Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-05-16
KING DAVID'S FRIEND.
WRITTEN FOR THE EVENING STAR BY
WALTER BEsANT.
CHAPTER I.
ssTTAyE YOU GOT YOUR LETTERS By
tha mail Ion1den?"

"HAvE YOU GOT YOUR LETTERS BY
HNo. haven't. my SON never do get any
letters. have left of expecting letters"
His chum. who was q new arrival, looked sur
prised-
.sWhy, man, I've been here fifteen years-ff-
teen wears; think Of that Fifteen years III
were a coolie, dead and buried fifteen years
AGO. nv grave trodden level with the ground,
i couldn't be more forgotten"
But you've got friends at home. You must
have people"
IF have There's NV elder brother, the Prig-
I've got him. And there are cousins by dozens,
first and second and second once removed.
And had q father; but he is dead, poor old
mani Friends? Plenty of friends. As for
friendships-welll But once I had q true
friend We outdid David and Jonathan So
far as know David never-but. then, Jonathan
died Young and perhaps there were passages.
Ours was a divine, an ideal friendship-no two
friends ever more so; because, you see. In the
higher planes Of friendship what one gives the
other has got to accept The world doesn't
understand this for there IL no friendship in
business: and are mostly business men,
therefore there are no friends"
81 don't understand"
mo more do now. It was magnificent, but
true friend once, q more than pal, a closer than
brother. Where is that true friend now?'
when you go home again"
II never shall go nome again, sonny. This
is my home Very thankful I ought to be to
have such a home What more can a man de-
sireg From 10 to the healthful labor OF the
Office. Home to this elegant mansion at g. A
stroll on the shore till half-past or so. Dinner
the finest dinner in the world, with the best
claret In the world No promotion, even, to
agitate the soul"
You will get promotion some day. You
must Oh il is shameful"
You viii. you boy. As for me-what does it
natter draw two hundred rupees q month.
i am junior in the audit Office. We live in
this agreeable mansion of three rooms and
veranda- Its walls are made Of packing cases,
and its roof is made of the tin which fol merry
lined those cases: it is surrounded by a lovely
compound containing three ragged bananas
and prlckly Pear. and it Is furnished sumptu-
ously. Behold! Style, second empire, for the
most part"
The speaker man with a countenance still
rudy, spite Of his tropical experience. and
big brown beard, a large-hmbed man-lay back
in his chair and replaced his pipe between his
lips He spoke bitterly, but his face was not
bitter and his eyes were as kindly as the eyes of
any silver king or lord Of a nitrate boom could
be. The other was q young man of one and
twenty, Just beginning his career in the same
splendid services which had taken away the
elder mans youth The united resources Of
this mess were slender, and when the rent of
twenty rupees a month had been paid and the
wages of their one servant and the dhobie and the
claret (Which was dear at Sd. the bottle) and
the whisky and the stringy beef and the skinny
chicken which graced their board, there really
was very little left for the minor Injuries
Yet in lands where twice year there falls no
shade on any side Of rock or house the minor
Injuries are to most the simplest necessities
On the two sides of the room were two small
bed rooms in each a bed q mosquito curtain
an arm wire, . chair and a washstand- The
room in front opened upon a small veranda
well, my boy" Longden went on, '.you
shall have better luck; you shall get promoted
early; you shall leave me and meet with other
promotions-chief clerk, presently, in YOUR
department; acting head of department; sent
on to some other colony as head; colonial sec
rotary somewhere else; lieutenant governor
C.MG., governor, KONG. Heart up,
sonnyi The world is all before you"
The younger man was a little Disconnected
at this outburst; when one Is twenty it is hard
to understand that q man Of five and thirty.
which seems an age SO advanced, and q man
who has stuck IN his upward fight, and one
who is invariably cheerful and apparently con-
tented, should ever have had ambitions
Longden's case was exceptional There are
plenty Of shady Englishmen who get taken on
In the colony in obscure branches of the gov
eminent services with never q chance or a hope
Of promotion; but for young man to be actu-
ally sent out by the colonial Office at the age of
twenty to begin, as he should, with his foot on
the lowest rung and then to be left there is not
common. After fifteen years he remained
junior In his department.; he drew it is true
f240 year, or double his original paw, but he
had been passed by all his contemporaries and
now remained stuck fast, apparently forgotten.
IL was said that there was some scandal about
him which stood in the way of his promotion
something he had done. What that was did
not take definite form. Here, however was
the fact: An English gentleman, of good family.
1aft in. - IL
service, five and thirty years of age, possessed
Of every quality that should command success.
What did it mean?
There's some news in the Commercial
special, said the young.fellow. "We've got
new governor. He comes out next mail Here's
the paper"
be tossed it over. There was half column
hastily printed with a summary of the month
Longden glanced down the paragraphs. Sud-
denly he started. sat up and dropped the
'.Good Lord - he cried.
what is it?' asked his companion
Longden sprang TO his feet. Then he stepped
out upon the little veranda before the cottage
and began to walk up and down with an energy
worthy of his native land in an east wind.
Presently Longden came back and took IN
the paper and read slowly a second time the
paragraph that had startled him. ..Sir Henry
DIVERSION Dunkeld, K-C.B., is the newly APP
pointed governor. Sir Henry Dunkeld. the
eldest son of Major General Dunkeld. RIA. was
educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where
ne obtained q hrst-class and a fellow ship in the
year 1915. He was called to the bar in 1877; he
sat In the house Of commons for the borough of
Chester on the conservative side from 1879 to
lSS2- he was then appointed lieutenant gov
ernor Of Penang In 1854 he was made gov
ernor Of the Leevard Islands. Sir Henry is
believed to possess great administrative abili-
ties; he Is personally popular; he is said TO pos
sess great charm Of manner. and his sympa-
thies with any religious and philanthropic
movement are well known"
Good Lord!' said Longden once more.
and am an assistant clerk in his audit
ONCE"
CHAPTER III.
he stepped out again upon the versnda- The
Sea breeze had sprungup; the air was refreshed.