, 1913-04-24


He used to come down in his whale
boat to visit Hughie and me. When his
boats crew decided to go home he had
to cut his visit short to accompany
them. | remember n Sunday after
noon when Packard had accepted our
invitation to stop to dinner. The soup
was just served when Hughie saw a
niger peering in through the door. He
went out to him. for it was n violation
of Berande custom. Any niger has to
send in word by the VI boys Inc to
keep outside the compound. This man,
who was n of Packard's boats crew.
was on the vernnda. And he knew bet
ter, too. What name?' said Hughie.
You tell m white man close up we
fella boats crew go along. He no
come now. we fella boy no wait. We
GO
And just then Hughie fetched him
a clout that knocked him clean down
the stairs and off the %veranda."
But 1t was needlessly cruel" Joan
objected. You wouldn't treat a white
man that way"
And that's just the point. He wasn't
a white man. He was a low black
niger. and he was deliberately Insult
ing. not alone his own white master.
but every white master in the Solo
mons. He insulted me. He insulted
Hughie. He insulted Berande.'
"Of course. according to your lights.
to your formula of the rule of the
strong
Yes" Sheldon interrupted. but II
was according to the formula of the
rule of the weak that Packard ruled.
And what was the result? / am still
alive. Packard is dead. He was III
swervtngly kind and gentle to his boys.
and his boys waited till one day he was
down with fever. His head is over
on Malaita now. They carried away
two whaleboats as well filled with the
loot of the store. Then there was Cap.
tain Mackenzie of the ketch Minota.
He believed In kindness and paraded
around the deck without even u re-
volver on him. He n tomaha wked.
His head remains i'm Malaita. 1t was
suicide. so was Packard's finish sui
eide. You must understand one thing.
Berande. bar none. is by far the worst
~ Az t'oiotiohS bo "a h5
the labor is concerned. And how II
came to be so proves your point. The
previous owners Of Berande were not
discreetly kind. They were n pair of
unadulterated brutes. One was a down
east Yankee. as ! believe they are cali.
ed, and the other was n guzzling der.
man.
"They were slave drivers. To begin
with. they bought their labor from
Johnny Be-blowed. the most notorious
recrniter In the Solomons. He is work.
ing out "A ten years sentence In FIT
now. for the wanton killing OF n black
boy. During his last days here he
had made himself so obnoxious that
the natives on Malaita would have
nothing to do with him. The only way
he could get recruits was by hurrying
to the spot whenever a murder or
series Of murders occurred. The muir
derers were usually only too willing to
sign on and get away to escape ven.
geance. Down here they call such
escapes pier head jumps There is
suddenly a roar from the beach. and
o niger runs down to the water pur-
ouNu ny NloulN " NIifiTS anu dTTOWS.
OF course, Johnny Be-blowed's whale
boat is lying ready to pick him IN
In his last days Johnny got nothing
but pier head jumps.
And the first owners OF Berande
bought his recruits hard bitten gang
Of murderers. They were all Ave year
boys. Well. that's the gang Of murder
ers we've got on our hands now. or
course. some are dead. some have been
killed. and there are others serving
sentences at Tulagi, Very little clear
Ing did those first owner do. and less
planting. II was war all the time.
They had one manager killed. One OF
the partners had his shoulder slashed
nearly of by a cane knife. The other
was speared on two different occasions.
They We're chased away literally
chased away-by their own niggers.
And along came poor Hughie and me,
two new chums. to take hold Of that
hard bitten gang. We did o know
the situation. and we had bought
Berande. and there was nothing to do
but hang oil and muddle through some
how.
Al 6rst we made the mistake of in.
discreet kindness. We tried to rule
by persuasion and fair treatment. The
niggers concluded that we were afraid.
Then came tho day when Hughie rep.
rimanded one of the boys, and was
nearly killed by the gang. The only
thing that saved him was the number
on top of him, which enabled me to
reAch the Snni In lime