The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1912-04-20


always temptation. But Calvin, MD,
could divide his state of mind down
the middle and say: This much is
epression-consequen upon climate
and the dear girl l left behind me:
and this much is temptation to quit
Bustorah nstantly--consequen upon
q lust to be something better than
mediocre medical man under contract
to British Government, rushed out TO
q green pool with scum OF it, merely
because clerk in the Foreign ONCE
happened to notice its name on the
map" The place of the pool is called
iMadgeldar and gives on the wilderness,
being policed by lions and furtively
patrolled by flies who are dedicated to
the DEVILS secret service, spreading
disease from eye to eye and mouth to
mouth: they are sentinels of sorrow
upon the bronze faces of Arab chill
dren. But one learns nothing of Mad
geldar from the maps, except that it
is almost on the southern line of So
maitland in East Africa: bar one map,
2 printed at Milan, which says on its
ample margin. Mail service via Alden
or Zanzibar"
Calvin, MD, never anticipated mail;
his whole trouble was that he never
anticipated anything. He was, extrin-
sically, tragedy: lie. a first-rate mind
with f1fth-rate opportunities. but it is
ever Gods mercy that heads wins in
such toss-ups with Destiny when alco-
hol is not playing the game. Also it
Is well to remember that whales die
tum as be disgorged Jonah, for 1t Is
hard to keep a good man down.
The mall brought him, as rule,
At Cxrkt D.
manager of the Alexandra Hat Shop,
Every Lady's Every Wish Antici-
pated." Bond Street, London, w. He
kissed these letters when they came
II his sly Somali servants weren't
looking-and when he had finished
reading them he put his red, Scotch
head in his hands and cursed with ar
dor. Curses and prayers are twin
brothers in simple natures like Gal
WINS. Within his mighty heart the
ache of personal failure throbbed on,
and always Sybil receded, home grew
blurred even in the clear light of his
LIES desire. The Arabs about him
would have been surgical opportunities
had not their religion forbidden the
knife's healing uses, and sons of the
wilderness know such a lot of pre-
ventive medicine that other than surgi-
cal emergencies do not arise except
with women; and, bien esttendu. these
women of emergencies do not arise
either, but die without doctors as priv
acy dictates, and are buried In shallow
graves.
And he had never anticipated mail
less than on the day when his oppor-
tunity arrived by 1t. Dawn had broken
over the tangled green and waving
palms, bent in a sand-laden breeze
from the Somali desert. Day meant
nothing but glare to him now as he
stood In his pajamas on the housetop
and looked into the swiftly illumin-
ated emptiness. God" he cried, in
his intolerable loneliness, IF it breaks
me. I've got to get away!"
AS his eyes fell again to the heavy
steely sea whose breakers threw out
their own complaint on the shores
tawny strip, he caught sight of the
BGrGsoG arrived unexpectedly from
Mogdesha and dropped anchor with a
rattle in the harbor he wished he had
never seen.
This sight of the little steamer.
which weaves Oecident and Orient to-
gether into the Swallowed pattern of
mems lives, stimula, Calvin to
point where he bathed 4 called his
boy, Bultak, to 90 for his letters. go
you, Bultak," he called in Arabic, land
bring me good news quickly. The
steamers anchor has cried out in the
town, while you still sleep like dead
elephant" Then, half as memorial
service to his mother. half as a petition
for mitigation of his unspeakable lot
In lie, he said the Lords Prayer,
standing and in loud whisper His
coffee and two impeccable eggs were
dispatched with his tired eyes on the
brilliant vacancy outside a decently
curtained window. He dethroned a
black ant on the summit of his jam
pot and leaned back in his chair,
dreaming of power and one woman's
kindness and wondering if either
would ever be his-except for the pur-
pose OF dreams. He was still sitting
AT the breakfast table when the letters
{ came to him-one from the Foreign
!. ONCE and the other from Sybil Rae.
5 His mood of apprehension was ever
: great before he opened home letters
: and now he snatched at the note which
he felt most threatening of harm, and
tore of strip from the heavy paper
ssof Great Britain's official envelope for
Foreign ONCE Mail.
"MAGNUs GA WIN, Esq, MD" the
II letter ran,
q Sir: AS consequence of terri
: torial readjustment for purposes
: of administration, we have named
i you Commissioner for the Busto-
8 Yah District; from the Italian
= boundary on the north to the Tin
. gua-Zingua River on the south,
s from Tipi as western border to
& Magellan and the littoral. Your
salary is $1,000, with house privi-
1eges and travelling allowance, and
5 the maintenance of household
staff. We suggest Tipi as your
residence. The post of District
Surgeon which you now hold is
& deemed unnecessary and is here
with abolished Permission is
granted you, however, to practise
s. your medical profession as you
= think fit. l have the honor to be,
sir,
4 Your obedient, humble servant,
e MIDLAND"
Z His face went white under the glar-