The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1938-03-26
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we were doing, and the schemes
we were attempting, to the future
effect Of the things we did.
Christine was here because Of
dead mans dream. It was An
thony Forester who had taught
her what to think
He had thought that he could
build something compact COM
plete, and orderly out Of raw
primitive stuff. He could not; and
it was silly for him to think 50.
Summarizing would De opened I'd,
surely, but there would be half
a century Of exploitation, and an
other half century Of diplomacy
by governments On the other side
OF the world.
IN the end there would be a
certain Improvement doubtless;
but by the time It came most OF
the population would have died
on Of white mems diseases. as
they were already dying IN the
South Seas-and the thing itself
would be no more than q rJorly
adapted imitation Of something
European. Why did Forester
think that such a big advantage?
Had he never seen q London slun7
We had started BY thinking An
thony Forester q fool; then we
had grown to respect both what
he had done and what he planned;
but now / looked through ant be-
yond, and respect died, and | saw
that the whole thing was fatuous
and short weight.
Yet it had brought his daughter
here. where she should never be-
and Christmas insistence had
dragged IN Clyde. Now that he
was roped in, Clyde was not fol-
lowing ForreSter's dreams, but his
own In its way his plan was as
fantastically over-ambitious as
Forrester's, but it was built Of
harder. more durable stuff. Clyde
was the trader. a man set upon q
viii to exploit, dominate, and
possess
All For Her
IN the end he would destroy his
= health and his hopes and every
thing else, in his effort TO get
richer than any man ever needed
to be. Asia and the South Seas
were dotted all over with men
like Clyde-self-seeking adven-
turers whose attempt TO win big
profits opened the way. He cared
nothing about flags nor empires
but the great empires were built
upon the bones Of men like him.
And upon men Ike me. / was
here because ] worked for Clyde.
At bottom ! was nothing but first
mate Of the Linkane. on shore
duty that had carried me a long
way out Of line. But like the others,
/ brought TO this a violent folly Of
my own which carried me to q
fantastic extreme. beyond all duty.
cared nothing about Clyde's
plan to make himself extremely
rich: could see no advantage 70
being . rich man stuck IN the
Siderong river. And | waa not in
spired BY the thought OF power
upon land and sea in the Suman-
tang area: ! would as soon have
been the most popular character
IN a zoo. cared even less about
Anthony Forrester's dream, which
Christine had inherited. to bring
the British flag 70 Summarizing. !
owed no allegiance 70 any flag IN
these waters. and very little TO my
own. which was very far away,
and played no part In this quarter
OF the world 1 was opposed to
Malays as . matter OF course, but
when il came TO the future OF the
DyaS-I saw very few possibil-
tiles IN a people who had no OBJ
iections TO headhuntine.
! was bound into this thing By
Christine. It was Christine her.
self who was my flag. | no longer
believed that / would ever be able
70 forget this girl The Tomarrup
jungle was he'll OF black water,
and the thought Of her didn't
make il any better: but what she
could do-hsd done-was to make
al the rest Of the world empty and
desolate-as empty as the rest Of
my life
Sometimes I thought OF trying
20 take her away from James
Clyde. But II had seemed to me
from the first that she belonged
70 him. 50 that any false move On
my part would have been much
worse than lost That much was
decided. and could not be changed.
Il went On. habit pushing me
through motions that had all gone
meaningless. There was nothing
alive IN me any more. except q
nagging. aching hunger for the
least glimpse Of Christine, the
least touch OF her fingers. the least
sound Of her voice. no longer
cared where / was. Or whether l
was standing I'd or lying down,
Or whether ! ever ate
There was one exception TO this
II knew ! had 20 get out Of Bal-
ingong, II only for q short respite.
u ] had % Be near her every DAY
was going 70 be racked apart
had % get out Of there-and the
chance % penetrate the Tomzrrup
was 3 rescue. in q way. did not
dread being left headleSs IN the
Tomarrup: what I dreaded. al
though war-necessify dictated IL
was ever going back To know
certainly that vas never coming
cut Of there would have been 4
blessed relief. in the Ightless
world In which I was now lost
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