TS
Bellefonte, Pa., April 18, 1930.
———
THE ROAD TO GALILEE
Rememberest thou the way
In sandal shoes He came,
Upon that day, that wonderous day
They spoke His holy name?
Hushed were the land and sea
As with an angel's breath—
It was the road to Galilee
That leads from Nazareth.
The path was sere and dried.
The vines had ceased to cling,
And on the dusty roadside cried
A bird with broken wing;
To bloom the dead leaves stirved
Beneath His footsteps pressed
And from His hand the wounded
bird
Flew to its waiting nest.
As on His Way He went,
The fold’s losts heep to seek,
He healed the arm in palsy bent,
And kissed the leper’s cheek.
And from the city’s din.
Stoned from the shadows, crept
The nameless one He cleansed from
sin
As at His feet she wept.
With corn was Canaan green,
Yet waited there no bed
For Him, the outcast Nazarene,
On which to lay His head.
The road to Galilee
Must lead Him, wandering still,
Up to the Cross on Calvary
That beckoned from the hill
Rememberest thou the hill
To which at last He came,
That day of days the world stood
still,
No more to be the same?
The grave no more to be
Victor again o'er death—
'Twas on the road to Galilee
That leads from Nazareth.
THE PUBLIC WIFE.
In the shade of a tamarind tree
beside the dirt road leading to the
little mosque old Ahmat Sebam,
guide and friend of the village youth
sat cross-legged. At his back was
the kampong’s drab cluster of huts;
facing him, three youths, squatted,
tracing designs in the dust with
their brown fingers.
The boys were just growing into
manhood and they listened eagerly
to what he said. The residents of
Sapaura both young and old, treated
Ahmat with respect, for there was a
benevolent dignity about him and
he had traveled far—to Java, to
Borneo, to certain of the Moluccas
and to simple folks like these he
was a superior person.
A portrait: painter would have
looked twice at Ahmat sitting there
beneath the tamarind tree, for he
had the tranquil air of a man at
peace with his soul. Time and
trouble had plowed deep furrows in
his face but there was no tired droop
to the corners of his mouth; his
grizzled hair was plentiful; his
eyes—humorous and friendly—were
as clear as a boy's. His broadcloth
baju and plaid sarong were, as al-
weys, freshly laundered, and his
feet were encased in clean white
spatus, for he was a man of means.
Occasionally a huge-wheeled dray,
loaded with sacks or rice or copra |
and drawn by a team of coolies— |
the people of Saparua were too |
poor to buy oxen or water buffalo— i
lumbered along the road, its rusted |
greaseless wheels squealing like |
pigs being leisurely dragged to the
slaughterhouse. Old women passed,
bearing on their heads flat baskets
of fish or sago cakes. One and all
called a salutation to Ahmat and
he responded in his deep singsong
voice without losing the thread of
what he was saying to the three
youngsters.
A man so ancient and decrepit
that he was obliged to walk with
the support of two sticks shuffled
past and Ahmat sent one of the boys
after him with a couple of copper ;
coins. The ancient snatched at
them with a clawlike hand, exhorting
Allah, in a high cackle, to send the
blessings of peace and plenty to
his benefactor; then he proceeded on
his uncertain way, looking more
like a bent skeleton that a human
being.
“As I have said,” Ahmat con-
tinued his discourse “Saparua is a
poor place for anyone who is am-
bitious to make provision for his |
old age. Observe Haider!” With out- |
thrust chin he indicated the wretch-
ed figure retreating down the road.
“All the days of his early life he
toiled honorably with his fishing |
prihu and in the rice fields, but he |
made barely enough to supply his |
immediate needs. When his joints |
stiffened and his muscles turned |
traitor he was as poor as though he !
had squandered his years in idle- !
ness. So it is likely to be with all |
who remain here. Ya Allah! It is
sad. :
“No doubt,” he proceeded after al
ruminative pause, “our all-wise |
Creator put us here for some pur- |
pose of His own but He did not |
decree that we stay rooted to this |
very soil. The time has come for |
you to put idleness behind you and
to shoulder the work of men.
“I counsel you to journey with- |
out delay to richer countries, where '
honorable effort is more justly re-
warded. Having made yourselves
secure against old age you may de-
cide, as I did, to return to the
place of your birth, which will be |
pleasing to your parents and a rec-
ognition of Allah's beneficence.”
Another pause followed during
which the three young men con-
tinued, without speaking, to make
designs in the dust. Silence in the
presence of elders is demanded of:
the Malay youth; he may not chat-
ter or ask questions unless he is in-
vited to do so.
Ahmat’s deep voice sounded again.
“Many callings there are to choose
from. The bazaars, ships, rubber
{ The white tuan,
| stretches and the blood begins
plantations, the trades of shoemak-
ing and tailoring,
pleasant an existence or offers the
same rewards as that of serving a
white tuan in his house.
“It is a position of honer, for a
faithful servant becomes his mas-
ter's friend and if the master is
good the servant acquires merit
from him. He eats plentifully and
sleeps always in quarters secure
from the night mists—both food and
lodging being provided by the tuan.
He may, therefore, lay by the
greater part of his earnings against
that day when he is no longer able
to earn.
“But much is expetced of a
house servant. He must be clean
in his person; he must be honest,
truthful, willing and diligent. He
must see all, hear all—and say
nothing. At all times he is ignorant
—except when questioned by his
master. Then he knows everything.
“My advice to you is to seek em-
ployment such as I followed. Be
sure that you enter the service of a
tuan who is upright in habit, for he
will be generous of heart and his
virtues will bring profit to you and
ease to your declining years.
“It was my excellent fortune to
serve such a tuan—Allah protect
him in health and in sickness—
and when he had finished here and
returned to England he gave me a
thousand guilders. That, added to
what I had saved, made me a
man of substance and enabled me
to spend the evening of my life in
honor among my own people.
“It is said here in the village
that I squander my money upon the
decrepit and the unworthy and that
misfortune will overtake me, but the
white people have a saying that
bread cast upon the waters will
draw fish, and my master was for-
ever repeating it. It is a fact that
Providence rewarded him and I
remember once—"
Ahmat broke into a quiet chuckle;
the boys looked up at him expect-
antly.
“Listen earnestly,” he said, “and
you shall hear how great good for-
tune came in a strange manner
Tuan Ross Hewlett in repayment for
an unselfish act. There can be mo
harm in telling of it now, for he has
been long gone from this country
and it may profit you as it profit-
ed him and me.”
Ross Hewlett was in his thirtieth
year and he measured over Six
feet, so Ahmat described him; his
features were well shaped, his skin
deeply and permanently bronzed by
the tropical sun. One would have
been hard put to it to size the man
up at a glance, for a bulldog English |
jaw was contradicted by
which might have belonged to
gentle priest.
Hewlett was the owner of several
pearl-fishing luggers that worked
the waters surrounding the Arus,
a small group of islands at no great
distance
Papua, and at the time of Ahmat’s
story he had experienced a most
disastrous season. To begin with,
the catch of both shell and pearls
had been extremely poor; then
acreless divers had grounded two of
his boats upon reefs, where they
had broken to pieces, and in addi-
tion he had suffered from several
attacks of malaria which had ren-
dered him incapable of watching
operations with the necessary alert-
ness.
gray eyes
a
No matter which side of the is-
lands his boats had gone to fish,
there the wind had blown, making
it difficult for the divers to work.
Misfortune had followed misfortune,
so it seemed. Ill luck had made
sport of Ahmat and his master.
B
Wor doely in debt and completely
stumped for ready cash; had it not
been for a substantial loan made
to him by another pearler he would
have had to sell some of his boats
to meet his men’s wages at the
“lay-up.” Things indeed were bad... |
{Ahmat shook his
memory. :
On top of all this Hewlett had re-
ceived a letter from his wife in
England stating that she had sold
their house in Surrey and had
bought a larger one; she asked
him to send her a check for twelve
hundred pounds as soon as possible.
who adored his
wife, realized that this request
could not have come at a more un-
fortunate time, and the Malay, who | pungalow that Ahmat first saw the
girl and he described her as very |
read the letter, after the fashion
of all good eastern servants, agreed
with him.
Dobo, where Hewlett lived when
ashore is the one and only town in
the Aru Islands. As described to
the three youthful listeners, it was
hardly a town at all but a shabby
settlement which had grown up on
a flat point jutting out from the
jungle, and it consisted of three
rows of wood and galvanized iron
buildings divided by two sandy
streets.
The stores belonged to Arabs,
Chinese, Japanese and Malays—the
dwellings were for the most part
Japanese yoshiwaras and the Malay
houses of equal ill repute. Near
the beach were a few bungalows
where lived the white men who
owned the pearl-fishing boats.
During nine months of the year
Dobo is deserted, for the pearling
craft are all at sea and they donot
return until the monsoon comes
to churn the water and make it
too cloudy for the divers to work.
As this season approaches the
town awakens; it yawns aid
course through it. The Dutch
steamer brings a hundred or more
Japanese girls, most of whom have
been sent by old Ariki, owner of
innumerable yoshiwaras scattered
like chain stores through every
town of importance from Yokohoma
down.
They come with a happy care-
free spirit, these girls, each carry-
ing a bundle of gay kimonos and a
box of combs, hairpins and face
paints. Scores of Malay girls ar.
rive to fill the native houses. Ahmat
called it a mighty gathering of the
“public wives.” Also come bravely
dressed Eurasian and Japanese men,
illicit dealers in pearls, who as-
and a multitude | semble to buy secretely and at' cause it
-or others, but none of them affords so | bargain prices
from divers and
to |
from the west coast of |
the end of the season Hewlett |
head at the:
crew, the gems that have been stolen
during the working period.
. It is a simple matter to steal
pearls. The old man, who had once
been a lugger hand, told the boys
how it was done. When the master
is out of sight of the luggers, the
the shells are plunged into a bucket
of hot water, This causes them to
open, and if there are pearls in-
side they may be seen and removed.
After a while the shells close again
of their own accord and no one can
tell that they have been tampered
, with. Many pearls are stolen each
year in this way.
From the steamer that brings the
women and pearl dealers to Dobo
great quantities of bales and cases
are sent ashore for the stores.
These contain clothes and food,
sake, beer and gin.
ers are no longer idle but hasten
.to and fro in the heat swearing at
"the coolies who do not bring the
i stuff up from the beach quickly
‘enough to suit them.
! In the stores there is much un-
packing, and merchandise is laid out
in readiness for the profitable sea-
{son that is at hand. Rooms at the
,back of these stores are prepared
| for gambling and cock fighting.
| Then, when the muttering mon-
‘soon finally breaks, the pearling
| luggers are beached to be cleaned,
i painted and repaired. The divers,
{tenders and crew—Japanesse and
, Malays, for the most part—are paia
off and Satan comes to Dobo. Seven
{or eight hundred men who have
been cooped up on shipboard for
{ many months, each with a pouch
| of money, swarm over the place and
turn it into hell.
The yoshiwaras are like mad-
“houses. Day and night for the next
itwo months they are filled with
. drunken, shouting men. There is
i music and merriment, delirium and
{ woe. The gambling houses are
| thronged. Money flows like water
{and fishermen sometimes lose their
| whole year’s earnings at a single
i sitting.
Needless to say, there are quar-
| rels and robberies, stabbing and
I shootings; one hears triumphant
| laughter, screams of terror and
‘shouts of despair. Dancing girls, en-
tirely devoid of covering, perform
! snakelike contortions for those who
pay to see them. The illicit pearl.
| dealers furtively ply their trade.
{ Occasionally the body of a murder-
,ed man is found on the beach, but
| people are too busy with life to
! concern themselves greatly with
: death.
Such is Dobo in the lay-up
son.
{men go about their business
{ heedless of the pandemonium as
it were imaginary.
The lay-up was about a week old
|and Dobo’s madness was at its
| height when Ahmat’s tuan, during
the course of his customary evening
i stroll, heard a sound of weeping.
| Inevstigation disclosed the fact
that it came from a girl seated
dejection upon the back steps of
sea-
as
being too deeply concerned with his
own troubles to bother himyelf
with those of a stranger.
He had proceeded no more than
a dozen paces, however, before it
cccurred to him that this was not
the first time he had heard this
same girl grieving in this very spot.
| steps and inquired brusquely:
“Why are you crying?”
At the sound of Hewlett’'s voice
{ the girl looked up. Perhaps she was
i more than a bit surprised at being
| addressed in her own language by
{a white man.
| “Make haste. Tell
, wrong,” he directed her.
| “Oh, Tuan,” she said, “everything
‘is wrong. I am most unhappy.”
| Ahmat in telling his story cleverly
| mimicked his master’s voice and the
{ higher-pitched tones of the girl.
“Yes; but what exactly is the
| trouble? Or don’t you want to tell
ime?”
{ “It is not that, Tuan.
| take so long and—"
“Well, if
me
It would
it’s a long story we'd
(and talk it over. Come along.”
| Stooping, he raised her up and led
her by the arm back whereof he
| come.
! It was when they entered the
young and as beautiful as a deli-
cate flower newly opened. She was
‘small and slender, and her eyes
were not mere slits like those of
most Japanese; they were large and
| warm and lustrous, Her nose was
: straight, too, and her nostrils sen-
sitive; her mouth had a pretty pout.
Hewlett plainly was as much im-
pressed as his servant at this ex-
quisite creature, dressed in a wlue
coloring from a cloudless sky.
“Sit down,” he said, placing a
chair for her.
She watched him without speak-
ing as he filled and lighted a pipe,
the while Ahmat went for whisky
| and soda.
| “Now,” the white man said, seat-
ing himself opposite her, “tell we
all about it.”
The girl promptly dropped to her
knees bowed her head and humbly
| thanked him for condescending to
i listen.
i Hewlett lifted her up and put
ter back on the chair. Ahmat well
knew that in spite of six years in
the tropics his
| embarrassed by certain of
tom.
“Don’t do that,” he said. “Sit up
and talk to me. I can see you
better then.”
“Tuan,” she began after a mo-
ment. “my name is Otoya and Iam
seventeen, I come from a little vil-
lage in the interior of Japan, where
my parents are small rice farmers.
They are poor, so poor indeed that
often we go without food tc eat.
Like many of the girls of my class I
entered the yoshiwara, for which I
receive an advance of five hundred
yen from my employer.
“This I did, not because I wished
to lead that kind of life, but be-
was the only way—"
- Otoya’s voice quavered. She finished
its cus-
The storekeep- !
Through it all, the few white |
if
| better step down to my bungalow
master was stili
AR
simply, “The five hundred yen I
gave to my parents.
“In Japan,” she explained, “it is
not counted shameful for a girl to
engage in such an occupation, but
I did not fully understand what it
meant. My only thought was to
help my parents, as my mother had
helped hers.
“With Ariki I signed the customs,
ary contract. It provided that one-
third of my earnings would be mine,
another third would go to the
yoshiwara, and the remaining third
would be retained by him until the
advance was cleared. After that I
would be free to leave his service if
I so desired. Most of the girls con-
tinue in the houses until they have
saved enough money to attract a
husband.”
A wry expression passed across
Hewlett’'s face, but he said nothing.
“On the day of signing the con-
tract,” Otoya went on, ‘I was ship-
ed with other girls to Dobo. At first
I was ill from the motion of the
ship and heartbroken at leaving my
people; later, Tuan, when I was less
ill terror overcame me. I tried to
put it out of my mind but—Oh, sir,
I think I shall kill myself!” She
‘fell to plucking her fingers, she be-
gan to shake wretchedly.
“When we came to Dobo I wept
for many hours, whereupon the old
woman in charge of the yoshiwara
laughed at me and scolded me. Each
day there have been more and more
scoldings because I—I am afraid.
When the other girls put on their
fine clothes, I run away to that
step where you found me,
‘Ariki’s old woman calls me timid
and foolish and dishonest; she has
threatened to cast me out into the
street. That would force my
parents to refund the advance and
the cost of sending me to Dobo. It
is a matter of law.”
' “Yes, I suppose it is,” Hewlett
nodded.
“But Tuan,” Otoya cried, “we
cannot return the money, for it
has been spent to repair the farm!
I greatly fear Ariki will send my
parents to prison.
can I do what is required of me in
the yoshiwara? Each day I promise
that I will—but when night comes
my courage fails.” Tears of distress
overflowed the speaker’s eyes.
In telling the story, Ahmat con-
fessed that he felt a great com-
passion for the little Japanese girl;
she was so young, so dainty, and so
deeply agitated, and he could see
that his employer was likewise con-
| cerned for he sat a long while
staring at the bowl of his pipe.
Finally he looked up and asked
- sharply:
|
| “How much do you owe that in-
fernal place?”
Otoya calculated rapidly: in-
| cluding her passage from Japan, she
estimated that her debt must be
close to seven hundred yen.
| “Not a lot of money at any other
in | time,” Hewlett growled, as if to 8uchi met the Englishman's
a himself; then he scratched his head. | With a scowl.
yoshiwara, but Hewlett passed on, | “Oh, hell!” he cried after a pause. | that I go with other women?”
‘He rose and went to his safe. “There
syou are,” he told Otoya, handing
her a little heap of notes. “That'll
, buy you out.”
The girl was too bewildered to
speak. For a while she sat staring
| first at the notes and then at Hew-
‘lett. When at last she found her
' He hesitated, then he retraced his voice, she murmured: “You wish to
{buy me for yourself,
i Tuan?”
| “Certainly not!” The Englishman
' shook his head. “You see, I'm mar-
ried and—well, I want to play the
game.”
| “Then I will work as a servant
Is that it,
ied this money.”
| “Oh, no, you won't.” Hewlett
(laughed shortly. “I never have
female servants and I certainly
wouldn't risk one as pretty as you
jare. Take the money as a present
rand forget it. Drop in here before
the next steamer and I'll ix you
up with a ticket home.”
| “But Tuan,” protested Otoya, be-
[ween whose eyes little creases of
worry appeared, “I must repay you.
|It is only honorable. If you had
me live with youI should not be un-
{ happy. That would be different from
the yoshiwara. The other tuans here
; have mistresses.”
Hewlett’s bronzed face went a
shade lighter before he blurted out,
“Run along! I'm not interested in
i what other tuans may do.” With a
hand on her shoulder he propelled
‘her towards the door, the while she
| tearfully expressed her gratitude
for what he had done.
i He looked after her as she ran
lightly up the street; then he went
indoors and mixed himself another
. whisky and soda, For the next
half-hour he sat following with his
,eyes the spirals of smoke that rose
from his pipe.
1
kimono that might have taken its
Otoya returned to the bungalow
"several times during the next few
idays and she and Ahmat became
friends. She told him frankly that
she was urging Hewlett to let her
earn the money he had given her, |
but that he refused. On the last of
these visits, just before she left,
she suddenly threw her arms about
.her Dbenefactor’'s neck and kissed
“him on the mouth; then she ran
away without looking back.
According to old Ahmat, the girl
was one of those butterfly-colored,
light-footed creatures who dance
through life; she was always run-
ning.
“I tell you all this,” he informed
his listeners, “to prove that an
honorable man can tread a swamp
without miring. Dobo was a
wicked place; no other tuan in the
i town would have let that girl go,
but Ross Hewlett was faithful to all
his vows. From him I learned the
strength of the strong.
It was a matter of two weeks be-
, fore either master or servant saw
the little Japanese again and she
{came finally to announce that she
, was to be married to one Horiguchi,
a countryman of hers. This Hori-
guchi, as both men knew was an
illicit pearl buyer and a scoundrel.
He was well off, however, a great
dandy, and Hewlett doubtless be-
leived that his little friend consider-
ed herself fortunate in making such
And yet how
a match. After a brief hesitation,
he said:
“That's fine, Otoya. I wish you all
the luck in the world.” He took her
tiny hand in his and looked down at
her with a smile in his gray eyes,
but Ahmat fancied the man was
both disappointed and hurt that she
should prove so mercenary. Mar-
riage to a fellow like Horiguchi was
little better than life in the yoshi-
wara.
“And I wish you very much luck,
too,” she answered, ‘Long life and
many sons, Tuan, and the richest
“pearl in the ocean. I shall never
forget—" Her voice caught in her
throat; she ceased speaking and
fixed the tall Englishman with a
strange look.
! This time when she turned away
she did not run: her dancing feet
were leaden.
That night she married Horiguchi.
The end of the lay-up season was
in sight but it brought no relief to
Hewlett, for he was having a des-
perate time to find the money with
which to refit his boats. He had
been unable to send that twelve
hundred pounds to his wife and he
was in receipt of a letter from the
London firm that supplied his div-
ing gear regretting that they could
not execute his last order until he
met his indebtedness to them. His
local credit was all gone, too. He
slept little and his lean face grew
, leaner daily. ;
One evening as he sat at his desk
| casting about hopelessly for a way
(out of his difficulties a breathless
| Japanese woman burst in upon him.
She was a total stranger but she
began excitedly;
“Tuan! In the house of Hori-
guchi is cruel trouble. He beats
,Otoya and he threatens to kill her
. You are her friend—"
| Hewlett charged past her and a
few seconds later he stormed bare-
headed through an excited group of
! yellow and brown people clustered
;about the pearl buyer's door. A
i tempest was raging inside the liv-
ing room; its cheap furniture was
broken; ornaments, table covers,
, cushions were scattered about the
floor.
i The hanging kerosense lamp re.
, vealed Otoya crouching in a corner;
her kimono was torn; there were
| bruises on her arms and shoulders
rand red fingerprints upon her throat.
{ Her eyes were distended with ter-
‘ror. Over her stood Horiguchi, shout-
ing and waving his arms. He turn-
led at Hewlett’s entrance and his
| face fell into its usual insolent lines.
| Wholly ignoring him, the white
1man bent over Otoya and raised
her, “What's the matter?” he in-
quired. “Have you been a bad girl ?”
“No, Tuan. I have been a good
| wife but he goes with other women.
| When I beg him not to bring shame
j upon me he beats me.
he will—"
; “She is my wife, not yours.” Hori-
threat
“Is it your business
“No. But I'll make it my busi-
jness to see that you don’t knock
| this child about.” Hewlett’s muscular
{ hand wrapped itself in the other
[ans white tunic. He cuffed Hori-
guchi and shook him until his head
flopped drunkenly. The onlookers
! squealed with amusement.
“Now, you thieving rat” —Hew-
jlett flung the wretch sprawling
| —“that’s only a taste of what Ill
| give you if you lay hands on her
!again.” Horiguchi’s blazing, blood-
| shot eyes met his, then dropped, and
| the white man walked out.
! Returning home, still in a tow-
what's in your bungalow until I have earn- joing rage, he recited to his servant
what had happened and he grew
| angrier as he told of it. It wasan
‘outrage; Horiguchi was a worthless, !
t crooked swine; he was sorry now
‘that he had not warned Otoya—
{ told the poor child what she was
letting herself in for. But he had
hesitated to do so for fear of—well,
complications.
Otoya’s flowerlike beauty had caus-
ed him enough uneasiness of spirit
she would be much better off mar-
ried than single. Even married to
Horiguchi, Ahmat’s master frowned
and muttered and shook his head: hw
roamed through the bungalow with
heavy tread until a late hour;
plainly the memory of Otoya’s kiss
was still fresh in his mind.
The monsoon promised to break
up earlier than usual that year.
Yamamoto, one of Hewlett's divers,
was the first out with his lugger,
but he had been gone less than
twenty-four hours when the wind
blew afresh. The following morn.
ing he was back in port again, and
with his tender he pulled ashore
through the choppy white-capped
| waves.
{ “No good, master,” he declared,
; Shaking his head as he came up to
| Hewlett’s veranda. Always a keea
| worker he was disappointed at
| having been driven in. Just four
: shells I catch, master, then come
| blow. Maybe ’'nother week every-
i thing all right.” Yamamoto’s tender
| dropped the wet bag containing the
! four
bowed and sauntered off to their
; favorite haunts.
| Hewlett kicked the bag into a
“room that was used as a store.
| Late that night as Ahmat lay on
his sleeping mat he was awaken-
ed by a tug at his hair. Automatic-
ally, his hand darted to the kris un-
, der his pillow, and he started intoa
sitting position.
“Be quiet,” a voice admonished
him in a whisper. “It is Otoya.”
Ahmat shook the sleep ou: of his
head, wondering what could have
brought the girl to his room.
“Listen, Ahmat,” she said ex-
citedly. “I have come to you for
help. Horiguchi beat me again to-
day and I am running away from
him, The steamer sails at midnight
and you must assist me" to get
aboard unseen. Horiguchi may be
on the streets or at the steamer
saying good-by to friends.”
“But your ticket?”
“That I can secure after the boat
sails—I have money. Quick!
have less than half an hour.
will help me, Ahmat?”
You
I am afraid !
as it was, and he had figured that '
shells and he and the diver |
Wwe |
“Assuredly. My master would
wish it,” said the Malay.
At this came a moan from the
girl. There was insufficient light in
the rocm to distinguish her features,
but Ahmat could see from the sud.
den drooping of her figure that she
had given way to a grief unutter-
able. She wilted down upon tae
floor beside him and for a while she
rocked to and fro, swaying like a
willow wand, whispering Hewlett's
name over and over again. It was
worse than death for her to leave.
Ahmat reached forth and toucaed
her hair, saying, “Other women have
wept for him as you weep little
blossom, but he was deaf. It is
better for you to go.”
Otoya nodded; she swallowed her
sobs. Her hands wet with tears,
felt for Ahmat’s and pressed some-
thing into it.
| “Give this to him,” she murmured,
“but tell him not that it rame
from me.”
At this point in his story, the
speaker paused, his kindly eyes
glowed as in memory he recalled
that hour; when he resumed it
was in another tone.
“I spoke truly when 1 said that
many women had loved my tuan;
he had a way that made slaves of
them, There was a Dutchman's
wife in Amboyna, and a girl from
the rubber farms, also a missionary’s
daughter whose hair was yellower
than English gold. In the time 1I
served him there were several, but
none I am sure loved him more
than little Otoya the public wife.
i “For a while we spoke, lip to
ear, like a couple of robbers, and
the minutes sped by; then I took
her by the hand and led her out of
there and down to the beach. But
it was as if the roots of her being
had made themselves fast to that
soil and tore the heart bleeding
from her breast as I dragged her
with me.
“It was a blustery night. The
wind god’s cheeks were full and he
spilled his breath on us asI paddled
out to the steamer. My prahu bob-
bed like a gourd and it spun in cir.
cles before I finally drove it along.
side the ship and set Otoya’s feet
upon the steerage companionway.
“We were wet with spray but it
was less salt than her tears. She
waved at me. ‘Ada! I called softly;
then she crept up on deck and I
let the wind hurry me back like a
! soaring gull.
“Tuan Hewlett heard of the run.
away the next morning at break
fast and from the lips of Horiguchi,
{not me. The Japanese was like a
{ madman and I heard him shouting
, threats and curses as he ran up to
‘ the veranda and flung himself through
the door. I was the first to mee%
"him, but he had a kris and it was
i only by Allah's mercy that he fail-
‘ed to strike me down.
| “The man was blind with rage
| and bent upon murder, nevertheless
| the tuan seized him. He bent his
{arm back until it all but snapped,
i then he kicked him like a wet sack
{out into the street. A giant in
i strength and swift of action in mo-
{ ments of peril. Later that day 1
| passed Horiguchi’s house, where he
lay groaning and weeping on his
| bed, and people laughed because he
i took the loss of a woman so deeply
, to heart.
{ “At breakfast the second morning
thereafter the tuan sniffed and said:
‘Ahmat, there’s a bad smell around
here. Does it come from your
| kitchen ?”
“No, Tuan. It arises from those
shells which are spoiling in the
! storeroom.’
| “‘Of course,” said he. ‘I mean
to open them, but—I've been hall
( frantic. Fetch me a knife and I
get rid of the things.’
| “He was gone for five
i
i
mi: utes
ten minutes; then he returned, walk.
Ing like one in a sleep. He turned star
g eyes upon me; hi 3 $
waite p his face wa:
i “Ahmat! Look! he whispered. Tel
ime if Tam dreaming.’ He opened hi:
right hand, which was clenched.
“In my travels I have seen man:
fine pearls; pearls that rajahs hav
i bought at fabulous figures, pearl
that brought buyers from Londo
and Paris, and others that sold o
{the beach for sixty, eighty thousan:
j Builders but never have I seen :
gem like that in the brown paln
| of my master’s hand. It was enor
i mous; it was perfect; it shone wit
a magic light from within.
“All the years he had spent i
{the islands my tuan had dreame
i of a pearl like that. He was shak
(ing like a woman and mutterin
| something about the ‘nick of time
‘and about its lying there for day
| while he was sick with worry.
i “Tuan! Tuan!” I had to shak
| him to make him heed my voice
| “Hide it quickly, and say nothing
Let no eyes in Dobo rest upon ito
| our lives will not be worth a kipping
| Jewels of prodigious worth brin
either great happiness or gre:
| misery; unless you are more tha
| careful, this one will be red wit
your blood before it leaves the i
| land.
“He nodded. Slowly his han
‘closed and he passed into his roon
I never saw the pearl again, fc
which Allah be praised.
| “A month later my master so
+ his luggers and went home to Eng
| land We wept at our parting, fc
there was never a better tuan ths
| he or a servant more loyal than V
i Old Ahmat Sebam, guide Ax
| friend of the village youth, watche
the faces of his listeners.
“Assuredly the pearl was sent:
a reward for your noble master
i generosity,” one of them said, ar
| the others nodded gravely. The
Iwas a moment of discussion whi
the first to speak interrupted 1
i asking:
i “But Otoya—she gave you a kee
sake in her fingers wet with teal
|I am curious to know what
was.”
| Ahmat broke into a gratifi
i chucle. “I commend you as a h
| of wit. You have a memory for e
sentials. Purposely I withheld t
flavor of the meal for the final bi
Allah works his will in devio
(Continued on page 8, Col. Bb.