what Miss Thompson had said to him and asked her to speak to
Mrs. Davidson. The missionary`s attitude seemed rather arbitrary and
it could do no harm if the girl were allowed to stay in Pago-Pago
another fortnight. But he was not prepared for the result of his
diplomacy. The missionary came to him straightway.
"Mrs.
Davidson tells me that Thompson has been speaking to you."
Dr.
Macphail, thus directly tackled, had the shy man`s resentment at
being forced out into the open. He felt his temper rising, and he
flushed.
"I
don`t see that it can make any difference if she goes to Sydney
rather than to San Francisco, and so long as she promises to behave
while she`s here it`s dashed hard to persecute her."
The
missionary fixed him with his stern eyes. "Why is she unwilling
to go back to San Francisco?"
"I
didn`t inquire," answered the doctor with some asperity. "And
I think one does better to mind one`s own business."
Perhaps
it was not a very tactful answer.
"The
governor has ordered her to be deported by the first boat that leaves
the island. He`s only done his duty and I will not interfere. Her
presence is a peril here."
"I
think you`re very harsh and tyrannical."
The
two ladies looked up at the doctor with some alarm, but they need not
have feared a quarrel, for the missionary smiled gently.
"I`m
terribly sorry you should think that of Dr. Macphail. Believe me, my
heart bleeds for the unfortunate woman, but I`m only trying to do my
duty."
The
doctor made no answer. He looked out of the window sullenly. For once
it was not raining and across the bay you saw nestling among the
trees the huts of a native village.
"I
think I`ll take advantage of the rain stopping to go out," he
said.
"Please
don`t bear me malice because I can`t accede to your wish," said
Davidson, with a melancholy smile. "I respect you very much,
doctor, and I should be sorry if you thought ill of me."
"I
have no doubt you have a sufficiently good opinion of yourself to
bear mine with equanimity," he retorted.
"That`s
one on me," chuckled Davidson.
When
Dr. Macphail, vexed with himself because he had been uncivil to no
purpose, went downstairs, Miss Thompson was waiting for him with her
door ajar.
"Well,"
she said, "have you spoken to him?"
"Yes,
I`m sorry, he won`t do anything," he answered, not looking at
her in his embarrassment.
But
then he gave her a quick glance, for a sob broke from her. He saw
that her face was white with fear. It gave him a shock of dismay. And
suddenly he had an idea.
"But
don`t give up hope yet. I think it`s a shame the way they`re treating
you and I`m going: to see the governor myself."
"Now?"
He
nodded. Her face brightened.
"Say,
that`s real good of you. I`m sure he`ll let me stay if you speak for
me. I just 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
governor. He was perfectly indifferent to Miss Thompson`s affairs,
the missionary had irritated him, and with him temper was a
smouldering thing. He found the governor at home. He was a large,
handsome man, a sailor, with a grey toothbrush moustache; and he wore
a spotless uniform of white drill.
"I`ve
come to see you about a woman who`s lodging in the same house as we
are," he said. "Her name`s Thompson."
"I
guess I`ve heard nearly enough about her, Dr. Macphail," said
the governor, smiling. "I`ve given her the order to get out next
Tuesday and that`s all I can do."
"I
wanted to ask you if you couldn`t stretch a point and let her stay
here till the boat comes in from San Francisco so that she can go to
Sydney. I will guarantee her good behaviour."
The
governor continued to smile, but his eyes grew small and serious.
"I`d
be very glad to oblige you, Dr. Macphail, but I`ve given the order
and it must stand."
The
doctor put the case as reasonably as he could, but now the governor
ceased to smile at all. He listened sullenly, with averted gaze.
Macphail saw that he was making no impression.
"I`m
sorry to cause any lady inconvenience, but she`ll have to sail on
Tuesday and that`s all there is to it."
"But
what difference can it make?"
"Pardon
me, doctor, but I don`t feel called upon to explain my official
actions except to the, proper authorities."
Macphail
looked at him shrewdly. He remembered Davidson`s hint that he had
used threats, and in the governor`s attitude he read a singular
embarrassment.
"Davidson`s
a damned busybody," he said hotly.
"Between
ourselves, Dr. Macphail, I don`t say that I have formed a very
favourable opinion of Mr. Davidson, but I am bound to confess that he
was within his rights in pointing out to me the danger that the
presence of a woman of Miss Thompson`s character was to a place like
this where a number of enlisted men are stationed among a native
population."
He
got up and Dr. Macphail was obliged to do so too.
"I
must ask you to excuse me. I have an engagement. Please give my
respects to Mrs. Macphail."
The
doctor left him crest-fallen. He knew that Miss Thompson would be
waiting for him, and unwilling to tell her himself that he had
failed, he went into the house by the back door and sneaked up the
stairs as though he had something to hide.
At
supper he was silent and ill-at-ease, but the missionary was jovial
and animated. Dr. Macphail thought his eyes rested on him now and
then with triumphant good-humour. It struck him suddenly that
Davidson knew of his visit to the governor and of its ill success.
But how on earth could he have heard of it? There was something
sinister about the power of that man. After supper he saw Horn on the
verandah and, as though to have a casual word with him, went out.
"She
wants to know if you`ve seen the governor," the trader
whispered.
"Yes.
He wouldn`t do anything. I`m awfully sorry, I can`t do anything
more."
"I
knew he wouldn`t. They daren`t go against the missionaries."
"What
are you talking about?" said Davidson affably, corning out to
join them.
"I
was just saying there was no chance of your getting over to Apia for
at least another week," said the trader glibly.
He
left them, and the two men returned into the parlour. Mr. Davidson
devoted one hour after each meal to recreation. Presently a timid
knock was heard at the door.
"Come
in," said Mrs. Davidson, in her sharp voice.
The
door was not opened. She got up and opened it. They saw Miss Thompson
standing at the threshold. But the change in her appearance was
extraordinary. This was no longer the flaunting hussy who had jeered
at them in the road, but a broken, frightened woman. Her hair, as a
rule so elaborately arranged, was tumbling untidily over her neck.
She wore bedroom slippers and a skirt and blouse. They were unfresh
and bedraggled. She stood at the door with the tears streaming down
her face and did not dare to enter.
"What
do you want?" said Mrs. Davidson harshly.
"May
I speak to Mr. Davidson?" she said in a choking voice.
The
missionary rose and went towards her.
"Come
right in, Miss Thompson," he said in cordial tones. "What
can I do for you?"
She
entered the room.
"Say,
I`m sorry for what I said to you the other day an` for - for
everythin` else. I guess I was a bit lit up. I beg pardon."
"Oh,
it was nothing. I guess my back`s broad enough to bear a few hard
words."
She
stepped towards him with a movement that was horribly cringing.
"You`ve
got me beat. I`m all in. You won`t make me go back to `Frisco?"
His
genial manner vanished and his voice grew on a sudden hard and stern.
"Why
don`t you want to go back there?"
She
cowered before him.
"I
guess my people live 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 Francisco?"
"I`ve
told you."
He
leaned forward, staring at her, and his great, shining eyes seemed to
try to bore into her soul. He gave a sudden gasp.
"The
penitentiary."
She
screamed, and then she fell at his feet, clasping his legs.
"Don`t
send me back there. I swear to you before God I`ll be a good woman.
I`ll give all this up."
She
burst into a torrent of confused supplication and the tears coursed
down her painted cheeks. He leaned over her and, lifting her face,
forced her to look at him.
"Is
that it, the penitentiary?"
"I
beat it before they could get me, she gasped. "If the bulls grab
me it`s three years for mine."
He
let go his hold of her and she fell in a heap on the floor, sobbing
bitterly. Dr. Macphail stood up.
"This
alters the whole thing," he said. "You can`t make her go
back when you know this. Give her another chance. She wants to turn
over a new leaf."
"I`m
going to give her the finest chance she`s ever had. If she repents
let her accept her punishment."
She
misunderstood the words and looked up. There was a gleam of hope in
her heavy eyes.
"You`ll
let me go?"
"No.
You shall sail for San Francisco on Tuesday."
She
gave a groan of 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 lifted her up:
"Come
on, you mustn`t do that. You`d better go to your room and lie down.
I`ll get you something."
He
raised her to her feet and partly dragging her, partly carrying her,
got her downstairs. He was furious with Mrs. Davidson and with his
wife because they made no effort to help. The half-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. He gave
her a hypodermic injection. He was hot and exhausted when he went
upstairs again.
"I`ve
got her to lie down."
The
two women and Davidson were in the same, positions as when he had
left them. They could not have moved or spoken since he went.
"I
was waiting for you," said Davidson, in a strange, distant
voice. "I want you all to pray with me for the soul of our
erring sister."
He
took the Bible off a shelf, and sat down at the table at which they
had supped. It had not been cleared, and he pushed the tea-pot out of
the way. In a powerful voice, resonant and deep, he read to them the
chapter in which is narrated the meeting of Jesus Christ with the
woman taken in adultery.
"Now
kneel with me and let us pray for the soul of our dear sister, Sadie
Thompson."
He
burst into a long, passionate prayer in which he implored God to have
mercy on the sinful woman. Mrs. Macphail and Mrs. Davidson knelt with
covered eyes. The doctor, taken by surprise, awkward and sheepish,
knelt too. The missionary`s prayer had a savage eloquence. He was
extraordinarily moved, and as he spoke the tears ran down his cheeks.
Outside, the pitiless rain fell, fell steadily, with a fierce
malignity that was all too human.
At
last he stopped. He paused for a moment and said:
"We
will now repeat the Lord`s prayer."
They
said it and then, following him, they rose from their knees. Mrs.
Davidson`s face was pale and restful. She was comforted and at peace,
but the Macphails felt suddenly bashful. They did not know which way
to look.
"I`ll
just go down and see how she is now," said Dr. Macphail.
When
he knocked at her door it was opened for him by Horn. Miss Thompson
was in a rocking-chair, sobbing quietly.
"What
are you doing there?" exclaimed Macphail. " I told you to
lie down."
"I
can`t lie down. I want to see Mr. Davidson."
"My
poor child, what do you think is the good of it? You`ll never move
him."
"He
said he`d come if I sent for him."
Macphail
motioned to the trader.
"Go
and fetch him."
He
waited with her in silence while the trader went upstairs. Davidson
came in.
"Excuse
me for asking you to come here," she said, looking at him
sombrely.
"I
was expecting you to send for me. I knew the Lord would answer my
prayer."
They
stared at one another for a moment and then she looked away. She kept
her eyes averted when she spoke.
"I`ve
been a bad woman. I want to repent,"
"Thank
God! thank God! He has heard our prayers."
He
turned to the two men. "
"Leave
me alone with her. Tell Mrs. Davidson that, our prayers have been
answered."
They
went out and closed the door behind them.
"Gee
whizz," said the trader.
That
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. But even then he did not go to bed at once, for through the
wooden partition that separated their rooms he heard him praying
aloud, till he himself, exhausted, fell asleep.
When
he saw him next morning he was surprised at his appearance. He was
paler than ever, tired, but his eyes shone with an inhuman fire. It
looked as though he were filled with an overwhelming joy.
"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
transformed."
The
doctor was feeling wan and nervous.
"You
were with her very late last night," he said.
"Yes,
she couldn`t bear to have me leave her."
"You
look as pleased as Punch," the doctor said irritably.
Davidson`s
eyes shone with ecstasy.
"A
great mercy has been vouchsafed me. Last night I was privileged to
bring a lost soul to the loving arms of Jesus."
Miss
Thompson was again in the rocking-chair. The bed had not been made.
The room was in disorder. She had not troubled to dress herself, but
wore a dirty dressing-gown, and her hair was tied in a sluttish knot.
She had given her face 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. Davidson?" she asked;
"He`ll
come presently if you want him," answered Macphail acidly. "I
came here to see how you were."
"Oh,
I guess I`m OK. You needn`t worry about that"
"Have
you had anything to eat?"
"Horn
brought me some coffee."
She
looked anxiously at the door.
"D`you
think he`ll come down soon? I feel as if it wasn`t so terrible when
he`s with me."
"Are
you still going on Tuesday?"
"Yes,
he says I`ve got to go. Please tell him to come right along. You
can`t do me any good. He`s the only one as can help me now."
"Very
well," said Dr. Macphail.
During
the next three days the missionary spent almost all his time with
Sadie Thompson. He joined the others only to have his meals. Dr.
Macphail noticed that he hardly ate.
"He`s
wearing himself out," said Mrs. Davidson pitifully. "He`ll
have a breakdown if he, doesn`t take care, but he won`t spare
himself."
She
herself was white and pale. She told Mrs. Macphail that she had no
sleep. When the missionary came upstairs from Miss Thompson he prayed
till he was exhausted, but even then he did not sleep for long. After
an hour or two he got up and dressed himself, and went for a tramp
along the bay. He had strange dreams.
"This
morning he told me that he`d been dreaming about the mountains of
Nebraska," said Mrs. Davidson.
"That`s
curious," said Dr. Macphail.
He
remembered seeing them from the windows of the train when he crossed
America. They were like huge mole-hills, rounded and smooth, an they
rose from the plain abruptly. Dr. Macphail remembered how it struck
him that they were like a woman`s breasts.
Davidson`s
restlessness was intolerable even to himself. But he was buoyed up by
a wonderful exhilaration. He was tearing out by the roots the last
vestiges of sin that lurked in the hidden corners of that poor
woman`s heart. He read with her and prayed with her.
"It`s
wonderful," he said to them one day at supper. "It`s a true
rebirth. Her soul, which was black as night, is now pure and white
like the new-fallen snow. I am humble and afraid. Her remorse for all
her sins is beautiful. I am not worthy to touch the hem of her
garment."
"Have
you the heart to send her back to San Francisco?" said the
doctor. "Three years in an American prison. I should have
thought you might have saved her from that."
"Ah,
but don`t you see? It`s necessary. Do you think my heart doesn`t
bleed for her? I love her as I love my wife and my sister. All the
time that she is in prison I shall suffer all the pain that she
suffers."
"Bunkum,"
cried the doctor impatiently.
"You
don`t understand because you`re blind. She`s sinned, and she must
suffer. I know what she`ll end-dure. She`ll be starved and tortured
and humiliated. I want her to accept the punishment of man as a
sacrifice to God. I want her to accept it joyfully. She has an
opportunity which is offered to very few of us. God is very good and
very merciful."
Davidson`s
voice trembled with excitement. He could hardly articulate the words
that tumbled passionately from his lips.
"All
day I pray with her and when I leave her I pray again, I pray with
all my might and main, so that Jesus may grant her this great mercy.
I want to put in her heart the passionate desire to be punished so
that at the end, even if I offered to let her go, she would refuse. I
want her to feel that the bitter punishment of prison is the
thank-offering that she places at the feet of our Blessed Lord, who
gave his life for her."
The
days passed slowly. The whole household, intent on the wretched,
tortured woman down-stairs, lived in a state of unnatural excitement.
She was like a victim that was being prepared for the savage rites of
a bloody idolatry. Her terror numbed her. She could not bear to let
Davidson out of her sight; it was only when he was with her that she
had courage, and she hung upon him with a slavish dependence. She
cried a great deal, and she read the Bible, and prayed. Sometimes she
was exhausted and apathetic. Then she did indeed look forward to her
ordeal, for it seemed to offer an escape, direct and concrete, from
the anguish she was enduring. She could not bear much longer the
vague terrors which now assailed her. With her sins she had put aside
all personal vanity, and she slopped about her room, unkempt and
dishevelled, in her tawdry dressing-gown. She had not taken off her
nightdress for four days, nor put on stockings. Her room was littered
and untidy. Meanwhile the rain fell with a cruel persistence. You
felt that the heavens must at last be empty of water, but still it
poured down, straight and heavy, with a maddening iteration, on the
iron roof. Everything was damp and clammy. There was mildew on the
wail and on the boots that stood on the floor. Through the sleepless
nights the mosquitoes droned their angry chant.
"If
it would only stop raining for a single day it wouldn`t be so bad,"
said Dr. Macphail.
They
all looked forward to the Tuesday when the boat for San Francisco was
to arrive from Sydney. The strain was intolerable. So far as Dr.
Macphail was concerned, his pity and his resentment were alike
extinguished by his desire to be rid of the unfortunate woman. The
inevitable must be accepted. He felt he would breathe more freely
when the ship had sailed. Sadie Thompson was to be escorted on board
by a clerk in the governor`s office. This person called on the Monday
evening and told Miss Thompson to be prepared at eleven in the
morning. Davidson was with her.
"I`ll
see that everything is ready. I mean to come on board with her
myself."
Miss
Thompson did not speak.
When
Dr. Macphail blew out his candle and crawled cautiously under his
mosquito curtains, he gave a sigh of relief.
"Well,
thank God that`s over. By this time tomorrow she`ll be gone."
"Mrs.
Davidson will be glad too. She says he`s wearing himself to a
shadow," said Mrs. Macphail. "She`s a different woman."
"Who?"
"Sadie,
I should never have thought it possible. It makes one humble."
Dr.
Macphail did not answer, and presently he fell asleep. He was tired
out, and he slept more soundly than usual.
He
was awakened in the morning by a hand placed on his arm, and,
starting up, saw Horn by the side of his bed. The trader put his
finger on his mouth to prevent any exclamation from Dr. Macphail and
beckoned to him to come. As a rule he wore shabby ducks, but now he
was barefoot and wore only the lava-lava of the natives. He looked
suddenly savage, and Dr. Macphail, getting out of bed, saw that he
was heavily tattooed. Horn made him a sign to come on to the
verandah. Dr. Macphail got out of bed and followed the trader out.
"Don`t
make a noise," he whispered. "You`re wanted. Put on a coat
and some shoes. Quick."
Dr.
Macphail`s first thought was that something had happened to Miss
Thompson.
"What
is it? Shall I bring my instruments?"
"Hurry,
please, hurry."
Dr.
Macphail crept back into the bedroom, put on a waterproof over his
pyjamas, and a pair of rubber-soled shoes. He rejoined the trader,
and together they tiptoed down the stairs. The door leading out to
the road was open and at it were standing half a dozen natives.
"What
is it?" repeated the doctor.
"Come
along with me," said Horn.
He
walked out and the doctor followed him. The natives came after them
in a little bunch. They crossed the road and came on to the beach.
The doctor saw a group of natives standing round some object at the
water`s edge. They hurried along, a couple of dozen yards perhaps,
and the natives opened out as the doctor came up. The trader pushed
him forwards. Then he saw, lying half in the water and half out, a
dreadful object, the body of Davidson. Dr. Macphail bent down - he
was not a man to lose his head in an emergency - and turned the body
over. The throat was cut from ear to ear, and in the right hand was
still the razor with which the deed was done.
"He`s
quite cold," said the doctor. "He must have been dead some
time."
"One
of the boys saw him lying there on his way to work just now and came
and told me. Do you think he did it himself?"
"Yes.
Someone ought to go for the police."
Horn
said something in the native tongue, and two youths started off.
"We
must leave him here till they come," said the doctor.
"They
mustn`t take him into my house. I won`t have him in my house."
"You`ll
do what the authorities say," replied the doctor sharply. "In
point of fact I expect they`ll take him to the mortuary."
They
stood waiting where they were. The trader took a cigarette from a
fold in his lava-lava and gave one to Dr. Macphail. They smoked while
they stared at the corpse. Dr. Macphail could not understand.
"Why
do you think he did it?" asked Horn.
The
doctor shrugged his shoulders. In a little while native police came
along, under the charge of a marine, with a stretcher, and
immediately afterwards a couple of naval officers and a naval doctor.
They managed everything in businesslike manner.
"What
about the wife." said one of the officers.
"Now
that you`ve 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 fixed up a little."
"I
guess that`s right," said the naval doctor. When Dr. Macphail
went back he found his wife nearly dressed.
"Mrs.
Davidson`s in a dreadful state about her husband," she said to
him as soon as he appeared. "He hasn`t been to bed all night.
She heard him leave Miss Thompson`s room at two, but he went out. If
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. Davidson.
"But
why did he do it?" she asked, horror-stricken.
"I
don`t know."
"But
I can`t. I can`t."
"You
must."
She
gave him a frightened look and went out He heard her go into Mrs.
Davidson`s room. He waited a minute to gather himself together and
then began to shave and wash. When he was dressed he sat down on the
bed and waited for his wife. At last she came.
"She
wants to see him," she said.
"They`ve
taken him to the mortuary. We`d better go down with her. How did she
take it?"
"I
think she`s stunned. She didn`t cry. But she`s trembling like a
leaf."
"We`d
better go at once."
When
they knocked at her door Mrs. Davidson came out. She was very pale,
but dry-eyed. To the doctor she seemed unnaturally composed. No word
was exchanged, and they set out in silence down the road. When they
arrived at the mortuary Mrs. Davidson spoke.
"Let
me go in and see him alone."
They
stood aside. A native opened a door for her and closed it behind her.
They sat down and waited. One or two white men came and talked to
them in undertones. Dr. Macphail told them again what he knew of the
tragedy. At last the door was quietly opened and Mrs. Davidson came
out. Silence fell upon them.
"I`m
ready to go back now," she said.
Her
voice was hard and steady. Dr. Macphail could not understand the look
in her eyes. Her pale face was very stern. They walked back slowly,
never saying a word, and at last they came round the bend on the
other side of which stood the ir house. Mrs. Davidson gave a gasp,
and for moment they stopped still. An incredible sound assaulted
their ears. The gramophone which had been silent for so long was
playing, playing ragtime loud and harsh.
"What`s
that?" cried Mrs. Macphail with horror.
"Let`s
go on," said Mrs. Davidson.
They
walked up the steps and entered the hall. Miss Thompson was standing
at her door, chatting with a sailor. A sudden change had taken place
in her. She was no longer the cowed drudge of the last days. She was
dressed in all her finery, in her white dress, with the high shiny
boots over which her fat legs bulged in their cotton stockings; her
hair was elaborately arranged; and she wore that enormous hat covered
with gaudy flowers. Her face was painted, her eyebrows were boldly
black, and her lips were scarlet. She held herself erect. She was the
flaunting quean that they had known at first. As they came in she
broke into a loud, jeering laugh; and then, when Mrs. Davidson
involuntarily stopped, she collected the spittle in her mouth and
spat. Mrs. Davidson cowered back, and two red spots rose suddenly to
her cheeks. Then, covering her face with her hands, she broke away
and ran quickly up the stairs. Dr. Macphail was outraged. He pushed
past the woman into her room.
"What
the devil are you doing?" he cried. "Stop that, damned
machine."
He
went up to it and tore the record off. She turned on him.
"Say,
doc, you can't do that stuff with me. What the hell are you doin` in
my room? "
"What
do you mean?" he cried. "What d`you mean?"
She
gathered herself together. No one could describe the scorn of her
expression or the contemptuous hatred she put into her answer.
"You
men! You filthy, dirty pigs! You`re all the same, all of you. Pigs!
Pigs!"
Dr.
Macphail gasped. He understood.
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