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never keep my s but i ve learned you all i knew an don t you never say i told you so an now i ll bid good bye for i m rather dry an i see another up to so ere s good luck to those that wears the widow s es an the devil send em all they want o chorus yes the in the an the mess tin an the boot it s the same with dogs an men if you d make em come again em forward with a loo loo sick im loo loo w this in a battle to a ry of the corps which is first among the women an first in war an what the battle was i don t remember now but two s off lead e answered to the name o down in the nobody cares down in the cavalry colonel e but down in the lead with the wheel at the turns the bold to a little whipped dog they was into action they was needed very sore to learn a little to a native army corps they ad against an they was down the brow when a give the knock to they cut im loose an left im e was almost tore in two but he tried to follow after as a well trained should do e went an the an the driver s brother pull up pull up for is head s between is the driver is shoulder for the wheels was goin round an there ain t no stop conductor when a ry s ground e i broke the beggar in an very sad i feels but i couldn t pull up not for you your between your e t spoke the word before a shell a little right the ry an between the sections fell an when the smoke ad cleared away before the wheels there lay the driver s brother with is between is then the driver s brother an is words was very plain for s own sake get over me an put me out o pain they saw is wounds was an they judged that it was best so they took an drove the straight across is back an chest the driver e give a little but e swung is when it came to action front an if one wheel was you may lay your monday head twas for the when the case begun to spread the of this story it is plainly to be seen you t got no families when of the queen you t got no brothers fathers sisters wives or sons if you want to win your battles take an work your guns down in the nobody cares down in the cavalry colonel e but down in the lead with the wheel at the turns the bold to a little whipped dog the widow at ave you o the widow at with a hairy gold crown on er she as ships on the foam she as millions at ome an she pays us poor beggars in red ow poor beggars in red there s er nick on the cavalry there s er mark on the medical stores an er you ll find with a fair wind be ind that takes us to various wars poor beggars wars then ere s to the widow at an ere s to the stores an the guns the men an the what makes up the forces o s sons poor beggars s sons walk wide o the widow at for o creation she owns we ave bought er the same with the sword an the flame an we ve it down with our bones poor beggars it s blue with our bones v the widow at hands off o the sons o the widow hands off o the goods in er shop for the kings must come down an the frown when the widow at says stop poor beggars we re sent to say stop m then ere s to the lodge o the widow from the pole to the it runs to the lodge that we tile with the rank an the file an open in form with the guns poor beggars it s always they guns we ave o the widow at it s safest to let er alone for er we stand by the sea an the land wherever the are blown poor beggars an don t we get blown take old o the wings o the an round the earth till you re dead but you won t get away from the tune that they play to the old rag over poor beggars it s ot over then ere s to the sons o the widow wherever they ere s all they desire an if they require a speedy return to their ome poor beggars they ll never see ome there was a row in silver street that s near to between an irish regiment an english it started at an it lasted on till dark the first man dropped at s the last the park for it was an that s one for you t an it was an that s done for you t o an tongue was the song that we sung from s down to the park i there was a row in silver street the was out they called us an we answered about that drew them like a s nest we met them good an large the english at the double an the irish at the charge then it was there was a row in silver street an i was in it too we passed the time o day an then the went i what occurred but the storm a s journal was all my uniform o it | 39 |
was there was a row in silver street they sent the there the english were too drunk to know the irish didn t care but when they grew we rose till half o them was mud an half was es for it was there was a row in silver street it might ha raged till now but some one drew his side arm clear an nobody knew how twas took the point an dropped we saw the red blood run an so we all was that started out in fun while it was there was a row in silver street but that put down the shine each man to his next twas never work o mine we went away like beaten dogs an down the street we bore him the poor dumb corpse that couldn t tell the were sorry or him when it was there was a row in silver street it isn t over yet for half of us are under guard to get tis all a to me as in the i lie there was a row in silver street i wonder why but it was an that s one for you i an it was an that s done for you i o an tongue was the song that we sung from s down to the park i the young british soldier when the made goes out to the east e acts like a babe an e drinks like a beast an e wonders because e is frequent deceased ere e s fit for to serve as a soldier serve serve serve as a soldier serve serve serve as a soldier serve serve serve as a soldier so of the queen now all you what s to day you shut up your rag box an ark to my lay an i ll sing you a soldier as far as i may a soldier what s fit for a soldier fit fit fit for a soldier first mind you steer clear o the huts for they sell you fixed bay that out your ay drink that ud eat the live steel from your an it s bad for the young british soldier bad bad bad for the soldier the young british soldier when the comes as it will past a doubt keep out of the wet and don t go on the shout for the sickness gets in as the liquor dies out an it the young british soldier the soldier but the worst o your foes is the sun over you must wear your for all that is said if e finds you uncovered e u knock you down dead an you ll die like a fool of a soldier fool fool fool of a soldier if you re cast for fatigue by a unkind don t like a woman nor crack on nor blind be handy and civil and then you will find that it s beer for the young british soldier beer beer beer for the soldier now if you must marry take care she is old a troop s widow s the i m told for beauty won t help if your is cold nor love ain t enough for a soldier for a soldier if the wife should go wrong with a comrade be to shoot when you catch em you ll swing on my oath make im take er and keep er that s hell for them both an you re shut o the curse of a soldier curse curse curse of a soldier the young british soldier when first under fire an you re to duck don t look nor take at the man that is struck be thankful you re and trust to your luck and march to your front like a soldier front front front like a soldier when of your bullets fly wide in the ditch don t call your a cross eyed old she s human as you are you treat her as an she ll fight for the young british soldier fight fight fight for the soldier when their like ladies so fine the guns o the enemy wheel into line shoot low at the an don t mind the shine for noise never the soldier start start the soldier if your officer s dead and the look white remember it s ruin to run from a fight so take open order lie down and sit tight and wait for like a soldier wait wait wait like a soldier when you re wounded and left on s plains and the women come out to cut up what remains jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains an go to your like a soldier go go go like a soldier go go go like a soldier go go go like a soldier so of the queen bv the old eastward to the sea there s a girl a and i know she thinks o me for the wind is in the palm trees and the they say come you back you british come you back to come you back to where the old lay can t you ear their from to on the road to where the fishes play an the dawn comes up like thunder outer china the bay er was an er little cap was green an er name was the same as s queen an i seed her first a of a white an a christian kisses on an idol s foot idol made o mud they called the great lot she cared for when i kissed er where she on the road to when the mist was on the rice fields an the sun was slow she d er little an she d sing lo lo with er arm upon my shoulder an er cheek my cheek we watch the | 39 |
that left me by the ford ford ford ford o river ford o river in the dark it s none so dry there ain t you never nigh there cross the ford o river in the dark town ll go to hell blow the draw the sword fore i see him live an well im the best beside the ford ford ford ford o river ford o river in the dark em if they blunder for their boots ll pull em under by the ford o river in the dark i ford o river turn your from town blow the draw the sword im an my troop is down down an by the ford ford ford ford o river ford o river in the dark i there s the river low an but it ain t no use o cross the ford o river in the dark i gentlemen to the of the lost ones to the of the damned to my brethren in their sorrow sings a gentleman of england bred crammed and a of the if you please yea a of the forces who has run his own six horses and faith he went the pace and went it blind and the world was more than kin while he held the ready tin but to day the s something less than kind we re poor little who ve lost our way we re little black sheep who ve gone astray aa aa gentlemen out on the damned from here to eternity god ha mercy on such as we gentlemen oh it s sweet to sweat through stables sweet to empty kitchen and it s sweet to hear the tales the tell to dance with at the and the who says you too well yes it makes you cock a to be rider to your troop and with a spur when you envy o how keenly one poor being who your boots and sometimes calls you sir if the home we never write to and the oaths we never keep and all we know most distant and most dear across the room return to break our sleep can you blame us if we ourselves in beer when the drunken comrade and the great guard lantern and the horror of our fall is written plain every secret self revealing on the aching ceiling do you wonder that we ourselves from pain we have done with hope and honour we are lost to love and truth we are dropping down the ladder rung by rung gentlemen and the measure of our torment is the measure of our youth god help us for we knew the worst too our shame is dean repentance for the crime that brought the sentence our pride it is to know no spur of pride and the curse of holds us till an alien turf us and we die and none can tell them where we died we re poor little who ve lost our way we re little black sheep who ve gone astray aa aa gentlemen out on the damned from here to eternity god ha mercy on such as we route we re on relief over s sunny plains a little front o christmas time an just be ind the rains ho get away you man you ve card the there s a regiment a down the grand trunk road with its best foot first and the road a sliding past an every ground exactly like the last while the big drum says with is t don t you i oh there s them temples to admire when you see there s the round the corner an the monkey up the tree an there s that silver grass a in the wind an the old grand trunk a like a rifle be ind while it s best foot first why don t yon get on route at half past five s an our tents they down must come like a lot of button when you pick em up at ome but it s over in a minute an at six the column starts while the women and the sit an shiver in the carts an it s best foot first oh then it s open order an we lights our pipes an sings an we talks about our an a lot of other things an we thinks o friends in england an we wonders what they re at an ow they would admire for to hear us the bat an it s best foot first it s none so bad o sunday when you re at your to watch the a round them feather trees for although there ain t no women yet there ain t no yards so the goes an the men they plays at cards till it s best foot first language thomas s first and conviction is thai he ii a profound and a speaker of as a matter of fact he depends largely on the sign language r i i i route so ark an you which is always sore there s things than from to an if your are an they feels to like ell you drop some in your an that will make em well for it s best foot first we re on relief over s coral strand eight englishmen the colonel and the band ho get away you man you ve the there s a regiment a down the grand trunk road with its best foot first and the road a sliding past an every ground exactly like the last while the big drum says with is dow don t you a day my name is o i ve heard the from to from to and and and fifty five more all in pore black death and his quickness the depth and the thickness of sorrow and sickness | 39 |
i ve known on my way but i m old and i m i m cast from the service and all i deserve is a a day chorus a day good pay lucky to touch it a a day oh it drives me half crazy to think of the days i went slap for the my sword at my side when we rode hell for leather both together that didn t care whether we lived or we died but it s no use my wife must go charm a day an me the pay bills to better so if me you be old in the wet and the cold by the grand won t you give me a letter full chorus give im a letter can t do no better late troop major an runs with a letter think what e s been think what e s seen think of his an save the queen other verses the ballad of east and west oh east is east and west is west and never the twain shall meet till earth and sky stand presently at great judgment seat but there is neither east nor west border nor breed nor birth when two stand face to face tho they come from the ends of the earth is out with twenty men to raise the and he has lifted the colonel s mare that is the colonel s pride he has lifted her out of the stable door between the dawn and the day and turned the upon her feet and ridden her far away then up and spoke the colonel s son that led a troop of the guides is there never a man of all my men can say where hides l the ballad of east and west then up and spoke the son of the if ye know the track of the morning mist ye know where his are at dusk he the at dawn he is into but he must go by fort to his own place to fare so if ye gallop to fort as fast as a bird can fly by the favour of god ye may cut him off ere he win to the tongue of but if he be past the tongue of right swiftly turn ye then for the length and the breadth of that plain is sown with s men there is rock to the left and rock to the right and low lean thorn between and ye may hear a bolt where never a man is seen the colonel s son has taken a horse and a raw rough was he with the mouth of a bell and the heart of hell and the head of the gallows tree the colonel s son to the fort has won they bid him stay to eat who rides at the tail of a border thief he sits not long at his meat he s up and away from fort as fast as he can fly till he was aware of his father s mare in the of the tongue of the ballad of east and west till he was aware of his father s mare with upon her back and when he could spy the white of her eye he made the pistol crack he has fired once he has fired twice but the whistling ball went wide ye shoot like a soldier said show now if ye can ride it s up and over the tongue of as blown go the he fled like a of ten but the mare like a barren the he leaned against the bit and his head above but the red mare played with the bars as a maiden plays with a glove there was rock to the left and rock to the right and low lean thorn between and thrice he heard a bolt tho never a man was seen they have ridden the low moon out of the sky their hoofs drum up the dawn the he went like a wounded bull but the mare like a new roused the he fell at a water course in a ul heap fell he and has turned the red mare back and pulled the rider free he has knocked the pistol out of his hand small room was there to strive twas only by favour of mine he ye rode so long alive the ballad of east and west there was not a rock for twenty mile there was not a of tree but covered a man of my own men with his rifle cocked on his knee if i had raised my bridle hand as i have held it low the little that flee so fast were all in a row if i had bowed my head on my breast as i have held it high the that above us now were she could not fly lightly answered the colonel s son do good to bird and beast but count who come for the broken before thou a feast if there should follow a thousand swords to carry my bones away the price of a s meal were more than a thief could pay they will feed their horse on the standing crop their men on the grain the of the will serve their fires when all the cattle are slain but if thou the price be fair thy brethren wait to sup the hound is kin to the howl dog and call them up and if thou the price be high in steer and gear and give me my father s mare again and i ll fight my own way back the ballad of east and west has him by the hand and set him upon his feet no talk shall be of dogs said he when wolf and gray wolf meet may i eat dirt if thou hast hurt of me in deed or breath what | 39 |
dam of brought thee forth to jest at the dawn with death lightly answered the colonel s son i hold by the blood of my take up the mare for my father s gift by god she has carried a man the red mare ran to the colonel s son and against his breast we be two strong men said then but she the younger best so she shall go with a s my rein my saddle and saddle cloth and silver twain the colonel s son a pistol drew and held it end ye have taken the one from a foe said he will ye take the mate from a friend a gift for a gift said straight a limb for the risk of a limb thy father has sent his son to me i ll send my son to him with that he whistled his only son that dropped from a mountain crest he trod the ling like a buck in spring and he looked like a lance in rest the ballad of east and west now here is thy master said who leads a troop of the guides and thou must ride at his left side as shield on shoulder rides till death or i cut loose the tie at camp and board and bed thy life is his thy fate it is to guard him with thy head so thou must eat the white queen s meat and all her foes are thine and thou must harry thy father s hold for the peace of the border line and thou must make a tough and hack thy way to power they will raise thee to when i am hanged in they have looked each other between the eyes and there they found no fault they have taken the oath of the brother in blood on bread and salt they have taken the oath of the brother in blood on fire and fresh cut sod on the and the of the knife and the wondrous names of god the colonel s son he rides the mare and s boy the and two have come back to fort where there went forth but one the ballad of east and west and when they drew to the quarter guard full twenty swords flew clear there was not a man but carried his with the blood of the ha done ha done said the colonel s son put up the steel at your sides last night ye had struck at a border thief to night tis a man of the guides ok east is east and west is west and never the twain shall meet till earth and sky stand presently at god s great judgment seat but there is neither east nor west border nor breed nor birth when two strong men stand face to face they come from the ends of tke earth the last not many years ago a king died in one of the states his wives the orders of the english against would have broken out of the palace had not the gates been barred but one of them disguised as the king s favourite dancing girl passed through the line of guards and reached the there her courage failing she prayed her cousin a baron of the court to kill her this he did not knowing who she was lay sick to death in his hold by hill ail night we heard the death ring for the soul of the dying king all night beat up from the women s wing a cry that we could not still all night the came and went the lords of the outer guard all night the pale on and and mail that in the palace yard the last in the golden room on the palace roof all night he fought for air and there was sobbing behind the screen rustle and whisper of women unseen and the hungry eyes of the queen on the death she might not share he passed at dawn the death fire leaped from ridge to river head from the plains to the and wail upon wail went up to the stars behind the grim bars when they knew that the king was dead the dumb priest knelt to tie his mouth and robe him for the the queen beneath us cried see now that we die as our mothers died in the bed by our master s side i out women to the fire we drove the great gates home white hands were on the sill but ere the rush of the unseen feet had reached the turn to the open street the bars shot down the guard drum s we held the still a face looked down in the gathering day and laughing spoke from the wall the last they mourn here let me by the girl i when the house is rotten the rats must fly and i seek another for i ruled the king as ne er did queen to night the queens rule me guard them safely but let me go or ever they pay the debt they owe in and torture she leaped below and the grim guard watched her flee they knew that the king had spent his soul on a north bred dancing girl that he prayed to a flat god and kissed the ground where her feet had trod and doomed to death at her drunken nod and swore by her curl we bore the king to his fathers place where the of the sun born stand where the gray swing and the on fretted pillar and screen and the wild couch in the house of the on the drift of the desert sand the herald read his titles forth we set the logs the last tt friend of the english free from fear f baron of to lord of | 39 |
the desert of king of the go all night the red flame the sky with wavering wind tossed and out of a shattered temple crept a woman who veiled her head and wept and called on the king but the great king slept and turned not for her tears small thought had he to mark the strife cold fear with hot desire when thrice she leaped from the leaping flame and thrice she beat her breast for shame and thrice like a wounded dove she came and moaned about the are one watched a bow shot from the blaze the silent streets between who had stood by the king in sport and to blade in or at bay and he was a baron old and gray and kin to the queen he said o put aside the veil upon thy brow the last who held the king and all his land to the wanton will of a s hand i will the white ash rise from the brand stoop down and call him now then she by the faith of my soul all things i did not well i had hoped to clear ere the fire died and lay me down by my master s side to rule in heaven his only bride while the others howl in hell but i have felt the fire s breath and hard it is to die yet if i may pray a lord to the steel of a s sword with base born blood of a trade and the answered ay he drew and struck the straight blade drank the life beneath the breast i had looked for the queen to face the flame but the dies for the dame sister of mine pass free from shame pass with thy king to rest the black log above the white the little flames and lean red as slaughter and blue as steel that whistled and fluttered from head to heel leaped up anew for they found their meal on the heart of the queen the ballad of the king s mercy the chief of him is the story told his mercy fills the hills his grace is manifold he has taken toll of t lie north and the south his glory far and they tell the tale of his charity from to before the old gate where and meet the governor of dealt the justice of the street and that was strait as running and swift as plunging knife tho he who held the longer purse might hold the longer life there was a hound of had struck a wherefore they upon his face and led him out to die the ballad of the king s mercy it chanced the king went forth that hour when throat was to knife the under and for his life then said the king have hope friend yea death disgraced is hard much honour shall be thine and called the captain of the guard a of the blood so city and he was honoured of the king the which is salt to death and he was son of the of the plains and blood of old lords ran fire in his veins and twas to tame an pride nor hell nor heaven could bind the king would make him butcher to a cur of hind strike said the king king s blood art thou his death shall be his pride then louder that the crowd might catch fear not his arms are tied drew clear the knife and struck and again o man thy will is done he a king this dog hath slain the ballad of the king s mercy the chief to the north and the south is sold the north and the south shall open their mouth to a flag when the big guns speak to the peak and his dog fly ye have heard the song how long how long wolves of the i that night before the watch was set when all the streets were clear the governor of spoke my king hast thou no fear thou thou hast heard his speech died at his master s face and grimly said the king i rule the race my path is mine see thou to thine to night upon thy bed think who there be in now that for thy head that night when all the gates were shut to city and to throne within a little garden house the king lay down alone before the sinking of the moon which is the night of night came softly to the king to make his honour white the ballad of the king s mercy the children of the town had beneath his horse s hoofs the of the town had hailed him butcher from their roofs but as he against the wall two hands upon him fell the king behind his shoulder dead man thou dost not well tis ill to jest with kings by day and seek a boon by night and that thou in thy hand is all too sharp to write but three days hence if god be good and if thy strength remain thou shalt demand one boon of me and bless me in thy pain for i am merciful to all and most of all to thee my butcher of the rest no knife hast thou for me the chief holds hard by the south and the north but the knows ere the melting when the swollen banks break forth when the crawl to the wall and his fail ye have heard the song how long how long t wolves of the they him in the rubbish field when dawn was in the sky according to the written word see that not die the ballad of the king s mercy they him till the stones were piled above him on the | 39 |
plain and those the limbs they tumbled back again one watched beside the dreary mound that veiled the battered thing and him the king with laughter called the herald of the king it was upon the second night the night of the leaning heard the message of shattered breast through lips broke forth the rattling breath u creature of god deliver me from agony of death they sought the king among his girls and risked their lives thereby protector of the pitiful give orders that he die bid him endure until the day a answer came mt the night is short and he can pray and learn to bless my name before the dawn three times he spoke and on the day once more creature of god deliver me and bless the king the ballad of the kings mercy they shot him at the morning prayer to ease him of his pain and when he heard the be blessed the king again which thing the singers made a song for all die world to sing so that the outer seas may know the mercy of the the chief of him is the story told he has opened his mouth to the north and the south have stuffed his mouth with gold ye know the truth of his tender and sweet his are ye have heard the song how long how long from to the ballad of the king s jest when spring time the desert grass our wind through the pass lean are the but fat the light are the but heavy the as the trade of the north comes down to the market square of town in a twilight crisp and chill a at the foot of the hill then blue smoke haze of the cooking rose and tent answered to hammer nose and the and wild strained at their ropes as the feed was piled and the beside the load for a the road and the cats brought for sale at the dogs from the and the to hasten the food and the camp fires by fort and there fled on the wings of the gathering dusk a of and carpets and a murmur of voices a of smoke to tell us the trade of the woke the ballad of the king s jest the lid of the flesh pot high the knives were then came i to the his and counting his gear crammed with the gossip of half a year but the kindly said better is speech when the belly is fed so we plunged the hand to the mid wrist deep in a of the fat sheep and he who never hath tasted the food by he not bad from good we our of the mutton we lay on the and were filled with peace and the talk slid north and the talk slid south with the sliding from the mouth four things greater than all things are women and horses and power and war we of them all but the last the most for i sought a word of a russian post of a promise an sword and a gray coat guard on the ford then lowered his eyes in the fashion of one who is weaving lies he of the who can say when the night is gathering all is gray but we look that the gloom of the night shall die in the morning flush of a blood red sky friend of my heart is it meet or wise to warn a king of his enemies the ballad of the king s jest we know what heaven or hell may bring but no man the mind of the king that counsel is cursed of god the story of his was of tongue and pen his dam was a hen and the bred close to the vice of each for he carried the curse of an speech madness so that he sought the favour of kings at the court and travelled in hope of honour far to the line where the gray coat are there have i too but i saw naught said naught and did not die he to rumour and snatched at a breath of this one and that one legends that ran from mouth to mouth of a gray coat coming and sack of the south these have i also heard they pass with each new spring and the winter grass hot foot southward forgotten of god back to the city ran even to in full the king held talk with his chief in war into the press of the crowd he broke and what he had heard of the coming spoke then the red chief smiled as a mother might on a child the ballad of the king s jest but those who would laugh restrained their breath when the face of the king showed dark as death evil it is in full to cry to a ruler of gathering war slowly he led to a tree small that grew by a of the city wall and he said to the boy they shall praise thy zeal so long as the red follows the steel and the is upon us even now great is thy prudence await them thou watch from the tree thou art young and strong surely thy is not for long the is upon us thy ran surely an hour shall bring their van wait and watch when the host is near shout aloud that my men may hear friend of my heart is it meet or wise to warn a king of his enemies a guard was set that he might not flee a score of the tree the bloom fell in showers of snow when he shook at his death as he looked below by the power of god who alone is great till the seventh day he fought with his fate | 39 |
then madness took him and men declare he in the branches as and bear and last as a ere his body failed and he hung as a bat in the forks and and sleep the cord of his hands and he fell and was caught on the points and died the ballad of the king s jest heart of my heart is it meet or wise to warn a king of his enemies we know what heaven or hell may bring but no man the mind of the king of the gray coat coming who can say when the night is gathering all is gray two things greater than all things are the first is love and the second war and since we know not how war may prove heart of my heart let us talk of love i with to more than a hundred ago in a great battle fought near an indian prince rode fifty miles after the day was lost with a beggar girl who had loved him and followed him in all his on his saddle bow he lost the girl when almost within sight of safety a tells the story the wreath of banquet lay withered on the neck our hands and were for signal of despair when we went forth to to battle with the ere we came back from and left a kingdom there thrice thirty thousand men were we to force the the hawk winged horse of of the of the southern hills the s swords and he the s traitor son the with to thrice thirty thousand men were we before the mists had cleared the low white mists of morning heard the war scream and we called upon and we them by the beard we rolled upon them like a flood and washed their ranks away the children of the hills of before our ran we drove the black back as cattle to the pen twas then we needed to end what we began a thousand men had saved the charge he fled the field with ten there was no room to clear a sword no power to strike a blow for foot to foot ay breast to breast the battle held us fast save where the naked hill men ran and from below brought down the horse and rider and we trampled them and passed to left the roar of rang like a falling flood to right the sunshine red from lance and blade with to above the dark flew beneath us the blood and black against the dust the swayed i saw it fall in smoke and are the banner of the i heard a voice across the press of one who called in vain ho ride get aid of go shame his into fight the the is slain as when a sand bar breaks in and spray when rain of later autumn sweeps the before their charge from flank to flank our ranks gave way but of the waters of that flood the ran red i held by my lord as close as man might hold a of the asks no aid to guard his life but s horse were flying and our chiefs were cold and like a flame among us the long lean northern knife the of the with to i held by my lance from butt to was the of battle the shield and the bridle chain what time beneath our horses feet a maiden rose and cried and clung to and i turned a sword cut from the twain he set a spell upon the maid in long ago a hunter by the banks she gave him water there he turned her heart to water and she followed to her woe what need had he of who had twenty maids as fair now in that hour strength left my lord he his mare aside he bound the girl behind him and we and struggled free across the wreck of strife we rode as shadows ride from to town but not alone were we twas laid horse upon our track a swine fed of the north that for the maid i might have barred his path awhile but called me back and i o woe for i listened and obeyed with to league after league the took shape and glided by league after league the white road behind the white mare s feet league after league when were done we heard the where sure as time and swift as death the beat noon s eye beheld that shame of flight the shadows fell we fled where steadfast as the he followed in our train the black wolf where we had the our dead and terror born of twilight tide made mad the brain i gasped a kingdom waits my lord her love is but her own a day shall mar a day shall cure for her but what for thee cut loose the girl he follows fast cut loose and ride alone then his lips my queens queen shall she be of all who ate my bread last night twas she alone that came to seek her love between the and find her crown therein i with to one shame is mine to day what need the weight of double shame if once we reach the gate though all be lost i win ave rode the white mare failed her trot a staggering grew the cooking smoke of even rose and and hung low and still we heard the and still we strained anew and town was very near but nearer was the foe yea town was very near when whispered lord of my life the mare sinks fast deep and let me die but would not and the maid tore free and flung away and turning as she fell we | 39 |
heard the then checked the gasping mare that rocked and groaned for breath and wheeled to charge and plunged the knife a hand s breadth in her side the hunter and the hunted know how that last pause is death the blood had chilled about her heart she reared and fell and died with to our gods were kind before he heard the maiden s piteous scream a log upon the road beneath the mare he lay lost mistress and lost battle passed before him like a dream the darkness closed about his eyes i bore my king away the ballad of da this is the ballad of da a to s throne who the district of how he met with his fate and the v p p at the hand of senior g b t da was a warrior bold his sword and his were with gold and the banner his bore was stiff with but with he shot at the strong and he at the weak the to the he noble he sacrificed mean he filled old ladies with while over the water the papers cried the fights for his value post in which the government the money for the the ballad of da but little they cared for the native press the worn white soldiers in dress who through the and in the who died in the swamp and were in the mire who gave up their lives at the queen s command for the pride of their race and the peace of the land now first of the of da was captain o of the black and his was a company seventy strong who that chief along there were lads from and and who went to their death with a joke in their teeth and worshipped with and zeal the mud on the boot heels of o but ever a on their labours lay and ever their would vanish away till the sun dried boys of the black took a interest in da and if pursuit in possession ends the and his were best of friends the ballad of da the word of a a march by night a rush through the mist a scattering fight a from cover a corpse in the clearing the glimpse of a cloth and heavy the of a village the of slain and the was abroad on the again they cursed their luck as the irish will they gave him credit for cunning and skill they buried their dead they bolted their beef and started anew on the track of the thief till in place of the of greece men said when and his come back with the head they had hunted the from the hills to the plain he doubled and broke for the hills again they had crippled his power for and they had him out of his pet and at last they came when the day star tired to a camp deserted a village fired a black cross the morning gold and the body it was and cold the ballad of da the wind of the dawn went merrily past the high grass bowed her to the blast and out of the grass on a sudden broke a of fire a of smoke and captain o of the black was blessed with a in the bone the gift of his enemy da now a that is from telegraph wire is a thorn in the flesh and a fire the shot wound as shot wounds may in a steaming at the left arm and the captain swore i d like to be after the once the fever held him the captain said i d give a hundred to look at his the hospital and but heard he thought of the cane green and that his home by the he thought of his wife and his high school sod he thought but abandoned the thought of a gun the ballad of da his sleep was broken by visions dread of a shining with a silver head he kept his counsel and went his way and the of half their pay and the months went on as the worst must do and the returned to the anew but the captain had quitted the long drawn strife and in far had taken a wife and she was a of delicate mould with hair like the sunshine and heart of gold and little she knew the arms that embraced had a ma n fr om the brow to the waist and little she knew that the loving lips had ordered a quivering life s and the eye that lit at her breath had glared in the gates of death for these be matters a man would hide as a general rule from an innocent bride and little the captain thought of the past and of all men last but slow in the of the road the government train its load the ballad of da and and shining with in the cart sat the and ever a phantom before him fled of a with a silver head then the lead cart stuck though the and the and the escort and out of the with and da and his gang at his heels then answered back the s and the s crack and the revolver began to sing to the blade that on the ring and the brown flesh where the bay net kissed as the steel shot back with a and a twist and the great white with eyes watched the souls of the dead arise and over the smoke of the the banner staggered and swayed oh of man may see is a well worked rush on the g b t the shook at the horrible sight and his ponderous for flight the ballad of da but fate had ordained that the should | 39 |
hide the white man for his brother the border cattle thief tis war red war i ll give you then war till my fail for the wrong you have done to a chief of men and a thief of the and if i fall to your hand afresh i give you leave for the sin that you my throat with the foul pig s flesh and swing me in the skin i the rhyme of the three captains this ballad appears to refer to one of the exploits of the notorious paul jones the american it is founded on fact at the close of a winter day their down by london town the three great captains lay and one was admiral of the north from way to and one was lord of the coast and all the lands thereby and one was master of the thames from to and he was captain of the fleet the of them all their good guns guarded their great gray sides that were thirty foot in the sheer when there came a certain trading with news of a her was rough with the drift that drives in a northern breeze her sides were with the lazy weed that in the eastern seas the three captains light she rode in the rude tide to left and right she rolled and the sat on the butt and stared at an empty hold i ha paid port for your law he and where is the law ye boast if i sail from a heathen port to be robbed on a christian coast ye have smoked the of the as we bum the in a we tack not now to a or a plunging ho i had no fear but the seas were clear as far as a sail might fare till i met with a lime washed yankee that rode off there were canvas blinds to his bow gun ports to screen the weight he bore and the ran for a from sandy hook to the he would not fly the flag the bloody or the black but now he floated the and now he the jack he spoke of the law as he my crew he swore it was only a loan but when i would ask for my own again he swore it was none of my own he has taken my little that nest beneath the line he has stripped my rails of the and the green pine the three captains he has taken my of and i won beyond the seas he has taken my grinning heathen gods and what should he want o these my would not mend his boom my patch his boats he has the two this to for shoe i could not fight for the failing light and a rough beam sea beside but i him once for a clumsy and twice because he lied had i had guns as i had goods to work my christian harm i had run him up from his quarter deck to trade with his own yard arm i had nailed his ears to my head and them off with a saw and them in the and served them to him raw i had flung him blind in a boat to rot in the rocking dark i had him aft of his own craft a bait for his brother i had him round with and him with the oil and lashed him fast to his own mast to blaze above my spoil i had stripped his hide for my side and his beard i the and his crew on the live that grows through the flesh the three captains i had him down by the brown where the mud and draws by the heel to his own to wait for the land s claws he is within and lime without ye can nose him far for he carries the taint of a ship the of the s the looked at the guns and the tall and cold and the captains three full courteously peered down at the hold and the captains three called courteously from deck to butt good sir we ha dealt with that or ever your teeth were cut your words be words of a lawless race and the law it thus he comes of a race that have never a law and he never has us we ha sold him canvas and rope and we know that his price is fair and we know that he for the lack of a law as he rides off and since he is damned for a gallows thief by you and better than you we hold it meet that the english fleet should know that we hold him true the called to the tall and what is that to me did ever you hear of a yankee that a seventy three the three captains i loom so large from your quarter deck that i lift like a ship o the line he has learned to run from a gun and harry such craft as mine there is never a law on the keys to hold a white man in we do not steal the meal for that is a s sin must he have his law as a to or laid in brass on his wheel does he steal with tears when he fore then why does he steal the bit on a deep sea word and the word it was not sweet for he could see the captains three had to the fleet but three and two in white and blue the flags began we have heard a tale of a foreign sail but he is a the peered beneath his palm and swore by the great horn spoon fore the of the fleet would bless my by two and three the flags blew free to lash the laughing air | 39 |
we have sold our to the we know that his price is fair the winked his western eye and swore by a china storm they ha him a joseph s jury coat to keep his honour warm the three captains the against the tops the broad the in the empty hold and mourned for a wasted cord the signal sped by the line o the british craft the called to his crew and put her about and laughed it s haul my bully boys all we ll out to the seas again ere they set us to paint their saint or at his chain it s fore sheet free with her head to the sea and the swing of the we ll make no sport in an english court till we come as a ship o the line till we come as a ship o the line my lads of thirty foot in the sheer lifting again from the outer main with news of a flying his pluck at our for of heaving his head for our lead in sign that we keep the sea then fore sheet home as she lifts to the foam we stand on the outward tack we are paid in the coin of the white man s trade the is hard ay and black the bird shall carry my word to the and the ho the three captains how a man may sail from a heathen coast to be robbed in a christian port how a man may be robbed in christian port while three great captains there shall dip their flag to a s rag to show that his trade is fair ess the ballad of the down it was our war ship would sweep the channel clean wherefore she kept her close when the merry channel arose to save the marine she had one bow gun of a hundred ton and a great stern gun beside they dipped their noses deep in the sea they their stays and free in the wash of the wind whipped tide it was our war ship fell in with a light that carried the dainty gun and a pair o heels wherewith to run from the grip of a close fought fight she opened fire at seven miles as ye shoot at a cork and once she fired and twice she fired till the bow gun drooped like a lily tired that upon the stalk the m captain the bow gun the deck beams break below well to rest for an hour or twain and the shattered plates again and he answered make it so in she opened fire within the mile as ye shoot at the flying duck and the great stern gun shot fair and true with the heave of the ship to the blue and the great stern stuck captain the fills with steam the feed pipes burst below you can hear the hiss of the helpless ram you can hear the twisted jam and he answered turn and go it was our war ship and grimly did she roll swung round to take the s fire as the white whale faces the s ire when they war by the frozen pole captain the shells are falling fast and faster still fall we and it is not meet for english stock to bide in the heart of an eight day clock the death they cannot see i it the lie down lie down my bold a b we drift upon her beam we dare not ram for she can run and dare ye fire another gun and die in the steam it was our war ship that carried an belt but fifty feet at stern and bow lay bare as the of the s sow to the hail of the captain they hack us through and through the chilled steel are swift we have emptied the in open sea their bursts where our coal should be and he answered let her drift it was our war ship swung round upon the tide her two dumb guns glared south and north and the blood and the steam ran forth and she ground the s side captain they cry the fight is done they bid you send your sword and he answered her stern and bow they have asked for the steel they shall have it now out and board ii ft the it was our war ship up four hundred men and the delight as they rolled in the waist and heard the fight stamp o er their steel walled pen they cleared the end to end from tower to hold they fought as they fought in s fleet they were stripped to the waist they were bare to the feet as it was in the days of old it was the sinking heaved up her battered side and carried a million pounds in steel to the and the corpse fed and the of the channel tide it was the crew of the stood out to sweep the sea on a won from an ancient foe as it was in the days of long ago and as it still shall be the ballad of the seven from all the world back to again rolling down the road drunk and raising give the girls another drink fore we sign away we that took the out across the bay we put out from loaded down with rails we put back to cause our cargo shifted we put out from met the winter seven days and seven nights to the start we drifted her loose smoke white as snow all the coals adrift half the rails below like a pot like a out we took the out across the bay one by one the lights came up winked and let us by mile by mile we on | 39 |
coal and f short ll the ballad of the met a blow that laid us down heard a fly left the wolf behind us with a two foot list to port trailing like a wounded duck working out her soul like a shop after every roll just a and a mast through the spray so we the out across the bay felt her and felt her when she d break wondered every time she if she d stand the shock heard the seas like drunken men at her hoped the lord f ud keep his thumb on the block against the iron decks choked with coal and frozen foot and hand sick of heart and soul last we prayed she d buck herself into judgment day hi i we cursed the knocking round the bay her nose flung up to sky groaning to be still up and down and back we went never time for breath the ballad of the then the money paid at s caught her by the heel and the stars ran round and round at our death aching for an hour s sleep off between heard the rotten draw when she took it green watched the compass chase its tail like a cat at play that was on the south across the bay once we saw between the head to swell mad with work and weariness they was we damned s lights go by like a long hotel cheered her from the in the sea then a cleared us out then the laughed boys the wheel has gone to hell the aft yoke the kicking head get her under way so we her haul out across the bay just a pack o rotten plates up with tar in we came an tim enough cross bar meant to founder we god almighty s storm the eternal sea the ballad of the seven men from all the worlds back to town again down the road drunk and raising seven men from out of hell ain t the owners gay cause we took the safe across the bay t the sacrifice of er er beyond the hills of ao bears witness to the truth and ao hath told the men of thence the tale comes westward o er the peaks to india the story of s child a maiden to the chief in war the man of sixty who held the pass that leads to but to day is gone to seek his comfort of the god called the silent showing how the sickness ceased because of her who died to save the tribe is one and greater than us all is one and greater than all gods is two in one and rides the sky curved like a s from dusk to dawn and drums upon it with his heels whereby is bred the thunder in the hills this is the god of all er who was before all gods and made all gods the sacrifice of er and presently will break the gods he made and step upon the earth to govern men who give him milk dry and cheat his priests or leave his shrine as er left it and forgot when all the valley followed after and little gods but very wise and from the sky beheld their sin he sent the sickness out upon the hills the red horse sickness with the iron to turn the valley to again and the red horse thrice into the wind the naked wind that had no fear of him and the red horse stamped thrice upon the snow the naked snow that had no fear of him and the red horse went out across the rocks the ringing rocks that had no fear of him and downward where the lean meets the snow and downward where the gray pine meets the and downward where the dwarf oak meets the pine till at his feet our cup like pastures lay that night the slow mists of the evening dropped dropped as a cloth upon a dead man s face and in the valley white like water very silent spread abroad like water very silent from the shrine of to where the stream is to fill our cattle sent up the sacrifice of white waves that rocked and heaved and then were still hu all the valley glittered like a marsh beneath the moonlight filled with mist knee deep so that men as they walked that night the red horse above the dam beyond the cattle men heard him feed and those that heard him where they lay thus came the sickness to er and ten men strong men and of the women four and the red horse went with the dawn but near the cattle his prints lay that night the slow mists of the evening dropped dropped as a cloth upon the dead but rose a little higher to a young girl s height till all the valley glittered like a lake beneath the moonlight filled with mist that night the red horse beyond the dam a stone s throw from the men heard him feed and those that heard him where they lay thus came the sickness to er and of men a score and of the women eight and of the children two because the road to was a road of enemies and ao was blocked with early snow the sacrifice of er we could not flee from out the valley death smote at us in a slaughter pen and was mute as though the were slain and the red horse nightly by the stream and later outward towards the shrine and those that heard him where they lay then said to the priests at dusk when the white mist rose up breast high and choked the voices in the houses of the dead and avail not if the horse | 39 |
reach the shrine we surely die have forgotten of all gods the chief here rolled the thunder through the hills and shook upon his t ye have forgotten of all gods the chief too long and all were dumb save one who cried on with the his knees but found no answer in the smoky roof and being smitten of the sickness died before the altar of the shrine then said i am near to death and have the wisdom of the grave for gift to bear me on the path my feet must tread if there be wealth on earth then i am rich for is the first of all er if there be beauty on the earth her eyes dropped for a moment to the temple floor ye know that i am fair if there be love ye know that love is mine the chief in war the sacrifice of toe of broke from the and have da sh ed her bat the priests wit b rf saying she has from said by my wealth and love and beauty i an chosen of the god here rolled the thunder through the and fell forward on the of in darkness and before oar priests the maid between the cast her down the heavy made when be was young oat of the water gold of threw the breast plate thick with upon the pat aside the bands of silver on her brow and neck and as the on the stones the thunder of like a bull then said stretching out her hands as one in darkness fearing devils help priests i am a woman very weak and who am i to know the will of gods hath called me whither shall i go the chief in war the man of sixty howled in his torment by the priests but dared not come to her to drag her forth and dared not lift his spear against the priests then all men wept there was a priest of bent with a hundred blind the sacrifice of er and as the great snow eagle is his seat was nearest to the altar fires and he was counted dumb among the priests but whether or from the impotent tongue found utterance we know as little as the beneath the he cried so that they heard who stood without to the shrine and crept aside into the shadow of his fallen god and and went her way that night the slow mists of the evening dropped dropped as a cloth upon the dead and rose above the roofs and by the shrine lay as the water of the when the cattle of er and through the mist men heard the red horse feed in s house they burned s and killed her black bull tor and broke her wheel and her hair as for the marriage feast with cries more loud than mourning for the dead across the fields from s dwelling place we heard weeping where she passed to seek the shrine the red horse and followed her and on the river his struck dead and heavy in our ears out of the mists of evening as the star of ao through the black snow the sacrifice of er to show the pass is clear stepped upon the great gray slope of stone the of the red horse behind her to the shrine then fled north to the mountain where his stable lies they know who dared the anger of and watched that night above the clinging mists far up the hill s passing in she set her hand upon the door by a and black with time whereon is the glory of in letters older than the ao and twice she turned aside and twice she wept cast down upon the threshold for him she loved the man of sixty and for her father and the black bull tor hers and her pride yea twice she turned away before the awful darkness of the door and the great horror of the wall of man where man is made the of an face that waits above and laughs but the third time she cried and put her palms against the stone leaves and prayed to spare er and take her life for price they know who watched the doors were rent apart and closed upon and the rain broke like a flood across the valley washed v the sacrifice of er the mist away but louder than the rain the thunder of filled men with fear some say that from the shrine she cried for very thrice and others that she sang and had no fear and some that there was neither song nor cry but only thunder and the rain in the morning men rose up perplexed with horror crowding to the shrine and when er was gathered at the doors the priests made and passed in to a strange temple and a god they feared but knew not from the the grass had thrust the altar apart the walls were gray with the roof beams swelled with many coloured growth of and veiled the image of in the basin of the blood above the altar held the morning sun a on its heart below face hid in hands the maid lay er beyond the hills of ao bears witness to the truth and ao hath told the men of thence the tale comes westward o er the peaks to india the explanation love and death once ceased their strife at the tavern of man s life called for wine and threw alas each his quiver on the grass when the bout was o er they found mingled arrows the ground hastily they gathered then each the loves and lives of men ah the dawn deceived mingled arrows each one death s dread was stored with the shafts | 39 |
he most love s light quiver groaned beneath headed of death thus it was they wrought our woe at the tavern long ago tell me do our masters know blindly as they fly old men love while young men die the gift of the sea the dead child lay in the and the widow watched beside and her mother slept and the channel swept the gale in the teeth of the tide but the mother laughed at all i have lost my man in the sea and the child is dead be still she said what more can ye do to me the widow watched the dead and the candle low and she tried to sing the passing song that bids the poor soul go and mary take you now she sang that lay against my heart and mary smooth your to night but she could not say depart then came a cry from the sea but the sea blinded the glass and heard ye nothing mother she said tis the child that waits to pass the gift of the sea and the nodding mother sighed tis a in the for why should the soul cry out that never knew of sin o feet i have held in my hand o hands at my heart to catch how should they know the road to go and how should they lift the latch they laid a sheet to the door with the little that it might not hurt from the cold or the dirt but the crying would not stop the widow lifted the latch and strained her eyes to see and opened the door on the bitter shore to let the soul go free there was neither glimmer nor ghost there was neither spirit nor spark and heard ye nothing mother she hid tis crying for me in the dark and the nodding mother sighed tis sorrow makes ye dull have ye yet to learn the cry of the or the wail of the wind blown the gift of the sea the are blown inland the gray follows the plough twas never a bird the voice i heard o mother i hear it now lie still dear lamb lie still the child is passed from harm tis the ache in your breast that broke your rest and the feel of an empty arm she put her mother aside in mary s name let be i for the peace of my soul i must go she said and she went to the calling sea in the heel of the wind bit pier where the twisted weed was piled she came to the life she had missed by an hour for she came to a little child she laid it into her breast and back to her mother she came but it would not feed and it would not heed though she gave it her own child s name and the dead child on her breast and her own in the lay and god forgive us mother she said we let it die in the dark and his gods read here this is the story of man maker of gods in lands beyond the sea because the city gave him of her gold because the brought because his life was sheltered by the king so that no man should him none should steal or break his rest with in the streets when he was weary after toil he made an image of his god in gold and pearl with and human eyes a wonder in the sunshine known afar and worshipped by the king but drunk with pride because the city bowed to him for god he wrote above the shrine thus gods are made and makes them otherwise shall die and all the city praised him then he died read here the story of man maker of gods in lands beyond the sea because the city had no wealth to give because the were spoiled afar and his gods because his life was threatened by the king so that all men despised him in the streets he the living rock with sweat and tears and reared a god against the morning gold a terror in the sunshine seen afar and worshipped by the king but drunk with pride because the city to bring him back he carved upon the thus gods are made and makes them otherwise shall die and all the people praised him then he died read here the story of man maker of gods in lands beyond the sea because he lived among a simple folk because his village was between the hills because he his cheeks with blood of he cut an idol from a fallen pine blood upon its cheeks and a shell above its brows for eyes and gave it hair of trailing moss and straw for crown and all the village praised him for this craft and brought him butter honey milk and wherefore because the drove him mad he scratched upon that log thus gods are made and makes them otherwise shall die and all the people praised him then he died and his gods read here the story of man maker of gods in lands beyond the sea because his god one of blood should one hair s breadth from the pulse s path and his brain alone rag wrapped among the cattle in the fields counting his fingers with the trees and mocking at the mist until his god drove him to labour out of and horns dropped in the mire he made a monstrous god crowned with and when the cattle at twilight time he dreamed it was the of lost crowds and howled among the beasts thus gods are made and makes them otherwise shall die the cattle then he died yet at the last he came to paradise and found his own four gods and that he wrote and | 39 |
being very near to god what on earth had made his toil god s law till god said mocking mock not these be thine then cried i have not so if thou written otherwise thy gods had rested in the mountain and the mine and i were poorer by four wondrous gods and thy more wondrous law thine servant of shouting crowds and and his gods with laughing mouth but tear wet cast his gods from paradise this is the story of man maker of gods in lands beyond the sea the of the when the flush of a new bom sun fell first on s green and gold our father adam sat under the tree and scratched with a stick in the mould and the first rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his mighty heart till the devil whispered behind the leaves it s pretty but is it art wherefore he called to his wife and fled to fashion his work anew the first of his race who cared a fig for the first most dread review and he left his lore to the use of his sons and that was a glorious gain when the devil chuckled is it art in the ear of the they fought and they talked in the north and the south they talked and they fought in the west till the waters rose on the pitiful land and the poor red clay had rest the had rest till that blank canvas dawn when the dove was to start and the devil below the it s human but is it art they a tower to shiver the sky and the stars apart till the devil behind the bricks it s striking but is it art the stone was dropped at the side and the idle swung while each man talked of the aims of art and each in an alien tongue the tale is as old as the tree and new as the new cut tooth for each man knows ere his lip grows he is master of art and truth and each man hears as the twilight to the beat of his dying heart the devil drum on the darkened pane you did it f but was it art we have learned to the tree to the shape of a we have learned to bottle our parents twain in the of an egg we know that the tail must wag the dog for the horse is drawn by the cart but the devil as he of old it s clever but is it art the when the of london sun falls faint on the club room s green and gold the sons of adam sit them down and scratch with their pens in the mould they scratch with their pens in the mould of their graves and the ink and the anguish start for the devil behind the leaves it s pretty but is it art now if we could win to the tree where the four great rivers flow and the wreath of eve is red on the turf as she left it long ago and if we could come when the slept and softly through by the favour of god we might know as much as our father adam knew the legend of evil this is the sorrowful story told when the twilight fails and the walk together holding their neighbours tails our fathers lived in the forest foolish people were they they went down to the to teach the farmers to play our fathers in the our fathers in the wheat our fathers hung from the branches our fathers danced in the street then came the terrible farmers nothing of play they knew only they caught our fathers and set them to labour too l the legend of evil set them to work in the with and and put them in mud walled and cut off their beautiful now we can watch our fathers sullen and bowed and old stooping over the sharing the silly mould driving a foolish mending a muddy yoke sleeping in mud walled their food in smoke we may not speak to our fathers for if the farmers knew they would come up to the forest and set us to labour too this is the horrible story told as the twilight fails and the walk together holding their s tails the legend of evil n twas when the rain fell steady an the ark was pitched an ready that got his orders for to take the below he dragged them all together by the horn an hide an feather an all the donkey was agreeable to go thin spoke him fairly thin talked to him an thin he cursed him to the glory the lord take the ass that bred you and the greater ass that fed you go you ye ah the donkey went aboard but the wind was always an twas most an the ladies in the cabin couldn t stand the stable air an the the they an died in till said there s wan us that hasn t paid his fare m for he heard a mid the all creation the an the legend of evil an he saw the windy he to stop the the a stable fork their tails the cursed outrageous but said to what am i indebted or this tenant right invasion an the gave for answer me if you can sir for i came in the donkey on your honour s invitation the english flag above the a flag bearing the union jack remained fluttering in the flames for some time t but ultimately when it fell the crowds rent the air with shouts and seemed to see significance in the incident daily papers winds of the world give answer they | 39 |
are to and fro and what should they know of england who only england know the poor little street bred people that and and they are lifting their heads in the stillness to at the english flag must we borrow a from the to plaster anew with dirt an irish liar s or an english coward s shirt we may not speak of england her flag s to sell or share what is the flag of england winds of the world declare h ii the english flag the north wind blew from my go i chase your lazy home from the by the great north lights above me i work the will of god and the on the ice field or the fills with i barred my gates with iron i my doors with flame because my your came i took the sun from their presence i cut them down with my blast and they died but the flag of england blew free ere the spirit passed the lean white bear hath seen it in the long long night the ox knows the standard that the northern light what is the flag of england ye have but my to dare ye have but my to conquer go forth for it is there the south wind sighed from the my mid sea course was ta en over a thousand islands lost in an idle main where the sea egg flames on the coral and the their endless ocean legends to the lazy locked the english flag strayed amid lonely amid outer keys i the palms to laughter i tossed the in the breeze never was isle so little never was sea so lone but over the and the palm trees an english flag was flown i have it free from the to hang for a on the horn i have chased it north to the and rolled and torn i have spread its fold o er the dying adrift in a hopeless sea i have hurled it swift on the and seen the slave set free my know it and where the lone wave fills with fire beneath the southern cross what is the flag of england ye have but my to dare my seas to is there the east wind roared from the the bitter seas i come and me men call the home wind for i bring the english home look look well to your shipping by the breath of my mad i swept your close packed and your best at the english flag the behind the racing seas before i your richest i i set my hand on the as a snake she rose and i flung your to with the startled never the never the wild fowl wake but a soul goes out on the east wind that died for england s sake man or woman or mother or bride or maid because on the bones of the english the english flag is stayed the desert dust hath it the flying wild ass knows the scared white winds it across the what is the flag of england ye have but my sun to dare ye have but my sands to travel go forth for it is the west wind called in the thoughtless fly that bear the wheat and cattle lest street bred people die they make my might their porter they make my house their path till i loose my neck from their and them all in my wrath the english flag i draw the gliding fog bank as a snake is drawn from the hole they one to the other the ship bells toll for day is a drifting terror till i raise the with my breath and they see strange bows above them and the two go locked to death but whether in calm or wreath whether by dark or day i heave them whole to the or their plates away first of the scattered under a shrieking sky dipping between the the english flag goes by m the dead dumb fog hath wrapped it the frozen have kissed the naked stars have seen it a fellow star in the mist what is the flag of england ye have but my breath to dare ye have but my waves to conquer go forth for it is there h in memory or a commission help for a distressed a spirit hurt help for an honourable sore trampled in the dirt from bay to o listen to my song the honourable gentlemen have suffered grievous wrong their noble names were mentioned o the burning black disgrace by a brutal saxon paper in an irish shooting case they sat upon it for a year then their heart to brave it and innocence the learned judges gave it bear witness heaven of that grim crime beneath the surgeon s knife the honourable gentlemen the loss of life i bear witness of those that and and no man laid hand upon the knife or finger to the cleared cleared in the face of all mankind beneath the skies like from park and what lay there they rise go shout it to the seas give word to now her honourable gentlemen are cleared and this is how they only paid the his cattle price they only helped the murderer with counsel s best advice but sure it keeps their honour white the learned court believes they never gave a piece of plate to and thieves they never told the crowd to card a woman s hide they never marked a man for death what fault of theirs he died they only said and talked and went away by god the boys that did the work were men than they their sin it was that fed the fire small blame | 39 |
to them that heard the get drunk on and at a word cleared they knew whom they were talking at if they were irish too the gentlemen that lied in court they knew and well they knew they only took the gold from out of jail they only for dollars on the blood if black is black or white is white in black and white it s down they re only to the queen and to the crown cleared honourable gentlemen be thankful it s no more the widow s curse is on your house the dead are at your door on you the shame of open shame on you from north to south the hand of every honest man flat across your mouth less black than we were painted faith no word of black was said the touch was human blood and that you know runs red it s sticking to your fist to day for all your sneer and and by the judge s well weighed word you cannot wipe it off cleared hold up those hands of innocence go scare your sheep together the that behind the old bell and if they snuff the taint and break to find another pen tell them it s tar that so and them yours again m the charge is old as old as as fresh as yesterday old as the ten have ye talked those laws away if words are words or death is death or powder sends the ball you spoke the words that sped the shot the curse be on you all our friends believe of course they do as sheltered women may but have they seen the shrieking soul from the quivering clay they if their own front door is shut they ll swear the whole world s warm what do they know of dread of death or hanging fear of harm the secret half a county keeps the whisper in the lane the shriek that tells the shot went home behind the broken pane cleared the dry blood in the sun that the honest bees and shows the have heard your talk what do they know of these but you you know ay ten times more the secrets of the dead black terror on the country side by word and whisper bred the s scream at night the s low who set the whisper going first you know and well you my soul i d sooner lie in jail for murder plain and straight pure crime i d done with my own hand for money lust or hate than take a seat in parliament by fellow cheered while one of those not proved me cleared as you are cleared cleared you that lost the league accounts go guard our honour still go help to make our country s laws that broke god s law at will one hand stuck out behind the back to signal strike again the other on your dress shirt front to show your heart is a cleared if black is black or white is white in black and white it s down you re only to the queen and to the crown if print is print or words are words the learned court we are not ruled by but only by their friends an imperial now this is the tale of the council the german to ease the strong of their burden to help the weak in their need he sent a word to the who struggle and and sweat that the straw might be counted fairly and the of bricks be set the lords of their hands assembled from the east and the west they drew and and and some were black from the furnace and some were brown from the soil and some were blue from the but all were wearied of toil and the young king said i have found it the road to the rest ye seek the strong shall wait for the weary the hale shall halt for the weak j an imperial with the even tramp of an army where no man breaks from the line ye shall march to peace and plenty in the bond of brotherhood sign the paper lay on the table the strong heads bowed thereby and a wail went up from the ay sign give rest for we die a hand was stretched to the goose a fist was cramped to when the laugh of a blue eyed maiden ran clear through the council hall and each one heard her laughing as each one saw her plain or or mary jane and the spirit of man that is in him to the light of the vision woke and the men drew back from the paper as a yankee spoke there s a girl in city who works on the we re going to our horses and dig for a house of our own with gas and water connections and steam heat through to the top and w i guess i shall work till i drop an imperial and an english thundered the weak an the lame be i i ve a berth in the sou west a home in the road and till the has footed my bill i work for the an the full up i be damned if i and over the german benches the bearded whisper ran der girls und der dollars makes or breaks a man if der dollars he der girl but if bust in der we der girl from they passed one resolution your sub committee believe you can the curse of adam when you ve lightened the curse of eve but till we are built like angels with hammer and and pen we will work for and a woman for ever | 39 |
and ever amen now this is the tale of the council the german the day that they the the day that the cat was an imperial the day of the from the day of the twisted sands the day that the laugh of a maiden made light of the lords of their hands j now gave up the ghost in his house in square and a spirit came to his bedside and him by the hair a spirit him by the hair and carried him far away till he heard as the roar of a rain fed ford the roar oi the way till he heard the roar of the way die down and and cease and they came to the gate within the wall where peter holds the keys stand up stand up now and answer loud and high the good that ye did for the sake of men or ever ye came to die the good that ye did for the sake of men in little earth so lone i and the naked soul of grew white as a rain washed bone have a friend on earth he said that was my priest and guide and well would be answer all for me if he were by my side i for that ye strove in neighbour love it shall be written fair but now ye wait at heaven s gate and not in square though we called your friend from his bed this night he could not speak for you for the race is run by one and one and never by two and two then looked up and down and little gain was there for the naked stars grinned overhead and he saw that his soul was bare the wind that blows between the worlds it cut him like a knife and took up his tale and spoke of his good in life this i have read in a book he said and that was told to me and this i have thought that another man thought of a prince in the good souls like and bade him clear the path and peter the keys in weariness and wrath ye have read ye have heard ye have thought he said and the tale is yet to run by the worth of the body that once ye had give answer what ha ye done then looked back and forth and little good it bore for the darkness stayed at his shoulder blade and heaven s gate before o this i have felt and this i have guessed and this i have heard men say and this they wrote that another man wrote of a in ye have read ye have felt ye have guessed good lack i ye have heaven s gate there s little room between the stars in idleness to i o none may reach by hired speech of neighbour priest and kin through borrowed deed to god s good that lies so fair within get hence get hence to the lord of wrong for doom has yet to run and the faith that ye share with square you the spirit him by the hair and sun they fell till they came to the belt of naughty stars that rim the mouth of hell the first are red with pride and wrath the next are white with pain but the third are black with sin that cannot burn again they may hold their path they may leave their path with never a soul to mark they may burn or but they must not cease in the scorn of the outer dark the wind that blows between the worlds it him to the bone and he to the of hell gate there u the light of his own hearth stone the devil he sat behind the bars where the desperate drew but he caught the and would not let him through ye the price of good pit coal that i must pay m said he that ye rank so fit for hell and ask no leave of me i am all o er to adam s breed that ye should give me scorn for i strove with god for your first father the day that he was born sit down sit down upon the and answer loud and high the harm that ye did to the sons of men or ever you came to die and looked up and up and saw against the night the belly of a tortured star blood red in hell mouth light and looked down and down and saw beneath his feet the of a tortured star milk white in hell mouth heat o i had a love on earth said he that kissed me to my fall and if ye would call my love to me i know she would answer all all that ye did in love forbid it shall be written fair but now ye wait at hell mouth gate and not in square l l though we whistled your love from her bed to night i she would not run for the sin ye do by two and two ye must pay for one by one the wind that blows between the worlds it cut him like a knife and took up the tale and spoke of his sin in life once i ha laughed at the power of love and twice at the grip of the grave and thrice i ha patted my god on the head that men might call me brave the devil he blew on a soul and set it aside to cool do ye think i would waste my good pit coal on the hide of a brain sick fool i see no worth in the mirth or the jest ye did that i should my gentlemen that are sleeping three on a then looked back and forth and there was little grace for | 39 |
hell gate filled the soul with the fear of naked space nay this i ha heard and this was abroad and this i ha got from a on the word of a dead french lord ye ha heard ye ha read ye ha got good lack i and the tale begins afresh have ye one sin for the pride o the or the sinful lust of the flesh he the bars and let me in for i mind that i borrowed my neighbour s wife to sin the deadly sin the devil he grinned behind the bars and the fires high did ye read of that sin in a book said he and said ay the devil he blew upon his nails and the little devils ran and he said go this thief that comes in the guise of a man him out star and star and his proper worth there s sore decline in adam s line if this be of earth s crew so naked new they may not face the fire but weep that they bin too small to sin to the height of their desire over the coal they chased the soul and it all abroad as children rifle a case or the s foolish and back they came with the tattered thing as children after play nd they said the soul that he got from god he has clean away we have a of print and book and a chattering wind and many a soul he stole but his we cannot find we have handled him we have him we have him to the bone and sure if tooth and nail show truth he has no soul of his own the devil he bowed his head on his breast and deep and low i m all o er to adam s breed that i should bid him go yet close we lie and deep we lie and if i gave him place my gentlemen that are so proud would me to my face they d call my house a common and me a careless host and i would not anger my gentlemen for the sake of a ghost the devil he looked at the soul that prayed to feel the flame and he thought of holy charity but he thought of his own good name now ye could haste my coal to waste and ye down to did ye think of that for yourself said he and said ay the devil he blew an outward breath for his heart was free from care ye have scarce the soul of a he said but the roots of sin are there and for that sin should ye come in were i the lord alone but sinful pride has rule inside and than my own honour and wit fore damned they sit to each his priest and nay scarce i dare myself go there and you they d torture sore ye are neither spirit nor he said ye are neither book nor brute go get ye back to the flesh again for the sake of man s i m all o er to adam s breed that i should mock your pain look that ye win to sin ere ye come back again jet hence the is at your door the grim black wait they bear your clay to place to day speed lest ye come too late go back to earth with a lip go back with an open eye and carry my word to the sons of men or ever ye come to die that the sin they do by two and two they must pay for one by one and the god that you took from a printed book be with you l to life s mv new cut takes the light where crimson blank the windows by my own work before the night great i make my prayer if there be good in that i wrought thy hand compelled it master thine where i have failed to meet thy thought i know through thee the blame is mine one instant s toil to thee denied stands all eternity s offence of that i did with thee to guide to thee through thee be excellence who lest all thought of fade bring st to the s brain to muse o er his own trade and stand with god again the depth and dream of my desire the bitter paths wherein i stray thou who hast made the fire thou who hast made the l to life s one stone the more to her place in that dread temple of thy it is enough that through thy grace i saw naught common on thy earth take not that vision from my ken oh er may spoil or speed help me to need no aid from men that i may help such men as need l there s a whisper down the field where the year shot her yield and the stand gray to the sun singing over then come over for the bee ha quit the and your english summer s done you have heard the beat of the off shore wi and the of the deep sea rain you have heard the song how long i how lot pull out on the trail again ha done with the tents of dear we ve seen the seasons through and it s time to turn on the old trail our trail the out trail pull out pull out on the long trail the that is always new it s north you may run to the sun or south to the blind horn s hate or east all the way into bay or west to the golden gate l where the hold good dear and the wildest tales are true and the men bulk big on the old trail our | 39 |
own trail the out trail and life runs large on the long trail the trail that is always new the days are sick and cold and the skies are gray and old and the twice breathed airs blow damp and i d sell my tired soul for the beam sea roll of a black tramp with her load line over her dear and a drunken crew and her nose held down on the old trail our own trail the out trail from bar on the long trail the trail that is always new there be triple ways to take of the eagle or the snake or the way of a man with a maid but the fairest way to me is a ship s upon the sea in the heel of the north east trade can you hear the crash on her bows dear and the drum of the racing screw as she ships it green on the old trail our own trail the out trail as she lifts and on the long trail the trail that is always new l see the shaking roar with the peter at the fore and the grind and heave and the and grate as the tackle hooks the and the fall rope through the it s gang plank up and in dear it s her through and it s all clear aft on the old trail our own trail the out trail we re down on the long trail the trail that is always new o the when the port fog holds us tied and the their dread when foot by foot we creep o er the deep to the sob of the lead it s down by the lower hope dear with the sands in view till the mouse green on the old trail our own trail the out trail and the light lifts on the long the trail that is always new o the blazing night when the wake s a of light that holds the hot sky tame and the steady fore foot through the floors where the scared whale in flame l her plates are by the sun dear and her ropes are with the dew for we re down on the old trail our own trail the out trail we re south on the long trail the trail that is always new then home get her home where the drunken comb and the shouting seas drive by and the engines stamp and ring and the wet bows and swing and the southern cross rides high yes the old lost stars wheel back dear that blaze in the velvet blue they re all old friends on the old trail our own trail the out trail they re god s own guides on the long trail the trail that is always new forward o my heart from the to the start we re steaming ail too slow and it s twenty thousand mile to our little lazy isle where the trumpet blow you have heard the call of the off shore wind and the voice of the deep sea rain you have heard the song how long i how long pull out on the trail again i l the lord knows what we may find dear last and the deuce knows what we may do but we re back once more on the old trail our own trail the out trail we re down down on the long trail the trail that is always new the seven seas t to the city of the cities are full of pride each to each this from her mountain side that from her beach they count their ships full their corn and oil and wine and loom and and gun line city by city they hail hast aught to match with n and the men that breed from them they traffic up and down but cling to their cities hem as a child to the mother s gown when they talk with the stranger bands dazed and newly alone when they walk in the stranger lands by roaring streets unknown blessing her where she stands for strength above their own on high to hold her fame that stands all fame beyond by oath to bath the same most faithful foolish fond making her mere breathed name their bond upon their bond so thank i god my birth fell not in aside waste of the earth or tribes but that she lent me worth and gave me right to pride surely in toil or under an alien shy comfort it is to say of no mean city am lt n neither by service nor fee come i to mine estate mother of cities to me for i was born in her gate between the palms and the sea where the world end wait now for this debt i owe and for her far borne cheer must i make haste and go with tribute to her pier and she shall touch and after the use of kings orderly ancient fit my deep sea and purchase in all lands and this we do for a sign her power is over mine and mine i hold at her hands the seven seas a song of the english fair is our lot o goodly is our humble ye my people and be fearful in your mirth i for the lord our god most high he hath made the deep as dry he hath smote for us a pathway to the ends of all the earth yea though we and our rulers went from deep in all though we stained our garments hem oh be ye not dismayed though we stumbled and we strayed we were led by evil the lord shall deal with them hold ye the faith the faith our fathers seated us not with visions | 39 |
and except ye pay the lord single heart and single sword of your children in their bondage shall he ask thorn tale l l a song of the english keep ye the law be swift in all obedience clear the land of evil drive the road and bridge the ford make ye sure to each his own that he reap where he hath sown by the peace among our let men know we serve the lord t hear now a song a song of broken a song of little cunning of a singer nothing worth through the naked words and mean may ye see the truth between as the singer knew and touched it in the ends of all the earth i the lights our brows are bound with and the weed is on our knees our are battered us by the swinging smoking seas from and rock and over ness and the lights of england watch the ships of england got through the endless summer evenings on the level floors through the yelling channel tempest when the and a song of the english by day the dipping house flag and by night the s trail as the sheep that behind us so we know them where they hail we bridge across the dark and bid the have a care the flash that inland wakes his sleeping wife to prayer from our vexed head to gale we bind in burning chains the lover from the sea rim drawn his love in english lanes we greet the wing and wing that race the southern wool we warn the crawling cargo of and to each and all our equal lamp at peril of the sea the white wall sided war ships or the of come up come in from eastward from the of the beat up beat in from o of the horn swift of an empire s loom that us main to main the lights of england give you welcome back again a song of the english go get you gone up channel with the sea crust on your plates go get you into london with the burden of your t haste for they talk of empire there and say if any seek the lights of england sent you and by silence shall ye speak i the song of the dead hear now the song of the dead in the north by the torn edges they that look still to the pole asleep by their song of the dead in the south in the sun by their skeleton horses where the and through the dust of the river courses song of the dead in the east in the heat hollows where the dog in the in the of the song of the dead in the west in the the waste that betrayed them where the their from the and the grave mound they made them hear new the song of the dead a song of the english we were dreaming greatly in the town we beyond the sky line where the strange roads go down the whisper came the vision came the power with the need till the soul that is not man s soul was lent us to lead a s the deer breaks as the steer breaks from the herd where they in the faith of little children we went on our ways then the wood failed then the food failed then the last water dried in the faith of little children we lay down and died on the sand drift on the side in the we lay that our sons might follow after by the bones on the way follow after follow after we have watered the root and the bud has come to blossom that for fruit follow after we are waiting by the that we lost for the sounds of many footsteps for the tread of a host follow after follow after for the harvest is sown by the bones about the ye shall come to your own a song of the english when went down to the horn and england was crowned thereby seas and shores our lodge our lodge was horn and england was crowned thereby which never shall close again by day nor yet by night while man shall take his life to stake at risk of or main by day nor yet by night but even so as now we witness here while men depart of joyful heart adventure for to know as now bear witness here we have fed our sea for a thousand years and she calls us still though there s never a wave of all her waves but marks our english dead we have our best to the weed s to the and the if blood be the price of lord god we ha paid in full i there s never a flood goes now but lifts a we a song of the english there s never an ebb goes now but drops our dead on the sand but our dead on the sands from the to the if blood be the price of if blood be the price of lord god we ha paid it in we must feed our sea for a thousand years for that is our doom and pride as it was when they sailed with the golden hind or the wreck that struck last tide or the wreck that lies on the where the ghastly blue lights if blood be the price of if blood be the price of if blood be the price of lord god we ha bought it fair the deep sea the above us their dust drops down from afar down to the dark to the utter dark where the blind white sea are there is no sound | 39 |
no echo of sound in the deserts of the deep or the great gray level plains of where the creep a song of the english here in the of the world here on the tie ribs of earth words and the words of men and flutter and beat warning sorrow and gain salutation and mirth for a power troubles the still that has neither voice nor feet they have the things they have killed their father time joining hands in the gloom a league from the last of the sun hush men talk to day o er the waste of the ultimate and a new word runs between whispering let us be one i the song of the sons one from the ends of the earth gifts at an open door treason has much but we mother thy sons have more i from the of a dying man from the of a wolf pack freed turn and the world is thine mother be proud of thy seed count are we feeble or few hear is our speech so rude look are we poor in the land judge are we men of the blood a song of the english those that have stayed at thy knees mother go call them in we that were bred wait and would speak with our kin not in the dark do we fight and and selling our love for a price our hearts for a bribe gifts have we only to day love without promise or fee hear for thy children speak from the parts of the seat the song of the cities royal and royal i the queen thy richest sea with richer hands a thousand mills roar through me where i all races from all lands me the sea captain loved the river built wealth sought and kings life to hold hail england i am asia power on death in my hands but a song of the english kissed me on the mouth and eyes and brow wonderful kisses so that i became crowned above queens a withered now brooding on ancient fame hail mother do they call me rich in trade little care i but hear the priest and watch my silk clad lovers man by maid laugh my hail mother east and west must seek my aid ere the spent gear may dare the ports afar the second doorway of the wide world s trade la mine to loose or bar hail mother hold me fast my sleeps under innumerable to day yet guard and or to morrow sweeps thy war ships down the bay i into the mist my guardian put forth behind the mist my virgin lie the of the honour of the north sleepless and veiled am ii a song of the english and peace is our portion yet a whisper rose foolish and half in jest half hate now wake we and remember mighty blows and fearing no man wait victoria from east to west the word has passed till west is east beside our land locked blue from east to west the tested chain holds fast the well link rings true cape town hail snatched and oft from hand to hand i dream my dream by rock and heath and pine of empire to the northward ay one land from lion s head to line greeting nor fear nor favour won us place got between of gold and dread of loud and reckless as the wild tide race that our harbour mouth greeting my birth stain have i turned to good forcing strong wills perverse to the first flush of the in my blood and at my feet success a song of the english the northern beneath the southern skies i a nation for an empire s need suffer a little and my land shall rise queen over lands indeed man s love first found me man s hate made me hell for my sake i those earnest for leave to live and labour well god flung me peace and ease last loveliest exquisite apart on us on us the season smiles who wonder mid our why men depart to seek the happy england s answer truly ye come of the blood slower to bless than to ban little used to lie down at the bidding of any man flesh of the flesh that i bred bone of the bone that i bare as your sons shall be stem as your fathers i i a song of the english deeper than speech our love stronger than life our but we do not fall on the neck nor kiss when we come together my arm is nothing weak my strength is not gone by sons i have borne many sons but my are not dry look i have made ye a place and opened wide the doors that ye may talk together your and wards of the outer march lords of the lower seas ay talk to your gray mother that bore you on her knees that ye may talk together brother to brother s face thus for the good of your thus for the pride of the race also we will make promise so long as the blood i shall know that your good is mine ye shall feel that my strength is yours in the day of at the last great fight of all that our house stand together and the pillars do not fall draw now the knot firm on the bands and the law that ye make shall be law after the rule of your lands a song of the english this for the heath and that for the this for the leaf and that for the southern the law that ye make shall be law and i do not press my will because ye are sons of the blood and call me mother | 39 |
still now must ye speak to your and they must speak to you after the use of the english in straight flung words and few go to your work and be strong halting not in your ways the end half won for an instant of praise stand to your work and be wise certain of sword and pen who are neither children nor gods but men in a world of men the first mine was the woman to me i found her her dumb from the camp took her and bound her hot rose her tribe on our track ere i had proved her hearing her laugh in the gloom greatly i loved her swift through the forest we ran none stood to guard us few were my people and far then the flood barred us him we call son of the sea sullen and swollen panting we waited the death and stolen yet ere they came to my lance laid for the slaughter lightly she leaped to a log in the water holding on high and apart skins that arrayed her called she the god of the wind that he should aid her life had the tree at that word praise we the like left he the bank for the full river far fell their behind flashing and ringing wonder was on me and fear yet she was singing the first low lay the land we had left now the blue bound us even the floor of the gods level around us whisper there was not nor word shadow nor show ing till the light stirred on the deep glowing and grow then did he leap to his place from under he the the sun to our wonder nay not a league from our eyes blinded with gazing cleared he the gate of the world huge and amazing this we beheld and we live the pit of the burning then the god spoke to the tree for our returning back to the beach of our flight fearless and slowly back to our went he but we were holy men that were hot in that hunt women that followed that were promised our bones trembled and over the necks of the tribe crouching and prophet and we came back from the dawning the last and there was no more sea m thus said the lord in the vault above the calling to the angels and the souls in their degree lo earth has passed away on the smoke of judgment day that our word may be established shall we gather up the sea loud sang the souls of the jolly jolly plague upon the that made us and flee but the war is done between us in the deep the lord hath seen us our bones we ll leave the and god may sink the sea then said the soul of that betrayed him lord hast thou forgotten thy with me how once i go to cool n the and ye take my day of mercy if ye take away the r the last then said the soul of the angel of the off shore wind he that bits the thunder when the bull mouthed flee i have watch and ward to keep o er thy wonders on the deep and ye take mine honour from me if ye take away the seal loud sang the souls of the jolly jolly nay but we were angry and a hasty folk are we if we worked the ship together till she in foul weather are we that we should for a vengeance on the sea then said the souls of the slaves that men threw overboard in the a weary band were we but thy arm was strong to save and it touched us on the wave and we the long tides idle till thy trumpets tore the sea then cried the soul of the stout paul to god once we a ship and she there were fourteen score of these and they blessed thee on their knees when they learned thy grace and glory under by the seal the last loud sang the souls of the jolly jolly at their and they plucked our are rough and and the tune is something hard may we lift a deep sea such as use at sea then said the souls of the gentlemen wrist to bar all for red ho we in our chains o er the sorrow that was spain s heave or sink it leave or drink it we were masters of the seal up the soul of a gray he that led the in the of fair oh the ice white and near and the clear will ye them all for that in the sea loud sang the souls of the jolly jolly crying under heaven here is neither lead nor lee must we sing for on the floor take back your golden and we ll beat to open sea the last then stooped the lord and he called the good sea up to him and his borders unto all eternity that such as have pleasure for to praise the lord by measure they may enter into and serve him on the sea sun wind and cloud shall fail not from the face of it ringing nor the flying free and the ships shall go abroad to the glory of the lord who heard the silly sailor folk and gave them back their sea the king solomon drew because of his desire for and ivory from unto with out of which down but we be only that use in london town cross seas round the world and back again where the flaw shall head us or the full trade suits plain sail storm sail lay your board and tack again and that s the way we ii pay for his boots i we bring | 39 |
no store of of or precious stones but that we have we gathered with sweat and aching bones the in flame beneath the in frost upon the and of every wind that does between them go and some we got by purchase and some we had by trade and some we found by courtesy of and at midnight mid sea meetings for charity to keep and light the rolling homeward bound that rode a foot too deep by sport of bitter weather we re strained and from the on the to the upon the yard six had their will of us to carry all away our s in the and our boom s in bay i we ve off the with we ve slipped from with the at our heels we ve beyond the that the southern pole and dipped our under to the dread roll the beyond all outer we sailed where none have sailed and saw the land lights burning on islands none have hailed our hair stood up for wonder but when the night was done there danced the deep to blue empty the sun i strange rode beside us and brought us evil luck the witch fire climbed our channels and on and till through the red that lashed us nigh to blind we saw the plunging full canvas head to wind we ve heard the midnight that calls the black deep down ay thrice we ve heard the the thing that may not drown on frozen and the cloud her hosts when by more than signed with us we passed the isle o ghosts i and north amid the a toss below we met the silent that know the for down a cruel ice lane that opened as he sped we saw dead henry steer north by west his dead so dealt god s waters with us beneath the roaring skies so walked his signs and all naked to our eyes but we were heading homeward with trade to lose or make good lord they slipped behind us in the of our wake i let go let go the now at heart are we to bring so poor a cargo home that had for gift the sea let go the great bow ah fools were we and blind the worst we stored with utter toil the best we left behind cross seas round the world and back again whither flaw shall fail us or the trades drive down plain sail storm sail lay your board and tack again and all to bring a cargo up to london town i m hymn lord thou hast made this world below the shadow of a dream an taught by time i it so always steam from to guide i see thy hand o god in the stride o yon rod john might ha the same certain slow ay wrought it in the furnace flame my i cannot get my sleep to night old bones are hard to please i ll stand the middle watch up here alone wi god an these my engines after ninety days o race an rack an strain through all the seas of all thy world home again bang too much they knock a the are loose but thirty thousand mile o sea has them fair excuse m hymn fine clear an dark a full draught breeze wi out o sight an hay old girl ye ll walk tonight his wife s at seventy one two three since he began three turns for mistress and who s to blame the man there s none at any port for me by fast or slow since went to thee lord thirty years ago the year the sands was burned oh roads we used to tread mary hill to to not but they re on the board ye ll hear sir say good m back again an how s your to day but me my chair to drink wi three the fleet engineer that started as a when steam and he were low i mind the time we used to serve a broken pipe wi tow ten pound was all the pressure then eh a man drive an here our give one m s hymn we re on wi each new less weight an larger power there ll be the next an thirty knots an hour i thirty an more what i ha seen since ocean steam began leaves me no for the machine but what about the man the man that counts wi all his runs one million mile o sea four time the span from earth to moon how far o lord from thee that beside him night an day ye mind my first it the on his way to wi the saloon three feet were on the floor just to an fro an cast me on a furnace door i have the marks to show marks i ha marks o more than burns deep in my soul an black an times like this when things go smooth my comes back the sins o four and forty years all up an down the seas an repeat like half fed s our nights when i d come on deck to mark wi envy in my gaze the couples in the dark between the stays m hymn years when i the ports wi pride to fill my o p wrong judge not o lord my steps aside at gay street in blot out the hours of mine in sin when i abode jane s an number nine the an grant road an than all my sin rank an wild i was not four and twenty then ye judge a child i d seen the first that run | 39 |
new fruit new smells new air how could i tell blind wi sun the was there by day like scenes the shore slid past our sleepy eyes by night those soft stars from those velvet skies in port we used no cargo steam i d down the streets an in a dream for shells an an sticks o carved an stuffed an dried my wi the chief put till off head ye mind i heard a ca milk warm wi breath o an bloom m come m hymn firm clear an low no haste no hate the ghostly whisper went just facts all argument your s god s a the shadow o got out o books by clean on heaven an hell they male him in the o cold an dirt a jealous lad that s only strong to hurt ye ll not go back to him again an kiss his red hot rod but come wi us now who were they f an know the god that does not souls for sport or break a life in jest but the an the woman s breast an there it stopped cut off no more that quiet certain voice for me six months o twenty four to leave or take at choice twas on me like a it me through an through temptation past the show o speech an new the sin against the holy ghost an under all our screw that storm blew by but left behind her anchor swell thou all my heart an mind thou lord i fell n m hymn third on the mary then and first that night m hell i yet was thy hand beneath my head about my feet thy care clear to strait the trial o despair but when we touched the barrier thy answer to my prayer we dared not run that sea by night but lay an held our fire an i was on the sick sick wi doubt an tire better the sight of eyes that see than o desire ye mind that word clear as our again an once again when down through coral ran out our chain an by thy grace i had the light to see my duty plain light on the engine room no more bright as our burn i ve lost it since a thousand times but never past return per we ll have here two thousand souls aboard think not i dare to justify myself before the lord but average fifteen souls safe borne port to port i am o service to my kind ye blame the thought m s hymn maybe they steam from grace to wrath to sin by folly led it mine to judge their path their lives are on my head mine at the last when all is done it all comes back to me the fault that leaves six thousand ton a log upon the sea we ll one stretch three weeks an odd by any road ye steer cape town east to ye need an engineer fail there ye ve time to your shaft ay eat it ere ye re spoke or make under sail three burned wi smoke an home again the run it s no child s play to go to bell for fourteen days o snow an an the like that an turn an shift like the mills o god goes by the big south drift hail snow an ice that praise the lord i ve met them at their work an wished we had route or they yon s strain hard strain o head an hand for though thy power brings all skill to naught ye ll understand a man must think o things m s hymn then at the last well get to port an their baggage the passengers wi gloves an an this is what hear well thank ye for a pleasant voyage the tender now while i go an watch the bow they ve words for every one but me shake hands wi half the crew except the engineer the man they never knew an yet i like the for all we ve dam few s here no an the most we s four pound a year better myself abroad maybe i d sooner starve than sail wi such as call a rod french for on my stores some do but i can not afford to lie like wi i m older than the board a on the coal i ou ay the are close but when i grudge the strength ye gave i ll grudge their food to those there s bricks that i might recommend an the fire bars cruel no at the worst an damn all patent fuel i m s hymn inventions ye must stay in port to a patent pay my gear taught me how that business lay i blame no wi clearer head for aught they make or sell found that i could not invent an look to these as well so wi fretted like a but burned the plans last run wi all i hoped to earn ye know how hard an idol dies an what that meant to me e en it for a sacrifice acceptable to thee below there what s your t ye find it hard ye needn t the cap oil this isn t the ye thought t ye are not paid to think go sweat that off again it s to nor the name in vain men ay an women call me stern wi these to ye u note i ve little time to burn on social the see what their elders miss they ll hunt me to an fro till for the sake | 39 |
of well a kiss i em down below that minds me of our sir s kin the chap wi russia leather an cap m s hymn i showed him round last week o er all an at the last says he m don t you think steam spoils romance at sea damned i d been that to see what the throws on my back the three inches off my nose romance i those first class passengers they like it very well printed an bound in little books but why don t poets tell i m sick of all their an turns the loves an they dream lord send a man like burns to sing the song o steam to match wi s noblest speech yon sublime uplifted like the just the tail rods mark the time the throws give the double bass the sobs an an now the main start their quarrel on the her time her own appointed time the rocking till hear that note the rod s return through the guides they re all true beat full power the chorus goes clear to the where they sit my m s hymn absolute foreseen ordained to work ye u note at any an every rate o speed lift to furnace bars backed bolted an stayed an like the stars for joy that they are made while out o touch o vanity the says not unto us the praise or man not unto us the praise now a together hear them lift their lesson theirs an mine law duty an restraint obedience discipline mill an try pit taught them that when they arose an i wonder if a soul was them wi the blows oh for a man to it then in one trip hammer strain till even first class passengers could tell the plain but no one cares except that serve an understand my seven thousand horse power here eh lord they re grand they re grand am i when first in store the new made stood were ye cast down that breathed the word all things good m s hymn not that joy no after fall could vex ye ve left a glimmer still to cheer the man the that holds in spite o knock and scale o waste an slip an by that light now mark my word we ll build the perfect ship i ll never last to judge her lines or take her curve not i but i ha lived an i ha worked be thanks to thee most an i ha done what i ha done judge thou if ill or always thy grace me i yon s the stand by bell pilot so soon his it is the watch is set well god be thanked as i was i m no yet now i ll on man have ye ever thought what your good costs in coal i ll bum em down to port the miracles i sent a message to my dear a thousand and more to the dumb sea thrilled to hear and lost bore to her behind my message hard i came and nigh had found a grave for me but that i launched of steel and flame did war against the wave for me the deep by gale on gale to bid me change my mind again he broke his teeth along my rail and roaring swung behind again i stayed the sun at noon to tell my way across the waste of it i read the storm before it fell and made the better haste of it afar i hailed the land at night the towers i built had heard of me and ere my reached its height had flashed my love the word of me the miracles earth sold her chosen men of strength they lived and strove and died for me to drive my road a nation s length and toss the miles aside for me i snatched their toil to serve my needs too slow their flew for me i tired twenty smoking and bade them bait a new for me i sent the forth to see where hour by hour she waited me among ten million one was she and surely all men me dawn ran to meet me at my goal ah day no tongue shall tell again and little folk of little soul rose up to buy and sell again the native born we ve drunk to the queen god bless her we ve drunk to our mothers land we ve drunk to our english brother but he does not understand we ve drunk to the wide creation and the cross low for the last toast and of obligation a health to the native born they change their skies above them but not their hearts that we learned from our wistful mothers to call old england home we read of the english of the spring in the english lanes but we screamed with the painted as we rode on the dusty plains they passed with their old world their tales of wrong and our fathers held by purchase but we by the right of birth the native born our heart s where they our cradle our love where we spent our toil and our faith and our hope and our honour we pledge to our native soil i charge you charge your glasses charge you drink with me to the men of the four new nations and the islands of the sea to the last least lump of coral that none may stand outside and our own good pride shall teach us to praise our comrade s pride i to the hush of the breathless morning on the thin tin roofs to the haze of the burned back and the dust | 39 |
of the hoofs to the risk of a death by drowning to the risk of a death by to the men of a million acres to the sons of the golden south to the sons of the golden south stand up i and the life we live and know let a fellow sing o the little things he cares about if a fellow fights for the little things he cares about with the weight of a single blow i to the smoke of a hundred to the sheep on a thousand hills the native born to the sun that never to the rain that never to the land of the waiting spring time to our five meal meat fed men to the tall deep women and the children nine and ten and the children nine and ten stand up and the life we live and know let a fellow sing o the little things he cares about if a fellow fights for the little things he cares about with the weight of a two fold blow to the far flung where the quick cloud shadows trail to our neighbour s barn in the and the line of the new cut rail to the plough in her league long with the gray lake behind to the weight of a half year s winter and the warm wet western wind to the home of the floods and thunder to her pale dry healing blue to the lift of the great cape and the smell of the baked to the growl of the stamp to the and the water gold to the last and the largest empire to the map that is half the native born to our dear dark foster mothers to the heathen songs they sung to the heathen speech we ere we came to the white man s tongue to the cool of our deep to the blaze of our main to the night to the palms in the moonlight and the fire fly in the cane i to the hearth of our people s people to her well windy sea to the hush of our dread high altar where the abbey makes us we to the of the slow ground ages to the gain that is yours and mine to the bank of the open credit to the power house of the line i we ve drunk to the queen god bless her we ve drunk to our mothers land we ve drunk to our english brother and we hope he ll understand we ve drunk as much as we re able and the cross low for the last toast and your foot on the table a health to the native born i a health to the native born stand up we re six white men all bound to sing o the little things we care about the native born all bound to fight for the little things we care about with the weight of a six fold blow by the might of our cable tow take hands from the to the horn all round the world and a little to pull it by all round the world and a little to it a health to the native born the king farewell romance the cave men said with bone well carved he went away flint arms the and tips the spear to day changed are the gods of hunt and dance and he with these farewell romance farewell romance the lake folk sighed we lift the weight of years the of the mountain side hold him who our lost hills whereby we dare not dwell guard ye his rest romance farewell farewell romance the soldier spoke by of sword we may not win but mid smoke of and honour is lost and none may tell who paid good blows romance farewell i farewell romance the cried our ha lain with every sea the king the dull returning wind and tide heave up the wharf where we would be the known and noted breezes swell our sail romance farewell good bye romance the said he vanished with the coal we burn our dial marks full steam ahead our speed is timed to half a turn sure as the we port and port romance good bye i romance the season tickets mourn he never ran to catch his train but passed with coach and guard and and left the local late again confound romance and all unseen romance brought up the nine fifteen his hand was on the laid his oil can soothed the worrying his whistle the grade his fog horn cut the banks by dock and deep and mine and mill the boy god reckless still crowned and he his spell where heart blood beat or hearth smoke curled with miracle in a backward gazing world then taught his chosen bard to say our king was with us yesterday the rhyme of the three away by the lands of the where the paper glow and the of all the shipping drink in the house of blood street joe at twilight when the breeze brings up the harbour noise and ebb of bay chattering through the in s dining rooms they tell the tale anew of a hidden sea and a hidden fight when the ran from the northern light and the fought the two now this is the law of the that he proves with shot and steel when ye come by his in the smoky sea ye must not take the seal where the gray sea goes between the shelves and the little blue fox he is bred for his skin and the seal they breed for themselves the rhyme of the three for when the seek the shore to drop their the great man seal haul out of the sea a roaring band by band and when the first september | 39 |
have their wrath the great man seal haul back to the sea and no man knows their path then dark they lie and they lie and and the northern lights come down o nights to dance with the snow and god who the and the grinding he hears the cry of the little fox and the wind along the snow but since our women must walk gay and money their gear the boats they that way at hazard year by year english they be and that hang on the brown bear s flank and some be but the worst of the lot and the thieves be it was the northern light to the smoky seas she bore with a stuck from a port and the russian flag at her fore i the rhyme of the three and northern light oh they were birds of a feather slipping away to the smoky seas three seal thieves together and at last she came to a sandy and the lay therein but her men were up with the seal to drive and club and skin there were fifteen hundred skins cool and proper fur when the northern light drove into the and the sea mist drove with her the called her men and weighed she could not choose but run for a seen through the closing mist it shows like a four inch gun and loss it is that is sad as death to lose both trip and ship and lie for a on slip she turned and in the sea as a rabbit in the and the northern light sent up her boats to steal the stolen skins they had not brought a load to side or slid their clear when they were aware of a of war ghost white and very near her flag she showed and her guns she showed three of them black and a white with the salt but never a show of steam the rhyme of the three there was no time to man the they knocked the free and the northern light stood out again goose winged to open sea for life it is that is worse than death by force of russian law to work in the mines of that loose the teeth in your jaw they had not run a mile from shore they heard no shots behind when the smote his hand on his and threw her up in the wind raised out on a bluff said he for if my name s tom hall you must set a thief to catch a thief and a thief has caught us all by every butt in and every in the hand that the wind from her sail was the hand of he has and her with paint and and faith he has her well but i d know the yet from here to the o hell oh once we ha met at and twice on boston pier but the day for you was the day that you came here the day that you came here my lad to scare us from our seal with your made o your painted cloth and your guns o rotten deal the rhyme of the three ring and blow for the now and head her back to the bay and we ll come into the game again with a double deck to play they rang and blew the call the cry of the sea and they raised the out of the mist and an angry ship was she and blind they through the whirling white and blind to the bay again till they heard the of the s boom and the of her chain they laid them down by and boat their pistols in their and will you fight for it or will you share the a dog laugh laughed and his knife yea skin for skin and all that he hath a man will give for his life but i ve six thousand skins below and port to see and there s never a law of god or man runs north of fifty three so go in peace to the naked seas with empty holds to fill and i ll be good to your seal this catch as many as i shall kill the rhyme of the three answered the snap of a closing lock and the jar of a gun butt slid but the tender fog shut fold on fold to hide the wrong they did the weeping fog rolled fold on fold the wrath of man to cloak and the flame pale ran down the rail as the spoke the bullets bit on bend and butt the free little they trust to dust that stop the seal in his sea the thick smoke hung and would not shift leaden it lay and blue but three were down on the s deck and two of the crew an arm s length out and the fog held them bound but as they heard or groan or word they fired at the sound for one cried out on the name of god and one to have him cease and the found them both and bade them hold their peace and one called out on a heathen and one on the virgin s name and the bullet leaped across and showed them whence they came and in the waiting the beneath and each man drew his watchful breath slow taken the teeth the rhyme of the three and ear and eye knit brow and lips his feet by and for the rolling of the ships till they heard the cough of a wounded man that fought in the fog for breath till they heard the torment of that upon his death the tides they ll go through race but i ll go and see the from ebb tide mark turn back to shore | 39 |
no more i ll see the drift below the bass rock ground or watch the tall fall steamer lights tear blazing up the sound sorrow is me in a lonely sea and a sinful fight i fall but if there s law o god or man you ll swing for it yet tom hall tom hall stood up by the quarter rail your words in your teeth said he there s never a law of god or man runs north of fifty three so go in grace with him to face and an ill spent life behind and i ll be good to your as many at i shall find the rhyme of the three a man shot blind and large and a war lock was he and he hit tom hall with a bursting ball a hand over the knee tom hall caught hold by the lift and sat him down with an oath you ll wait a little he said the devil has called for both the devil is driving both this tide and the are close and we ll go up to the wrath of god as the goes o men put back your guns again and lay your by we ve fought our fight and the best are down let up and let us die quit firing by the bow there quit call off the s crew you re sure of hell as me or but wait till we get through there went no word between the ships but thick and quick and loud the life blood on the dripping decks with the fog dew from the the sea pull drew them side by side to laid and they felt the pound and clear but never a word was said then cried out again before his spirit passed have i followed the sea for thirty years to die in the dark at last the rhyme of the three curse on her work that has me here with a trick unkind i have gotten my death where i got my bread but i dare not face it blind curse on the fog is there never a wind of all the winds i knew to clear the from off my chest and let me look at the blue the good fog heard like a sail to left and right she tore and they saw the sun dogs in the haze and the seal upon the shore and gray ran spit and bay to meet the tide and pinched and white in the clearing light the stared o rainbow gay the red pools lay that and and spread and gold raw gold the spent shell rolled between the careless dead the dead that rocked so to weather and to lee and they saw the work their hands had done as god had bade them see and a little breeze blew over the rail that made the lift but no man stood by wheel or sheet and they let the drift the rhyme of the three and the rattle rose in s throat and he cast his soul with a cry and gone already tom hall he said then it s time for me to die his eyes were heavy with great sleep and yearning for the land and he spoke as a man that talks in dreams his wound beneath his hand oh there comes no good o the wind that backs against the sun wash down the decks they re all too red and share the skins and run found and northern light clean share and share for all you ll find the off but you will not find tom hall evil he did in water and sin on the deep but now he s sick of watch and trick and now he ll turn and sleep he ll have no more of the crawling sea that made him suffer so but he ll lie down on the killing grounds where the go and west you ll sail and south again beyond the s rim and tell the girls to burn a stick for him and you ll not weight him by the heels and him but carry him up to the sand hollows to die as died the rhyme of the three and make a place for that knows the fight was fair and leave the two that did the wrong to talk it over there half steam ahead by guess and lead for the sun is mostly veiled north and by west from crest ye raise the crosses twain fair marks are they to the inner bay the reckless knows what time the see lead their sleek ever they hear the pack clear and the blast of the old bull whale and the deep seal roar that beats off shore above the gale ever they wait the winter s hate as the thundering calls where northward look they to st george and westward to st ever they greet the hunted fleet lone off when the that way at year by year ever in port men tell the tale anew of a hidden sea and a hidden fight when the ran from the northern light and the fought the two the and reports the mary still at sea shipping news i was the of our fleet till the sea rose beneath our feet in hatred past all measure into his he stamped my crew blinded bound and threw bidding me wait upon his pleasure man made me and my will is to my maker still whom now the currents con the steer lifting forlorn to spy smoke along the sky falling afraid lest any come near as the lips of thirst dried and split and burst bone my decks wind to the and at every roll the gear that was my soul answers the anguish of my beams complaining the for life that crammed me | 39 |
full of the that shriek and on the for roar that the gale my pipes wail sobbing my heart out through the watches i blind in the hot blue ring through all my points i swing swing and return to shift the sun anew blind in my well known sky i hear the stars go by mocking the that cannot hold one true white on my wasted path wave after wave in wrath his fellow where to send me flung forward heaved aside and dazed i bide the mercy of the that shall end me north where the the spray of seas unseen round my head and in the falling south where the breed the floating weed folds me and me on i that was clean to run my race against the sun strength on the deep am to all disaster the whipped forth by night to meet my sister s careless feet and with a kiss betray her to my master man made me and my will is to my maker still to him and his our at their pier lifting in hope to spy smoke along the sky falling afraid lest any come near i the answer a rose in on the garden path cried out to god and murmured his wrath because a sudden wind at twilight s hush had snapped her stem alone of all the bush and god who hears both sun dried dust and sun had pity whispering to that one sister in that thou we did not well what voices thou when thy fell and the rose answered in that evil hour a voice said father wherefore falls the flower for lo the very are still and a voice answered son by s will then softly as a rain mist on the came to the rose the answer of the lord sister before we smote the dark in twain ere yet the stars saw one another plain time tide and space we bound unto the task that thou fall and such an one should ask the withered flower all content died as they die whose days are innocent while he who questioned why the flower fell caught hold of god and saved his soul from the song of the you couldn t pack a broad wood half a mile you mustn t leave a fiddle in the damp you couldn t an organ up the and play it in an swamp travel with the cooking pots and fm the coffee and the and when the dusty column and tails you should hear me spur the rear guard to a walk with my i oh it s any tune that comes into my head so i keep em moving forward till they drop so i play em up to water and to bed in the silence of the camp before the fight when it s good to make your will and say your prayer you can hear my explaining ten to one was always fair i m the prophet of the utterly absurd of the impossible and vain and when the thing that couldn t has occurred give me time to change my leg and go again the song of the with my pa t in the desert where the fed camp smoke curled there was never voice before us till i led our lonely chorus i the war drum of the white man round the world i by the bitter road the younger son must tread ere he win to hearth and saddle of his own mid the riot of the at the shed in the silence of the s hut alone in the twilight on a bucket down hear me what the won t confess i am memory and torment i am town i am all that ever went with evening dress with my a t so the lights the london lights grow near and plain i so i em afresh towards the devil and the flesh till i bring my broken home again in desire of many over sea where the new raised city and i have sailed with young from the till the anchor down on stranger shores he is blooded to the open and the sky he is taken in a that shall not fail he shall hear me singing strongly till he die like the shouting of a in a gale the song of the with my t i t i haul o the green that aft along the deck are you sick o towns and men you must sign and sail again for it s pack your and through the that gives the stars at noon day clear up the pass that the beneath our wheel round the bluff that sinks her thousand sheer down the valley with our where the groans and in the snow where the many and so i lead my reckless children from below till we sing the song of to the pine with my and the axe has cleared the mountain and crest so we ride the iron down to drink through the to the waters of the west and the tunes that mean so much to you alone common tunes that make you choke and blow your nose vulgar tunes that bring the laugh that brings the groan i can your very out with those the song of the with the and the folly and the fun and the lying and the and the drink and the merry play that drops you when you re done to the thoughts that burn like irons if you think with my j here s a trifle on account of pleasure past ere the wit that made you win gives you eyes to see your sin and the heavier repentance at the last let the organ moan her sorrow to the roof | 39 |
i have told the naked stars the grief of man let the trumpets the to the proof i have known defeat and it as we my ye may not alter nor mistake when i stand to the soul of things but the song of lost endeavour that i make is it hidden in the of the strings with my ta ra ra ra i is it naught to you that hear and pass me by but the word the word is mine when the order moves the line and the lean locked ranks go roaring down to die of the driven dust of speech i make a flame and a of broken that men let fall for the words that had no honour till i came lo i raise them into honour over all i the song of the by the wisdom of the centuries i speak to the tune of i set the truth i the joy of life i the greek i the everlasting wonder song of youth with my t what d ye lack my noble masters what d ye lack so i draw the world together link by link yea from up to and back the she s a lady the she s a lady an she never looks nor the man o war s er an e gives er all she needs but oh the little cargo boats that sail the wet seas they re just the same as you an me a up an down up an down round the yard all the way by down to ard for business an we re old up an down in the cold the she s a lady by the paint upon er face an if she meets an accident they count it sore disgrace the man o war s er and e s always by but oh the little cargo boats they ve got to load or die the she s a lady the she s a lady and er route is cut an dried the man o war s er an e always keeps beside but oh the little cargo boats that t any man they ve got to do their business first and make the most they can the she s a lady and if a war should come the man o war s er and e d bid er stay at home but oh the little cargo boats that fill with every tide e d ave to up an fight for them for they are england s pride the she s a lady but if she wasn t made there still would be the cargo boats for ome an foreign trade the man o war s er but if we wasn t ere e wouldn t have to fight at all for ome an friends so dear ome an friends so dear round the yard all the way by down to ard any thin for business an we re old ome an friends so dear in the cold contract the fear was on the cattle for the gale was on the sea an the pens broke up on the lower deck an let the creatures free an the lights went out on the lower deck an no one near but me i had been to them to keep em quiet there for the lower deck is the constant care an give to me as the strongest man though used to drink and swear i see my chance was certain of bein or trod for the lower deck was packed with thicker n peas in a an more pens broke at every roll so i made a contract with god an by the terms of the contract as i have read the same if he got me to port alive i would his name an praise his holy majesty till further orders came s contract he saved me from the he saved me from the sea for they found me two ones where the roll had landed me an a four inch crack on top of my head as crazy as could be but that were done by a an not by a at all an i lay still for seven weeks of the fall an the shiny scripture in the seaman s hospital an i spoke to god of our contract an he says to my prayer i never puts on my ministers no more than they can bear so back you go to the cattle boats an preach my gospel there for human life is at any kind of trade but most of all as well you know when the are mad afraid so you go back to the cattle boats an preach em as i ve said they must quit an they mustn t knife on a blow they must quit their wages and you must preach it so for now those boats are more like hell than anything else i know contract i didn t want to do it for i knew what i should get an i wanted to preach religion handsome an out of the wet but the word of the lord were lain on me an done what i was set i have been an bruised as warned would be the case an turned my cheek to the exactly as scripture says but following that i knocked him down an led him up to grace an we have preaching on sundays whenever the set is calm an i use no knife or pistol an i never take no harm for the lord back of me to guide my fighting arm an i sign for four pound ten a month and save the money clear an i am in charge of the lower deck an i never lose a steer an i believe in almighty god an preach his gospel here the say i m | 39 |
crazy but i can prove em wrong for i am in charge of the lower deck with all that doth belong which they would not give to a lunatic and tht petition so strong anchor song i walk her round heave ah heave her short again over snatch her over there and hold her on the loose all sail and brace your yards back and full ready to pay her off and heave short all well ah fare you well we can stay no more with you my love down set down your liquor and your girl from off your knee for the wind has come to say you must take me while you may if you d go to mother walk her down to mother i oh we re bound to mother where she her at sea walk her round break ah break it out o that i break our bower out and clear port port she casts with the harbour mud beneath her foot and that s the last o bottom we shall see this year s by d k co f the lost there s a that never was that carries no colours or crest but split in a thousand is breaking the road for the rest our fathers they left us their blessing they taught us and us and crammed but we ve shaken the clubs and the to go and find out and be damned dear boys t to go and get shot and be damned so some of us the and some of us cherish the black and some of us hunt on the oil coast and some on the track and some of us drift to and some of us drift up the fly and some share our with and some with the gentle dear boys i take tea with the giddy j the lost we ve painted the islands we ve on half shares in the bay we ve shouted on seven we ve starved on a s pay we ve laughed at the world as we found it its women and cities and men from in a to the smoke eyes of dear boys we ve a little account with the ends o the earth were our portion the ocean at large was our share there was never a to but the was there yes somehow and somewhere and always we were first when the trouble began from a row in to an i d b race on the pan dear boys with the mounted police on the pan we preach in advance of the army we ahead of the church with never a to help us when we re and left in the but we know as the finish and we re filed on our last little shelves s the lost that the that never was will send us as good as ourselves good five hundred as good as ourselves then a health we must drink it in whispers to our wholly to the line of our dusty the gentlemen abroad yes a health to ourselves ere we scatter for the steamer won t wait for the train and the that never was goes back into quarters again i regards i goes back under canvas again i the and the again here s howl the trail and the again sake i the and the again the sea wife there dwells a wife by the northern and a wealthy wife is she she a breed o men and casts them over sea and some are drowned in deep water and some in sight o shore and word goes back to the weary wife and ever she sends more for since that wife had gate or gear or hearth or or she willed her sons to the white harvest and that is a bitter yield she wills her sons to the wet to ride the horse of tree and her sons come back again far spent from out the sea the sea wife the good wife s sons come home again with little into their hands but the lore of men that ha dealt with men in the new and naked lands but the faith of men that ha men by more than easy breath and the eyes o men that ha read wi men in the open books of death rich are they rich in wonders seen but poor in the goods o men so what they ha got by the skin o their teeth they sell for their teeth again for whether they lose to the naked life or win to their hearts desire they tell it all to the weary wife that beside the fire her hearth is wide to every wind that makes the white ash spin and tide and tide and the tides her sons go out and in out with great mirth that do desire hazard of ways in with content to wait their watch and warm before the blaze the sea wife and some return by failing light and some in waking dream for she hears the heels of the dripping ghosts that ride the rough roof beam home they come home from all the ports the living and the dead the good wife s sons come home again for her blessing on their head s hymn before action the earth is full of anger the seas are dark with wrath the nations in their harness go up against our path ere yet we loose the ere yet we draw the blade of the lord god of battles aid i high lust and bearing proud heart rebellious brow deaf ear and soul we seek thy mercy now the sinner that thee the fool that passed thee by our times are known before thee lord grant us strength to die i for those who kneel beside us at not thine own who lack the lights | 39 |
that guide us lord let their faith hymn before action if wrong we did to call them by honour bound they came let not thy wrath befall them but deal to us the blame from panic pride and terror revenge that knows no rein light haste and lawless error protect us yet again cloak thou our make firm the shuddering breath in silence and to taste thy lesser death ah mary pierced with sorrow remember reach and save the soul that comes to morrow before the god that gave since each was born of woman for each at utter need true comrade and true e en now their e en now we face the as thou help our fathers help thou our host to day fulfilled of signs and wonders in life in death made clear of the lord god of battles hear to the true romance thy face is far from this our war our call and counter cry i shall not find thee quick and kind nor know thee till i die enough for me in dreams to see and touch thy garments hem thy feet have trod so near to god i may not follow them through if men profess they weary of thy parts e en let them die at and perish with their arts but we that love but we that prove thine excellence august while we discover more thee perfect wise and just since spoken word man s spirit stirred beyond his belly need what is is thine of fair design in thought and craft and deed by d ft co to the true romance each stroke aright of toil and fight that was and that shall be and hope too high wherefore we die has birth and worth in thee who holds by thee hath heaven in fee to his thereby and knowledge sure that he endure a child until he die for to make plain that man s disdain is but new beauty s birth for to possess in loneliness the joy of all the earth as thou teach all lovers speech and life all mystery so shalt thou rule by every school till love and longing die who or yet the lights were set a whisper in the void who shalt be sung through young when this is clean destroyed beyond the bounds our staring rounds across the pressing dark the children wise of outer skies look and mark a light that a glare that thus and thus not all forlorn for thou hast borne strange tales to them of us to the true romance time hath no tide but must abide the servant of thy will tide hath no time for to thy rhyme the stars stand still of that lock our fears our hopes invisible oh twas at thy we fashioned heaven and hell i pure wisdom hath no certain path that thy morning and captains bold by thee controlled most like to gods design thou art the voice to boys to lift them through the fight and of to give the dead good a veil to draw god his law and man s infirmity a shadow kind to dumb and blind the where we die a rule to trick th too base of the spur of trust the of lust thou of the gods o charity all patiently abiding and o faith that meets ten thousand yet drops no of faith i to the true romance devil and brute thou dost to higher show who art in that lovely truth the careless angels know thy face is far from this our war our call and counter cry i may not find thee quick and hind nor know thee till i die yet may i look with heart on blow brought home or missed yet may i hear with equal ear the down the list yet set my lance above and ride the oh hit or miss how little tis my lady is not there i the flowers to our private taste there is always something a almost artificial in songs which under an english aspect and dress are yet so the product of other skies they affect us like the very and are alien remote the dog s tooth violet is but an ill substitute for the nor can we ever believe thai the wood sings as sweetly in april as the english the buy my english and may of the wet with channel spray from a buy my english and i ll your heart s desire buy my english you that scorn the may won t you greet a friend from home half the world away the flowers green against the drift faint and frail and first buy my northern blood root and i ll know where you were nursed robin down the road come to me spring has found the grove the sap is running free all the winds of canada call the rain take the flower and turn the hour and kiss your love again buy my english here s to match your need buy a of royal heath buy a bunch of weed white as sand of spun before the gale buy my heath and lilies and i ll tell you whence you hail under hot broad the lie and the aching the sky slow below the the take the flower and turn the hour and kiss your love again buy my english you that will not turn buy my hot wood buy a o the flowers gathered where the leaps down the road to buy my christmas and i ll say where you were born west away from dust holidays begin they that mock at paradise at through the great south sings the great south main take the flower and turn the hour and loss your love again buy my english | 39 |
i here s your choice buy a b red bloom buy the s gold flung for gift on s face sign that spring is come buy my clinging and i ll give you back your home behind the windy town o the pine bell bird in the leafy deep where the above the saddle bow upon the plain take the flower and turn the hour and kiss your love again buy my english i ye that have your own buy them for a brother s sake alone the flowers weed ye floods his heart bird ye never oh she calls his dead to him far and far our homes are set round the seven seas woe for us if we forget we that hold by these unto each his mother beach bloom and bird and land masters of the seven seas oh love and understand the last rhyme of true thomas the king has called for priest and cup the king has taken spur and blade to true thomas a knight and all for the sake o the songs he made they have sought him high they have sought him low they have sought him over down and they have found him by the milk white thorn that guards the gates o bent beneath and blue above their eyes were held that they might not see the that beneath the oh they were the queens o now cease your song the king he said oh cease your song and get you to vow your vow and watch your arms for i will you a knight t for i will give you a horse o pride wi and spur and page and squire the last rhyme of true thomas wi keep and tail and and law and land to hold at your desire true thomas smiled above his harp and turned his face to the naked sky where blown before the wind the down she floated by i ha vowed my vow in another place and bitter oath it was on me i ha watched my arms the lee long night where five score fighting men would flee my lance is tipped o the flame my shield is beat o the moonlight cold and i won my spurs in the middle world a thousand beneath the mould and what should i make wi a horse o pride and what should i make wi a sword so brown but the rings o the gentle folk and fly te my kin in the fairy town and what should i make wi and belt wi keep and tail and and fee and what should i do wi page and squire that am a king in my own for i send east and i send west and i send far as my will may flee by dawn and dusk and the drinking rain and my return to me the last rhyme of true thomas they come wi news of the earth they come wi news o the sea wi word of spirit and ghost and flesh and man that s among the three the king he bit his lip and smote his band upon his knee by the faith o my soul true thomas he said ye waste no wit in as i desire unto my pride can i make by three and three to run before and ride behind and serve the sons o my body and what care i for your row foot or all the sons o your body before they win to the pride o name i they all ask leave o me for i make honour wi mouth as i make shame wi feet to sing wi the priests at the market cross or run wi the dogs in the naked street and some they give me the good red gold and some they give me the white money and some they give me a o meal for they be people o low degree and the song i sing for the counted gold the same i sing for the white money the last rhyme of true thomas but best i sing for the o v meal that simple people given me the king cast down a silver a silver o money if i come wi a poor man s he said true thomas will ye harp to me i harp to the children small they press me close on either hand and who are you true thomas said that you should ride while they must stand light down light down from your horse o pride i ye talk too loud and hie and i will make you a triple word and if ye dare ye shall noble me he has lighted down from his horse o pride and set his back against the stone now guard you well true thomas said ere i your heart from your breast bone t true thomas played upon his harp the fairy harp that lee and the first least word the proud king heard it the salt tear out o his ee ob i see the love that i lost long i touch the hope that i may not see and all that i did o hidden shame like little they hiss at me m the last rhyme of true thomas the sun is lost at noon at noon the dread o doom has me true thomas hide me under your cloak god i m little fit to bent beneath and blue open field and running where hot on heath and and wall the high sun warmed the s brood lie down lie down true thomas said the god shall judge when all is done but i will bring you a better word and lift the cloud that i laid on true thomas played upon his harp that and to his hand and the next least word true thomas made it the king take horse and brand | 39 |
oh i hear the tread o the fighting men i see the sun on and spear i mark the arrow the that flies so low and sings so clear advance my standards to that war and bid my good knights and ride the shall watch as fierce a fight as e er was fought on the border side bent beneath and blue above nodding grass and naked sky the last rhyme of true thomas where ringing up the wind the stooped upon the pie true thomas sighed above his harp and turned the song on the string and the last least word true thomas made he his dead youth back to the king now i am prince and i do well to love my love fear to walk wi man in fellowship and breathe my horse behind the deer my hounds they bay unto the death the buck has beyond the burn my love she waits at her window to wash my hands when i return for that i live am i content oh i have seen my true love s eyes to stand wi adam in and run in the woods o paradise twas naked sky and nodding grass twas running flood and wind where checked against the open pass the red deer to call the hind true thomas laid his harp away and low at the saddle side he has taken and rein and set the king on his horse o pride the last rhyme of true thomas sleep ye or wake true thomas said that sit so still that muse so long sleep ye or wake till the latter sleep i ye ll not forget my song i ha a shadow out o the sun to stand before your face and cry i ha armed the earth beneath your heel and over your head i ha the sky ha ye up to the throne o god i ha your soul in three i ha ye down to the hinges o hell and ye would make a knight o in the age in the age savage warfare did i for food and fame and horses i was singer to my in that dim red dawn of man and i sang of all we fought and feared and felt yea i sang as now i sing when the spring made the piled ice pack split and and the and and and the gods of cliff and were about me and beneath me and above but a rival of told the tribe my style was a of he fell and i left my views on art and below the heart of a at then i stripped them from skull and my hunting dogs fed full and their teeth i neatly on a in the age and i wiped my mouth and said it is well that they are dead for i know my work is right and theirs was wrong but my saw the shame from his shrine he came and he told me in a vision of the night there are nine and sixty ways of lays and every single one of them is right then the silence closed upon me till they put new clothing on me of weaker flesh and bone more frail and i stepped beneath time s finger once again a singer and a minor poet by tr ii still they to and fro men my on the snow when we headed off the turn for turn when the rich never kept and our only plots were piled in lakes at still a christian age sees us and rage still we pinch and slap and scratch and still we let our business slide as we dropped the half dressed hide to show a fellow savage how to work in the age still the world is wondrous large seven seas from to and it holds a vast of various kinds of man and the wildest dreams of are the facts of and the crimes of in here s my wisdom for your use as i learned it when the and the roared where paris tonight there are nine and sixty ways of lays and every single one of them right the story of once on a glittering ice field ages and ages ago a maker of pictures fashioned an image of snow fashioned the form of a gaily he whistled and sung working the snow with his fingers read ye story of pleased was his tribe with that image came in their hundreds to handled it smelt it and verily this is a man f thus do we carry our thus is a war belt lot it is even as we are glory and honour to later he pictured an later he pictured a bear pictured the tooth tiger dragging a man to his pictured the hairy alone out of the love that he bore them them clearly on bone the story of swift came the tribe to behold them peering and pushing and still men of the battered men of the hill hunters and and presently whispering low yea they are like and it may be but how does the picture man know hath he slept with the watched where the spoke on the ice with the bow head followed the tooth home nay these are toys of his fancy if he have cheated us so how is there truth in his image the man that he fashioned of snow was that maker of pictures hotly he answered the call hunters and and children and fools are ye all look at the beasts when ye hunt them swift from the tumult he broke ran to the cave of his father and told him the shame that they spoke and the | 39 |
father of gave answer that was old and wise in the craft maker of pictures he leaned on his lance and laughed l the story of if they could see as thou they would do whit thou hast done and each man would make him a picture what would become of my son there would be no of the flung down at thy cave for a gift nor of the timber that comes on the drift no store of well needles nor of pale no new cut tongues of the nor meat of the whale thou hast not toiled at the fishing when the nor worked the war boats outward through the rush of the rock seas yet they bring thee fish and plunder full meal and an easy bed and all for the sake of thy pictures and held down his head thou hast not stood to the when the red snow of the fight men have no time at the to count his curls aright and the heart of the hairy thou they do not see yet they save it whole from the and the best for thee the story of and now do they press to thy pictures with opened mouth and eye and a little gift in the doorway and the praise no gift can buy but sure they have doubted thy pictures and that is a grievous stain son that can see so clearly return them their gifts again and looked down at his their broad shell led bands and drew downward his and looked at his naked hands and he himself and departed and he heard his father behind son that can see so clearly rejoice that thy tribe is blind straight on the glittering ice field by the of the lost a maker of pictures fell to his on bone even to gaily he whistled and sung blessing his tribe for their blindness heed ye the story of int ti the vo thirty sh bu b n ot n y certain ers prayers w o e n the three with maids of beauty and and a church of england parson for the islands of the we asked no social questions we no hidden shame we never talked when the little stranger came we left the lord in heaven we left the in hell we weren t exactly but didn t tell no moral doubt assailed us so when the port we the villain had his at the and we cheered twas fiddle in the fore twas on the mast for every one got married and i went ashore at last i left em all in couples a kissing on the decks i left the lovers loving and the parents in endless english comfort by county folk i left the old three at the islands of the that route is barred to you ll never lift again our purple painted or the keeps of spain they re just beyond your er so far you in a ram you damn you with a brace of the three swing round your aching search light show no haven s peace ay blow your shrieking to the deaf seas boom out the dripping oil bags to skin the deep s and you aren t one knot the nearer to the islands of the but when you re crippled with broken bridge and rail at a of dead convictions to hold you head to gale calm as the flying from to dressed you ll see the old three for the islands of the vou ll see her canvas in silver spread you ll hear the long drawn thunder her leaping figure head while far so far above you her tall shine by wind or weather like the candles round a shrine down down and under she to a speck with noise of pleasant music and dancing on her deck all s well all s well aboard her she s left you far behind with a scent of old world roses through the fog that ties you blind the her crew are or her port is all to make you re by truth and science and you steam for steaming s sake well up your engines you know your business best s taking tired people to the islands of the i an american the american spirit speaks if the led call it a strike or the papers call it a war they know not much what i am like nor what he is my through many roads by me possessed he forth in guise he is the and the jest and he the text himself applies the is in his heart and hand the is in his brain and nerve where planned he guards the s dry reserve his easy hearth he from to till out by friends he at on the stoop calm eyed he at sword and crown or panic blinded and an american he bids the world bow down or a crust of praise or sombre drunk at mine and he his dreary brethren kings his hands are black with blood his heart leaps as a babe s at little things but through the shift of mood and mood mine ancient humour him the devil in his blood that bids him mock his hurrying soul that bids him the law he makes that bids him make the law he till dazed by many doubts he wakes the guns that have no doubts that him foolish hot and fond that through his deepest ire that the of his but the goal of his desire shrill the mirth that leaves him careless mid his dead the scandal of the elder earth how shall he clear himself how reach your bar or weighed defence prefer a brother with alien speech and lacking all | 39 |
as stale as a bone an she gave you your social nonsense but where i that kid o your own i ve seen your carriages the half o the road but never the doctor s to help the so there isn t even a an the family s done not like your mother she isn t carried her freight each run but they died the pore little beggars at sea she had em they died only you an you stood it you haven t stood much beside weak a liar and idle and mean as a s for scraps in the no help my son was no help so he gets three thousand in trust and the interest paid i wouldn t give it you you see i made it in trade you re saved from your fingers and if you have no child it all comes back to the business won t your wife be wild calls and calls in her carriage her up to er eye dear s and doing her best to cry the mary grateful oh yes i m grateful but keep her away from here your mother ud never ha stood er and anyhow women are queer there s women will say i ve married a second time not quite but give pore a hundred and tell her your lawyers ll fight she was the best o the boiling you ll meet her before it ends i m in for a row with the mother til leave you settle my friends for a man he must go with a woman which women don t understand or the sort that say they can see it they aren t the marrying brand but i wanted to speak o your mother that s lady still i m going to up and see her without it s the will here take your hand off the bell pull five thousand s waiting for you if you ll only listen a minute and do as i bid you do they ll try to prove me crazy and if you they can and i ve only you to trust to i o god why ain t he a man there s some waste money on the same as m tried and but i call that sinful pride the mary s some ship bodies for burial we ve carried em and packed down in their wills they wrote it and nobody called them cracked but me i ve too much money and people might ah my fault it come o hoping for and buying that vault i m sick o the dam business i m going back where i came dick you re the son o my body and you ll take charge o the same i want to lie by your mother ten thousand mile away and they ll want to send me to and that s where you ll earn your pay i ve thought it out on the quiet the same as it ought to be done quiet and decent and proper an here s your orders my son you know the line you don t though you write to the board and tell your father s death has upset you an you re goin to for a spell an you d like the mary i ve held her ready for this they ll put her in working order and you ll take her out as she is yes it was money idle when i patched her and put her aside thank god i can pay for my fancies the boat where your mother died the mary by the little as you come to the union bank we dropped her i think i told you and i pricked it off where she sank tiny she looked on the grating that sea hundred and eighteen east remember and south just three easy bearings to carry three south three to the dot but i gave m a copy in case of dying or not and so you ll write to m he s chief of the line they ll give him leave if you ask em and say it s business o mine i built three boats for the an very well pleased they were an i ve known since the and knew me and her after the first stroke warned me i sent him the money to keep against the time you d claim it your to the deep for you are the son o my body and was my oldest friend i ve never asked im to dinner but he ll see it out to the end stiff beggar i ve heard he s prayed for my soul but he couldn t lie if you paid him and he d starve before he stole the mary he ll take the mary in you ll find her a lively ship and you ll take sir that goes on it wedding trip lashed in our old deck cabin with all three port holes wide the kick o the screw beneath him and the round blue seas outside sir s carriage our flag free ten thousand men on the pay roll and forty at sea he made himself and a million but this world is a show and he ll go to the wife of is bosom the same as tie ought to go by the heel of the there isn t a chance to mistake and ll pay you the money as soon as the break five thousand for six weeks the afloat and he ll give you your the minute i m out o the boat he ll take you round to and you ll come back alone he knows what i want o the mary i d do what i | 39 |
please with my own your mother ud call it but i ve seven more i ll come in my private carriage and bid it wait at the door the mary for my son e was never a credit e with books and art and e lived on sir s money and e broke sir s heart there isn t even a and the family s done the only one you left me o mother the only one and college me early an late an he thinks i m dying crazy and you re in strait flesh o my flesh my for ever an ever amen that first stroke come for a warning i ought to ha gone to you then but cheap for a cheap un the doctors said i d do mary why didn t you warn me i ve to you i know about women but you are a spirit now an wife they was only women and i was a man that s how an a man e must go with a woman as you could not understand but i never talked em secrets i paid em out o hand thank i can pay for my fancies now what s five thousand to me for a berth off the in the haven where i would be believe in the if i read my bible plain but i wouldn t trust em at we re safer at sea again the mary for the heart it shall go with the treasure go down to the sea in ships i m sick of the hired women i ll kiss my girl on her lips i i ll be content with my fountain i ll drink from my own well and the wife of my youth shall charm me an the rest can go to hell he will that s certain i ll lie in our bed an il take her in an she best by the head down by the head an her fires are drawn and cold and the water s hollow on the skin of the empty hold an choking and quiet and and dark full to her lower and steady hark i that was the after she s from stem to stern never seen death yet well now is your time to learn i a of the tramp royal in general i ave tried em all the roads that take you o er the world in general i ave found them good for such as cannot use one bed too long but must get ence the same as i ave done an go matters till they die what do it matter where or ow we die so long as we ve our to watch it all the different ways that different things are done an men an women in this world our chances as they come along an when they ain t they are good in cash or credit no it aren t no good you ave to ave the or you d die unless you lived your life but one day long nor didn t nor fret at all but drew your some ow from the world an never what you might ha done but what things are they i t done i ve turned my and to most an turned it good in various situations round the world of the tramp royal for im that doth not work must surely die but that s no reason man should labour all is life on one same shift life s none so long therefore from job to job i ve moved along pay couldn t old me when my time was done for something in my upset me all till i ad dropped whatever twas for good an out at sea be the dock lights die an met my mate the wind that the world i it s like a book i think this world which you can read and care for just so long but presently you feel that you will die unless you get the page you re done an turn another likely not so good but what you re after is to turn em all bless this world whatever she when awful long i ve found it good so write before i die e liked it h room when smote is he d ear men sing by land an sea an what he thought e might require went an took the same as met the market girls an the an the sailors too they songs turn up again but it quiet same as you they knew e stole e knew they they didn t tell nor make a fuss but winked at down the road ah v winked the same as us back to the army again i m ere in a an a broken at a on to the i don t know a gun from a bat my shirt s duty for jacket my s out o my boots an i m the damned old goose step along o the new back to the army again back to the army again don t look so ard f for i t no card i m back to the army again i i done my six years service er majesty good day you ll please to come when you re rung for an ere s your back pay an a day for an gen too an now you can make your fortune the same as your do back to the army again back to the army again back to the army again ow did i learn to do right about i m back to the army again a man o an twenty that t of trade beside reserve better be made i tried my luck | 39 |
for a quarter an that was enough for me an i thought of er majesty s an i thought i d go an see back to the army again back to the army again t my fault if i dress when i i m back to the army again the no questions but e winked the other eye e to me an i the same as in days gone by for e saw the set o my shoulders an i couldn t straight when me an the other come under the gate back to the army again back to the army again oo would ha thought i could carry an port i m back to the army again back to the army again i took my bath an i for i needed it i smelt the smell o the i the go i the feet on the gravel the feet o the men what an i to my strings i to em peace be still back to the army again back to the army again oo said i knew when the was due i m back to the army again i carried my to the tailor i to im none o your lip you tight em over the shoulders an loose em over the ip t for the set o the s an e to me strike me dead but i thought you was used to the business an so e done what i said back to the army again back to the army again rather too free with my fancies me i m back to the army again next week i ll ave em fitted i ll buy me a they ll let me free o the to walk on the again back to the army again in the name o william that used to be edward clay an any pore beggar that wants it can draw my a day back to the army again back to the army again out o the cold an the rain out o the cold an the rain oo s there a man that s too good to be lost you a man that is an made a man that will pay what e cost you in the others their trade parade i you re the pick o the army because you don t em remain but drives em to cheat to get out o the street an back to the army again birds of prey march march the mud is good about our front eyes front an watch the colour front the faces of the women in the ain t the kind o things to take aboard the ship cheer t an never march to victory cheer i we ll never live to ear the cannon roar i the large birds o prey they will carry us away an you ll never see your soldiers any wheel oh keep your touch we re goin round a corner time mark time an let the men be ind us close lord the transport s full an our lot not on cheer o cheer i we re going off where no one knows march i the devil s none so black as e is painted cheer i we ll ave some fun before we re put away an and er out a woman s gone and fainted cheer i get on the married men today birds of prey march i come up you beggars to yer sorrow ear them say they want their tea an want it quick t you won t have no mind for not to morrow no you ll put the decks stove out bein sick the married as all to go before us course it s blocked the up again cheer o cheer the guards tender o er us us since eight this in the rain stuck in order and sick before our time to watch er an fall ere s your ome at last an stop your fall in along the troop deck silence all for we ll never live to see no victory cheer an we ll never live to ear the cannon roar one cheer more the an the ave an appetite an you ll never see your soldiers any more f p the eagle an the crow they are ever so an you ll never see your soldiers any more yes the large birds o prey they will carry us away an you ll never see your soldiers any more soldier an sailor too as i was into the ditch aboard o the i seed a man on a man o war got up in the style e was the paint from of er plates an i to im oo are you e i m a jolly er majesty s jolly soldier an sailor too now is work begins by knows when and is work is never through e isn t one o the lar line nor e isn t one of the crew e s a kind of a giddy soldier an sailor too an after i met im all over the world a all kinds of things like with a gun to talk to them kings e sleeps in an instead of a cot an e with the deck on a l soldier an sailor too an e like a jolly er majesty s jolly soldier an sailor too for there isn t a job on the top o the earth the beggar don t know nor do yon can leave m at night on a bald man s to is own e s a sort of a soldier an sailor too we ve fought em in we ve fought era in dock and drunk with em in when they called us the maids an we called em the | 39 |
ass but when we was down for a double fatigue from to we sent for the er majesty s soldier an sailor too they think for an they steal for and they never ask what s to do but they re an fed an they re up au fed before our s blew ho they ain t no soldier an sailor too you may say we are fond of an cut or in yards or a board school along o the guards but once in a while we can finish in style for the ends of the earth to view soldier an sailor too the same as the er majesty s soldier an sailor too they come of our lot they was brothers to us they was beggars we d met an knew yes an inch in the chest an the arm they was o me an you for they weren t no special soldier an sailor too to take your chance in the thick of a rush with firing all about is nothing so bad when you ve cover to and an leave an to shout but to stand an be still to the is a damn tough bullet to an they done it the er majesty s soldier an sailor too their work was done when it t begun they was younger nor me an you their choice it was plain between in an bein by the screw so they stood an was still to the soldier an sailor too we re most of us we re of us thieves an the rest are as rank as can be but once in a while we can finish in style which i it won t to me but it makes you think better o you an your friends an the work you may ave to do soldier an sailor too when you think o the s soldier an sailor tool now there isn t no room for to say ye don t know they ave proved it plain and true that whether it s widow or whether it s ship s work is to do an they done it the er majesty s an sailor tool l when the waters were dried an the earth did appear it s all one says the the lord he created the engineer her majesty s royal engineer with the rank and pay of a when the flood come along for an extra twas constructed the first to the plans of her majesty s etc but after fatigue in the wet an the sun old got drunk which he wouldn t ha done if he d trained with etc when the tower o had mixed up men s bat some clever was managing that an none of etc when the jews had a fight at the foot of a hill young ordered the sun to stand still for he was a captain of etc when the children of made bricks without straw they were the regular work of our corps the work of etc for ever since then if a war they would behold us a on history s page first page for etc we lay down their an help em an we sweep up their mess through the campaign in the style of etc they send us in front with a an a mine to blow up the gates that are rushed by the line but bent by etc they send us behind with a pick an a to dig for the guns of a which has asked for etc we work under escort in trousers and shirt an the heathen they us tail up in the dirty etc we blast out the rock an we the mud we make em good roads an they roll down the etc we make em their bridges their wells an their huts an the telegraph wire the enemy cuts an it s blamed on etc an when we return an from war we would cease they grudge us the of peace which are kept for etc we build em nice they swear they are bad that our are married or mad etc they haven t no manners nor gratitude too for the more that we help em the less will they do but mock at etc now the line s but a man with a gun in his hand an cavalry s only what horses can stand when helped by etc moves by the leave o the ground but we are the men that do something all round for we are etc i have stated it plain an my argument s thus it s all one says the there s only one corps which is perfect that s us an they call us her majesty s her majesty s royal with the rank and pay of a i that day it got beyond all orders an it got beyond all it got to wounded an from the companies was for the nearest road to slope it were just a knock out an our fault now there ain t no chorus ere to give nor there ain t no band to play an i wish i was dead fore i done what i did or seen what i seed that day we was sick o bein punished an we let em know it too an a company commander up an it us with a sword an some one shouted it an it come to an we our from us o my i that day there was thirty dead an wounded on the ground we wouldn t keep no there wasn t more than twenty when the front begun to go but christ along the line o flight they cut us up like sheep an that was all we gained by so i the knives be ind me | 39 |
but i t face my man nor i don t know where i went to cause i didn t to see till i a beggar out for quarter as e ran an i thought i knew the voice an it was me we was under more than a march away we was up like all about the an the major cursed is maker cause e lived to see that day an the colonel broke is sword an cried we was rotten fore we started we was never we made it out a favour if an order was obeyed yes every little ad is rights an wrongs to mind so we had to pay for an we paid i that day the papers id it but you know the army knows we was put to till the withdrew an they gave us each a for england s foes an i you like my song because it s true an there ain t no chorus ere to give nor there ain t no band to play but i wish i was dead fore i done what i did or seen what i seed that day the men that fought at a song of instruction the men that fought at they was in their time so was them that fought at i all the command from to they was once dam sweeps like you i then do not be discouraged is your cl er we ll learn you not to forget an you mustn t swear an curse or you ll only catch it worse for we ll make you soldiers yet the men that fought at they ad stocks beneath their six inch an more but fatigue it was their pride and they would not be denied to clean the cook floor the men that the men that fought at they had served to em by name of and but they got it in the eye same as you will by an by when they their field the men that fought at they ad buttons up an down two an twenty dozen of em told but they didn t an at an hour s work they kept em bright as gold the men that fought at they was armed with also they was by i don t know what they were but the took good care they washed be ind their ears the men that fought at they ad ever cash in and which they did not bank nor save but spent it gay an free on their such as me for the good advice i gave the men that fought at they was civil they was never didn t talk o rights an wrongs but they got it with the toe same as you will get it for interrupting songs fought at the men that fought at they was several other things which i don t remember clear but that s the reason why now the six year men are dry the will stand the beer then do not be discouraged is your we ll learn you to forget an you mustn t swear an curse or you ll only catch it worse and we ll make you soldiers yet soldiers yet if you ve got it in you all for the sake of the core soldiers yet if we ave to skin you run an get the beer raw raw ho run an get the beer raw camp we ve got the in camp it s worse than forty fights we re in the wilderness the same as it s before us an be ind us an we cannot get away an the doctor s just reported we ve ten more to day oh strike your camp an go the s t the rains are the dead are an to keep em safe below the band s a all she knows to cheer us the s gone and prayed to to ear us ear us lord for it s a of us since august when it started it s been to our tail though they ve ad us out by an they ve ad us back by rail but it runs as fast as troop trains and we cannot get away an the sick list to the colonel makes ten more to day camp there ain t no fun in women nor there ain t no bite to drink it s much too wet for we can only march and think an at evening down the we can ear the say get up you rotten beggars you ve ten more today make a monkey cough to see our way o things companies an captains wings an eight file to obey for we ve lots o quick promotion on ten deaths a day our colonel s white an e gets no sleep nor food but about in where nothing does no good e sends us o comforts all bought from is pay but there aren t much comfort on ten deaths a day our s got a an a mule e rides an the stuff e says an sings us lord it makes us split our sides with is black coat tails a to ta ra ra boom ay e s the proper kind o for ten deaths a day camp an father victor im with our roman he knows an of irish songs an tricks an the two they works together when it comes to play or pray so we keep the ball a on ten deaths a day we ve got the in camp we ve got it ot an sweet it ain t no christmas dinner but it s an we must eat we ve gone beyond the cause we ve found it doesn t pay an we re round the on ten | 39 |
deaths a day then strike your camp an go the rains are the s f the dead are an to keep em safe below an them that do not like it they can lump it an them that cannot stand it they can jump it we ve got to die somewhere some way somehow we might as well begin to do it now then number one let down the tent pole slow knock out the an old the corners fold in the flies up the ropes an oh strike oh strike your camp an got us i the ladies i ve taken my fun where i ve found it i ve an i ve ranged in my time i ve ad my o sweet an four o the lot was prime one was an caste widow one was a woman at one was the wife of a an one is a girl at ome now i aren t no and with the ladies for em all along you never can say till you ve tried em an then you are like to be wrong there s times when you ll think that you t there s times when you ll know that you might but the things you will learn from the yellow an brown they ll you a lot with the white i head groom the ladies i was a young un at shy as a girl to begin de she made me an was clever as sin older than me but my first un more like a mother she were showed me the way to promotion an pay an i learned about women from er then i was ordered to in charge o an i got me a live through supplies off er pa funny an yellow an faithful doll in a she were but we lived on the square like a true married pair an i learned about women from er then we was shifted to or i might ha been er now an i took with a shiny she devil the wife of a at taught me the folks kind o she were for she me one night cause i wished she was white and i learned about women from er o the ladies then i come ome in the long of a kid o sixteen girl from a at the i ever ave seen love at first sight was er trouble she didn t know what it were an i wouldn t do such cause i liked er too much but i learned about women from er i ve taken my fun where i ve found it an now i must pay for my fun for the more you ave known o the others the less will you settle to one an the end of it s and an hell fires to see so be warned by my lot which i know you will not an learn about women from me what did the lady think t nobody never knew somebody asked the s wife an she told em true when you get to a man in the case they re like as a row of pins for the lady an o are sisters under their skins bill m as anybody seen now w in the devil would i know e s taken my girl out an v i ve got to tell v im bless im i ve got to tell im so d yer know what e s like bill now what in the devil would i care e s the image of an s monkey with a pound of in is air bless im an a pound o in is air an s pose you met bill now what in the devil ud ye do i d open is cheek to is chin an up is both eyes too bless im an up is both eyes too bill look ere where e comes bill now what in the devil will you say it isn t fit an proper to be on a sunday so i ll pass im the time o day bless im i ll pass im the time o day the mother lodge there was station master an of the rail an an o the jail an conductor our master twice was e with im that kept the europe shop old outside i sir salute i i inside brother an it doesn t do no arm we met upon the level an we parted on the square an i was junior in my mother lodge out there we d an the jew an din of the survey office too there was an the an from the sheds the roman i the mother lodge we t good an our lodge was old an bare but we knew the ancient an we em to a hair an on it backwards it often strikes me thus there ain t such things as per it s us for monthly after labour we d all sit down and smoke we t give no lest a brother s caste were broke an man on man got religion an the rest an every man of the god e knew the best so man on man got an not a brother stirred till the an that dam brain fever bird we d say twas curious an we d all ride ome to bed with mo god an in our full oft on ment service this foot pressed an bore s to the east an west the mother lodge as commanded from to but i wish that i might see them in my mother lodge once i wish that might see them my brethren black an brown with the pleasant an the down an the old a on the bottle floor like | 39 |
open but none the less to day if you belong to the inner circle and are neither a bear nor a black sheep all houses are open to you and our small world is very very kind and of stayed with of some fifteen years ago he meant to stay two nights but was knocked down by fever and for six weeks der s establishment stopped s work and nearly died in s bedroom as though he had been placed under eternal by and yearly sends the little a box of presents and toys it is the same ere the men who do not take the trouble to conceal from you their opinion that you are an ass and the women who your character and your wife s ts will work themselves to the bone in your behalf if you sick or into serious trouble the doctor kept in addition to his regular practice a hospital on his private account an arrangement of loose boxes for his called it but it was really a sort of up shed for craft that had been by stress of weather the weather in india is often and since the tale of bricks is always a fixed quantity and the only liberty allowed is permission to work and get no thanks men the phantom occasionally break down and become as mixed as the in this sentence is the dearest doctor that ever was and his invariable to all his is lie low go slow and keep cool he says that more men are killed by than the importance of this world he that who died under his hands about three years ago he has of course the right to speak and he laughs at my theory that there was a crack in s head and a little bit of the dark world came through and pressed him to death went oflf the handle says after the of long leave at home he may or he may not have behaved like a to mrs my notion is that the work of the settlement ran him off his legs and that he took to brooding and making much of an ordinary p o he certainly was engaged to miss and she certainly broke off the engagement then he took a feverish chill and all that nonsense about ghosts developed started his illness kept it alight and killed him poor devil write him oflf to the system that uses one man to do the work of two and a half men i do not believe this i used to sit up with sometimes when was called the phantom out to and i happened to be within claim the man would make me most unhappy by describing in a low even voice the procession that was always passing at the bottom of his bed he had a sick man s command of language when he recovered i suggested that he should write out the whole affair from beginning to end knowing that ink might assist him to ease his mind he was in a high fever while he was writing and the blood and thunder magazine he adopted did not calm him two months afterwards he was reported fit for duty but in spite of the fact that he was needed to help an commission through a he preferred to die at the last that he was ridden i got his manuscript before he died and this is his version of the affair dated exactly as he wrote it my doctor tells me that i need rest and change of air it is not improbable that i shall get both ere long rest that neither the red messenger nor the mid day gun can break and change of air beyond that which any homeward bound steamer can give me in the meantime i am resolved to stay where i am and in flat defiance of my doctor s orders to take all the world into my confidence you shall learn for yourselves the precise nature of my malady and shall too judge for yourselves whether any man bom of the phantom woman on this weary earth was ever so tormented as i speaking now as a condemned criminal might speak ere the drop are drawn my story wild and improbable as it may appear demands at least attention that it will ever receive i utterly two months ago i should have as mad or drunk the man who had dared tell me the like two months ago i was the happiest man in india to day from to the sea there is no one more wretched my doctor and i arc the only two who know this his explanation is that my brain and are all slightly affected giving rise to my frequent and persistent indeed i call him a fool but he me still with the same smile the same bland professional manner the same neatly trimmed red whiskers till i begin to suspect that i am an ungrateful evil tempered invalid but you shall judge for yourselves three years ago it was my fortune my great misfortune to sail from to on return from long leave with one wife of an officer on the side it does not in the least concern you to know what manner of woman she was be content with the knowledge that ere the voyage had ended both she and i were desperately and the phantom in love with one another heaven knows that i can make the admission now without one of vanity in matters of this sort there is always one who gives and another who from the first day of our ill attachment i was conscious that s passion was a stronger a more dominant and if i may use the expression a purer sentiment than mine whether she recognized the feet then i do not know afterwards it was | 39 |
bitterly plain to both of us arrived at in the spring of the year we went our respective ways to meet no more for the next three or four months when my leave and her love took us both to there we spent the season together and there my fire of straw burnt itself out to a pitiful end with the closing year i attempt no excuse i make no apology mrs had given up much for my sake and was prepared to give up all from my own i lips in august she learnt that i was sick of her presence tired of her company and weary of the sound of her voice ninety nine women i of a hundred would have wearied of me as i of them seventy five of that number would have promptly themselves by active and with other men mrs was the on her neither my aversion nor the cutting with our had the least the phantom jack darling was her one eternal cry i m sure it s all a mistake a hideous mistake and well be good friends again some day please forgive me jack dear j was the and i knew it that knowledge transformed my pity into passive endurance and eventually into blind hate the same instinct i suppose which a man to savagely stamp on the spider he has but half killed and with this hate in my bosom the season of came to an end next year we met again at she with her monotonous face and timid attempts at reconciliation and i with of her in every fibre of my several times i could not avoid meeting her alone and on each occasion her words were the same still the wail that it was all a mistake and still the hope of eventually making friends i might have seen had i cared to look that that hope only was keeping her alive she grew more wan and thin month by month you will agree with me at least that such conduct would have driven any one to despair it was for childish i maintain that she was much to blame and again sometimes in the black fever stricken night watches i have begun to think that i might have been a little kinder to her but that really is a delusion i could the phantom not have continued pretending to love her i didn t could i it would have been un ir ta us both last year we met again on the same terms as before the same weary appeals and the same answers from my lips at least i would make her see how wholly wrong and hopeless were her attempts at the old relationship as the season wore on we fell apart that is to say she found it difficult to meet me for i had other and more absorbing interests to attend to when i think it over quietly in my the season of seems a confused nightmare wherein light and shade were my courtship of little my hopes doubts and fears our long rides together my trembling of attachment her reply and now and again a vision of a white face flitting by in the with the black and white i once watched for so earnestly the wave of mrs s hand and when she met me alone which was but seldom the irksome monotony of her appeal i loved honestly heartily loved her and with my love for her grew my hatred for in august and i were engaged the next day i met those accursed at the back of and moved by some passing sentiment of pity stopped to i the phantom tell mrs everything she knew it already so i hear you re engaged jack dear then without a moment s pause i m sure it s all a mistake a hideous mistake we shall be as good friends some day jack as we ever were my answer might have made even a man it cut the dying woman before me like the blow of a whip please forgive me jack i didn t mean to make you angry but it s true it s true and mrs broke down completely i turned away and left her to finish her journey in peace feeling but only for a moment or two that i had been an mean hound i looked back and saw that she had turned her with the idea i suppose of me the scene and its surroundings were on my memory the rain swept sky we were at the end of the wet weather the dingy pines the muddy road and the black powder formed a gloomy background against which the black and white of the the yellow and mrs s down bowed golden head stood out clearly she was holding her handkerchief in her left hand and was leaning back exhausted against the cushions i turned my horse up a near the and literally ran away once i i the phantom heard a faint call of jack this may have been imagination i never stopped to it ten minutes later i came across on horseback and in the delight of a long ride with her forgot all about the interview a week later mrs died and the burden of her existence was removed from my life i went perfectly happy before three months were over i had forgotten all about her except that at times the discovery of some of her old letters reminded me of our relationship by january i had what was left of our correspondence from among my scattered and had burnt it at the beginning of april of this year semi deserted once more and was deep in lover s talks and walks with it was decided that we should be married at the end of june you will understand therefore that | 39 |
loving as i did i am not saying too much when i pronounce myself to have been at that time the happiest man in india fourteen delightful days passed almost before i noticed their flight then aroused to the sense of what was proper among mortals as we were i pointed out to that an engagement ring was the outward and visible sign of her dignity as an engaged girl and that she must forthwith come to s to be measured for one the phantom up to that moment i give you my word we had completely forgotten so trivial a matter to s we accordingly went on the th of april remember that whatever my doctor may say to the contrary i was then in perfect health enjoying a well balanced mind and an absolutely tranquil spirit and i entered s shop together and there regardless of the order of affairs i measured for the ring in the presence of the amused assistant the ring was a with two diamonds we then rode out down the slope that leads to the bridge and s shop while my was cautiously feeling his way over the loose and was laughing and chattering at my side while all that is to say as much of it as had then come from the plains was round the reading room and s i was aware that some one apparently at a vast distance was calling me by my christian name it struck me that i had heard the voice before but when and where i could not at once determine in the short space it took to cover the road between the path from s shop and the first plank of the bridge i had thought over half a dozen people who might have committed such a and had eventually decided that it must have been some singing in my ears immediately opposite s the phantom shop my eye was arrested by the sight of in livery pulling a cheap in a moment my mind flew back to the previous season and mrs with a sense of irritation and disgust was it not enough that the woman was dead and done with without her black and white to spoil the day s happiness whoever employed them now i thought i would call upon and ask as a personal to change her livery i would hire the men myself and if necessary buy their coats from off their backs it is impossible to say here what a flood of memories their presence i cried there are poor mrs s turned up again i wonder who has them now had known mrs slightly last season and had always been interested in the sickly woman what where she asked i can t sec them anywhere even as she spoke her horse from a laden mule threw himself directly in front of the advancing i had scarcely time to utter a word of warning when to my unutterable horror horse and rider passed through men and carriage as if they had been thin air what s the matter cried what the phantom made you call out so foolishly jack if i am engaged i don t want all creation to know about it there was lots of space between the mule and the and if you think i can t ride there whereupon wilful set off her dainty little head in the air at a hand gallop in the direction of the band stand fully expecting as she herself afterwards told me that i should follow her what was the matter nothing indeed either that i was mad or drunk or that was haunted with devils i in my impatient and turned round the had turned too and now stood immediately facing me near the left railing of the bridge jack jack darling there was no mistake about the words this time they rang through my brain as if they had been shouted in my ear it s some hideous mistake i m sure please forgive me jack and let s be friends again the hood had fallen back and inside as i hope and pray daily for the death i dread by night sat mrs handkerchief in hand and golden head bowed on her breast how long i stared motionless i do not know finally i was aroused by my taking the water s bridle and asking whether i was ill from the horrible to the commonplace is but a i tumbled off my horse and dashed half the phantom into s for a glass of brandy there two or three couples were gathered round the coffee tables discussing the gossip of the day their were more comforting to me just then than the of religion could have been i plunged into the midst of the conversation at once laughed and with a when i caught a glimpse of it in a mirror as white and drawn as that of a corpse three or four men noticed my condition and evidently setting it down to the results of over many endeavoured to draw me apart from the rest of the but i refused to be led away i wanted the company of my kind as a child rushes into the midst of the dinner party after a fright in the dark i must have talked for about ten minutes or so though it seemed an eternity to me when i heard s clear voice outside for me in another minute she had entered the shop prepared to me for so in my duties something in my face stopped her why jack she cried what have you been doing what happened are you ill thus driven into a direct lie i said that the sun had been a little too much for me it was close upon five o clock of a cloudy april afternoon and the sun had been hidden all | 39 |
of after all and ghostly in the other world how much did mrs give her men what were their hours where did they go and for visible answer to my last question i saw the infernal thing my path in the twilight the dead travel and by short cuts unknown to ordinary i laughed aloud a second time and checked my laughter suddenly for i was afraid i was going mad mad to a certain extent i must have been for i recollect that i in my horse at the head of the and politely wished mrs her answer was one i knew only too well i listened to the end and replied that i had heard it all before but should be delighted if she had anything further to say some malignant devil stronger than i must have entered into me that evening for i have a dim recollection of talking the of the day for five minutes to the thing in front of me mad as a poor devil or try and get him to come home the phantom surely that was not mrs s voice the two men had overheard me speaking to the empty air and bad returned to look after me they were veiy kind and considerate and from their words evidently gathered that i was extremely drunk i thanked them and away to my hotel there changed and arrived at the ten minutes late i pleaded the darkness of the night as an excuse was by for my hke and sat down the conversation had already become general and under cover of it i was addressing some tender small talk to my sweetheart when i was aware that at the further end of the table a short man was describing with much his encounter with a mad unknown that evening a few sentences convinced me that he was repeating the incident of half an hour ago in the middle of the story he looked round for applause as professional story do caught my eye and straightway there was a moment s awkward silence and the red man muttered something to the effect that he had forgotten the rest thereby sacrificing a reputation as a good story which he had built up for six seasons past i blessed him from the bottom of my heart and went on with my fish the phantom in the of time that dinner came to an end and with genuine regret i tore myself away from as certain as i was of my own existence that it would be waiting for me outside the door the red man who had been introduced to me as dr of volunteered to bear me company as far as our roads lay together i accepted his offer with gratitude my instinct had not deceived me it lay in readiness in the and in what seemed devilish mockery of our ways with a lighted the red man went to the point at once in a manner that showed he had been thinking over it all dinner time i say what the deuce was the matter with you this evening on the road the suddenness of the question an answer from me before i was aware that said i pointing to it l hat may be either d t or eyes for aught i know now you don t liquor i saw as much at dinner so it can t be d there s nothing whatever where you re pointing though you re and trembling with fright like a scared pony therefore i conclude that it s eyes and i ought to understand all about them come along home with me i m on the lower road to my intense delight the instead of the phantom waiting for us kept about twenty yards ahead and this too whether we walked trotted or in the course of that long night ride i had told my companion almost as much as i have told you here well you ve spoilt one of the best tales i ve ever laid tongue to said he but i ll forgive you for the sake of wliat you ve gone through now come home and do what i tell you and when i ve cured you young man let this be a lesson to you to steer clear of women and food till the day of your death the kept steady in front and my red friend seemed to derive great pleasure from my account of its exact whereabouts eyes all eyes brain and stomach and the greatest of these three is stomach you ve too much conceited brain too little stomach and thoroughly eyes get your stomach straight and the rest follows and all that s french for a liver i ll take sole medical charge of you from this hour for you re too interesting a phenomenon to be passed over by this time we were deep in the shadow of the lower road and the came to a dead stop under a pine clad overhanging cliff instinctively i halted too giving my reason out an oath now if you think i m going to spend a cold the phantom night on the for the sake of a ct m illusion lord ha mercy there was a muffled report a blinding of dust just in front of us a crack the noise of rent boughs and about ten yards of the cliff side pines and all slid down into the road below completely it up the trees swayed and for a moment like drunken giants in the gloom and then fell prone among their fellows with a crash our two horses stood motionless and with fear as soon as the rattle of falling earth and stone had subsided my companion muttered man if we d gone forward we should have been ten feet deep in our graves by now there | 39 |
are more things in heaven and earth come home and thank god i want a badly we our way over the church ridge and i arrived at dr s house shortly after midnight his attempts towards my cure commenced almost immediately and for a week i never left his sight many a time in the course of that week did i bless the good fortune which had thrown me in contact with s best and kindest doctor day by day my spirits grew lighter and more day by day too i became more and more the phantom inclined to fell in with s illusion theory eyes brain and st i wrote to telling her that a caused by a fell from my horse kept me indoors for a few days and that i should be recovered before she had time to regret my absence s treatment was simple to a degree it consisted of liver cold water and strong exercise taken in the dusk or at early for as he observed a man w th a ankle doesn t walk a dozen miles a day and your young woman might be ig if she saw you at the end of the week after much examination of pupil and pulse and strict as t diet and dismissed m as as he had taken charge of me her is his parting man i tt your mental cure and that s as much as to sa i ve cured most of your bodily no ir get your traps out of this as soon as you can an be off to make love to miss i was endeavouring to express my thanks far his kindness he cut me short don t think i did this because i like you i gather that you ve behaved like a all through but all the same you re a phenomenon and as queer a phenomenon as you are a no checking me a second time the phantom not a please go out and see if you can find the eyes brain and stomach business again i ll give you a for each time you see it half an hour later i was in the drawing room with drunk with the of present happiness and the that i should never more be troubled with its hideous presence strong in the sense of my security i proposed a ride at once and by preference a round never h d i felt so well so with vitality and mere animal spirits as i did on the afternoon of the th of april was delighted at the change in my appearance and me on it in her delightfully frank and manner we left the house together laughing and talking and along the road as of old i was in haste to reach the and there make my assurance doubly sure the horses did their best but seemed all too slow to my impatient mind was astonished at my why jack she cried at last you are like a child what are you doing we were just below the and from sheer i was making my plunge and across the road as i it with the of my riding whip the phantom doing i answered nothing dear that s just it if you d been doing nothing for a week except lie up you d be as as i singing and murmuring in your mirth to feel yourself alive lord over nature lord of the visible earth lord of the senses five my quotation was hardly out of my lips before we had rounded the comer above the and a few yards further on could see across to in the centre of the level road stood the black and white the yellow and mrs i pulled up looked rubbed my eyes and i believe must have said something the next thing i knew was that i was lying face downward on the road with kneeling above me in tears has it gone child i gasped only wept more bitterly has what gone jack dear what does it all mean there must be a mistake somewhere jack a hideous mistake her last words brought me to my feet mad for the time being yes there is a mistake somewhere i repeated a hideous mistake come and look at it i have an indistinct idea that i dragged by the wrist along the road up to where it stood the phantom and implored her for pity s sake to speak to it to t ell it that we were that neither death hell could break the tie between us and only knows how much more to the same effect now and again i appealed passionately to the terror in the to bear witness to all i had said and to release me from a torture that was killing me as i talked i suppose i must have told of my old relations with for i saw her listen intently with i face and blazing eyes thank you mr she said that s ite enough the as always are had come up with the horses and as sprang into her saddle i caught hold of her her to hear me out and forgive my answer was the cut of her riding whip across my face from mouth to eye and a word or two of farewell that even now i cannot write down so i judged and judged rightly that knew all and i staggered back to the side of the my was cut and bleeding and the blow of the riding whip had raised a livid blue on it i had no self respect just then who must have been following and me at a distance up doctor i said pointing to my here s miss s signature to my order of the phantom and til thank you for that as as convenient s even | 39 |
in my abject misery moved me to laughter fu stake my professional reputation he began don t be a fool i whispered i ve lost my life s happiness and you d better take me home as i spoke the was gone then i lost all knowledge of what was passing the crest of seemed to heave and roll like the crest of a cloud and fall in upon me seven days later on the th of may that is to say i was aware that i was lying in s room as weak as a little child was watching me intently from behind the papers on his writing table his first words were not encouraging but i was too far spent to be moved by them here s miss has sent back your letters you a good deal you young people here s a packet that looks like a ring and a cheerful sort of a note from papa which i ve taken the liberty of reading and burning the old gentleman s not pleased with you and i asked rather more drawn than her father from what she says by the same token you must have been i r the phantom letting out any number of queer reminiscences just before i met you says that a man who would have behaved to a woman as you did to mrs ought to kill himself out of sheer pity for his kind she s a hot headed little your will have it too that you were suffering from d when that row on the road up says she ll die before she ever speaks to you again i groaned and over on the other side now you ve got your choice my friend this engagement has to be broken off and the don t want to be too hard on you was it broken through d or fits sorry i can t offer you a better exchange unless you d prefer hereditary insanity say the word and i ll tell em it s fits all knows about that scene on the ladies mile come i ll give you five minutes to think over it during those five minutes i believe that i thoroughly the lowest circles of the which it is permitted man to tread on earth and at the same time i myself was watching myself faltering through the dark of doubt misery and utter despair i wondered as in his chair might have wondered which dreadful alternative i should adopt presently i heard myself answering in a voice that i hardly recognised the phantom they re particular about morality in these parts give em fits and my love now let me sleep a bit longer then my two selves joined and it was only i half devil driven i that tossed in my bed tracing step by step the history of the past month but i am in i kept repeating to myself i jack am in and there are no ghosts here it s unreasonable of that woman to pretend there are why couldn t have left me alone i never did her any harm it might just as well have been me as only i d never have come back on purpose to kill her why can t i be left alone left alone and happy it was high noon when i first awoke and the sun was low in the sky before i slept slept as the tortured criminal sleeps on his rack too worn to feel further pain next day i could not leave my bed told me in the morning that he had received an answer from mr and that thanks to his s friendly offices the story of my affliction had travelled through the length and breadth of where i was on all sides much pitied and that s rather more than you deserve he concluded pleasantly though the lord knows the phantom you ve been going through a pretty severe mill never mind we ll cure you yet you perverse phenomenon i declined firmly to be cured you ve been much too good to me already old man said i but i don t think i need trouble you further in my heart i knew that nothing could do would the burden that had been laid upon me with that knowledge came also a sense of hopeless impotent rebellion against the of it all there were scores of men no better than i whose had at least been reserved for another world and i felt that it was bitterly cruelly unfair that i alone should have been out for so hideous a fate this mood would in time give place to another where it seemed that the and i were the only realities in a world of shadows that was a ghost that and all the other men and women i knew were all ghosts and the great gray hills themselves but vain shadows devised to torture me from mood to mood i tossed backwards and forwards for seven weary days my body growing daily stronger and stronger until the bedroom looking glass told me that i had returned to every day life and was as other men once more curiously enough my face showed no signs of the struggle i had gone the phantom through it was pale indeed hut as and commonplace as ever i had expected some permanent alteration visible evidence of the disease that was eating me away i found nothing on the th of may i left s house at eleven o clock in the morning and the instinct of the bachelor drove me to the club there i found that every man knew my story as told by and was in clumsy fashion kind and attentive nevertheless i recognized that for the rest of my natural life i should be among but not of my fellows and i envied very bitterly | 39 |
indeed the laughing on the below i at the club and at four o clock wandered down the in the vague hope of meeting close to the the black and white joined me and i heard mrs s old appeal at my side i had been expecting this since i came out and was only surprised at her delay the phantom and i went side by side along the road in silence close to the and a man on horseback overtook and passed us for any sign she gave i might have been a dog in the road she did not even pay me the compliment of her pace though the rainy afternoon had served for an excuse sat the phantom so and her companion and i and my ghostly light o crept round in couples the road was streaming with water the pines like roof pipes on the rocks below and the air was full of fine driving rain two or three times i found myself saying to myself almost aloud i m jack on leave at at every day ordinary i mustn t forget that i mustn t forget that then i would try to recollect some of the gossip i had heard at the club the prices of so and so s horses anything in fact that related to the work a day indian world i knew so well i even repeated the table rapidly to myself to make quite sure that i was not taking leave of my senses it gave me much comfort and must have prevented my hearing mrs for a time once more i wearily climbed the slope and entered the level road here and the man started off at a and i was left alone with mrs said i will you put back your hood and tell me what it all means the hood dropped noiselessly and i was face to face with my dead and buried mistress she was wearing the dress in which i had last seen her alive carried the same tiny handkerchief in her right hand and the same card case in her left a woman eight months dead with a the phantom card case i had to pin myself down to tie and to set both hands on me stone of the road to assure myself that z that at least was real i repeated for pity s sake tell me what it all means mrs leaned forward with that odd quick turn of the head i used t to know so well and spoke if my story had not already so madly j the bounds of all human belief i should x to you now as i know that no one no even for whom it is written as some sort of fc f justification of my conduct will believe me will go on mrs spoke and i walked with her from the road to the turning below the commander in chief s house as i might walk by the side of any living woman s deep in conversation the second and most of my moods of sickness had suddenly hold upon me and like the prince in poem i seemed to move amid a world of ghosts there had been a garden party at the com in chief s and we two joined the crowd of homeward bound folk as i saw them it seemed that they were the shadows fantastic shadows that divided for mrs s to pass through what we said during the course of that weird interview i cannot indeed i dare not teu s comment the phantom have been a short and a remark that i had been a brain eye and stomach it was a ghastly and yet in some way a dear experience could it be possible i wondered that i was in this life to a second time the woman i had killed by my own neglect and cruelty i met on the homeward road a shadow among shadows if i were to describe all the incidents of the next fortnight in their order my story would never ome to an end and your patience would be morning after morning and evening after evening the ghostly and i used to wan through together wherever i went the four black and white followed and bore me company to and from my hotel t the theatre i found them amid the crowd of outside the club a long evening of at the birthday ball waiting patiently for my and in broad daylight when i went calling save that it no shadow the was in every respect s real to look upon as one of wood and iron more than once indeed i have had to check myself om warning some hard riding friend against over it more than once i have walked down the deep in conversation with mrs the unspeakable amazement of the by the phantom before i had been out and about a week i learned that the fit theory had been discarded in of insanity however i made no change in my mode of life i called rode and dined out as freely as ever i had a passion for the society of my kind which i had never felt before i to be among the realities of life and at the same time i felt vaguely unhappy when i had been separated too long from my ghostly companion it would be almost impossible to describe my varying moods from the th of may up to to day the presence of the filled me by turns with horror blind fear a dim sort of pleasure and utter despair i dared not leave and i knew that ray stay there was killing me i knew moreover that it was my destiny to die slowly and a little every day my only anxiety was to get the | 39 |
penance over as quietly as might be alternately i for a sight of and watched her outrageous with my successor to speak more accurately my with amused interest she was as much out of my life as i was out of hers by day i wandered with mrs almost content by night i implored heaven to let me return to the world as i used to know it above all these varying moods lay the sensation of dull wonder that the seen and the unseen should mingle so strangely the phantom on this earth to hound one poor soul to its grave august has been ble in his attendance on me and only yesterday told me that i ought to send in an application for sick leave an application to escape the company of a phantom a request that the would graciously permit me to get rid of five ghosts and an airy by going to england s proposition moved me to almost hysterical laughter i told him that i should await the end quietly at and i am sure that the end is not far oflf believe me that i dread its advent more than any word can say and i torture myself nightly with a thousand speculations as to the manner of my death shall i die in my bed decently and as an english gentleman should die or in one last walk on the will my soul be fi om me to take its place for ever and ever by the side of that ghastly shall i return to my old lost in the next world or shall i meet her and bound to her side through all eternity shall we two over the scene of our lives till the end of time as the day of my death draws nearer the intense horror that all living flesh feels toward escaped spirits fi om beyond the grave grows more and more powerful it is the phantom an awful thing to go down quick among the dead with scarcely one half of your life completed it is a thousand times more awful to wait as i do in your midst for i know not what terror pity me at least on the score of my delusion for i know you will never believe what i have written here yet as surely as ever a was done to death by the powers of darkness i am that man in justice too pity her for as surely as ever woman was killed by man i killed mrs and the last portion of my punishment is even now upon me the man who would be king brother to t prince and to a beggar if he be found worthy the law as quoted lays down a fair conduct of life and one not easy to follow i have been to a beggar again and again under circumstances which prevented either of us finding out whether the other was worthy i have still to be brother to a prince though i once came near to with what might have been a veritable king and was promised the of a kingdom army law courts and policy all complete but to day i greatly fear that my king is dead and if i want a crown i must go hunt it for myself the beginning of everything was in a railway train upon the road to from there had been a in the which travelling not second class which is only half as dear as first class but by which is very awful indeed there are no cushions in the class and the population are either which is or native the phantom which for a long night journey is nasty or which is amusing though do not buy from refreshment rooms they carry their food in bundles and pots and buy sweets from the native and drink the roadside water that is why in hot weather are taken out of the carriages dead and in all are most properly looked down upon my particular happened to be empty till i reached when a big gentleman in shirt sleeves entered and following the custom of passed the time of day he was a wanderer and a vagabond like myself but with an educated taste for he told tales of things he had seen and done of out of the way comers of the empire into which he had penetrated and of adventures in which he risked his life for a few days food if india was filled with men like you and me not knowing more than the where they d get their next day s it isn t seventy millions of the land would be paying it s seven hundred millions said he and as i looked at his mouth and chin i was disposed to agree with him we talked politics the politics of that sees things from the where the and plaster are not smoothed oflf and we talked the man who would be king arrangements because my friend wanted to send a back from the next station to the oflf place from the to the line as you travel westward my friend had no money beyond eight which he wanted for dinner and i had no money at ail owing to the in the before mentioned further i was going into a wilderness where though i should resume touch with the treasury there were no telegraph offices i was therefore unable to help him in any way we might threaten a station master and make him send a wire on said my friend but that d mean for you and for me and got my hands full these days did you say you were travelling back along this line within any days within ten i said can t you make it eight said he mine is rather urgent | 39 |
business i can send your within ten days if that will serve you i said i couldn t trust the wire to fetch him now i think of it it s this way he leaves on the d for that means he ll be running through about the night of the d but i m going into the indian desert i explained well and good said he you ll be the phantom ing at to get into territory you must do that and hell be coming through in the early morning of the th by the mail can you be at on that time t won t be you because i know that there s precious few to be got out of these central india states even though you pretend to be correspondent of the have you ever tried that trick i asked again and again but the find you out and then you get escorted to the border before you ve time to get your knife into them but about my friend here i must give him a word o mouth to tell him what s come to me or else he won t know where to go i would take it more than kind of you if you was to come out of central india in time to catch him at and say to him he has gone south for the week he ll know what that means he s a big man with a red beard and a great swell he is you ll find him sleeping like a gentleman with all his luggage round him in a second class apartment but don t you be afraid slip down the window and say he has gone south for the week and he ll tumble it s only cutting your time of stay in those parts by two days i ask you as a stranger going to the west he said with emphasis the man who would be king where i l come from said i from the said he and i am hoping that you will give him the message on the square for the sake of my mother as well as your own englishmen are not usually softened by appeals to the memory of their mothers but for certain reasons which will be fully apparent i saw fit to agree it s more than a little matter said he and that s why i asked you to do it and now i know that i can depend on you doing it a carriage at and a red haired man asleep in it you ll be sure to remember i get out at the next station and i must hold on there till he comes or sends me what i want i ll give the message if i catch him i said and for the sake of your mother as well as mine i ll give you a word of advice don t try to run the central india states just now as the correspondent of the there s a real one knocking about here and it might lead to trouble thank you said he simply and when will the swine be gone i can t starve because he s my work i wanted to get hold of the down here about his father s widow and give him a jump what did he do to his father s widow then filled her up with red and the phantom her to death as she hung from a beam i found that out myself and fm the only man that would dare going into the state to get hush money for it they ll try to poison me same as they did in when i went on the there but you ll give the man at my message he got out at a little roadside station and i reflected i had heard more than once of men of newspapers and bleeding small native states with threats of exposure but i had never met any of the caste before they lead a hard life and generally die with great suddenness the native states have a wholesome horror of english newspapers which may throw light on their peculiar methods of government and do their best to choke with champagne or drive them out of their mind with four in hand they do not understand that nobody cares a straw for the internal administration of native states so long as oppression and crime are kept within decent limits and the ruler is not drunk or from one end of the year to the other they are the dark places of the earth full of cruelty touching the railway and the telegraph on one side and on the other the days of al when i left the train i did business with divers kings and in eight the man who would be king days passed through many changes of life sometimes i wore dress clothes and with princes and drinking from crystal and eating from silver sometimes i lay out upon the ground and devoured what i could get from a plate made of leaves and drank the running water and slept under the same rug as my servant it was all in the day s work then i headed for the great indian desert upon the proper date as i had promised and the night mail set me down at where a funny little happy go lucky railway runs to the mail from makes a short halt at she arrived as i got in and i had just time to hurry to her platform and go down the carriages there was only one second class on the train i slipped the window and looked down upon a flaming red beard half covered by a railway rug that was my man fast asleep and i dug him gently in the ribs he woke with a | 39 |
and i saw his face in the light of the lamps it was a great and shining face tickets again said he no said i i am to tell you that he is gone south for the week he has gone south for the week the train had begun to move out the red man rubbed his eyes he has gone south for the phantom the week he repeated now that s just like his did he say that i was to give you anything cause i won t he didn t i said and dropped away and watched the red lights die out in the dark it was horribly cold because the wind was blowing off the sands i climbed into my own train not an carriage this time and went to sleep if the man with the beard had given me a i should have kept it as a of a rather curious ir but the consciousness of having done my duty was my only reward later on i reflected that two gentlemen like my friends could not do any good if they and of newspapers and might if they one of the little states of central india or southern get themselves into serious difficulties i therefore took some trouble to describe them as accurately as i could remember to people who would be interested in them and succeeded so i was later informed in having them headed back from the borders then i became respectable and returned to an office where there were no kings and no incidents outside the daily manufacture of a newspaper a newspaper office seems to attract every conceivable sort of person to the prejudice of discipline the man who would be king mission ladies arrive and beg that the editor will instantly abandon all his duties to describe a christian prize giving in a back of a perfectly inaccessible village who have been for command sit down and sketch the outline of a series of ten twelve or twenty four leading articles on selection wish to know why they have not been permitted to escape from their regular of abuse and swear at a under special patronage of the we theatrical companies troop up to explain that they cannot pay for their but on their return from new or will do so with interest of patent pulling machines carriage and swords and trees call with in their pockets and hours at their disposal tea companies enter and elaborate their with the office pens of ball to have the glories of their last dance more fully described strange ladies rustle in and say i want a hundred lady s cards printed at once please which is part of an editor s duty and every that ever the grand trunk road makes it his business to ask for employment as a proof reader and all the time the bell is ringing madly and kings are being killed on the phantom the continent and are saying you re another and mr is calling down upon the british and the little black copy are a ba copy wanted like tired bees and most of the paper is as blank as s shield but that is the amusing part of the year there are six other months when none ever come to call and the walks inch by inch up to the top of the glass and the is darkened to just above reading light and the press machines are red hot of touch and nobody writes anything but accounts of amusements in the hill stations or notices then the becomes a terror because it tells you of the sudden deaths of men and women that you knew intimately and the heat covers you with a garment and you sit down and write a slight increase of sickness is reported from the district the outbreak is purely in its nature and thanks to the energetic efforts of the district authorities is now almost at an end it is however with deep regret we record the death etc then the sickness really breaks out and the less and the better for the peace of the but the and the kings continue to divert themselves as as before and the thinks that a daily the man who would be king paper really ought to come out once in hours and all the people at the hill stations in the middle of their amusements say good gracious why can t the paper be sparkling fm sure there s plenty going on up here that is the dark half of the moon and as the say must be experienced to be appreciated it was in that season and a remarkably evil season that the paper began running the last issue of the week on saturday night which is to say sunday morning after the custom of a london paper this was a great convenience for immediately after the paper was put to bed the dawn would lower the from to almost for half an hour and in chill you have no idea how cold is on the grass until you begin to pray for it a very tired man could get off to sleep ere the heat roused him one saturday night it was my pleasant duty to put the paper to bed alone a king or or a or a community was going to die or get a new constitution or do something that was important on the other side of the world and the paper was to be held open till the latest possible minute in order to catch the it was a black night as stifling as a june night can be and the loo the red hot wind from the westward was among the dry the phantom trees and pretending that the rain was on its heels now and again a spot of almost boiling water would aw on the dust | 39 |
with the of a but all our weary world knew that was only pretence it was a shade cooler in the press room than the office so i sat there while the type and and the night at the windows and the all but naked wiped the sweat from their and called for water the thing that was keeping us back whatever it was would not come off though the loo dropped and the last type was set and the whole round earth stood still in the choking heat with its finger on its lip to wait the event i and wondered whether the telegraph was a blessing and whether this dying man or struggling people might be aware of the inconvenience the delay was causing there was no special reason beyond the heat and worry to make but as the crept up to three o clock and the machines spun their fly wheels two and three times to see that all was in order before i said the word that would set them off i could have shrieked aloud then the roar and rattle of the wheels shivered the quiet into little bits i rose to go away but two men in white clothes stood in front of me the first one said it s him i the second said so it is i and they both laughed almost as loudly as the machinery roared and their the man who would be king we seed there was a light burning across the road and we were sleeping in that ditch there for coolness and i said to my here the office is open let s come along and speak to him as turned us back firom the state said the smaller of the two he was the man i had met in the train and his fellow was the red bearded man of there was no the eyebrows of the one or the beard of the other i was not pleased because i wished to go to sleep not to with what do you want i asked half an hour s talk with you cool and comfortable in the office said the red bearded man we d like some drink the doesn t begin yet so you needn t but what we really want is advice we don t want money we ask you as a favour because wc found out you did us a bad turn about state i led from the press room to the stifling office with the maps on the walls and the red haired man rubbed his hands that s something like said he this was the proper shop to come to now sir let me introduce to you brother that s him and brother daniel that is me and the less said about our professions the better for we have been most things the phantom in our time soldier sailor proof reader street preacher and of the when we thought the paper wanted one is sober and so am i look at us first and see that s sure it will save you cutting into my talk we ll take one of your cigars apiece and you shall see us light up i watched the test the men were absolutely sober so i gave them each a and well and good said of the eyebrows wiping the from his moustache let me talk now dan we have been all over india mostly on foot we have been engine drivers petty and all that and we have decided that india isn t big enough for such as us they certainly were too big for the office s beard seemed to fill half the room and s shoulders the other half as they sat on the big table continued the country isn t half worked out because they that won t let you touch it they spend all their time in governing it and you can t lift a nor a rock nor look for oil nor anything c that without all the government saying leave it alone and let us govern such as it is we will let it alone and go away to some er the man who would be king place where a man isn t crowded and can come to his own we are not little men and there is nothing that we are afraid of except drink and we have signed a on that we are going away to be kings kings in our own right muttered yes of course i said you ve been in the sun and it s a very warm night and hadn t you better sleep over the notion come to morrow neither drunk nor said we have slept over the notion half a year and require to see books and and we have decided that there is only one place now in the world that two strong men can a a they call it by my reckoning it s the top right hand comer of not more than three hundred miles from they have two and thirty heathen there and we ll be the thirty third and fourth it s a country and the women of those parts are very beautiful but that is provided against in the said neither woman nor or daniel and that s all we know except that no one has gone there and they fight and in any place where they fight a man who knows how to men can always be a king we shall go to those the phantom parts and say to any king we find want to your foes and we will show him how to men for that we know better than anything then we will that king and seize his throne and establish a you ll be cut to pieces before you re fifty miles across the i said you have to travel through to get to that | 39 |
country it s one mass of mountains and peaks and and no englishman has been through it the people are utter brutes and even if you reached them you couldn t do anything that s more like said if you could think us a little more mad we would be more pleased we have come to you to know about this country to read a book about it and to be shown maps we want you to tell us that we are fools and to show us your books he turned to the book cases are you at all in earnest i said a little said sweetly as big map as you have got even if it s all blank where is and any books you ve got can read though we aren t very educated i the big thirty two miles to the map of india and two smaller frontier maps hauled down volume of the and the men consulted them the man who would be king see here said his thumb on the map up to and me know the road we was there with army well have to off to the right at through territory then we get among the hills fourteen thousand feet fifteen thousand it will be cold work there but it don t look very far on the map i handed him wood on the sources of the was deep in the they re a mixed lot said and it won t help us to know the names of their tribes the more tribes the more they ll fight and the better for us from to h mm but all the information about the country is as and as can be i protested no one knows anything about it really here s the file of the united services read what says blow said dan they re a lot of but this book here says they think they re related to us english i smoked while the men over wood the maps and the there is no use your waiting said politely it s about four o clock now we ll go before six o clock if you want to sleep and s the phantom we won t steal any of the papers don t you sit up we re two harmless and if you come to morrow evening down to the we ll say good bye to you you are two fools i answered you ll be turned back at the frontier or cut up the minute you set foot in do you want any money or a recommendation down country i can help you to the chance of work next week next week we shall be hard at work ourselves thank you said it isn t so easy being a king as it looks when we ve got our kingdom in going order we ll let you know and you can come up and help us to govern il would two make a like that said with subdued pride showing me a greasy half sheet of on which was written the following i copied it then and there as a curiosity t bis contract between me and you witness ea in the name of god amen and so forth one hat me and you will settle this matter i e to he kings of wo and me will not while this mat ter is being settled look at any nor any white or so as to get mixed up with one or ae other the man who would be king we conduct ourselves with dignity and discretion and if one of us gets into trouble the other will stay by bim signed by you and me this day daniel both gentlemen at large there was no need for the last article said blushing modestly but it looks regular now you know the sort of men that are we are dan until we get out of india and do you think that we would sign a like that unless we was in earnest we have kept away from the two things that make life worth having you won t enjoy your lives much longer if you are going to try this adventure don t set the office on fire i said and go away before nine o clock i left them still over the maps and making notes on the back of the be sure to come down to the to morrow were their parting words the is the great four square sink of humanity where the strings of and horses from the north load and all the of central asia may be found there and most of the folk of india proper and the phantom there meet and and draw eye teeth you can buy cats saddle bags fat sheep and in the and get many strange things for nothing in the afternoon i went down to see whether my friends intended to keep their word or were lying there drunk a priest attired in fragments of ribbons and rags stalked up to me gravely twisting a child s paper behind him was his servant bending under the load of a of mud toys the two were up two and the inhabitants of the watched them with shrieks of laughter the priest is mad said a horse dealer to me he is going up to to sell toys to the he will either be raised to honour or have his head cut off he came in here this morning and has been madly ever since the are under the protection of god stammered a flat in broken they future events would they could have foretold that my would have been cut up by the almost within shadow of the pass the agent of a trading house whose goods had been diverted into the hands of other robbers just across the border and whose misfortunes were | 39 |
the laughing stock of the priest whence come you and whither do you go s the man who would be king from have i come shouted the priest waving his from blown by the breath of a hundred devils across the sea o thieves robbers the blessing of on pigs dogs and who will take the protected of god to the north to sell charms that arc never still to the the shall not the sons shall not fall sick and the wives shall remain faithful while they are away of the men who give me place in their who will assist me to the king of the with a golden with a silver heel the protection of be upon his labours he spread out the skirts of his and between the lines of horses there starts a from to in twenty days said the my go do thou also go and bring us good luck i will go even now shouted the priest i will depart upon my winged and be at in a day ho he to his servant drive out the but let me first mount my own he leaped on the back of his beast as it knelt and turning round to me cried come thou also a little along the road and i will sell thee a charm an that shall make thee king of then the light broke upon me and i followed the phantom the two out of the till we reached open road and the priest halted what d you think o that said he in can t talk their so i ve made him my servant he makes a handsome servant t for nothing that i ve been knocking about the country for fourteen years didn t i do that talk neat we ll on to a at till we get to and then we ll see if we can get for our and strike into for the o lor put your hand under the and tell what you feel i felt the butt of a and another and another twenty of em said placidly twenty of em and to correspond under the and the mud heaven help you if you are caught with those things i said a is worth her weight in among the fifteen hundred of capital every we could beg borrow or steal are invested on these two said we won t get caught we re going through the with a regular who d touch a poor mad priest have you got everything you want i asked overcome with astonishment the man who would be king not yet but we shall soon give us a of your kindness brother you did me a service yesterday and that time in half my kingdom shall you have as the saying is i slipped a small charm compass from my watch chain and handed it up to the priest bye said giving me his hand cautiously it s the last time we ll shake hands with an englishman these many days shake bands with him he cried as the second passed me leaned down and shook hands then the passed away along the dusty road and i was left alone to wonder my eye could detect no in the the scene in the proved that they were complete to the native mind there was just the chance therefore that and would be able to wander through without detection but beyond they would find death certain and awful death ten days later a native correspondent giving me the news of the day from wound up his letter with there has been much laughter here on account of a certain mad priest who is going in his estimation to sell petty and insignificant which he as great charms to h h the of he passed through and associated himself the phantom to die second summer that goes to the merchants are pleased because through superstition they imagine that such mad fellows bring good fortune the two then were beyond the border i would have prayed for them but that night a real king died in europe and demanded an notice the wheel of the world through the same phases again and again summer passed and winter thereafter and came and passed again the daily paper continued and i with it and upon the third summer there fell a hot ni t a night issue and a strained waiting for something to be from the other side of the world exactly as bad happened before a few great men had died in the past two years the machines worked with more clatter and some of the trees in the garden were a few feet taller but that was all the difference i passed over to the press room and went just such a scene as i have already described the nervous was stronger than it had been two years before and i felt the beat more at three o clock i cried print oc nd turned to go when there crept to my chair what was left c a man he was bent into a his head was sunk between his shoulders the man who would be king and he moved his feet one over the other like a bear i could hardly see whether he walked or crawled this rag wrapped who addressed me by name crying that he was come back can you give me a drink he for the lord s sake give me a drink i went back to the office the man following with groans of pain and i turned up the lamp don t you know me he gasped dropping into a chair and he turned his drawn face surmounted by a shock of gray hair to the light i looked at him intently once before had i seen eyebrows that met over the nose in an black band | 39 |
but for the life of me i could not tell where i don t know you i said handing him the what can i do for you he took a of the spirit raw and shivered in spite of the heat i ve come back he repeated and i was the king of me and crowned kings we was in this office we settled it you setting there and giving us the books i am and you ve been setting here ever since o lord i was more than a little astonished and expressed my feelings accordingly it s true said with a dry the phantom nursing his feet which were wrapped in rags true as gospel kings we were with crowns upon our heads me and poor dan oh poor poor dan that would never take advice not though i begged of him take the i said and take your own time tell me all you can recollect of everything beginning to end you got across the border on your dressed as a mad priest and you his servant do you remember that i ain t mad yet but i shall be that way soon of course i remember keep looking at me or maybe my words will go all to pieces keep looking at me in my eyes and don t say anything i leaned forward and looked into his ice as steadily as i could he dropped one hand upon the table and i grasped it by the wrist it was twisted like a bird s and upon the back was a ragged red diamond shaped no don t look there look at me said that comes afterwards but for the lord s sake don t me we left with that me and playing all sorts of to amuse the people we were with used to make us laugh in the evenings when all the people was cooking their dinners cooking their dinners and what did they do then they lit little fires with sparks that went into s beard and we the man who would be king all laughed fit to die little red fires they was going into big red beard so funny his eyes left mine and he smiled foolishly you went as fer as with that i said at a venture after you had lit those fires to where you turned off to try to get into no we didn t neither what are you talking about we turned off before because we heard the roads was good but they wasn t good enough for our two mine and s when we left the took off all his clothes and mine too and said we would be heathen because the didn t allow to talk to them so we dressed and between and such a sight as daniel i never saw yet nor expect to see again he burned half his beard and a sheep skin over his shoulder and shaved his head into patterns he shaved mine too and made me wear outrageous things to look like a heathen that was in a most country and our couldn t go along any more because of the mountains they were tall and black and coming home i saw them fight like wild there are lots of in and these mountains they never keep still no more than the always fighting they are and don t let you sleep at night take some more i said very slowly the phantom what did you and daniel do when the could go no further because of the rough roads that led into what did which do there was a party called that was with shall i tell you about him he died out there in the cold slap from the bridge fell old turning and twisting in the air like a penny that you can sell to the no they was two for three ha pence those or i am much mistaken and sore and then these were no use and said to for the lord s sake s get out of this before our heads are off and with that they killed the all among the mountains not having anything in particular to eat but first they took off the boxes with the guns and the till two men came along driving four up and dances in front of them singing sell me four says the first man if you are rich enough to buy you are rich enough to rob but before ever he could put his hand to his knife breaks his neck over his knee and the other party runs away so loaded the with the that was taken off the and together we starts forward into those bitter cold parts and never a road broader than the back of your hand the man who would be king he paused for a moment while i asked him if he could remember the nature of the which he had i am telling you as straight as i can but my head isn t as good as it might be they drove nails through it to make me hear better how died the country was and the were most contrary and the inhabitants was dispersed and solitary they went up and up and down and down and that other party was imploring of not to sing and whistle so loud for fear of bringing down the but says that if a king couldn t sing it wasn t worth being king and the over the and never took no heed for ten cold days we came to a big level valley all among the mountains and the were near dead so we killed them not having anything in special for them or us to eat we sat upon the boxes and played odd and even | 39 |
with the that was out then ten men with bows and arrows ran down that valley chasing twenty men with bows and arrows and the row was they was fair men fairer than you or me with yellow hair and remarkable well built says the guns this is the beginning of the business we ll fight for the ten men and with that he fires two at the twenty men the phantom and drops one of them at two hundred yards from the rock where he was sitting the other men began to run but and sits on the boxes picking them off at all up and down the valley then we goes up to the ten men that had run across the snow too and they fires a little arrow at us he shoots above their heads and they all falls down flat then he walks over them and them and then he lifts them up and shakes hands all round to make them friendly like he calls them and gives them the boxes to carry and waves his hand for all the world as though he was king already they takes the boxes and him across the valley and up the hill into a pine wood on the top where there was half a dozen big stone he goes to the biggest a fellow they call and lays a rifle and a at his feet rubbing his nose respectful with his own nose patting him on the head and in front of it he turns round to the men and his head and says that s all right i m in the know too and all these old jim are my friends then he opens his mouth and points down it and when the first man brings him food he says no and when the second man brings him food he says no but when one of the old priests and the of the village brings him food he says yes very haughty and eats it slow that was the man who would be king how we came to our first village without any trouble just as though we had tumbled from the skies but we tumbled from one of those damned rope bridges you see and you couldn t expect a man to laugh much after that take some more and go on i said that was the first village you came into how did you get to be king i wasn t king said he was the king and a handsome man he looked with the gold crown on his head and all him and the other party stayed in that village and every morning sat by the side of old and the people came and worshipped that was s order then a lot of men came into the valley and and them off with the before they knew where they was and runs down into the valley and up again the other side and finds another village same as the first one and the people all falls down flat on their faces and says now what is the trouble between you two villages and the people points to a woman as fair as you or me that was carried os and takes her back to the first village and counts up the dead eight there was for h dead man a little milk on the ground and waves his arms like a and that s all right says he then he and es the big of each village by the arm and if the walks them down into the valley and shows how to scratch a line with a spear right down valley and gives each a sod of turf from sides of the line then all the people comes dow n and shouts like the devil and all and says go and dig the land and be fruitful and which they did though they didn t understand then we asks the names of things in their bread and water and fire and and such and leads the priest of each village up to the idol and says he must sit there and judge the people and if anything goes wrong he is ta be shot next week they was all turning up the land in the valley as quiet as bees and much prettier and the priests heard all the complaints and told in dumb show what it was about that s just the beginning says they think we re gods he and out twenty good men and shows them how to click off a rifle and form and advance in line and they was very pleased to do so and clever to sec the hang of it then he takes out his pipe and his and leaves one at one village and one at the other and off we two goes to see what was to be done in the next valley that was and there was a little village there and says send em to the old valley to plant and takes cm there and gives em some land th it the man who would be king wasn t took before they were a poor lot and we blooded em with a kid before letting em into the new kingdom that was to impress the pie and then they settled down quiet and went back to who had got into another valley all snow and ice and most there was no people there and the army got afraid so shoots one of them and goes on till he finds some people in a village and the army explains that unless the people wants to be killed they had better not shoot their little for they had we makes with the priest and i stays there alone with two of the army teaching the men how to and | 39 |
warrant from any one and you now we never held office in any lodge it s a master stroke o policy says t means running the country as easy as a on a down grade we can t stop now or they ll turn against us i ve chiefs at my heel and passed and raised to their merit they shall be men on the villages and see that we run up lodge of some kind the temple of do for the lodge room the women must lake as you show them i ll hold a f chiefs to night and lodge to morrow i was fair run off my legs but i wasn t such as not to see what a pull this craft business ive us i showed the priests families how to of the degrees but for s the blue border and marks was made of on white hide not cloth we ok a great square stone in the temple for the s chair and little stones for the officers the phantom chairs and painted the black pavement with white squares and did what we could to make things regular at the which was held that night on the with big gives out that him and me were gods and sons of alexander and past grand masters in the craft and was come to make a country where every man should eat in peace and drink in quiet and specially obey us then the chiefs come round to shake hands and they were so hairy and white and fair it was just shaking hands with old friends we gave them names according as they was like men we had known in india fish that was master when i was at and so on and so on t a most amazing miracles was at lodge next night one of the old priests was watching us continuous and i felt uneasy for i knew we d have to the and i didn t know what the men knew the old priest was a stranger come in from beyond the village of the minute puts on the master s apron that the girls had made for him the priest a and a howl and tries to the stone that was sitting on it s all up now i says that comes of with the craft without warrant never winked an the man who would be king eye not when ten priests took and over the grand master s chair which was to say the stone of the priest begins rubbing the bottom end of it to clear away the black dirt and presently he shows all the other priests the master s mark same as was on s apron cut into the stone not even the priests of the temple of knew it was there the old chap falls flat on his face at s feet and kisses em luck again says across the lodge to me they say it s the missing mark that no one could understand the why of we re more than safe now then he the butt of his gun for a and says by virtue of the authority in me by my own right hand and the help of i declare myself grand master of all in in this the mother lodge o the country and king of equally with at that he puts on his crown and i puts on mine i was doing senior and we opens the lodge in most ample form it was a amazing miracle the priests moved in lodge through the first two degrees almost without telling as if the memory was coming back to them after that and raised such as was worthy high priests and of far oflf villages fish as the first and i can tell you we scared the soul out of him it was not in any way according to the phantom but it served our turn we didn t raise more than ten of the biggest men because we didn t want to make the degree common and they was to be raised in another six months says we ll hold another communication and see how you are working then he asks them about their villages and that they was fighting one against the other and were sick and tired of it and when they wasn t doing that they was fighting with the you can fight those when they come into our country says tell off every tenth man of your tribes for a frontier guard and send two hundred at a time to this valley to be nobody is going to be shot or any more so long as he does well and i know that you won t cheat me because you re white people sons of alexander and not like common black you are my people and by god says he running off into english at the end i ll make a damned fine nation of you or i ll die in the making i can t tell all we did for the next six months because did a lot i couldn t see the hang of and he learned their in a way i never could my work was to help the people plough and now and again go out with some of the army and see what the other villages were doing and the man who would be king make em throw rope bridges across the which cut up the country horrid was very kind to me but when he walked up and down in the pine wood pulling that bloody red beard of his with both fists i knew he was thinking plans i could not advise about and i just waited for orders but never showed me before the people they were afraid of me and the army but they loved dan he was the | 39 |
best of friends with the priests and the chiefs but any one could come across the hills with a complaint and would hear him out fair and call four priests together and say what was to be done he used to call in fish from and from and an old chief we called it was like enough to his real name and hold with em when there was any fighting to be done in small villages that was ms council of war and the four priests of and was his council between the lot of em they sent me with forty men and twenty and sixty men carrying into the country to buy those hand made that come out of the s at from one of the s that would have sold the very teeth out of their mouths for i stayed in a month and gave the the phantom the pick of my baskets for money and the of the i some more and between die two and the we got more than a hundred hand a hundred good that ll throw to six hundred yards and forty man loads of very bad for the i came back with what i had and distributed em among the men that the sent in to me to was too busy to attend to those thin but the old army that we first made helped me and we turned out five hundred men that could and two hundred that knew how to hold arms pretty straight even those hand made guns was a miracle to them talked big about powder shops and walking up and down in the pine wood when die winter was coming on i won t make a nation says he i u make an empire these men aren t they re english look at their eyes look at their mouths look at the way they stand up sit on chairs in their own houses they re the lost tribes or something like it and they ve i grown to be english i ll take a in die spring if the priests don t get frightened there must be a two million of em in these hills the villages are full o little children two million people two hundred and fifty the man who would be king fighting men and all english they only want the and a little two hundred and fifty thousand men ready to cut in on russia s right flank when she tries for india man he says his beard in great we shall be of the earth will be a to us til treat with the on equal terms til ask him to send me twelve picked english twelve that i know of to help us a bit there s at many s the good dinner he s given me and his wife a pair of trousers there s the of jail there s hundreds that i could lay my hand on if i was in india the shall do it for me i ll send a man through in the spring for those men and i ll write for a from the grand lodge for what i ve done as grand master that and all the that ll be thrown out when the native troops in india take up the they ll be worn smooth but they ll do for fighting in these hills twelve english a hundred thousand run through the s country in i d be content with twenty thousand in one year and we d be an empire when everything was i d hand over the crown this crown i m wearing now to queen victoria on my knees and she d say rise up sir daniel oh it s big the phantom it s big i tell you but there s so much to be done in every place and everywhere else what is it i says there are no more men coming in to be this autumn look at those ht black clouds they re bringing the snow it that says daniel putting his hand very hard on my shoulder and i don t wish to say anything that s against you for no other living man would have followed me and made me what i am as you have done you re a commander in chief and the people know you but it s a big country and somehow you can t me in the way i want to be helped go to your priests then i said and i was sorry when i made that remark but it did hurt me sore to find daniel talking so superior when i d all the men and done all he told me don t let s quarrel says daniel without cursing you re a king too and the half of this kingdom is yours but can t you see we want men than us now three or four of em that we can scatter about for our it s a great state and i can t always tell the right thing to do and i haven t time for all i want to do and here s the winter coming on and all he put half his the man who would be king beard into his mouth all red like the gold of his crown i m sorry daniel says i i ve done all i could i ve the men and shown the people how to their better and i ve brought in those from but i know what you re driving at i take it kings always feel oppressed that way there s another thing too says walking up and down the winter s coming and these people won t be giving much trouble and if they do we can t move about i want a wife | 39 |
for s sake leave the women alone i says we ve both got all the work we can though i am z fool remember the and keep clear o women the only lasted till such time as we was kings and kings we have been these months past says weighing his crown in his hand you go get a wife too a nice plump girl that ll keep you warm in the winter they re prettier than english girls and we can take the pick of em boil em once or twice in hot water and they ll come out like chicken and ham don t tempt me i says i will not have any dealings with a woman not till we are a dam side more settled than we are now i ve been doing the work o two men and you ve been doing the phantom the work o three let s lie a bit and see if we can get some better tobacco from a country and run in good but no women who s talking o sa i s d e a queen to a king s for the king a queen out of the tribe make them your blood brothers and ll lie by your side and tell you all the people thinks about and their own that s what i want do you remember that woman i kept at when i was a plate says i a ht o good she was to me she t me the and one or two other things but what happened she ran away with the station master s servant and half my month s pay then she turned up at in tow of a and bad the to say i was her husband all among the drivers in the running shed too we ve done with that says these women are than you or me and a queen i will have for the winter months for the last time o asking dan do i i says it ll only bring us harm the says that kings ain t to waste their strength on women specially when they ve got a new raw kingdom to work over for the last time of answering i will said and he went away through the pine trees the man who would be king looking like a big red devil the sun being on crown and beard and all but getting a wife was not as easy as dan thought he put it before the council and there was no answer till fish said that he d better ask the girls damned them all round what s wrong with me he shouts standing by the idol am i a dog or am i not enough of a man for your haven t i put the shadow of my hand over this country who stopped the last it was me really but was too angry to remember who bought your guns who repaired the bridges who s the grand master of the sign cut in the tone says he and he his hand on the block that he used to sit on in lodge and at council which opened like lodge always fish said nothing and no more did the others keep your hair on dan said i and ask the girls that s how it s done at home and these people are quite english the marriage of the king is a matter of state says dan in a white hot rage for he could feel i hope that he was going against his better mind he walked out of the council room and the others sat still looking at the ground fish says i to the chief of what s the difficulty here a straight answer to a true j the phantom you know says fish how should a man tell you who knows everything how can daughters of men marry gods or devils it s not proper i remembered something like that in the bible but if after seeing us as long as they had they still believed we were gods it wasn t for me to them a god can do anything says i if the king is fond of a girl he ll not let her die she ll have to said fish there are all sorts of gods and devils in these mountains and now and again a girl one of them and seen any more besides you two know the mark cut in the stone only the gods know that we thought you were men till you showed the sign of the master wished then that we had explained about the loss of the genuine secrets of a master at the first go off but i said nothing all that night there was a blowing of horns in a little dark temple half way down the hill and i heard a girl crying fit to die one of the priests told us that she was being prepared to marry the king i ll have no nonsense of that kind says dan i don t want to interfere with your customs but i ll take my own wife the girl s a little bit afraid says the priest the man who would be king she thinks she s going to die and they are a of her up down in the temple her very tender then says or you with the butt of a gun so you ll never want to be again he licked his lips did dan and stayed up walking about more than half the night thinking of the wife that he was going to get in the morning i wasn t any means comfortable for i knew that dealings with a woman in foreign parts though you was a crowned king twenty times over could not but be | 39 |
i got up very early in the morning while was asleep and i saw the priests talking together in whispers and the talking together too and they looked at me out of the comers of their eyes what is up fish i says to the man who was wrapped up in his and looking splendid to behold i can t rightly say says he but if you can make the king drop all this nonsense about marriage you ll be doing him and me and yourself a great service that i do believe says i but sure you know as well as me having fought against and for us that the king and me are nothing more than two of the finest men that god almighty ever made nothing more i do assure you that may be says fish and yet i the phantom should be sorry if it was he sinks his head upon his great fur cloak for a minute and thinks king says he be you man or god or devil i ll stick by you to lay i have twenty of ray men with me and they will follow me well go to until the storm blows over a snow had in the night and everything was white except the greasy fat clouds that blew down and down from the north came out with his crown on his head swinging his arms and stamping his feet and looking more pleased than punch for the last time drop it dan says i in a whisper fish here says that there will be a row a row among my people i says not much you re a fool not to get a wife too where s the girl says he with a voice as loud as the of a call up all the and priests and let the see if his wife suits him there was no need to call any one they were all there leaning on their guns and round the clearing in the centre of the pine wood a lot of priests went down to the little temple to bring up the girl and the horns blew fit to wake the dead fish round and gets as close to daniel as he could and behind him stood his twenty men with not a man of the man who would be king them under six feet i was next to and behind me was twenty men of the regular army up comes the girl and a she was covered with silver and but white as death and looking back every minute at the priests she ll do said dan looking her over what s to be afraid of come and kiss me he puts his arm round her she her eyes gives a bit of a and down goes her ce in the side of dan s flaming red beard the s bitten me says he clapping his hand to his neck and sure enough his hand was red with blood fish and two of his men catches hold of dan by the shoulders and him into the lot while the priests in their neither god nor devil but a man i was all taken for a priest cut at me in front and the army behind began firing into the men god a mighty says dan what is the meaning o this come back come away says fish ruin and is the matter we ll break for if we can i tried to give some sort of orders to my men the men o the regular army but it was no use so i fired into the brown of em with an and three beggars in a the phantom line the valley was full of shouting howling creatures and every soul was shrieking not a god nor a devil but only a man the troops stuck to fish all they were worth but their wasn t half as good as the and four of them dropped dan was like a bull for he was very and fish had a hard job to prevent him running out at the crowd we can t stand says fish make a run for it down the valley the whole place is against us the men ran and we went down the valley in spite of he was swearing horrible and crying out he was a king the priests rolled great stones on us and the regular army fired hard and there wasn t more than six men not counting dan fish and me that came down to the bottom of the valley alive then they stopped firing and the horns in the temple blew again come away for s sake come away says fish they ll send out to all the villages before ever we get to i can protect you there but i can t do anything now my own notion is that dan began to go mad in his head from that hour he stared up and down like a stuck pig then he was all for walking back alone and killing the priests with his the man who would be king bare hands which he could have done an emperor am i says daniel and next year i shall be a knight of the queen all right dan says i but come along now while there s time it s your says he for not looking ter your army better there was in the midst and you didn t know you damned engine driving plate laying missionary s pass hunting hound he sat upon a rock and called me every foul name he could lay tongue to i was too heart sick to care though it was all his foolishness that brought the i m sorry dan says i but there s no for natives this business is our fifty seven maybe we ll make something out of | 39 |
it yet when we ve got to let s get to then says dan and by god when i come back here again i ll sweep the valley so there isn t a in a blanket left we walked all that day and all that night dan was up and down on the snow his beard and muttering to himself there s no hope o getting clear said fish the priests will have sent to the villages to say that you are only men why didn t you stick on as till things was more settled i m a dead man says fish and the phantom he throws himself down on the snow and begins to pray to his next morning we was in a cruel bad country all up and no level ground at all and no food either the six men looked at fish hungry way as if they wanted to ask something but they said never a word at noon we came to the top of a flat mountain all covered with snow and when we climbed up into it behold there was an army in position waiting in the middle the have been very quick says fish with a little bit of a laugh they arc waiting for us three or four men began to fire from the enemy s side and a chance shot took daniel in the calf of the leg that brought him to his senses he looks across the snow at the army and sees the that we had brought into the country we re done for says he they are englishmen these people and it s my nonsense that has brought you to this back fish and take your men away you ve done what you could and now cut for it says he shake hands with me and go along with maybe they won t kill you til go and meet em alone it s me that did it me the king the man who would be king says i go to hell dan i m with you here fish you clear out and we two will meet those folk a says fish quite quiet i stay with you my men can go the fellows didn t wait for a second word but ran oflf and dan and me and fish walked across to where the drums were and the horns were it was cold awful cold i ve got that cold in the back of my head now there s a lump of it there the had gone to sleep two lamps were blazing in the office and the perspiration poured down my face and on the as i leaned forward was shivering and i feared that his mind might go i wiped my face took a fresh grip of the hands and said what after that the momentary shift of my eyes had broken the clear current what was you pleased to say they took them without any sound not a little whisper all along the snow not though the king knocked down the first man that set hand on him not though old fired his last into the brown of em not a single solitary sound did those make they just closed up tight and i tell you their the phantom there was a man called fish a good of us all and they cut his throat sir then and there like a pig and the king up the bloody snow and says we ve had a dashed fine run for our money what s coming next but i tell you sir in confidence as two friends he lost his head sir no he didn t neither the king lost his head so he did all along o one of those cunning rope bridges kindly let me have the paper sir it this way they marched him a mile across that snow to a rope bridge over a with a river at the bottom you may have seen such they him behind like an ox damn your eyes says the king suppose i can t die like a gentleman he turns to that was crying like a child i ve brought you to this says he brought you out of your happy life to be killed in where you was late commander in chief of the emperor s forces say you forgive me i do says fully and freely do i forgive you dan shake hands says he going now out he goes looking neither right nor left and when he was in the middle of those dizzy dancing ropes cut you beggars he shouts and they cut and old dan fell turning round and round and round twenty thousand miles for he took half the man who would be king an hour to i l till he struck the water and i could see his body caught on a rock with the gold crown close beside but do you know what they did to between two pine trees they him sir as s hands will show they used wooden for his hands and his feet and he didn t die he hung there and screamed and they took him down next day and said it was a miracle that he wasn t dead they took him down poor old that hadn t done them any harm that hadn t done them any he rocked to and fro and wept bitterly wiping his eyes with the back of his hands and moaning like a child for some ten minutes they was cruel enough to feed him up in the temple because they said he was more of a god than old daniel that was a man then they turned him out on the snow and told him to go home and came home in about a year begging along the roads quite safe for daniel he walked | 39 |
before and said come along it s a big thing we re doing the mountains they danced at night and the mountains they tried to fall on s head but dan he held up his hand and came along bent double he never let go of dan s hand and he never let go of dan s head they gave it to him as a present in the temple to remind him not to come again the phantom and though the crown was pure gold and was starving never would sell the same you knew sir you knew right brother look at him now he in the mass of rags round his bent waist brought out a black bag embroidered with silver thread and shook on to my table the dried withered head of daniel the morning sun that had long been the lamps struck the red beard and blind sunken eyes struck too a heavy of gold studded with raw that placed tenderly on the battered temples you be old now said the emperor in his as he lived the king of with his crown upon his head poor old daniel that was a monarch once i shuddered for in spite of manifold i recognised the head of the man of rose to go i attempted to stop him he was not fit to walk abroad let me take away the and give me a little money he gasped i was a king once i ll go to the and ask to set in the till i get my health no thank you i can t wait till you get a carriage for me i ve ui nt private affairs in the south at he out of the and departed in the direction of the s house the man who would be king that day at noon i had occasion to go down the blinding hot and i saw a crooked man crawling along the white dust of the roadside his hat in his hand after the of street singers at home there was not a soul in sight and he was out of all possible of the houses and he sang through his nose turning his head from right to left the son of man goes forth to war a golden crown to gain his blood red banner streams who follows in his train i waited to hear no more but put the poor wretch into my carriage and drove him off to the nearest missionary for transfer to the asylum he repeated the hymn twice while he was with me whom he did not in the least recognise and i left him singing it to the missionary two days later i after his welfare of the of the asylum he was admitted suffering from sun stroke he died early yesterday morning said the is it true that he was half an hour in the sun at midday yes said i but do you happen to know if he had anything upon him by any chance when not to and there the matter rests well road look out on a large scale map the place where the river us into the miles or so above the hamlet of five miles west of lies well road and the house of the or priest of it was the priest who showed me the road but it is no thanks to him that i am able to tell this story five miles west of is a patch of the grass that turns over in silver when the wind blows from ten to twenty feet high and from three to four miles square in the heart of the patch hides the of well road the villagers stone him when he into the daylight although he is a priest and he runs back again as a strayed wolf turns into tall crops he is a one eyed man and carries burnt between his brows the impress of two copper some say that he was tortured by a native prince in the old days for he is so old that he must have been capable of mischief in the days of his most pressing need at present is a and the care of the british well road these things happened when the grass was tall and the villagers of told me that a of pig had gone into the patch to enter grass is always an unwise proceeding but i went partly because i knew nothing of pig hunting and partly because the villagers said that the big of the owned foot long therefore i wished to shoot him in order to produce the in after years and say that i had ridden him down in fair chase i took a gun and went into the hot close patch believing that it would be an easy thing to one pig in ten square miles of mr the went with me because he believed that i was incapable of existing for an hour without his advice and countenance he managed to slip in and out between the grass but i had to force my way and in twenty minutes was as completely lost as though i had been in the heart of central africa i did not notice this at first till i had grown wearied of stumbling and pushing through the grass and mr was beginning to sit down very often and hang out his tongue very far there was nothing but grass everywhere and it was impossible to see two yards in any direction the grass stems held the heat exactly as do in half an hour when i was devoutly wishing that i had left the big alone i came to a o i x vn the phantom narrow path which seemed to be a compromise between a native foot path and a pig run it was barely six inches wide but i could slide along | 39 |
it in comfort the grass was extremely thick here and where the path was ill defined it was necessary to crush into the either with both hands before the or to back into it leaving both hands free to manage the rifle none the less it was a path and valuable because it might lead to a place at the end of nearly fifty yards of way just when i was preparing to back into an unusually stiff i missed mr who for his is an unusually frivolous dog and keeps to heel i called him three times and said aloud where has the little beast gone to then i stepped backwards several paces for almost under my feet a deep voice repeated where has the little beast gone to an unseen voice thoroughly you should bear it when you are lost in stifling grass i called mr again and the round echo assisted me at that i ceased calling and listened very attentively because i thought i heard a man laughing in a peculiarly manner the heat made me sweat but the laughter made me shake there is no earthly need for laughter in high grass it is as well as the stopped and i took courage and continued to call till i thou t loo well road i had the echo somewhere behind below the into which i was preparing just before i lost mr i drove rifle up to the between the grass stems i downward and forward direction then i it to and fro but it did not seem to touch und on the far side of the as it should e done every time that i with the of driving a heavy rifle through thick ss the was faithfully repeated from be and when i stopped to wipe my the nd of low laughter was distinct beyond went into the face first an inch at a c my mouth open and my eyes fine full and when i had overcome the resistance the grass i found that i was looking straight ss a black gap in the ground that i was lying on my chest leaning over the of a well so deep i could scarcely see the cr in it there were things in the water black things the water was as black as pitch with blue m the laughing sound came from the se of a little spring half way down side of the well sometimes as the black round the from the spring upon their tightly stretched skins and then laughter changed into a of mirth one the phantom thing turned over on its back as i watched and drifted round and round the circle of the with a hand and half an arm held clear of the water in a stiff and horrible flourish as though it were a very wearied guide paid to exhibit the beauties of the place i did not spend more than half an hour in creeping round that well and finding the path on the other side the remainder of the journey i accomplished by feeling every foot of ground in front of me and crawling a through every i carried mr in my arms and he licked my nose he was not frightened in the least nor was i but we wished to reach open ground in order to enjoy the view my knees were loose and the apple in my throat refused to slide up and down the path on the far side of the well was a very good one though in on all sides by grass and it led me in time to a priest s hut in the centre of a little clearing when that priest saw my very white face coming through the grass he howled with terror and embraced my boots but when i reached the set outside his door i sat down quickly and mr mounted guard over me i was not in a condition to take care of myself when i awoke i told the priest to lead me into the open out of the patch and to walk slowly in front of me mr hates well road natives and the priest was more afraid of mr than of me though we were both angry he walked very slowly down a narrow little path from his hut that path crossed three paths such as the one i had come by in the first instance and every one of the three headed towards the well once when we stopped to draw breath i heard the well laughing to itself alone in the thick grass and only my need for his services prevented my firing both barrels into the priest s back when we came to the open the priest back into cover and i went to the village of for a drink it was pleasant to be able to see the horizon all round as well as the ground the villagers told me that the patch of grass was full of devils and ghosts all in the service of the priest and that men and women and children had entered it and had never returned they said the priest used their for purposes of when i asked why they had not told me of this at the outset they said that they were afraid they would lose their reward for bringing news of the pig before i left i did my best to set the patch alight but the grass was too green some fine summer day however if the wind is favourable a file of old newspapers and a box of matches will make clear the mystery of well road the finest story in the world or ever the years were gone with the old world to the i a king in and you were a christian slave his name was he was the only son of his mother who was a widow and he | 39 |
lived in the north of london coming into the city every day to work in a bank he was twenty years old and from aspirations i met him in a public saloon where the called him by his first name and he called the explained a little nervously that he had only come to the place to look on and since looking on at games of skill is not a cheap amusement for the young i suggested that should go back to his mother that was our first step towards better acquaintance he would call on me sometimes in the evenings instead of running about london with his fellow clerks and before long speaking of himself as a young man must he told me of his j d ap c co the finest story in the world aspirations which were all literary he desired to make himself an name chiefly through verse though he was not above sending stories of love and death to the penny in the journals it was my fate to sit still while read me poems of many hundred lines and fragments of plays that would surely shake the world my reward was his confidence and the self revelations and troubles of a young man are almost as holy as those of a maiden had never fallen in love but was anxious to do so at the first opportunity he believed in all things good and all things honourable but at the same time was curiously careful to let me see that he knew his way about the world as a bank clerk on twenty five shillings a week he dove with love and moon with june and devoutly believed that they had never so been before the long lame in his plays he filled up with hasty words of apology and description and swept on seeing all that he intended to do so clearly that he esteemed it already done and to me for applause i fancy that his mother did not encourage his aspirations and i know that his writing table at home was the edge of his this he told me almost at the outset of our acquaintance when he was my and a lit the phantom tie before i was implored to speak the truth as to his chances of writing something really great you know maybe i encouraged him too much for one night he called on me his eyes flaming with excitement and said do you mind can you let me stay here and write all this evening i won t interrupt you i won t really there s no place for me to write in at my mother s what s the trouble i said knowing well what that trouble was i ve a notion in my head that would make the most splendid story that was ever written do let me write it out here it s such a notion there was no resisting the appeal i set him a table he hardly thanked me but plunged into the work at once for half an hour the pen scratched without stopping then sighed and his hair the scratching grew slower there were more and at last ceased the finest story in the world would not come forth it looks such awful rot now he said mournfully and yet it seemed so good when i was thinking about it what s wrong i could not him by saying the truth so i answered perhaps you don t feel in the mood for writing yes i do except when i look at this the finest story in the world ti read me what you ve done i said he read and it was wondrous bad and he paused at all the specially sentences expecting a little approval for he was proud of those sentences as i knew he would be it needs i suggested cautiously i hate cutting my things down i don t think you could alter a word here without the sense it reads better aloud than when i was writing it you re suffering from an alarming disease a numerous class put the thing by and tackle it again in a week i want to do it at once what do you think of it how can i judge from a half written tale tell me the story as it lies in your head told and in the telling there was everything that his ignorance had so carefully prevented from escaping into the written word i looked at him wondering whether it were possible that he did not know the originality the power of the notion that had come in his way it was distinctly a notion among notions men had been puffed up with pride by ideas not a as excellent and practicable but on serenely interrupting the current of pure with of horrible sentences that he proposed to use i heard him out to the end it the phantom would be to allow his thought to remain in his own hands when i could do so much with it not all that could be done indeed but oh so much what do you think he said at last i i shall call it the story of a ship i think the idea is pretty good but you won t be able to handle it for ever so long now i would it be of any use to you would you care to take it i should be proud said promptly there are few things sweeter in this world than the hot headed open admiration of a junior even a woman in her devotion does not fell into the gait of the man she her bonnet to the angle at which he wears his hat or her speech with his pet oaths and did all these things still it was necessary to my conscience before i possessed myself of s | 39 |
thought let s make a bargain i ll give you a for the notion i said became a bank clerk at once oh that s impossible between two you know if i may call you so and speaking as a man of the world i couldn t take the notion if it s any use to you i ve heaps more he had none knew this better than i but they were the notions of other men the finest story in the world look at it as a matter of business between men of the world i returned five pounds will buy you any number of poetry books business is business and you may be sure i shouldn t give that price unless oh if you put it that way said visibly moved by the thought of the books the bargain was with an agreement that he should at intervals come to me with all the notions that he possessed should have a table of his own to write at and right to inflict upon me all his poems and fi of poems then i said now tell me how you came by this idea it came by itself s eyes opened a little yes but you told me a great deal about the hero that you must have read before somewhere i haven t any time for reading except when you let me sit here and on sundays i m on my or down the river all day there s nothing wrong about the hero is there tell me again and i shall understand clearly you say that your hero went how did he live he was on the lower deck of this ship thing that i was telling you about what sort of ship it was the kind rowed with oars and the sea through the oar holes and the men row sit ti the phantom ting up to their knees in water then there s a bench running down between the two lines of and with a whip walks up and down the bench to make the men how do you know that it s in the there s a rope running overhead to the upper deck for the to catch hold of when the ship rolls when the the rope and is among the remember the hero laughs at him and gets licked for it he s chained to his oar of course the hero how is he chained with an iron band round his waist fixed to the bench he sits on and a sort on his left wrist him to the oar he s on the lower deck where the worst men are sent and the li t comes from the and through the oar holes can t you imagine the sunlight just through between the handle and the hole and about as the ship rolls i can but i cant imagine your imagining it how could it be any other way now you listen to me the long oars on the upper deck are managed by four men to each bench the lower ones by three and the lowest of all by two remember it s quite dark on the lowest deck and all the men there go mad when a man dies at his oar oa that deck he isn t thrown overboard but the finest story in the world cut up in his chains and stuffed through the in little pieces why i demanded amazed not so much at the information as the tone of command in which it was flung out to save trouble and to frighten the others it needs two to drag a man s body up to the top deck and if the men at the lower deck oars were left alone of course they d stop and try to pull up the benches by all standing up together in their chains you ve a most imagination where have you been reading about and nowhere that i remember i row a little when i get the chance but perhaps if you say so i may have read something he went away shortly afterwards to deal with and i wondered how a bank clerk aged twenty could put into my hands with a abundance of detail all given with absolute assurance the story of extravagant and adventure riot and death in seas he had led his hero a desperate dance through revolt against the to command of a ship of his own and the ultimate establishment of a kingdom on an island somewhere in the sea you know and delighted with my paltry five pounds had gone out to buy the notions of other men the phantom that these might teach him how to write i had the consolation of knowing that this notion was mine by right of purchase and i thought that i could make something of it when next he came to me he was drunk drunk on many poets for the first time revealed to him his pupils were dilated his words tumbled over each other and he wrapped himself in as a beggar would himself in the purple of most of all was he drunk with isn t it splendid isn t it superb he cried after hasty greetings listen to this thou u the know the secret of the sea only those who brave its dangers comprehend its by who brave its comprehend its mystery be twenty times walking up and down the room and forgetting me but can stand it too he said to himself i don t know how to thank you for that and this listen i the black and the and the ea tossing free and the spanish with bearded and the beauty and mystery of the and the magic of the the finest story in the world i haven t any dangers but i feel as if | 39 |
i knew all about it you certainly seem to have a grip of the sea have you ever seen it when i was a little chap i went to once we used to live in thou before we came to london i never saw it when on the atlantic the gigantic storm wind of the he shook me by the shoulder to make me understand the passion that was shaking himself when that storm comes he continued i think that all the oars in the ship that i was talking about get broken and the have their smashed in by the oar heads by the way have you done anything with that notion of mine yet no i was waiting to hear more of it from you tell me how in the world you re so certain about the of the ship you know nothing of ships i don t know it s as real as anything to me until i try to write it down i was thinking about it only last night in bed after you had lent me treasure island and i made up a whole lot of new things to go into the story what sort of things about the food the men ate rotten and the phantom beans and wine in a skin bag passed from bench to bench was the ship built so long ago as that as what i don t know whether it was long ago or not it s only a notion but sometimes it seems just as real as if it was true do i bother you with talking about it not in the least did you make up anything else yes but it s nonsense flushed a little never mind let s hear about it well i was thinking over the story and after awhile i got out of bed and wrote down on a piece of paper the sort of stuff the men might be supposed to scratch on their oars with the edges of their it seemed to make the thing more life like it t s so real to me y know have you the paper on you ye es but what s the use of showing it it s only a lot of all the same we might have em in the book on the front page i ll attend to those details show me what your men wrote he pulled out of his pocket a sheet of with a single line of upon it and i put this carefully away what is it supposed to mean in english i said the finest story in the world oh i don t know i mean it to mean fm tired it s great nonsense he repeated but all those men in the ship seem as real as real people to me do do something to the notion soon i should like to see it written and printed but all you ve told me would make a long book make it then you ve only to sit down and write it out give me a little time have you any more notions not just now i m reading all the books i ve bought they re splendid when he had left i looked at the sheet of with the inscription upon it then i took my head tenderly between both hands to make certain that it was not coming off or turning round then but there seemed to be no interval between leaving my rooms and finding myself arguing with a policeman outside a door marked private in a corridor of the british museum all i demanded as politely as possible was the greek antiquity man the policeman knew nothing except the rules of the museum and it became necessary to through all the houses and offices inside the gates an elderly gentleman called away from his lunch put an end to my search by holding the between finger and thumb and at it scornfully the phantom what does this mean h mm said he so as i can ascertain it is an attempt to write extremely corrupt greek on the part here he glared at me with intention of an extremely ah person he read slowly from the paper four names familiar to me can you tell me what the corruption is supposed to mean the of the thing i asked i have been many times overcome with weariness in this particular employment that is the meaning he returned me the paper and i fled without a word of thanks or apology i might have been excused for forgetting much to me of all men had been given the chance to write the most marvellous tale in the world nothing less than the story of a greek as told by himself small wonder that his dreaming had seemed real to the that are so careful to shut the doors of each successive life behind us had in this case been and was looking though that he did not know where never man had been permitted to look with full knowledge since time above all he was absolutely ignorant of the knowledge sold to me for five pounds and he would retain that ignorance for bank clerks do not understand and a sound the finest story in the world m commercial education does not include greek he would supply me here i among the dumb gods of egypt and laughed in their battered with material to make my tale sure so sure that the world would hail it as an impudent and fiction and i i alone would know that it was absolutely and literally true i i alone held this jewel to my hand for the cutting and therefore i danced again among the gods of the egyptian court till a policeman saw me and took steps in my direction it remained | 39 |
now only to encourage to talk and here there was no difficulty but i had forgotten those accursed books of poetry he came to me time after time as useless as a drunk on or knowing now what the boy had been in his past lives and desperately anxious not to lose one word of his i could not hide from him my respect and interest he both into respect for the present soul of to whom life was as new as it was to adam and interest in his he stretched my patience to breaking point by poetry not his own now but that of others i wished every english poet blotted out of the memory of mankind i the names of song because they had drawn from the path of direct narrative and would later spur him the phantom to imitate them but i choked down my impatience until the first flood of enthusiasm should have spent itself and the boy returned to his dreams what s the use of my telling you what j think when these wrote things for the angels to read he growled one evening why don t you write something like theirs i don t think you re treating me quite i said speaking under strong restraint i ve given you the story he said shortly into but i want the details the things i make up about that damned ship that you call a they re quite easy you can just make em up for yourself turn up the gas a little i want to go on reading i could have broken the gas globe over his head for his amazing stupidity i could indeed make up things for myself did i only know what did not know that he knew but since the doors were shut behind me i could only wait his youthful pleasure and strive to keep him in good temper one minute s want of guard might spoil a revelation now and again he would toss his books aside he kept them in my rooms for his mother would have been shocked at the waste of good money had she seen them and launched into his sea dreams again i cursed all the poets of england the mind of the bank clerk had the finest story in the world been coloured and distorted by that which he had read and the result as delivered was a confused of other voices most like the and hum through a city in the part of the day he talked of the his own had he but known it with borrowed from the bride of he pointed the experiences of his hero with from the and threw in deep and desperate moral reflections from and expecting me to use them all only when the talk turned on were the cross currents dumb and i knew that was speaking the truth as he remembered it what do you think of this i said one evening as soon as i understood the medium in which his memory worked best and before he could read him nearly the whole of the of king he listened open mouthed flushed his hands on the back of the where he lay till i came to the song of and the verse then the arrow taking from the loosened that was breaking thy hand o king i he gasped with pure delight of sound m k the phantom that s better than a little i ventured better why it s tie how could he have known i went back and repeated what was that said on the quarter deck something heard i like the of a shattered wreck how could he have known how the ships crash and the oars out and go z all along the line why only the other night but go back please and read the of shrieks again no fm tired let s talk what happened the other night i had an awful dream about that of ours i dreamed i was drowned in a fight you see we ran alongside another ship in harbour the water was dead still except where our oars whipped it up you know where i always sit in the he spoke at first under the fine english fear of being laughed at no s news to me i answered meekly my heart beginning to beat on the fourth oar from the bow on the right side on the upper deck there were four of us at that oar all chained i remember watching the water and trying to get my off before the the finest story in the world row began then we closed up on the other ship and all their fighting men jumped over our and my bench broke and i was pinned down with the three other fellows on top of me and the big oar across our backs well s eyes were alive and alight he was looking at the wall behind my chair i don t know how we fought the men were all over my back and i lay low then our on the left side tied to their oars you know began to yell and back water i could hear the water and we spun round like a and i knew lying where i was that there was a coming up bow on to ram us on the left side i could just lift up my head and see her sail over the we wanted to meet her bow to bow but it was too late we could only turn a little bit because the on our right had herself on to us and stopped our moving then by there was crash our left oars began to break as the other the moving one y know stuck her nose into them then the lower deck oars shot | 39 |
up through the deck butt first and one of them jumped clear up into the air and came down again close at my head how was that managed t the moving s bow was them back through their own oar holes and i could hear the phantom no end of a in the decks below then her nose caught us nearly in the middle and we sideways and the fellows in the right hand their hooks and ropes and threw things on to our upper deck arrows and hot pitch or something that stung and we went up and up on the left side and the right side dipped and i twisted my head round and saw the water stand still as it the right and then it curled over and down on the whole lot of us on the right side and i felt it hit my back and i woke one minute when the sea the what did it look like i had my reasons for asking a man of my acquaintance had once gone down with a ship in a still sea and had seen the water level pause for an instant ere it fell on the deck it looked just like a string drawn tight and it seemed to stay there for years said exactly the other man had said it looked like a silver wire laid down along the and i thought it was never going to break he had paid everything except the bare life for this little piece of knowledge and i had travelled ten thousand weary miles to meet him and take his knowledge at second hand but the bank clerk on twenty five shillings a week who had never been out of sight of a made road the finest story in the world knew it all it was no consolation to me that once in his lives he had been forced to die for his gains i also must have died scores of times but behind me because i could have used my knowledge the doors were shut and then i said trying to put away the devil of envy the funny thing was though in all the row i didn t feel a bit astonished or frightened it seemed as if i d been in a good many fights because i told my next man so when the row began but that of an on my deck wouldn t our chains and give us a chance he always said that we d all be set free after a battle but we never were we never were shook his head mournfully what a scoundrel i should say he was he never gave us enough to eat and sometimes we were so thirsty that we used to drink salt water i can taste that salt water still now tell me something about the harbour where the fight was fought i didn t dream about that i know it was a harbour though because we were tied up to a ring on a white wall and all the face of the stone under water was covered with wood to prevent our ram getting when the tide made us rock the phantom that s curious our hero commanded die didn t he didn t he just he stood by the bows and shouted like a good un he was the man who killed the but you were all drowned together weren t you i can t make that fit quite he said with a puzzled look the must have gone down with all hands and yet i fancy that the hero went on living afterwards perhaps he climbed into the attacking ship i wouldn t see that of course i was dead you know he shivered slightly and protested that he could remember no more i did not press him further but to satisfy myself that he lay in ignorance of the workings of his own mind deliberately introduced him to s and gave him a sketch of the plot before he opened the pages what rot it all is he said fi at the end of an hour i don t understand his nonsense about the red planet and the king and the rest of it me the again i handed him the book and wrote out as much as i could remember of his description of the appealing to him from time to time for con the finest story in the world of fact or detail he would answer without raising his eyes from the book as assuredly as though all his knowledge lay before him on the printed page i spoke under the normal key of my voice that the current might not be broken and i know that he was not aware of what he was saying for his thoughts were out on the sea with i asked when the on the how did they kill their tore up the benches and em that happened when a heavy sea was running an on the lower deck slipped from the centre plank and fell among the they choked him to death against the side of the ship with their chained hands quite quietly and it was too dark for the other to see what had happened when he asked he was pulled down too and choked and the lower deck fought their v ay up deck by deck with the pieces of the broken benches behind em how they howled and what happened after that i don t know the hero went away red hair and red beard and all that was after he had captured our i think the sound of my voice irritated him and he slightly with his left hand as a man does interruption the phantom you never told me he was before or that he captured your i said after a discreet interval did not raise his eyes he was as red as a | 39 |
separate spent on blue water in the morning of the world i then i walked round the situation obviously if i used my knowledge i should stand alone and until all were as wise as myself that would be something but i was ungrateful it seemed bitterly un r that s memory should the finest story in the world me when i needed it most great powers above i looked up at them through the fog smoke did the lords of life and death know what this meant to mc nothing less than eternal of the best kind that comes from one and is shared by one alone i would be content remembering i stood astounded at my own moderation with the mere right to tell one story to work out one little contribution to the light literature of the day if were permitted full recollection for one hour for sixty short minutes of that had extended over a thousand years i would forego all profit and honour from all that i should make of his speech i would take no share in the commotion that would follow throughout the particular corner of the earth that calls itself the world the thing should be put forth nay i would make other men believe that they had written it they would hire bull self englishmen to it abroad would found a fresh conduct of life upon it swearing that it was new and that they had the fear of death from all mankind every in europe would it with and terrible women would invent of the men s belief for the elevation of their sisters churches and would war over it between the and re the phantom starting of an i foresaw the that would arise among half a dozen all the doctrine of the true as applied to the world and the new era and saw too the respectable english newspapers like frightened over the beautiful simplicity of the tale the mind leaped forward a hundred two hundred a thousand years i saw with sorrow that men would and the story that rival would turn it down till at last the western world which to the dread of death more closely than the hope of life would set it aside as an interesting superstition and after some ith so long forgotten that it seemed altogether new upon this i changed the terms of the bargain that i would make with the lords of life and death only let me know let me write the story with sure knowledge that i wrote the truth and i would bum the manuscript as a solemn sacrifice five minutes after the last line was written i would destroy it all but i must be allowed to write it with absolute certainty there was no answer the flaming colours of an caught my eye and i whether it would be wise or prudent to into the hands of the professional there and whether if he were under his power he would speak of his past lives if he did and if the finest story in the world people believed him but would be frightened and fluttered or made conceited by the in either case he would begin to lie through fear or vanity he was safest in my own hands they are very funny fools your english said a voice at my elbow and turning round i recognised a casual acquaintance a young law student called whose father had sent him to england to become the old man was a retired native official and on an income of five pounds a month contrived to allow his son two hundred pounds a year and the run of his teeth in a city where he could pretend to be the of a royal house and tell stories of the brutal indian who ground the faces of the poor was a young fat full dressed with scrupulous care in tall hat light trousers and tan gloves but i had known him in the days when the brutal indian government paid for his university education and he contributed cheap to and with the wives of his fourteen year old that is very funny and very foolish he said nodding at the i am going down to the club will you come too i walked with him for some time you are the phantom not well he said what is there on your mind you do not talk you ve been too well educated to believe in a god haven t you yes here but when i go home i must popular superstition and make ceremonies of and my women will and hang up and feast the and take you back into caste again and make a good of you again you advanced social and you ll eat food and like it all from the smell in the to the oil over you i shall very much like it said once a always a but i like to know what the english think they know i ll tell you something that one englishman knows it s an old tale to you i began to tell the story of in english but put a question in the and the history went forward naturally in the tongue best suited for its telling after all it could never have been told in english heard me nodding from time to time and then came up to my rooms where i finished the tale he said the finest story jn the world band hat without doubt but the door is shut i have heard of this remembering of previous among my people it is of course an old tale with us but to happen to an englishman a cow fed an outcast by jove that is most peculiar i outcast yourself you eat cow beef every day let s | 39 |
think the thing over the boy remembers his does he know that said quietly swinging his legs as he sat on my table he was speaking in his english now he does not know anything would i speak to you if he did go on there is no going on at all if you tell that to your friends they will say you mad and put it in the papers suppose now you for let s leave that out of the question entirely is there any chance of his being made to speak there is a chance but if he spoke it would mean that all this world would end now down on your head these things are not allowed you know as i said the door is shut not a ghost of a chance how can there be you are a an and it is forbidden to eat in your books of the tree of life or else you would never die how the phantom shall you all fear death if you all know what your does not know that he knows i am afraid to be kicked but i am not a aid to die because i know what i know you are not afraid to be kicked but you are afraid to die if you were not by god you english would be all over the p i in an hour the of power k p w making it would not be good but no fear he will remember a little and a little less and he will call it dreams then he will forget altogether when i passed my first arts examination in that was all in the book on trailing clouds of glory you know this seems to be an exception to the rule there are no exceptions to rules some are not so hard looking as others but they are all the same when you touch if this friend of yours said so and so and so and indicating that he remembered all his lost lives or one piece of a lost life he would not be in the bank another hour he would be what you called sack because he was mad and they would send him to an asylum for you can see that my friend of course i can but i wasn t thinking of him his name need never appear in the story ah i see that story will never be you can try i am going to the finest story in the world for your own credit and for the sake of money of course no for the sake of writing the story on my honour that will be all even then there is no chance you cannot play with the gods it is a very pretty story now as they say let it go on that i mean at that be quick he will not last long how do you mean what i say he has never so fer thought about a woman hasn t he though i remembered some of s confidences i mean no woman has thought about him when that comes all up i know there are millions of women here for instance they kiss you behind doors i at the thought of my story being ruined by a and yet nothing was more probable grinned yes also pretty girls cousins of his house and perhaps not of his house one kiss that he gives back again and remembers will cure all this nonsense or else or else what remember he does not know that he knows i know that or else if nothing happens he will become in the trade and the the phantom speculations like the rest it must be so you can sec that it must be so but the woman will come first think there was a rap at the door and charged in he had been released from office and by the look in his eyes i could sec that he had come over for a long talk most probably with poems in his pockets s poems were very but sometimes they led him to talk about the looked at him keenly for a minute i beg your pardon said uneasily i didn t know you had any one with you i am going said he drew me into the as he departed that is your man he said quickly i tell you he will never speak all you wish that is rot but he would be most good to make to see things suppose now we pretend that it was only play i had never seen so excited and pour the ink pool into his hand eh what do you think i tell you that he could see anything that a man could see let me get the ink and the he is a and he will tell us very many things he may be all you say but i m not going to trust him to your gods and devils they will not hurt him he will only a the finest story in the world little stupid and dull when he wakes up you have seen boys look into the ink pool before that is the reason why i am not going to see it any more you d better go he went far down the staircase that it was throwing away my only chance of looking into the future this left me unmoved for i was concerned for the past and no peering of boys into and ink pools would help me to that but i recognised s point of view and with it what a big black brute that was said when i returned to him well look here i ve just done a poem did it instead of playing after lunch may i read it let me read it to myself then you miss | 39 |
the proper expression besides you always make my things sound as if the were all wrong read it aloud then you re like the rest of em mouthed me his poem and it was not much worse than the average of his verses he had been reading his books faithfully but he was not pleased when i told him that i preferred my with then we began to go through the ms line by line every objection and tion with mi the phantom yes that may be better but you catch what i m driving at was in one way at least very like one kind of poet there was a pencil at the back of the paper and what s that i said oh s not poetry at all it s some rot i wrote last night i went to bed and it was too much bother to hunt for so i it a sort of blank verse instead here is s blank verse we pulled for yon when the wind ni the were low a ut ui g f we ite when you took town or quickly when you were beaten back by the foe the walked up and down the deck in weather but we were below we with our on the and yon did not tee that we were idle for we swung to and fro will j m never let iu the made the oar handles like akin our were cut to the bone with salt cracks our hair was stuck to our and our lips were cut to our and yoa whipped us because we could not row never ut ms get but in a little we shall run out of the as the water runs along the oar blade and though yon tell the lo row after us yon will never catch us till yon catch the and tie up the winds in the belly of the sail never ut us c the finest story in the world h m s oar the water washed up by the oars that s the sort of song they might sing in the y know aren t you ever going to finish that story and give me some of the profits it depends on yourself if you had only told me more about your hero in the first instance it might have been finished by now you re so in your notions i only want to give you the general notion of it the knocking about from place to place and the fighting and all that can t you fill in the rest yourself make the hero save a girl on a and marry her or do something you re a really i suppose the hero went through some few adventures before he married well then make him a very artful card a low sort of man a sort of political man who went about making and breaking them a black haired chap who hid behind the mast when the fighting began but you said the other day that he was i couldn t have make him black haired of course you ve no imagination seeing that i had just discovered the entire principles upon which our half memory the phantom called imagination is based i felt entitled to laugh but for the sake of the tale you re right re the man with imagination a black haired chap in a ship i said no an open ship like a big boat this was your ship has been built and designed closed and in you said so yourself i protested no no not that ship that was open or because by jove you re right i you made me think of the hero as a red haired chap of course if he were red the ship would be an open one with painted sails surely i thought he would remember now that he had served in two at least in a greek one under the black haired political man and again in a s open sea serpent under the man red as a red bear who went to my devil prompted me to speak why of course said i i don t know are you making fun of me the current was broken for the time being i took up a note book and pretended to make many in it it s a pleasure to work with an imaginative chap like yourself i said after a pause the way that you ve brought out the character of the hero is simply wonderful the finest story in the world do you think so he answered with a pleased flush i often tell myself that there s more in me than my than people think there s an enormous amount in you then won t you let me send an essay on the ways of bank clerks to bits and get the guinea prize that wasn t exactly what i meant old fellow perhaps it would be better to wait a little and go ahead with the story ah but i sha n t get the credit of that bits would publish my name and address if i win what are you grinning at they would i know it suppose you go for a walk i want to look through my notes about our story now this youth who left me a little hurt and put back might for aught he or i knew have been one of the crew of the had been certainly slave or comrade to therefore he was deeply interested in guinea remembering what had said i laughed aloud the lords of life and death would never allow to speak with full knowledge of his and i must even piece out what he had told me with my own poor inventions while wrote of the ways of bank clerks i got together and placed | 39 |
to please then i had good reason to groan for his favourite had launched into shorter and verse and verse with a motive at the back of it this is what i read the day u the wind behind the hill where he the wood u good and the to will riot o wind there a in my blood would not have till she give me o earth o sky gray act the is mine alone let the hear my cry and rejoice tho hey be but stone mine i have won her o good brown make merry hard on spring make merry my love a doubly worth all worship field can bring let the hind that you feel my mirth at the early yes it s the early past a doubt i said with a dread at my heart but did not answer red cloud of the tell it abroad i am victor greet me o sun dominant master and absolute lord over the of one the finest story in the world n well said looking over my shoulder i thought it far from well and very evil indeed when he silently laid a photograph on the paper the photograph of a girl with a curly head and a foolish slack mouth isn t it isn t it wonderful he whispered pink to the tips of his ears wrapped in the rosy mystery of first love i didn t know i didn t think it came like a yes it comes like a are you very happy my god she she loves me he sat down repeating the last words to himself i looked at the ice the narrow shoulders already bowed by desk work and wondered when where and how he had loved in his past lives what will your mother say i asked i don t care a damn what she says at twenty the things for which one does not care a damn should properly be many but one must not include mothers in the list i told him this gently and he described her even as adam must have described to the newly named beasts the glory and tenderness and beauty of eve incidentally i learned that she was a s assistant with a weakness for pretty dress and had told him four or five times already that she had never been kissed by a man before the phantom spoke on and on and on while i him by thousands of years was the of things now i understood why the lords of life and death shut the doors so carefully behind us it is that we may not remember our first and most were it not so our world would be without inhabitants in a hundred years now about that story i said still more cheerfully in a pause in the rush of the speech looked up as though he had been hit the what good heavens don t joke man this is serious you don t know how serious it is was right had tasted the love of woman that remembrance and the finest in the world would never be written t v and the in the big iron cage lashed to the sheep pen began the discussion the night was hot and as i and the big beamed german passed him dragging our to the fore peak of the steamer he roused himself and he had been caught somewhere in the and was going to england to be exhibited at a shilling a head for four days he had struggled and at the heavy bars of his prison without ceasing and had nearly slain a enough to come within reach of the great hairy it would be well for you mine if you was a said pausing by the cage you too much in your the s arm slid out fi om between the bars no one would have believed that it would make a sudden rush at the german s breast the thin silk of the sleeping suit tore out stepped back to pluck a fi om a bunch hanging close to one of the boats the phantom too much said he the fruit and offering it to the devil who was the silk to then we laid out our in the bows among the sleeping to catch any breeze that the pace of the ship might give us the sea was like smoky oil except where it turned to fire under our and whirled back into the dark in of dull flame there was a some miles away we could see the glimmer of the lightning the ship s cow distressed by the heat and the smell of the beast in the cage unhappily from time to time in exactly the same key as that in which the look out man answered the call from the bridge the tune of the engines was very distinct and the of the ash lift as it was tipped into the sea hurt the procession of hushed noise lay down by my side and lighted a good night cigar this was naturally the beginning of conversation he owned a voice as soothing as the wash of the sea and stores of experiences as vast as the sea itself for his business in life was to wander up and down the world collecting and wild beasts and specimens for german and american i watched the glowing end of his cigar wax and in the gloom as the sentences rose and fell till i was nearly asleep the troubled by some dream and of the forests of his freedom began to yell like a soul in and to pluck madly at the bars of the cage if he was out now would not be much of us left said lazily he screams see now howl shall tame him when he stops himself there was a pause in the | 39 |
and from mouth came an imitation of a snake s hiss so per feet that i almost sprang to my feet the sustained sound ran along the deck and the at the bars ceased the was in an ecstasy of pure terror dot stopped him said i learned dot trick in when i was collecting for some in one in der world is afraid of der except der snake so i snake against monkey und he keep quite still was too much in his dot is der soul custom of are you asleep or will you listen und i will tell a dot you shall not there s no tale in the wide world that i can t believe i said if you learned you learned now i shall try your when i was collecting dose it was in or und i was in der islands of der over in der dark he pointed the phantom generally i would sooner collect life red devils than when do not bite off your are always dying from home sick for der imperfect soul which is arrested in und too much i was for nearly a year und i found a man dot was called he was a frenchman und he was man to his bone said he was an escaped but he was und dot was enough for me he would call all der life beasts from der forest und would come i said he was st francis of in a new produced und he laughed und said he never preach to der fishes he sold for de und dot man who was king of beasts men he had in der house such as dot animal in der cage a great dot thought he was a man he found him when he was a child der und he was child und brother und opera all round to he had his room in dot house not a cage but a room a bed und sheets und he would go to bed und get up in der morning und smoke his cigar und eat his dinner und walk him hand in hand which was most horrible i i seen dot beast throw himself back in his chair und laugh and when made of me he was not a beast he was a man und he talked to und comprehend for i have seen und he was always to me except when i talk too long to und say at all to him den he would pull me away dis great dark devil his enormous as if i was a child he was not a beast he was a man dis i saw i know him three months und he saw the same and der understood us both his cigar between his big dog teeth und der blue i was a year und at der islands for und for und one time says to me dot he will be married because he found a girl dot was und he if dis marrying was right i would not say it was not me dot was going to be married den he go off der girl she was a halt caste french girl very pretty you got a new light for my cigar very pretty only i say you thought of if he pull me away when i talk to you what will he do to your wife he will pull her in pieces if i was you i would my wife for wedding present der stuff figure of by dot time i had learned about der monkey shoot him says he is the phantom your beast i said if he was mine he would be shot now den i felt at der back of my neck der fingers of i tell you dot he talked through dose fingers it was der deaf and dumb all he slide his hairy arm round my neck und he up my chin und look into my to see if i understood his talk so well as he understood mine see now i says und you would shoot him while he is you dot is der but i knew dot i had made a life his fingers talk murder through the back of my neck next i see was a pistol in my belt und he touch it once und i open der to show him it was loaded he seen der killed in der woods he understood so he was married und he forgot clean about dot was alone on der beach der half of a human soul in his belly i was see him und he took a bough und der sand till he made a great like a grave so i says to for any kill he is mad der jealousy said he is not mad at all he obey und my wife und if she speak he will get her slippers und he looked at and his wife room she was a very pretty girl den i said to him dost pretend to know und dis beast dot is himself mad upon der sands you do not talk to him shoot him when he comes to der house for he der light in his eye dot means killing und killing come to der house but was no light in his eye it was all put away cunning so cunning und he fetch der girl her slippers und turn to me und say dost know him in nine months more dan i known him in twelve years shall a child his der i fed him und he was my child do not speak dis nonsense to my wife or to me any more dot next day came to my house to help me make some wood cases for der specimens und he tell me | 39 |
dot he left his wife a while in der garden den i finish my cases quick und i say let us go to your houses und get a he laugh and say come along dry his wife was not in der garden und did not come when called und his wife did not come when he called und he knocked at her bedroom door und dot was shut tight locked den he look at me und his face was white i broke down der door my shoulder und der of der roof was torn into a great hole und der sun the phantom came in upon der floor you ever seen paper in der waste basket or cards at on der scattered was no wife dot could be seen i tell you was in dot room dot might be a woman was stuff on der floor und dot was au i looked at things und i was very sick but looked a longer at what was upon the floor und der walls und der hole in der den he to laugh soft und low und i knew und thank dot he was mad he cried he prayed he stood all still in der doorway und laugh to himself den he said she locked herself in dis room and he torn up der fi done dot is so we will mend der und wait for he will surely come i you we ten days in dot house after der room was made into a room again und once or twice we saw a way from der woods he was he done wrong called him when he vas come to look on the tenth day und come along der beach und making noises a long piece of black hair in his hands den laugh and say fi done as if it was a glass broken upon der table und come nearer und was honey sweet in his voice und laughed to himself for three days he made to would not let j and himself be touched den come to dinner at der same table us und der hair on his hands was all black und thick what had dried on der hands gave him till vas drunk und stupid und den paused to puff at his cigar and then said i und den he kill him his hands und i go for a walk upon der beach it vas s own when i come back der he was dead und he was dying him but still he laughed und low und he was quite content now you know der of der strength of der it is more as seven to one in relation to man but he killed as him dot was der miracle the infernal in the cage dot friend of ours still too much in his be quiet long and we could hear the great beast in his cage but why in the world didn t you help instead of letting him be killed i asked my friend said stretching himself to slumber it was not nice even to dot i should live after i seen dot room der hole in der und he was her husband night und sleep well and the german flag across the deck in his pink a cup of tea in one hand and a in the other when the steamer was down the coast on her way to he drank beer all day and all night and played a y v game f with three i washed said he in a voice of thunder but is no use washing on hell seas look at me i am still all wet und it is der tea dot makes me so boy bring me on ice you will die if you drink beer before said one man beer is the worst thing in the world for i know der liver i no liver und i shall not die at least i will not die dot no beer fit to if i should died i will done so a before now in in new york in in und all over der inside of south also in should i died or in but i am here und are my dot i have all the round to find c and the german flag he pointed towards the wheel where in two rough wooden boxes lay a mass of vegetation supposed by all the ship to represent of value now do not grow in the main streets of towns and had gone r to get his there was nothing that he had not collected that year from king to white os now said he after he had been speaking for not much more than ten minutes without a pause und i will you a to show how bad und worse it is to go und belief fool said dis was in which was in north or you would not know und i was und else dot i could back in my dot is vas den me man dot vas his name und be vas also but only coral coral you could imagine i you a is a all red und white like coral dot has been in bands upon der neck of a girl is one snake dot we who know ash der flag id is red und und white like a he was man better as me by said i will get a flag the phantom snake or i will die und we all all of dot flag von day when we was in none knows where in our among der woods comes a woman a flag in a bottle my bottle und we both from our flat our pot what you call stomach at dis thing now i was also und i dot der of | 39 |
but never the sound of a ship could we hear the ship s boy came forward with some for me as he put it into my hand i heard the voice in the fog crying out about throwing us a rope this time it was the boy that ship on us and off went the whistle again while the men in the engine room it generally took the ship s crew to repair the s engines tumbled upon deck to know what we were doing i told them about the hail and we listened in the of the fog for the sound of a screw we listened for ten minutes then we blew the whistle for another ten then the crew began to call the ship s boy a fool the phantom meaning that the third mate was no better when they were going down below i heard the hail the third time so did the ship s boy there you are i said it is not twenty yards from us the engineer sings out i heard it too are you all asleep then the crew began to swear at the engineer and what with discussion argument and a little swearing for there is not much discipline on board a tramp we raised such a row that our came aft to i the engineer and the ship s boy stuck to our tale voices or no voices said the captain you d better patch the old engines up and see if you ve got enough steam to whistle with i ve a notion that we ve got into rather too crowded ways the engineer stayed on deck while the men went down below the hadn t got back to the room before i saw thirty feet of hanging over the break of the fo c thirty feet of sir doesn t belong to anything that sails the seas except a sailing ship or a war i quite a long time with my hands on the as to whether our friend was soft wood or steel it would not have made much difference to us anyway but i felt there was more honour in being you know then i knew all about it it was a ram we opened out i am not we opened out sir like a box the other ship cut of those called us two thirds through a little behind the break of the fo c our decks split up the mast bounded out of its place and we over then the other ship blew a i remember thinking as i took water from the port that this was rather after she had done all the mischief after that i was a mile and a half under sea trying to go to sleep as hard as i could some one caught hold of my hair and me up i was hanging to what was left of one of our boats under the lee of a large english there were two men with me the three of us began to yell a man on the ship sings out can you climb on board if we throw you a rope they weren t going to let down a fine new man of war s boat to pick up three half drowned rats we accepted the invitation we climbed i the engineer and the ship s boy about half an hour later the fog cleared entirely except for the half of the boat away in the there was neither stick nor string on the sea to show that the had been cut down and what do you think of that now said the man from the mark of the beast your gods and my gods do or i which are the stronger i east of some hold the direct control of providence ceases man being there handed over to the power of the gods and devils of asia and the church of england providence only an occasional and modified in the case of englishmen this theory accounts for some of the more unnecessary horrors of life in india it may be stretched to explain my story my friend of the police who knows as much of natives of india as is good for any man can bear witness to the of the case our doctor also saw what and i saw the which he drew from the evidence was entirely he is dead now he died in a rather curious manner which has been elsewhere described when came to india he owned a little money and some land in the near a place called both properties had been left him by an uncle and he came out to the mark of the beast them he was a big heavy genial and man his knowledge of natives was of course limited and he complained of the difficulties of the language he rode in from his place in the hills to spend new year in the station and he stayed with on new year s eve there was a big dinner at the club and the night was wet when men from the ends of the empire they have a right to be the frontier had sent down a o catch em alive o s who had not seen twenty white faces for a year and were used to ride fifteen miles to dinner at the next fort at the risk of a bullet where their drinks should lie they by their new security for they tried to play pool with a curled up found in the garden and one of them carried the round the room in his teeth half a dozen had come in from the south and were talking horse to the biggest liar in asia who was trying to cap all their stories at once everybody was there and there was a general closing up of ranks and taking stock of | 39 |
our losses in dead or that had fallen during the past year it was a very wet night and i remember that we sang with our feet in the cup and our heads among the stars and swore that we were all dear the phantom friends then some of us went away and and some tried to open up the and were opened up by in that cruel outside and some found stars and and some were married which was bad and some did other things which were worse and the others of us stayed in our chains and strove to make money on insufficient experiences began the night with and drank champagne steadily up to then raw with all the strength of took with his coffee four or five and to improve his pool strokes beer and bones at half past two winding up with old brandy consequently when he came out at half past three in the morning into fourteen degrees of fi he was very angry with his horse for and tried to into the saddle the horse broke away and went to his stables so and i formed a guard of to take home our road lay through the close to a little temple of the monkey god who is a leading divinity worthy of respect all gods have good points just as have all priests personally i attach much importance to and am kind to his people the great gray of the hills one never knows when one may want a friend the mark of the beast there was a light in the temple and as we passed we could hear voices of men hymns in a native temple the priests rise at all hours of the night to do honour to their god before we could stop him dashed up the steps patted two priests on the back and was gravely grinding the ashes of his cigar butt into the forehead of the red stone image of tried to drag him out but he sat down and said solemnly that mark of the b made it t it fine in half a minute the temple was alive and noisy and who knew what came of gods said that things might occur he by virtue of his official position long residence in the country and weakness for going among the natives was known to the priests and he felt unhappy sat on the ground and refused to move he said that good old made a very soft pillow then without any warning a silver man came out of a recess behind the image of the god he was perfectly naked in that bitter bitter cold and his body shone like silver for he was what the bible calls a as white as snow also he had no face because he was a er of some years standing and his disease was heavy upon him we two stooped to haul up and the phantom the temple was and filling with folk who seemed to spring from the earth when the silver man ran in under our arms making a noise exactly like the of an caught round the body and dropped his head on s breast before we could him away then he retired to a comer and at while the crowd blocked all the doors the priests were very angry until the silver man touched that seemed to sober them at the end of a few minutes silence one of the priests came to and said in perfect english take your friend away he has done with but has not done with him the crowd gave room and we carried into the road was very angry he said that we might all three have been and that should thank his stars that he had escaped without injury thanked no one he said that he wanted to go to bed he was drunk we moved on silent and until was taken with violent shivering fits and he said that the smells of the were overpowering and he wondered were permitted so near english can t you smell the blood said the mark of the beast we put him to bed at last just as the dawn was breaking and invited me to have another and while we were drinking he talked of the trouble in the temple and admitted that it baffled him completely hates being by natives because his business in life is to them with their own weapons he has not yet succeeded in doing this but in fifteen or twenty years he will have made some small progress they should have us he said instead of at us i wonder what they meant i don t like it one little bit i said that the managing committee of the temple would in all probability bring a criminal action against us for insulting their religion there was a section of the indian code which exactly met s offence said he only hoped and prayed that they would do this before i left i looked into s room and saw him lying on his right side scratching his left breast then i went to bed cold depressed and unhappy at seven o clock in the morning at one o clock i rode over to s house to inquire after s head i imagined that it would be a sore one was and seemed his temper was gone for he was the cook for not supplying him with an chop a man who can eat raw meat the phantom after a wet is a curiosity i tc d this and he laughed you breed queer in these be said i ve been bitten to pieces but only in one place let s have a look at the bite said it may have gone down since this morning while the were being cooked opened his shirt and showed us just over his left breast a | 39 |
dark at seven o clock and saw that there were no lights in the careless my servants arc said land my horse reared at something on the and stood up under its nose what are you doing about die garden said but both horses bolted and nearly threw us we dismounted by the stables and returned to who was on his hands and knees under the bushes the mark of the beast what the devil s wrong with you said nothing nothing in the world said speaking very quickly and thickly i ve been you know the smell of the earth is delightful i think i m going for a walk a long walk all night then i saw that there was something excessively out of order somewhere and i said to i am not dining out bless you said here get up you ll catch fever there come in to dinner and let s have the lamps lit we ll all dine at home stood up unwillingly and said no lamps no lamps it s much here let s dine outside and have some more lots of cm and bloody ones with now a december evening in northern india is bitterly cold and s suggestion was that of a come in said sternly come in at once came and when the lamps were brought we saw that he was literally with dirt from head to foot he must have been rolling in the garden he shrank firom the light and went to his room his eyes were horrible to look at there was a green light behind them not in the phantom them if you understand and the man s lower lip hung down said there is going to be trouble big trouble to ni t don t you change your riding things we waited and waited for s and ordered dinner in the meantime we could hear him moving about his own room but there was no light there from the room came the long drawn howl of a wolf people write and talk lightly o blood running cold and hair standing up and things of that kind both sensations are too horrible to be with my heart stopped as though a knife had been driven through it and as white as the the howl was repeated and was answered by another howl far across the fields that set the gilded roof on the horror dashed into s room i followed and we saw getting out of the window he made beast noises in the back of his he could not answer us when we shouted at him he i don t quite remember what followed but i think that must have stunned him with the long boot jack or else i should never have been able to sit on his chest could not speak he could only and his were the mark of the beast those of a not of a man the human spirit must have been giving way all day and have died out with the twilight we were dealing with a beast that had once been the a ir was beyond any human and rational experience i tried to say but the word wouldn t come because i knew that i was lying we bound this beast with leather of the rope and tied its and big toes to and it with a shoe which makes a very efficient if you know how to arrange it then we carried it into the and sent a man to the doctor telling him to come over at once after we had despatched the messenger and were drawing breath said it s no good this isn t any doctor b work i also knew that he spoke the truth the beast s head was free and it threw it about from side to side any one entering the room would have believed that we were a that was the most of all sat with his chin in the heel of his fist watching the beast as it on the ground but saying nothing the shirt had been torn open in the and showed the black mark on the left breast it stood out like a the phantom in the silence of the watching we heard something without like a she we both rose to our feet and i answer for myself not felt sick actually and physically sick we told each other as did the men in that it was the cat arrived and i never saw a little man so shocked he said that it was a heart case of and that nothing could be done at least any measures would only the agony the beast was foaming at the mouth as we told had been bitten by dogs once or twice any man who keeps half a dozen must expect a now and again could offer no help he could only that was dying of the beast was then howling for it had managed to spit out the shoe said that he would be ready to to the cause of death and that the end was certain he was a good little man and he offered to remain with us but refused the kindness he did not wish to poison s new year he would only ask him not to give the real cause of s death to the public so left deeply agitated and as soon as the noise of the cart wheels had died away told me in a whisper his suspicions the mark of the beast they were so wildly improbable that he dared not say them out aloud and i who entertained all s was so ashamed of to them that i pretended to even if the silver man had for the image of the punishment could not have so quickly as i was whispering this the cry outside the house | 39 |
rose again and the beast fell into a fresh of struggling till we were afraid that the that held it would give way watch said if this happens six times i shall take the law into my own hands i order you to help me he went into his room and came out in a few minutes with the barrels of an old shot gun a piece of fishing line some thick cord and his heavy wooden i reported that the had followed the cry by two seconds in each case and the beast seemed weaker muttered but he can t take away the life he can t take away the life i said though i knew that i was arguing against myself it may be a cat it must be a cat if the silver man is responsible why does he dare to come here arranged the wood on the hearth put the gun barrels into the glow of the fire spread the on the table and broke a walking stick the phantom in two there was one yard of line with wire such as is used for and he tied the two ends together in a then he said how can we catch him he must be taken alive and i said that we must trust in providence and go out softly with sticks into the at the front of the house the man or animal that made the cry was evidently moving round the house as regularly as a night we could wait in the bushes till he came by and knock him over accepted this suggestion and we slipped out from a bath room window into the front and then across the carriage drive into the bushes in the moonlight we could see the coming round the comer of the house he was perfectly naked om time to time he and stopped to dance with his shadow it was an sight and thinking of poor brought to such degradation by so foul a creature i put away all my doubts and resolved to help from the heated gun barrels to the of from the to the head and back again with all that might be needful the halted in the front porch for a moment and we jumped out on him with the sticks he was wonderfully strong and we were afraid the mark of the beast that he might escape or be injured before we caught him we had an idea that were frail creatures but this proved to be knocked his legs from under him and i put my foot on his neck he and even through my riding boots i could feel that his flesh was not the flesh of a clean man he struck at us with his hand and feet we the lash of a dog whip round him under the arm and dragged him backwards into the hall and so into the dining room where the beast lay there we tied him with trunk traps he made no attempt to escape but when we confronted him with the beast the scene was beyond description the beast doubled backwards into a bow as though he had been poisoned with and moaned in the most pitiable fashion several other things happened also but they cannot be put down here i think i was right said now we will ask him to cure this case but the only wrapped a round his hand and took the gun barrels out of the fire i put the half of the broken through the of fishing line and the comfortably to s i understood then how men and women and little children can endure to see a witch burnt alive for the beast was moaning on the floor and though b a the phantom the silver man had no face you could see horrible feelings passing through the that took its place exactly as waves of heat play across red hot iron gun barrels for instance shaded his eyes with his hands for a moment and we got to work this part is not to be printed the dawn was beginning to break when the spoke his had not been satisfactory up to that point the beast had tinted from exhaustion and the house was very still we the and told him to take away the evil spirit he crawled to the beast and laid his hand upon the left breast that was all then he e face down and drawing in his breath as he did so we watched the ce of the beast and saw the soul of coming back into the eyes then a sweat broke out on the forehead and the eyes they were human eyes closed we waited for an hour but still slept we carried him to his room and bade the go giving him the and the sheet on the to cover his the gloves and the with which we had touched him and the whip that had been round his body he put the sheet about him and went out into the early morning without speaking or the mark of the beast wiped his face and sat down a far away in the city made seven o clock exactly four and twenty hours said and i ve done enough to my dismissal from the service besides permanent quarters in a lunatic asylum do you believe that we are awake the red hot gun barrel had on the floor and was the carpet the smell was entirely real that morning at eleven we two together went to wake up we looked and saw that the black on his chest had disappeared he was very drowsy and tired but as soon as he saw us he said oh confound you fellows happy new year to you never mix your i m nearly dead thanks for your kindness but you re over time said to | 39 |
day is the morning of the second you ve slept the clock round with a vengeance the door opened and little put his head in he had come on foot and fancied that we were laying out i ve brought a nurse said i suppose that she can come in for what is necessary by all means said cheerily sitting up in bed bring on your nurses the phantom was dumb led him out and explained that there must have been a mistake in the remained dumb and left the house hastily he considered that his professional reputation had been injured and was inclined to make a personal matter of the recovery went out too when he came back he said that he had been to call on the temple of to for the of the god and had been solemnly assured that no white man had ever touched the idol and that he was an of all the virtues laboring under a delusion what do you think said i said there are more things but hates that quotation he says that i have worn it one other curious thing happened which frightened me as much as anything in all the night s work when was dressed he came into the dining room and he had a quaint trick of moving his nose when he horrid smell here said he you should really keep those of yours in better order try but did not answer he caught hold of the back of a chair and without warning went into an amazing fit of it is terrible to see a strong man overtaken with then the mark of the beast it struck me that we had fought for s soul with the silver man in that room and had disgraced ourselves as englishmen forever and i laughed and gasped and just as as while thought that we had both gone mad we never told him what we had done some years later when had married and was a church going member of society for his wife s sake we the incident and suggested that i should put it before the public i cannot myself see that this step is likely to clear up the mystery because in the first place no one will believe a rather unpleasant story and in the second it is well known to every man that the gods of the heathen are stone and brass and any attempt to deal with them is justly condemned a matter of fact and if ye doubt the tile i tell steer through the go where the coral strife of where about the boat the rainbow fill and float and where the the on all her finger where the sea egg down the rock an orange wonder dimly guessed from darkness where the rest o er the darker that hide the blind white sea snake and his bride who the long lost ships let down through darkness to their lips once a priest always a priest once a always a but once a always and for ever a there were three of us newspaper men the only passengers on a little tramp steamer that ran where her owners told her to go she had once a matter of fact been in the iron ore business had been lent to the spanish government for service at and was ending her days in the cape town trade with occasional to and even as far as england we found her going to in and in her because the were there was of an american paper on his way back to the states from palace in there was a half called who owned and a paper up country near g and there was myself who had solemnly put away all to forget that i had ever known the difference between an and a advertisement three minutes after spoke to me as the cleared cape town i had forgotten the i desired to and was in heated discussion on the of beyond a certain fixed point then came out of his state room and we were all at home instantly because we were men of the same profession no introduction we the boat formally broke open the passengers door on the lines the do not wash cleaned out the orange and cigar ends at the bottom of the bath hired a to us throughout the voyage and then asked one another s names the phantom three ordinary men would have quarrelled through sheer before they reached we by virtue of our craft were anything but ordinary men a large of the tales of the world the thirty nine that cannot be told to ladies and the one that can are common property coming of a common stock we told them all as a matter of form with all their local and specific which are surprising then came in the intervals of steady card play more personal histories of adventure and things seen and reported among white folk when the blind terror ran from man to man on the bridge and the people crushed each other to death they knew not why and that opened and shut their mouths horribly at red hot window frames in frost and snow reported from the rescue at the risk of frost bite long rides after diamond thieves on the and in with the glimpses of lazy tangled cape politics and the mule rule in the card tales horse tales woman tales by the score and the half hundred till the first mate who had seen more than us all put together but lacked words to clothe his tales with sat open mouthed hi into the dawn when the tales were done we picked up cards till a curious hand or a chance remark made one a matter of fact or other of us say that reminds me of a man who or a business | 39 |
which and the anecdotes would continue while the kicked her way northward through the warm water in the of one specially warm night we three were sitting immediately in front of the wheel house where an old whom we called the was at the wheel pretending that he could not hear our stories once or twice spun the curiously and lifted his head from a long chair to ask what is it can t you get any pull on her there is a feel in the water said that i cannot i think that we run or she bad this nobody seems to know the laws that govern the pulse of the big waters sometimes even a can tell that the solid ocean is a and that the ship is working herself up a long unseen slope and sometimes the captain says when neither full steam nor fair wind the length of a day s run that the ship is but how these and downs come about has not yet been settled no it is a following sea said and with a following sea you shall not get good way the sea was as smooth as a duck pond except ox a regular swell as i looked over the the phantom side to see where it might be following us from the sun rose in a perfectly clear sky and struck the water with its light so sharply that it seemed as though the sea should like a the wake of the screw and the little white streak cut by the log line hanging over the stem were the only marks on the water as r as eye could reach rolled out of his chair and went aft to get a pine apple from the stock that were hung inside the after the log line has got tired of swimming it s coming home he what said his voice jumping several coming home repeated leaning over the stem i ran to his side and saw the log line which till then had been drawn tense over the stem railing and come up c the port quarter called up the speaking to the bridge and the bridge answered yes nine knots then spoke again and the answer was what do you want of the and call him up by this time and myself had caught something of excitement for any emotion on is most the captain ran out of his cabin spoke to looked at the log line jumped on the bridge and a matter of fact in a minute we felt the steamer swing round as turned her going back to cape town said did not answer but tore away at the wheel then he beckoned us three to help and we held the wheel down till the answered it and we found ourselves looking into the white of our own wake with the still sea tearing past our bows though we were not going more than half steam ahead the captain stretched out his arm from the bridge and shouted a minute later i would have given a great deal to have shouted too for of the sea seemed to shoulder itself above the other half and came on in the shape of a bill there was neither crest comb nor curl over to it nothing but black water with little waves chasing each other about the i saw it stream past and on a level with the bow plates before the steamer made up her mind to rise and i argued that this would be the last of all earthly voyages for me then we rose for ever and ever and ever till i heard saying in my ear the of the deep good lord and the stood poised her screw racing and on the slope of a hollow that stretched downwards for a good half mile we went down that hollow nose under for the most part and the air smelt wet and muddy like the phantom that of an emptied there was a hill to climb i saw that much but the wa ter came aboard and carried me aft till it me against the smoking room door and before i could catch breath or clear my eyes again we were rolling to and fro in torn water with the pouring like in a there were three waves said and the hold s the were on deck waiting apparently to be drowned the engineer came and dragged them below and the crew gasping began to work the clumsy board of trade pump that showed nothing and when i understood that the was really on the water and not beneath it i asked what had happened the captain says it was a blow up under die sea a said it hasn t warmed anything i said i was feeling bitterly cold and cold was almost unknown in those waters i went below to change my clothes and when i came up everything was wiped out by clinging white fog are there going to be any more surprises said to the captain i don t know be thankful you re alive s a wave thrown up by a probably the bottom oi the sea has been lifted a feet somewhere or other i can t quite a m a matter of fact understand this cold spell our sea says the sur c water is and it should be at least if s abominable says shivering but hadn t you better attend to the fog it seems to me that i heard something heard good heavens said the captain from the bridge i should think you did he pulled the string of our fog horn which was a weak one it and choked because the hold was of water and the fires were and at last gave out a moan it was answered from the fog by one of the most appalling i have | 39 |
ever heard turned as white as i did for the fog the cold fog was upon us and any man may be forgiven for fearing the death he see give her steam there said the captain to the engine room steam for the whistle if we have to go dead slow we again and the damp off the to the deck as we listened for the reply it seemed to be this but much nearer than before the castle by said and then well thank god we shall sink her too it s a side wheel steamer i whispered can t you hear the f the phantom this time we whistled and roared till the steam gave out and the answer nearly us there was a sound of frantic in the water apparently about fifty yards away and something shot past in the whiteness that looked as though it were gray and red the bottom up said who being a always sought for explanations that s the colours of a castle we re in for a big thing the sea is said from the wheel house there are two another sounded on our bow and the little steamer rolled in the wash of something that had passed unseen we re evidently in the middle of a fleet said quietly if one doesn t run us down the other will what in creation is that i for there was a poisonous rank smell in the cold air a smell that i had smelt before if i was on land i should say that it was an it smells like i answered not ten thousand could make that smell said i have smelt them said the sea she is turned down and we are walking along the bottom again the rolled tn the wash of some unseen ship and a silver gray wave broke over the a matter of fact bow leaving on the deck a sheet of the gray that has its place in the of the sea a of the wave fell on my face and it was so cold that it stung as boiling water the dead and most untouched deep water of the sea had been heaved to the top by the the chill still water that all life and smells of desolation and we did not need either the blinding fog or that indescribable smell of to make us unhappy we were shivering with cold and wretchedness where we stood the hot air on the cold water makes this fog said the captain it ought to clear in a little time whistle oh whistle and let s get out of it said the captain whistled again and and far the invisible twin steam answered us their shriek grew louder till at last it seemed to tear out of the fog just above our quarter and i while the plunged bows under on a double swell that crossed no more said it is not good any more let us get away in the name of god now if a boat with a city of paris went mad and broke her and hired a friend to help her it s just conceivable that wc the phantom mi t be carried as we are now otherwise thing is the last words died on s lips his eyes began to start from his head and his jaw il some six or seven feet above the port framed in fog and as utterly as the full moon hung a face it was not human and it certainly was not animal for it did not belong to this earth as known to man the mouth was open revealing a tiny tongue as absurd as the tongue of an elephant there were tense wrinkles of white skin at the angles of the drawn lips white like those of a sprang from the lower jaw and there was no sign teeth within the mouth but the horror of the lay in the eyes for those were white in as white as scraped bone and blind yet for all this the face wrinkled as the mask of a lion is drawn in was alive with rage and terror one long white touched our then the ce disappeared with the swiftness of a blind worm into its and the next thing that i remember is my own voice in my own ears saying gravely to the but the air ought to have been forced out of its mouth you know came up to me white he put his hand into his pocket took a cigar bit it dropped it thrust his shaking thumb into his a matter of fact mouth and the giant and the a light a light i say a light a little bead of blood dropped from his i respected the motive though the was absurd stop you ll bite your thumb off i said and laughed as he picked up his cigar only leaning over the port seemed self possessed he declared later that he was very sick we ve seen it he said turning round that is it what said the cigar as he spoke the fog was blown into and we saw the sea gray with mud rolling on every side of us and empty of all life then in one spot it and became like the pot of that the bible speaks of from that wide trouble a thing came up a gray and red thing with a neck a thing that and in pain drew in his breath and held it till the red letters of the ship s name woven across his and opened out as though they had been type badly set then he said with a little in his throat ah me it is blind that thing is blind and a murmur of pity went through us all for we could see that the thing on the | 39 |
pier we waited an hour in the customs shed and there was ample time for the effect to in now you face the music the goes out to day mail by her and i ll take you to the telegraph office i said i heard gasp as the influence of the land closed about him him as they say heath cows a young horse unused to open country i want to my stuff suppose we wait till we get to london he said by the way had torn up his account and thrown it overboard that morning early his reasons were my reasons in the train began to his copy and every time that he looked at the trim little fields the red and the of the line the blue pencil plunged through the slips he appeared to have the dictionary for i could think of none that a matter of fact he had not used yet he was a perfectly sound player and never showed more cards than were sufficient to take the pool aren t you going to leave him a single i asked remember everything goes in the states from a button to a double eagle that s just the curse of it said below his breath we ve played em for so often that when it comes to the golden truth i d like to try this on a london paper you have first call there though not in the least i m not touching the thing in the papers i shall be happy to leave em all to you but surely you ll cable it home no not if i can make the here and see the sit up you won t do it with three column of believe me they don t sit up as quickly as some people i m beginning to think that too does nothing make any difference in this country he said looking out of the window how old is that farm house new it can t be more than two hundred years at the most um fields too that hedge there must have been for about eighty years the phantom labour cheap eh pretty much well i you d like to try the times wouldn t you no said looking at cathedral might as well try to a hay and to think that the world would take three columns and ask for more with too it s sickening but the times might i began flung his paper across the carriage and it opened in its austere majesty of solid type opened with the of an might you work your way the bow plates of a look at that first page it strikes you that way it i said then i d recommend you to try a t and frivolous with a thing like this mine c it s sacred history i i owed him a paper which i conceived would be after his own heart in that it was on american lines that s he said but if s not the real thing now i should like one of these old times columns probably d be a bishop in the office though when we reached london disappeared in the direction of the strand what his a matter of fact may have been i cannot tell but it seems that he invaded the office of an evening paper at a m i told him english were most idle at that hour and mentioned my name is that of a witness to the truth of his story was nearly fired out he said furiously at lunch as soon as i mentioned you the old said that i was to tell you that they didn t any more of your practical jokes and that knew the hours to call if you had anything o sell and that they d see you condemned before helped to puff one of your infernal in say what record do you hold for truth n this city anyway a beauty you ran up against it that s all why don t you leave the english papers alone md cable to new york everything goes over can t you see that s just why he repeated i saw it a long time ago you don t intend o cable then yes i do he answered in the over emphatic of one who does not know his own mind that afternoon i walked him abroad and about ver the streets that run between the like channels of and over the bridges that are made of enduring stone through and sided with between houses that are never re the phantom built and by river steps to the eye from the living rock a black fog chased us into westminster abbey and standing there in the darkness i could hear the wings of the dead centuries round the head of a of u s a whose mis sion it was to make the sit up he stumbled gasping into the thick gloom and the roar of the came to his bewildered ears let s go to the telegraph office and cable i said can t you hear the new york world crying for news of the great sea serpent blind white and smelling of stricken to death by a assisted by his loving wife to die in mid ocean as by an independent american citizen a newspaper man of for the state step lively both gates boom ah i was a man and he seemed to need encouragement you ve got me on your own ground said he at his overcoat pocket he pulled out his copy with the cable forms for he had written out his and put them all into my hand groaning i pass if i come to your cursed country if i d sent it off at if i ever get you west of the if | 39 |
a jovial servant with a marvellous capacity for making bad in english a peculiarity which made me remember him long after i had forgotten his services to me in his capacity it is seldom that a makes english now however the man was changed beyond all recognition caste mark stomach slate coloured and speech were all gone i looked at a withered skeleton and almost naked with long hair and deep set eyes but for a shaped on the left cheek the result of an accident for which i was responsible i should never have known him but it was and for this i was thankful an english speaking native who might at least tell me the meaning of all that i had gone through that day the strange ride the crowd retreated to some distance as i turned towards the miserable figure and ordered him to show me some method of escaping from the he held a plucked crow in his hand and in reply to my question climbed slowly on a platform of sand which ran in front of die holes and commenced lighting a fire there in silence dried sand and bum quickly and i derived much consolation from the ct that he lit them with an ordinary match when they were in a bright glow and the crow was neatly in front thereof began without a word of there are only two kinds of men the alive and the dead when you are dead you are dead but when you are alive you live here the crow demanded his attention for an instant as it before the fire in danger of being burnt to a if you die at home and do not die when you come to the to be burnt you come here the nature of the village was made plain now and all that i had known or read of the grotesque and the horrible before the feet just communicated by the ex sixteen years ago when i first landed in i had been told by a wandering of the existence somewhere in india of a place to which such as had the misfortune to recover from the phantom trance or were conveyed and kept aod i recollect laughing heartily at what i was then pleased to consider a traveller s tale sitting at the bottom of the sand trap the memory of s hotel with its swinging white servants and the sallow faced rose up in my mind as vividly as a photograph and i burst into a loud fit of laughter the contrast was too absurd as he bent over the bird watched me curiously seldom laugh and his surroundings were not such as to move him that way he removed the crow solemnly from the wooden spit and as solemnly devoured it then he continued his story which i give in his own words in of the you are carried to be burnt almost before you are dead when you come to the the cold air perhaps makes you alive and then if you are only little alive mud is put on your nose and mouth and you die if you are rather more alive more mud is put but if you are too lively they let you go and take you away i was too lively and made with anger against the that they endeavoured to press upon me in those days i was and proud man now i am dead man and eat here he eyed the well breast bone with the first the strange ride of emotion that i had seen in him since we met and other things they took me firom my sheets when they saw that i was too lively and gave me for one week and i survived successfully then they sent me by rail from my place to station with a man to take care of me and at station we met two other men and they conducted we three on in the night firom station to this place and they me from the top to the bottom and the other two succeeded and i have been here ever since two and a half years once i was and proud man and now i eat there is no way of getting out none of what kind at all when i first came i made experiments frequently and all the others also but we have always to the sand which is upon our heads but surely i broke in at this point the river front is open and it is worth while the bullets while at night i had already a rough plan of escape which a natural instinct of selfishness forbade me sharing with he however divined my thought almost as soon as it was formed and to my intense astonishment gave vent to a long low chuckle of derision the laughter be it understood of a superior or at least of an equal the phantom you will not he had dropped the sir after his first sentence make any escape that way but you can try i have tried once only the sensation of nameless terror which i had in vain attempted to strive against me completely my long fast it was now close upon ten o clock and i had eaten nothing since on the previous day combined with the violent agitation of the ride had exhausted me and i verily believe that for a few minutes i acted as one mad i hurled myself against the sand slope i ran round the base of the and praying by turns i crawled out among the of the liver front only to be driven back each time in an agony of nervous dread by the rifle bullets which cut up the sand round me for i dared not the death of a mad dog among | 39 |
that hideous and so fell spent and at the of the well no one had taken the slightest notice of an exhibition which makes me blush hotly even when i think of it now two or three men trod on my panting body as they drew water but they were evidently used to this sort of thing and had no time to waste upon me indeed when he had the embers of his fire with sand was at some to throw half a of water over my head an attention for which i could have en wm s m m b b i s f v h u the strange ride on my knees and thanked him but he was laughing all the while in the same key that greeted me on my first attempt to force the and so in a fainting state i lay till noon then being only a man after all i felt hungry and said as much to whom i had begun to regard as my natural protector following the impulse of the outer world when dealing with natives i put my hand into my pocket and drew out four the absurdity of the gift struck me at once and i was about to replace the money however cried give me the money all you have or i will get help and we will kill you a s first impulse i believe is to guard the contents of his pockets but a moment s thought showed me the folly of with the one man who had it in his power to make me comfortable and with whose help it was possible that i might eventually escape from the i gave him all the money in my possession rs nine eight and five pie for i always keep small change as when i am in camp clutched the and hid them at once in his ragged cloth looking round to assure himself that no one had observed us i will give you something to eat said he the phantom what pleasure my money could have given him i am unable to say but inasmuch as it did please him i was not sorry that i had parted with it so readily for i had no doubt that he would have had me killed if i had refused one does not protest against the doings of a den of wild beasts and my companions were lower than any beasts while i ate what had provided a coarse and a of the foul well water the people showed not the sign of curiosity that curiosity which is so as a rule in an indian village i could even fancy that they despised me at all events they treated me with the most indifference and was nearly as bad i plied him with questions about the terrible village and received extremely unsatisfactory answers so far as i could gather it had been in existence from time whence i concluded that it was at least a century old and during that time no one had ever been known to escape from it i had to control myself here with both hands lest the blind terror should lay hold of me a second time and drive me round the took a malicious pleasure in this point and in watching me nothing that i could do would induce him to tell me who the mysterious they were the strange ride it is so ordered he would reply and i do not yet know any one who has the orders only wait till my servant finds that i am missing i retorted and i promise you that this place shall be cleared off the face of the earth and i ll give you a lesson in civility too my friend your servants would be torn in pieces before they came near this place and besides you are dead my dear friend it is not your fault of course but none the less you are dead and buried at irregular intervals supplies of food i was told were dropped down from the land side into the and the inhabitants fought for them like wild beasts when a man felt his death coming on he retreated to his and died there the body was sometimes dragged out of the hole and thrown on to the sand or allowed to rot where it lay the phrase thrown on to the sand caught my attention and i asked whether this sort of thing was not likely to breed a that said he with another of his you may see for yourself subsequently you will have much time to make observations to his great delight i once more and hastily continued the conversation the phantom and how do you live here from day to day what do you do the question exactly the same answer as before coupled with the information that this place is like your european heaven there is neither marrying nor giving in marriage had been educated at a mission school and as he himself admitted had he only changed his religion like a wise man might have avoided the living grave which was now his portion but as long as i was with i fancy he was happy here was a a representative of the dominant race helpless as a child and completely at the mercy of his native neighbours in a deliberate lazy way he set himself to torture me as a would devote a half hour to watching the agonies of an or as a in a blind might himself comfortably to the neck of a rabbit the burden of his conversation was that there was no escape of no kind whatever and that i should stay here til i died and was thrown on to the sand if it were possible to the conversation of the damned on the advent of a new soul | 39 |
in their abode i should say that they would speak as did to me throughout that long afternoon i was powerless to protest or answer all my energies being devoted to a struggle against the io the strange ride terror that threatened to me again and again i can compare the feeling to nothing except the struggles of a man against the overpowering of the channel passage only my agony was of the spirit and infinitely more terrible as the day wore on the inhabitants began to appear in full strength to catch the rays of the afternoon sun which were now sloping in at the mouth of the they assembled by little knots and talked among themselves without even throwing a glance in my direction about four o clock so far as i could judge rose and into his for a moment emerging with a live crow in his hands the wretched bird was in a most and deplorable condition but seemed to be in no way afraid of its master advancing cautiously to the river front stepped from to until he had reached a smooth patch of sand directly in the line of the boat s fire the occupants of the boat took no notice here he stopped and with a couple of turns of the wrist the bird on its back with outstretched wings as was only natural the crow began to shriek at once and beat the air with its claws in a few seconds the had attracted the attention of a of wild on a a few hundred yards away where they were discussing some the phantom thing that looked like a corpse half a dozen flew over at once to see what was going on and also as it proved to attack the who had lain down on a to me to be quiet though i h this was a needless precaution in a moment and before i could see how it happened a wild crow who had with the shrieking and helpless bird was entangled in the latter s claws swiftly disengaged by and down beside its companion in curiosity it seemed overpowered the rest of the flock and almost before and i had time to withdraw to the two more were struggling in the claws of the so the chase if i can give it so dignified a name continued until had captured seven of them he at once two for further operations another day i was a good deal impressed by this to me novel method of securing food and on his skill it is nothing to do said he to morrow you must do it for me you are stronger than i am this calm assumption of superiority upset mc not a little and i answered indeed you old what do you think i have given you money for the strange ride very well was the unmoved reply perhaps not to morrow nor the day after nor subsequently but in the end and for many years you will catch and eat and you will thank your european god that you have to catch and i could have cheerfully him for this but judged it best under the circumstances to my resentment an hour later i was eating one of the and as had said thanking my god that i had a crow to eat never as long as i live shall i forget that evening meal the whole population were on the hard sand platform opposite their huddled over tiny fires of refuse and dried rushes death having once laid his hand upon these men and to strike seemed to stand aloof from them now for most of our company were old men bent and worn and twisted with years and women aged to all appearance as the themselves they sat together in knots and talked god only knows what they found to discuss in low tones curiously in contrast to the with which natives are accustomed to make day hideous now and then an access of that sudden fury which had possessed me in the morning would lay hold on a man or woman and with and the sufferer would attack the steep slope until baffled and bleeding the phantom he fell back on the platform incapable of moving a limb the others would never even raise their eyes when this happened as men too well aware of the of their fellows attempts and wearied with their useless repetition i saw four such in the course of that evening took an eminently business like view of my situation and while we were dining i can afford to laugh at the recollection now but it was painful enough at the time the terms on which he would consent to do for me my nine eight he argued at the rate of three a day would provide me with food for one days or about seven weeks that is to say he would be willing to for me for that length of time at die end of it i was to look after myself for a further consideration my boots he would be willing to allow me to occupy the den next to his own and would supply me with as much dried grass for as he could spare very well i replied to die first terms i cheerfully agree but as there is nothing on earth to prevent my killing you as you sit here and taking everything that you have i thought of the two invaluable at the time i refuse to give you my boots and shall take whichever den i please the stroke was a bold one and i was glad when the strange ride i saw that it had succeeded changed his tone immediately and all intention of asking for my boots at the time it did not strike me as at all strange that i a | 39 |
civil engineer a man of thirteen years standing in the service and i trust an average englishman should thus calmly threaten murder and violence against the man who had for a consideration it is true taken me under his wing i had left the world it seemed for centuries i was as certain then as i am now of my own existence that in the accursed settlement there was no law save that of the strongest that the living dead men had thrown behind them every of the world which had cast them out and that i had to depend for my own life on my strength and vigilance alone the crew of the ill fated are the only men who would understand my fi me of mind at present i argued to myself i am strong and a match for six of these wretches it is necessary that i should for my own sake keep both health and strength until the hour of my release comes if it ever does fortified with these resolutions i ate and drank as much as i could and made understand that i intended to be his master and that the least sign of on his part would be visited with the only punishment i had it in my power to inflict sudden and violent death the phantom shortly after this i went to bed that is to say gave me a double of dried which i thrust down the mouth of the to the right of his and followed m feet fore most the hole running about nine feet into the sand with a slight downward and being neatly with from my den which faced the river front i was able to watch the waters of the flowing past under the light of a young moon and compose myself to sleep as best i might the horrors of that night i shall never forget my den was nearly as narrow as a coffin and the sides had been worn smooth and greasy by the contact of innumerable naked bodies added to which it smelt sleep was altogether out of the question to one in my excited frame of mind as the night wore on it seemed that the entire was filled with of devils that up from the below the in their personally i am not of an imaginative temperament very few are but on that occasion i was as completely with nervous terror as any woman after half an hour or so however i was able once more to calmly review my chances of escape any exit by the steep sand walls was of course i had been thoroughly convinced of this some time be the strange ride fore it was possible just possible that i mighty in the uncertain moonlight safely run the of the rifle shots the place was so full of terror for me that i was prepared to undergo any risk in leaving it imagine my delight then when after creeping stealthily to the river front i found that the infernal boat was not there my freedom lay before me in the next few steps by walking out to the first shallow pool that lay at the foot of the projecting left horn of the i could across turn the flank of the and make my way inland without a moment s hesitation i marched briskly past the where had the and out in the direction of the smooth white sand beyond my first step from the of dried grass showed me how utterly futile was any hope of escape for as i put my foot down i felt an indescribable drawing motion of the sand below another moment and my leg was swallowed up nearly to the knee in the moonlight the whole surface of the sand seemed to be shaken with devilish delight at my disappointment i struggled clear with terror and exertion back to the behind me and fell on my face my only means of escape from the was protected with a how long i lay i have not the faintest idea but i was roused at the last by the the phantom chuckle of at my ear i would ad you protector of the poor the was speaking english to return to your house it is to lie down here moreover when the boat returns you will most certainly be at he stood over me in the dim light of the dawn and laughing to my first impulse to catch the man by the neck and throw him on to the i rose sullenly and followed him to the platform below the suddenly and as i thought while i spoke i asked what is the good of the boat if i can t get out anyhow i recollect that even in my deepest trouble i had been vaguely on the waste of in guarding an already well protected laughed again and made answer they have the boat only in it is for the reason that there is a way i hope we shall have the pleasure of your company for much longer time it is a pleasant spot when you have been here some years and eaten roast crow long enough i staggered and helpless towards the allotted to me and fell asleep an hour or so later i was awakened by a piercing scream the shrill high pitched scream of a horse in pain those who have once heard that will the strange ride never forget the sound i found some little in out of the when i was in the open i saw my poor old lying dead on the sandy soil how they had killed him i cannot guess explained that horse was better than crow and greatest good of greatest number is political we are now republic and you are entitled to a fair share of the beast if you like we will pass | 39 |
a vote of thanks shall i propose yes we were a republic indeed a republic of wild beasts at the bottom of a pit to eat and fight and sleep till we died i attempted no protest of any kind but sat down and stared at the hideous sight in front of me in less time almost than it takes me to write this s body was divided in some way or other the men and women had dragged the fragments on to the platform and were preparing their morning meal cooked mine the almost irresistible impulse to fly at the sand walls until i was wearied laid hold of me afresh and i had to struggle against it with all my might was till i told him that if he addressed another remark of any kind whatever to me i should him where he sat this silenced him till silence became and i bade him say something you will live here till you die like the other the phantom he said coolly watching me over the of that he was what other you swine speak at once and don t stop to tell me a he he is over there answered pointing to a mouth about four doors to the left of my own you can see for yourself he died in the as you will die and i will die and as all these men and women and the one child will also die for pity s sake tell me all you know about him who was he when did he come and when did he die this appeal was a weak step on my part only and replied i will not unless you give me something first then i recollected where i was and struck the man between the eyes partially him he stepped down from the platform at once and and and weeping and attempting to embrace my feet led me round to the which he had indicated i know nothing whatever about the gentleman your god be my witness that i do not he was as anxious to escape as you were and he was shot from the boat though we all did all things to prevent him from attempting he was shot here laid his hand on his lean stomach and bowed to the earth the strange ride well and what then go on i and then and then your honour we carried him into his house and gave him water and put wet on the wound and he laid down in his house and gave up the ghost in how long in how long about half an hour after he received his wound i call to witness the wretched man that i did everything for him everything which was possible that i did i he threw himself down on the ground and clasped my ankles but i had my doubts about s benevolence and kicked him off as he lay protesting i believe you robbed him of everything he had but i can find out in a minute or two how long was the here nearly a year and a half i think he must have gone mad but hear me swear protector of the poor won t your honor hear me swear that i never touched an article that belonged to him what is your worship going to do i had taken by the waist and had hauled him on to the platform opposite the deserted as i did so i thought of my wretched fellow prisoner s unspeakable misery among all these horrors for eighteen months and the final agony of dying like a rat in a hole with a in the stomach fancied i the phantom was going to kill him and tlie rest of the population in the that follows a full flesh meal watched us without stirring inside said i and fetch it out i was feeling sick and with horror now nearly rolled ofi the platform and howled aloud but i am a high caste by your soul by your father s soul do not make mc do this thing or no by my soul and my other s soul in you go i said and seizing him by the shoulders i crammed his head into the mouth of the kicked the rest of him in and sitting down covered my with my hands at the end of a few minutes i heard a rustle and a then in a sobbing choking whisper speaking to himself then a soft and i uncovered my eyes the dry sand had turned the corpse to its keeping into a brown i told to stand off while i examined it the body clad in an olive green hunting suit much stained and worn with leather on the shoulders was that of a man between thirty and forty above middle height with light sandy hair long moustache and a rough beard the of the upper jaw was missing the strange ride and a portion of the of the right ear was gone on the second finger of the left hand was a ring a shield shaped blood stone set in gold with a that might have been either b k or b l on the third finger of the right hand was a silver ring in the shape of a much worn and deposited a handful of trifles he had picked out of the at my feet and covering the face of the body with my handkerchief i turned to examine these i give the full list in the hope that it may lead to the of the unfortunate man bowl of a pipe at the edge much worn and blackened bound with string at the screw two patent keys wards of both broken shell handled silver or name plate marked with b k envelope bearing a stamp addressed to miss mon | 39 |
rest ham nt imitation skin with pencil first forty five pages blank four and a half fifteen others filled with private relating chiefly to three persons a mrs l several times to lot single mrs s may and referred to in places as or jack handle of small sized hunting knife blade h the phantom snapped short buck s horn diamond cut with and ring on the butt fragment of cotton cord attached it must not be supposed that i all these things on the spot as fully as i have here written them down the first attracted my attention and i put it in my pocket with a view to studying it later oil the rest of the articles i conveyed to my for safety s sake and there being a man i them i then returned to the corpse and ordered to help me to carry it out to the river front while we were engaged in this the exploded shell of an old brown dropped out of one of the pockets and rolled at my feet had not seen it and i fell to thinking that a man does not carry exploded cases especially which will not bear twice about with him when shooting in other words that case had been fired inside the consequently there must be a gun somewhere i was on the verge of asking but checked myself knowing that he would ue we laid the body down on the edge of the by the it was my intention to push it out and let it be swallowed up the only possible mode of burial that i could think o i ordered to go away then i put the corpse out the the strange ride in doing so it was lying face downward i tore the frail and rotten open a hideous in the back i have already told you that the dry sand had as it were the body a moment s glance showed that the gaping hole had been caused by a wound the gun must have been fired with the almost touching the back the shooting coat being had been drawn over the body er death which must have been the secret of the poor wretch s death was plain to me in a flash some one of the must have shot him with his own gun the gun that fitted the brown he had never attempted to escape in the e of the rifle fire from the boat i pushed the corpse out hastily and saw it sink fi om sight literally in a few seconds i shuddered as i watched in a dazed half conscious way i turned to the a stained and slip of paper had been inserted be the binding and the back and dropped out as i opened the pages this is what it contained three left nine out two right three hack left fourteen out two left seven out one left nine back two right six hack four right seven bad the paper had been burnt and at the edges what it meant m the phantom i could not understand i sat down on the dried turning it over and over my until i was aware of standing immediately behind me with glowing eyes and outstretched hands have you got it he panted will you not let me look at it also i swear that i will return it got what return what i asked that which you have in your hands it will help us both he stretched out his long trembling with i could never find it he continued he had it about his person therefore i shot him but nevertheless i was unable to obtain it had quite forgotten his little fiction about the rifle bullet i heard him calmly morality is by with the dead who are alive what on earth are you about what is it you want me to give you the piece of paper in the it will help us both oh you fool you fool can you not see what it will do for us we shall escape his voice rose almost to a scream and he danced with excitement before me i own i was moved at the chance of getting away do you mean to say that this slip of paper will help us what does it mean the strange ride read it aloud read it aloud i beg and i pray to you to read it aloud i did so listened and drew an irregular line in the sand with his fingers see now it was the length of his gun barrels without the stock i have those barrels four gun barrels out from the place where i caught straight out do you mind me then three ah now well i remember how that man worked it out night after night then nine out and so on out is always straight before you across the to the north he told me so before i killed him but if you knew all this why didn t you get out before i did not know it he told me that he was working it out a year and a half ago and how he was working it out night after night when the boat had gone away and he could get out near the safely then he said that we would get away together but i was that he would leave me behind one night when he had worked it all out and so i shot him besides it is not advisable that the men who once get in here should escape only i and am a the hope of escape had brought s caste back to him he stood up walked about and violently eventually i man the phantom aged to make him talk and he told me how this englishman had spent six months | 39 |
night after night in exploring inch by inch the passage across the how he had declared it to be simplicity itself up to within about yards of the river bank after turning the flank of the left of the this much he had evidently not completed when shot him with his own gun in my frenzy of delight at the possibilities of escape i recollect shaking hands wildly with after we had decided that we were to make an attempt to get away that very night it was weary work throughout the afternoon about ten o clock as r as i could judge when the moon had just risen above the lip of the made a move for his to bring out the gun barrels whereby to measure our path all the other wretched inhabitants had retired to their long ago the guardian boat had drifted down stream some hours before and we were utterly alone by the crow while carrying the gun barrels let slip the piece of paper which was to be our guide i stooped down hastily to recover it and as i did so i was aware that the creature was a violent blow at the back of my head the gun barrels it was too late to turn round i s the strange ride must have received the blow somewhere on the of my neck for i fell senseless at the edge of the when i recovered consciousness the moon was going down and i was sensible of intolerable pain in the back of my head had disappeared and my mouth was full of blood i lay down again and prayed that i might die without more then the fury which i have before mentioned laid hold upon me and i staggered inland towards the walls of the it seemed that some one was calling to me in a whisper exactly as my bearer used to call me in the mornings i fancied that i was until a handful of sand fell at my feet then i looked up and saw a head peering down into the the head of my dog boy who attended to my as soon as he had attracted my attention he held up his hand and showed a rope i staggering to and fro the while that he should throw it down it was a couple of leather ropes knotted together with a at one end i slipped the over my head and under my arms heard urge something forward was conscious that i was being dragged e downward up the steep sand slope and the next instant found myself choked and half fainting on the sand hills overlooking the the phantom with his gray in the moonlight implored not to stay but to get back to my tent at once it seems that he had s miles across the sands to the had and told my servants who refused i with any one white or black once the hideous village of the dead a had taken one of my and a q of l n ropes returned to the and out as i have described i li n l hi i r t j i j h m j iii oi r i r i j r l ox r i ti r li i i j l i li c m i the pit that they mil of her majesty s civil service lay down to die of fever and being a thorough minded man so nearly accomplished his purpose that ail his friends two doctors and the he served gave him up for lost indeed upon a rumour the night before he rallied several journals published very pleasant notices which three weeks later mr sat up in bed and studied with interest it is strange to read about yourself in the past tense and soothing to discover that for all your your world might have spared a better man when a is and harmless newspapers always conclude their notices with this reflection it entirely to amuse mr the loving kindness of the for the use of its servants in the east luxuries of by other a state paid doctor closed s eyes till insisted upon opening them again a bought timber the phantom for a government coffin and the great of st in prepared according to a brick lined grave headed and edged with rests for the coffin the cost of that grave was including the lease of the land in very minute are the instructions of the government for the disposal and of its dead but the actual arrangements are not published in any to pay and rules for the same reason that led a officer not to leave his dead and wounded too long in the sight of a battery under fire mr recovered and went about his work to the disgust of his who had hoped promotion fi om his the sold the coffin at a profit to a merchant in and the state paid doctor in practice by s from the dead the of st in sat down by the head of the new made grave with the brick and waited for the corpse then in an office three miles away the yearly accounts were made up and there remained over for one grave cost the for all the other graves carried the name of a deceased servant of the government only one space was blank in the column the pit that they then lai sub assistant in the accounts department being full of zeal for the state and but newly appointed to his important post wrote to the desiring to know the of that grave and having the honour to be etc the wrote that there was no at all but a complete said grave having been ordered for mr and had the honour to remain lai had the honour to point | 39 |
out that the grave being unused the government could by no means pay for it the wished to know if the account could be carried over to the next year anticipated taking up of grave lai said that he was not going to have the accounts confused was the soul of and the would be good enough to on the financial basis of that year the wished they might be buried if they saw their way to doing it and there really had been more than two thousand burned bricks put into the of the grave meantime they complained the government was waiting until all material should have been paid for lai wrote refer to mr the referred semi it the phantom struck them as being rather a delicate matter but orders are orders wrote back saying that he had the honour to be quite well and not in the least in need of a grave brick lined or otherwise he recommended the head of the to get into that grave and stay there the forwarded the letter to lai for reference and order lai forwarded it to die provincial government who it behind a mass of other and forgot all about it a fat she crawled into the neglected grave and laid her eggs among the bricks the rains fell and a little of grass the brick floor the wrote to lai him that mr had not paid for the grave and that tbe sum mi t be stopped from his monthly pay lai sent the letter to as a swore but when he had sworn he began to feel frightened the fever had destroyed his nerve he wrote to the accounts department protesting against the injustice of paying for a grave beforehand for or widow s were quite ri t but this sort of was an being sarcastic the pit that they lai wrote that mr s style was not one usually employed in official correspondence and requested him to it and pay for the grave tossed the letter into the fire and wrote to the provincial government the provincial government had the honour to point out that the matter rested entirely between mr and the accounts department they saw no reason to interfere till the money was actually from the pay in that if mr appealed through the proper channels he might if the matter were properly reported upon get a less the cost of his last letter which was under stamped the wrote to lai of grave bill and some sort of settlement lai firom s monthly pay appealed through the proper channels the provincial government wrote that the expenses of all government graves solely concerned the supreme government to whom his letter had been forwarded wrote to the supreme government the supreme government had the honour to explain that the management of st in was under direct control of the the phantom government to whom they had had the honour of his to the to this effect the and supreme management of internal a provincial refer and agricultural department for grave details referred to the and agricultural department that department had the honour to make clear that it was only in the of trees round the the forest department controlled the of the edges of the paths forwarded all the letters to lai with a request for an immediate under rule a he invented rule and reference fro re having some knowledge of the workings oi the mind the crest of the and agricultural department frightened lai more than the reference he granted the and the government from the establishment allowance the establishment f head wanted to know what lai meant the general wanted to know lai meant the pit that they the provincial government wanted to know what lai meant the and the forest department and the government harness which supplies the leather for the all wanted to know what the deuce lai meant lai referred them to mr who had driven out to chuckle over his victory all alone at the head of the brick lined grave with the foot rests the she was herself by the edge of the grave with her little ones about her for the eggs had out beautifully stepped on the old lady s tail and she bit him in the ankle drove home very quickly and died in five hours and three quarters then lai passed the entry to regular account and there was peace in india the of traffic from the wheel and the of deliver ni good lord and we will meet the wrath of the fa ot and the lay not toil before our nor ni with thy wan we feel the straining o by a veil ui and thee dread lord a veil as and thee we hear too clear too clear and tee c the brothers of the order that none im connected with their service shall be found in or on one of their lights during the hours of dark ness but their servants can be led to think other wise if you are fair spoken and take an interest in their duties they will allow you to sit with them through the long night and help to scare the ships into mid channel the of traffic of the english south coast lights that of st under the cliff is the most powerful for it guards a very coast when the sea mist all st turns a head to the sea and sings a song of two words once every minute from the land that song the of a brazen bull but off shore they understand and the gratefully in answer who was on duty one night lent me a pair of black glass spectacles without which no man can look at the light and busied himself in last touches to the before twilight fell the width of the english channel beneath us lay as smooth and as many coloured as | 39 |
the inside of an shell a little cargo boat had made her signal to s agency half a mile up the coast and was down to the sunset her wake lying white behind her one star came out over the cliffs the waters turned lead colour and st s light shot out across the sea in eight long that wheeled slowly from right to left melted into one beam of solid light laid down directly in front of the tower dissolved again into eight and passed away the light frame of the thousand on its and the compressed air engine that drove it like a blue bottle under a glass the hand of the on the the phantom wall from mark to mark eight timed one half revolution of the light neither more nor less checked the first few carefully he opened the engine s feed pipe a trifle looked at the racing governor and again at the and said she ll do for the next few hours we ve just sent our regular engine to london and this spare one s not by any manner so accurate and what would happen if the compressed air gave out i asked from curiosity we d have to turn the flash by hand keeping an eye on the there s a regular for that but it hasn t happened yet we ll need all our compressed air to night why said l i had been watching him for not more than a minute look he answered and i saw that the dead sea mist bad risen out of the lifeless sea and wrapped us while my back had been turned the of the light marched across floors of white cloud from the round the light room the white walls of the ran down into smoking space the noise of the tide coming in very lazily over the rocks was choked down to a thick that s the way our sea come said the of traffic with an air of hark now to that little fool calling out fore he s hurt something in the mist was like an indignant calf it might have been half a mile or half a hundred miles away does he suppose we ve gone to bed continued you ll hear us talk to him in a minute he knows where he is and he s carrying on to be told like if he was he that boat o course ah i could hear a steam engine hiss down below in the mist where the that fed the light were together then there came a roar that split the fog and shook the the fog horn of st the ceased little fool repeated then listening if that aren t another of them well well they always say that a fog do draw the ships of the sea together they ll be calling all night and so u the we re expecting some tea ships up channel if you put my coat on that chair you ll feel more so sir it is no pleasant thing to thrust your company upon a man for the night i looked at and looked at me each the other s for and being bored was an old clean shaven gray haired the phantom man who had followed the sea for thirty years and knew nothing of the land except the in which he served he cautiously to find out the little that i knew and talked down to my level till it came out that i had met a captain in the merchant service who had once commanded a ship in which s son had served and further that i had seen some places that had touched at he began with a on in the i had been privileged to know a pilot intimately had only seen the imposing and breed from a ship s chains and his intercourse had been cut down to quarter less five and remarks of a strictly business like nature he ceased to talk down to me and became so that i was forced to beg him to explain every other sentence this set him fully at his ease and then we spoke as men together each too interested to think of an except the subject in hand and that subject was and voyages and old time trading and ships cast away in desolate seas we both had known their merits and s and above lights the talk always came back to lights lights of the channel lights on forgotten islands and men forgotten on them two months duty and one month s leave tossing on in ever troubled tide the of traffic ways and lights that men had seen where never was marked on the all those stories and also the wonderful ways by which he arrived at them i tell here from s mouth one that was not the least amazing it was delivered in pieces between the rattle of the revolving the of the fog horn below the answering calls from the sea and the sharp tap of reckless night birds that flung themselves at the glasses it concerned a man called once an intimate friend of now a at believing that the guilt of blood is on his head and finding no rest either at or hard and if anybody was to come to you and say i know the currents don t you listen to him for those currents is never yet known to mortal man sometimes they re here sometimes they re there but they never runs less than five knots an hour through and among those islands of the eastern there s reverse currents in the gulf of and that s up north in that no man can explain and through all those passages from the dutch and which i take it is the safest they chop and they change and they banks the tides | 39 |
on one shore and then on ai the phantom other till your ship s tore in two i ve come through the bait stem first in the heart o the south east with a sou sou west wind blowing of the flood and our said he wouldn t do it again not for all s you ve heard o s sir yes and was stationed in the i said no he was not at but much more east o them passages and that s strait at the east end o it s all on the way south to when you re running through that eastern sometimes you go through if you re full and sometimes through strait so as to stand south at once and fetch round keeping well clear o the bank if you aren t full why it stands to reason you go round by the passage keeping careful to the north side you understand that i was not and judged it safer to keep to the north side of silence and on strait in the between island and the they put in charge of a screw pile light called the light it s less than a mile across the head of strait then it opens out to ten or twelve mile for strait and then it again to the of traffic a three mile with a by it that s old by strait and if you keep his light and the light in a line you won t take much harm not on the darkest night that s what told me and i can well believe him knowing these seas myself but you must ever be of the currents and there they put since he was the only man that that dutch government which owns could find that would go to and tend a fixed light mostly they uses dutch and englishmen being said to drink when alone i never could rightly find out what made accept of that position but accept he did and used to sit for to watch the come out of the forests to hunt for and such like round about the at low tide the water was always warm in those parts as i know well and uncommon and it ran with the tides as thick and smooth as in a there was another man along with in the light but he wasn t rightly a man he was a no nor yet a he wasn t but his skin was in little and cracks all over from living so much in the salt water as was his usual custom his hands was all foot he was called i remember saying now an orange lord on account of his habits you ve heard of an orange lord sir the phantom i suggested that s the name said his knee an of course and his name was what they call a sea told me that that man long hair and all would go swimming up and down the straits just for something to do running down on one tide and back again with the other swimming side stroke and the tides going strong he d be about the beach along with the at low tide for he was most part a beast or he d sit in a little boat praying to old of an evening when the was red at the south end of the strait told me that he wasn t a man like you and me might have been to now i can never rightly come at what it was that began to ail after he had been there a year or something less he was saving of all his pay and tending to his light and now and again he d have a fight with and tip off the light into the sea th n he told me his head began to feel looking at the tide so long he said there long streaks of white running inside it like wall paper that hadn t been properly up he said the streaks they would run with the north and south twice a day to them and he d lie down on the it was a sc ft the of traffic pile light with his eye to a crack and watch the water through the piles just so quiet as he said the only comfort he got was at slack water then the streaks in his head went round and round like a in a but that was heaven he said to the other kind of streaks the straight ones that looked like arrows on a wind but much more regular and that was the trouble of it no more he couldn t ever keep his eyes off the tides that ran up and down so strong but as soon as ever he looked at the high hills standing all along strait for rest and comfort his eyes would be pulled down like to the water and when they once got there he couldn t pull them away again till the tide changed he told me all this himself speaking just as though he was talking of somebody else where did you meet him i asked in harbour a cleaning the of a boat but i d known him off and on through following the sea for many years yes he spoke about himself very curious and all as if he was in the next room laying there dead those streaks they upon his he said and he made up his mind every time that the dutch that to the lights in those parts come along that he d ask to be took off but as soon as she did come something went click it the phantom in his throat and he was so took up with watching her because they ran in the contrary direction to his streaks that he could never say a | 39 |
there s been an catastrophe here or and then he whistled i m going to stand on and off all night till the comes he says i m os says the merchant owners don t wi for me to watch that strait s choked with wreck and i shouldn t wonder if a hadn t driven half the o china there with that he went away but the of traffic ac survey ship she stayed all night at the head o strait and the men admired the lights till the lights was burning out and then they admired more than ever a little bit before morning the dutch come up and the two ships stood together watching the lights bum out and out till there was nothing left straits all green and wet and a dozen wreck and light had slept very quiet that night and got rid of his streaks by means of thinking of the angry outside was busy and didn t come back to his till late in the very early morning looked out to sea being as he said in torment and saw all the of the world riding outside straits in a half moon seven miles from wing to wing most wonderful to behold those were the words he used to me time and again in telling the tale then he says he heard a gun fired with a most explosion and all them great to little pieces of clouds and there was only two ships remaining and a man o war s boat to the light with the oars going sideways instead o as the morning tides ebb or flow would continually run what the devil s wrong with this strait says a man in the boat as soon as they was in hail the phantom ing distance has the english navy sunk here or what there s nothing wrong says sitting on the platform outside the light and keeping one eye very watchful on the of the tide which he always hated specially in the mom ing you leave me alone and i ll leave you alone go round by the passage and don t cut up ray water you re making it all the time he was saying that he kept on thinking to himself now that s foolishness now that s nothing but foolishness and all the time he was holding tight to the edge of the platform in case the of the tide should him away somebody answers from the boat very soft and quiet we re going round by in a minute if you u just come and speak to our captain and give him his bearings he felt very highly flattered and he slipped into the boat not paying any attention to but along to the ship after the boat when was in the boat he found so he says he couldn t speak to the sailors to call them white with chains about their neck and lord knows he hadn t seen or thought o white since he was a little bit of a boy and kept em in his handkerchief so he kept himself quiet and so they come to the survey the of traffic ship and the man in the boat the with something that could not rightly understand but there was one word he out again and again m a d mad and he heard some one behind him saying it backwards so he had two words m a d mad d a m dam and he put those two words together as he come on the quarter deck and he says to the captain very slowly i be damned if i am mad but all the time his eye was held like by the of rope on the pins and he followed those ropes up and up with his eye till he was quite lost and comfortable among the which ran cross and and up and down and any way but straight along under his feet north and south the deck they ran that way and t look at them they was the same as the streaks of the water under the of the then he heard the captain talking to him very kindly and for the life of him he couldn t tell why and what he wanted to tell the captain was that strait was too like bacon and the only made it worse but all he could do was to keep his eye very careful on the and sing i saw a ship a sailing a sailing on the sea and oh it was all with pretty things for me the phantom then he that was foolishness and he started to say about the passage but all he said was the captain was a duck meaning no offence to you sir but there was something on his back that i ve forgotten and when the began to move the he noticed the captain turn very red and angry and he says to himself my foolish tongue s run away with me again i ll go forward and he went forward and the reflection of himself in the and he saw that he was standing there and talking mother naked in fi ont of all them sailors and he ran into the fo c s le howling most grievous he must ha gone naked for weeks on the light and o course never noticed it was round and round the ship dam for to please the men and to be took aboard because he didn t know any didn t tell what happened after this but seemingly our survey ship lowered two boats and went over to s they took one sounding and then finding it was all correct they cut the that and had made and let the tide carry em out through die end of the strait and the dutch s the | 39 |
things calculated to destroy the peace of her majesty the queen she returned to her master and laid information would take steps at once and the end of his labours was trouble and fine and imprisonment for other people the natives believed that tie was a spirit and treated her with the great reverence that is bom of hate and fear one room in the was set apart for her special use she owned a a blanket and a and if any one came into s room at night her custom was to knock down the and give tongue till came with a light owed his life to her when be was on the frontier in search of a local murderer who came in the gray dawn to send much than the islands caught the man as he was crawling into s tent with a dagger between teeth and after his record of was established in the return of the eyes of the law he was hanged from that date wore a collar of rough silver and employed a on her night blanket and the blanket was of double woven cloth for she was a delicate dog under no circumstances would she be separated from and once when he was ill with fever made great trouble for the doctors because she did not know how to help her master and would not allow another creature to attempt aid of the indian medical service beat her over her head with a gun butt before she could understand that she must give room for those who could give a short time after had taken s my business took me through that station and naturally the club quarters being full i myself upon it was a desirable eight and heavily against any chance of firom rain under the pitch of the roof ran a ceiling cloth which looked just as neat as a white washed ceiling the landlord had it when took the unless you knew how indian were built you would never have suspected that above the cloth lay the dark three of the roof where the beams and the of the all manner of rats and foul things the phantom met mc in the with a bay like the boom of the bell of st paul s putting her on my shoulder to show she was glad to see me had contrived to together a sort of meal which he called lunch and immediately after it was finished went out about his business i was left alone with and my own affairs the heat of the summer had broken up and turned to the warm damp of the rains there was no motion in the heated air but the rain fell like on the earth and flung up a blue mist when it back the and the apples the and the trees in the garden stood still while the warm water lashed through them and the began to sing among the hedges a before the light and when the rain was at its worst i sat in the back and heard the water roar from the and scratched myself because i was covered with the thing called heat came out with me and put her head in my lap and was very sorrowful so i gave her when tea was ready and i took tea in the back on account of the little coolness found there the rooms of the house were dark behind me i could smell s and the oil on his guns and i had no desire to sit among these things my own servant came to me in the twilight the muslin of the return of his clothes clinging tightly to his body and told me that a gentleman had called and wished to see some one very much against my will but only because of the darkness of the rooms i went into the naked drawing room telling my man to bring the lights there might or might not have been a waiting it seemed to me that i saw a figure by one of the windows but when the lights came there was nothing save the of the rain without and the smell of the drinking earth in my nostrils i explained to my servant that he was no wiser than he ought to be and went back to the to talk to she had gone out into the wet and i could hardly her back to me even with with sugar tops came home dripping just before dinner and the first thing he said was has any one called i explained with apologies that my servant had summoned me into the drawing room on a false alarm or that some had tried to call on and thinking better of it had fled after giving his name ordered dinner without comment and since it was a real dinner with a white attached we sat down at nine o clock wanted to go to bed and i was tired too who had been lying the table rose up and swung into the least exposed as soon as her master moved the phantom to his own room which was next to the stately chamber set apart for if a mere wife had wished to sleep out of doors in that rain it would not have mattered but was a dog and therefore the better animal i looked at expecting to see him her with a whip he smiled as a man would smile after telling some unpleasant domestic tragedy she has done this ever since i moved in here said he let her go the dog was s dog so i said nothing but i felt all that felt in being thus made light of outside my bedroom window and storm after storm came up thundered on the and died away the lightning the sky as a thrown egg a barn door but the light | 39 |
was pale blue not yellow and looking through my split blinds i could see the great dog standing not sleeping in the the on her back and her feet as as the drawn wire rope of a bridge in the very short pauses of the thunder i tried to sleep but it seemed that some one wanted me very he whoever he was was trying to call me by name but his voice was no more than a whisper the thunder ceased and went into the garden and howled at the low moon somebody tried to open my door walked about and about through the return of the house and stood breathing heavily in the and just when i was asleep i fancied that i heard a wild and above my head or on the door i ran into s room and asked him whether he was ill and had been calling for me he was lying on his bed half dressed a pipe in his mouth i thought you d come he said have i been walking round the house recently i explained that he had been in the dining room and the smoking room and two or three other places and he laughed and told me to go back to bed i went back to bed and slept till the morning but through all my mixed dreams i was sure i was doing some one an injustice in not attending to his wants what those wants were i could not tell but a fluttering whispering bolt lurking was me for my and half awake i heard the howling of in the garden and the of the rain i lived in that house for two days went to his office daily leaving me alone for eight or ten hours with for my only companion as long as the full light lasted i was comfortable and so was but in the twilight she and i moved into the back and each other for company we were alone in the house but none the less it was much too fully the phantom occupied bj a tenant with whom i did not wish to interfere i never saw him but i could see the curtains between the rooms quivering where he had just passed through i could hear the chairs creaking as the sprung under a weight that had just quitted them and i could feel when i went to get a book from the that somebody was waiting in the shadows of the front till i should have gone away made the twilight more interesting by glaring into the darkened rooms with every hair erect and following the motions of something that i could not see she never entered the rooms but her eyes moved that was quite only when my servant came to trim the lamps and make all light and she would come in with me and spend her time sitting on her watching an invisible extra man as he moved about behind my shoulder dogs are cheerful companions i explained to gently as might be that i would go over to the club and find for myself quarters there i admired his hospitality was pleased with his guns and rods but i did not much care for his house and its atmosphere he heard me out to the end and then smiled very wearily but without contempt for he is a man who understands things stay on he said and see what this thing means all you have q the return of talked about i have known since i took the stay on and wait has left me are you going too i had seen him through one little ir connected with a heathen idol that had brought me to the doors of a lunatic asylum and i had no desire to help him through further experiences he was a man to whom arrived as do dinners to ordinary people therefore i explained more clearly than ever that i liked him immensely and would be happy to see him in the but that i did not care to sleep under his roof this was after dinner when had gone out to lie in the ton my soul i don t wonder said with his eyes on the ceiling cloth look at that the tails of two brown were hanging between the cloth and the of the wall they threw long shadows in the if you are afraid of of course said i hate and fear because if you look into the eyes of any snake you will see that it knows all and more of the mystery of man s fall and that it all the contempt that the devil felt when adam was firom besides which its bite is generally and it up legs you ought to get your the phantom i said give me a and well em down they ll hide among the roof beam said i can t stand overhead i m going up into the roof if i shake em down stand by with a cleaning rod and break their backs i was not anxious to assist in his work but i took the cleaning rod and waited m the dining room while brought a gardener s ladder from the and set it against the side of the room the snake tails drew themselves up and disappeared we could hear the dry rushing of long bodies running over the ceiling cloth took a lamp with him while i tried to make clear to him the danger of hunting roof between a and a apart from the of property caused by out ceiling nonsense said they re sure to hide near the walls by the cloth the bricks are too cold for em and the heat of the room is just what they like he put his hand to the comer of the stuff and it from the it gave with a great | 39 |
master is tired and he waits thee go the man picked up a lamp and went into the dining room following and almost pushing him with the of the rifle he looked for a moment at the black depths behind the ceiling cloth at the snake under foot and last a gray settling on his ce at the thing under the hast thou seen said after a pause the phantom i have seen i am in the white s hands what does the presence do hang thee within the month what else for killing him nay consider walking among us his servants he cast his eyes upon my child who was four years old him he and in ten days he died of the my child i what said he said he was a handsome child and patted him on the head wherefore my child died wherefore i killed in the twilight when he had come back from office and was sleeping wherefore i draped him up into the roof beams and made all t behind him the heaven bom knows all things i am the servant of the heaven bom looked at me above the rifle and said in the thou art witness to this saying he has killed stood gray in the light of the one lamp the need for justification came upon him very swiftly i am he said but the offence was that man s he cast an evil eye upon my child and i killed and hid him only such as are served by devils he glared at before him only such could know what i did it was clever but thou have lashed the of the nt the return of him to the beam with a rope now thou wilt hang by a rope orderly a drowsy policeman answered s call he was followed by another and sat wondrous still take him to the police station said there is a case toward do i hang then said making no attempt to escape and keeping his eyes on the ground if the sun shines or the water runs yes said stepped back one long pace quivered and stood still the two waited further orders go said nay but i go very swiftly said look i am even now a dead man he lifted his foot and to the little toe there clung the head of the half killed snake firm fixed in the agony of death i come of land holding stock said rocking where he stood it were a disgrace to me to go to the public therefore i take this way be it remembered that the s shirts are correctly and that there is an extra piece of soap in his wash basin my child was and i the the phantom why should you seek to me with the rope my honour is saved and and i die at the end of an hour he died as they die who are bitten by the little brown and the bore him and the thing under the to their appointed places all were needed to make clear the disappearance of this said very calmly as he climbed into bed is called the nineteenth century did you hear what that man said i heard i answered made a mistake simply and solely through not knowing the nature of the oriental and the coincidence of a little fever had been with him for four years i shuddered my own servant had been with me for exactly that length of time when i went over to my own room i found my man waiting as the copper head on a penny to pull off ray boots what has said i he was bitten by a snake and died the rest the knows was the answer and how much of this matter hast thou known as much as might be gathered from one coming in in the twilight to seek gently let me pull off those boots the return of i had just settled to the sleep of exhaustion when i heard shouting from his side of the house has come back to her place and so she had the great was on her own on her own blanket while in the next room the idle empty ceiling cloth as it on the table p my own true ghost story as i cane through the de k as i came through the desert city t l this story entirely with ghosts there arc in india ghosts who take the form of cold and hide in trees near the roadside till a traveller passes then they drop upon his neck and remain there are also terrible ghosts of women who have died in these wander along the at dusk or hide in the crops near a village and call but to answer their call is death in this world and the next their feet are turned backwards that all sober men may recognise them there arc ghosts of little children who have been thrown into wells these haunt well and the of and wail under the stars or catch women by the wrist and beg to be taken up and carried these and the corpse ghosts however are only articles and do not attack no native ghost has yet been reported to have an englishman but my own true ghost story many english ghosts have scared the life out of both white and black nearly every other station owns a ghost there are said to be two at not counting the woman who blows the at on the old road has a house haunted by a very lively thing a white lady is supposed to do night round a house in says that one of her houses on autumn evenings all the incidents of a horrible horse and precipice accident has a merry ghost and now that she has been swept by will have room for | 39 |
and then a third i heard the on the ground and the in front of my door shook that s some one trying to come in i said but no one spoke and i persuaded myself that it was the wind the of the room next to mine was attacked flung back and the inner door opened that s some sub assistant i said and he has brought his friends with him now they ll talk and spit and smoke for an hour but there were no voices and no footsteps no one was putting his luggage into the next room the door shut and i thanked providence that i was to be left in peace but i was curious to know where the had gone i got out of bed and looked into the darkness there was never a sign of a just as i was getting into bed again i heard in the next room the sound that no man in his senses can possibly mistake the of a ball down the length of the slate when the is for break no other sound is like it a minute afterwards there was another and i got into bed i was not frightened indeed i was not i was very curious to know what had become of the i jumped into bed for that reason next minute i heard the double click of a cannon and my hair sat up it is a mistake to say my own true ghost story that hair stands up the skin of the head and you can feel a faint all over the that is the hair sitting up there was a and a click and both sounds could only have been made by one thing a ball i argued the matter out at great length with myself and the more i argued the less probable it seemed that one bed one table and two chairs all the furniture of the room next to mine could so exactly the sounds of a game of after another cannon a three cushion one to judge by the i argued no more i had found my ghost and would have given worlds to have escaped from that i listened and with each listen the game grew clearer there was on and click on click sometimes there was a double click and a and another click beyond any sort of doubt people were playing in the next room and the next room was not big enough to hold a table between the pauses of the wind i heard the game go forward stroke after stroke i tried to believe that i could not hear voices but that attempt was a failure do you know what fear is not ordinary fear of insult injury or death but abject quivering dread of something that you cannot see fear that the inside of the mouth and half of the the phantom throat fear that makes you sweat on the palms of the hands and in order to keep the at work this is a fine fear a great cowardice and must be felt to be appreciated the very of in a proved the reality of the thing drunk or sober could imagine a game at or invent the crack of a screw cannon a severe course of has this disadvantage it infinite if a man said to a confirmed there is a corpse in the next room and there s a mad girl in die next one and the woman and man on that have just from a place sixty miles away the would not because he would know that nothing is too wild grotesque or horrible to happen in a low this unfortunately extends to ghosts a rational person fix m his own house would have turned on his side and slept i did not so surely as i was given up for a dry by the scores of things in the bed because the bulk of my blood was in my heart so surely did i hear every stroke of a long game at played in die echoing room behind the iron barred door my dominant fear was that the players might want a it was an absurd fear because my own true ghost story who could play in the dark would be above such i only know that that was my terror and it was real after a long long while the game stopped and the door i slept because i was dead tired otherwise i should have preferred to have kept awake not for everything in asia would i have dropped the door bar and peered into the dark of the next room when the morning came i considered that i had done well and wisely and for the means of departure by the way i said what were those three doing in my compound in the night t there were no said the i went into the next room and the daylight streamed through the open door i was immensely brave i would at that hour have played black pool with the owner of the big black pool down below has this place always been a d k i asked no said the ten or twenty years ago i have forgotten how long it was a room a a room for the who built the railway i was then in the big house the phantom where all the railway lived and i used to come across with brandy these three rooms were all one and they held a big table on which the played every evening but the are all dead now and the railway runs you say nearly to do you remember anything about the it is long ago but i remember that one a fat man and always angry was playing here one night and he | 39 |
said to me do and i filled the glass and be bent over the table to strike and his head fell lower and lower till it hit the table and his spectacles came and when we the and i ran to lift him he was dead i helped to carry him he was a strong but he is dead and i old am still living by your favour that was more than enough i had my a first hand article i would write to the society for i would the empire with the news but i would first of ail put eighty miles of crop land between myself and that before the society might send their regular agent to investigate later on i went into my own room and prepared to after noting down the of the case as i smoked i heard the game begin again with a my own true ghost story miss in this time for the was a short one the door was open and i could see into the room click click that was a cannon i entered the room without fear for there was sunlight within and a fresh breeze without the unseen game was going on at a tremendous rate and well it might when a restless little rat was running to and fro inside the dingy ceiling cloth and a piece of loose window was making fifty breaks off the window bolt as it shook in the breeze impossible to mistake the sound of impossible to mistake the of a ball over the slate but i was to be excused even when i shut my enlightened eyes the sound was like that of a fast game entered angrily the faithful partner of my sorrows this is very bad and low caste no wonder the presence was disturbed and is three sets of came to the late last night when i was sleeping outside and said that it was their custom to rest in the rooms set apart for the english people what honour has the they tried to enter but i told them to go no wonder if these have been here that the presence is sorely spotted it is shame and the work of a dirty man the phantom did not say that he had taken from each gang two for rent in advance and then beyond my ear shot had beaten them with the big green umbrella whose use i could never before divine but has no notions of morality there was an interview with the but as he promptly lost his head wrath gave place to pity and pity led to a long conversation in the course of which he put the fat engineer s tragic death in three separate stations two of them fifty miles away the third shift was to and there the died while driving a dog cart i did not go away as soon as i intended i stayed for the night while the wind and the rat and the and the window bolt played a hundred and fifty up then the wind ran out and the stopped and i felt that i had ruined my one genuine ghost story had i only ceased at the proper time i could have made anything out of it that was the bitterest thought of all the track of a lie consequences of our acts eternal said at the club that s what the say see now the smoking room was empty except for and myself fu tell you an little superstition i picked up the other day said he the natives say that allows the tiger one eight a day for his food and if you total up the month s cattle bill of an average tiger not a man you ll find that it s exactly forty five per i know that said i and it happens to be true very good said do you mean to say that anything is going to come of an idle sentence like that i say il you hear it well swung out of the club leaving me but the statement rang in my head there was something catching about the words allows the tiger one eight a day for his food it was a quaint superstition and one not generally known would the local paper care by ft co the phantom for it f it fitted a comer empty for the moment and one or two readers said what a curious idea that the tiny paragraph should have wandered to southern india was not very strange though there was no reason why it should not have to the side instead of dropping straight as a to that it should have jumped adam s bridge and been copied in a journal was strange but had been transferred to the other end of the empire just two days before the papers told their that allows the tiger one eight a day etc three weeks passed and from the eastern side of the bay of came in the mail was dead and the field force was hard worked was suffering from but at the bottom of the last page the rest of the world might read that allows the tiger etc was on duty in the very sick with fever it was not worth while to follow him with a letter week by week europe grew to be a throbbing and humming angrily as the messages through the wires then reported that allows the tiger etc here assuredly was the limit of my paragraph s wandering it might struggle into the the track of a lie but beyond that scattered heap of islands it could not pass germany called for more men france answered the call with fresh on her side and the i strangely scented straw journals of and made public to the far east the news that allows the tiger etc now | 39 |
a voice cried who goes round the world once gains one day his growing and distrust of mankind made john hay unwilling to give this precious message of hope to his friends they might take it up and it he was sure it was true but it would pain him were rough hands to examine it too closely to him alone of all the toiling generations of mankind had the secret of immortality been vouchsafed it would be against all the designs of the creator to set mankind hurrying eastward besides this would crowd the and john hay wished of all things to be alone if he could get round the world in two months some one of whom he had read he could not remember the name had covered the passage in eighty days he would gain a clear day and by steadily continuing to do it for thirty years would gain one hundred and eighty days or nearly the half of a year it would not be much but in course of time as advanced and the valley railway was opened he could improve the pace armed with many sovereigns john hay in the wandering jew the thirty fifth year of his age set forth on his travels two voices bearing him company from as he sailed to fortune favoured him the valley railway was newly opened and he was the first man who took ticket direct from to thirteen days in the train thirteen days in the train are not good for the nerves he covered the world and returned to from america in twelve days over the two months and started afresh with four and twenty hours of precious time to his credit three years passed and john hay went round this earth seeking for more time wherein to enjoy the remainder of his sovereigns he became known on many lines as the man who wanted to go on when people asked him what he was and what he did he answered i m the person who to live and i am trying to do it now his days were divided between watching the white wake spinning behind the stem of the or the brown earth flashing past the windows of the test trains and he noted in a pocket book every minute that he had or out of eternity this is better than praying for long life john hay as he turned his face eastward for his twentieth trip the years had done more for him than he dared to hope by the extension the phantom of the valley line to meet tiie china the ticket held good hi and to the round trip could be managed in a over forty seven days and filled exultation john hay told the secret of bis to his only friend the housekeeper of his rooms in london he spoke and passed but the woman was one of resource and took counsel with the lawyers who had first informed john hay of his golden very many sovereigns still remained and another longed to spend them on things more sensible than railway tickets and steamer the chase was long for when a man is literally for the dear life he does not upon the road round the world hay swept anew and overtook the wearied doctor who had been sent out to look for him in it was there that he found the reward of his toil and the assurance of a blessed immortality in half an hour the doctor watching always the lips the shaking hands and the eye that turned to the east won john hay to rest in a little house close to the surf all that hay need do was to hang by ropes from the roof of room and let the round earth swing beneath him this was better than steamer or train for he gained a day in a day and was thus the equal of the the wandering jew sun the other hay would pay his expenses throughout eternity it is true that we cannot yet take tickets from to though that will come about in fifteen years but men say that if you wander along the southern coast of india you shall find in a neatly little sitting in a chair swung from the roof over a sheet of thin steel which he knows so well the attraction of the earth an old and worn man who for ever faces the rising sun a stop watch in his hand racing against eternity he cannot drink he does not smoke and his living expenses amount to perhaps twenty five a month but he is john hay the immortal without he hears the thunder of the world with which he is careful to explain he has no connection whatever but if you say that it is only the noise of the surf he will cry bitterly for the shadow on his brain is passing away as the brain ceases to work and he doubts sometimes whether the doctor spoke the truth why not the sun always remain over my head i asks john hay at the end of the passage the ay and the of hell are opened and and the of arc and the up in the face of heaven and the clouds come down in a fiery heavy to raise and hard to be borne and the of is turned from meat turned from the trifles for which he has sick in his body and heavy hearted and his soul flies up like the dust in the sheet breaks from his flesh and is gone and departed as the they blow on the horn four men each entitled to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness sat at a playing the marked for them one hundred and one degrees of heat the | 39 |
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