Evening star., 1923-09-02


had the variety of malaria which
comes upon alternate days, and
would be ill in the future on Mon
days. Wednesdays and Fridays.
1 was still trife weak, and my
face. viewed in the reflection from a
mud-puddle beside the track, ap-
peared sallow and pale. But / stag
gered along for an hour. until I came
to village. In Chinese shop 7
brealtfasted.
Refreshed, l was about to resume
my march, when along came a freight
train bound in my direction, and /
promptly perched myself upon a fiat
car. A brakeman interviewed me in
Siamese, but when i offered him a
few brass pennies he accepted them
and made no objection to my riding.
| wondered what my acquaintance in
Bangkok. the Prince Of Kambaeng
Bejra, to whom / had paid my ad-
dresses, would say if he knew that
his recent interviewer was now steal
ing ride on one of his freight cars.
1t was a slow train, but it was bet
ter than walking. II crawled south
ward through a monotonous brown
jungle of scraggly briars. passing
several tiny stations that were mere
sheds in a clearing. and stopping at
two or three good-siZed villages
where crowds gathered to cape at me.
At one of these villages the freight
was sidetracked to permit the daily
passenger train to pass. 1t ratified by
at tantaliZing speed, affording me a
glimpse of firSt-claSS compartments
filled with a motley horde of all sorts
OF Asiatics.
:: * X
I ATE that night we overlook it at
l. Chumphon. Only once week is
there an express that reaches Singa-
pore in three days, running at night
as we'll as by day. The other trains
stop each evening at a village like
Chumphon. The rest house at Chum-
phon was a comfortable-loo place
where a Chinaman rented rooms and
served meals at prescribed prices, but
his rates, while comparatively cheap.
were beyond my means, and i camped
in a wicker steamer chair upon his
veranda. Unable to sleep, / walked
back to the railway station. Another
freight was waiting there, and some
coolies were loading it with pigs.
The last pig went on board with pro-
testing SQuealS, the engine shrilled its
whistle. q convulsive jerk communi-
Gated itself in turn from car to car
and I followed the pig. i was no
longer particular where / slept and the
pigs did not seem to be afflicted with
smallpox. Spreading my blanket be-
tween two of them. I actually fell
asleep, and slept until broad daylight.
when a group of laughing Siamese
train hands awoke me.
Presumably. they wanted to know
how 1 got there. Inspired with brill
liant idea, made the signs of drink
ing. Then 1 sat w, looked at the pigs
as though 1 saw them for the first
time, and rubbed my head in a bewil-
dered manner. l was trying to convey
the impression that it was a morning
AFTER and my acting must have been
good. for they all laughed uproariously
and repeated my gestures of drinking.
Drink, in the oriental mind, explains
many otherwise inexplicable perform
ances on the part of Europeans. and
the explanat tion seemed to establish my
gentility.
There was no caboose on board, but
the train-hands, still laughing. es-
corted me to the top of a freight car
where there were no pigs. My malaria
came back on scheduled time. but /
had swallowed several of the pills
which my erstwhile French friend,
Henri, had given me many weeks
,I,ilJ aIyin
The ride was rather pleasant. An
other shower had fallen during the
night, and the land was ablaze with
color. To put the finishing touch TO
the most beautiful and picturesque Of
] p e S. there became visible
through the palms in the east an oc-
casional patch of blue sea. the Gulf of
Siam. with the brown sails of Chi
nese junk upon the horizon
Beneath a cloudless sky, it seemed
to be pretty good world after all.
Nightfall brought us to Surashtra
DIANA matched village of Chinese
brown river.
AS tumbled off the car-the brake
men showed me by signs that We were
going no farther-a native came hur-
rying forward with the air of a man
who had been sent to receive me, and,
seizing my pack, started with it to-
ward a launch moored at the river
bank. He. was a nice-looking Siamese
youth, clean, and dressed in European
garb save for his bareEfeet, and when
demanded explanations he merely
said, "AIl right, Mister" which ex-
hausted his English vocabulary. but
he kept on toward the launch. and
paused for me to precede him on board.
Once before, IN Chantaboun, I had
climbed into a launch without asking
where it was going. and had been re-
warded with a free ride to Bangkok
Once again I decided to take chance
The "All right, Mister" sounded prom
Using, and three other Siamese boatmen
placed a steamer chair for me on the
forward deck, as though they, too, were
waiting specially for me. And, accept
ing the seat, 1 watched the cocoanut
trees sweep past as we chugged down.
stream toward the sea.
TT SEEMS that the launch was from
i the lumber camp of the Danish
East Asiatic Company at a port called
Bandon. The boss had been expecting
a European visitor on the passenger
train; the visitor had missed the train,
and when / dropped off the freight
the Siamese boatmen, mistaking me for
the man they had been sent to meet,
were bringing me to the camp.
The manager, however, a massive
Swede, was good sport. The mis-
take amused him, and when l intro
duced myself as a vagabond author,
stressing the author rather than the