The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1938-02-19

backache that he concluded in his
report that the quickest way out
would be to shoot the rajah.
Early In the first hour. my back
began to ache. Later / computed
that we sat there between four
and five hours; but by this time
] did not understand why day.
light did not come before we were
through. It seemed to me that We
sat there for weeks.
Yet, considering all this, the
exact facts behind MantuSen's dis
pleasure came out surprisingly
clear and soon.
= Il did not start this war" Clyde
said. | knew that ne stated this
less IN hope of convincing Mantu-
sen than of finding out what was
In Mantusen's mind. Il did not
plan any war"
Il believe you" Mantusen said.
Then just what do you think !
have done?"
"You have distrusted me too
much" said AIantusen. you have
tried to be TOO safe. You have
played with too much gunpowder"
At the moment did not under
stand this. but as they talked on
If became very plain.
Clyde had undertaken to run
guns to Mantusen in return for
certain trade monopolies. Natu-
rally, Clyde had considerable rea-
son to fear that MantuSen. once
armed. would repudiate his agree
mentS. What the typical white
trader liked to do, IN such case,
was to provide military threat OF
bis own, to sustain his rights in the
matter.
Mantusen conceived that this
was exactly what Clyde Rad done.
He thought that il was Clyde who
had caused tie Dyaks to gather.
The excellent guns with which
the Dyaks were now armed gave
very strong evidence in support OF
this theory In fact. if one threw
cut the possibility MantuSen
did-that the two white ships were
working against each other. the
theory that Clyde had armed the
DyakS became inevitable
81 still would have been fool
to attack Balingong." Clyde MAIN
tanned you and ! were in perfect
understanding. No disagreement
had come up. Why should ! attack
your"
Il do not think you meant TO at
tack me-yet." Mantusen said.
You should have knt wn that YOU
could not keep your Dyaks IN hand.
| only say you caused this do not
say you control il now"
Alantusen's Logic
GO THE nature OF the trap we had
- walked INTO was clearly de-
fined. Mantusen thought Clyde had
gathered the Dyaks as threat an
ace-in-the-hole. The guns the
Dyaks had were proof Of il He
assumed that the Dyaks had then
got out of hand while Clyde was
away.
It was so simple and inevitable,
l saw now. that there was no other
view Mantusen could have taken.
We should have foreseen il our
selves; we had guessed the Avon
rifles. But DyakS have so little 10
trade that il never occurred 10 US
that the rifles were not for the
Malays-and we walked in like
sheep.
The hopeless council went on.
Clyde was feeling his way over all
the possibilities of the situation as
it existed in MantuSens mind, Just
as he had felt his way up the Side
rong river IL was not the fault of
his diplomacy If everything he
found out was unfavoTable. He
was covering the ground. and m
FIVE hours he probably covered
more of it than anyone ever had
gone over with Mantusen in as
many days. before.
But. his fault or not. ii was true
that every card he turned seemed
to lie against us Mantusen's view
of the situation was so logical. IN
all ways so probable. that il left
no opening for attack. The only
flaw IN Mantusen's whole concep-
ton was that II was not true In
many ways We would have been
better of If IL kaa been true. for
then at least we could have looked
10 thegDyzsSRs our allies.
> sIhe hshcle tfouhle Vas thattheEe
appeared 10 e no bosSfbls Has al
showing Maatu-en how the Two
white ships could oe working at
cross purposes. For yeaEs white
men had been teaching ti1e island
peoples that white men always
work together. To great number
of the archipelago peoples. Europe
means everything beyond Singa-
pore. and different breeds of white
men are not distinguishable one
from another. MantaSen was well
beyond this limited type of theory:
but he had II definitely fixed IN his
mind that only one raiah laut was
IN control OF gun-running IN this
part Of the islands. and that no
other could nave intFuded except
by James Ciyde.s will.
You see. he knew Anthony For
roster. He had known Forester
for years. probably as q harmless.
mildly insane Englishman very
tenacious about repeated hunting
expeditions upon Summarizing. and
given % collecting Dyak trinkets
Of no value. Il was impossible for
mantusen 10 conceive Of Forester
as a man OF war. II ForreSter's
boat vas gun-rlnning 20 Suman-
tang. i was because Clyde had
chartered ~ or perhaps seized IL
That much vas unshakably fixed
IN the mind OF the Rajah MantuSen.
fCess~ts&s 1853 "a. EsRssl
HoW can thsy eseapee Read Moa-
day. chapter