The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1908-10-08
lag. "Oh, that is Darling" was the

the brotherhood of man, hailed Us.
Hello. jack" he called. Hello,
Charmain!' He padded swiftly nearer
and saw that he was the tawny
prophet of the imont hills. He
came over the side, sun god clad
in a scarlet loin cloth, with presents Of
Already and greeting in both his hands
"a bottle of golden honey and leaf
basket filled with great golden man
goes. golden bananas speked with
freckles of deeper gold, golden pine
apples and golden lines, and juicy
oranges minted from the same precious
ore of sun and soil. And in this fash
ion, under the southern sky, 1 met once
more Darling, the Nature Man.
Tahiti is one of the most beautiful
spots in the world, inhabited by thieves
and robbers and liars, also by several
honest and truthful men and women.
Wherefore, because of the blight cast
upon Tahiti's wonderful beauty by the
spidery human vermin that infest it, /
am minded to write not of Tahiti, but
of the Nature Man. He, at least, is
refreshing and wholesome. The spirit
that emanates from him is so gentle
and sweet that it would harm nothing,
hurt nObOdy's feelings save the feel
ings Of a predatory and plutocrat1c
capitalist.
what does this red flag mean?" 1
asked.
Socialism, of course"
Eyes, yes, I know that 1 went on;
but what does it mean in your
hands?''
why, that I've found my message"
"And that. you are delivering it to
Tahiti?" I demanded incredulously
Sure he answered simply; and
later on 1 found that he was, too.
When We dropped anchor, lowered a
small boat into the water, and started
ashore, the Nature Man joined us.
Now, thought I, shall be pestered to
death by this crang. Waking or sleep
ing, l shall never be quit of him until
l sail away from here.
But never in my life was more mis-
taken. 1 took a house, and went to
live and work in it, and the Nature
Man never came near me. He was
waiting for the invitation In the
meantime he went aboard the Shark
and took possession of her library, de-
lighted by the quantity of scientific
books, and shocked, as I learned after
ward, by the inordinate amount Of fic-
ton The Nature Man never wastes
time on fiction. = 50
After week or SO my conscience
smOte me- and 1 invited him to dinner
at a down. town hotel. He arrived,
looking unwOntedly stiff and uncomfor-
table in cotton jacket. When invited
to peel it off, he becamed his gratitude
and joy, and did SO. revealing his sun
gold skin, from waist TO shoulder, COW
cred only by a piece of fish net of
coarse Irvine and a large mesh. A
scarlet loin cloth completed his cost
ume. I began my acquaintance with
worthy fool he proved. Between hand
springs and whirligigs he delivered
his message that would save the world.
1t was twOfold: First, let suffering
humanity strip off it's clothing ana
run wild in the mountains and val
legs; and, second, let the very miser-
able would adopt phonetic spelling.I
caught a glimpse of the great social
problems being settled by the city pop
ulations swarming naked over the
landscape, to the popping of shotguns,
the barking of ranch dogs, and count
him that night. anu during my long
stay in Tahiti that acquaintance ripen-
I'D into friendship.
$50 YOU write books" he said one
day. when, tired and sweaty, finished
my mornings work.
Il, too, write books" he announced.
Aha, thought 1, now at Last is ne 60
ing to poster me with his literary eff
forts. My soul was in revolt. 1 had
not come all the way to the South Seas
to be literary bureau
"This is the book 1 write" ne ex-
planned, smashing himself a resounding
blow on the chest with his clenched
fist. "The gorilla in the African jungle
pounds his chest till the noise of 1t can
be heard half mile away"
"a pretty good chest" quoth I ad-
mirably; sit would make even a gorilla
enviOuS."
And then, and later, learned the de-
tails of the marvellous book Ernest OAR
ling had written. Twelve years ago he
lay close to death. He weighed but
80 pounds and was too weak to speak
Inc uOctOrS Hdu given MIN up. HIS
father, a practising physician, had Civ
en- him up. Consultations with other
physicians had been held upon him.
There was no hope for him. Overstudy
Gas a schoOlteache- and as university
suddenly and two successive attacks
of pneumonia were responsible for his
breakdown. Day by day he was los
ing strength. He could extract no nu-
triton from the heavy foods they gave
him; nor could pellets and powders
help his stomach to do the work of
digestion. Not only was he a physi-
cal wreck, but he was a mental wreck
His mind was overweight. He was
sick and tired of medicine, and he was
sick and tired of persons. Human
speech Jared upon him. Human at
tentions drove him frantic. The thought
came to him that since he was going to
die, he might as we'll die in the open,
away from all the bother and irrita-
ton. And behind this idea lurkeo a
sneaking idea that perhaps he would
not die, after ALL if only he could
escape from the heavy foods. the medi-
cineS and the ell-intentiOned per-