The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1902-01-08
CHAPTER III.

Out at sea-all by itself-somewher
about thirty miles from a certain good
sized island in certain ocean there lies
another little island-an eyot--a mile
long and half mile broad. 1t is
coral islet; the coral reef stretches out
all round it except in one or two places
where the rocks shelve, suddenly MAX
ing it possible for ship to anchor
there. The islet is fiat, but all round it
runs kind of natural sea wall about
two feet high and as many broad; be-
hind it, on the side which the wall pro-
tects from the wind, is little grove of
low-stunted trees, the name of which
the successive tenants of the island
were never curious to ascertain. The
area protected by the sea wall, as low
as the sea level, was covered all over
with low, rank grass. At the north end
of the islet a curious round rock exactly
like martello tower, but rather higher,
rose out of the water, separated from
the sea wall by twenty or thirty feet of
deep water, dark blue, transparent,
sometimes rolling and rushing and
tearing at the sides of the rock, some
times gently lifting the seaweed that
chung to the sides. Round the top of
the rock flew, screaming, all the year
round, the sea birds. Far away in the
horizon like little cloud, one could
see land; it was the larger island to
which this place belonged. At the
south end was a lighthouse, built just
like all lighthouses with low, white
buildings at it's foot and flagstaff and
an inclosure which was a feeble at
tempt at flower garden. Half mile
from the lighthouse where the sea wall
broadened into a wide level space there
was wooden house of four rooms
dining-room, salon and two bedrooms.
1t was a low house provided with a
veranda on either side; the windows
had no glass in them but thick shutters
in case of hurricanes. There were doors
to the rooms, but they were never shut.
Nothing was shut or locked up or pro-
garden in which roses-a small red rose
grew in quantities and few English
flowers; the elephant creeper with it's
immense leaves clambered up the veran-
da poles and over the roof; there
was a small plot of ground planted
with pineapples, and solitary banana
tree stood under the protection of the
house, it's leaves blown to shreds, it's
head bowed down.
Beyond the garden was collection
of three or four huts where lived the
Indian servants and their families.
The residents of this retreat-this Sc
cluded earthly paradise-were theirserv
ants withtheir wives and children; the
three lighthouse men, who messed to-
gether, and the captain, governor or
commander in chief, who lived in the
house all by himself because he had no
wife or family.
Now, the remarkable thing about this
island is that, although it is 50 far
away from any other inhabited
place, and although it is so small,
the human oC cupants number many
thousands. With the exception of the
people above named, these thousands
want nothing, neither food nor drink.
They lie side by side under the rank
grass, without headstones or even
graves to mark their place; without a
register or record of their departure;
without-cotfins. There they lie, sailors,
soldiers, coolies, negroes, forgotten and
lost, as much as if they had never been
born. And if their work lives after
them nobody knows what that work is.
They belong to the vast army of the
anonymous. Poor anonymous! They
do all the work; they grow our corn
and breed our sheep; they make and
mend for us; they build up our lives for
us; we never know them, nor thank
them, nor think of them; all over the
world they work for their far-off
brethren, and when one dies we know
not because another takes his place.
And at the last mound of green grass
or even nothing but an undistinguished
slip of ground
Here lay side by side, the Anonymous