Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1915-05-19
CHAPTER !.
East Ia East.
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lent Irrawaddy, remembered by man
only so often as it was necessary for
the f1otilla boat to call for paddy, q
visiting commissioner anxious to get |
away, or a family homeward bound.
On the east side of the river, over |
there, was semblance of civilization. |
That is to say, men wore white linen. |
avoided murder, and frequently paid |
their gambling debts. But on this |
kind one reads about as being eventu- |
ally conquered by white men; no, the
real, grim desolation, where the Ak
cuts but leaves no blaze, where the
pioneer disappears and few or none
follow. It was not the wilderness OF
the desert, of the Jungle; rather the
tragic, hopeless state Of a settlement
that neither progressed, retarded nor
stood still.
Between the landing and the settle
ment itself there stretched winding
road, arid and treeless, perhaps two
miles in length. It announced def
nitely that it's end was futtlity. The
dust hung like fog above 1t, not only
for this day, but for all days between
the big rains. When the gods, or the
elements, or Providence, arranged the
world as fit habitation for man, In
dia and Burma were made the dust
bins. And as water finds its levels,
so will dust, earthly and human, the
quick and the dead.
Along the road walked two men,
| phantomlike. One saw their heads
dimly and still more dimly their bodies
to the knees; Of legs there was moth
ing visible. Occasionally they stepped
aside to permit some bullock cart to
pass. One of them swore, not with
any evidence of temper, not viciously,
but in kind of mechanical protest.
which, from long usage, had become q
habit. He directed these epithets
never at anything he could by mental
or physical contest overcome He
swore at the dust, at the heat, at the
wind, at the sun.
The other wayfarer, with the inner
ent patience of his blood. said nothing
and waited. setting down the heavy
kit bag and the canvas valise (hil
own). When the way was free agair
he would sling the kit bag and the
valisa over his shoulder and step bach
into the road. His turban, once white
was brown with dust and sweat. Hi
khaki uniform was rent and the rag
ged canvas shoes spurted little spiral'
of dust as he walked. James Hooghl.
was Eurasian; half European. half In
dian, having his place twixt heavel
and hell, which is to say, nowhere HI
was faithful, willing and strong; am
as a carrier of burdens took unmul
muringly his place beside the tireles
bullock and the elephant. He was
Methodist; why, no one could find II
cid answer. By dint Of inquiry hi
master had learned that James locke
upon his baptism and conversion
Methodism as corporal would hav
looked upon the acquisition Of Y.
Twice, during fever and plague, b
had saved his masters life. With th
guilelessness of the Oriental he col
sidered himself responsible for hi
master in all future times. Instead {
paying off a debt he had acquired on
Treated as he was, kindly but alwaJ
firmly, he would have surrendered b
life cheerfully at the beck OF the whit
man.
Warrington was an American. +
was also one Of those men who nev<
held misfortune In contempt, who's
outlook wherever It roamed was tc
Grant. He had patience for the wea
resolution for the strong and tea
less amiability toward all He WI
like the st. Bernard dog, very diff
cult to arouse. It is rather the We
with all men who are strong mental
and physically. He was tall and broa
and deep. Under the battered pit
helmet his face was as dark as tt
Eurasian's; but the eyes were blu
bright and small pupiled. as they q,
with men who live out Of doors, wi
are compelled Of necessity to moi
things moving at distances. The MOI
was large and well defined. A
framed In tangle Of blond beard IN
mustache which. II anything. adde
to the general manliness OF his q
pearance He, too, wore khaki, b.
gings, which had seen anything b
rockinghorse service. The man WI
yellow from the top OF his helmet
: the soles Of his shoes-outside. Fl
the rest, he was mystery. to Jane
to all who thought they knew him, n
most of all to himself A pariah. 9
outcast, fugitive from the bloodlel
hand If the law: a gentleman Dor
once upon a time a clubman, collet
bred; contradiction, q puzzle 4
which there was not any solution, n
even in the hidden corners OF Il
mans heart. His name wasn't We
rington; and he had rubbed elboy
with the dregs Of humanity, and at
looked you straight in the eye becau
he had come through inferno witho
bringing any Of the defling pitch.
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