Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-06

mot now the King Of okky has closed
the roads," said Smith decisivefy.
Now Swizzle-Stick Smith had long list
of failings, but letting his assistants eat
Nothing like work-and moderate
amount of drugs-for keeping fever and
mischief out of man." was his motto. and
he saw to 1t that Carter remained steadily
on the run. But now the roads were
stopped. and II was only the rare merchant
who struggled in scared, and often wound
ed. from that mysterious Africa behind,
George Carter discovered that life was a
very different thing. Beforetime, he had
found work in the feteesh and around the
factory generally trial TO the flesh. but
the idleness that took its place was in
finitely more Objectionable.
He employed the Krooboy staff in white
washing, in building, in making a carica-
ture of a garden; he made the native clerks
polish up their books into a shape that
would have satisfied even a Glasgow char
tered accountant, and for himself he made
Okky arrows, axes, spears, drums and war
horns in such quantities that even the
curiosity shops of Europe would have been
glutted if they had all gone home.
In despair he even thawed to a certain
intimacy with the Portuguese lnguister.
but presently cast him off in disgust and
realized why on the West Coast one d-
vides up the population into white men,
black men and Portuguese. OF course.
White-Man s-Trouble was always at his
elbow, but he hardly fulfilled the require
ments of companion.
To be precise after the roads were
stopped and Mr.. Smith had departed else
where, the trader-in-charge of la-Nulla
factory discovered for himself what many
millions of men have found out before,
that 1t is not good for man to live alone,
and though he made many ingenious plans
for remedying the evil. all of these, save
one, invariably broke down on being tested.
The one plan that was sound related to
Laura Slade.
Every time that Laura's name inserted
itself into the argument his mind would
presently leap back to Upper Wharfedale
and he would hear afresh that warning of
his fathers about taking a wife of ones
own color. And his father. he reminded
himself. had once held an Indian chaplaincy
and knew what he talking about.
But by degrees, as this proposition was
argued out again and again. and the lone
illness of West Africa in general, and MALTA
Nulla in particular bit deeper and deeper
home, did England and all that dwet
therein drift further and further away. He
had found occasion the day after he had
been left In sole charge of the factory to
send a business note to Slade at Smooth
River In it he Enclosed another to Laura.
and to this latter he received a reply that
he found charming. The affairs of the
factories required many messages after
that, and presently the pair of them did
away with the cloak and pretense of COM
merce altogether, and White Man s-Trouble
kept trotting backward and forward
across the glaring beaches, frankly as Gu
pid's messenger Only once did Slade in
terfere, and that was when the krooboy,
presuming on his peculiar position stole
from the Smooth river factory some article
of more than customary value S.ade said
nothing publicly. but took the law into his
own hands, and after the custom of the
Coast banged White-Man s-Trouble Justify
with section of a packing case; and even
then Carter would have known nothing