Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-17
CHAPTER XIv-Gontinued.

0arSman, and Immediately poli "eiS Gil
veloped in a thick black covering or mos
quitoes-plain, old-fashioned Jersey mos-
ouitoes nothing else Immediately they,
too, set up yelling. They, too, commenced
to beat their hands and breasts and faces.
"Mosquitoes! yelled Smith Gooo boru'
let's get out of this
But a half dozen men rushed into the
water, and placing into the hands of Smith
and his men some fresh green boughs, they
dragged the boat up upon the beach.
"Oh Keefe," they cried, patting him upon
the back. "Oh Keefe."
And then Smith observed a phenomenon
He noted that the instant the green Dough
was placed in his hand the mosquitoes de-
serted him Not altogether, for now and
then one Drawer than the rest would swoop
down upon him and Smith would find 1t
necessary TO make vicious dive with MS
hand every other second He noted that
the men all about him were engaged in do
ing nothing more or less than waving the
green boughs and killing stray mosquitoes
Smith and his man were covered with
bites. One of the natives, however, crushed
a few of the green, tender leaves IN ms
hand and rubbed them upon the affected
spots. The relief was immediate
Smith, of course, did not understand the
language of these men, but he did recog-
nize two words, "OKeefe' and swat
And he knew that for the present time he
in good hands, save when the mos
auitoes became unusually fierce. But grad
ually he learned to do as the others did,
and so to manipulate his green bough in
such manner as to keep the insects at
bay. He examined one or two of these mos
Quitoes and found them in every way of
the same kind as the American variety. But
there one distinguished feature-they
were much smaller and much more vicious,
too.
The Inhabitants were noisy. But even
when their mouths were still, Smiths ears
were assailed with the constant swish and
slap of hands against faces, breasts and
sides.
Swat swat, swat" said Smith to HIM
self, that's all l seem to hear" Suddenly
he smote his thigh
by George. I've got it, he suddenly ex-
claimed. Swat, that's how they named
the place I'D If it amt"
Smith was right. The derivation of names
is usually an unknown quantity. In this
case it very simple The island upon
which Smith had landed had ever been
the home of the mosquito Its inhabitants
naturally were compelled constantly to slap
and slap and slap The sound which they
made was swat swat, swat. Now some
sounds are difficult to express in spoken
language. But Charles Reade In bit of
fiction called The Box Tunnel" has writ
ten into the English language the sound
that is made by a masculine feminine kiss.
He says that that sound in plain English
is nothing else than "Pweep." Perhaps
he is right. though the sound varies ac-
cording to temperament and ardor. But
he and he alone has turned it into a writ
ten word
But the sound made by the open hand
coming into contact with any other por-
ton of the human body Except when ad-
mnistered In a certain form by prudent
mothers: in which case it may be called
"Whack) is always the same. 1t is plain
swat" And IL sounds the same in Eng
fish as it does in Choctaw. The people of
Swat. having from time immemorial been
bothered by mosquitoes and having always
INDUCED in this Shaping process, grad
ually became to be known the people
of Swat. And Smith had discovered 1T.
and he was everlastingly right.
Swat" he said, lis their name, and
Swat's their nature. too
But there is ever a comparative element
In nature. Providence tempers the wind
to the shorn lamb. In marshes reeking
with malaria germ and missm1 he has
placed the plant that yields the drug qui-
nine-the thing that cures malaria. In the
Island of Swat. swept as 1t was by the
larger germs. mosquitoes, he had placed
antidote. This antidote consisted in the
green trees from which the boughs used
by the natives had been torn. Like cures
ike. The Island of Swat was breeder Of
mosquitoes. but it was death to them. at
that. But the mosquitoes. always just
little ahead of the game, as they had given
rise to the sound of swat. had given rise
also to the name of Swat
Later Constitutional Smith had time to
revolve all these curious things In his mind.
In the meantime. however. he was busy
with the things at hand
Smith found that the more prosperous in
the island kept their bodies covered during
the mosquito season. He. therefore, was
able without comment to keep his tattoo
marks. and the sticking plaster which Still
covered them in spots well hidden. O'Keefe
had been there in the winter season. AS
he left. it will be remembered he, too, had
been bitten by mosquito-the first har-
binger of spring. Smith had arrived In
The height of the summer season.
He found himself socially and politically
a lion. And there were still vague whjs-
pers In the air that sounded like oh keefe
-Akoond." These whispers grew into
murmur. and then rumbled on into a shout.
The cry again was long ana loud, "Oh
Keefe. Akoond of Swat"
1t was the tribute of savagery to ciyili2a-
ton. 1t was the compliment of people
who had roughed 1t for centuries, to q man
who had taught them to enjoy life. how TO
work and how to play. They were stupid,
but they were appreciative.
The Akoond was all too pleased with this
disposition on the part of his people lie
had disposed of O'Keefe in secret some
months ago. He would only be too glad
to do 1t in public. He strutted about with
a smile of triumph on his face. lie aid
more. He egged on the followers of Oh
Keefe. He urged that Oh Keefe become a
candidate. He was magnanimous. even to
the point of suspicion. He sent men into
the field to root and howl f1r Oh Keefe
And they rooted and howled to their hearts
content: and so did everybody else.
Constitutional Smith soon understood the
situation. He acquiesced. lie said he
would run. He did not care how soon.
Neither did the Akoond. The Akoond did
not even prepare himself as he HAD been
wont to do
But the thing was arranged and day
was set. This time. thought the Akoond
Oh Keefe's day had surely come. This
time it was just as WELL perhaps, to make
a complete finish of him. The Akoond
fair man, but his rival had become
persistent This time he would kill him
and have done with 1t. 1t was easy enough.
Then there would be an end to this vague
unrest
Constitutional Smith spent his time in
the interim in prospecting the island. He
was looking for gold. He did not find any.
He found nothing-nothng at all. but
superabundance OF this fresh green vege-
tation that seemed death to the mosqui-
toes. And he found marsh after marsh
which was life to the mosquitoes And he
found nothing else The Isle of Swat was
indeed a God-forsaken place.
But Smith did not repine. He did not
rail at O'keefe. He knew that O'Keefe
had done him, but he did not acknowledge
that fact himself. There were worse things
than being upon the Isle of Swat, and for
the time being he was content. He loafed
and lived, and for the present that would
do
He almost forgot about the great battle