WHERE BONDS 
 ARE LOOSED 
 
NOVELS BY E. L. GRANT WATSON 
 
 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 THE MAINLAND 
 
E^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 WHERE BONDS 
 ARE LOOSED 
 
 BY E. L. GRANT WATSON 
 
 PUBLISHED "at NEW YORK 
 BY ALFRED A. KNOPF 1918 
 
 'If I go down to Hell 
 Thou art there also" 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY 
 ALFRED A. KXOPF, Inc. 
 
 Published January, 1918 
 Stctnd Printing, StfUmbtr, 1918 
 
 
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 /zncilnh /^/<Jrr)nu^ 
 
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 ^,<\^3<^ 
 
 FEINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OE AMEKICA 
 
To 
 
 EDWARD THOMAS 
 
PREFACE 
 
 It has been maintained by Friedrich Nietzsche 
 that a man writes to get rid of his thoughts. This 
 is in essence true, but the process is not merely one 
 of excretion. Undoubtedly the writer is often dis- 
 tressingly conscious of being too full of chaotic 
 impressions, also he suffers from the vagueness of 
 his emotion. Besides wishing for relief from this 
 pressure, he desires to make crystalline what is 
 amorphous and vague. Each such re-crystalliza- 
 tion marks a stage of development, and is followed 
 by a period of rest. The process of writing be- 
 sides being excretory is also formative in that it 
 changes the formless to the crystalline. It might 
 be said that the writer becomes subjective that his 
 objectivity may ultimately be the clearer. He 
 writes that he may find his own thoughts. In the 
 process, experience becomes part of conscious 
 knowledge. Life is thus made deeper. 
 
 In this book a picture is given of a small group 
 of men and women who for the greater portion of 
 their lives have lived in the normal surroundings 
 of material interdependence which we call civiliza- 
 
PREFACE 
 
 tion. They find themselves isolated on an island, 
 completely cut off from the conserving influence of 
 the herd. Their natures under this sudden re- 
 taxation cannot adjust themselves until all former 
 habit and prejudice have been burnt away by the 
 fires of suffering, and until they find beneath their 
 feet the primal foundation of individual desire 
 left high and dry in the ebb of all past valuations 
 and beliefs. This ultimate realization of life can 
 come only to the more primitive individuals of the 
 group; the more complex and finely adjusted na- 
 tures are broken in the process; they crumble to 
 pieces together with all that they have lost. 
 
 The story is by no means exceptional. It is 
 typical. Such isolated groups of people exist in 
 hundreds at the further outposts of civilization. 
 Their fates, though showing every variety of de- 
 tail, are already written. Their success or failure 
 is determined by the relative strength of their in- 
 dividual or social instinct. 
 
 And here I come to the second thesis of the book. 
 Life can survive all bludgeoning provided that the 
 individual soul is so violently shaken that all its 
 old valuations fall completely away. Out of the 
 ruins, life naked and without shame, but beautiful 
 in that naked vitality can rise to new expression. 
 
 Grant Watson 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE 
 LOOSED 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 UNDER the iron roof the heat was stifling. 
 The thermometer registered a hundred 
 and ten degrees in the shade, and the 
 metal knives and forks arranged on the tables in 
 the hotel dining-room were unpleasantly hot to 
 the touch. The fans flicked slowly to and fro, 
 sending a faint gust of air, feeble and tepid, to 
 disturb the innumerable flies that clung to the 
 walls and ceiling and buzzed incessantly among 
 the rafters. Although it was midday, and the 
 sun was shining fiercely, the room was lit by elec- 
 tric light, for the windows were closed and dark- 
 ened to keep out the dust and the heat of the hot 
 wind off the desert. On the walls were oleographs 
 and coloured prints; these, together with the fes- 
 toons of pink and yellow paper that decked them, 
 were stained brown and made almost unrecogniz- 
 able by the droppings of flies of countless genera- 
 tions. 
 
 II 
 
WHKRE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 Like the rest of the hotel, the dining-room was 
 built of corrugated iron ; in it were arranged some 
 fifteen small tables, each designed to seat four 
 diners. About thirty men were engaged in eat- 
 ing their midday meal. They spoke little save to 
 curse at the heat, and their voices mixed with and 
 were drowned by the loud buzz of the large yel- 
 low blow-flies that hovered about the plates. 
 
 In and out between the tables passed two capped 
 and aproned girls, who looked surprisingly neat 
 and clean by comparison with the rough men they 
 served. The men were a heterogeneous crowd, 
 comprising miners, prospectors and shepherds 
 lately come from the bush. They were dressed 
 for the most part in blue dungarees and coloured 
 shirts, with sleeves rolled up to the elbows. Here 
 and there seated amongst them were two or three 
 store-keepers of the town in their white tropical 
 suits. Among the rougher-looking of the men was 
 a red-haired, red-bearded Englishman. He sat 
 at a table by himself, and seemed a stranger, for 
 he greeted no one. Unlike most big men, he 
 showed in his face no signs of heaviness or slow- 
 ness of character; on the contrary his irregular 
 features suggested a quick and impulsive temper. 
 His bright blue eyes and trim pointed beard gave 
 him a look at once pleasing and unusual, and there 
 was a suggestion of smartness in spite of his shirt- 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 13 
 
 sleeves and baggy trousers. His mouth was weak 
 and too small for a man of his size. Even be- 
 neath his beard it could be seen to twist down at 
 the comers, giving a suggestion of cruelty. 
 
 Sherwin had knocked about in the Northern 
 Territory of New Ireland for the last two years. 
 He had tried every description of work, had been 
 miner, prospector, sheep-shearer, and roustabout. 
 He and his brother, sons of a small farmer in Eng- 
 land, had come out from the old country, partly in 
 the hope of a quick fortune, having heard extrava- 
 gant stories of the gold-fields, and partly from 
 love of adventure and new experience. The two 
 men had gone straight into the interior and there 
 had fallen under the spell of the bush, had been 
 bitten by the lust for gold, by the hope of a for- 
 tune that hung always so tantalizingly near, that 
 was so easily within the bounds of the possible and 
 yet was grasped by so few. They had endured 
 many hardships and spent much energy and all 
 their money in the search, and then had been com- 
 pelled to take regularly paid occupation, that of- 
 fered no such glorious possibilities. Later they 
 had agreed that one of them should earn regular 
 wages and should supply the other with money, so 
 that he should be able to continue the search. 
 Any gold that was found would then be evenly 
 divided. It had fallen to the red-haired man. 
 
14 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 who sat in the stifling atmosphere of the hotel, 
 to be the wage-earner. He had entered willingly 
 into this partnership, and could trust his brother 
 to work as laboriously as he would himself. 
 Lately he had received a letter giving most hope- 
 ful accounts of the country in which his brother 
 was working; and now, in spite of the great heat 
 and the maddening buzz of the flies, he was in a 
 pleasant and sanguine mood. His own immediate 
 prospects were also satisfactory. He had lately 
 travelled to Port Kaimera on one of the coasting 
 steamers. He was to stay there for a couple of 
 days and then was going North with a gang of 
 sheep-shearers bound for the interior. Sheep- 
 shearing was a job he thoroughly understood, and 
 one that was well paid. In the meanwhile his 
 brother seemed in a fair way to making a find, 
 and then, if he should at last be successful, Sher- 
 win would join him and help at the making of 
 the fortune that had so long been their dream. 
 
 His thoughts, that were wandering among the 
 promising possibilities of an elusive future, were 
 suddenly interrupted by the arrival of a drunken 
 man, who staggered across the room and sat down 
 with a grunt and a lurch in the chair next to him. 
 The man was in the aggressive and quarrelsome 
 stage of drunkenness, when any trifle serves to 
 pick a quarrel. 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 15 
 
 ''Good day to yer," he growled out. 
 
 ''Good day,'' said Sherwin, and edged himself 
 and his chair a little further from the reek of 
 the man's breath. 
 
 "What yer doin' edgin' away like that? Ain't 
 I good enough to sit next to yer?" He paused and 
 looked hard at Sherwin, then, summing him up, 
 he w^ent on : "Yer bloody Britisher, think yerself 
 damned superior. What do yer take me for? — 
 a bloody aboriginee?" 
 
 One of the serving girls came up and said in 
 a voice that sounded as if she were well accus- 
 tomed to dealing with such small dissensions, 
 "Now then, you two, don't make a scrap over 
 nothing." Then to the new arrival, "Which will 
 you 'ave, pork or mutton?" 
 
 "Orl right. Miss," blustered the man, raising 
 himself from his chair; "I'll settle with this chap. 
 I'll teach him how to be'ave." 
 
 Sherwin was conscious that several of the men 
 had stopped eating their dinners and were watch- 
 ing to see what would happen. He felt his skin 
 tingle and knew that he was growing angry. He 
 noticed in a flash of annoyance the ugly, distorted 
 shape of the white glass vase that stood in the mid- 
 dle of the table ; its sides were encrusted with pink 
 blobs that bore a faint resemblance to strawberries. 
 In it stood a bunch of tarnished artificial flowers. 
 
i6 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 The dust on these was now faintly stirred by the 
 breath from the red, lowering face that bent above 
 them. 
 
 "Well, ain't yer got anything to say? Ain't 
 I good enough to be spoke to?" 
 
 **Sit down, and don't make a fuss," said Sher- 
 win; "eat your dinner." 
 
 The next moment the man lurched forward, and 
 a heavy hand fell with a splash in the middle of 
 Sherwin's plate. "God damn you, take your 
 hand out of my plate." 
 
 As Sherwin jumped up, the man's right hand 
 swung round and caught him a stinging blow on 
 the ear. Then, seeing red for a moment, Sherwin 
 let out at the face opposite. The man fell like 
 a pole-axed beast, and lay still on the floor. 
 
 Several of the other diners had jumped to their 
 feet. One of them went and lifted the fallen man, 
 who only groaned and hung limp in his hands. 
 "You needn't have struck him so hard," he said. 
 "Couldn't you see he was drunk? A shove would 
 have done." 
 
 Sherwin was still smarting from the blow and 
 the blood was singing in his ears. He expressed 
 a wish that he might have killed the man or any 
 other drunken groper that interfered. The on- 
 lookers had now for the most part become silent. 
 They were surprised and rather contemptuous at 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 17 
 
 Sherwin's outburst, and at the completeness of his 
 anger. There was something perhaps about his 
 red beard and burly figure that annoyed them and 
 made them resent this stranger who had lost his 
 temper with a drunken man and now had so much 
 to say for himself. 
 
 A small group formed about the stricken man 
 and some one dabbed his face with cold water. 
 As he was carried out he was sick in the transit. 
 Murmurs of indignation were heard and sneer- 
 ing remarks made at Sherwin's expense. Then 
 a big dark man, who had sat in silence till now, 
 got up from his chair and walked across to Sher- 
 win. He looked round to see if his audience were 
 with him, and then spoke in a condescending, 
 sneering voice: 
 
 *Tretty easy to hit a man when he's drunk; no 
 chance of his hitting you back, is there? Per- 
 haps you daren't have done it if he were sober?" 
 
 Sherwin was exasperated. "What do you ex- 
 pect me to do? Sit still and smile? Why, he 
 hit me first, and put his dirty hand in my plate." 
 
 "Perhaps you wouldn't have hit him if he had 
 been sober," reiterated the dark man. 
 
 "What are you driving at? What do you 
 want?" demanded Sherwin. 
 
 "Come outside and I'll soon show you." 
 
 One of the onlookers, an excitable, wiry little 
 
i8 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 fellow, piped in a shrill voice, ''That's right, Jim 
 Shepherd, teach him a lesson. Wipe the floor 
 with him." 
 
 Sherwin was unpleasantly conscious that he was 
 a stranger and alone amongst feelings that were 
 far from friendly. He didn't want to fight the 
 big, dark man, who was probably an old hand at 
 a game where he had little experience. No, he 
 didn't want to fight. He felt suddenly afraid, and 
 was ashamed of being afraid. 
 
 "I've got no quarrel with you, why should you 
 quarrel with me? Leave me alone." 
 
 "Come on, d'yer hear ! " shouted Shepherd, seiz- 
 ing the front of his shirt and dragging him a step 
 forward. "Come on, cocky, and have yer head 
 knocked off!" piped the excitable little man. 
 
 As he walked across the room, Sherwin knew 
 that he was white and trembling, he felt sick and 
 annoyed, and was vaguely conscious of a press of 
 men round him, all eager to see the fight in which 
 he was to take part. 
 
 Outside the drinking-saloon was a large cov- 
 ered-in court in which were arranged divans and 
 deck chairs. On the other side of the court were 
 rows of bedrooms. A space was soon cleared in 
 which Sherwin found himself face to face with 
 Jim Shepherd. Judging by appearances, the two 
 men were evenly enough matched ; but one of them 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 19 
 
 was fighting on his own ground and of his own in- 
 clination, while the other wished himself well out 
 of it and felt the odds to be against him. 
 
 "Put 'em up," shouted his antagonist. Sher- 
 win held up his hands. He stood almost still, 
 only slightly shifting his feet ; in front of him he 
 watched Jim Shepherd dodging up and down, 
 then with a feint and a rush came the attack. He 
 felt his head jerked back and suddenly a tre- 
 mendous blow on the mouth. He tasted blood, 
 felt his beard to be moist with it and saw red stains 
 upon his shirt. A voice called, "That's the style, 
 Jim, cut his mug open." Sherwin jumped back, 
 recovering his balance. His antagonist was there 
 close in front of him again, with head and fists 
 bobbing up and down. Then rage seemed to grip 
 at his heart and to swell in his chest, till he was 
 almost choked. He felt that his face was twitch- 
 ing uncontrollably, that the corners of his mouth 
 were drawn down as if he were going to cry. A 
 thin voice laughed somewhere infinitely far away. 
 "Now then, Johnny, swallow yer teeth and smile." 
 Then an immeasurable rage swept him forward 
 against his opponent. 
 
 The unexpectedness and fury of his attack 
 carried them both to the other side of the court, 
 up against the iron wall of the saloon. Then, as 
 through a red mist, he saw a dark head pressed 
 
20 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 backward. He struck at it, right and left, half- 
 arm hits, with all the strength of a man inured 
 to the hardships of the bush and to long hours 
 of heavy work. In front of him the head jerked 
 from side to side; sometimes he hit it, sometimes 
 he hit the iron wall behind, but mostly he hit the 
 dark, blood-stained face. 
 
 When he was pulled off by half a dozen strong 
 hands, the head hung limply and the body of 
 his enemy slid sideways into a heap. Half sob- 
 bing, half choking with excitement, he asked if 
 any one else wanted to take him on. Then, sud- 
 denly ashamed of his boastfulness, he made off 
 towards his room. 
 
 For some minutes the spectators of this last 
 scene stood about in groups discussing the various 
 points shown by Sherwin and his antagonist. 
 Previous brawls were remembered and compari- 
 sons made. There came about a marked change 
 of feeling in Sherwin's favour; now that he had 
 proved himself, they were prepared to laugh at and 
 rather like his boastfulness and excitability. In 
 one of these groups was a small fat man neatly 
 dressed in a well-cut white suit. He was a gov- 
 ernment official, and was at that moment on the 
 lookout for an overseer and stockman for an island 
 some miles from the mainland. 
 
 Kanna Island, a long thin stretch of limestone 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 21 
 
 rock, covered partially by sand-dunes and swept 
 by all the winds, had been set apart as a Govern- 
 ment Hospital for Sick Natives, and Mr. Stair 
 had been directed to look out for a man who 
 would look after stock, and who could if neces- 
 sary take on and knock to pieces any refractory 
 nigger. In Sherwin he saw precisely what he 
 needed. A man with that amount of physical 
 strength and nervous force should, if he could 
 gather sufficient self-assurance, be well fitted for 
 the work. Besides, being an Englishman, he 
 would be more likely to take up work involving 
 loneliness and isolation, such work as a New 
 Irelander would naturally shy at. There was no 
 doubt the post had its disadvantages, and he might 
 have difficulties in finding the right man. On the 
 other hand, the pay was high, and it was worth 
 while seeing what the red-haired fellow had to say. 
 He hung about, waiting for Sherwin to make his 
 appearance. 
 
 That evening found the two men seated together 
 in the private bar, drinking whiskies and smoking 
 cigars provided by the fat man. They had spent 
 the last half hour together, and friendly relations 
 had been established in all directions, and now 
 Mr. Stair had taken him aside to make a business 
 proposition. "You don't happen to be out of 
 work, do you? If you are, I can put you in the 
 
22 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 way of a good job. A good job with high pay. 
 It's just the thing for a man like you. There's 
 nothing against it save that you may be a bit lonely 
 at first." 
 
 "What sort of a job?" asked Sherwin. 
 
 "I'll tell you about it. I daresay you've heard 
 of this new scheme of the Government's about 
 making a native hospital on Kanna and Fenton 
 Islands. The idea is to catch all the sick natives 
 and put them on these islands, and cure them, or 
 anyway prevent them spreading their diseases to 
 the others. The women are to be on Fenton 
 Island and the men on Kanna. On Kanna they 
 are going to start a sheep and cattle station ; they 
 want some one to look after it and at the same 
 time to keep discipline among the natives. A 
 great many of them will be well enough to work 
 on the station and will do any odd jobs that the 
 doctor may want doing for the hospital. Don't 
 be in a hurry to say whether you'll take it or 
 whether you won't. There's good pay, three 
 pounds a week and a house, a good house, pro- 
 vided and food, so you'd have no expenses, and 
 there's a native servant to cook for you and look 
 after you. Not one of these aborigines, but a 
 Solomon boy who can talk English well and is 
 a good cook. Dr. Hubbard has a house on the 
 island and will spend half his time there and 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 23 
 
 half on Fenton, where the Government have built 
 a big' hospital, and put in a couple of nurses. 
 They say they're going to build a big place on 
 Kanna Island too, so you may not be long with- 
 out company." 
 
 "What about the natives? Are they infec- 
 tious?" asked Sherwin. 
 
 "Oh, there's no fear of your getting anything. 
 You'll only have to do with those that are conva- 
 lescent, to see they do their work and that sort of 
 thing. Not the least danger. Don't you fret 
 about that," laughed Mr. Stair. 
 
 Sherwin was silent for a few moments. No 
 doubt the offer was a tempting one. "Three 
 pounds a week, you say, and the house, and all 
 provisions included? Well, I reckon I can 
 make the niggers do as I tell them. I can always 
 get on well with niggers." Then, after a pause, 
 "What sort of a man is the doctor?" 
 
 "Dr. Hubbard's a very nice fellow, very popular 
 with every one. Of course both islands are under 
 his charge, and you'll have to take orders from 
 him. You'll find him a very nice, easy-going fel- 
 low." Mr. Stair looked hard at his man, then 
 added, "I may tell you that, if you take the job, 
 your pay starts from the time you sign on, and 
 you won't have to cross for another fortnight or 
 so, when Mr Hall, the Under-Secretary of the 
 
24 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 Aborigines Department, is going over with a batch 
 of some forty niggers." 
 
 Besides the good pay and the comfortable quar- 
 ters, there was something in the strangeness of 
 the job that attracted Sherwin. The thought 
 pleased him that he would be ruler on his own 
 island. He would be able to work when he liked 
 and stop work when he liked. He would have his 
 own servant and his own house, and would be in 
 a more independent position than any he had 
 been in since he had entered New Ireland. They 
 sat late into the evening, Sherwin asking excited 
 questions about the island and receiving always 
 satisfactory and promising answers. Before they 
 rose he had signed an agreement, stating that for 
 the next six months he would take the position of 
 stockman and foreman on Kanna Island. 
 
 By the time the agreement was signed both men 
 had drunk a good deal of whisky. They were in 
 high spirits and very pleased with themselves and 
 the world in general. Several other men had 
 joined them, and the row of the afternoon seemed 
 to be forgotten. Mr. Stair — they always called 
 him ''Mr.," not out of deference but because he 
 was small and fat — was very well pleased to have 
 secured his man and now found occasion to be 
 facetious at Sherwin's expense. 
 
 'T hope you don't take much interest in the 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 25 
 
 petticoats? You won't find many of the fair sex 
 on Kanna Island." 
 
 Sherwin answered with a grunt. 
 
 "Ah, I see," continued Mr. Stair, "he's one of 
 the pious kind; he doesn't take no interest in 
 women." 
 
 "You bet," laughed Sherwin, his pride touched 
 in a sore place, "I can walk down the street with 
 my hat on one side with the best of them." 
 
 Mr. Stair exploded in a drunken laugh, "By 
 God, I bet you can! Well, you had better make 
 the best of your time, for you won't find even a 
 black gin on Kanna Island." Then as if struck 
 by a happy idea, "Will you come and see what 
 the town can offer?" 
 
 "I don't mind if I do," said Sherwin, and the 
 two men went out. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE Government cutter, *'Shark," which 
 usually plied between the islands and the 
 mainland, was too small to carry the load 
 of natives, so a lugger of some thirty tons had 
 been chartered to take them over to Kanna Island. 
 The ''Sea Gull" had been used for many years as 
 a pearling lugger on the northern coast, but about 
 two years back had run on a mud-flat with a heavy 
 cargo, and was thought to be done for. She was 
 sold by auction for a few pounds, and then a gale 
 had come with a strong spring-tide and washed her 
 off. Her new owner let her out to carry cargo 
 from one coastal port to another. She was now 
 anchored two miles out to sea under shelter of the 
 outermost mud-flat. Her freight of natives was 
 already on board, and she was only waiting for 
 the white men who, it had been arranged, should 
 come on board the first thing in the morning. But 
 a strong easterly breeze had sprung up, which 
 had made embarking from the pier impossible. 
 
 The town of Kaimera is situated at the mouth 
 of a big river, that, in the wet season, sweeps its 
 
 26 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 27 
 
 sediment far out to sea, forming mud-flats that 
 make it impossible for boats of any size to come 
 in to shore. A pier two miles long has been 
 run out across the mangrove swamps, and reaches 
 to deep water. Against this large ships can lie 
 up, but any smaller boat is afraid to go near in 
 rough weather for fear of being beaten against 
 the piles. For this reason the "Sea Gull" had 
 been compelled to seek shelter under the lee of the 
 outermost mud-bank. 
 
 The only way for Sherwin and Mr. Hall, the 
 Under-Secretary of the Aborigines Department, 
 to reach her was to sail out in an old ship's boat 
 that was generally used for provisioning the 
 "Shark.'' Pomfrey, the captain of the "Shark," 
 was to take them out and bring the boat back. 
 
 Both men were annoyed at this unexpected de- 
 lay, and were anxious to make a start, but Pom- 
 frey was not to be hurried; he was too old a 
 sailor to be unduly stirred by a couple of lands- 
 men, and he knew well that the situation was in 
 his hands, and that at any rate it would be a 
 longer job than they supposed, with the breeze 
 coming straight from the sea. At last the boat 
 was loaded with her cargo of packing-cases, and 
 then Sherwin's boxes were bundled in, and he 
 and Mr. Hall had to run through the waves and 
 jump aboard as best they could. 
 
28 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 Perched on the boxes, and shielding themselves 
 from the spray with an old sail, they had a long, 
 wet time of it, full five hours, and were kept con- 
 stantly on the move, having to crawl under the 
 boom every time the boat tacked. 
 
 Pomfrey seemed to enjoy their slow passage, 
 though he constantly cursed at the boat for making 
 so much lee-way. He looked a fine figure of a 
 man, with his white hair and whiskers blown by 
 the wind, and his watery blue eyes looking keenly 
 out of his red babyish face. All his life he had 
 lived on the sea, though some years earlier he had 
 been disqualified from any responsible command 
 on account of his habit of drunkenness. His feet, 
 that were wedged against the boxes to hold him 
 firm in his seat, looked hardly like the feet of a 
 man for they had become much swollen through 
 constant exposure to the sun and the salt water, 
 and were spread out sideways like the termina- 
 tions of some sea-monster. All the latter part of 
 the journey Sherwin was nervous and ill at ease, 
 for capfuls of green water kept coming over the 
 side of the boat, and it seemed to him quite prob- 
 able that, with their heavy cargo, the boat would 
 suddenly drop away from beneath their feet. In- 
 deed, by the time they reached the lugger, the 
 boat was half full of water, and the old man ad- 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 29 
 
 mitted that in another ten minutes she'd have 
 foundered. 
 
 On the lugger a strange sight awaited them; all 
 the hatches were open, and in the shallow hold 
 were standing some forty natives, pressed close 
 together, their heads just coming above the level 
 of the deck. They looked miserable and suffer- 
 ing pieces of humanity, and from their close- 
 packed bodies came a pungent odour w^hich per- 
 meated the whole boat, and which even the sea- 
 breeze could not dispel. 
 
 *'By God, don't they stink!" ejaculated Sher- 
 win, as he viewed for the first time the men whom 
 he was to discipline. 
 
 "It's not so much the niggers, though I don't 
 say they haven't got a smell of their own, but it's 
 the Sithi," said Pomfrey. "This boat's been Sithi 
 collecting, and when once a boat's carried a cargo 
 of them, she'll never get rid of the smell. You'll 
 have a pleasant voyage of it," he added, cheer- 
 fully. "I wouldn't be surprised if it took you 
 twenty- four hours to get across in this head- 
 wind." 
 
 "And what are Sithis?" queried Sherwin. 
 
 "A sort of pearl shell, that they make buttons 
 of," said the old sailor. "There used to be 
 plenty of them on the coral reefs about here. It's 
 
30 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 a conical-shaped shell, and fetches just now about 
 twenty pounds a ton. You can never get the fish 
 out of them altogether. A little bit breaks off at 
 the far end, and that goes bad and stinks. When 
 once they've been on board, it takes a long time 
 to get the stink out of a boat." 
 
 The natives were indeed in miserable condition. 
 They had been on board all night, and as most of 
 them had never seen the sea before, they were very 
 much frightened. Of necessity they were chained 
 together by light chains that went round their 
 necks. Sherwin, who soon found that one or two 
 of them could talk pidgin English, spoke to them 
 in a friendly manner, trying to assure them 
 that they would soon get to a comfortable camp 
 and plenty of tucker. They grinned miserably, 
 but were pleased that any one should take no- 
 tice. 
 
 When the boxes and packing-cases were ar- 
 ranged on the deck, there was little room left for 
 the men. The skipper, a Dutchman, swore that 
 he had never carried a worse cargo, and that noth- 
 ing would induce him to carry one like it again. 
 Of the journey Sherwin remembers very little, ex- 
 cept that he was very sick, and that all the latter 
 part of the time he slept on the anchor, to which 
 he was securely hitched by a friendly seaman, who 
 saw that he was in danger of rolling into the sea. 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 31 
 
 The natives were also very sick and frightened, 
 and they were all glad enough to get into calm 
 water the next morning and to see the coast stretch 
 before them in a long line of broken cliffs and 
 sandy beaches. 
 
 Kanna Island is eighteen miles long running 
 north and south. It is not more than a mile wide 
 at its widest. Of the same shape and direction 
 is Fenton Island, which lies to the southward of 
 Kanna and is separated from it by a narrow 
 though deep channel. The east coast is rough 
 and precipitous ; against it break the rollers of the 
 Pacific. On the western coast there are broken 
 cliffs and shelving beaches that lead down to 
 calm water. 
 
 The two islands together form a barrier that 
 encloses and protects Dolphins Bay from the 
 ocean rollers. Towards the north point of 
 Kanna, some two miles from the north cape, the 
 Government have made a rough hospital for male 
 natives. The buildings are placed well and shel- 
 tered by sand-hills, and a long narrow inlet offers 
 a good mooring. On Fenton Island there is only 
 one possible landing place and that is far to the 
 southward. Here a large hospital for women has 
 been built. Between the two settlements there is 
 a distance of some thirty miles or more. 
 
 The lugger now stood in for the bay near the 
 
32 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 north point, where two houses could be seen, look- 
 ing very large and important from the sea. 
 
 Now that they were in calm water, Sherwin 
 began once more to take an interest in the things 
 about him. The view of the island was by no 
 means unattractive. The houses looked comfor- 
 table and well-built, and he anticipated with 
 pleasure landing and making journeys of discov- 
 ery. 
 
 In a few minutes they had sailed in close under 
 the cliff, picked up the moorings and dropt sail; 
 then came the work of getting the natives ashore. 
 These poor fellows were in a miserable condition, 
 though they had remained silent and uncomplain- 
 ing. Most of them had been very sick and were 
 cramped from being so closely packed. One by 
 one they were lifted out of the hold, and then, in 
 sets of four, were sent ashore in the dinghy. 
 Sherwin and Mr. Hall were the last to be landed, 
 and they were met on the beach by Dr. Hubbard, 
 a kindly-looking, thick-set Englishman. Sher- 
 win's first impression of him was of a country 
 squire, somehow very much out of place; but 
 when the doctor squeezed and held his hand un- 
 necessarily long, he was oddly reminded of the 
 village vicar of his own school-boy days. After 
 greetings and questions about the natives, the doc- 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 33 
 
 tor asked Mr. Hall to come up to his house, and 
 told Sherwin that Coffee, the Solomon boy, would 
 prepare dinner for him at his own quarters. 
 
 The two houses were separated by a high sand- 
 hill; both faced westward over the harbour and 
 could be seen from the moorings; but it was not 
 possible, on account of the high sand-hills, to see 
 the doctor's from Sherwin's house. The first 
 taste of the long solitude that was to be his lot 
 came to Sherwin as he stood in the doorway of 
 his house and looked out across the white expanse 
 of the dunes; and later he found it curious to 
 remember how his sensation had been one of pleas- 
 ure at the thought of being alone. For the first 
 two days he was left very much to himself, for the 
 doctor and Mr. Hall, who seemed to be much 
 occupied at the hospital, did not trouble him with 
 a visit. He spent most of his time in exploring 
 the island and looking for the twenty-four head of 
 cattle and the three hundred sheep that had been 
 landed some three months earlier. He was 
 pleased with his first impressions of the land; it 
 was much better than he had anticipated. The 
 east coast was rocky and precipitous and of high 
 ground, which afforded shelter to the central and 
 western portions. These latter were covered with 
 bushes of myrtle, acacia, sandal-wood and low 
 
34 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 scrub of all descriptions, in and out of which 
 hopped wallabies and bandicoots. On the west 
 coast there were fine beaches, and it amused him 
 to watch the armies of long-legged crabs that every 
 evening marched along the sands. Of the cattle 
 he found no trace, save one bleached skeleton 
 caught on a ledge of rock half-way down a cliff. 
 He concluded that all the rest must have met their 
 end by falling over into the sea. The sheep and 
 goats were still there in wild flocks, that never let 
 him get within less than a quarter of a mile. 
 
 Mr. Hall stayed only two days, then, having 
 delivered his charge of natives into the doctor's 
 hands and having inspected the temporary hos- 
 pital that he had ordered to be built, he sailed 
 away back to civilization. 
 
 The morning after his departure the doctor 
 called at Sherwin's house and they went on to- 
 gether to the native camp. Thirty of the men 
 were well enough to do work; these Sherwin was 
 instructed to set to the making of roads. The hos- 
 pital was a very simple building. It consisted of 
 three walls made of tarred canvas and a corru- 
 gated iron roof. In it there were ten beds. In 
 the beds were sick natives, broken and hopeless 
 pieces of humanity who lay still all day and looked 
 out across the bleak expanse of sand-dunes, under 
 which they were destined to be buried, and 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 35 
 
 thought regretfully of their beloved and far-away 
 bush. Some other fifteen, who were not consid- 
 ered well enough for hard work, hung about and 
 did odd jobs and waited on those who lay in bed. 
 The doctor and Sherwin got on well together. 
 Every morning they went down to the native camp. 
 Sherwin would set the natives to work on road- 
 building and the doctor would be busy at the hos- 
 pital. At twelve o'clock the two men would go 
 down to the beach and bathe together. Then 
 they would go back to their respective houses. 
 Sherwin would have his dinner served to him at 
 half-past twelve, and the doctor would have his 
 at half-past one. This served to show their dif- 
 ference in status. The afternoons they spent at 
 their own sweet pleasure, lounging in their dif- 
 ferent ways. Sherwin lay on his bed and read 
 back numbers of magazines and newspapers, or 
 else walked out with a gun after wallabies, and 
 the doctor sat on the veranda of his house smok- 
 ing a pipe and writing in the journal that he sent 
 to his wife in Kaimera. After the evening meal, 
 the doctor would sometimes go round to Sherwin's 
 house and the two would walk along the beach 
 or sit talking on the veranda. The relation that 
 grew between them it would be difficult to define. 
 The doctor, when he remembered the conventional 
 view of their difference in status, felt that it was a 
 
36 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 condescension to spend so much time with a rough, 
 ill-educated man, but when he forgot the conven- 
 tional view, as he usually did, he was glad enough 
 of Sherwin's company and glad enough to take 
 his advice too. In fact, in a short time, it was 
 Sherwin who decided what was to be done on the 
 island. 
 
 Dr. Hubbard had not been a success in his pro- 
 fession. He had got the reputation for careless- 
 ness, and consequently his practice had suffered. 
 This indeed had been the cause of his taking his 
 present job, which was very little to his taste. 
 Sherwin, on his side, liked, though rather despised, 
 the doctor, and was very glad of his company. 
 He never forgot who was nominally the chief, but 
 at the same time managed to get his way. The 
 natives at once understood the situation, and one 
 and all looked upon Sherwin as their boss. 
 
 Weeks and months passed, and from time to 
 time Hubbard used to sail over in the "Shark" on 
 short visits to Fenton Island to the women's hos- 
 pital, which was looked after by his assistant, Mr. 
 James, and two nurses. While he was away, the 
 natives on Kanna Island looked after themselves, 
 as far as doctoring was concerned. It was in one 
 of these intervals that Sherwin decided to talk to 
 Coffee and find out what sort of a fellow he was. 
 So far he had taken little notice of the black, who 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 37 
 
 cooked well and kept the houses clean for the 
 white men, but beyond that showed no difference 
 from any other black boy. One evening, when 
 Sherwin was sitting at dusk on his veranda, he 
 shouted out to Coffee to come to him. The black 
 came noiselessly like a shadow. "Sit down," 
 commanded Sherwin. Coffee sat down. 
 
 For a while there was silence while the white 
 man puffed at his pipe; then suddenly he asked, 
 "What are you eating?" 
 
 "I not eat um anything." Coffee spoke pidgin 
 English, which he had picked up from the abo- 
 rigines. 
 
 "What are you chewing then?" 
 
 "I chew um Yangona root. Bymeby spit um 
 out. Mix um with water. Make um good 
 drink." Coffee produced a little bowl into which 
 he was spitting the chewed fragments of a white 
 root. "Country where I come from," Coffee went 
 on, "all the young girl chew um up and spit um 
 out; make um plenty good drink." 
 
 "What, you mean to say the girls chew this 
 stuff up, and then spit it out for you fellows to 
 make a drink of?" 
 
 "That's right, master." 
 
 "Well, I'm blowed! " said the white man; then, 
 after a pause, "What does it taste like?" 
 
 "Plenty good, master." 
 
38 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 It was in this way that Sherwin first learned 
 of Kava drinking. That evening he watched 
 Coffee make and drink a bowl full, and then 
 saw with what happiness and contentment he sat 
 smoking his pipe. Every evening after this, Cof- 
 fee used to come on to the veranda and make his 
 drink; Sherwin would talk to him and question 
 him about his own country. As time passed, his 
 first somewhat contemptuous curiosity gave place 
 to genuine interest in what the black fellow had 
 to say. Sometimes they sat for hours in silence, 
 thinking their separate thoughts of the different 
 lands they had come from. Above them was the 
 cloudless, star-glittering sky, and beneath the sky 
 the white sand-hills, and beyond the sand-hills the 
 long line of breakers upon the beach and beyond 
 them the dark, far-stretching sea. Sometimes 
 Sherwin was moved to get up and walk away by 
 himself. He felt the beauty and the solitude of 
 the place; and the pleasure he got from it made 
 him long the more passionately for his own land 
 and his own people. Wfien he returned, the black 
 figure would still be sitting silent and motionless 
 on the verandah. Night after night Coffee's dark 
 figure came quietly up the steps. He paused to 
 look at the white man, who sat smoking in a deck 
 chair, and, if Sherwin made no remark, stepped 
 noiselessly into the shadow of the door, sat him- 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 39 
 
 self upon the floor, his bowl between his feet, and 
 solemnly began to chew the dry white lump of 
 Yangona root. So quiet was it that the wallabies 
 would come into the house by the back-door, then 
 suddenly, Coming upon Coffee's squatting figure, 
 would leap over it in affright and shoot down the 
 steps and away into the scrub. 
 
 One evening Sherwin told Coffee to bring him 
 some of the Yangona. Instead of chewing the 
 roots, he rubbed them down to a fine pow^der on 
 a rough stone, then mixed the powder with water. 
 
 Coffee watched with keen interest. "That 
 right, master. That make up good drink, you 
 see!" 
 
 At first he did not like the new drink, but Coffee 
 urged him to persevere, and it was not long be- 
 fore he began to appreciate its pleasant after- 
 effects. Then he also learned to chew the root, 
 and the two would sit together every evening mak- 
 ing and consuming their separate drinks. With a 
 curious clearness and lightness in his head and 
 a feeling of heavy numbness in his legs, he would 
 sit contentedly listening to the noise of the dis- 
 tant waves beating on the shore. 
 
 As time went on, Hubbard's visits to Fenton 
 Island became more frequent and more pro- 
 longed, so that he was often away for three 
 weeks or more. At these times Sherwin had un- 
 
40 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 disputed control of all on the island. Every 
 morning he would set the natives to work, then 
 he would go down to the hospital and talk to the 
 sick blacks, and see that those who were supposed 
 to look after them did all that they were ordered. 
 He treated them with a friendly brutality which 
 they understood and rather liked. He never was 
 deliberately cruel, but would amuse himself and 
 them at the expense of any one who came par- 
 ticularly under his notice. For example, there 
 was one man with a diseased and twisted foot 
 who could not walk straight but could only shuffle 
 sideways. This man Sherwin would send on er- 
 rands and tell him to look sharp or ''he would skin 
 him alive," and then he would laugh to see him 
 shuffle off sideways in his endeavour to make 
 haste. 
 
 Coffee often came with Sherwin on his visits 
 to the camp, and seemed always to know exactly 
 what was expected. Often he would do what was 
 required without having received any orders. 
 He was like an intelligent dog who loves his mas- 
 ter and will do anything to please. Gradually 
 Sherwin began to feel his power. It was a new 
 and exciting sensation to feel that he had the 
 power of life and death over every man on the 
 island, and that Coffee for some unexplainable 
 reason was willing to do anything he was told. 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 41 
 
 The temptation to test his power came upon him 
 one morning, and he called out, "Coffee, you not 
 to eat anything all day. Do you hear?" "Yes, 
 master." "Not to eat anything till I tell you you 
 may. Do you understand?" "Yes, master." 
 
 That evening while he was eating his supper he 
 asked Coffee if he was hungry. "Little bit hun- 
 gry, master," and the black grinned shame- 
 facedly. Purposefully he left some meat on his 
 plate, and went the last thing at night to see if 
 Coffee had eaten it; but it was still there. The 
 next day he kept Coffee close to his side, and in 
 the evening again asked him if he were hungry. 
 "Yes, master, little bit hungry." Sherwin told 
 him to bring a plate. He divided his dinner in 
 -fialf. "Now sit down there on the floor and eat 
 that." 
 
 Coffee's obedience was from that moment con- 
 verted into a passionate devotion. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 ISOLATION and loneliness work strange 
 changes in a man. At first Sherwin had 
 enjoyed the sense of freedom that his posi- 
 tion had given, then as day followed day with its 
 inevitable monotony he had longed with an acute 
 and desperate longing for the comradeship of 
 other white men, and then as the weeks and months 
 went by he became reconciled to his isolation and 
 began to perceive the many compensations that his 
 position carried. There was little work to do 
 and very good pay. He tasted power and author- 
 ity over others for the first time, and these would 
 be difficult to give up. In fact, he became very 
 soon accustomed to the new way of life, and each 
 day that he stayed on the island he sank deeper 
 into the groove of habits worn by the regular re- 
 currence of events. When at the end of his first 
 six months he received a letter urgently pressing 
 him to stay on for another twelve months, he did 
 not find it difficult to consent. The one grievance 
 that he admitted to himself was that he was com- 
 pelled to live without the companionship of 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 43 
 
 women. Remembrance of past experience often 
 possessed him. Yes, he did want a woman, and 
 in this respect he thought enviously of Dr. Hub- 
 bard, whose longer visits to Fenton Island he at- 
 tributed to the presence of the nurses. He counted 
 up his money and calculated what he would have 
 in six months' time, and wondered whether he 
 would take a holiday and perhaps get married, or 
 at any rate persuade a woman to come back and 
 live with him. 
 
 It was about two months after he had decided 
 to stay on that new difficulties came into his 
 life; some of the most sick and decrepit of the 
 natives became fly-blown. Dr. Hubbard stayed 
 away often for weeks on end, and consequently the 
 natives were much neglected. Their wounds and 
 sores were left uncared for, and the flies that 
 buzzed ceaselessly about were able to settle on and 
 drop their eggs on the weaker patients, who had 
 not the energy to be always brushing them off. 
 Out of the eggs came small maggots, which ate 
 their way into the flesh and then grew into large 
 maggots, and the natives suffered. Even when 
 the doctor was on the island things were little 
 better, for, being a bom slacker, he was a man 
 who hated his position and took no pride in his 
 work. He looked upon the natives as a dying 
 race, and would often say, the sooner they died 
 
44 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 out the better. Besides, to have made things 
 really hygienic would have needed hard and sus- 
 tained effort, and this he was incapable of mak- 
 ing. Every now and then, to ease his conscience, 
 he would go down and chat friendlily with them 
 and dab their sores with some antiseptic, and 
 when one or other of them died, he would read 
 the burial service, while Sherwin stood by with his 
 hat off and Coffee filled in the grave he had dug. 
 It was not to the doctor that the natives learnt to 
 look in times of pain and distress but to Sherwin, 
 whom they saw every day, and whose natural feel- 
 ing of kindness prompted him to ease their dis- 
 tress. Whether the doctor was on the island or 
 not he would go down to the hospital every morn- 
 ing and pick the maggots out of the sufferers' 
 eyelids and wash and dress their wounds. 
 
 One day he happened to get a scratch on his 
 finger. At the time he thought little of it, but 
 instead of the wound healing, little yellow marks 
 formed at its edges, and he felt throbbing pains 
 in the upper arm and under the arm-pit. Then 
 his arm swelled and became unnaturally red, and 
 the wound on his finger grew larger and looked 
 worse every day. Sherwin was frightened, and, 
 since the doctor was away at Fenton Island, there 
 was no one to turn to in his distress. At first he 
 tried the simple though brutal remedy of scrub- 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 45 
 
 bing the place hard with soap and water and a 
 nail-brush. Then he went to the doctor's house 
 and broke open the medicine chest and applied 
 some of the antiseptic that he knew the doctor 
 used among the natives. Every day he dabbed 
 the place, and yet it grew worse and worse, and all 
 the time there was no sign of a sail. Three weeks 
 had passed since the doctor's departure, and Sher- 
 win told himself that any time now might see 
 him back. Every morning he would rise early 
 and climb to the top of the high sand-hill and look 
 eagerly southward in the hope of seeing the 
 longed-for triangle of white that would mark the 
 approach of the cutter ; but always he would walk 
 back to the house disappointed and gloomy. 
 
 The pain in his arm was now so great that at 
 night it would keep him tossing upon his bed un- 
 able to sleep, and his anxiety preying upon his 
 loneliness made him morose and sulky. He no 
 longer joked and amused himself with the natives, 
 but after having set them to work he would stand 
 by gloom.ily watching them and would curse at 
 any man who shirked or who did not instantly 
 obey. During this time Coffee served him hand 
 and foot, bore with his roughest tempers, and 
 seemed with uncouth grimness to sympathize with 
 all his complaints. Twenty times a day the white 
 man would send him on to the hill to look out 
 
46 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 for the hoped-for sail, and always he would re- 
 port: ^'Nothing, master. Not one yet. He 
 come by and bye." Sherwin would mutter to 
 himself cursing the doctor and the island and the 
 ill-luck that had brought him there. 
 
 Another week passed and yet no relief came. 
 Something instinctive prompted Sherwin to stick 
 to his work. Should he drop that, he might go 
 mad with exasperation and fear. He even stuck 
 to his gratuitous and self-imposed task of tend- 
 ing the sick natives. He felt more sorry for 
 them than ever before. They, like himself, were 
 injured by the doctor who neglected to do his 
 duty. Previously he had felt a kindly sort of 
 compassion and had been pleased to do anything 
 to lessen their sufferings. Now, he was bitterly 
 indignant ; he was a fellow-sufferer, and he cursed 
 from the bottom of his heart the easy-going Hub- 
 bard. 
 
 Sometimes when Sherwin was exasperated by 
 the constant throbbing in his arm, and tired of the 
 sight of his house and its untidy rooms, he would 
 take long walks over the island. With food in a 
 knapsack and a bottle of water he would often 
 walk twelve or thirteen miles from the settlement 
 and reach remote parts that probably had never 
 been trodden by human foot. To the north there 
 were stretches of high sand-dunes, bleak and 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 47 
 
 white, with only a few clumps of grass clinging 
 desperately to their edges. Here and there in the 
 valleys and levels between the hills were large 
 tracts of thick undergrowth, thorny and impene- 
 trable, about which red and white butterflies clung 
 and fluttered in thousands. And always the hot 
 sunlight blazed from a cloudless sky and the hot 
 wind blew by him to ruffle the magnificent expanse 
 of the lagoon which shimmered like a peacock's 
 tail in violets, greens and blues, in which porpoise 
 played and turtle leisurely paddled. He grew to 
 hate the sunlight and the calm beauty of the 
 changeful sea; there was in them a sublime and 
 almost aggressive indifference to his own suffer- 
 ings. The tranquillity of the lagoon was an in- 
 sult, and he would turn away to trudge wearily 
 over the burning sand that gave beneath his feet. 
 
 Once, when far away to the north cape, where 
 the land rose in high, precipitous cliffs, he came 
 upon a scene of which at most times he would 
 have taken small notice, but which now deeply 
 touched his imagination. Over the plateau of 
 dead coral at the base of the cliff the rollers of 
 the Pacific gathered and broke with tremendous 
 force, sending their spray in clouds over the island 
 to make rainbows with the sunshine. 
 
 On a ledge of rock about ten feet from the 
 summit of the cliff stood a sheep. It stood mo- 
 
48 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 tionless, its back close against the cliff, its eyes 
 gazing out over the sea. Alone upon an upstand- 
 ing pinnacle of rock perched an eagle, his gaze 
 fixed on the far horizon, his body motionless as 
 the crag upon which he sat. Sherwin knew that 
 they were waiting for the end. The sheep had 
 easily jumped down to the ledge upon which it 
 now stood, but found it impossible to get back. It 
 was waiting silently for its fate. Sherwin's in- 
 stant desire was to save the sheep, but in a mo- 
 ment he realized that even if he were able to 
 clamber down to the ledge of rock the poor beast 
 would be more frightened of him than of the eagle, 
 and would probably jump over into the sea. 
 There was no way in which it could be saved. 
 And after all why should he wish to save it? It 
 was only a miserable, half -starved sheep, all skin 
 and wool; the eagle had as good a right to it as 
 any other; and yet he was annoyed that the eagle 
 should sit there so cruelly waiting. He knew that 
 when the sheep became exhausted from lack of 
 food and water the great bird would drop silently 
 upon its body and pick out its eyes and then 
 tear at the bleeding eye-holes till it reached the 
 brain. He waved his arm and shouted loud above 
 the tumult of the waves. The eagle flapped its 
 great wings and rose in circles high into the air, 
 then, seeing that there was no real danger, re- 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 49 
 
 turned to its perch and continued its long vigil. 
 Sherwin turned away annoyed at his own emo- 
 tions. After all, it was only a common sheep; 
 why should he be concerned about its fate? And 
 yet at that moment he realized truths he had never 
 before realized. 
 
 After walking a few yards he checked and 
 stood in deep thought, looking at the waves as 
 they flung themselves impetuously at the cliff. It 
 seemed to him then that as they rose, gathered 
 volume, curled over and fell in spray, they were 
 speaking. It seemed as if they said that they 
 were indifferent to his existence, indifferent to his 
 new consciousness of them, that their motion was 
 powerful and everlasting, while his was weak, 
 crippled and easily broken, and that his emo- 
 tions and thoughts were but spray flung off from 
 waves of whose greatness he had never dreamed. 
 He muttered to himself, cursing at the doctor and 
 at the loneliness of the island. But it did not 
 somehow enter his mind that he would throw over 
 the whole of his present manner of life and re- 
 turn to civilization. He no longer thought of 
 that mode of escape. It would need now some 
 large external influence to disturb the even tenor 
 of his ways. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 OVER the calm expanse of a tropical sea 
 a light, warm breeze blew, ruffling the 
 waves and dappling the reflected moon- 
 light. The stillness of a tropical night hung over 
 the water and the blaze of the southern stars was 
 only slightly dimmed by a crescent moon that cast 
 its path of chequered reflections on a black and 
 shining sea. Here and there in the dark hollows 
 of the waves gleamed for an instant the phosphor- 
 escent form of some bell-shaped medusa. With a 
 faint splash a flying fish would occasionally leap 
 above the surface and flit, a thin and glimmering 
 luminary, above the ripples. All was hushed in 
 the calm beauty of the tropical night. Even the 
 great liner that drove its way northward seemed 
 to sit lightly on the water and be drawn forward 
 by some magical force. The yellow reflections 
 from the lighted port-holes and saloons fell 
 changeful and irregular on the rounded billows 
 that ran backward from the bows and stretched 
 on either side like the barbs of some huge arrow. 
 On the boat all was quiet, save for the steady 
 so 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 51 
 
 throb of the engines and the rhythmical rushing 
 of the water along the iron sides of the hull. 
 Some of the passengers sat in groups about the 
 deck, chatting and enjoying the stillness of the 
 night, others were playing bridge in the smoking- 
 room. The upper or boat-deck was empty, save 
 foi* a young man who leant over the forward rail. 
 From where he stood he looked down on the dark 
 triangle of the fore-castle, that seemed held mirac- 
 ulously above the water that rushed by on either 
 side. The wind blew easily through his thin silk 
 clothes, and it gave him a keen pleasure to feel 
 it touch every part of his body. For a time it 
 amused him to follow with his eyes the streaming 
 and incessant movements of the water, then he 
 turned and watched the crew of Malays and 
 Chinamen who sat in little groups on the for'castle 
 deck. Some played cards, some talked in quick 
 emphatic tones and some, like himself, idly 
 watched the passage of the black and glittering 
 sea. 
 
 Down on the lower deck amongst all those peo- 
 ple he had felt cramped and stifled. Life was 
 pushing too violently through his veins to allow 
 him to suffer quietly the trite commonplaces of 
 after-dinner conversation. The solemn and ma- 
 jestic quiet of the tropical night was too great a 
 novelty to be let pass without tribute. Out there 
 
52 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 in the yielding darkness he could conjure with all 
 his imaginations and ambitions. Here he could 
 push out into the spaciousness of life itself. It 
 lay before him wide and hopeful. With a burn- 
 ing ardour for his work, a work that he had 
 mastered and in which he knew himself to be 
 efficient, he felt himself well equipped to enter 
 and probe its mysteries. 
 
 At Victoria University Dr. Hicksey had been a 
 brilliant student, had obtained scholarships and 
 honours, and at the age of twenty-five had taken 
 his doctor's degree. Later he had done research 
 in tropical diseases and now had applied for per- 
 mission to go to Kanna and Fenton Islands to 
 study the condition of the sick natives. He looked 
 forward to the fine opportunities that he would 
 have; an open field for research, free from con- 
 trol. He would be able to do all the experiments 
 he desired, he was free, entirely his own master, 
 and thoroughly equipped for the enterprise. His 
 work opened a vast unexplored country. There 
 were high mountain ranges, with rough winds of 
 inspiration blowing among their crests, and from 
 the mountain tops there would be horizon beyond 
 horizon stretching to the limit of human percep- 
 tion, and there one day his feet might be destined 
 to walk. He was happy in the promising vision 
 of his future, in the knowledge that he was young 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 53 
 
 and well equipped, and in the flattering belief that 
 he was master of his own fate. 
 
 Gradually, as the ship urged forward through 
 the dark water, there came into sight the lights 
 of the distant port of Kaimera. At first they 
 looked like a string of yellow sparks blown from 
 a furnace, and slowly, very slowly, as the boat 
 approached, they outlined the long length of the 
 pier and showed in gleaming squares the windows 
 of houses. The news that land was in sight 
 spread quickly through the ship, and passengers 
 and crew alike seemed to vibrate to a sudden stim- 
 ulus. 
 
 The arrival in port after a long journey will 
 touch the dullest traveller with a sense of excite- 
 ment. The whole ship's company will leap from 
 a kind of comatose doze into the keenest life and 
 activity. Besides the fact that there are friends 
 to be said good-bye to, and new friends to be met, 
 there is always the sensation of discovery of new 
 lands. But, apart from the feeling of the pas- 
 sengers, and the fact that the long monotony of 
 the sea has been broken, the whole routine of the 
 ship alters. The crew seem miraculously to in- 
 crease in numbers, meals are served at irregular 
 times, stewards scurry about the decks, and every- 
 one is shaken, whether they will or no, out of the 
 quiet and indolent mood of a sea-passage. And 
 
54 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 then the crowd of strange people, who jostle on 
 board as soon as the first gangway is lowered, 
 bring with them a wave of excitement — the ex- 
 citement of a crowd all touched by the same emo- 
 tion ; a sense of the mystery of the sea that is em- 
 bodied in the ship, which comes with cargoes of 
 strange goods, with messages from far cities, 
 which is in itself a complex and teeming centre of 
 human life. 
 
 The young doctor, who by this time had been 
 joined by several other passengers on the upper 
 deck, experienced that happy and tumultuous ex- 
 citement that comes with the first touch of a new 
 experience. This was his first entry into the 
 tropics. He had unreasoning expectations that 
 the land, the plants, and the beasts, yes, and the 
 very dust of the earth, would be endowed with 
 some indeterminate quality of sweetness and 
 power. This was the threshold of a new life. As 
 he now waited, surrounded by a number of eager 
 faces, while the black length of a boat came slowly 
 against the pier, life throbbed wonderfully in 
 everything that he touched and saw. Every epi- 
 sode called to him to live thoroughly and to take 
 what was so bountifully offered. The world was 
 splendidly his own, he had only to take the good 
 things that it presented. 
 
 At the end of the jetty there was already a 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED ^^ 
 
 crowd assembled. For to the inhabitants of Kai- 
 mera the arrival of a mail-steamer was the event 
 that broke the week's monotony. Everyone who 
 could afford the time would go down by the train 
 that ran out the three miles of jetty to the land- 
 ing-place, and there wait to hurry on board the 
 ship as soon as the gangways were down. Hick- 
 sey was one of the first passengers to win his way 
 through this upward pushing stream of humanity. 
 He was eager to be off that limited space of deck 
 on which he had been confined for the last ten 
 days. He walked along the side of the black hull 
 and looked up at the white glare of the electric 
 arc lamps used for unlading. At his back the 
 jetty was packed high with iron-gripped packets of 
 pressed wool ; twenty-five thousand pounds' worth 
 waiting for the next cargo steamer. He strolled 
 to mid-ships and clambered into a nook three 
 tiers high, on the wool-packets. Here, sheltered 
 from the wind, he lay full length and watched the 
 intense and varied life of the steamer. On the 
 lower deck Chinese and Siamese sailors were hur- 
 rying to and fro carrying the white cloth mail- 
 bags. White men in stiff india-rubber collars 
 were standing here and there gossiping, and 
 through the windows of the refreshment room he 
 saw the filling of glasses. He watched the people 
 hustling past one another, and saw the meeting of 
 
56 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 a strong, fine-looking Malay and a young Siamese 
 boy, with long hair and bare shoulders. The 
 man for a moment laid a hand on the boy's throat 
 and passed the fingers of his other hand through 
 his black locks. The boy turned with a smile and 
 a light musical laugh. He watched the man's 
 eyes follow him out of sight. At the forward 
 hatch the Chinese sailors were getting the donkey- 
 engine started; above them an electric arclight 
 flashed, now off, now on, irregularly lighting up 
 their almost naked bodies. The upper deck was 
 empty save for a respectably dressed Englishman 
 who was engaged in an awkward flirtation with a 
 young woman in a red jersey. All these varied 
 manifestations of life delighted the young doctor. 
 He was glad to feel that for the time at any rate 
 he was free from all the worries and occupations 
 of the town, that he was just a loafer upon a wharf, 
 glad to witness such diverse evidences of vivid, 
 sensuous life. 
 
 A whistle blew a five minutes' warning. The 
 visitors began to leave the ship. A girl, one of 
 his fellow-passengers, who stood by herself on 
 the upper deck, saw Hicksey where he crouched 
 on the wool-packets and waved her handkerchief. 
 The wind blew her light garment about her; she 
 stood fronting it as if to feel its close embrace, 
 conscious of and enjoying every inch of her body. 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 57 
 
 He waved her an answering good-bye that had in 
 it all the joy and none of the regret of departure, 
 then jumped down amongst the crowd and shoul- 
 dered his way toward the train. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE morning after his arrival in Kaimera 
 Dr. Hicksey went in search of Mr. Pom- 
 frey, the captain of the "Shark." He 
 was told that the old man had his quarters at 
 Flin's Hotel, a little drinking shanty on the 
 beach. When he asked the host where Mr. Pom- 
 frey was he was received with a silent stare, and 
 then, after some moments of critical inspection, 
 was told that Pomfrey was not yet up, and wasn't 
 likely to be for some time. 
 
 Hicksey was all keenness to get across to the 
 islands and was not to be put off. ''What! 
 is he still asleep at eleven o'clock?" he asked. 
 ''Where's his room?" 
 
 Again the man considered before he spoke. 
 "His room's at the back, number seventeen. You 
 can go through if you like. He's been drunk on 
 and off for tke last week; you won't get much 
 change out of him." 
 
 Hicksey walked down a long passage and then 
 came upon an open courtyard, round which were 
 a number of jerry-built shanties, most of which 
 had the glass broken in the windows and looked as 
 
 58 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 59 
 
 if they had not been cleaned since the day they 
 were put up. He rapped on the door of number 
 seventeen, but, getting no answer, pushed his way 
 in. On a very dirty bed lay the old seaman in 
 shirt and trousers. He was fast asleep, and his 
 face was red and puffy. Hicksey shouted his 
 name, but received no response; then he shook 
 him, but could get nothing, not even a grunt, out 
 of the sleeping man. After further efforts, all to 
 no effect, he gave it up as useless. As he passed 
 out through the bar the man laughed, asking what 
 he had got out of the old chap. "You found him 
 a bit raddled, did you? There's not much chance 
 of you getting him to move for a week or more." 
 
 Hicksey walked back to his hotel in a hot wind- 
 storm of driving dust. He was angry at this first 
 failure and at the prospect of having to waste 
 his time in so squalid and uninteresting a town. 
 
 Kaimera is not a very charming place. Like 
 many other colonial towns it consists of rows of 
 iron houses painted red brown, with white-washed 
 roofs. The only green things that grow are the 
 pepper trees planted in long lines in the streets, 
 and here and there an agave. Behind the town 
 are endless flats of desert scrub, across which the 
 camel teams come, drawing huge wagons of wool 
 from the interior. To the north there is a dried- 
 up bed of a river, with here and there water-holes, 
 
6o WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 round which cluster a few trees — white gums and 
 acacias. The sun beats down hot and straight, 
 throwing a glare and shimmer of heat over every- 
 thing. When the west wind blows it brings sand 
 and heat off the desert, and the east wind comes 
 laden with clouds of mosquitoes from the swamps. 
 
 For a man of Hicksey's character inactivity in 
 such a place was intolerable; so in the afternoon 
 he made another attempt on Flin's hotel. This 
 time after severe punching and shaking he got the 
 old man to grunt and sit up on his bed. 
 
 "Well, and what do you want, young man?" 
 Mr. Pomfrey demanded, blinking at him with his 
 bleared blue eyes. 
 
 "I want you to take me across in the * Shark' to 
 Fenton Island, as you have orders to do. T want 
 to get away at once, and not stay here wasting 
 my time while you sleep off your drunkenness." 
 
 "Yes, the 'Shark,' " growled the old man, and 
 as if he had closed the discussion shut his eyes. 
 
 Hicksey shook him roughly. "Look here, I'm 
 not going to stand this nonsense. You've got to 
 take me across as you are under orders to do." 
 
 Mr. Pomfrey raised himself with a spark of 
 annoyance. "Young man, who's in charge of the 
 'Shark,' you or I? I've got a lot of cargo to take 
 aboard. I'll have to pole it out on a punt, and I 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 61 
 
 can't do it till a mate of mine comes back to help 
 me. 
 
 ''Is it a job that needs two men?" demanded 
 Hicksey. 
 
 "Yes, I couldn't do it by myself." 
 
 "Well, I'll help you; we'll do it together." 
 
 "I don't think you could do that sort of job; 
 it's a long wet job." 
 
 "Whatever it is, I'll do it. I want to get off 
 to-morrow. I shall be round here at eight o'clock 
 and shall expect to find you up. We'll tackle 
 the work together. Where are these things you 
 have to put aboard?"' 
 
 "They're in a store-house at the back." Then 
 the old sailor added with a chuckle: "Aren't you 
 afraid of the water snakes?" 
 
 "I'm not afraid of anything except wasting my 
 time. How many cases are there? I'll have a 
 look at them, and, if necessary, get a man to help 
 us load them." 
 
 "About a dozen or so." 
 
 "Very well, I'll see you in the morning," said 
 Hicksey, and went out, leaving the old man to 
 finish his sleep. He stopped in the bar for some 
 minutes and reported his interview to the host, 
 who was now less taciturn and seemed to take in- 
 terest in the young man's direct manner of attack, 
 
62 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 Then, to establish good feeling, Hicksey stood 
 drinks all round, and ordered three bottles of the 
 best brandy, saying that he expected to find Pom- 
 frey sober the next morning. 
 
 The following . day they had not very much 
 difficulty in getting started. The punt, an enor- 
 mously heavy vessel of wood, was dragged in 
 close to the shore and provisions were piled on 
 board. When she was fully loaded the two men 
 began poling her out towards the "Shark," that 
 lay anchored three-quarters of a mile from the 
 shore. It was harder work than the doctor had 
 anticipated, for the current kept turning the boat 
 round, and she was a most unwieldy craft to man- 
 age. For an hour they worked hard, the work 
 becoming more difficult as they got into deeper 
 water. ''We'd better get in and swim," sug- 
 gested Pomfrey; "that is, if you aren't afraid of 
 the water snakes, and I never yet knew them to 
 bite anybody, though some do say they are very 
 poisonous." 
 
 The water snakes were indeed very real crea- 
 tures, and not, as the doctor had imagined, legend- 
 ary animals. He had already seen two or three of 
 them in the muddy water. They were bright yel- 
 low and black in colour and from four to eight 
 feet long. There was, however, nothing for it but 
 to follow Pgmfrey's example and climb over the 
 
WHEKE BONDS ARE LOOSED 63 
 
 edge. He kept on his silk trousers in a sort of un- 
 reasoning hope that they would prevent the snakes 
 from biting, but the rest of his clothes he left in the 
 punt. They swam one on each side, pushing the 
 old boat in front. From that moment they began 
 rather to like one another, and when on the way 
 over the doctor showed no signs of sea-sickness, 
 but took his turn at sailing, the old sailor forgave 
 him his domineering manners of the previous day. 
 After a fair passage the ''Shark" stood in to- 
 wards the coast of Fenton Island as the sun sank 
 behind her into the sea. The shadow of her sail, 
 a blue patch upon the water, stretched far ahead 
 of the little craft, and the line of the ragged cliffs 
 reflected the sunlight and shone like red copper. 
 The sand beaches blazed, a fringe of gold, and the 
 waves, limpid and clear, enclosed within their 
 hollows flitting lights of green and yellow ame- 
 thyst. The men on the cutter had been silent for 
 the last hour. They experienced in the blazing 
 beauty of the tropical evening that delicate and 
 rare poise between physical well-being and spirit- 
 ual contentment. For the time they were content 
 to live wholly in themselves, happy to feel the free- 
 dom of the sea, the sunshine, and the wind, and to 
 know themselves more personally in touch with the 
 primitive forces of life than when in the bustle 
 and tumult of the town. 
 
64 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 Hicksey was at the tiller steering for the mouth 
 of the harbour. Now and then the boat bent her- 
 self to the wind and the water rippled more noisily 
 under her keel. As they neared the moorings 
 Pomf rey broke the silence : 
 
 "Do you think you can bring her up close to the 
 buoy while I grab it with the hook?'' 
 
 "Yes, I think I can manage," said Hicksey, as 
 he looked keenly ahead. 
 
 "Stand ready to let go the jib when I tell you," 
 shouted Pomfrey to the man Tony, who was his 
 second in command and constituted the whole crew 
 of the "Shark," being cook and man of odd jobs 
 combined; a strange, silent being who never 
 washed and who hardly ever went ashore. When 
 unoccupied Tony would sit and w^atch the con- 
 stant moving of the waves, and seemed to have 
 outlived all ambition or desire. 
 
 "Let her go ! " The jib fell and the boat swung 
 close to the bobbing buoy. 
 
 "I see you know how to sail, sir," said the old 
 man with enthusiasm. "Now pull in the main- 
 sail." 
 
 In less than thirty seconds the boat was changed 
 from a free live flying creature to a hull stripped 
 bare and chained. The men had as suddenly 
 sprung from their dreams back into active life, and 
 now busied themselves in making things ship- 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 65 
 
 shape. When all was in order and the sails 
 corded they sat down to wait the coming of the 
 dinghy. 
 
 "Beautiful water here," said Pomfrey, looking 
 into its clear depths. The boat was moored in 
 about three fathoms, and the water was so clear 
 that in the evening light the white sandy bottom, 
 with here and there black patches of seaweed float- 
 ing on it, was clearly visible. 
 
 "I think I shall have a bathe," said Hicksey. 
 "I feel dirty from the water in the river." 
 
 *'Are you not afraid of the sharks?" 
 
 "Ah, I wouldn't dive in here for anything," said 
 Tony, full of apprehension. "I've seen as many 
 as ten of them all swimming about this very 
 place." 
 
 "If I don't think of the sharks, they won't think 
 of me," said the doctor, as he stripped off his shirt. 
 
 Pomfrey chuckled at the young man. "Can 
 you dive well?" he asked. 
 
 "Fairly well." 
 
 "Then come here, will you, for a minute. Do 
 you see that round thing? That's an anchor I lost 
 here about six weeks ago. Do you think you 
 could bring it up?" 
 
 "Yes, I think I can. I'll try." 
 
 "Take a rope down and make it fast. You will 
 find it too heavy to lift." 
 
66 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 "All right. I'll just have a swim round first." 
 The freshness of the water made him feel ready 
 for any adventure. He shouted with delight as 
 the cool, delicious stuff swirled about his limbs. 
 Then, driving the breath out of his body, he struck 
 down to the sea floor, found the anchor, and made 
 fast the rope. 
 
 When once more he clambered over the edge 
 of the cutter Tony regarded him as some one back 
 from the dead, as a being hardly human. "I tell 
 you I wouldn't have dived in there for ten 
 pounds," he repeated. 
 
 This was the first of the reckless deeds that gave 
 Hicksey the reputation of utter fearlessness. As 
 Pomfrey often repeated: "He's afraid of noth- 
 ing, that young man, except wasting his time. 
 That's what he told me when I first met him, and 
 that's truth." 
 
 In a few minutes the dinghy arrived, and Hick- 
 sey went on shore with Mr. James, a neat and 
 rather smug-looking young man of twenty-one, 
 who was medical assistant at the hospital. Mr. 
 James had been a grammar school boy, who from 
 his earliest youth had cherished the ambition of 
 becoming a doctor. Unfortunately he was unable 
 to pass any of his exams, and so was glad enough 
 to accept a position of assistant and bottle-washer 
 at the island hospital. 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 67 
 
 By the time they reached the beach the light had 
 almost gone out of the sky. Just a few lines of 
 red showed above the horizon. These were re- 
 flected in the shining wet sand and were caught on 
 the crests of the mauve and deep blue ripples. Up 
 the beach armies of yellow crabs, poised high on 
 long legs, scuttled about, popping in and out of 
 their holes. Dr. Hubbard had come down to the 
 beach together with the two nurses. Hicksey in- 
 troduced himself, and briefly explained the object 
 of his visit, and presented his letters of introduc- 
 tion from the head of the aborigines department. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 FROM the very first there was a natural an- 
 tipathy between the two doctors. Hub- 
 bard felt instinctively that the keen, ener- 
 getic-looking young man would disturb his quiet, 
 the quiet of the island life that he was beginning to 
 enjoy; for though he was constantly grumbling at 
 his exile from civilization he had grown to love 
 the slow and easy life. He loved the little house 
 sheltered by the sand-hills, and the little room in 
 which he and the two nurses and Mr. James took 
 their meals. Often he would stand by the window 
 and enjoy the view of the expanse of blue sea 
 arched over by a brilliant sapphire sky. He loved 
 his evening walks on the sands when the sea came, 
 lapping to his feet, while the dry scrub on the hill- 
 tops turned from yellow to green and from green 
 to mauve in the fading light. He loved his posi- 
 tion of unquestioned and uncriticized authority, 
 the weight that he felt his own words carried and 
 the pleasant feeling that he could always hold 
 forth without any fear of being contradicted. 
 And now, suddenly and unexpectedly, was landed 
 
 upon him this young man, who came straight from 
 
 68 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 69 
 
 a city hospital, and would probably hold modern 
 ideas as regards cleanliness and new up-to-date 
 theories. 
 
 The two men were physically and mentally of 
 very different types. Hicksey, a wiry, nervous 
 man, with a keen sensitiveness to life and a burn- 
 ing enthusiasm for his work, could never bring 
 himself to respect the lazy, somewhat stout and 
 easy-going, Hubbard. 
 
 As they walked up the beach together Hubbard 
 was wondering how he could best manage to slip 
 away and tidy up some of the grosser negligences 
 before Hicksey saw over the wards. 
 
 At the evening meal there was a feeling of con- 
 straint over the whole party. The women were 
 shy of the emphatic young man, who began the 
 conversation on an altogether wrong note by ask- 
 ing questions of a medical character. Hubbard 
 turned red and answered ponderously, trying to 
 lead the conversation back to lines of conventional 
 commonplace, and finally reminded him that the 
 evening meal was a social gathering and not a 
 time to discuss professional subjects. Hicksey's 
 cheeks flushed with annoyance, and he did not 
 speak for the remainder of the meal. He was full 
 of a fresh, untried ardour for his profession and 
 impetuous to get to work. Most of the night he 
 spent in unpacking his microscope and instru- 
 
70 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 ments, and in fitting up a room in which to work. 
 
 The hospital on Fenton Island was kept in bet- 
 ter order than the rough ward on Kanna Island. 
 There were two nurses always in attendance. 
 These, though not properly trained in the strict 
 sense of the word, had had a fair amount of expe- 
 rience and kept things moderately clean; and 
 James, in his inexperienced and untaught way, 
 was an enthusiast, and did his best to do what he 
 considered the right thing. In spite of these ef- 
 forts Hicksey found the place far below his stan- 
 dard of what a hospital should be, and in a very 
 short time he had summed Hubbard up as an in- 
 competent sluggard. He felt it almost as a per- 
 sonal affront that a man should make so little of 
 a good position and fine opportunities. He kept 
 his opinion, however, to himself, and was occupied 
 most of the time with his own work. But in spite 
 of his close application to his own interests it was 
 not long before he found that he was an intruder 
 in more ways than one. 
 
 The situation between the nurses and the two 
 men was already delicate and strained, and he did 
 not make things any easier by his presence. The 
 two women, both a little passe, showed more than 
 a motherly interest in James, who was flattered 
 though a little embarrassed by their regard. 
 They both also liked Hubbard for his easy-going 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 71 
 
 and pleasant geniality. But then they remem- 
 bered that he was a married man, and, although at 
 the back of their minds all manner of possible 
 eventualities may have lurked, they had learnt 
 from experience that it was not wise to disclose 
 certain half-admitted thoughts. Hubbard, on his 
 part, was fond of feminine adulation, and bid for 
 his share. Each of the four watched the others 
 narrowly, and all were careful not to commit 
 themselves. Into this nicely balanced situation 
 Hicksey came as an alien and disturbing force. 
 What most annoyed the women was that he took 
 no place in the figure, but remained a silent and, 
 they guessed, a critical spectator. It was humil- 
 iating too that they had to admit that he was 
 better-looking than Hubbard and more of a man 
 than James; in fact, obviously a better catch, and 
 yet he showed in neither of them the least interest. 
 They found that his presence soon became irk- 
 some, and they combined in a tacit dislike and 
 armed neutrality This soon developed into a 
 warfare of hostile looks. Hicksey tried not to 
 notice these, and believed that so long as he in- 
 terested himself entirely in his work he could steer 
 clear of any friction; but it was not long before 
 there happened one of those small incidents that 
 are the forerunners of a quarrel, and show dis- 
 cordant feelings beneath a calm exterior. 
 
72 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 On a sultry hot day, when the sun blazed upon 
 the iron roof of the hospital and the steamy at- 
 mosphere of the place was heavy with the smell 
 of natives and iodoform, on such a day, when 
 nerves are on the stretch and tempers are easily 
 lost, Hicksey, in walking through one of the 
 wards, happened to notice that Nurse Hilton did 
 not take the trouble to dip the instruments used 
 in the dressing of wounds into antiseptic before 
 using them on the next patient He walked up 
 close to her before she noticed that he was watch- 
 ing. 
 
 "Let me look at those instruments, nurse. You 
 haven't sterilized them. Don't you know your 
 business better than to do that sort of thing?" 
 
 ''I beg your pardon. Dr. Hicksey, but I don't 
 know whether that's any of your business. I'm 
 working under Dr. Hubbard, and he doesn't wash 
 his instruments every time, and I don't know why 
 I should." 
 
 "Don't answer me in that tone; you know per- 
 fectly well that absolute cleanliness is essential. 
 Dr. Hubbard, I am sure, would want you to be 
 particular in that respect, and I shall certainly 
 report you. Let me see you sterilize the things at 
 once." 
 
 "You had much better mind your own business, 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 73 
 
 Dr. Hicksey," snapped the nurse, reddening with 
 annoyance. 
 
 The young man made no reply but stood in si- 
 lence and saw that she did what he had instructed. 
 When he reported the case Hubbard hummed and 
 ha'ed and said that little negligences of that sort 
 would occur sometimes in the best hospitals, and 
 that they all had a great deal of work to perform 
 under very trying circumstances, and that it would 
 be better if Dr Hicksey left it to him to find fault, 
 as he was anxious not to upset the nurses in any 
 way. He added that it would be better if Dr. 
 Hicksey occupied himself exclusively with his own 
 work. Hicksey took the rebuke in silence, but felt 
 now all the more critical towards the management 
 of the hospital. 
 
 After this little incident the relations between 
 Hicksey and the other members of the staff be- 
 came strained. The two women, who from the 
 first had never liked him, were pointedly polite 
 and kept up an attitude of armed neutrality, 
 broken occasionally by a hostile look. Nurse 
 Hilton had told Nurse Toms of the episode in 
 the ward, and they had agreed that Dr. Hicksey 
 was an unpleasant, meddling young man, and 
 that it would have been far better if he had never 
 come to the island. She also told James; and in 
 
74 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 a very few days Hicksey found himself left much 
 to his own resources. He despised and disliked 
 Hubbard, and the two women waged against him 
 a petty feminine warfare. James was the only 
 person with whom he had much intercourse. 
 This young man, in spite of Nurse Hilton, could 
 not altogether dislike Hicksey. He recognized in 
 him a fellow-enthusiast, and respected him for 
 his obvious ability, realizing that here was a 
 man willing and able to teach what he most wanted 
 to know. Hicksey on his side was not much con- 
 cerned about what the other thought. He was 
 pleased by the novelty of the life on the island and 
 was immensely interested in his work, and when 
 not occupied with that would set off for solitary 
 tramps. He was in perfect health and fitness, 
 delighting in all physical exercise. He bathed 
 twice every day, and while the others kept close 
 to the shore, rarely going deeper than their waists, 
 he would swim far out, quite indifferent to the 
 sharks' fins that now and then jutted, black, evil- 
 looking triangles, above the surface. 
 
 When one morning Dr. Hubbard announced 
 that he was going to leave for a short visit to 
 Kanna Island, Hicksey said that he wished to 
 come too. The doctor was not pleased and would 
 rather have left him at the hospital. He had not 
 visited Kanna for six weeks, and he did not like 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 75 
 
 to think what state he would find the natives in 
 or of Hicksey's white face of contempt and silent 
 criticism, for though the young man now never 
 made any remark about the management of the 
 hospital, his silence was often more pointed and 
 cutting than the most bitter speech. Hubbard had 
 a vision of neglected and dirty natives, and al- 
 ready he felt the sharpness of Hicksey's silent con- 
 tempt. He tried even to persuade him to stay and 
 continue the work he had started, but Hicksey was 
 not to be shaken off, saying that he wished par- 
 ticularly to come and see some of the men, and 
 that he wished to have a work-room on both of 
 the islands. Hubbard could raise no further ob- 
 jection. The young man had a perfect right to 
 go. Then an idea struck him, that he might get 
 Hicksey to stay on Kanna and tidy up the work 
 that he had left undone, and in this way he would 
 get rid of the fellow and establish once more the 
 comfortable and friendly atmosphere that had 
 existed at the hospital before the young doctor's 
 arrival. 
 
 On the way over Hubbard talked considerably 
 about the difficulties of running two places so far 
 removed from one another, and hinted that he was 
 overworked and consequently unable to keep both 
 hospitals up to the standard that he desired. 
 Hicksey was polite but taciturn; he had no wish 
 
76 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 to make excuses easy for a lazy fellow. After 
 a while they relapsed into silence, and the elder 
 man began to hate him in his heart. 
 
 When they landed on the beach of Kanna 
 Island they were met by an alarming figure; Sher- 
 win, his red beard grown long and unkempt, his 
 shirt open over his tanned and hairy chest, looked 
 as wild as any native. Close behind him, mov- 
 ing as his shadow, was the faithful Coffee, his 
 black limbs shining in the sunshine, naked save 
 for a small twisted waist-cloth and a string of yel- 
 low shells round his neck. Sherwin's right hand 
 was tied up in a thick clout of lint. He did not 
 answer the doctor's hail, but stood at some little 
 distance, till the two men had pulled up the dinghy 
 on to the dry sand. Then, as fierce-looking as 
 some monstrous and hairy animal, he strode to- 
 wards Hubbard. All the exasperation and pain 
 of the last weeks found outlet in a stream of oaths 
 and invective. 
 
 When he paused for breath Hubbard fell back 
 a pace and tried to recover himself and his dignity. 
 "Come, come, my man, you mustn't speak to me 
 like that. Remember, I'm dependent on this cut* 
 ter. It isn't as if there were a steamship running 
 between the islands." 
 
 Sherwin went off in a long angry laugh. "By 
 God, Doctor, do you know you've left me alone 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 77 
 
 on this island for six infernal weeks, and now you 
 talk of the cutter ! It's the women, God damn you. 
 When you're in hell you can think of what I've 
 tasted ; and the niggers go through hell too. Poor 
 devils, they lie there with their eye-holes crawling 
 all with maggots and no one to help them.'- As 
 he continued he worked himself up and became 
 even more angry. *'It's not my job to do that sort 
 of thing, and see what comes of it. In doing your 
 work, just because I couldn't bear to see them 
 suffering, I got some sort of poison into my hand. 
 For three weeks it's been getting worse and worse. 
 I couldn't sleep for the pain, couldn't sit down for 
 it hardly. I had to keep walking up and down, 
 walking up and down all the time. I tell you it's 
 enough to send a man mad to be stranded alone on 
 a place like this with nothing but black men and 
 flies." 
 
 At the allusion to the fly-blown natives Hub- 
 bard had gone white to the lips. What on earth 
 would Hicksey think ! His mind was in a whirl 
 of confusion, anger, and fear. Being a coward, 
 fl^k was more afraid than angry, mortally afraid 
 ^^Hwhat he might find when he next went to the 
 PPKugh, inadequate hospital on the sand-dunes. 
 He was angry too at being shown up so mercilessly 
 before a colleague whose attitude towards him he 
 knew to be critical and disparaging, and who now 
 
78 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 stood by, silent and embarrassed, looking at the 
 sand at his feet, and making in it fan-shaped pat- 
 terns with the toe of his shoe, but all the while 
 keenly taking in what was said. 
 
 For a moment the two men stood in silence 
 facing one another. Hubbard felt he must speak 
 or else that wild savage of a man might be pro- 
 voked to strike him. "What's that you say about 
 the natives getting fly-blown? It's impossible," 
 he tried to bluster. 
 
 ''If it wasn't for me they'd be a lot worse than 
 they are. When there's no one here to look after 
 them they are not likely to be able to look after 
 themselves. But I'll thank you before you look 
 at them to look at my arm first; it's in a pretty bad 
 way I can tell you." 
 
 Hubbard was so scared that he was glad of any 
 way of escape. "Very well, come up to my house 
 and I'll look at it at once." 
 
 Sherwin was a little mollified. "It aches right 
 up to my shoulder and down my side, and there's 
 a swelling here." He indicated his arm-pit. 
 "At times I haven't know how to bear myself." .j^ 
 
 When they got into the house and the bandagiag 
 were removed, Hubbard, although he was shockec 
 at the sight of the man's hand, tried to make light 
 of the wound. "Ah, yes, I see you must have got 
 a little blood-poisoning. It must be very painful. 
 
k 
 
 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 79 
 
 But I'll soon get that right. I shall have to lance 
 it, and then we must bathe it every day with some 
 lotion I shall give you, and before long we'll have 
 it much better." He chose to ignore and pretend 
 that he had not noticed Sherwin's rudeness, and 
 now talked in his most friendly manner. He 
 joked and chatted and assured Sherwin that there 
 was no need for anxiety. Sherwin was naturally 
 cheered at having white men to talk to once again, 
 and was heartened by the doctor's assurances and 
 gradually became less surly, though he let it be 
 seen that he still bore a grievance against Hub- 
 bard. 
 
 For the next few days the two doctors were kept 
 busy. There was much work to be done, Hicksey 
 found the men's ward in an incredibly filthy and 
 neglected condition. He gave up his own work 
 and set himself to help establish some sort of order 
 and cleanliness. He made few comments, uttered 
 no criticism, but his silence had an angular and 
 uncomfortable significance that Hubbard found 
 more intolerable than open censure. Every morn- 
 ing Sherwin came to the ward to watch the two 
 men at work. He liked the look of Hicksey, but 
 could not understand his reserve. Several times 
 he tried to get into conversation, but was answered 
 by monosyllables. This annoyed him, and he fell 
 back on Hubbard for company, who was as genial 
 
8o WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 as ever and seemed very proud of himself on ac- 
 count of the efforts he was making. But it was 
 impossible for Hubbard to keep for any length of 
 time at regular work, and in a few days he had 
 relapsed into his habits of indolence. 
 
 The three men were singularly ill-adapted to 
 live together, cut off as they were from all civil- 
 ization, from the social conscience of the race. 
 That force holds men together, gives them their 
 moral values, and sets them each working, whether 
 they will or no, in the complex and intricate 
 machine which, irrespective of their own desires, 
 uses them for its peculiar ends, letting the frag- 
 ments fall useless and worn out on to the great 
 scrap heap which constitutes the history of a peo- 
 ple. On the island each man felt in vain for 
 his accustomed setting, and, finding it not, blamed 
 the others. Here each must live to himself and 
 grasp more strongly the strength that was still in 
 him, cling to it, lean upon it, and if it were strong 
 enough live by virtue of its endurance. Every 
 morning the sun came up out of a clear and cloud- 
 less sky and blazed with an unpitying and avid 
 glare upon the sand-dunes and scant vegetation. 
 The sand became hot underfoot and the men's eyes 
 were red and swollen. Every day the natives 
 toiled, making useless roadways across the sand. 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 81 
 
 and Sherwin, morose and moody, superintended 
 the work, and woe betide the man who shirked. 
 Hicksey worked incessantly with a fanatical in- 
 sistence, lived in his own thoughts and hopes of 
 future fame, in a great ambition. Hubbard w^as 
 the worst off of the three; he wrote much in his 
 journal, sat idly on the verandah, and longed for 
 a companion of his own class and temperament; 
 sometimes he was frightened by a glimpse of his 
 own isolation and weakness. Thus the days 
 passed, followed by black nights and a heaven full 
 of glittering stars ; then the three men returned to 
 their houses to be waited on by the silent savage 
 who moved like a shadow, spoke little, noticed all, 
 and marvelled at their isolation. And after those 
 short nights followed once more the dull monotony 
 of the days. The sun flung upon the islands its 
 sheaf of burning rays, and every morning after a 
 night of pain and anxiety Sherwin would ask 
 eagerly about his hand, recount his symptoms, and 
 beg for some assurance. And yet in spite of regu- 
 lar treatment, his hand became no better. The 
 liope that had been kindled by the doctor's return 
 died down and he became daily more savage and 
 depressed. One morning when Hubbard was re- 
 moving the bandages Hicksey happened to come 
 into the room to fetch some instruments that he 
 
82 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 had forgotten. Sherwin looked with distress and 
 anxiety at the swollen and putrescent mass that 
 had once been his finger. 
 
 *'If you don't mind, doctor, I should like Dr. 
 Hicksey to have a look at my hand ; I should like 
 to know what he thinks of it." 
 
 "Yes, certainly, show it to him," said Hubbard. 
 He was a little embarrassed that Hicksey should 
 see what a bad state the man's hand was in. 
 Turning to the young man he added : "You see a 
 nasty state of blood-poisoning; he can't expect to 
 get well in a day or two, but I think my treatment 
 has made it a little better." 
 
 Hicksey took the man's hand gently into his 
 own, for two minutes he looked at it in silence. 
 Then: "Do you feel that?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 "That?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 Then squeezing his arm: "Do you feel pain 
 here?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 For a moment or two longer he looked at the 
 sore finger, then let the hand go, turned and 
 walked slowly to one of the shelves, found the 
 things that he had come in search of, and walked 
 without any comment out of the room. The two 
 men had been watching his movements, expecting 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 83 
 
 every moment to see him come back and further 
 investigate the wound. They could hardly be- 
 lieve that he should go out without a word ; neither 
 of them had suspected his intention, and now they 
 were left looking with astonishment at the closed 
 door. 
 
 All Sherwin's worst fears leapt in his breast; 
 this was no doubt more serious than Hubbard had 
 supposed. With a white and anxious face he re- 
 garded the flushed annoyance of the doctor. 
 *'What do you think he means by that?" he 
 queried. 
 
 ^'I don't know what he means. He's a can- 
 tankerous beggar, full of moods. He can't take 
 the trouble to be decently civil," complained Hub- 
 bard, exasperated to speaking out. ^'I wish he'd 
 never come on to the islands." 
 
 Sherwin was occupied with purely personal 
 thoughts. ^'I think he means my hand's pretty 
 bad. I know it isn't getting any better." Then 
 
 emphatically : ''By G I'll make him speak" ; 
 
 and he made off after Hicksey. 
 
 Left alone in the room Hubbard was undecided 
 whether he would follow or not. He knew that 
 Hicksey's silence was meant as the severest criti- 
 cism on his work. It was a deliberate insult. 
 He knew too that Hicksey was very angry, and 
 that if he followed there would be a crisis. He 
 
84 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 walked up and down the room in indecision. No, 
 he would keep out of it; better that he stayed 
 where he was, at any rate for a minute or two, 
 then perhaps later he might go and see what had 
 happened. He sat down and thought about the 
 situation. No doubt the hand was pretty bad, 
 and it was getting better very slowly. But damn 
 that young fellow with his interfering, superior 
 ways. For his own dignity he must go and see 
 what was happening. 
 
 Hicksey was just outside the hospital when 
 Sherwin overtook him. 'Tor the love of God, 
 doctor, tell me what is the matter with my hand." 
 
 Hicksey regarded the great burly figure of the 
 man whose soul, in such dire distress, looked en- 
 treatingly from his eyes. For a few moments he 
 seemed nervous and embarrassed, and his white 
 face twitched; then in words he found an outlet 
 for the force of his controlled indignation. He 
 spoke deliberately, and, as was his habit, slowly, 
 every word bitten off clean. *'The same thing is 
 the matter with your finger as is the matter with 
 the whole island, with the hospital and everything 
 in it." 
 
 Sherwin looked frightened. "You mean he is 
 not treating it the right way?" 
 
 Hicksey suddenly flared out : "How do you ex- 
 pect a damned incompetent sluggard to treat any- 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 85 
 
 thing the right way ? It gets worse every day, and 
 he dabs it with antiseptic and calls that treatment. 
 Your finger's past saving. If you don't have it 
 off at once you may lose your hand." 
 
 Sherwin's usually red face had turned to a 
 pallid pink, which made an unpleasant contrast 
 with his ginger beard. For a while he gulped as 
 if something had stuck in his throat. ''Is there 
 nothing else that can be done?" Then he added 
 almost pathetically: "It's the first finger of my 
 right hand and I don't want to lose it." 
 
 "You ought to have had it off a week ago; it 
 could have come off then at the second joint, now 
 it will have to be taken right back to the hand." 
 
 Just as the savage who has been bitten by a 
 poisonous snake says that he has been scratched 
 by a thorn, and as the consumptive assures one 
 that he has only a cold, so Sherwin tried to dis- 
 believe that he must lose his first finger on his 
 right hand. He could not so quickly realize his 
 ill-fortune, but stood as if stupefied by a blow, 
 looking silent and puzzled at the sand at his feet. 
 
 At that moment Hubbard appeared, walking 
 leisurely over the dunes. As he approached he 
 tried to seem at ease. "Well, what has Dr. Hick- 
 sey to say to the case?" 
 
 Sherwin looked up fiercely as if at last realiz- 
 ing the necessities of the moment. He walked to 
 
86 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 Hubbard, then roared at him: "He says I've got 
 to have my finger off. Says I've got to lose my 
 finger because you've neglected your work. If 
 that's so, by God, I'll have the law on you; I'll 
 make you pay for this." 
 
 Hubbard was one of those inconsiderable peo- 
 ple, who when frightened try to escape by bluster. 
 He got very red and tried to shout Sherwin down. 
 ''How dare you speak to me like that ? How dare 
 you? I dismiss you at once. Do you hear, I 
 won't have you on the island. I dismiss you." 
 
 Sherwin stepped forward and the doctor stepped 
 back quickly out of reach of the sound left hand 
 that was ominously clenched, and called out in 
 alarm: "Dr. Hicksey, will you please explain 
 things. What is this nonsense about having his 
 finger off? It is not as bad as all that. It was 
 three weeks getting into a bad state, and I can't 
 be expected to put it right in a few hours. Surely 
 you can't seriously think that an operation is nec- 
 essary?" 
 
 Hicksey had no particular desire to help the 
 doctor, and had no inclination to speak anything 
 but the truth. "Unless he has his finger off in the 
 next day or two, he will lose his hand. The 
 sooner he has it off the better. He ought to have 
 been operated on a week ago." 
 
 For some seconds there was silence while the 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 87 
 
 facts of the situation made themselves felt. Hub- 
 bard expostulated. ''But I consider an operation 
 absolutely unnecessary. I refuse to have any- 
 thing to do with it." Then suddenly, seeing a 
 way of escape, he flared out at Hicksey. ''Dr. 
 Hicksey, I consider you responsible for the whole 
 of this unnecessary scene. You haye always set 
 yourself in opposition to me and have set yourself 
 in antagonism throughout. I shall report your 
 conduct at headquarters. If the man is fool 
 enough to take your advice then you must take the 
 whole responsibility. If you choose needlesly to 
 mutilate him, do so at your own risk." 
 
 Sherwin was dumbfounded. Here were these 
 two men making a professional quarrel of what 
 had been for him the pain and agony of the last 
 month. For a moment he hated them both for 
 their callous indifference. But one of them was 
 right — which was he to trust? For only an in-i 
 stant did he hesitate, then he knew that Hicksey 
 was the better man. "Dr. Hicksey," he said, "I'll 
 take your word for it. I'd sooner have my finger 
 off than risk the losing of my hand. I've had this 
 pain for three weeks up my arm and down my 
 side; anything to be rid of it." Then, infuriated 
 at the thought of his loss, he turned to Hubbard : 
 "If I had my hands I'd break you; I'd make you 
 pay for this." 
 
88 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 Hicksey cut him short: ''Don't waste your 
 time in threats." He gave a short laugh and 
 kicked savagely at the sand as though to empha- 
 size his joke. "You had far better ask Dr. Hub- 
 bard to give you chloroform; you'll need his help 
 at the operation." 
 
 This remark seemed to enrage Hubbard more 
 than anything else. "I will have nothing what- 
 ever to do with the operation. You act against 
 my order, against my advice. Do your own 
 butcher's work." He strode away blustering with 
 indignation. 
 
 In the afternoon the operation was performed. 
 Dr. Hicksey gave Sherwin a gag to bite on and 
 did the best he could to allay pain with local 
 anaesthetics. He was fairly pleased with his work 
 and assured Sherwin that he would soon recover. 
 
 That evening at supper both doctors chose to 
 ignore the events of the day, and although Hub- 
 bard felt sore and outraged, and Hicksey was furi- 
 ous at the elder man's behaviour, they were both 
 civil to one another, recognizing the necessity of 
 having to live together and of hiding from the na- 
 tives the fact that there was between them any ill- 
 feeling. The knowledge that they were bound to 
 this strained civility made them hate each other 
 the more, and as the surface waves of their dis- 
 turbed emotions sank to rest, the accustomed 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 89 
 
 monotony settled upon the island. Both men were 
 careful that there should be no occasion for fur- 
 ther friction, and each lived to himself a life of his 
 own thoughts. Sherwin's hand got steadily bet- 
 ter, and as it healed his spirits rose and he began 
 once again to joke with the natives and domineer 
 over the faithful Coffee. He took again to his 
 evening drink of Kava, though he was careful not 
 to let the other white men know of this. He was 
 not sure what they might think of him for taking 
 to a native drink. 
 
 About ten days after the operation the two doc- 
 tors left the island. Hubbard had hoped that 
 Hicksey might be persuaded to stay on Kanna, but 
 no, he said that there were cases he wished to re- 
 turn to at the hospital, and that he would go back. 
 Hubbard could make no objections, and so once 
 more in silent antagonism they set out on the re- 
 turn journey. 
 
 As the "Shark" bore them away towards Fen- 
 ton Island, and the white triangle of the sail now 
 and then threw back a reflection, Sherwin stood 
 upon the high sand hill between the two houses 
 and watched it become smaller and finally disap- 
 pear. He was glad that the two doctors were 
 gone. He had come lately to dislike and despise 
 Hubbard — yes, and he disliked Hicksey, though 
 he respected him. He would like to have had 
 
90 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 him as a friend, but there was something in Hick- 
 sey that rejected this friendly feeling and so Sher- 
 win experienced an instinctive and unreasoning 
 antagonism. Now he was glad to be alone once 
 again and to renew the comfortable and independ- 
 ent life of the early days. 
 
 As he looked round he saw stretching beneath 
 him the island of bays and headlands, of thickets 
 and sweeping sand-dunes, and there, away in the 
 distance, was the native hospital and the men to 
 whom his word was law. He was once more mas- 
 ter of all that he surveyed. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 IT is a noteworthy fact about human nature, 
 that it is easier for one man than for two to 
 bear isolation. It is still more difficult for 
 four or five. As the slow weeks of heat and 
 monotony passed over Fenton Island the members 
 of the white settlement found it more and more 
 difficult to tolerate one another, and the position 
 gradually defined itself into a deliberate plot to 
 get rid of the young doctor, to make things so un- 
 pleasant for him that he would have to go. There 
 were five white people, compelled by circumstance 
 to meet every day, and there was one too many. 
 The campaign was led by the women. They 
 hated Hicksey, partly because he took little notice 
 of them, and partly because he was obviously a 
 superior human being to the two men whom they 
 did like. 
 
 Hubbard had told them his version of the in- 
 cident of Sherwin's finger and they were right- 
 eously indignant. Oh, yes, if he was so keen on 
 cutting up monkeys and other animals, no doubt 
 he was glad enough to have an opportunity to cut 
 up a man. These things were not said in his 
 
 91 
 
92 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 hearing, but whispered, and all helped to increase 
 the feeling that he was an intruder. What had 
 been in the past a passive dislike now became an 
 active warfare. Hubbard just kept within the 
 bounds of politeness, and the nurses, whenever 
 they got an opportunity, made provoking and in- 
 solent remarks. James alone was civil; he rather 
 liked Hicksey, admitted frankly that he was his 
 superior in knowledge, and he would like to have 
 b^een on friendly terms. 
 
 Although Hicksey did not much mind the isola- 
 tion, the constant pin-pricks were an annoyance. 
 He despised Hubbard more than ever for letting 
 the women fight his battles. He saw what they 
 were aiming at, and since he had no intention of 
 leaving the islands, was particularly careful to 
 keep control of his temper. No one got much 
 pleasure out of the persecution, but it afforded 
 something to talk about. 
 
 These people, cut off as they were from the 
 amusements and interests of civilization, might 
 have found, had they had the imagination, a qual- 
 ity of wonder in the ever-changing tropical life 
 of the island. 
 
 As it was, they found it more to their minds to 
 amuse themselves by trying in a petty and 
 malicious way to exasperate Dr. Hicksey. What 
 perhaps made them at this time particularly sensi- 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 93 
 
 tive was that since Dr. Hubbard had returned he 
 had spent much of his time in company with Nurse 
 Toms, no doubt obtaining sympathy and consola- 
 tion. By this the sensitive balance of the situation 
 was disturbed, and Nurse Hilton benefited by the 
 occasion to get engaged to James. Each woman 
 resented the behaviour of the other, and the atti- 
 tude of mutual vigilance was never abandoned. 
 In a kind of desperate self-vindication they as- 
 sumed a pose of ferocious virginity, which some- 
 where in the depths of their hearts they felt to be 
 artificial and ludicrous. It was galling enough 
 to find themselves in such a situation, unable to 
 escape from their immediate surroundings and cut 
 off from all the rest of mankind, but that Hick- 
 sey should remain untouched and free to criticize, 
 exasperated them to the utmost. Their resent- 
 ment naturally turned against him, and as time 
 passed the situation daily became less tolerable. 
 One hot windy day it came suddenly to a head and 
 brought more serious consequences than any one 
 had anticipated. 
 
 The party were at lunch, and Dr: Hubbard had 
 just received a letter from Mr. Keynes, the head of 
 the aborigines department, saying that he was 
 coming for a short visit to the island, and that he 
 hoped to see both doctors and to receive reports 
 on the work upon which they were engaged. 
 
94 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 Both of the nurses looked significantly at Hick- 
 ^ey. "I expect he will be very interested in your 
 experiments, Dr. Hicksey," said Nurse Hilton. 
 ^'I daresay in Kingstown they know nothing about 
 your having animals here for vivisection. No 
 doubt Mr. Keynes will be interested with an ac- 
 count of your experiments.'^ 
 
 Hubbard laughed and said in a facetious way: 
 "Ah, these young enthusiasts! They are not al- 
 ways content with experimenting on animals. 
 They like to have a human being to cut up every 
 now and then." 
 
 This open insult, coming on top of the pin- 
 pricks and annoyances of the last month, was too 
 much for Hicksey. He stood up in his place, 
 white and trembling with suppressed rage; his 
 hands played nervously on the back of his chair: 
 "Dr. Hubbard, I should like to see you outside, 
 please." 
 
 "Come, come, that was only a joke; there is no 
 reason to get so excited." 
 
 "There is this reason, that I do not choose to be 
 insulted by a man who is a disgrace to the profes- 
 sion that he follows." 
 
 Hubbard turned crimson and jumped up, push- 
 ing his chair back. It fell with a crash. "How 
 dare you speak to me like that. Sir?" 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 95 
 
 ^'Because I've just asked you to come on to the 
 verandah." 
 
 The two men were now equally angry. They 
 faced each other across the table, and the nurses 
 looked on surprised and rather scared. James 
 made some feeble protest which passed unnoticed. 
 They were all excited and rather pleased at the 
 turn things had taken, and were possessed by that 
 inevitable desire of all human beings to witness a 
 fight. The women were glad that the little whip- 
 per-snapper was to be taught a lesson. They 
 hoped Hubbard would give him a thorough drub- 
 bing. 
 
 Hubbard was in appearance far the larger and 
 stronger man, and as he led the way out he looked 
 so considerably the more powerful that there 
 seemed little doubt of the issue. He walked to the 
 other end of the verandah and took off his coat. 
 Hicksey did not remove his, but waited till the 
 other should be ready. He was vaguely conscious 
 of the brilliant white glare of the sand, of a 
 metallic taste in his mouth and of the women 
 pushing behind him to get a better view. 
 
 No one knew quite what happened, least of all 
 Hubbard, who was expecting the attack of an Eng- 
 lish gentleman in a sparring match ; but such re- 
 fined conventions had been left far behind with 
 
96 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 the rest of the paraphernalia of civilization. For 
 two months those five people had been living to- 
 gether confined on one small island. One of 
 them was superfluous, and he knew it, the others 
 wanted him away. In a slightly more primitive 
 society his death would have been assured; as it 
 was they had done all they could to make his life 
 intolerable, and now, as they all gathered under 
 the heat-stricken roof of the verandah, they knew 
 that the savage in each of them was close under 
 the surface waiting to show himself. They all 
 knew that he was there. Hicksey felt the primi- 
 tive danger, and his primitive instinct responded, 
 turning the conflict into a fight of life and 
 death. Before any one knew what had hap- 
 pened Hicksey had rushed in and driven his 
 knee into Hubbard's stomach and had leapt upon 
 him with all the accumulated fury of the last 
 few weeks. Down they went, Hubbard under- 
 neath, Hicksey with both hands at his throat 
 trying to choke the life out of him and bumping 
 his head up and down on the boards of the floor. 
 Hubbard was purple in the face and choking for 
 life. Both nurses screamed and rushed to the 
 rescue. They flung themselves on Hicksey, tore 
 at his hair, scratched at his eyes, and one bit the 
 fingers tightened on the doctor's throat. At last, 
 with James' help, they managed to pull him off, 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 97 
 
 and only just in time, for Hubbard was nearly 
 choked, and lay for some minutes on the ground 
 gasping for breath. Hicksey, scratched and 
 bleeding, had been thrown back against the side 
 of the verandah. He clutched at the rail with a 
 shaking hand now and then giving curious little 
 whimpers of emotion. James stood over the body 
 of the fallen man, with one hand he restrained 
 Nurse Hilton who with excitement would have 
 sprung at Hicksey. The muscles of her cheeks 
 twitched like the twisted knots in a taut rope, and 
 she panted inarticulate abuse. Nurse Toms had 
 sunk to the ground and was shaken with sobs. 
 In all these people something extraordinarily pow- 
 erful and fundamental had suddenly leapt to the 
 surface. It had been free for a moment, now it 
 was again restrained, yet it still clamoured and 
 screamed for its proper food. It shook and tore 
 at the frail prison of flesh in which it was con- 
 tained. A very real part of human nature that 
 had lived deep down, hidden in some dungeon, 
 had surprised and appalled them by its fierce lust 
 for freedom, and now shook them with shame and 
 fear at its immense strength. And yet it was 
 restrained by some bond, by some fragment per- 
 haps of conscience that remained, a vestige of the 
 civilization amongst which they had once lived. 
 As their eyeS met, that force, whatever it was, told 
 
98 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 them that the beast must be pushed back. Shame 
 pushed it back into its dungeon. It returned, 
 grumbling and discontented, to abide in patience 
 its proper time. James was the first to recover 
 himself; he stepped towards Hicksey. "Dr. 
 Hicksey," he said, "you had better come with me 
 to your room and wash yourself." Then, turn- 
 ing to the nurses, "Will you please look after Dr. 
 Hubbard and see that he is properly cared for." 
 He took Hicksey's arm and walked him off the 
 verandah. 
 
 Now that the rage of conflict and passion of 
 slaughter had become stilled, Hicksey felt an im- 
 perative desire to justify himself. Someone 
 would surely understand how much he had had to 
 put up with. The women didn't count, they of 
 course would be hostile; he didn't wish them to 
 understand, but James, who did, as he knew, care 
 for his work, must of necessity sympathize, and at 
 that moment he passionately needed sympathy In 
 a voice that was almost pleading he poured out his 
 grievance. "Tell me, didn't he deserve a thrash- 
 ing? Most of the time that I've been here I've 
 been kept from my proper work doing the work 
 that he is too incompetent and lazy to perform. I 
 have worked while he stood idle, and all the while 
 he has hated me and sneered at me. I saved Sher- 
 win's hand, when in another week he would have 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 99 
 
 lost his arm, and now the fool insults my work, a 
 thing that he has never understood, a thing 
 he could never understand. He pretends that 
 I am just a wanton experimenter and sneers at 
 what he has no right to speak about." He was 
 w^orked up to a further burst of indignation; he 
 seized the young man's arm and shouted: "I tell 
 you I am glad to have thrashed him." James 
 was embarrassed at his vehemence, and was a little 
 afraid that he might again attack Hubbard, who 
 with the help of the two women was struggling to 
 his feet. "Come to your room, doctor, come to 
 your room and we will talk things over there." 
 
 After Hicksey had plunged his head into water 
 and washed and dried himself, he looked once 
 more the well-controlled and civilized man who 
 had come to the island. His eyes alone, shining 
 with intense excitement, betrayed the tumult of 
 his feelings. 
 
 He made no other allusion to the events of the 
 afternoon, but only asked: "How long is it be- 
 fore Mr. Keynes comes? Hubbard spoke of him 
 as coming in a day or two, I think?" 
 
 "Yes, I believe he is expected to-morrow or the 
 next day." 
 
 "I am glad he is coming"; then, after a short 
 pause, "Tell Dr. Hubbard that for the next few 
 days I will have my meals brought to me in my 
 
100 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 room. I think it is better that we should not meet." 
 The next few days were indeed trying ones for 
 Hicksey. He felt that everyone's hand was 
 against him, and even James, who had, until now, 
 stood in with him, did not conceal that he was 
 horrified and shocked at the savagery of his at- 
 tack. There was something about it un-English 
 that outraged the young man. 
 
 It was obvious to Hicksey that he was certain to 
 be dismissed from the island and that all his work 
 and the fine opportunities he had for future work 
 would be wasted ; and wasted, he thought with ex- 
 asperation, on account of that lazy and despicable 
 weakling, whose existence had no right to influence 
 a thing so important and dignified as his own ca- 
 reer. Well, now that he was committed by what 
 had happened he would make no effort to save 
 himself, but would wait in solitude, and, so far as 
 he could manage, in indifference till he received 
 his dismissal. But how could he be indifferent 
 when such prospects and opportunities for work 
 were to be snatched away? Then again he would 
 fall into the revolving circle of his thought and 
 curse at Hubbard, hating him not so much for his 
 personal affronts, as because, with his genial 
 stupidity and incompetence, he stood in the way 
 of a life better than his ow^n and disgraced the 
 profession that he followed. 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOvSEO loi- 
 
 When Mr. Keynes arrived on the ''Shark," 
 Hicksey did not go down with the others to meet 
 him, but waited in his room, determined in no 
 way to plead for himself. 
 
 Mr. Keynes, who was head of the aborigines de- 
 partment, and who was responsible for the found- 
 ing of the hospitals, was an idealist in spite of the 
 experiences of a fairly long and very varied life. 
 He was the sort of idealist who tries to put his 
 ideas into practice, has great faith in mankind 
 because he has good reason to have great faith in 
 himself. He was a man of fifty years, who had 
 made a way for himself by virtue of his intelli- 
 gence and power. He had followed several ardu* 
 ous and dangerous trades, had lived always close 
 to the earth, and had drawn from it inspiration for 
 his numerous schemes and a great faith in the 
 future of his country, that young country that had 
 given him birth, and in whose service he had spent 
 the best years of his life. In his youth he had 
 been an "overlander," and had taken cattle long 
 journeys across country from one settlement to an- 
 other; then he had been surveyor for the Govern- 
 ment, then for three years had led an expedition 
 across the interior, making a stock-route and sink- 
 ing wells where there had been nothing but desert 
 sand and wind-swept clumps of spinifex. Now 
 he had risen to power, was a member of Parlia- 
 
102 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 merit, and had schemes for improving the natives 
 amongst whom he had spent so much of his life 
 and whom he had come to like and respect. He 
 had dreams of making them into a useful and 
 self-reliant people. What he now wanted 
 was serviceable men who would carry out his 
 schemes and who could be trusted to do their 
 work. 
 
 It was late in the evening when he knocked at 
 Hicksey's door. He had spent all the afternoon 
 with Hubbard and had heard all his complaints 
 against the young man. He had listened in his 
 quiet way, nodding his head from time to time to 
 the doctor's petulant request that Hicksey should 
 be instantly dismissed from the islands. Now he 
 w^as going to hear what was to be said on the other 
 side. 
 
 Hicksey opened the door to him. 
 
 "Good evening, Dr. Hicksey. I should like to 
 have a talk with you; will you come for a walk 
 with me along the beach?" 
 
 Hicksey assented; he asked Keynes to come in 
 while he put in order the things at which he had 
 been working. Keynes was pleased at the orderly, 
 business-like look of the room, and Hicksey saw 
 that there he had a man to deal with whom he 
 could respect and like. They were silent as they 
 walked over the dunes, and it was not till they 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 103 
 
 reached the flat expanse of yellow sand that 
 Keynes spoke. 
 
 *'I hear you two doctors have not been able to 
 hit it off very well. There's some story of a fight. 
 Hubbard tells me you tried to murder him on the 
 verandah. It's a pity that two white men, and 
 educated men too, who should work together and 
 back each other up, should behave in that way." 
 
 Hicksey spoke deliberately and rather slowly. 
 He did not wish to appear excitable or nervous. 
 "Yes, I lost my temper; there are some things I 
 cannot endure." 
 
 "Hubbard tells me that there was some quarrel 
 about this man Sherwin. He tells me that you 
 operated against his instructions and advice." 
 
 "If I had not operated the man would have 
 lost his hand. It was shameful neglect to let it 
 get to that state; but when I saw him there was 
 nothing to be done short of an operation. And 
 then Hubbard had the insincerity to insinuate that 
 I had taken the man's finger off for the fun of the 
 experiment." 
 
 "What do you mean by neglected?" 
 
 "Have you been over the hospital?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Well, things were worse than that — so much 
 worse, that if you had not seen you would find 
 it hard to believe. When I first went over to 
 
104 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 Kanna Island I found four of the natives fly- 
 blown, and they would have been worse if it hadn't 
 been for Sherwin, who had been doing the doctor's 
 work. Hubbard hadn't been over there for six 
 weeks. Ever since then I have been doing his 
 work, whereas I should have had the time for 
 my own research." 
 
 "Perhaps it would have been better if you had 
 stuck to your own work," said Keynes, looking 
 sideways at his man. 
 
 Hicksey fell easily into the little trap. "I 
 couldn't stand by and see things so badly done, 
 and as for Sherwin, he would have lost his hand 
 if I hadn't operated at once" For a short while 
 they walked along the beach in silence. Then 
 Keynes said in his even voice: "I suppose you 
 guess that Hubbard threatens to resign unless I 
 order you to leave the island?" 
 
 "I don't blame him, I would do the same in his 
 place." 
 
 Keynes, as one well accustomed to judge of men 
 and situations, had not taken long to form an opin- 
 ion of the two doctors. It was not difficult for 
 him to recognize a fellow-enthusiast. His next 
 remark came as a surprise to Hicksey. "Now 
 supposing that Dr. Hubbard were to resign, would 
 you be prepared to take over the management of 
 the two hospitals?" 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 105 
 
 It took Hicksey a moment to answer. "Would 
 you really give me the work?" 
 
 "Do you think you could manage it? You 
 would have to control your temper and re-establish 
 good feeling." 
 
 "To do it well I should want two conditions. 
 The first is, that I should want a properly trained 
 nurse as matron under me. Someone to direct and 
 teach the two women who are already here. The 
 second is, that I should have a boat that I myself 
 could sail between the two islands. At present 
 we are altogether dependent on the pleasure of 
 Mr. Pomfrey, who is an old fellow, difficult to 
 hurry, and over whom I could have no real con- 
 trol." 
 
 "As to the boat, that's fairly easily settled and 
 seems reasonable enough; I could have one sent 
 over from Kaimera." 
 
 Hicksey was pleased and excited at the prospect. 
 He cut in: "I only want quite a small boat — 
 half-decked, cutter-rigged, the sort of thing I can 
 sail by myself." 
 
 "Yes, we can manage that," Keynes went on; 
 "but the other is more difficult. You don't find 
 women keen after a lonely job of this sort. I 
 consider myself lucky to have got the two young 
 women who are here already. I tried a year ago 
 to get a properly trained nurse but no one would 
 
io6 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 come. They can all get more congenial work, and 
 the better pay doesn't tempt them. There was 
 only one well-trained nurse that I could hear of, 
 and there was some scandal connected with her; 
 she seems to have got a bad name, and so finds it 
 difficult to find employment. A Miss Desmond — 
 I would have engaged her, but Hubbard objected." 
 
 "Is she good at her work?" asked Hicksey. 
 
 ''Oh, there is nothing against that; I believe she 
 is a very good nurse indeed." 
 
 "Then, if she's good at her work I don't mind 
 about anything else, I can look after myself," said 
 Hicksey with conviction. 
 
 "If you take this post, I shall expect you to 
 stay for at least a year. Do you accept it on those 
 conditions?" 
 
 Hicksey's pleasure at the unexpected turn things 
 had taken could no longer be restrained. "It's 
 very good of you, Mr. Keynes, to give me so fine 
 an opportunity. I'll do the best I can." 
 
 Keynes was no doubt pleased at the young 
 man's enthusiasm, but he answered in his even, 
 unemotional voice: "Well, I hope you will make 
 a good job of it. I rather think you are the man 
 I've been looking for. When I put Hubbard in I 
 thought he wasn't the right man for the place, but 
 I couldn't just then get anybody else. Not that I 
 think Hubbard a bad fellow, but he's not the sort 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 107 
 
 of man for pioneer work. There is no one who 
 has a bad word to say of him, and that's partly 
 what makes me think he is too easy-going. These 
 islands want a man with initiative and a man who 
 is prepared to work hard." 
 
 They had turned by this time and were walking 
 back in the quickly fading light. The stars were 
 already shining, and the bushes on the sand- 
 dunes, silhouetted against a grey-pearl sky, looked 
 like hunched creatures waiting to spring. 'T am 
 going away in the 'Shark' the day after to-mor- 
 row," continued Keynes; "as soon as I leave, you 
 are in charge of everything on the islands, but un- 
 til then I should advise you not to show up. The 
 situation will be difficult and you had better leave 
 it to me. You will have your difficulties with the 
 two women, with whom you do not seem very 
 popular. It is your business as soon as I have 
 gone" — and Keynes said this with emphasis — ''to 
 smooth away all this bad feeling. Remember, it 
 will be for you and not for them to make the first 
 steps." 
 
 Hicksey assured him that he would do his best. 
 As they walked back they talked of Keynes' 
 schemes for the development of the hospitals, and 
 Hicksey was pleased to find an intelligent and un- 
 derstanding interest taken in his own work. It 
 was dark before they reached the house. They 
 
io8 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 shook hands with a firm grasp. "Good-bye, and 
 good luck," said Keynes. "I will put things 
 straight with Hubbard, but remember it falls to 
 you to establish good feeling with the others. For 
 neither of us will it be very easy." 
 
 "I will do my best," said Hicksey; "good-bye, 
 and thank you." 
 
^ CHAPTER VIII 
 
 TWO months later Hicksey's rule was well 
 established. The hospitals on both 
 islands were run on up-to-date and thor- 
 ough lines, the wards looked well scrubbed and 
 clean, and the patients were washed and cared for. 
 The new matron had proved to be a trained and 
 thoroughly capable woman. 
 
 When Hicksey, in his new capacity of chief, 
 had visited Sherwin he had suggested to him that 
 he should become definitely employed as assistant 
 at the Kanna Island hospital and receive extra pay 
 for his services. He saw that Sherwin was 
 capable and well able to be taught, and since he 
 was a man of initiative he would be useful to have 
 as permanent assistant. Sherwin had readily 
 agreed to this suggestion and entertained, for a 
 short while, the hope, now that he and the doctor 
 were working at the same job, that their relations 
 might become more friendly and intimate. But in 
 this he was disappointed for Hicksey never showed 
 any willingness to make friends, nor did he let 
 
 Sherwin forget for a moment that there was a big 
 
 109 
 
no WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 gap between them, constituted by their difference 
 in education and birth. 
 
 Hicksey had stayed for a fortnight, and had 
 instructed him in his new duties, and all had gone 
 smoothly between the two men, in spite of Sher- 
 win's growing annoyance and disappointment. 
 Hicksey had then hurried back to Fenton Island 
 to receive the new matron. He particularly 
 wanted to be there when she arrived, and not to 
 expose her to a reception from the two nurses, 
 who both, in some miraculous way, had become 
 acquainted with the scandal connected with her 
 name, and who, he doubted not, would receive her 
 with pettiness and jealousy. 
 
 Before Keynes had left, taking Dr. Hubbard 
 away with him on the "Shark," he had spoken to 
 the two young women and given them some severe 
 and kindly advice. They were both very fluttered 
 and excited at being seriously talked to by a man 
 so high up in public affairs, and decided to give 
 Hicksey another chance, and, in view of the fact 
 that Hubbard would no longer be on the island, 
 this they felt would not be very difficult. There 
 was besides some instinct of their sex which 
 prompted them to be friendly with their new chief. 
 Their feelings towards the new matron were not 
 so simple. Instinctively they resented the advent 
 of another woman into their small circle, and then 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED in 
 
 there was the galling thought that she was to be 
 set in authority. They were going to be perfectly 
 polite and amenable, but then they knew (and they 
 were going to let her know) that there was just 
 something about her that was not quite right, and 
 that she had had difficulty in getting a position 
 elsewhere. 
 
 It was perhaps a good thing that Hicksey had 
 come back in time to receive her. He had met her 
 on the beach, and the next day had shown her over 
 the hospital and talked over the work. In all this 
 he showed a friendly formality, that he hoped 
 would be difficult to break through He felt that 
 he must be very careful, knowing that the nurses 
 would be eager to seize on the first opportunity for 
 gossip. 
 
 Nurse Desmond was a good-looking woman of 
 thirty-seven, well-built and strong, with good dark 
 hair and a pale face, a smooth wax-like brow, and 
 dark, arched eyebrows. She spoke in a low- 
 pitched voice that was almost a whisper. This 
 was a strange contrast to her general appearance 
 and upright bearing. On the way over she talked 
 with old Mr. Pomfrey and heard stories of the 
 young doctor who was so reckless about bathing 
 among the sharks, who had had a row with Dr. 
 Hubbard, had fought with him, and nearly killed 
 him, and who had now been put in command of 
 
112 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 the hospitals and was managing them in an al- 
 together new and superior manner. "Ah, he's a 
 fine young man," Pomfrey concluded. *'Mr. 
 Keynes was pleased enough, I can guess, to get 
 him on the work instead of Dr. Hubbard." Here 
 was material sufficient to touch a woman's imag- 
 ination. 
 
 When sne first saw the doctor, she was disap- 
 pointed. He was too slight and too bony for the 
 man she had imagined, but yet she liked him, 
 and this liking and approval grew as the days 
 passed in which they worked together at the hos- 
 pital. As workmen they were both thoroughly ef- 
 ficient, and in this they respected one another. If 
 Hicksey were doing any difficult operation he 
 would always ask Nurse Desmond to help rather 
 than either of the others, and she always came up 
 to his expectations. In the course of their work 
 they were necessarily brought a great deal into 
 contact, and Hicksey, burning with an enthusiasm 
 for his profession, was glad to find someone be- 
 sides James to whom he could talk. In Nurse 
 Desmond he found an intelligent listener. She 
 would listen silently, receptive, and sympathetic, 
 and he would be tempted to pour out, in spite of 
 the doubt that this might be beyond her com- 
 prehension, an account of his ideas regarding his 
 own special research. 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 113 
 
 In proportion as Nurse Desmond pleased Hick- 
 sey and received so much of his confidence, she 
 failed to please the two women. They were con- 
 vinced that she was making what they called "a 
 set" at the doctor, and it was obvious to them that 
 he liked her and found her a good deal more in- 
 teresting than he had found either of them. This 
 could not be forgiven. They became very critical 
 and chose to remember and enlarge the rumours 
 that they had heard. It was impossible for these 
 five people to refrain from discussing each other. 
 Nurse Hilton naturally had her confidences with 
 her young man, and her consciousness of the mat- 
 ron's physical superiority made her all the more 
 eager in the little criticisms that human beings 
 love to make at the expense of their fellows. 
 Nurse Toms felt herself equally indignant, and 
 the two w^omen combined in resenting Alice Des- 
 mond's presence and priding themselves on some 
 remarkable quality that they both possessed. If 
 they had been asked what the quality was they 
 would have found it difficult to answer, but since 
 neither of them was concerned with introspective 
 questions they were content to believe themselves 
 superior and in a position that justified criticism. 
 
 The effect of such an attitude was to leave the 
 others very much to their own resources. To the 
 doctor this was a matter of small consequence, but 
 
114 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 to Nurse Desmond it was more serious. She felt 
 herself cut off from the sympathy of the other 
 women, and she found it impossible to stand alone. 
 She needed some centre around which to form her 
 life. Instinctively she drew towards Hicksey, but 
 found him, except when he was talking of his 
 work, formal and difficult to approach. She tried 
 to believe that the importance of his work was 
 sufficient to justify the loneliness of her existence. 
 And all the while she was haunted and reproached 
 by the thought of her past life; she had made too 
 great a sacrifice, she had broken too rashly the 
 conventions of society and followed too confidently 
 the promptings of her vigorous instinct She had 
 lived through her ordeal and had left behind all 
 that she believed was life, and from that burning 
 had only carried away ashes that she believed to 
 be dead and cold. Now on the desert island, far 
 from the scenes of her former life, there rose from 
 them into the still air of solitude a thin coil of 
 smoke, and once again hidden embers began to 
 glow, waiting only for some breeze to fan them to 
 flame. No, she could never go back to the shelter 
 of society. People would never allow her to for- 
 get. She was an outcast. These other women 
 never let her forget that, and now what matter 
 what they thought? They would be mean and 
 petty however she behaved. 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 115 
 
 Her want of comradeship and sympathy was 
 the strongest of her needs, but besides this there 
 was the inevitable sex antagonism. Hicksey's 
 cold and remote bearing was a challenge, and con- 
 sciously or not it was her task to break down the 
 barrier that he so rigidly upheld. Every day they 
 met in the hospital; they had their work and in- 
 terests in common and found much to talk over, 
 and three times every day they sat opposite each 
 other at their meals. 
 
 If Nurse Desmond could not be described as a 
 beautiful woman, she was most certainly a woman 
 of definite charm. Her dark abundant hair and 
 pallid skin made a striking contrast to her blue 
 eyes, and then her soft and . unexpectedly low- 
 pitched voice made one stop and listen attentively 
 to catch what she was saying. 
 
 Hicksey felt the charm but was determined to 
 resist. It needed all his resolution. She in no 
 way committed herself, but he felt her presence 
 whenever she entered the room. His eyes would 
 involuntarily follow the movements of her bare 
 white arms, the folds of her skirt, and the poise of 
 her body as she moved. One evening he happened 
 to stay late in his surgery looking over a series of 
 slides that he had just made, when Nurse Des- 
 mond came in to ask some question. He an- 
 swered her abruptly ^nd went on with his work. 
 
ii6 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 Instead of leaving the room, as he expected, she 
 occupied herself with arranging on the shelves 
 some of the things that were out of place. He 
 was on the point of telling her not to trouble, when 
 he suddenly realized that the very fact of his 
 speaking would in itself be an admission that he 
 was conscious of a strained relationship; it was 
 just this that even to himself he did not wish to 
 admit. He kept silent. 
 
 When the shelves were tidied, instead of leavmg 
 the room she took a chair and sat down in a far 
 corner occupying herself with the rolling of lint 
 bandages. With half a glance Hicksey ascer- 
 tained what she was doing ; he was surprised and 
 annoyingly excited. He tried hard to interest 
 himself in the slides, but could not- forget the 
 woman sitting behind him silent, and as he be- 
 lieved, watchful. For half an hour he worked on, 
 moved slide after slide under the eye-piece, 
 mechanically turning the screw of the fine adjust- 
 ment, but through his mind were racing figures far 
 different from those his eye looked at. What did 
 the woman want? he asked himself, and left the 
 question unanswered. How he wished he had 
 spoken to her when she first began tidying the 
 shelves — now it was impossible. He felt the si- 
 lence become active and hammer with insistence 
 at his temples so that all his thoughts were scat- 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 117 
 
 tered. All that was left was the escape offered by 
 his work. He tried to concentrate on the slide in 
 front of him. He noticed that inadvertently he 
 had screwed the objective down till it had touched 
 and cracked the cover slip. Then a clear convic- 
 tion swept all other thoughts far away. He knew 
 that if he took four steps across the room towards 
 her she would rise and stand in front of him 
 white and trembling, that she would stretch out 
 her hands, that he would take them. He thought 
 of the pale softness of her neck, of the rich loops 
 of sweet-scented hair that covered her ears, of her 
 white throat and head thrown back. He looked 
 blankly at the shining disk of the eye-piece, then 
 at his fingers that he saw were trembling. 
 Quickly he rose and tumbled the slides into their 
 cases, then, without looking at her, strode across 
 the room and out into the fading twilight. 
 
 The sand, pale violet and mauve, stretched in 
 undulating waves on either side and clung to the 
 high banks of the dunes. Here and there yellow 
 flowers and grass looked surprisingly bright. Be- 
 yond the sand-hills he saw the wet shining line of 
 the beach, and beyond that the opaque deep blue 
 of the evening sea. He walked with long strides 
 between the dunes, and then for two miles kept 
 along the edge of the waves, but still figures and 
 images flitted through his brain and malicious 
 
ii8 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 imps drummed at his temples. Then suddenly he 
 checked and stood, a motionless white figure, upon 
 the grey sand. Above the noise of the surf he 
 heard the scuttle of crabs making off in all direc- 
 tions. Here before he turned he must sift to the 
 bottom of himself. No, it would not do, this was 
 not the time or place to get mixed up with a 
 woman. He must grapple with events and force 
 them to his will — and yet — in that wide-stretching 
 immensity of the night he cursed at the pitiless in- 
 sistence of human passion, at the parched metallic 
 taste in his mouth and the drumming of hot blood 
 through his brain. The waves lapped at his feet. 
 He stooped and let the water run over his hands. 
 The feel of it was fresh and cool. He kicked off 
 his shoes and, stripped of shirt and trousers, 
 waded slowly into the black water, which sparkled 
 here and there with little plates of silver. When 
 waist-deep, he plunged and swam out towards 
 the open sea. With now and then his chin under 
 the water he watched, with a sense of passive con- 
 templation, the phosphorescent lining to the ripple 
 that his strokes drove forward. When he had 
 swum out several hundred yards, he turned and 
 looked back at the land which stood out black 
 against the blackness of the night and was edged 
 with a white line of breaking waves. He was 
 now away, free from that confined space, from 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 119 
 
 the little human houses in which he had slept and 
 lived, free from the pettiness of human thoughts. 
 
 He trod water and watched the ripples stirred by 
 his hands. Above his head was the emptiness of 
 space, glittering with the cold fire of infinitely dis- 
 tant worlds; beneath him and around were the 
 still depths of the sea. Yes, and in his brain were 
 the same depths, the same vast expanse, the infinite 
 vision, the loving and deliberate search for knowl- 
 edge, for the secret. Here he must decide, here 
 where the free waters lapped and enveloped his 
 body, caressing with soft lips, restoring confidence 
 and power. There was no longer any need for 
 decision, the thing was clear. On the one hand 
 there was work, endeavour, the probing of that 
 great mystery, perhaps the vision — ^life; on the 
 other merely an instinct, that in its good time 
 would be satisfied. He rolled the water aside 
 with a swift stroke of his arm. He had a sudden 
 impulse to shout in this fresh won triumph, but 
 the mysterious hush of the night held him dumb. 
 With quick strokes he made towards the shore, 
 beating the water into glowing eddies. As he 
 walked through the surf, the firm sand beneath 
 his feet, he felt washed clean, clean as earth, air 
 and water, perhaps part of them. A savage would 
 have prayed to his God. He too would pray to 
 his God; his work was his prayer. 
 
120 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 Half an hour later, as he walked briskly past 
 the hospital to his house, he noticed that the light 
 was still burning in the surgery. He was on his 
 way to put it out, when the thought struck him 
 that Nurse Desmond might still be there. Instead 
 of going to the door he went to the window and 
 looked through. Yes, she was still there. She 
 was seated near the table over which her body was 
 bent forward. Her forehead was resting on her 
 clasped hands and the light fell on the brown un- 
 even masses of her hair. He stood watching, 
 waiting for her to move, but she did not move. 
 Perhaps she was asleep ! and if she were awake of 
 what was she thinking ? Was she very lonely ? he 
 wondered. For half a minute he watched her, 
 then turned and walked away to his house. As 
 its outline loomed up before him in the darkness 
 he had a strange reluctance to approach and enter 
 the narrow doorway. The spell of the night was 
 still on him, but now mixed and inseparably com- 
 mingled with the soft caresses of the water and 
 the empty spaces of the sky was the image of a 
 bowed head and white clasped hands. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 FOR a hot week a north wind had been 
 blowing, blowing steadily and incessantly 
 night and day. The sky was cloudless 
 and the wind raced along the beach, driving before 
 it stinging gusts of sand. In places, it swept bare 
 the edges of the dunes, leaving behind an exposed 
 network of grass roots that hung in brown 
 festoons. The fine grains of sand which were 
 beaten against the windows of the hospital found 
 a way in through chinks and crannies and were 
 whirled in eddies through the open doors. For 
 the doctor and the nurses work was made doubly 
 difficult; dust blew continually in their eyes, doors 
 slammed and banged and windows rattled. 
 Then, suddenly, there came a calm, and the sun 
 once more with unchecked heat beat down upon 
 the white sand and the white roofs of the build- 
 ings. The stillness came as a relief, though it 
 strangely changed each man or woman in the eyes 
 of the other. Instead of shouting to one another 
 and fighting in and out of doors, with wind- 
 smacked faces, they spoke gently and rather 
 
 121 
 
122 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 seldom, letting their words fall, with a kind of 
 half-conscious deliberation, into the silence. To 
 each man or woman the others appeared almost 
 like shadows moving quietly and mysteriously, in 
 some medium different from that of the accus- 
 tomed round of life and bustle. It was the sud- 
 den silence that produced in each this curious and 
 vivid sense of his own isolation, an isolation not 
 terrible but tranquil, contented for the moment to 
 rest and to watch. 
 
 A smooth skin spread over the ocean that undu- 
 lated gently to the swell; and the lagoon to the 
 westward turned to a flat mirror, broken only by 
 the occasional plash of the porpoises. Some- 
 times a flying fish sped close along the surface, 
 leaving a trail of ripples, and, as it fell back into 
 the sea, set shivering in all directions a series of 
 rings that died away on the even-shining surface. 
 As the days of calm followed one upon another, 
 the people on the island became more conscious 
 than ever before of their isolation. While there 
 was a breeze and things were stirring, they held 
 together, felt united by the activity of the forces 
 without; but now this calm and seemingly de- 
 liberate pause in Nature's progress troubled them 
 with vague, unformed questions. It was as if the 
 stillness that hung so ponderously over the sea and 
 lurked in hushed and trembling heat between the 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 123 
 
 grass blades, had in some unexpected and sudden 
 way slid between their personalities and had im- 
 prisoned each in a clear and crystal envelope. 
 There was a feeling of awe, almost of fear, that 
 grew in each human heart, as day after day the 
 calm held and nature, remote yet always terribly 
 near, whispered secrets of her great indifference 
 and her great power into their unwilling ears 
 
 Besides feeling his own isolation and the in- 
 stinctive need for some comradeship, some under- 
 standing, Hicksey also felt for the woman, who 
 seemed even more isolated than himself. His 
 imagination had escaped control ; she was the cen- 
 tre round which it played. In reveries he often 
 saw before him her sorrowful and thoughtful face, 
 and then he never could forget how she had driven 
 him out into the night. He remembered her quiet 
 dignity of the next day, his own surprise and 
 wonder and his half-admitted disappointment that 
 she should be unmoved and indifferent. 
 
 The day after the adventure of his escape from 
 the surgery he had taken James away on a short 
 visit to Kanna Island. He wished to be free from 
 the whole episode, to shake it off. They had spent 
 only a few days there, however, and then had come 
 back in the small half -decked boat that Keynes 
 had sent him. Now that he was once more at the 
 hospital, and calm had fallen upon land and sea, 
 
124 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 the stillness of Nature invited thoughts to flow and 
 imagination to play. He was conscious more 
 vividly now than formerly of the comings and go- 
 ings of the silent, provoking woman, at whose 
 thoughts and feelings he strove to guess. 
 
 For a time it seemed to him that he watched her 
 as if from a remote distance. He had almost a 
 scientific interest in her movements, as if he were 
 noticing in some crucial experiment the actions of 
 chemical elements ; and yet, when she approached 
 him with any question about the work, this quality 
 of interested spectator would draw back behind a 
 formal and cold exterior. 
 
 In that period of calm each day grew to be more 
 stifling than the last, more stifling and more intol- 
 erable. In place of the breeze that usually played 
 over the islands, there was a curious thinness in the 
 air in which the human beings, both natives and 
 whites, alike gasped and suffered. In the hos- 
 pital the routine of work went forward, but each 
 man and woman lived to himself, walking in his 
 own small fraction of the universe and drawing 
 upon all his forces to help resist the oppression 
 and tyranny of the heat. 
 
 It was about four o'clock one afternoon that 
 Hicksey and James first heard the breaking of 
 waves. They were sitting in one of the wards 
 amongst the long rows of beds, in which the pa- 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 125 
 
 tients lay gasping and turning from side to side as 
 if stifled by the close, hot atmosphere, when the 
 silence was distinctly broken by the distinct plash- 
 ing of the waves upon the shore. The two men 
 looked at each other in surprise, and remarked 
 the strangeness of the occurrence. Then, since 
 the noise increased, they became so interested that 
 they went out to see what was the cause of the sud- 
 den disturbance. Above them the sky showed a 
 dull heavy grey, and the sun, a small blazing spot, 
 hung to the westward. On the lagoon a distinct 
 swell was visible that broke in slow, rhythmical 
 waves. 
 
 Hicksey listened for a few moments to the dull 
 wash of the waters. ^'I believe we are going to 
 have a hurricane," he said. *'It's just the time of 
 year when they are expected. Wait, I'll go and 
 fetch my barometer and see what it registers." On 
 his way to the house he met the women. They 
 also had come out to see what was the cause of the 
 sudden breaking of the waves. On looking at the 
 barometer he saw that it had dropped two inches. 
 In an instant he took in the significance of this 
 fact, and the feeling of lassitude that had been on 
 him for the last few days was replaced by a sud- 
 den throb of excitement. He had heard of the 
 North-East Hurricanes and knew that they did 
 occasionally extend 30 far south as Fenton Island, 
 
126 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 He wondered whether the building would live. 
 He must tell the others and make all possible prep- 
 arations. He found them gathered together on 
 the beach looking at the ever-increasing swell. 
 They seemed already conscious of the approach of 
 some paroxysm of nature. When he told them 
 of the probability of a severe hurricane, they 
 seemed all of them almost glad at his news. They 
 had all heard stories of the fierce violence of 
 these great winds, but none of them had even come 
 near to such an experience. Now that they were 
 threatened by a common danger they all instinct- 
 ively held together. 
 
 Hicksey sent the women off to the hospital and 
 the houses with instructions to shut and barricade 
 all the windows, then, together with James and 
 with the help of some of the natives, he pulled his 
 boat far up on to the sands, anchored her at bows 
 and stern and buried both anchors. On his way 
 back he went through the camp to warn the natives 
 of the coming storm. He was surprised to find 
 that they already seemed to know that there was 
 some disturbance in the air. They were sitting 
 crouched in little groups under the sand-dunes and 
 looked frightened and miserable. All this while 
 the swell was increasing and the waves now fell 
 with a loud crash upon the beach. Any moment, 
 Hicksey s^id to himself, the storm might break, 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 127 
 
 It was not, however, till the sun was sinking in 
 the south-west that they saw a dark mass of clouds 
 spring up with surprising rapidity on the northern 
 horizon. And, then in the shape of a broad arrow 
 flying across the surface of the sea, darkening it 
 and beating it to fury, the storm approached. 
 
 Those who were responsible for the building of 
 the hospital had reckoned on the possibility of a 
 hurricane striking the islands. The hospital was 
 well built, with good foundations, and placed in a 
 sheltered position between two huge sand-hills. 
 Hicksey noted with satisfaction that the roof was 
 strongly clamped on to the beams and uprights, 
 and not, as in so many Colonial houses, just held 
 in position by virtue of its own weight. He was 
 careful to see that all the windows were firmly 
 fastened, for he had heard stories of roofs being 
 lifted clean off by the fury of the wind if once it 
 were allowed an entrance. 
 
 In the stillness of the central ward they waited. 
 With excitement they watched each other's eager, 
 anxious faces. They could see from between the 
 cracks of the shutters the smooth deep rollers ad- 
 vancing upon the island to break in huge crashing 
 waves upon the beach. Each moment they seemed 
 to get larger. Each crash was distinct like the re- 
 port of a gun, and then they would hear the long- 
 drawn screech of the retreating water. And as yet 
 
128 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 not a breath stirred. Then with a rush the first 
 fury of the wind was upon them; the whole build- 
 ing shook and the iron sides of the house seemed to 
 scream in pain at the air that flew by. Hicksey 
 caught a glimpse of six or seven native women, 
 who had ventured out too late, caught up, blown 
 and tumbled helter-skelter over the crest of a dune, 
 to fall in a clutching, tangled mass on the lee side. 
 Then clouds of sand hid everything from view. 
 Inside the room in the dim light he could see the 
 white, scared faces of the women. In a flash he 
 realized that everything depended upon himself, 
 that they would follow if he gave a lead. To save 
 them from panic, to keep them serviceable and 
 brave, he must keep them occupied. He told them 
 to fetch and light lamps as the darkness, caused 
 by the clouds of sand that were beaten against the 
 window, was almost complete. He himself with 
 James rushed to the door which seemed at any 
 moment on the point of being blown in. They 
 nailed heavy wooden struts across and then treated 
 the other doors in the same way, in case the wind 
 should change and blow from another quarter. 
 Could the building possibly stand? With that 
 immense force beating against one end, must it not 
 at any moment collapse and be carried, a debris of 
 broken beams and twisted iron, far across the 
 island, over the cliffs and into the sea? They 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 129 
 
 feared to think of that catastrophe, and yet that 
 it did stand gave them courage, and that they 
 could dare to combat with their feeble activities 
 a force so immense and terrifying gave them a 
 tenacious hope, a hope that was impossible in the 
 face of such an adversary, and yet which, elastic, 
 sprang up from under the foot of despair and 
 drove them to fresh efforts 
 
 Then came the rain and what was before a rattle 
 and scream became an unbroken deafening roar. 
 They shouted to one another, bending close and 
 screaming in one another's faces. They watched 
 the lips and sometimes caught an articulate and 
 meaning word. In a few minutes the sand was 
 laid and the rain streamed in horizontal rods 
 against the windows and flew by. Outside all 
 was a mad scurry of water and wind, and inside 
 the house there seemed to be a solid core of sound, 
 which every now and then was moulded and given 
 shape to by a louder crash. It was as if waves 
 were intermittently falling upon the roof. They 
 marvelled that it could ever stand. Water was 
 streaming through in fifty places. It was useless 
 to try to check the fierce jets in which it spluttered 
 between every crack in the roof and walls. 
 
 Two hours passed, and yet the building held to- 
 gether. The floors were running with water, and 
 sand and dead leaves had found their way in and 
 
130 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 were plastered against walls and ceilings. Every- 
 thing was wet through ; the native patients lay each 
 huddled in her bed under a mass of saturated 
 blankets. The members of the white staff were 
 each wet to the skin, and would have been in utter 
 darkness had it not been for the lanterns, for it 
 was impossible to keep lamps alight. And yet 
 each had now a vague and obstinate hope. They 
 believed that they might live through, hoped that 
 they had lived through the worst. Now they no 
 longer felt fear or thought of terrible eventualities. 
 They had now become accustomed to the incessant 
 roar and bluster of the storm, and even the crash- 
 ing of the thunder and the white sudden glare of 
 the lightning had ceased to make them wince. 
 They were tired, very tired, and their senses were 
 dull, wearied out by the monotony of sound. 
 They hoped for life and yet had ceased to fear 
 death. It was as if a heavy and profound sleep- 
 fulness had been precipitated from out the fierce 
 vortex of contesting sounds. They regarded each 
 other, wet and dishevelled. Nurse Toms had 
 sunk into a corner and had already fallen asleep, 
 though all about her rushed little eddies and waves 
 of water. Hicksey signed that they should not 
 wake her. He shouted to the others that they had 
 better go and rest, if they could. There was noth- 
 ing more to be done. 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 131 
 
 Ever since the storm had broken he had moved 
 frgm room to room, doing all he could to protect 
 things of value. His scientific instruments and 
 microscopes he had placed on a table in his surg- 
 ery, and covered with a large waterproof sheet. 
 It was his business, so long as the place held to- 
 gether, to save what was possible. There was no 
 question yet of taking any rest, but the others, who 
 were cold and wearied out, might just as well sleep 
 if they found it possible. He left them and went 
 into the surgery. 
 
 On the table the lantern was still burning as he 
 had left it half an hour ago. Now that he was 
 alone he felt a relief as if pressure had been re- 
 moved. His task, he felt, was practically 
 achieved; he had kept them all up to the mark. 
 There had been no panic, no show of uncontrolled 
 fear. Now he could safely leave them and was 
 glad to be alone. Something within himself, that 
 he had till now controlled with a practical severity, 
 some imaginative and romantic quality of his 
 youth, was now free to roam. He was able to 
 imagine and even see himself standing there by 
 the table in the feeble light of the lantern. He 
 saw his slight, wiry figure, with the wet clothes 
 clinging close about him. He pictured his face 
 and his own features ; he knew that his eyes were 
 burning with a newly kindled excitement. Hq 
 
132 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 was conscious of an even poise between physical 
 exhaustion and mental activity and knew that his 
 senses and his powers of thought, which were at 
 best but tools of his larger self, pieces of some 
 machine, had ceased to claim for themselves the 
 destiny and purpose of his life, and had fallen into 
 their secondary and true places. His body, in- 
 stinctive and all knowing, had now supreme com- 
 mand. Outside, the hurricane screamed and 
 throbbed. In him was the centre, the core, the 
 nucleus of the universe. Then, as if to challenge 
 the courage of his mood, the thunder burst and 
 crackled above his head and the lightning 
 streamed in white rivers down the sky. Noise 
 deafening and sudden, the world, the universe, 
 all that was not himself was there, and the night, 
 black and impenetrable, white, blinding, vanish- 
 ing before his gaze. In himself, there was repose, 
 silence — silence profound, unutterably deep. He 
 had never before guessed at its vigorous and in- 
 toxicating power. He stood poised on the brink 
 of action, wild and reckless. The silence within 
 grew larger and larger. It was impossible to con- 
 tain so much life and live. Any instant now he 
 might be whirled out into the forces that raged 
 past. 
 
 He snatched himself out of his trance with an 
 impulsive movement and half turned. Not two 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 133 
 
 feet from him was Nurse Desmond, her eyes, both 
 timid and daring, fixed on his face. How long 
 she had stood beside him he knew not, for in the 
 roar of the tempest he had heard nothing of her 
 approach. His heart, already beating fiercely in 
 excitement, leapt in his breast. Beyond that he 
 made no movement, but stood for some seconds 
 facing her. In her eyes there was a daring as 
 high as any he could rise to. It was a challenge, 
 a call. All the man in him must answer the hon- 
 our of such an assault; and yet his pity at the 
 same instant saw, peeping from behind the mask 
 of her courage, knowledge of terrors, occult and 
 impenetrable, warders of the soul on its lonely 
 pilgrimage. Pity and admiration mingled to a 
 passionate and impulsive adoration. Here con- 
 centrated into a human form was all the mystery 
 of the elements, the elements that raged past them, 
 breaking all obstructions, gone mad in their free- 
 dom. Behind her eyes he saw life surging and 
 beckoning; at one glance in full flood, and at the 
 next more painfully, extravagantly alluring in its 
 ebb, that left her body like a beautiful casket 
 crying to be filled with his supreme vitality. 
 
 With an action direct in its simplicity she raised 
 her hands to her face, then impulsively laid them 
 upon his shoulders and drew him forward. 
 Thought of his work and of his resolution no 
 
134 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 longer existed; here was a grip greater than that 
 of any individual will. His arms were round her 
 and he covered her face and neck with passionate 
 kisses. She clung to him, half sobbing in her tri- 
 umph. In the flickering and dim light of the lan- 
 tern her upturned face looked like the white flower 
 of some clinging plant, a plant that loves and 
 clings, some parasite that flourishes with supreme 
 arrogance upon the forces that it drains. Held in 
 each other's arms the silence was for them pro- 
 found and mysterious. Together they formed the 
 nucleus, the centre round which the universe spun 
 in a wild flurry of elements. Out in the night the 
 hurricane raged in unabated fury. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 ON the morning after the storm, as Hick- 
 sey walked through the debris of the 
 wrecked wards he felt a newly-born 
 lightness and exultation. The sharp strain of the 
 preceding days had suddenly snapt and given 
 place to unexpected relief. He now realized how 
 severe that strain had been and felt that by the 
 removal of a weight, which in retrospect seemed 
 intolerable and absurd, he had been set free for 
 new and better work. He was willing and glad 
 to admit that Alice Desmond had won over him 
 a great and lasting victory. He rejoiced that the 
 struggle was over and reproached himself with 
 folly for having held out so long. As for what the 
 others might think, that could hardly concern him ; 
 he was strong enough to maintain his own posi- 
 tion and ignore their petty criticisms. These 
 criticisms, however, did not come as quickly as he 
 had expected, and for the next few days all hands 
 were claimed by the common cause for repairing 
 the damage done by the storm. 
 
 The weeks that followed were the happiest that 
 135 
 
136 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 Hicksey had yet spent on the island. Nurse Des- 
 mond appeared to take a real and intelligent in- 
 terest in his work, and he was glad to talk over 
 his hopes and the general scheme of his work, and 
 was pleased to find some one so sympathetic to 
 his ideas. For these weeks he worked hard and 
 better than he had ever worked before. He often 
 during this time found occasion to reproach him- 
 self for having been so foolish as ever to have 
 imagined that there was not room enough in life 
 both for ambition and love. Here among the 
 primitive conditions of an unvalued and wild 
 island he would prove that there was ample scope 
 for both. 
 
 After the damage done by the hurricane had 
 been repaired, the people at the hospital settled 
 down to regular work. All day the doctor worked 
 either in his private room or in the wards, and 
 in the evening at sunset he would walk with Nurse 
 Desmond along the yellow sandy beaches or over 
 the rough cliffs of the island. 
 
 The problem that solved itself so easily for the 
 man was not, however, so easy for the woman. 
 The fact that she loved and had won him was in 
 itself the chief significance of her life. She took, 
 it is true, a keen interest in his work, but this was 
 because all his activities had for so many years 
 been closely interwoven with it. His work was 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 137 
 
 perhaps his chief attribute, but she did not love 
 the work, she loved the man. Before long she saw 
 it as a successful rival to herself and her own 
 powers, and with growing resentment she was 
 angry that it should take up so much of his time. 
 She still questioned and talked to him about the 
 research upon which he was engaged, but with 
 growing envy and jealousy, and she watched 
 closely, trying to determine how much of his life 
 she could consider hers and how much escaped her 
 and found expression in his work. She wanted 
 every bit of him, and hated to think that he could 
 escape into a land where she could not follow and 
 was not needed. 
 
 It was now that Alice Desmond began to feel 
 the narrow limits of the island. There was no life 
 possible for her save that which she found in the 
 doctor's company. The habits and surroundings 
 of ordinary civilized life could here give no di- 
 version. There was nothing but the two or three 
 iron houses of the settlement, the hospital full of 
 black patients, the arid, far-stretching sand-dunes 
 and the blazing sun overhead. The other nurses 
 were distant and discreet in all that they said, and 
 watched her with envy and a malignant vigilance. 
 With them she could hope for no sort of friend- 
 ship. The rigid and hard rules that they had 
 laid down for themselves they would not allow an- 
 
138 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 other woman to break without exacting the utmost 
 penahy. 
 
 As the weeks passed a tedious monotony settled 
 once more upon the hospital. The daily occupa- 
 tions became stale and wearisome. Even Hicksey 
 was touched by a feeling of lassitude. He found 
 it more difficult to work and felt that his interest 
 was failing. The early enthusiasm for his work 
 faded, and Nurse Desmond came to occupy more 
 and more of his thoughts. Half consciously he 
 knew that she claimed him, tried to possess him 
 altogether. For a time he drifted, letting his work 
 fall into the background. He gave less time to 
 his research and lost altogether his former keen- 
 ness and youthful delight in overcoming obstacles. 
 He worked now with the dogged insistence born 
 of the necessity of accomplishing a set task. 
 
 One day alone in his laboratory he realized with 
 unflinching certainty how greatly his standard had 
 fallen, and how far superior the work that he was 
 doing two months or a year ago was to that which 
 he was now producing. He experienced bitter 
 self-contempt and humiliation. He hated him- 
 self and felt a newly born resentment towards 
 Alice Desmond. He paced up and down his 
 room, thinking hard, anxious as always to think 
 clearly and know where he was. No, he could not 
 give her up; but rather than do bad work he would 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 139 
 
 for the time give up research. He would take life 
 on the note that seemed most definite, take the 
 woman and all that she could give, let his passion 
 run without check or curb. He would exhaust 
 her charm, her sex, her mystery, and then, the 
 wiser and the stronger, live once again his own 
 life. And yet, as the days passed and the un- 
 broken monotony of the island pressed upon him, 
 he found that he was becoming always more and 
 more unhappy and less at ease with his own con- 
 science. Yet he was no weakling to be harassed 
 by regrets; he had no shame for his passion, no 
 evil conscience towards nature, no shame even over 
 the thoughts of past experiences. It was what he 
 had left undone that troubled him, his w^ork and 
 the possibilities that he was letting slide. Could 
 he ever recover himself, ever again give body and 
 mind to that unrewarded, passionate search for 
 knowledge, the unveiling of what was veiled? 
 Every day the thought smouldered ; but there stood 
 between him and his work the presence of a 
 woman's body, her white face and soft hands, the 
 remembrance of all his desire and of all her love. 
 And then, besides the difficulties of his own strug- 
 gle, there was the presence to be reckoned with of 
 the other people on the island. They somehow 
 created a feeling of dense obscurity. To them 
 also, at the time of the storm, had come a glimpse 
 
HO WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 of an intenser life ; but, so soon as all danger was 
 past, each felt around for the accustomed grooves, 
 and being children of habit they instinctively 
 sought for those conditions which in previous 
 times of security had made for their survival. 
 For a short period fear had pulled them together, 
 and they had met with serious and unmasked faces 
 the prospect of death, but now they were ashamed 
 of that nakedness, and were anxious lightly to 
 assume a disguise which would serve the double 
 purpose of hiding their personalities and of con- 
 verting to the trivial the poignant possibilities of 
 existence. It was not long before the conven- 
 tional and orthodox view of the situation assumed 
 large proportions, the more so perhaps as they had 
 little outside their own work to think about. They 
 forgot that in the time of danger they had re- 
 spected the doctor as by natural right their leader, 
 and soon afterwards they began to condemn his 
 actions. 
 
 Hicksey and Nurse Desmond made little or no 
 effort to conceal their passion. The doctor was 
 not troubled by what might be said of him. If his 
 actions could pass his own criticism, he had little 
 fear of what others might say. For Alice Des- 
 mond things were not so easy; not that she was 
 much troubled by her conscience, but she was 
 wrought almost to desperation by her resentment 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 141 
 
 of criticism either spoken or implied. While 
 Hicksey was with her their life in common ex- 
 cluded nearly all else. The other women stood 
 in awe of him and were careful what they said. 
 They were careful always what they said, and just 
 by this and by silences and glances they let her 
 know how much they held themselves superior. 
 When she was alone she learnt to fear them as she 
 feared the world that they reflected. She tried 
 hard to hold herself above her fear and above her 
 resentment, but she sank always beneath them. 
 And then a secret and a greater fear lurked in her, 
 that they might see that she held him only on an 
 uncertain thread, that she lacked confidence in her 
 power, and that her life was staked upon the 
 struggle to captivate and to hold. Even while she 
 delighted in his surrender and in the caresses he 
 gave, her thought and her one desire was, how 
 could ^she hold him for always, make him her 
 slave and her master. She must have him undi- 
 vided, be to him all-sufficient. 
 
 Lacking the imagination to worship where he 
 had worshipped, she wished all worship to cease 
 save at the shrine of her own sex. And always she 
 doubted him, divined a restless conscience, an en- 
 emy that she could never come at, that she feared 
 must always escape. Now for some months their 
 relation had been developing. It had changed 
 
142 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 and taken on unexpected aspects. From the first 
 onrush of passion it had grown to that familiar 
 sense of possession and dependence one upon the 
 other. And yet it was impossible for them to be 
 at rest. The power of sex could not be all-suffi- 
 cient. If there was in their relation little beyond 
 the attraction of man for woman, there was at 
 least this between them that they stood together to 
 bear the criticism of the others. It was during 
 this time that Hicksey felt most strongly the 
 weight of all the previous quarrel with Dr. Hub- 
 bard. The ill-feelings that he had then disturbed 
 were now reawakened in the two nurses, and he 
 knew that they now hated him quite passionately, 
 and that he and Alice Desmond stood isolated, 
 surrounded by feelings of disapproval. This dis- 
 approval had sprung largely from sexual jealousy, 
 and it had grown to be an overwhelming passion 
 that enveloped even his smallest actions and clung 
 poisonously about the woman who had staked 
 everything upon winning him. 
 
 For a long time he had tried to dominate the 
 situation, to carry everything forward as if noth- 
 ing exceptional were in the air. He had partly 
 succeeded, but there had come feelings of ex- 
 asperation and self-contempt. It was humiliating 
 to know himself the centre round which so many 
 mean and petty motives played. At such times 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 143 
 
 he ceased to be able to get a fair view of himself, 
 and only knew that his work was heavy and labor- 
 ious but somehow a relief, and that when his work 
 was done he met Alice Desmond with pleasure, 
 feeling that her presence deadened and made 
 tolerable the ever-growing feeling of self-con- 
 tempt. 
 
 Every day he worked in the hospital, and exe- 
 cuted what had to be done with a dogged care and 
 thoroughness, and every evening he would find 
 Nurse Desmond waiting for him on the sand-hills 
 by the path that led to his house. He had ar- 
 ranged that they should see little of each other 
 during the daytime, and that they should work in 
 different wards. He did not even know what time 
 she finished her work, but every evening he found 
 her waiting, and he looked forward eagerly to 
 those meetings when he could forget everything in 
 the pleasure of her presence. 
 
 The day's work over, he walked over the sand- 
 dunes towards the house. In the distance he 
 could see her white and blue dress, a bright mark 
 against the yellow sands and grey bushes. Her 
 general poise, the lines of her figure and even the 
 movements of her garments were now familiar and 
 reminiscent. He knew them all by heart. As 
 she drew near he felt a warmth of pleasure and a 
 welcome relaxation from his mood of discontent. 
 
144 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 Whatever he might have lost on this remote out- 
 post of civilization, he had gained possession and 
 won dominion over this alluring woman who 
 charmed him, as a dangerous and beautiful toy 
 might charm some happy child. In her presence 
 he could still forget himself and hide his uneasy 
 conscience. 
 
 He greeted her with an outstretched hand. "I 
 am late to-day." 
 
 *'Not so late, but IVe known you later. I would 
 rather wait out here than in the house where the 
 others are always watching everything I do. 
 They never seem to be satisfied. Even now they 
 are watching to see if you meet me." 
 
 "Let them watch and be damned. Shall we 
 strike across the island and keep along the high 
 cliffs on the east side? We don't often go that 
 way." Then, after a pause : "You mustn't mind 
 what they say or think ; my position is too strong 
 for anything I do to matter. The authorities 
 don't find it so easy to get good men to work in an 
 out-of-the-way place like this." 
 
 They walked single file along a narrow path 
 that led between the bushes to higher ground. 
 He led and she followed ; every now and then he 
 turned to look at her. The wind was in her hair 
 and in her garments. She smiled at him happily 
 and proudly. In a little more than a mile they 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 145 
 
 feached the cliffs to the eastward. Here there 
 was open grass-land, and they sat for a while 
 looking at the rugged coast-line and the waves that 
 beat against it far below. In such a place, far 
 away by ^themselves, they could find opportunity 
 to forget the others and the petty life of the island ; 
 here, with the soft wind blowing by, the grass and 
 small flowers under their feet and the ocean, blue 
 and iridescent, spread wide and far to meet the 
 sky on the distant arc of the horizon, here they 
 could forget everything but one another and live 
 in the contentment of the moment. At such times 
 he felt real pride in her possession, and admitted 
 that she counted as part of his life in a way no 
 other woman had ever counted. Yes, she had 
 made a great difference and had now a real hold 
 on him, and oh yes, she was worth it all. And yet 
 there was stirring somewhere deep, an uneasy 
 conscience that told him that he had sacrificed 
 too much — what he had done against himself 
 could not be forgiven. When she was close to 
 him, this conscience shrank to its smallest and 
 everything would be forgotten and lost in the 
 great spaces of her tempting and evasive charm. 
 There was something in her love surprisingly per- 
 sonal that touched the very quick of his life, and 
 then there were times when he drew back from 
 her contact, frightened at some glimpse of her 
 
146 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 aloofness, an aloofness and indifference as of na- 
 ture herself. Not that he ever thought that she 
 did not love him ; he knew that she loved him all 
 too passionately; but he saw at times gaping and 
 alluring, yet black and repulsive, abysses into 
 which he might be drawn. And while he stag- 
 gered on the brink, some half-disclosed genius of 
 her sex stood aside, mechanical and automatous, 
 indifferent to his fate. 
 
 For some time they stayed talking together on 
 the cliff, then he suggested that he would clamber 
 down and have a bathe. 
 
 "Promise not to go beyond the coral pools," she 
 said; ''it's very dangerous out in the breakers." 
 
 "All right, I promise; but it's really quite 
 safe." 
 
 He left her and for a time disappeared behind 
 an outstanding piece of rock, then again she saw 
 him far below, a brown figure against the deep 
 blue of the pools. 
 
 When he had bathed and was once more 
 dressed, he began to climb the cliff. Near the top 
 he came on a grassy plateau. He called to her to 
 come and join him there. 
 
 "No, come up here," she answered; "I can't get 
 down, it's too steep." 
 
 "Oh yes, you can. I'm sure you can if you try. 
 I want to talk to you." 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 147 
 
 She clambered towards him. He went halfway 
 up to give her a hand. "I've never clambered 
 about like this before," she complained. "Well, 
 what is it?" 
 
 "What I have to tell you is that I'm going away 
 the day after to-morrow. I've simply got to 
 
 go." 
 
 She was all anxiety in a moment. "What? 
 Where are you going to?'^ 
 
 "I am only going to Kanna Island; I haven't 
 been there for ten days." 
 
 "Must you go there again so soon? You seem 
 to be always rushing to and fro. I thought at first 
 .when you said you were going that you meant you 
 were going to the mainland. Tell me, you don't 
 w^ant to leave me, do you?" 
 
 "No, of course I don't, but I have to go over 
 there if it's only to keep that man Sherwin in his 
 place. He's been getting very sulky lately, very 
 conceited and uppish; I wouldn't be surprised to 
 find that he had taken to drink. The absolutely 
 solitary life he leads is not good for any one, but 
 the funny thing is he seems to like it. It's curious 
 how loneliness grows on a man. I don't believe 
 if he had the chance he'd go back to civilization." 
 
 "And do you want to go back?" she asked. 
 
 "I don't want to go now, but some day I shall I 
 suppose." A long minute passed and neither of 
 
148 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 them spoke, but they sat side by side in silence 
 looking out over the deep blue of the restless sea. 
 ^'I wonder if I could go back," he mused. *' Could 
 you?" 
 
 She put her arms round him. "No, dear, 1 
 don't want to go and I don't want you to go." 
 For a while they sat clasped in the fading light. 
 Then suddenly he shook himself free. 
 
 "There's no need to be so serious," he laughed. 
 "There's no question of my going yet. It's best 
 to take short views of life. But if I'm to keep 
 my job I must work thoroughly and give these 
 others no chance of finding fault and saying that 
 I'm no better than Hubbard." 
 
 "Yes, I suppose you must go," she admitted, 
 "but you don't realize how I suffer while you are 
 away. The others make things too intolerable. 
 I don't know where to be or where to look, but 
 keep shut up in my room and pray that no harm 
 may come to you. Will you promise, promise me 
 that you will not take such awful risks as you did 
 last time you were away. Remember that I would 
 rather be without you for a few days than that 
 you should take such risks." 
 
 "You forget," he laughed, "that I wanted to get 
 back to you : I might have had to wait for another 
 week for the wind to change." 
 
 "But it was frightfully dangerous." Then she 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 149 
 
 laughed at the reminiscence. "I shall never for- 
 get how poor James looked when he came in all 
 dripping; did you really throw him overboard?" 
 
 *'Not exactly that," he said. "You see it was 
 like this. When I got into the harbour I saw that 
 it was too rough to bring the boat up to the rocks 
 as I usually do. She simply would have been 
 battered to pieces, so the only thing to do was to 
 leave her at the moorings, and the only way to get 
 ashore then was to swim. Well, I asked James if 
 he could swim. He said no. He's a silly fel- 
 low after all the chances he has had. Then I told 
 him I was going to swim ashore, as I didn't fancy 
 staying the night on board wet through as I was. 
 He begged me not to leave him ; and finally con- 
 sented to let me tow him to land. It was nothing 
 much of a business, only a quarter of a mile or 
 so." 
 
 She laughed again at the recollection. "Poor 
 man, he looked very frightened and, when he told 
 me that you had swum back to fetch your instru- 
 ments, he didn't get much sympathy from me. 
 That was wicked of you. You never thought 
 about me then, or what would become of me if 
 you were drowned." She spoke reprovingly. "I 
 don't believe you'd have swum back to fetch me ! " 
 
 "I'd have towed you ashore just as I towed 
 James." 
 
150 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 A cool wind blew past them. She leaned to- 
 wards him, seemed to hesitate, then, speaking 
 quickly: ''Couldn't I come with you?" 
 
 He answered impulsively: *'No, I don't think 
 so"; and then, after a short silence, *'And yet I 
 don't see why you shouldn't — that is, if you'd 
 really like to come. My position is strong enough 
 to do what I like. So long as I do my w^ork as 
 thoroughly as I do, they will never sack me." 
 Then as if half-delighted with the idea: 
 ''There's no doubt the others will be furious. It 
 will give them something to make a song about," 
 and he laughed. He was pleased at the excite- 
 ment that the idea stirred in him. "Yes, come if 
 you like, I'd like you to come. There's plenty 
 of work to be done." 
 
 Now that he had raised no objections, she was a 
 little frightened at the boldness of her request; a 
 little disappointed too at his rising to the adven- 
 ture rather than to the idea of her being with him. 
 He went on, full of his own thoughts. "If you 
 come I shall be away ten days at least. There is 
 plenty of work in which you can help. And here 
 things are going so smoothly that I can leave them 
 to James. He's a capable enough fellow, and a 
 nice fellow too, if he wasn't got at so easily by 
 those two women. My word, won't they be 
 angry!" 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 151 
 
 Alice Desmond was frightened at the so easy 
 granting of her request. She hated to stay, and 
 yet she was afraid to go. She felt that then she 
 would be so doubly committed and so much at his 
 mercy. She wished that he could see the sacrifice 
 that she was making and longed too for some as- 
 surance that his love would last. She stood up 
 and looked at him for some moments in silence. 
 Then she bent over him and looked seriously into 
 his eyes. 
 
 "Can you promise me that you love me? That 
 you really do love me; that you will never leave 
 me? Remember, I am willing to make every sac- 
 rifice for you." 
 
 He met her eyes for a moment, then let them 
 fall and rest on the far horizon. His answer was 
 almost a complaint. "I have made every sacrifice 
 for yc>M." The thought flashed through his 
 brain: "How can I know that I shall not hate 
 her in a month's time?" But he added, "Of 
 course I love you. Only come with me and I 
 will show you how much." 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 WHEN, three months earlier, the two 
 doctors sailed away towards Fenton 
 Island, Sherwin had been glad of 
 their departure. As he stood upon the crest of 
 the high sand-hill and watched the sail of the 
 *' Shark" disappear into the distance, he was glad 
 to feel once more undisputed power over the 
 island. The doctors had neither of them, of late, 
 given him much society, and now that they were 
 gone he found nothing to regret. They had stirred 
 his anger and contempt at their professional jeal- 
 ousies and personal indifference to his sufferings, 
 and, although he was grateful enough to Hicksey 
 for saving his hand, he felt sore and injured that 
 his overtures of friendship had been so coldly re- 
 ceived. 
 
 He stood on the hill-top till he saw the last 
 flicker of white disappear into the distant blue. 
 Then as he walked slowly towards his own house, 
 he felt rise within him, once more, his own im- 
 portance as undisputed ruler of the island. When 
 he reached his house he pulled his cane chair out 
 
 on to the verandah, took out his pipe, loaded and 
 
 152 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 153 
 
 lit it, then sat in silence enjoying the sense of 
 isolation. He listened to the distant plashing of 
 the waves and the monotonous murmur of insects' 
 wings with a quiet enjoyment. 
 
 Now that his hand was almost healed he couid 
 look back with a sense of happy escape upon the 
 time of his suffering, upon all those days of loneli- 
 ness when hope and despair struggled together 
 and he had seen the terrors of existence peeping 
 from behind their veils. Yet he still remembered 
 with pride that even in those days of distress and 
 humiliation he had kept his power over the others. 
 Now that he was once more master of himself, he 
 could put that power to some purpose and teach 
 his gang of workers to fear him as Coffee feared 
 him. Already he had shown them that he was to 
 be feared, and they had not forgotten how one 
 hot day when he was in a bullying and hectoring 
 mood, and one of them had made for him, with 
 one hand only he had laid the fellow out, and 
 then had not omitted, as he himself expressed it, 
 "to put his feet into him." Oh, yes, he knew 
 how to treat niggers ! He moved nervously at the 
 recollection, and was no longer conscious of the 
 quiet sounds of the islands. 
 
 Yes, he was glad the two doctors had gone; then 
 he thought with a pang of envy that they had gone 
 back to their women. At that moment he ques- 
 
154 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 tioned with petulant annoyance why he should be 
 left alone on a desert island with a lot of pagan 
 black men. He got up and paced to and fro on 
 the verandah. His earlier mood of quiet satisfac- 
 tion was replaced by a sense of the discords that 
 he contained. He could not tear himself away 
 from the life on the island ; he had come to under- 
 stand it too well ; it had already claimed too much 
 of him, and yet he chafed at the unnatural condi- 
 tion of his life. Damn those doctors, they were 
 clever enough to keep their women shut up on the 
 other island. 
 
 He shouted to Coffee who was rattling pans in 
 an out-house that served as a kitchen. 
 
 The black came and stood before him. 
 
 *'Sit down. Coffee, I want to talk to you." 
 Sherwin flung himself into his own chair. Coffee 
 squatted down upon his heels and for some mo- 
 ments the white man regarded him in silence. 
 
 ^'How long have you been on this island, Cof- 
 fee?" 
 
 "Long time. Master, not quite sure how long." 
 
 "What for you come here?" 
 
 "I come along o' boat, by and by I go back 
 along o' boat." 
 
 Sherwin grunted, then he asked: "Are you 
 married man. Coffee? Have you got woman in 
 your country?" 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 155 
 *'Yes, master. I got um woman and two picki- 
 
 ninny." 
 
 "What time you go back and see your woman?" 
 
 Coffee shrugged his shoulders and made no re- 
 ply. 
 
 "What for you leave your woman and picki- 
 ninny?" 
 
 Again he shrugged and made no answer. Sher- 
 win shouted at him. "Don't sit there grinning. 
 Answer me, do you hear?" 
 
 "I not know, master, I come along o' boat." 
 
 "Yes, I know you came in a boat; that's not an- 
 swering my question." 
 
 Coffee, not understanding this last remark, 
 grinned nervously. 
 
 "Doesn't know when he came, doesn't know 
 when he's going. Poor devil doesn't know where 
 he is even." Then Sherwin laughed brutally. 
 "Do you think all boats go to your bloody little 
 islands?" 
 
 Again not understanding, the black continued 
 to grin. 
 
 Sherwin bent forward and spoke deliberately 
 at him. "I think um. Coffee, other fellow get 
 your woman by this time." 
 
 "No, master." 
 
 For some moments both men were silent. Sher- 
 win, feeling that it was impossible to make the 
 
156 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 savage feel the true and terrible isolation of his 
 position, changed the subject. *'What place you 
 get um Yangona root?" 
 
 "Big ship bring um plenty Yangona root, white 
 fellow Kaimera give me plenty." 
 
 Sherwin was surprised at this information and 
 determined to ask Pomfrey to bring over a fresh 
 supply ; then his mind reverted to the former sub- 
 ject. It struck him as comic that the fellow 
 should be so trusting and so ignorant. He talked 
 out loud for his own satisfaction, not expecting 
 Coffee to understand. "It's a funny thing that 
 you should have got dumped on this island. 
 You'll never get off, you poor devil I You'll never 
 see your woman and your pickininnies ; don't you 
 think it. You'll be stuck in a hole, and the sand 
 chucked over you." Then, after a pause, "Fetch 
 some Yangona and we'll have a drink." 
 
 Coffee was glad to escape from the fire of ques- 
 tions and the talk that he could not understand, 
 and was glad to busy himself with something con- 
 crete. When he came with the root, Sherwin took 
 some from him and chewed in silence. It was the 
 first time he had tasted any since the arrival of 
 the two doctors. 
 
 As they sat thus, both occupied at the same un- 
 couth task, Sherwin was often amused by his own 
 picture of the strangeness of the scene. He was 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 157 
 
 surprised too that he and the other man, products 
 of such different lands and civilizations, should be 
 so unfeignedly glad to renew their old manner of 
 life. 
 
 This was the first evening of many others that 
 followed when they thus sat together, and let their 
 thoughts wander out over the wild land. For the 
 most part they sat in silence and each lived to him- 
 self his own life, but Sherwin sometimes found 
 himself wondering if Coffee ever thought of his 
 wife and children. He himself would have been 
 glad of wife and children. Yes, with a wife, he 
 told himself, he would be happy indeed, and 
 would never want to go back to the world of civil- 
 ization, unless, perhaps, his brother found gold, 
 and that would no doubt alter his view* *«fWith 
 gold he would have power, more power than he 
 wielded here; power to buy women, any woman he 
 might wish for. But from his brother he had 
 heard no good news lately, and he was beginning 
 to give up hope. 
 
 The evenings with Coffee on the verandah were 
 his relaxation after his hard days of work. In 
 the daytime Sherwin was a hard task-master ; not 
 only did he keep the natives at their road-making 
 and building, but had made them race over the 
 island and catch all the goats. These he pegged 
 out oil tethers near the camp. He had also taught 
 
158 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 the natives to make fences and stretch wire and 
 had enclosed the sheep in paddocks. All these 
 activities were not so much for the benefit of his 
 employers or to win praise from Hicksey as for 
 his own gratification, as signs of his own power. 
 
 He came to take small stock of what Hicksey 
 said, whether it was praise or blame, and took 
 little notice of him when he came at certain inter- 
 vals on his visits to the islands. 
 
 Since there was no other white man to talk to, 
 Sherwin had made a one-sided friendship with 
 Pomfrey and looked forward to his visits. The 
 old seaman brought him things from Kaimera, 
 including bottles of whisky; and the two men very 
 often went up to the house and drank together and 
 shared the gossip of the two islands. It was Pom- 
 frey who told him the story of the fight and of 
 Hubbard's discomfiture. At first he had been 
 pleased to hear of Hicksey's success, and very 
 pleased when Hicksey offered him the post of as- 
 sistant at the hospital. He took a thorough in- 
 terest in learning his work, but he was annoyed 
 that all his overtures of friendship should be so 
 coldly received by the young doctor. 
 
 Hicksey, on his occasional visits to the islands, 
 was always civil, but he never let Sherwin forget 
 that they came from different levels in the social 
 strata, and this the latter considered to be uppish 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 159 
 
 and conceited. If the young fellow was going to 
 take that line, he would show him he could very 
 well do without his company, and so he would 
 spend the evenings on his own verandah, thinking 
 his own thoughts, and learning to endure his soli- 
 tude, and sometimes talking to the silent-moving, 
 enigmatic black fellow. 
 
 All through the days of calm that preceded the 
 hurricane, Sherwin, as if in some desperate answer 
 to his own flagging strength, had worked the na- 
 tives pitilessly hard. After his work he would lie 
 gasping on his bed. The heat stifled him, and, in 
 spite of all his virile strength, sapped him of his 
 power. He lay sometimes for hours upon his 
 bed, morose and sulky, his red face and chest 
 beaded over with sweat, cursing at the country and 
 its hardships, and thinking enviously of the land 
 he had left. And yet in spite of his maledictions 
 upon the land, he knew in himself that it would 
 need some strong outside stimulus to shake him 
 from the new-found way of life. 
 
 During these days of extreme heat Coffee kept 
 his distance, for all the latent cruelty in the white 
 man was aroused, and moved on the surface of his 
 nature, as if eager to meet the cruelty of the tropi- 
 cal heat and mingle with its fierce blaze of colour. 
 One of its manifestations was in the branding and 
 castrating of the goats. Coffee, half -frightened, 
 
i6o WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 half savagely exultant, helped ; but, when they had 
 done and the frightened animals made off bleating 
 and trembling with pain, the black was apprehen- 
 sive for his own skin and feared to meet his mas- 
 ter's blood-shot eye. 
 
 With the first breaking of the waves upon the 
 shore. Coffee was seized with terror. He knew 
 what they foreboded, and, half in English, half 
 in his own language, he managed to convey to 
 Sherwin something of their significance. To 
 Sherwin as to Hicksey the possibilities of danger 
 came at first as a stimulant. His care was to 
 make the houses secure, and while thus occupied 
 he felt little fear, only excitement ; but later, when 
 the waves gathered in size and came crashing upon 
 the shore, and there was nothing left to do but to 
 watch and wonder and guess at what they might 
 forebode, then he began, little by little, to be in- 
 fected by the black fellow's fear. 
 
 Fear, once allowed an entrance, swells like a 
 river in flood; bursts all bonds and flows into 
 every cranny of the spirit. Sherwin, afraid even 
 of himself and of his own thoughts, trembled now 
 before that ominous silence in which nature took 
 breath before the fury that was to come. He knew 
 that he dare not be alone, he must at all hazards 
 keep close to his black servant. 
 
 Nothing would induce Coffee to enter either of 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 161 
 
 the houses, but he moved to and fro restlessly 
 looking for hollows in the sand-hills, and all the 
 while mumbling in his own language forebodings 
 of the storm. Both white man and black felt that 
 they needed all the support that they could get; 
 they urgently felt that they must be near to other 
 human beings, and so went down to the roughly 
 made hospital, where the natives were all gathered 
 together in frightened expectation. 
 
 For the first time in his existence Sherwin knew 
 that he was but one of a number, and that he was 
 losing all feeling of individual aloofness. All his 
 hectoring superiority dwindled and disappeared. 
 He was only one amongst a crowd of frightened 
 savages, waiting in trepidation and impotence to 
 see nature put forth her strength and assert her 
 terrible mastery. 
 
 The hurricane came with a burst of fury, driv- 
 ing the waves far up the beach. With the first 
 onrush of wind the flimsy construction of the hos- 
 pital was whirled away across the island, and 
 beds and sick natives were tumbled in a mass 
 among the stinging clouds of sand. For a while 
 Sherwin knew nothing beyond the fact that the 
 place had gone and that he was lying at full 
 length, blinded and struggling for breath. All 
 his energies were centred upon breathing, getting 
 air into his lungs without swallowing too much 
 
i62 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 sand. At length he wriggled himself into a hol- 
 low and lay there, clutching with his fingers at 
 the grass roots, while the rain drove down upon 
 him and the hurricane flew by above his head. 
 
 After he had recovered from the first outraged 
 surprise and panic he rose to a crouching position 
 and peered round. In the dim light he could see 
 little save the wild scurry of elements, and now 
 and then the dark form of some native who stum- 
 bled and clutched his way across the sand-hills, to 
 disappear into some hollow. A fiercer gust of 
 wind half rolled him over. He lay close to the 
 earth and muttered prayers to his long-forgotten 
 God, who seemed to be shouting in all His wrath 
 from the heart of the tempest. How many hours 
 he lay on the sand-hills he did not know, but he 
 knew that night had come quick on the heels of the 
 tempest to add darkness to his other terrors. Al- 
 though the wind was blowing with terrific fury, it 
 would have been possible, had he had the will and 
 the courage, for him to have fought his way to his 
 house. But instead of making any such effort, he 
 lay still like some animal wincing under a hail of 
 blows. Every now and then the lightning gave a 
 vivid picture of the island and the fury of the sea. 
 In the distance he could see his house still stand- 
 ing, and round about him on the sand were the 
 prone figures of the natives. Then blackness 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 163 
 
 would follow the flash, and he was conscious of 
 nothing but the wind and the water screaming 
 past. 
 
 For a time he must have slept, for he was obliv- 
 ious of all sensation, then suddenly and unex- 
 pectedly he became conscious of something mov- 
 ing over his leg. He turned and groped in the 
 darkness, but could find nothing. Then a flash 
 of lightning revealed Coffee's black figure crouch- 
 ing at his feet. He was unspeakably glad of the 
 black's presence. In the ensuing darkness he 
 stretched till he felt the round head, which he drew 
 towards him. He felt an unaccountable and 
 desperate need for human comradeship. He 
 longed to speak but could find no words. Some- 
 how he must give expression to his newly kindled 
 consciousness. "By God, by God!" he shouted 
 at the head that he still held in his hands. Cof- 
 fee crept nearer and shouted something that was 
 lost in a crash of thunder. ''All right, Master, 
 all right!" The two men lay side by side, glad 
 of each other's company and glad to have heard 
 each other's voices. During the hours that fol- 
 lowed there grew slowly, inevitably, as does a seed 
 that forces its way through the soil, an under- 
 standing and a sympathy between the two men. 
 
 Naked in fear and self-effacement they had seen 
 nature in all her ruthless anger, and now, as the 
 
164 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 storm abated, felt that in those hours of subjec- 
 tive terror they had met at last on common ground. 
 
 In the morning the hurricane abated, though 
 the sea ran high, sending great waves roaring up 
 the beach, and a strong wind was still blowing. 
 Sherwin, cramped and bruised from the long night 
 of exposure, walked stiffly between the sand-hills 
 rousing the natives, telling them to bestir them- 
 selves and make a fire if they did not want to feel 
 the shape of his boots. Now that his own fear 
 had passed, he must at all hazards re-establish his 
 authority, and among the wet and miserable na- 
 tives this was no very difficult task. At first he 
 was a little diffident of his own power, and this 
 made him unnecessarily brutal, but gradually, as 
 he recognized that his prestige was little shaken, 
 he gathered courage and felt that he could afford 
 to speak to them in his usual half-hectoring, half- 
 joking manner. 
 
 The next few days were spent in the construc- 
 tion of a new hospital resembling that which had 
 been blown away, and in repairs to the two houses, 
 both of which had successfully stood the storm. 
 By the time Hicksey turned up a week later things 
 w^ere working once more with their accustomed 
 regularity and Sherwin was well assured of all his 
 former authority. 
 
 The two men had little to say to one another 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 165 
 
 beyond short comments upon the fierceness of the 
 storm and conversation directly concerning the 
 native patients and the newly wrecked hospital. 
 Hicksey praised the ability and promptness with 
 which Sherwin had acted, and then gave his in- 
 structions as to the order of things at the hospital. 
 While Sherwin listened in silence the doctor 
 thought that he detected a scornful curl on the 
 man's lip and a look of mutiny in his eye, and 
 later, when he had returned to his own house, he 
 had a distinct, and, as he felt, a growing antipathy 
 towards the red-haired burly fellow. 
 
 Sherwin on his part returned moody and sulky 
 to his house. He was annoyed and humiliated by 
 Hicksey's visit. Somehow the presence of the 
 other white man had made him feel ashamed of 
 his behaviour on the night of the hurricane. 
 Damn the man with his superior airs and his "do 
 this, do that." Sherwin's heart painfully con- 
 tracted at the thought that any of the blacks might 
 say how during the night of the hurricane he had 
 lain terror-stricken on the dunes. He needed to 
 assure himself that he was every bit as good a 
 man as the doctor. It was no doubt easy enough 
 for Hicksey to carry things off with his gentle- 
 manly airs; he had not been left alone amongst 
 a crowd of savages, but had another white man 
 and three white women to keep him company. 
 
166 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 And yet, in spite of his excuse to himself, Sher- 
 win knew that somehow he had lost caste, lost his 
 distinction as a white man. With the niggers his 
 position was still safe enough. By virtue of his 
 physical force and nervous energy he could always 
 bully them into submission, but he feared that 
 Hicksey might see him for what he was, think 
 him to be a coward, and in his damned superior 
 way treat him as such. He would show him that 
 in no way would he truckle to his arrogant as- 
 surance. 
 
 For the rest of Hicksey's visit he saw little of 
 him, and when the day of his departure came, al- 
 though Sherwin knew that he was leaving for 
 Fenton Island that afternoon, he decided that he 
 would not go down to the shore as was customary 
 to see him off and receive last instructions, but in 
 his place he sent Coffee to help the doctor down 
 with the boat. As soon as he had sent Coffee, he 
 was half afraid of his own daring, for he knew 
 Hicksey was not a man to be trifled with. For 
 a while he watched Coffee's figure, becoming 
 smaller in the distance, then he went into his room, 
 picked up one of the magazines that lay littered on 
 the floor, and turned over the pages. After what 
 seemed a long time he heard Coffee's steps on the 
 verandah and a knock at the door. 
 
 "Well, what is it?" he shouted, testily. 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 167 
 
 Coffee opened the door and stood looking em- 
 barrassed. "Doctor he say, 'Tell Mr. Sherwin 
 come along down to the beach.' " 
 
 "Did he tell you to tell me that? What was it 
 he said?" 
 
 "He said, *Tell Mr. Sherwin come down and 
 talk to me.' " 
 
 Sherwin lowered at him; Coffee stood awk- 
 wardly shifting from one foot to the other. "All 
 right, then, get out of here. What are you wait- 
 ing for?" Coffee muttered something and then 
 vanished. Sherwin swore to himself as he walked 
 slowly across the room to pick up his hat. Then 
 deliberately taking his time he walked through 
 the door, down the steps of the verandah, and 
 across the white glare of the sand-dunes. He 
 found Hicksey sitting on the edge of his boat, 
 which had not been pulled down. 
 
 The doctor waited till he had come down, then 
 said: "I want you to give me a hand with my 
 boat, Sherwin." 
 
 Sherwin said nothing, but took hold of one of 
 the bulwarks, and together they dragged her down 
 to the break of the waves, where they paused 
 for a moment. 
 
 "Thank you," said Hicksey, "and another time 
 don't send your servant to do your own work." 
 Before giving Sherwin time to say anything, he 
 
i68 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 went on: "I wanted to tell you that I think you 
 are working the convalescent natives too hard. 
 There's no reason to break their backs; I want 
 you to slack off a little. If you work in the morn- 
 ings, that's quite enough. Give them the after- 
 noons to themselves." 
 
 Sherwin turned very red. "It is I who have to 
 keep discipline here, doctor. You had better let 
 me keep it my own way and manage my own men." 
 
 Hicksey looked his man straight in the face, and 
 there was rising anger in his voice as he said: 
 "They don't happen to be your men. They are 
 here under my charge, and you are to carry out 
 my orders." Then breaking off: "Give another 
 shove at the boat, will you?" 
 
 Both men ran out through the waves, shoving 
 the boat before them, then Hicksey jumped on 
 board. 
 
 Sherwin walked slowly back over the sand-hills. 
 He cursed alternately at Hicksey and then at him- 
 self for being so easily mastered. Coffee he found 
 sitting on the steps waiting for him. He walked 
 past in silence and then turned and told the black 
 to begone into the kitchen. 
 
 That evening he got very drunk on whisky, and 
 felt brave enough to pitch Hicksey into the sea and 
 his boat after him. The next morning he stayed 
 late in bed to sleep off the effects. When he 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 169 
 
 finally got down to the hospital, he found the 
 natives waiting for him in front of the ward. It 
 was not usual for him to be late. He felt a throb- 
 bing in his temples and was disinclined for work. 
 He told the blacks they could take a holiday and 
 then himself sat down and dozed in the shade. 
 After his mid-day meal he called to Coffee to 
 bring out some Yangona root, and all through the 
 afternoon sat chewing and drinking. Its effect 
 after the whisky was soothing. 
 
 For the next few days he kept the natives mildly 
 employed, but now that he had not complete con- 
 trol, he ceased to feel that pride in his work and 
 pleasure in his power which hitherto had kept him 
 to his task. If the doctor knew so much better 
 than he did how to manage the island, let him 
 have some of the responsibility of keeping the beg- 
 gars in order. 
 
 Since he was now not much occupied, he took to 
 sitting in his room, sometimes talking to himself, 
 sometimes looking through old papers, and keep- 
 ing himself cool with occasional nips of whisky 
 and water. He began to hate the life he led, 
 from which he knew he could not break away, 
 and only in the evenings when he drank Kava 
 with Coffee did he ever feel the quiet sense of en- 
 joyment of the earlier months. The Kava seemed 
 certainly to calm his nerves and steady him after 
 
170 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 the whisky. Sometimes in moments of clear- 
 sightedness, that came to him after many bowls of 
 the white pulpy liquid, he would think regretfully 
 of his brother on the gold-fields and curse his own 
 lot that had brought him to such an outlandish 
 spot, to a life so distant from that of civilized man. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 IN the civilized countries of Europe the wheels 
 of social organization turn in their predes- 
 tined grooves. Man lives as he can adapt 
 himself to their inexorable movement, and, in the 
 end, his individual existence is crushed by the 
 ever-urging destiny of the race that carries his 
 children onward he knows not whither. He lives 
 not by his own virtue, but because he happens to 
 function out some small cog or piston of that in- 
 tricate machine whose course he can never alter, 
 whose destiny he can never understand. He per- 
 forms his task, and is part of the onward rolling 
 of the wheels. Religion and morality teach him 
 to walk straightly in the path of his subjection. 
 He survives by virtue of their wisdom. Stripped 
 of them he would be but a bleeding fragment of 
 humanity, for man is not yet permitted to live as 
 an individual, and it has been but the dream of 
 the greatest among men to live as arbiters of their 
 own law, as creators of their own values. 
 
 When a man is taken out of the civilization in 
 which he has been taught to exist and is told to 
 
 171 
 
172 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 live as best he can by the strength of his individual 
 will, the bonds forged and held together by his old 
 manner of life are gradually loosened. The re- 
 ligion and morality which he has been taught, 
 which are not his, but belong to the society of 
 which once he formed a part, fall away and there 
 is left only that stripped and raw nucleus of life 
 which lies so close to the brute from which it was 
 evolved. 
 
 While Sherwin had lived on Kanna Island he 
 had found no aids to hold him to the standards of 
 his former life. Formerly, he had lived by other 
 men's opinions and had found his place easily 
 enough among the rough and tumble life of a 
 young colony. Now he was altogether alone and 
 without another white man, he had not even a 
 woman who could help him crystallize and make 
 concrete the sense of his own personality. The 
 black men among whom he lived were of little 
 help, for they too were outcasts living far from 
 their native land. Coffee perhaps was more piti- 
 fully an outcast than any of the others, and Sher- 
 win saw in the black fellow's helpless isolation a 
 reflection of his own ever-increasing loneliness. 
 
 During the time that his hand had been 
 poisoned, he had suffered the agonies of despair, 
 and at times had grovelled in fear, blinded and 
 appalled by nature's cruel indifference. Later he 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 173 
 
 had tried to look away and forget that glimpse of 
 reality ; but he could never forget. Fear had then 
 entered into his soul, fear that weakened and 
 harassed and made him grasp at the easiest mode 
 of existence. Again on the night of the hurricane 
 he had lain in terror on the sand-hills, and had 
 felt himself equal in feebleness with the despised 
 natives. Now, no longer by any right of su- 
 periority of race, but only by his greater strength 
 and brutality could he rule them. Yes, and he 
 feared Hicksey too, and envied him the supports 
 that he himself had lost. He cursed him for tak- 
 ing away his last means of asserting power, for he 
 had grasped at power as at the one plank by which 
 to float. If daily he could be reminded of his 
 power, he might still find support. But here 
 Hicksey had stepped in with his cool authority, 
 and rather than be under the direction of another 
 man, Sherwin would follow the line of least resist- 
 ance and live in what pleasure he could find from 
 day to day. 
 
 It thus came about that Sherwin degenerated 
 from the keen hopeful man who twelve months 
 earlier had landed upon the island, to the gloomy 
 and savage being who from time to time let show 
 fierce strains of cruelty and lust. The bonds by 
 which society had held him were being loosened 
 and would soon fall away. 
 
174 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 As the days passed, Sherwin felt their dull 
 sameness to be piled against him till they formed 
 the upward slope of some great mountain that he 
 could never climb. He thought that he was now 
 indifferent to anything that they could bring. 
 Part of him hoped to escape and to leave for ever 
 the island, and part of him knew that he could 
 not rise to the effort of a change. Then quite un- 
 expectedly the dull line of monotony that stretched 
 above him became taut and snapped, and life, im- 
 perative and vigorous, came with crude problems 
 and urgent questions. 
 
 He was sitting in his room one afternoon when 
 Coffee came to the door and told him that he had 
 sighted in the distance the sail of Hicksey's boat. 
 Sherwin was at the well-worn and ceaseless oc- 
 cupation of turning over the leaves of newspapers 
 that he knew by heart. He was a little tipsy, for 
 he had had several glasses of whisky, and at the 
 time took small notice of the announcement, but 
 later, for want of anything better to do, he went 
 out to watch the arrival of the boat. 
 
 When he saw that there were two figures on 
 board, he stood still and stared in astonishment. 
 Then his heart beat with a thump against his ribs 
 as he recognized that one of them was a woman. 
 The first words that sprung involuntarily to his 
 lips were a curse against the doctor and his folly 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 175 
 
 in bringing a woman to the island. He felt his 
 heart beat quick and sudden in his breast and 
 knew that in the last few seconds the aspect of his 
 life had been changed. The first thought that 
 struggled to clearness out of the turmoil of his 
 brain was that he must wash and tidy himself. 
 Close on its heels came the thought that if he did 
 so the doctor would notice and laugh at him. 
 But why should he not tidy himself for a lady? 
 Then again he cursed the doctor. Yes, he would 
 tidy himself, there was just time for that before 
 the boat arrived at the harbour. 
 
 He set off towards his house at a run. Then he 
 clipped his beard and washed his face and neck. 
 He felt strangely different after these unusual 
 exercises and a little ashamed of himself. No 
 doubt, too, that he was pleased and excited, and 
 yet somewhere at the back of his mind he was 
 annoyed. When he arrived on the beach the doc- 
 tor had already grounded his boat and was carry- 
 ing Alice Desmond through the surf. 
 
 Sherwin had not seen a woman for more than 
 twelve months, and, now that he was so close to 
 one, became morbidly embarrassed. He found 
 himself singularly ill at ease and conscious of his 
 newly titivated appearance. He longed to look, 
 and did not know how to look. Damn it, there 
 could be no harm in looking at the woman I He 
 
176 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 stared awkwardly, till Hicksey told him to give a 
 hand with the boat. 
 
 He told Coffee to carry up his boxes and then 
 walked away with her towards his own house. 
 Sherwin was left among the blacks to stare after 
 them. Again he silently cursed Hicksey, and this 
 time included the woman in his malediction. He 
 sent the natives flying on different errands, scatter- 
 ing them in all directions. They knew that when 
 he spoke in that tone it was best to obey smartly. 
 When he was alone he walked along the beach, not 
 heeding where he went. He had in his mind no 
 definite desire or plan of action, but through his 
 brain there raced pictures of vague possibilities, 
 of unformed schemes, incomplete visions. Vague 
 forces stirred within him and sudden violent attri- 
 butes of life had been awakened by the half-con- 
 temptuous, half -frightened look on a woman's 
 face. 
 
 For the next few days Sherwin had small oppor- 
 unity of seeing anything of Alice Desmond. She 
 stayed nearly all the time in the house, and only 
 twice went with Dr. Hicksey to the hospital. On 
 both occasions Sherwin made excuses for being 
 there, but he had no opportunity of seeing her 
 alone, and he found that his embarrassment had 
 in no way abated. When he was away by him- 
 self, thinking about her, he was bold enough, and 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 177 
 
 he would spend much of his day watching the doc- 
 tor's house from the high dune that separated it 
 from his own. All his instinct urged him thus to 
 spy upon her, and he vaguely wished that he 
 might see her alone to talk to her, though what he 
 would say on that occasion he had not yet planned. 
 In the meanwhile he watched for his opportunity. 
 
 The opportunity at length came, when one day 
 he saw her leave the house, and, instead of walk- 
 ing towards the hospital, walk in the other direc- 
 tion along the beach. He watched her cross the 
 beach and then mount the cliff on the other side, 
 then she disappeared from his sight. He deter- 
 mined to follow. He kept behind the sand-hills, 
 but gradually got nearer and nearer. For a while 
 he wondered why she was walking in that direc- 
 tion, then the obvious explanation occurred that 
 she was merely walking for pleasure in the cool of 
 the evening. Till she was farther from the house 
 he could keep out of sight, then perhaps he would 
 show himself, he would speak to her, make her rec- 
 ognize his existence. 
 
 Alice Desmond had walked more than half a 
 mile from the house before she checked to look 
 down from a cliff-top into the clear pools of water 
 in the dead-coral rock at its base. As she stood 
 watching the shadows of the rocks lengthen and 
 stretch out across the sea she suddenly felt that she 
 
178 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 was being watched. She did not know from 
 where, but some sense told her that eyes were 
 keenly following her movements. She looked 
 round but could see no one. For a few steps she 
 continued her way, then quickly she turned and 
 saw Sherwin's red face disappear behind a bush. 
 She was frightened. What could the man want? 
 Why was he following her? She turned and hur- 
 riedly began to retrace her steps. Sherwin, seeing 
 her intention and fearing that he might lose his 
 opportunity, broke his way through the bushes and 
 ran to cut off her retreat. Panting from his exer- 
 tions and flushed with excitement he stood barring 
 her way. 
 
 For some moments they stood looking at each 
 other. The woman was by this time pale and 
 frightened. She spoke with a slight quaver in her 
 voice. 'What do you mean by following me like 
 this? Let me pass, please." 
 
 Now that it had come to a personal contest, and 
 he was face to face with her, Sherwin's shyness 
 and embarrassment were all gone. The fact of 
 her sex no longer abashed him; it rather brought 
 out all his natural bravado. "Not so fast, please, 
 I've come for a talk with you. It's not often I 
 have the pleasure of seeing a lady on this island." 
 
 She looked at him and then away on either side. 
 On one side there was the cliff, on the other thick 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 179 
 
 bushes. Then she came a step nearer. "Let me 
 pass, please, I don't want to talk to you." 
 
 He stood blocking the way. 
 
 "Help! help !" she screamed. 
 
 He laughed at her. "It's no use screaming 
 against this wind, no one could possibly hear 
 you." 
 
 "I beg you to let me pass." 
 
 "Certainly, my dear, but you must give me a 
 kiss first." 
 
 She stood breathing hard, white. and trembling. 
 As he came towards her, she watched him as some 
 fascinated animal watches the approach of a 
 snake. 
 
 Suddenly he caught her in his arms and kissed 
 her. With a half scream she struggled to arm's 
 length striking at his face ; then she ducked out of 
 his grip and ran towards the house. 
 
 Sherwin had received a smart blow on the cheek 
 and was surprised at her sudden movement and 
 her strength. He shouted an oath and ran a few 
 paces in pursuit, then, seeing that she was near 
 the top of the hill, gave up. For a time he stood 
 biting his lips, then he walked moodily away 
 across the island ; he would let things settle down 
 an hour or so before he again made his appear- 
 ance. 
 
 Nurse Desmond, frightened and trembling, hur- 
 
i8o WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 ried on across the sand-hills. When she reached 
 the doctor's house she found it empty. She went 
 on to the hospital, where she found him at work. 
 She was very much excited and flushed. "I want 
 to speak to you at once," she said, "somewhere 
 where we can be by ourselves." 
 
 "I can't come just now," said Hicksey, intent 
 on what he was doing. *'This is important. I 
 shan't be finished for an hour." 
 
 "But I must speak to you at once," she insisted. 
 "Please come. I really must speak to you." 
 
 He saw now how excited she was, so he left his 
 work and went out with her. She led him some 
 distance over the sand-hills before she told him of 
 her encounter with Sherwin. In the first flush of 
 his anger he thought that he would at once dismiss 
 the man, then, as he listened, it dawned upon him 
 that, should he dismiss Sherwin for making love 
 to his mistress, it would place him in a false posi- 
 tion. At any rate, he could speak as man to man 
 with the fellow and tell him to keep his hands off. 
 For some moments he said nothing, but stood 
 thinking out the situation. 
 
 She was anxious and disappointed at his si- 
 lence, for she had expected some direct show of 
 sympathy and an immediate promise of revenge. 
 "You must dismiss him at once," she urged. "I 
 can't stay on the island while that brute's here," 
 
 % 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 181 
 
 Hicksey tried to explain why he could not dis- 
 miss the man. 
 
 ''But I simply can't stay here while he's about; 
 I'm sure he's dangerous." 
 
 ''No, dear, I can't dismiss him, but I can make 
 him understand that if he troubles you, it will be 
 the worse for him." 
 
 She stood looking at Hicksey, her eyes full of 
 reproach and disappointment. This was not how 
 she had expected him to behave. He had shown 
 no sympathy, had never seen her point of view, 
 but was merely occupied with his own personal 
 difficulties that the situation had raised. As he 
 turned to go back to his work she burst out cry- 
 ing: "Don't you see I depend on you. I've 
 sacrificed everything. I'm all alone; you must 
 protect me." 
 
 Hicksey turned to her with a shade of annoy- 
 ance; he never could stand tears of any sort. 
 
 "I promise that the man shall not annoy you 
 again ; but surely you must see that I cannot dis- 
 miss him" Then after a pause he added: "It 
 was unwise your coming to the island, I never 
 foresaw this." 
 
 She was still shaken with sobs. 
 
 "You must go back to the other island," he said. 
 
 "Yes, take me back at once ; but there, when I 
 am alone — O my God, my God, I am unhappy." 
 
i82 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 Hicksey had not sufficient penetration to see 
 any cause for this sudden outburst of misery. 
 *'Come," he said, ''it's not as bad as all that. I'll 
 shake the fellow up; I'll make him understand 
 that he's to keep his hands off; but clearly I can't 
 dismiss him." 
 
 ''Then you'll take me away." 
 
 "Yes, I'll take you away as soon as I can." 
 
 "When will that be?" 
 
 "It's damned annoying all this. I've got a lot 
 of work to do now; I shall have to stay here for 
 another week." 
 
 For a moment she checked her tears. She 
 looked at him in astonishment, marvelling that 
 he could be so callous to her need. Then almost 
 coldly she asked, "Please take me over and then 
 come back again." 
 
 "I can't," he said; "that would waste three 
 days, and I have a great deal of important work 
 to do. I can't play at my profession; but I tell 
 you I'll make things safe for you." 
 
 She suddenly flared out at him: "You don't 
 love me, you don't love me a bit ! Oh ! why did I 
 come here, why did I come here?" 
 
 She dropped on her knees on the sand, and then 
 fell forward shaken with sobs. This was the first 
 scene of the sort that Hicksey had ever experi- 
 enced, and he was not pleased with it, neither was 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 183 
 
 he taking it very well. At that moment he was 
 prepared to admit her accusation, and he was as 
 unable as the unhappy woman to supply an an- 
 swer to her question. 
 
 With flushed, tear-stained face she accused him. 
 ''It's always your work. You care for that far 
 more than you care for me. You'll never give up 
 the least little bit to please me." 
 
 As he looked down at her, he felt strangely de- 
 graded by the whole scene, and was ashamed of 
 himself for being stung to answer this last accusa- 
 tion. 'Tve given up all my work, all my work 
 that really mattered. I must at least do what I'm 
 paid to do." 
 
 "You don't love me, you don't love me," she 
 wailed. 
 
 At this he was exasperated. "Alice, do try and 
 be reasonable. I've given you my word; do try 
 and have a little faith in me." 
 
 She made no response to this. He stood look- 
 ing at her for some thirty seconds. Then, as if to 
 close the matter, "Anyway, I've got my work to do, 
 and I'm going to do it." He began to walk away 
 towards the hospital. 
 
 At once she scrambled to her feet and ran after 
 him. 
 
 By the time they came to the hospital, she had 
 pulled herself together. For a time she sat watch- 
 
i84 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 ing him at work, then he called to her and gave 
 her some bandages to roll. He was still ruffled 
 and annoyed, and as he now and then caught 
 sight of her, he marvelled that only four months 
 ago, the charm of that same woman, occupied at 
 the same task, should have driven him out into 
 the night. The thought of that night came with a 
 pang. He remembered all his fine resolutions, 
 and as he looked at her sitting there, so dejected 
 and obedient, he admitted that she was not worth 
 the sacrifice. 
 
 At supper that evening they both felt awkward 
 and strained. Hicksey was annoyed because he 
 had spent an hour looking for Sherwin and had 
 failed to find him. Alice Desmond was nervous 
 and ill at ease wondering where the man had got 
 to. She also felt that she had lost ground with 
 the doctor, that perhaps she might never be able 
 to make up. There was suddenly some barrier 
 between them that she could not surmount, that 
 she did not even know how to approach. She 
 hated Sherwin the more passionately for being the 
 cause of her misfortune, and all the while there 
 was on her a singular dread as to what the wild, 
 fierce-looking fellow might do. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THERE is about a tropical night a disposi- 
 tion of relaxation and pain — the more 
 patent activities kindled by the sunlight 
 have ceased, and all living things accept eagerly 
 a respite from the hard brilliance of the day. 
 Not only the stars but other unapproachable real- 
 ities are now revealed. The curtain of light has 
 been drawn aside, and behind one can discern 
 the ever-fructifying genius of life pushing up- 
 ward, ceaseless and deliberate. All things would 
 fain rest, but there is no rest, only relaxation ; for 
 to rest is to die, and in that knowledge there is 
 pain. The power of death is now more clearly 
 revealed, and life which grows upon its own de- 
 cay. 
 
 Over Kanna Island such a tropical night now 
 rested, stilling its human activities. In a long 
 and irregular line the land spread itself beneath 
 the pale moonlight. The coral reefs with the 
 waves breaking amongst them showed white and 
 black like lace stretched on velvet. The land 
 stood grey and definite, in the ambient haze, in 
 some places rising to high cliffs and headlands, 
 
 185 
 
i86 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 hill-tops with rough boulders, in others bending 
 to smooth sweeps of blown sand and undulating 
 dunes. The thickets that spread over its surface 
 filled the hollows and valleys, and the spiked 
 clumps of spinifex grass showed white in the 
 moonlight against the grey sweeps of sand. The 
 houses of the white men looked now very small 
 and insignificant. They seemed dwarfed by the 
 high sand-hill that rose between them. The white 
 surface of the roofs caught the moonlight and 
 showed in marked contrast with the dark shadows 
 that they cast. 
 
 At the north point of the island there is a long 
 flat sand beach where turtles bury their eggs. 
 Close along the break of the waves there is a white 
 ridge composed entirely of small fragments of 
 broken shells. This ridge was touched by the 
 moonlight and shone brightly. Along its edge 
 Sherwin was walking up and down, to and fro. 
 He walked to its extremity and then turned and 
 walked back. Again and again he paced its 
 length. The waves, now and then, washed over 
 his feet, but of them he took no heed. His eyes 
 were directed straight in front of him on the white 
 line of the ridge, and when he reached its limit 
 he turned and retraced his steps. There was only 
 a faint breeze and the night was very still now. 
 A silence gentle and powerful enveloped all the 
 
 ^ ' ^ 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 187 
 
 land. The man upon the beach and the waves 
 that broke at his feet were alone restless. Inces- 
 sant and monotonous the waves drove against the 
 shore, building and destroying the line of frag- 
 ments upon which he walked. Once he stopped 
 and dipped his hands in the water, which was 
 warm as his own blood. As he straightened him- 
 self, it seemed as if he lifted on his shoulders the 
 weight of the tropical night ; then, again as if mes- 
 merized by its whiteness, he paced along the line 
 of the beach. 
 
 All that evening he had wandered over the is- 
 land, and instead of returning for his meal he had 
 walked farther and farther from the houses. 
 Now he had come to the end of the land. 
 
 There were forces moving in him of which he 
 had no previous experience. They had driven 
 him onward till he had been checked at this 
 furthest limit by the ever-moving and passionless 
 sea. Where they would drive him next he knew 
 not, but only that they gnawed and tortured, and 
 that the pain of the night and the pain of the 
 tropics mingled with that of his own soul. 
 
 Besides pain and discontent, there was in his 
 mind fierce justification for all that he had done, 
 for all that he could do. Why then so mildly 
 submit to the torture of indecision? There came 
 a sudden sense of his extraordinary isolation. 
 
i88 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 He was alone in the midst of a sea, on the borders 
 of a foreign continent, and there were unknown 
 devils raging in his heart. He had a glimpse, a 
 flashing remembrance of his boyhood, his friends 
 and relatives in England; that unclouded time 
 was infinitely remote. The contrast to his present 
 state was too terrible to be faced. It was bad 
 enough, God knew, to be on this cursed island, 
 but what devils of fear and lust should drive him 
 thus to the very edge of existence? Should he 
 step right over the edge, out into the waves and 
 there be drowned, and thus cool his raging ap- 
 petite? No, his instinct of life was too strong for 
 ,that. He suddenly swerved from his path, 
 crossed the wide beach and forced his way be- 
 tween the prickly acacia bushes. He cared little 
 for their thorns, but walked headlong on, making 
 as straight a line as he was able for the settlement. 
 The fever of his emotion carried him through the 
 thickest scrub, the empty desolation of the land 
 urged him to hasten on toward proximity. He 
 took no thought for what he would do when he 
 reached the houses. 
 
 He skirted widely the native camp, for he feared 
 the dogs might hear him, and, like most walkers 
 in the night he had a dread of any sudden noise. 
 As he neared his own house he saw that there 
 were no lights burning. The outhouse at the 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 189 
 
 back, where he knew Coffee slept, was also dark. 
 He thought the time must be between one and two. 
 Every one no doubt was asleep. He stood still for 
 some moments looking at his own house, then he 
 skirted the high sand-hill leaving it behind on his 
 left. In the doctor's house there were no lights 
 either. They must be in there together, asleep. 
 He slowly and cautiously approached. The 
 moonlight was very bright ; he did not wish to be 
 seen. Both doors were shut, but the windows 
 were wide open. 
 
 In the house there were four rooms. On one 
 side of the central passage there was the sitting- 
 room and the room used by Hicksey for experi- 
 mental work. The two on the other side were 
 bedrooms, their windows opened on to the ver- 
 andah, and they had a door opening between 
 them. He tried, without mounting the verandah 
 steps, to look into one of the windows. He was 
 mortally afraid lest Hicksey should see him, and 
 yet he was urged by some blind and pressing in- 
 stinct thus to expose himself. From the house 
 came no sound and he could see nothing except 
 the clear-cut black and white planes of its squat 
 form. He shook his fist at the black aperture of 
 the window and muttered low curses. Then he 
 walked several times round the house, keeping 
 close to it and stepping softly on the sand. H^ 
 
190 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 wrenched up a stake that had once made part of 
 a fence. Again he paused, this time opposite a 
 side window of one of the bedrooms. He peered 
 over the sill ; as he touched it with his fingers, his 
 knuckles rattled against the woodwork. He 
 noticed that he was trembling violently and that 
 he was drenched with sweat. He drew back and 
 knelt down on the sand, then lay at full length 
 face downward. He struggled for breath, as he 
 had struggled on the night of the hurricane. It 
 came in hot, long-drawn gasps, and left his body 
 empty and quivering, shaken with cold. The 
 devils within had him now helpless and crushed. 
 He lay there indifferent to all things but the piti- 
 less cruelty of their attack. 
 
 In at the open window there floated the expect- 
 ant hush that follows midnight. Alice Desmond 
 woke with a start, sheer terror possessed her. She 
 was crushed and struggling under some intolerable 
 and suffocating weight. She lay rigid with ap- 
 prehension and strove to grasp the immensity of 
 her dread. It sucked away her breath and 
 pressed upon her heart. Feebly her mind tried 
 to compass its bulk. It swelled and enveloped 
 her. Her consciousness strove to assert itself, but 
 naked fear stretched and towered beyond its grasp. 
 She lay still with her eyes wide open, then ardu- 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 191 
 
 ously her senses took in the facts of the room. 
 There was the window, and there was the door 
 that stood open into the doctor's room. It was lit 
 up by moonlight. She herself was lying there in 
 the bed, no one was touching her, no one was 
 holding her down. She was free to move if she 
 dared. But as yet she dared not move, she could 
 only hold her fear from pressing too painfully 
 upon her heart. Sherwin's red face and beard 
 was the chief image of her terror. She knew 
 that he was near, somewhere quite close; he 
 might almost be touching her, she felt so strongly 
 his presence. He might be within an arm's length 
 and yet she could not see him, though she could 
 see clearly all the objects in the room. No ! she 
 dared not call for Hicksey. The silence was al- 
 most a protection which she might not break. 
 Gradually she gained courage to move her head 
 and peered round. Yes, the room was quite 
 empty. By listening intently she could hear 
 Hicksey's easy breathing in the next room, and yet 
 dared not call. She imagined that she could hear 
 another sound. Yes, she knew for certain that 
 Sherwin was somewhere near. A wave of anger 
 came to her that he should thus dare to outrage her 
 slumbers. Without sound she raised herself in 
 bed. Then, quickly kicking off the bed-clothes, 
 she slipped to the floor. As she crossed the room, 
 
192 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 the creaking of the boards made her heart jump. 
 When she reached the doorway, she peered cau- 
 tiously through. There was no one there but the 
 doctor, and he was asleep. She walked to the 
 head of his bed and stood looking down at the 
 sleeping man. Now that she was so close she 
 hardly liked to disturb him, but her dread was 
 still on her. She put a hand on his shoulder and 
 shook him gently. He opened his eyes and 
 stared; then, recognizing her: *What is it?" he 
 asked, and impulsively lifted himself in his bed. 
 She put a hand on his mouth and whispered, 
 "That man! He's somewhere about. I feel 
 sure he is." 
 
 "Where is he? Did he try to get into your 
 room?" demanded Hicksey, who was not to be 
 silenced. 
 
 "I don't know." 
 
 "Did you see him or hear him?" 
 "No, but I know he's somewhere near." 
 "But if you didn't see him, how do you know?" 
 "I don't know, but I do. I had a horrible 
 dream." 
 
 Hicksey was puzzled. "You're nervous. 
 Damn the fellow for upsetting you. You must 
 have imagined it all. He'd know better than to 
 be prowling about at this time of night." 
 
 "But I know, I know; I'm quite sure of it." 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 193 
 
 "Well, I'll have a look round, then we'll soon 
 see, and if he is, it will be the worse for him." 
 
 Hicksey jumped out of bed and began to shuffle 
 on his slippers. She clung to him. "Be very 
 careful. Please be very careful. I'm sure he's 
 dangerous." 
 
 "Oh, nonsense. If I find him anywhere about, 
 it's I who will be dangerous." He struck a match 
 and lit a lantern, that he used for finding his way 
 along the path to the hospital when he had occa- 
 sion to go there in the dark. He walked towards 
 the door. 
 
 "Hadn't you better take your revolver?" she 
 ventured. 
 
 He turned and laughed, then mockingly he 
 lifted in a half caress a handful of her hair. 
 "What is the matter with you, Alice? Do you 
 suppose the man's a savage?" 
 
 "Pray God it will be all right! " she said. 
 
 For a time that seemed to him indefinite Sher- 
 win lay face downward on the sand, oblivious of 
 everything but the pain of his emotion. Then 
 abruptly he became conscious that there was move- 
 ment in the house. There were voices. Dis- 
 tinctly he could hear Hicksey's voice. He turned 
 on his side and looked at the house. He saw the 
 reflection of a lighted match. Scrambling to his 
 
194 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 feet he went round to the front where there were 
 thick bushes behind which he could hide. He 
 heard the creaking of the boards, then the door 
 opened and Hicksey stepped out on to the ver- 
 andah holding a lighted lantern. Alice Desmond 
 stood behind him. She was in her nightgown and 
 her dark hair hung over her shoulders. 
 
 Sherwin drew in his breath and grasped at the 
 stake that he carried. The doctor put his hand 
 on the railing of the steps and began to descend. 
 
 From out at sea there came a far-away holloa. 
 Then close following came another. Both men 
 turned to look. Out in the harbour they could 
 see a light. 
 
 Hicksey spoke to the woman. "Are you sure it 
 wasn't old Pomf rey you were dreaming about, for 
 that's the cutter just arrived. I wonder what he 
 means by turning up this time of night." He held 
 the lantern up. The light on the boat waved to 
 and fro, to show they had seen his signal. "It's 
 just as well you did wake me. He'd find it diffi- 
 cult to find the moorings without a guiding light." 
 
 Then again the stillness of the night was broken 
 by a shout from the boat. 
 
 Suddenly and unexpectedly Sherwin's fever left 
 him. The call from the sea had pierced the spell 
 of the tropic night. It was a message from the 
 civilized world and spoke of all the sanity of exist- 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 195 
 
 ence, of all the woven veils that hide the sparks of 
 madness. It carried on its two notes a sanction 
 to all that complicated and intricate system. In 
 the great world of men there still existed churches 
 and parliaments and public-houses and brothels, 
 the wheels still turned one upon another. In 
 Sherwin it touched some hidden spring and he 
 was once more conscious that he was a civilized 
 man. Who was he that he should prowl in the 
 night with promptings of rape and murder in his 
 heart? Once more he was cool and composed; 
 there were still links between himself and the 
 world he had left. He had a buoyant, almost 
 happy desire to nm down to the beach and greet 
 the old man and hear from him the latest news. 
 He crept through the bushes, making his way to- 
 wards his own house. As he went, he felt 
 ashamed of the sharp throes he had just experi- 
 enced. 
 
 Hicksey walked round the house and peered 
 behind the bushes. "Well, you see there's no one 
 about; it was all your imagination." 
 
 "It was more than that," she said. "I felt him 
 touching me; it was horrible." 
 
 Hicksey looked at her, puzzled, for some mo- 
 ments, then he changed the subject. "I suppose 
 Pomfrey must have been becalmed. Anyway, 
 there's no need for rne to see him till the mom- 
 
196 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 ing. So if you are satisfied that no one is there, 
 I'm going back to bed, and I advise you to do the 
 same." 
 
 Silence settled once more upon the island, 
 broken only by the scuttling of the wallabies dis- 
 turbed by Sherwin as he forced his way through 
 the bushes. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 WHEN Sherwin neared his house, he 
 sent the stake that he was carrying 
 rattling against the shanty in which 
 Coffee slept. The black turned out, rubbing his 
 eyes. ''There's the boat just come in, Coffee," he 
 shouted; "you run down and help pull up the 
 dinghy. Tell Mr. Pomfrey I'll be down in a min- 
 ute or two." 
 
 He went inside and washed and changed his 
 shirt, which was torn in several places by the 
 thorns through which he had so hotly pushed. 
 As he hurried down to the beach, he felt already a 
 different man. He met Pomfrey just where the 
 dunes slope to the beach. The old man was 
 plodding his way towards the house. "What 
 makes you turn up at this time?" he asked. 
 
 "You may well ask that!" Pomfrey snorted. 
 "First I've had a head wind, then it fell dead 
 calm. I've been thirty hours getting across and 
 it's not many more miles than that. I'm glad 
 they had that light up at the house. I couldn't 
 have picked up the moorings without that." 
 Then with a chuckle: "Has the doctor brought 
 the new matron across? Ay, I thought she'd be 
 
 197 
 
198 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 gone on him. They say she's not a new hand at 
 the game either." 
 
 Sherwin laughed boisterously. *'Come up to 
 the house and have a drink. It's not too soon be- 
 fore breakfast." 
 
 ^'Ay, I could do with a drink." Then feeling 
 in his pockets, "I think I have a letter for you. 
 Yes, here it is." He handed Sherwin a fat en- 
 velope. 
 
 When they had reached the house and drinks 
 were served, Sherwin opened his letter. For some 
 minutes he became absorbed in what he read, and 
 Pomfrey sipped at his glass. Then in an ex- 
 clamation Sherwin broke out: "By G , he's 
 
 struck it at last ! " He turned to Pomfrey eagerly. 
 "Have you heard of this new find they talk of — 
 The Parrot ? It seems a good thing. My brother 
 — I told you he was on the fields — he's pegged out 
 a claim close by." 
 
 Pomfrey suddenly caught his companion's ex- 
 citement and leant across the table. "Then he's 
 struck something good. No mistake, the Parrot's 
 all right Every one is talking about it. It's the 
 richest find they say that there has ever been in 
 the colony. Why, only yesterday I saw in the 
 paper that they'd found two hundred ounces to 
 the ton; something wonderful — mullock held to- 
 gether with gold." 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 199 
 
 Sherwin jumped up from his chair and leant 
 across the table, flattening out the letter under 
 Pomfrey's face. ^'Two hundred ounces did you 
 say, twenty he says here. See here, this is what 
 he says about The Parrot." He read out loud: 
 " 'They found ore on the surface giving six ounces 
 to the ton, and at fifty feet in the shaft the borings 
 gave twenty.' Now listen to this." He turned 
 over the page, following the lines eagerly with his 
 finger: " 'I've taken up three acres on the main 
 ridge about two hundred yards from the claim, as 
 close as I could get. The reef runs in that direc- 
 tion.' " 
 
 Sherwin's face was burning with pleasure ; both 
 men were excited, as men always are over the 
 discovery of gold. Pomfrey fired questions. 
 "When did he write that ? How deep did he say 
 they were ? Fifty feet ? The last I heard they'd 
 reached a hundred, getting richer and richer all the 
 time." 
 
 Sherwin's elation carried him beyond himself. 
 His brain whirled with dreams of wealth. Of 
 course he would leave the island; the doctor and 
 his woman could go to hell for all he cared. He 
 read on to the end of the letter. His brother told 
 him that he had employed a man to help him sink 
 a shaft, and that as soon as he found any metal 
 he would let Sherwin know. Then, not till then, 
 
200 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 would he want him. In the meanwhile he would 
 need all the money Sherwin could send. He 
 added that on the surface he had found a few 
 stones that showed a colour, and he had no doubt, 
 since they were on the direct line of the ridge that, 
 lower down, there was good stuff. 
 
 Sherwin's spirits were a little dashed that he 
 was not to leave the island at once. But he de- 
 cided to give notice and leave at the end of the 
 quarter. Then, no doubt, his brother would have 
 found gold and all would be well. 
 
 The two men talked till dawn about the won- 
 derful Parrot gold mine. Pomfrey told him there 
 were companies forming in the capitals of the dif- 
 ferent states, and how they were taking up land 
 all round the mine, and that even a London com- 
 pany was involved. "It's the richest thing the 
 colony has ever struck," he repeated. "If your 
 brother is on the right line then you're a rich man. 
 No need any longer to live on in a place like this." 
 
 They drank success to The Parrot and to Sher- 
 win's claim ; then, as the day dawned, the old man 
 went back to his boat. 
 
 When Sherwin was alone his excitement would 
 not let him sit still. He walked up and down the 
 room talking to himself. The experiences of last 
 night were very far removed, and now that the sun 
 was rising he could hardly believe in the existence 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 201 
 
 of all that misery. As he walked up and down, 
 he made plans for his future life. It would be so 
 dazzling as to be well worth these months of isola- 
 tion. 
 
 He called to Coffee to come and lay the table. 
 The black's enigmatic and sad face struck him as 
 droll, he had never before seen how droll it was. 
 His spirits were so high that he couldn't help 
 knocking Coffee about a little in a friendly way. 
 He dug him in the ribs. *'Get on, you old image, 
 quick with breakfast." He smacked his black, 
 shining shoulders, and shook him and tripped 
 him up, and finally sent him spinning out of the 
 door with orders to bring bacon enough for two. 
 Then he allowed Coffee to sit down on the floor 
 and eat his meal in his presence, a thing he did 
 not often allow. 
 
 After breakfast he wrote to his brother, and took 
 out from his cash-box forty pounds in notes for 
 current expenses. It was good to handle even 
 that little worth of money. Money — that was the 
 stuff to bring a man back to his senses. Why, 
 it was the blood of civilization; and, if their claim 
 was as good as The Parrot, and there was no 
 reason why it shouldn't be, then they ought easily 
 to make a hundred thousand. His imagination 
 raced ahead into the future, playing with extrava- 
 gant fancies. 
 
202 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 It was while he was thus occupied that Hicksey 
 walked across the verandah and knocked at his 
 door. Sherwin saw in an instant that there might 
 be trouble, but this morning he was not in the least 
 apprehensive. He had no fear of the other man ; 
 he had suddenly been raised above that. 
 
 "Good morning, doctor," he greeted Hicksey as 
 he entered. "I've had some news by the boat. 
 Pomfrey brings a letter from my brother, that 
 says he's taken up a claim on the fields and wants 
 me to join him. I shan't be sorry to leave this 
 place; I've had enough of it, so I shall clear off 
 at the end of the month, which makes the end of 
 the quarter." 
 
 Hicksey was a little taken back at this develop- 
 ment. In face of this information, he found it 
 difficult to be as angry as he had meant to be. 
 "I'm glad to hear you're going, that makes things 
 all the easier. But I'll tell you what I came here 
 to tell you, that if you bother the matron again in 
 any way it will be the worse for you. She tells 
 me you were up to some devilment yesterday. 
 You must stop it. Do you understand?" 
 
 Sherwin turned scarlet. "There's no need to 
 talk like that, Dr. Hicksey; I never meant any 
 harm by the lady." Then he finished rather 
 lamely: "I'm sure the lady knows I didn't mean 
 any harm." He was a little ashamed of himself 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 203 
 
 of seeming so cowed, but it didn't really matter 
 what he said. The whole thing was now so 
 utterly unimportant — why in a month's time, he'd 
 be in a position to buy the islands and the hospitals 
 too, not to mention any woman his eye might 
 fancy. He went on: *'I'm sorry if I gave any 
 offence; none was meant; and now that I'm leav- 
 ing the lady needn't be afraid." 
 
 Now in his turn Hicksey was a little uncomfort- 
 able; he felt as if he might have made too much 
 of a trifle. After all he didn't know what had 
 happened, it might have been the merest nothing. 
 Now that he had said what he had come to say, 
 he went on to speak of other things and listened 
 in his aloof boyish way to an account of Pomf rey's 
 late arrival, and even questioned Sherwin about 
 his letter from the gold fields. He was now rather 
 inclined to believe that Nurse Desmond might 
 have exaggerated the whole of yesterday's affair. 
 He reflected that one never could tell with women 
 what they would imagine, and remembered what 
 a fuss she had made in the night from sheer 
 imaginative nervousness. He even felt a little 
 sorry that he had spoken so sharply to Sherwin, 
 tried to make up for it by unbending a little and 
 asked questions about his mine. He felt that the 
 man had come with a jump nearer to him, that he 
 was clothed in new possibilities, might very possi- 
 
204 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 bly make a fortune, and after all he was not so 
 bad a fellow in spite of his sulky manner. 
 
 As Hicksey walked back towards his house 
 Sherwin muttered after him all the curses he could 
 lay tongue to. If ever he got his chance he'd get 
 back on him for talking like that. 
 
 At the doctor's house Nurse Desmond was wait- 
 ing anxiously for Hicksey's return. She ran out 
 to meet him and was so eager to hear his news 
 that she did not notice the look of annoyance on 
 his face. 
 
 "What did you say to him? Have you dis- 
 missed him?" she queried. 
 
 *'No, he's dismissed himself. He got a letter — 
 Pomfrey brought it over — that tells him his 
 brother has found gold, and he's going at the end 
 of the month. There's been some big find, and 
 his brother's pegged out a claim close by. I 
 wouldn't be surprised to hear that they had got on 
 to a good thing." 
 
 She was silent for a moment, then she said: 
 ''The beast, I'm glad he's going; I hope he doesn't 
 find any gold though." 
 
 Hicksey couldn't tell why, but this remark an- 
 noyed him more than he would have been willing 
 to admit. 
 
 "Why do you say that?" 
 
 "Oh, I don't know. I hate him." 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 205 
 
 "Well, there's no occasion for you to see him 
 again," he said, and felt a sudden desire to get 
 away by himself. 
 
 She caught at his hand. "Tell me all he said," 
 she demanded. 
 
 "Oh! there wasn't much to say; he said he was 
 sorry and never meant any offence." 
 
 "Did you make him promise that he would 
 never come near me again?" She held both his 
 hands now and stood close to him. He felt a 
 definite repugnance at her eagerness, and an- 
 swered dryly as he freed his hands, "He won't 
 bother you any more, I'm quite sure of that." 
 Then he turned from her and walked towards the 
 house. 
 
 She followed and caught at his arm. "What's 
 the matter with you; are you cross?" 
 
 Again he constrained himself to hide his an- 
 noyance. "No, I'm a bit tired; I want to be by 
 myself." 
 
 Her heart leapt in fear and apprehension. Was 
 he tired of her? Did he love her no longer? 
 Would she be unable to hold him? If she could 
 not, how then would she be able to live? A sense 
 of her utter helplessness was sharply defined. 
 Was she to be left clinging to dreams that faded. 
 To what then would she fall? She shrank from 
 the picture of her own loneliness. All the conven- 
 
2o6 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 tions by which a woman lives, which exist for her 
 support and comfort, she had defied and cast 
 aside, and now felt that in the great social order of 
 things there was for her no place. This one man 
 was all that she had left, and if she could hold 
 him she was well content to have lost all else. 
 But if he now turned away, she would be empty 
 and hopeless indeed. Around her was the indif- 
 ferent and almost hostile aspect of a wind-swept 
 and uncultivated island, and there still moved on 
 the surface of her consciousness the image of that 
 red face and beard, which stood as symbol of all 
 the untamed and savage instincts of the race. On 
 the other island, for which she now longed as for a 
 sanctuary, there were the two women who waited 
 on her smallest actions with critical eyes. If 
 Hicksey were to turn from her, where then indeed 
 could she find a place? To what could she then 
 hold ? At the thought of this great emptiness, life 
 seemed doubly cruel and terrible; but with his 
 love and help she could forget all else, shut out 
 the fears and terrors, perhaps forget that they 
 existed — but alone! She could not dwell on the 
 fearfulness of that thought. For a moment she 
 held his hand and gently caressed it, then let it 
 drop and turned towards the house. She knew 
 that he had looked at her in surprise and then had 
 walked away towards the hospital, 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 207 
 
 When she reached her room she shut and locked 
 her door, and then sat down in dejection and 
 looked aimlessly out of the window. Before her 
 stretched the wide expanse of the sea, and in the 
 near foreground she could see the grasses bending 
 to the wind. Out in the harbour the boat was 
 moored, and she could see the figure of Tony sit- 
 ting motionless looking into the water. Never 
 in her life had she felt so lonely. She looked 
 away and regarded the few pieces of furniture in 
 the mean small room. Then she looked at her 
 own hands, and at the loose cuffs of silk about her 
 wrists. She followed the course of the veins in 
 her arm, and felt an overwhelming pity for her 
 own body. What if he were to cease loving her; 
 how wasted all her life would seem. She went to 
 the glass and looked at herself. Her own eyes 
 seemed strange and troubled. Letting down her 
 hair she pulled it in two great waves over her 
 shoulders. Was this all there was of her, all 
 there was to offer? She watched the tears gather 
 in her eyes and drop from her lashes. In the dis- 
 tance she could hear the waves breaking on the 
 shore; they and all the other forces of the world 
 were utterly indifferent to her fate. But oh, she 
 loved him, she loved him, needed him desperately. 
 She would never let him go. There was nothing 
 he might not do to her, but he must love her in 
 
2o8 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 return. Then came an intense desire to be near 
 him, to follow all his actions, to watch the come 
 and go of his thoughts. She would go and work 
 for him, make herself ever so useful. She went 
 to the glass and began to coil up her hair with the 
 idea of going to help him at his work, but before 
 she had it placed and pinned in position her heart 
 failed her. She remembered how yesterday he 
 had seemed so indifferent as she had sat beside 
 him doing as he had directed. She remembered 
 too how quick the natives were to note any passing 
 mood or faint expression, and she felt she could 
 not meet their scrutiny. For a moment she stood 
 in indecision; then came the conviction that she 
 was not strong enough for this battle. With ad- 
 mission of this defeat, her misery and loneliness 
 became poignant. She flung herself on the bed 
 and lay sobbing, hopelessly unable to restrain or 
 to control the completeness of her despair. 
 
 For how long she lay there with her face 
 amongst the pillows she did not know, but when 
 the first onset of her grief had passed she turned 
 and watched vacantly the flies spin tangles in the 
 air. For a time she would try to follow one in- 
 dividually; it would approach and retreat from 
 the other, wending its way amongst them. Of a 
 sudden it would become madly tangled with some 
 other, and she would not be quite sure which was 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 209 
 
 the one she was at first following. Then she 
 would close her eyes, indifferent to their feeble and 
 senseless activities. At midday the sun's rays 
 struck down upon the roof, making the room in- 
 tolerably hot. The resin oozed from the wooden 
 walls and uprights, and the air was permeated 
 with its strong scent. She lay quite still, only 
 occasionally raising her hand to brush away the 
 flies that settled on her face and arms. Then fol- 
 lowed the long hours of the afternoon that slowly 
 dragged themselves away. Vaguely she hoped 
 that he would come. Was he so utterly careless 
 of her? The sunlight slanted in at the window 
 and crept across the floor, but she had not the 
 energy to get up and pull down the blind. When 
 the glare fell upon the bed she only moved slightly 
 so that it should not fall directly on her face. It 
 must be late afternoon now, and yet he had not 
 come. Later, she heard Coffee come into the back 
 room. She listened with half-awakened interest 
 to his movements as he prepared the evening meal. 
 Then she lay with eyes closed waiting for the doc- 
 tor's return; surely he must come now. At last 
 she heard his footsteps. He mounted the steps, 
 then crossed the verandah. He came to the door ; 
 she thought he paused for a moment, then he 
 passed by and went into the little room at the back. 
 She listened intently to all his movements. What 
 
210 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 was he going to do? For some minutes she heard 
 him move things about, then she heard the uneasy 
 clicking of the micrometer. She knew that he 
 had gone back to his work. Was he then utterly 
 tired of her? She remembered with bitterness 
 that this was the usual time for their walk to- 
 gether. Still she lay still and made no movement. 
 He seemed to be taking an intolerable time ; would 
 he never stop that clicking? The sun sank into 
 the sea and the light faded; she had been alone 
 and miserable all day, and there was no one to 
 care. Then at last he came to the door. Finding 
 it locked he rattled at the handle. The spell of 
 her lassitude was at once broken. She leapt up 
 and went to open it ; as she did so her hair, which 
 was but loosely pinned, fell in disarray about her 
 shoulders. She unlocked the door. 
 
 *'Why, what is the matter with you? Are you 
 ill?" he said. 
 
 She could not find words to answer, but shook 
 her head with a slight shudder. 
 
 He came farther into the room. "How fright- 
 fully hot it is in here ! Why, you Ve never pulled 
 .down the blind!" 
 
 Still she made no answer. He looked at her, 
 puzzled, then there suddenly came over him an 
 unexpected appreciation of her forlorn beauty. 
 His eyes must have shown his admiration. When 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 211 
 
 she spoke it was in an every-day and almost dry 
 tone. "Where have you been all day? Why 
 didn't you come earlier?" 
 
 "Oh, I've been working." He seemed to throw 
 the words behind him. "But tell me, have you 
 wanted me?" 
 
 She made no answer, but looked up at him with 
 eyes wet with tears. In a sudden gust of passion 
 he snatched her to him. 
 
 She could afford for a moment to take in her 
 triumph, yet with an almost pleading voice she 
 asked: "What, do you still love me?" 
 
 For answer he held her the closer. She lay un- 
 resisting in his arms, while he kissed her hot lips. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 WHEN Dr. Hicksey brought his boat 
 against the landing rocks at Fenton 
 Island, he found no one there to meet 
 him. This was unusual, as formerly James had 
 come down to help secure the boat. He made no 
 remark on this head to Nurse Desmond, but it was 
 with a feeling of irritation and disappointment 
 that he walked towards the hospital. Although 
 he very well knew that James and the two nurses 
 looked with disapproval upon his actions, he had 
 not up to the present received any open censure, 
 but now the fact that they thus failed to take any 
 notice of his arrival could bear no other than an 
 unfriendly interpretation. His first prompting 
 was to reprove James for what might well be 
 considered an omission of part of his duty, but on 
 second thoughts he decided to make no mention 
 of the incident. 
 
 On arrival at the hospital he found James and 
 the two nurses at work in the central ward. 
 Everything seemed to be in good order, different 
 indeed from the days of Dr. Hubbard, and work- 
 
 21:9 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 213 
 
 ing with the regularity that he himself had intro- 
 duced. During the two weeks that he had been 
 away he had of necessity lost touch with the cases 
 left on Fenton Island, and he would have to ask 
 many questions before he could be again master 
 of the situation. As he now stood talking to 
 James he had an unwelcome but definite feeling 
 that he might almost be an outsider, that the place 
 could get on very smoothly and well without his 
 presence. The nurses, who were working at the 
 other end of the ward, had not even taken the 
 trouble to greet him, and he knew very well that 
 they were sorry that he and Nurse Desmond had 
 returned to take over the charge of affairs. He 
 felt that since his absence with the matron his 
 position had become considerably weaker. The 
 two women no doubt hated him and could make 
 life very difficult. They had influenced James, 
 who during his absence had enjoyed his first taste 
 of authority. And now, as Hicksey looked along 
 the rows of neatly kept beds, he felt that the young 
 man beside him was only waiting to step in and 
 take his position. His work, that once he had so 
 loved and which had been so full of brilliant pos- 
 sibilities, now stretched before him, a rough and 
 arduous path. He would find no pleasure in its 
 dull routine, but only an escape from an uneasy 
 conscience and self-contempt. His thought of 
 
214 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 strongest support was that always he had been a 
 hard worker. By work he could once more gain 
 his own approval, and then be in a position to 
 demand respect from the others. 
 
 After Hicksey had talked with James for some 
 time over the general routine, he took him to his 
 own work-room, and there told him that he was 
 going on with the experiments on which he had 
 formerly been engaged. He asked James for his 
 co-operation and explained the general scheme of 
 his work. 
 
 In spite of the influence of the nurses, James 
 had always felt an admiration and liking for the 
 doctor, and now that he once more showed a spark 
 of his old enthusiasm, James could not hold back. 
 After all it was easy to make excuses for the doc- 
 tor, and he soon dropped his manner of formal 
 politeness and listened with interest to what Hick- 
 sey said. Hicksey, for his part, was delighted 
 to be once more talking to a man of his own class 
 and education, and one who was genuinely inter- 
 ested in his work. He would have been willing 
 now to admit that he had conducted very foolishly 
 the whole affair with Alice Desmond. He should 
 never have let her interfere with his work. A 
 woman was never worth a sacrifice of that sort. 
 He should have kept her in a more subordinate 
 position, and never expected her to be his equal 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 215 
 
 and to share his thoughts. It was no doubt be- 
 cause he had treated her too generously that there 
 had sprung up such situations between them as 
 had occurred on Kanna Island. He determined 
 that for the future he would put his work first, and 
 yet, or rather by this means, establish a better 
 relation with his mistress. 
 
 And now once more the customary routine of 
 life went forward on Fenton Island, and the days 
 followed one another with their repetition of small 
 duties; and human nature, which can, after all, 
 exist and flourish after much harassment and 
 bruising, adapted itself to the simplest, which was 
 at the same time the inevitable mode of existence. 
 
 The two men, in spite of the antagonism that 
 existed between their women folk, held together 
 with a kind of half-apologetic yet wholly grateful 
 comradeship. Each -in the companionship of the 
 other found signs and constant reminders of the 
 civilization that he had left. They understood 
 each other's aspirations and failures as no woman 
 could understand. They were like two friends 
 watching each other resist with varying success the 
 assaults of a common enemy, an enemy that they 
 felt might separate them and even perhaps bring 
 them to destroy one another. An irritation grew 
 out of their loneliness and their enforced comrade- 
 ship. The monotony of the days pressed upon 
 
2i6 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 their spirits, making them taciturn and moody, 
 and the glare of the sun on the white, arid sand- 
 dunes made their eyes sore and their brains tired. 
 But it was the women who were the most unhappy 
 and discontented; and in the days of heat and 
 tedium there grew up among them hate, jealousy, 
 and envy ; and greater than all these a passionate 
 longing to centre all their forces on some concrete 
 and tangible reality and find with this help an un- 
 assailable place in the world that they had left. 
 
 Nurse Desmond was the most to be pitied ; she 
 stood more alone than either of the others, who 
 would never forgive her for not conforming to the 
 standard by which they chose to live. Nurse Hil- 
 ton made the most of the fact that she now was 
 formally engaged to James. She talked about go- 
 ing over to Kaimera in a few months to get mar- 
 ried. Her thoughts dwelt much on this subject, 
 and it gave her a dignity in her own eyes to feel 
 that she would then be once more in touch with 
 civilization and with civilized institutions. Nurse 
 Toms maintained a rigid propriety which was sup- 
 ported by a rather bitter tongue. As for the doc- 
 tor's conduct, she could find no words to express 
 her disapproval, and she expressed an opinion 
 that Nurse Hilton and James should waste no 
 time before getting legally and safely married. 
 From neither of these women could Alice Des- 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 217 
 
 mond look for any support or sympathy. And 
 now she knew that her power over Hicksey was 
 weakening. He no longer allowed his life to cen- 
 tre upon her, but had again seriously taken to his 
 work. Now most of his time, that was not given 
 to the hospital, he spent in his room working at 
 his own research. Her days passed in almost 
 complete loneliness, for only at meal-times and 
 late in the evening did she see the doctor alone. 
 
 These short intervals she would look forward to 
 during the long hours of work, but often they 
 were quickly hurried over, and the doctor w^as too 
 much occupied with his own work to notice her 
 desperate and ever-increasing unhappiness. And 
 yet even now there were short respites, times when 
 he came to her after his. work was over, and they 
 would walk together along the sands. Then she 
 would try to believe that he still loved her, but 
 she really knew that he had lost any touch of in- 
 dividual appreciation, and that most of his day he 
 put her from his thoughts as something almost 
 shameful and degrading. Two emotions in direct 
 antagonism to one another dominated her life: 
 one that the existence which she led was intoler- 
 able and could not last, and the other, that she 
 could never, never give him up. How to reconcile 
 these two she could not think, but vaguely believed 
 that something must happen or she would go mad. 
 
2i8 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 What did actually happen was far different 
 from anything she had ever anticipated. She 
 gained a victory, but her position became even 
 worse than it was before. 
 
 After the doctor had finished his work at the 
 hospital, he usually returned to his room, where 
 he worked till supper. It was during this evening 
 period that Nurse Desmond most felt her isolation, 
 for it was at these times that they used to walk to- 
 gether along the cliffs or down on to the beaches. 
 Her work finished, she had nothing to do and no 
 one to speak to. To pass the time, she would 
 sometimes walk out on to the beach by herself, but 
 occasionally she would stay in the wards and talk 
 to the native patients. She did not like the na- 
 tives, had, in fact, a repugnance for them, and yet 
 to talk to them gave her a forlorn consolation. 
 There was, too, something about their resignation 
 that touched her. They seemed to have dropped 
 so far away from their true and savage lives, and 
 were without any hope of ever renewing them, 
 content to snatch what small pleasure the time 
 could offer. 
 
 One evening while she was thus sitting talking 
 to one of the black gins, the other two nurses hap- 
 pened to pass through the ward. Before going out 
 they stopped by the door and looked back and 
 then spoke to one another. In a hot instant of 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 219 
 
 shame Alice Desmond got a picture of the half- 
 lighted ward, with its rows of beds in which lay 
 black diseased savages, and of herself sitting there 
 deserted in the twilight, sneered at and perhaps 
 pitied by the other white women. At that pic- 
 ture, the mortification and pain of the last days 
 crushed her with their accumulated weight. The 
 door closed on the two women. No doubt they 
 were now laughing at her forlorn state. She pic- 
 tured the look upon their faces, one that she had 
 often seen, a look that sometimes comes when we 
 know another to be in danger or suffering while 
 we ourselves are safe. It has in it the cruelty of 
 the many against. the few; half exultation at an- 
 other's pain, and half gratification at one's own 
 escape. Then in a. rush came her pride to save 
 her from tears ; it kindled to fierce- anger. It was 
 shameful that he should desert her thus. How 
 she hated, his work that stole him. from her. 
 
 In his room she found him bent over a micro- 
 scope. As she entered she had no fixed plan, but 
 she contained, grasping and choking for expres- 
 sion, all her accumulated jealousy against his 
 work. 
 
 She came close to him, then in a voice that was 
 so quiet and ordinary that she was startled at it, 
 she asked: "What are you doing?" As she saw 
 him turn and in his cool, deliberate way prepare 
 
220 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 to answer her question, her anger could no longer 
 be contained. As if they were stones, she flung 
 her questions at him, each more passionately ac- 
 cusing than the last. At each moment becoming 
 more conscious of her injury and more indignant. 
 "Why do you never come out with me now? 
 Have you quite forgotten that I exist? Am I ex- 
 pected to live with the black women and never be 
 spoken to? How do you expect me to spend my 
 day? Have you no feeling for any one in the 
 world but yourself? You've never loved me, 
 you've just played with me, and now you want to 
 throw me away. You cold egoist, you make your 
 work an excuse for your egoism." She burst into 
 high-pitched, lorig-drawn sobs. 
 
 Hicksey's chief feelings were of surprise and 
 disgust for such a display of uncontrolled emo- 
 tion. Women, he thought, should not live in hot 
 countries, it made them too hysterical. "For 
 God's sake," he said, "don't make that noise, the 
 others will hear, and they'll think I'm murdering 
 you." 
 
 She caught her breath and held down the sobs 
 while she raved at him in a strained raucous 
 voice. "Do you think I care what they think? 
 What do they think? That I interrupt your 
 work?" and she laughed. At this moment she 
 was to him in her uncontrolled self-exposure more 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 221 
 
 ugly than anything that he had ever seen, and yet 
 he was daunted by the savage power of her shame- 
 lessness. There was something elemental, either 
 more or less than human, in her passion. "I hate 
 your work," she screamed. 
 
 He had come towards her, but she dodged away. 
 Then with a sudden flash of resolve she snatched 
 up his microscope and dashed it to the ground. 
 
 "Damn you!" he shouted, and ran at her. 
 
 She swept the table clean of his instruments and 
 preparations. "Don't touch me, don't dare to 
 touch me!" 
 
 As he ran at her, she struck at him, wounding 
 him on the forehead with a heavy ruler that she 
 had snatched up. Her thin garments tore in his 
 hands. Silent and panting they struggled: the 
 woman in her abandonment fierce to destroy 
 everything, her self and all that she loved, no 
 matter so long as she could find some outlet for 
 her pain, something concrete on which to wreak 
 her revenge: the man instinctive to restrain this 
 savage unknown enemy that threatened to destroy 
 the sure conventions by which men live. He could 
 no longer wince with repugnance, but must now 
 struggle with and subdue this elemental and re- 
 fractory force. At length he managed to secure 
 her wrists. Then, as they struggled wildly face 
 to face, she trod back on- her skirt and stumbled ; 
 
222 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 they both fell to the ground. Here he could hold 
 her powerless and gain a little breath. 
 
 The room was a tumbled mass of debris. On 
 looking round at it, Hicksey could see that the 
 result of the greater part of his work for the last 
 year was there destroyed. It was work, which he 
 knew, with sudden conviction, that he would never 
 have the energy to accomplish again. And in his 
 hands, under his control and powerless, was the 
 woman who had worked such devastation in his 
 life. He was filled with hatred. She was wild, 
 emotional, not to be relied on, fierce to do evil : at 
 that moment he feared her, and knew that he 
 could never understand the thought that passed 
 behind her eyes. 
 
 After her first fierce efforts to rise, she had lain 
 still and watched him with a puzzling look of in- 
 difference; it seemed to him that the life in her 
 had suddenly shrunk to a small spark, or had 
 perhaps left her body empty, and was now living 
 in some far-distant place and period. Then, as 
 masterfully indignant he strove to reach even to 
 the fringe of her thought, he saw in her eyes, life 
 untamed, untameable and evasive. All men at all 
 times had feared to see that sight. All civiliza- 
 tions had been built up to hide from them that 
 which they least wanted to see. What was his 
 work worth or the work of other men in the light 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 223 
 
 of that glimpse of unscreened and desperate real- 
 ity? He was as a little child naked and alone. 
 He had lived in a world of theories and of fancies, 
 had been impressed by the truth of man's knowl- 
 edge and power, mere figments of man's folly to 
 hide his nakedness. He had dreamt that he had 
 lived in a world of men, moving harmoniously to 
 some definite end, had stretched forth his hands 
 toward life, and at the first contact found himself 
 a mere atom floating on the surface of an opaque 
 and inscrutable wave that moved with the pulse 
 of madness and covered, with its smooth surface, 
 figures of despair and fear. 
 
 The heat and indignation of the struggle died 
 away and left in its place a feeling of great loneli- 
 ness. Over her face had come a curiously calm, 
 and untroubled look. She spoke to him quite 
 quietly. *' Don't hold my wrist so tight, you're 
 hurting me." 
 
 He relaxed his grip, but still held her, wonder- 
 ing whether she would struggle again. He lifted 
 one of her hands and let it fall. It fell back 
 limply and lay at her side. 
 
 Where he had gripped her wrist he saw that the 
 skin was chafed and broken and the flesh swelled 
 and discoloured. He experienced a singular, 
 half-conscious pity that her body should thus be 
 wounded. In all that vision of desolation and 
 
224 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 emptiness that had been flashed upon his mind 
 there was at least this woman who cared for and 
 loved him. He thought of her body as something 
 apart from the fierce powers that wrecked her. 
 Her body was her true self, and for that, as he now 
 looked at it, bleeding and disarrayed, he had a 
 sudden pity. He lifted her arm and held the 
 bruifeed wrist between finger and thumb. As if 
 diagnosing some patient, he deliberately pinched 
 the place. "Does that hurt?" he asked. 
 
 Into her eyes came back a sudden interest. Her 
 life returned from that far country into which it 
 had strayed. Not only did it fill her so that her 
 body glowed with its presence, but in waves it 
 surged towards him, flooding and enveloping his 
 senses, drowning his reason. She did not answer, 
 but smiling, and with eyes half-shut, looked at 
 him under her lashes. Her fingers, that seemed 
 to him to bear each an individual existence, had 
 clasped his hand and were now twisting their way 
 between his own. With one hand he still held her 
 wrist, the fingers of the other were closely inter- 
 locked with hers. He pressed harder on her 
 wrist and repeated his question. 
 
 "Does that hurt?" 
 
 She smiled. "Yes, a little. Why do you like 
 hurting me ? Oh ! not so hard ! " 
 
 If a moment before she had frightened him with 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 225 
 
 vast and terrible visions, she in this instant re- 
 vealed the most intimate things both in life and in 
 herself. Then, she had stripped his heart bare 
 before loneliness and fear; now, with a thousand 
 delicate and clinging tendrils, she wrapped his 
 body and soul. He bent close over her. "What 
 do you want of me; why have you such power 
 over me?" 
 
 Her eyes were wide open now. She made no 
 answer, but lay still looking at him. 
 
 Deliberately he freed his hand that she still 
 clung to. Each finger had individually to gain 
 its own liberty, then he put his arms round and 
 lifted her. She hung a dead weight. Bending 
 close he looked into the depths of her eyes which 
 never for a moment left his face. Could he never 
 read the thoughts that lay behind? He spoke 
 slowly on an indrawn breath. "I love you more 
 than my own soul, more than my own life." 
 
 She put up her arms and clasped him round his 
 neck. He kissed her white face and throat, and 
 even the torn strips of her dress. 
 
 "You must carry me into my room, please. I 
 hate this place." 
 
 He lifted and carried her in his arms. 
 
 The door swung to behind them and the dim 
 twilight settled down upon the debris of the room, 
 which gradually became indistinct and covered 
 
226 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 with darkness, till later the white moonlight, in a 
 shape sharply defined by the square window case- 
 ment, crept across the floor mercilessly lighting 
 up each broken fragment. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 ALL manifestations and processes of life, 
 which in times of prosperity smile on and 
 flatter the heart of man, have concealed 
 in the very stuff of their making a quality of awe 
 and terror. Even the calm of a summer sea can 
 suggest vague fears; the sunlight can appear a 
 mysterious and ghastly thing and darkness holds 
 all the terrors and all despair. When the day 
 dawned and the sun flung its first sheath of rays 
 over the island, Hicksey watched the cold grey 
 shadows on the sand-dunes with a sense of numb 
 hopelessness. There was in his heart only hatred 
 and contempt, despair and loathing. Wherever 
 he turned there was no hope to look to, not even 
 an excuse for his own degradation. The purpose 
 of his life lay wrecked, and he knew that he could 
 not even pick up the fragments. 
 
 As he looked down upon the woman who still 
 lay asleep, he looked upon all that was left. He 
 saw her face as common and repulsive. She lay 
 there asleep, a mere animal in the mean and 
 
 squalid room. Yes, she was all that was left of 
 
 227 
 
228 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 his life; he had given up all for her, and now he 
 hated and despised her. How she had made him 
 hate and despise himself! And that terrible 
 vitality, that was her power and her scourge, how 
 he had struggled with and striven to resist it, and 
 how, by the powers of all that was ugly, had he 
 been trampled deep in the mire! He feared 
 something monstrous in himself that might rise 
 up and again humiliate him. No, in the last few 
 hours he had ceased even to fear even that. He 
 was without hope or any aspiration. Let her only 
 sleep on; he wished that she might die, and that 
 he might never see her eyes again. If she were 
 to wake he knew that she would rise and follow 
 him blindly and desperately as on the preceding 
 days — follow in silence with mute questioning, 
 eyes waiting on all his movements, driving him to 
 exasperation. 
 
 As he looked back upon the past week he saw 
 in crude flat colours his own calamity. His work 
 had been destroyed and he could never, he knew 
 well, be able to cover that ground again. For 
 years he had lived in the thoughts of his own 
 ambition. It had blinded him to the facts of a 
 more poignant life. It had served both as a 
 crutch to support and as a veil mercifully to hide 
 his own insignificance. Then in one evening this 
 woman had come with her charm and her in- 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 229 
 
 domitable vitality and had swept away the whole 
 purpose of his life. Now that it was gone, he 
 tottered and fell and only with anguish could he 
 look upon the naked facts of existence. What 
 now dominated the dumb and painful stupor in 
 which he moved was hatred for the woman who 
 had helped him to his fall. He hated even his 
 first remembrances of her, they came as reproaches 
 of his own weakness and folly. He hated her 
 body that both repulsed, and yet, in moments of 
 weakness and delirium, attracted; he hated her 
 mind which, evasive and muffled, he could never 
 understand. And still she clung to him and exer- 
 cised a desperate power over his actions, a power 
 which he could seldom anticipate, and which each 
 time left him hating and despising her the more. 
 
 Even when occupied with his regular work at 
 the hospital he could not always escape. She fol- 
 lowed near him. Her eyes ever on him with their 
 questioning, dumb appeal. Only while she slept 
 could he be free, and then he hated her more 
 than when she was awake. There was about her 
 sleep something exposed and shameless. How 
 was it possible that this woman should be able to 
 tear from his eyes all veils ? 
 
 He left the room silently; the sun was already 
 hot upon the sand-hills. He cast hardly a glance 
 at the wide blue expanse of the lagoon. It was 
 
230 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 to him merely a stretch of water that cut him off 
 from his fellows, a barrier that he feared to cross 
 because he had lost all confidence in life and in 
 the future. With his eyes fixed on the track he 
 plodded heavily across the sand that slipped from 
 beneath his feet. 
 
 At the hospital he found James and the two 
 nurses. He knew that if ever he gave the least 
 opening they would be inclined to pity him, and 
 their pity was the one thing he could not yet bear. 
 The fact that they were awed by the completeness 
 of his ruin they could not hide, but never by word 
 or deed would he let them show that they were 
 sorry for him. Hicksey greeted them curtly, and 
 began at once his morning inspection of the pa- 
 tients. The regular routine of the hospital was 
 an escape from the gnawing thoughts of regret. 
 He was glad to have escaped for a time the in- 
 sistent gaze of those eyes, whose thoughts he could 
 never fathom. 
 
 When Alice Desmond woke it was late in the 
 day. For the last week she had slept but little, 
 but had waited anxiously on all Hicksey's move- 
 ments. Unable wholly to understand why his 
 face had been turned away, she still cherished a 
 dying hope that he might yet come back. With- 
 out this hope she was utterly alone and her life 
 lost all meaning. Her thoughts drew back in 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 231 
 
 panic from the empty abysses over which her life 
 swayed. So every day she had watched him and 
 most of the nights too; as if the power of her gaze 
 might draw from him some response, might extract 
 some essence from him that she might call her 
 own. But at last, tired out by watching, she had 
 fallen asleep and had slept soundly. As con- 
 sciousness came back, a host of scurrying ques- 
 tions struggled to the surface. Why had she slept 
 so late? What was he doing? Where had he 
 gone ? In the first waking moments she was filled 
 with the horror of being alone upon the earth, an 
 insignificant fraction of some monstrous and in- 
 sane system. To escape from the terror of that 
 picture she must obstinately believe in her power 
 over the doctor. But if, perhaps, he had escaped 
 and gone to the other island? At the thought 
 she hurriedly began dressing, while in her brain 
 the insistent idea that she must never again let 
 him out of her sight struggled and tumbled amidst 
 a multitude of smaller fears. 
 
 As she neared the hospital a dread grew on her 
 that he might have gone. She ran over the yield- 
 ing sand eager to know the worst that might have 
 befallen. Dishevelled and breathless she reached 
 the wards. Hicksey was at the far end talking 
 to one of the black patients. When Alice Des- 
 mond burst open the door all turned to look at 
 
232 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 her ; untidy and ill-dressed she looked wild almost 
 to the limit of madness. At sight of the doctor she 
 recovered herself a little. Then, with quick steps, 
 she crossed the ward. 
 
 Hicksey, after the merest glance in her direc- 
 tion, turned again to his work. The others 
 watched to see what she would do. 
 
 Days ago all question of her authority over the 
 other women had ceased to exist, and now they 
 watched with half-contemptuous pity her tor- 
 mented and useless suffering. 
 
 There are moments when knowledge comes 
 with killing pain and leaves no possibility of eva- 
 sion. For the last few days Alice Desmond had 
 moved in a world of misery that was clouded with 
 deliberate stupidity. Now in a flash, as Hicksey 
 turned away, she saw her own detachment, and on 
 the instant life appeared as a blinding interroga- 
 tion mark. Life demanded of itself why there 
 should be any life. Why suffering so intense, 
 loneliness so desperate? There was no hope of 
 any answer to that question. Despair and terror 
 killed for a moment all feeling of individual voli- 
 tion. 
 
 As she stretched forward a hand to touch him, 
 her voice sounded far away and empty. "I am 
 here," she said. "Speak to me. I did not mean 
 to sleep so late. Oh, speak to me." In those 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 233 
 
 words there was admission of all defeat, all that 
 she now clung to was an infinite pity for herself. 
 
 All the people in the ward, the whites and the 
 natives alike, were watching with interest and ex- 
 citement the situation that seemed to have come 
 so suddenly to a head. On their faces was a look 
 of cruelty not to be concealed, the inevitable re- 
 sponse to the nakedness of her appeal. At the 
 same time they were ashamed and did not dare 
 look at one another, but held their breath as if 
 each moment might contain a discovery. All eyes 
 were on the woman who seemed to be held together 
 and kept from crumbling to pieces only by the 
 tenseness of the moment. 
 
 ^'Speak to me. Look at me. Speak to me." 
 Her hands fell limp at her sides. 
 
 For a moment Hicksey bent over his work and 
 spoke to a patient ; then, as if his control had sud- 
 denly snapped, he turned to Nurse Desmond: 
 "Go, go," he shouted at her, ''for God's sake leave 
 me." 
 
 His words rekindled her spirit. * 'Leave you 
 and go where ? What have I to do now? Where 
 have I to go? Into the sea and drown myself?" 
 Her anger rose as she spoke, and the words came 
 faster and faster. "Would you be glad to have 
 me drowned, now that you have done with me, 
 used me up, and thrown me aside? You have 
 
234 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 turned my life to hell. I have given you every- 
 thing and you have thrown it away, and now there 
 is nothing left. Nothing, nothing left, and I am 
 naked before these people, and you don't care. 
 You have made me promises and broken them 
 every one. You think only of yourself and make 
 your work an excuse for your selfishness. You 
 cold, selfish brute — you man ! " She was close up 
 to him now, panting in her anger. *'Now you tell 
 me to go. Where shall I go? Tell me that." 
 
 Surprised and rather awed by her violence he 
 drew back. Perhaps her accusation was true, of 
 that he could not judge; he only knew that her 
 presence was a bitterness and humiliation. Could 
 she not see how he hated her both in her intoler- 
 able silent watchfulness and in such outbursts of 
 violent reproach. The look in his eyes must have 
 told something of this thought, for suddenly, her 
 rage all spent, she stretched out her hands. *Tor- 
 give me, oh forgive me, only love me once again 
 and let me love you, and you can do what you 
 like." Her hands clutched at and clung to his 
 coat. 
 
 For some moments they stood silent looking at 
 one another. He felt, more fearfully than his 
 hatred, the weight of her attachment. Would she 
 follow always, and could she never be shaken off? 
 
 "Let go"; he twisted her hands free — "have you 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 235 
 
 no shame? How much lower do you want to 
 drag me down? You have made me waste and 
 throw away everything, and have destroyed all 
 that I lived for. I have nothing more to give 
 you, nothing, nothing. Love you? You have 
 taught me to hate you. Go, for God's sake, leave 
 me." 
 
 She stood as if perplexed, opening and shutting 
 her eyes, looking at him and yet beyond him. 
 Then she raised her hands, and as if groping her 
 way stumbled forward. Desperately she clung to 
 him. "I cannot, I cannot," she wailed. "Where 
 am I to go? You are all that is left to me." 
 
 A feeling of oppression, acute and at the same 
 time numbing, beat about his heart and spread to 
 every tissue of his body. Blindly his reason beat 
 against blank walls. Was there no escape? 
 Had she followed to claim him and make him 
 her slave for always? Must he drag his life out 
 chained to his disgrace and his humiliation, be no 
 more a free man with a purpose and a work, but 
 only the slave of a woman? A ray of hope came; 
 at least he could escape to the other island, leave 
 her and so have a period in which he could stand 
 on his own feet and regain some of his self- 
 possession. In his present state he was too wor- 
 ried, too sore to resist; escape was all that was 
 left. He felt the cowardice of his resolve, and his 
 
236 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 anger blazed up again, though he controlled him- 
 self to speak calmly. "Let go ; do as I tell you ! '' 
 
 At once she dropped her hands and stood 
 anxious before him, hoping to have pleased him 
 by her quick obeying. 
 
 His conviction was strong that he must stoop to 
 the meanest evasion, no matter so long as he could 
 get away. He pulled out his watch, and looking 
 at it seemed to reckon the chances. "In an hour's 
 time," he said, "I can have finished this work. 
 Stay here while I go into the other ward; at the 
 end of an hour I will come back; then we must 
 talk things out." He gave a quick glance towards 
 James and the two nurses, then added: "This is 
 not the time or place." 
 
 "You will come back and forgive all that I have 
 said and done and not be angry any more?" She 
 was now submissive and tender in her appeal. 
 
 He nodded his head with a familiar movement 
 which she knew well, and which reminded her of 
 the old days of happiness. "Yes, I'll come; wait 
 for me here." 
 
 "Promise you will come in an hour, not later." 
 
 "Yes, I promise." With that he went out, and 
 she listened to his footsteps walking along the cor- 
 ridor to the next ward. 
 
 So wrought up was she by the strain of the last 
 few days, her misery and fear had been so great. 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 237 
 
 that she had given little thought to James and to 
 the nurses. She now became conscious of her 
 lonely position in the middle of the room and the 
 fact that they were still watching. For a while 
 she sat still, trying to place clearly in her mind 
 the incidents of the last few minutes. She must 
 make efforts to rise from her state of utter 
 despondency and try to meet the situation. If 
 she could once win back her influence over the 
 doctor then nothing mattered, but to do that she 
 must become cool and mistress of all her powers. 
 The fact that she felt no shame at the violence of 
 the last scene was perhaps her best defence. She 
 felt, on the contrary, that she had won her point, 
 and that her position was now stronger than be- 
 fore. Then came a quick resentment that the 
 people over there should be looking at her so 
 curiously and that they should have seen every- 
 thing. She walked towards the table' and oc- 
 cupied herself with small duties of arranging and 
 tidying, and so robust is our human nature that 
 now she could believe herself able to meet un- 
 abashed the gaze of any of the others. And all 
 the while that such thoughts were playing over 
 the surface of her consciousness, she was wonder- 
 ing how she would meet Hicksey, how she might 
 win him. 
 
 For a while the work in the ward went quickly 
 
238 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 forward. From the end of the room where James 
 and the nurses were working they could get, 
 through the open window, a view of the harbour. 
 Nurse Hilton happened to look out, and saw al- 
 ready at some little distance from the house the 
 figure of the doctor running across the sands. 
 She drew Nurse Toms' attention and they both 
 looked eagerly. Alice Desmond was still oc- 
 cupied at the table in the middle of the room. Al- 
 though neither of the women had much sympathy 
 for her, it was not in them to let the doctor escape 
 so easily. He deserved, they thought, all that he 
 could get. 
 
 Nurse Hilton walked across the room to where 
 Alice Desmond stood. "If you want to talk to 
 the doctor you had better be quick. He is on his 
 way to the harbour, and I don't think he means 
 to come back." 
 
 "It's not true. You lie." 
 
 "Go and look for yourself." 
 
 Alice Desmond rushed to the window. "Oh, 
 my God, my God!" She clutched at her breast. 
 "I will never let him leave me. If he leaves me I 
 will kill myself." Her heart beat wildly, and the 
 blood pulsed fiercely in her brain. For a moment 
 she thought she was going to faint; then, calling 
 on all her strength, she ran from the room and 
 down towards the beach. 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 239 
 
 When Hicksey reached the shore, he found the 
 tide very low. For a moment he hesitated whether 
 he could pull the dinghy down over the long stretch 
 of beach, or whether, to save time, he would wade 
 out to the boat which was anchored only a few 
 yards from the break of the waves. He decided 
 on the latter course, and was just kicking off his 
 shoes when he was exasperated to see Nurse Des- 
 mond come from behind the sand-dunes and run 
 towards him across the beach. He swore to him- 
 self that nothing should keep him now. Furious 
 and ashamed, he would let the woman know his 
 mind. At all costs he must get out of her pres- 
 ence. 
 
 She ran to him and held him in her arms. In 
 her eyes there was a look of desperate resolve. 
 Of the reproach he had expected there was not a 
 word. "Where are you going?" she demanded. 
 "Why did you leave me?" 
 
 "I'm going to be rid of you. If you won't 
 leave me, then I shall leave you. I'm tired of 
 feeling your eyes on me all day and all night. 
 I'm tired of the sight of you, and of the touch and 
 the sound of you. There's work for me on 
 Kanna Island. There I can be alone. I leave 
 you because I hate you, because I wish I never 
 might see you again. Let go, woman, do you 
 hear?" 
 
240 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 "You mustn't go. I cannot live here without 
 you. I cannot be left alone." 
 
 He wrenched at her arms and twisted them free 
 of his neck. Then he held her at arm's length. 
 Wildly she begged of him. 'Tor pity's sake, 
 take me. I shall die if I am left alone. I love 
 you, let me serve you, only let me be near you." 
 
 In a confused, unreasoning despair he put for- 
 ward arguments that he knew were irrelevant. 
 "Your work and your duty is here; besides you 
 know what a fuss you made over that man Sher- 
 win, and how frightened you were. Your place 
 is here, and, by God, you're going to stay here I " 
 
 Again she pleaded : "Only let me be near you ; 
 I will ask nothing else. I cannot live without 
 you." 
 
 "Then die, and damn you! " He suddenly re- 
 leased his hold, and, turning, ran into the water 
 towards the boat. 
 
 In an instant she was after him. The boat was 
 in shallow water, which came not even as high as 
 their waists. The doctor scrambled on board, 
 then he turned and tried to push away the woman, 
 who had already grasped a firm hold on the rail 
 at the stern. 
 
 "I'll drown you rather than you should come 
 with me," he muttered. 
 
 Her face was white and drawn, and she made 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 241 
 
 no response, but held the tighter. He struck at 
 her hands and arms, but the pain seemed to make 
 no impression. In her agony and dread of deser- 
 tion her senses had ceased to function as those of 
 a human being, and had become as those of a 
 drowning animal, all centred in one frantic re- 
 solve. Nothing short of cutting off her hands 
 would have loosened her grip on the rail. This 
 power in her, if something less than human, was, 
 nevertheless, hard to cope with, and Hicksey felt 
 a kind of despair as he bent over her white and 
 suffering face. The very brutality of hitting at 
 her bare knuckles was awful. With a curse he 
 turned away and went forward to pull up the 
 anchor. Painfully and still with the manner of 
 some drowning and sub-conscious animal she 
 clambered on board. As she lay still, close to the 
 mast, her eyes followed his movements with ap- 
 prehension. When he came aft he brutally 
 ordered her out of his way; she obeyed submis- 
 sively, trying to anticipate all his movements. In 
 a few moments he had hoisted sail, and the boat 
 like a live thing bent to the wind and headed its 
 way northward. 
 
 The clear blue waves lapped the sides of the 
 boat, and the ripples made music under the bows ; 
 the sun beat hotly on the deck and the white sail 
 shone against the deep blue of the sky. From 
 
242 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 time to time the man and woman looked at one 
 another, though they spoke no word. Were they 
 then inseparably bound together? The man 
 rebelled at the thought, hated it, and yet could not 
 put it away. He questioned why she should have 
 such power over him. After all, what was she, 
 what in the last weeks had she become but a raw 
 and bleeding fragment of humanity, drifting with- 
 out religion or morality, a being who clung to him 
 as to the only concrete and tangible support; and 
 even he himself stood uncertainly in a shifting 
 and rapidly disintegrating world. He knew that 
 she would drive him on to his destruction and to 
 the destruction of them both. This was inevit- 
 able. He hated her presence. All that he had 
 held to she had demoralized and made weak, and 
 she would urge him further on the way to ruin. 
 They were bound together by the weaknesses in 
 human nature, and the weaker they became the 
 more inevitably were their fates joined. At times 
 an impulse of anger would prompt him to kill and 
 have done with her, and then would follow feel- 
 ings of pity and regret; but whether he hated or 
 pitied he always despised her as if she were some 
 contemptible part of himself that he would fain 
 cut free from and be done with. 
 
 All day the boat sailed on, the sun blazed over- 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 243 
 
 head and then descended to the westward, and yet 
 they did not speak; as atoms upon the sea they 
 drifted alone and naked before the terrors of life 
 unveiled. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 OF all things that obstruct human vision 
 work is perhaps the greatest and the 
 most needful. Hope and ambition may 
 lie in fragments and even a man's physical health 
 may be utterly broken, and yet to stave off the 
 last humiliation of seeing himself failing and 
 desolate he will cling to his work, and thus in an 
 obstinate blindness refuse to recognize his own 
 dereliction. Or it may be that as a sudden re- 
 action from sharp disappointment he will fling 
 himself into any work that is to his hand and so 
 delay the full impact of his pain. Thus it was 
 with Sherwin when he received, a few days pre- 
 vious to Hicksey's arrival, a letter from his brother 
 telling him that after sinking a shaft to a depth 
 of a hundred and fifty feet he had found no gold, 
 that the money was now all spent; that, as there 
 was no object in going deeper, he had given up his 
 claim, and had started northward again in the 
 hope of better success. After realizing with the 
 first shock of the news that they were now both 
 penniless, Sherwin turned to his work with a dull 
 and vindictive energy. All his savings for the last 
 
 year had been squandered. He cursed not only 
 
 244 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 245 
 
 his brother but the folly of his own trustfulness. 
 His feelings were so dominated by anger that for 
 the first few days he was stimulated rather than 
 depressed, and he worked untiringly. At night, 
 when his work was done, and the natives crouched 
 about their fires glad of a respite from his bully- 
 ing, he drank heavily of the whisky that Pomfrey 
 had brought over from the mainland. So long 
 as the cutter stayed at the island the old seaman 
 would go up and drink with him in the evenings, 
 and Sherwin found much consolation in being 
 able to recount his own misfortunes and tell of the 
 hardness of his fate. It was not till Pomfrey had 
 made his departure, and the nights passed once 
 more in solitude, that despair pressed slowly and 
 inexorably on the heart of the solitary man. 
 
 For more than a year each day as it had passed 
 had cheated and cajoled him of some fraction of 
 his rights to the civilization and traditions in 
 which he had been brought up; and now, after 
 months of longing for recognized mastery over a 
 remote and indifferent society, he found, in the 
 cruel passage of a few days, that he had become 
 an outcast, not only penniless, but prevented by 
 the inscrutable disposition of his solitude from 
 ever being able to renew the ways and customs of 
 other men. And yet to save what fragments were 
 left he persisted doggedly at the work imposed on 
 
246 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 him, once a pleasure and an assurance, now, since 
 hope was lost, his sole protection against too clear 
 a picture of his own fall. 
 
 When one day Coffee reported that the doctor's 
 boat was coming round the point, the news awak- 
 ened in Sherwin a kind of dull interest. At any 
 rate, nothing could make the position that he en- 
 dured worse than it was, and it would be some- 
 thing of a relief to talk to another white man and 
 tell again of his misfortunes. 
 
 Sherwin climbed one of the sand-hills and 
 watched the slow approach of the white sail. For 
 a while he did not notice that Nurse Desmond was 
 on board, crouched at the stern. Then, as if 
 against his will and reluctantly, a moving interest 
 in life, that carried the semblance of hope, pulsed 
 through his veins. It did not come as a quick re- 
 sponse to stimulus, but slowly and in deliberate 
 opposition to his will it rose, forcing all the doors 
 that had been shut so resolutely by that long soli- 
 tude, which daily had pressed him further and 
 further in upon himself, in towards the centre, 
 where lurked madness. Now the doors opened, 
 and once more sharp pain struck through them. 
 
 He sat motionless, watching the boat approach 
 and run in close to the shore. He saw the doctor 
 drop the anchor over the bows and then let down 
 the sail with a rattle. He saw him move about 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 247 
 
 the boat making things ship-shape, and all the 
 while the woman sat watching him in the stern, 
 only moving when the sail threatened to fall on 
 her. Then he saw Hicksey jump over the side 
 and wade through the shallow water; he remem- 
 bered with a sudden pang how on their last visit 
 the doctor had carried the woman in his arms. 
 This time she followed him over the side and 
 waded after him through the waters. 
 
 A guess at the changed relation between the 
 two flashed through Sherwin's mind. A new in- 
 terest was suddenly awake, but an instinct of cau- 
 tion warned him to move warily. He rose and 
 walked leisurely over the hills towards the new- 
 comers. When he met them, the doctor was some 
 paces ahead, walking fast with his eyes on the 
 track; Nurse Desmond was hurrying to keep 
 within distance. When within about twenty 
 yards, Sherwin stood still and waited their ap- 
 proach. 
 
 "Good morning, doctor; are you m a hurry 
 this morning?" he shouted. 
 
 Hicksey, who had not seen the man, was sur- 
 prised by the sudden greeting. At once he tried 
 to assume his most casual manner, as if to hide 
 all the thoughts of exasperation and distress that 
 moved within his mind. "Good morning," he 
 muttered, and pressed on. Then as if with an 
 
248 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 afterthought, he shouted: "I suppose it won't 
 be long now before you start for the mainland. 
 Have you heard from your brother again?" 
 
 Sherwin had come close to him. "Yes, I've 
 heard from my brother," he snarled, ''and what 
 do you think? It's all a damned fraud, there's 
 nothing in it at all." His voice rose as if in an- 
 ger, and yet all the while that he was speaking he 
 was occupied, not so much by what he was say- 
 ing as by the white face of the woman, who had 
 by this time come up with them and now stood 
 close at Hicksey's side. ''There was not a bloody 
 colour of gold in the whole concern, not a colour, 
 though they spent God knows how much money 
 in sinking a shaft to a hundred and fifty feet. 
 They spent all my savings for the last eighteen 
 months, and now write and ask me to get on with 
 my job and politely send them some more. Damn 
 them, they've had the last penny they shall ever 
 get out of me! " He paused for a moment, then, 
 looking straight at the woman, he continued: 
 "So I shan't be leaving the island as soon as was 
 expected. That will save the Government the 
 trouble of finding another man for the job." 
 
 Alice Desmond looked quickly away and stood 
 closer to Hicksey. The doctor, who had been lis- 
 tening with his eyes directed towards the ground, 
 had not seen the insolent look on Sherwin's face. 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 249 
 
 He felt a negative kind of satisfaction that fortune 
 should be hard on others as well as on himself; 
 with this feeling there stirred a tardy instinct of 
 comradeship for a man who was perhaps suffer- 
 ing as keenly as himself. He had an extravagant 
 desire to speak of his own suffering, to make of 
 that other man a confidant and equal. 
 
 "Have you lost everything?" he asked. 
 
 "Yes, everything; and they ask me for more, 
 as if life here were all a damned picnic." 
 
 "I'm sorry for you. You ought to get away. 
 We ought both to get away; this is no place for 
 white men to live in." 
 
 Sherwin's eyes rested on Alice Desmond, whose 
 presence seemed to be forgotten by the doctor. 
 Sneeringly he asked: "And what about the 
 woman? I see the lady has come without her 
 portmanteau." 
 
 They both looked at Alice Desmond, who had 
 nothing with her but the wet clothes in which she 
 stood. For a good thirty seconds they regarded 
 her in silence. She stood close to the doctor, and 
 her eyes entreated for mercy. From neither of 
 them could the piteous nakedness of her soul be 
 concealed. Sherwin gave a short laugh, not so 
 much from deliberate cruelty, but because it was 
 the only comment with which his intellect could 
 meet the situation. 
 
250 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 Hicksey spoke to the woman. "Go up to the 
 house, and I will follow in a minute." 
 
 She walked past him obediently. 
 
 When she was out of hearing, he turned angrily 
 upon Sherwin. '* You blackguard 1 If you think 
 you can insult women in that way, I can soon 
 teach you to the contrary." 
 
 "Oh, do you keep that and other privileges to 
 yourself and teach her to run through the water 
 after you like a dog ! " 
 
 The force of this taunt could not well be an- 
 swered. It was difficult for Hicksey to keep to a 
 high tone in the face of so obvious a truth. 
 "What happens to Nurse Desmond is not your 
 affair," he said; "and I tell you this that if I find 
 you molesting or in any way forcing yourself upon 
 her, it will be the worse for you." 
 
 For some seconds Sherwin made no remark, and 
 in the silence the doctor's words seemed to echo 
 more flatly than at the utterance. 
 
 "I see you're a gentleman," sneered Sherwin; 
 then, changing his tone: "Now look here, listen 
 to what I've got to say. You're tired of her, I can 
 see that. I've been tired of a woman myself be- 
 fore now. Play the game. Pass her on to me. 
 I'll take her off your hands." 
 
 Hicksey spoke deliberately and in an even voice. 
 "You damned blackguard ! I warn you to keep 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 251 
 
 your distance if you want to keep a whole skin." 
 With that he turned and walked on towards the 
 house. 
 
 Sherwin watched him out of sight, then he 
 walked to the place where the man and woman 
 had stood. The sand was darkened by the drip- 
 pings from their wet clothes. With his mind oc- 
 cupied with new and conflicting thoughts he 
 kicked dry sand over the place. Hate and lust 
 were now at work to do their worst, yet in his 
 heart there was hope rekindled and with hope 
 there had come fear. When all sign of the wet 
 footmarks had been obliterated he walked away 
 towards his own quarters. 
 
 At the door of the house Alice Desmond was 
 waiting. She came down the steps of the ver- 
 andah to meet the doctor. ^'What did that brute 
 say?*' she asked. 
 
 He looked at her scornfully, and without an- 
 swering her question he demanded: "What the 
 hell did you come here for? You knew very well 
 that you weren't wanted." 
 
 Her face twitched emotionally and he thought 
 she was going to cry again, but instead she broke 
 out in supplication. 
 
 "Please, you must not let him touch me. Prom- 
 ise that you will never let him touch me. I am 
 
252 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 frightened of that man; he is stronger and more 
 wicked than you know. Please, please, never let 
 him come near me." 
 
 Hicksey answered brutally: "You knew he 
 was here, why did you insist on coming?" Then, 
 exasperated, he raged at her: "Why, why did 
 you come?" 
 
 She snatched at his hand and dropped on her 
 knees. "Forgive me, forgive me once more. 
 Tell me to do anything but leave you, and prom- 
 ise that you will never leave me to that man. 
 Promise, promise ! " 
 
 "Yes. I'll make him keep his distance — the 
 hound. Now get up. Don't cry ; there's no need 
 for that. Show your obedience by doing as you 
 are told. Go to your room. I want to be alone." 
 
 He pulled her to her feet and she stood looking 
 at him with entreaty in her eyes. In a broken 
 voice she pleaded: "Why do you hate me 
 so?" 
 
 "Because I see too much of you. If I saw less 
 of you I should like you better ; and I should like 
 you best of all if you had stayed on Fenton Is- 
 land." 
 
 He walked into the house, and as he passed her 
 she began to whimper, trying hard to restrain the 
 rising sobs. She followed, keeping at a short dis- 
 tance behind him. In his room he turned and 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 253 
 
 was about to abuse her once more for her impor- 
 tunate fidelity when the conviction came to him 
 that no matter what he said she would always fol- 
 low, always look with those large reproachful 
 eyes, always offer what he didn't wish to accept 
 and call upon his pity. Like a petulant child he 
 sat down with his back to her. She stood some- 
 where behind him, and he knew that her eyes were 
 following his least movement. Then, after a few 
 minutes, his irritation became so acute that he 
 could sit still no longer. He rose and pretended 
 to occupy himself with small employments. With 
 difficulty he restrained himself from rushing at 
 her and hurling her from the room. Must he al- 
 ways be persecuted by this intolerable vigilance? 
 Cut off as he was from his fellows and from all 
 the interest of his work, might he not even taste 
 the solace of being alone? At all cost he must 
 and would escape her, and for a time at least free 
 himself from the consciousness of her existence. 
 He went to one of the cupboards in which he kept 
 drugs. In a kind of nervous stupidity she 
 watched what he was doing. He mixed a sleep- 
 ing draught sufficiently strong to make him sleep 
 for several hours. 
 
 How and where he fell asleep he could not re- 
 member, but his last consciousness was of soft 
 arras that encircled him and eyes that looked 
 
254 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 anxiously into his own. From early that evening 
 he slept till late the next morning, and Alice Des- 
 mond watched jealously his relaxed features. He 
 had found for a time oblivion and escape. As 
 she looked at his sleeping face she seemed to see, 
 as she had never seen before, into his inmost self. 
 It was as if in sudden revelation sleep betrayed the 
 failure of life. She saw, as she watched through 
 the long hours of the night, characters and sug- 
 gestions of qualities that she had never before 
 seen. There was something so powerless and con- 
 temptible about his drugged sleep that for sting- 
 ing moments her love flashed into hate. How 
 could so weak a shadow of a man be able to inflict 
 pain? If he were never to wake, then perhaps 
 might her suffering be assuaged. For a time she 
 almost wished he were dead, for then she could 
 love his memory, which could be kind, not like the 
 unmouldable, hard reality of his waking self ; be- 
 sides, if ever man deserved to die, he who had so 
 cruelly cast her aside deserved death. Then, 
 frightened at the thought of her own forlorn state, 
 she wished that he might wake, if it were only to 
 curse at her. If he were to die in his sleep how 
 terribly situated she would be ! She clutched and 
 shook the sleeping form, but he did not wake, only 
 murmured from an open mouth. 
 
 Late in the ixight she must have fallen asleep, 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 255 
 
 and on waking she found the sunlight streaming 
 into the room. Her immediate fear was, that if 
 the doctor did not make an appearance Sherwin 
 might come to see what was the matter. After 
 much shaking he opened his eyes. As she looked 
 into them she saw consciousness slowly creeping 
 back, and with it came a look of aversion towards 
 herself. He drew free from her hands and asked 
 what time it was. She told him that it was late, 
 and he seemed annoyed at having slept so long. 
 For a time he moved about the room in a fuddled 
 and drowsy way, but then once more the force of 
 habit showed its strength. While he yet lived he 
 must work, work although there was no hope, no 
 prospect beyond tke day. But how could he work 
 in that drowsy state? 
 
 Again he went to the medicine chest. This time 
 he took some tabloids of strychnin; that would 
 pull him together and counteract the effect of the 
 bromide. She watched him anxiously, never 
 leaving his side for an instant. 
 
 While he had been moving about the room he 
 had uttered no articulate words, but when at 
 length he spoke to her, it was in a tone more like 
 that of his old self than anything she had heard 
 for some days. He told her that he was going to 
 work at the hospital during the morning, but 
 would come back to lunch at midday. She was 
 
256 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 to have lunch ready for him and he would be back 
 at twelve o'clock. 
 
 There was something so everyday and con- 
 trolled about his manner that it took her by sur- 
 prise, and she found it difficult to insist on coming 
 with him, but instead walked with him a few 
 paces out into the brilliant sunlight and then stood 
 watching his figure climb the high sand-hill and 
 finally disappear over its edge. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 WHEN Sherwin returned to his home, 
 he was restless and excited. For a 
 while he stood on the steps contem- 
 plating the white expanse of the sand-dunes and 
 the flat surface of the sea glimmering blue and 
 purple in the afternoon light. He was annoyed 
 at again letting the doctor have the last word. 
 Well, his turn would come; he would make sure 
 of that. He went into his room, opened a bottle 
 of whisky, and took a gulp of the raw spirit. 
 This was the stuff to hearten a man, and what he 
 wanted was courage, courage to meet the wiry, hot- 
 tempered man who so often mastered him. If the 
 fellow couldn't see sense, then he could teach him a 
 lesson. In a short time the morose mood that he 
 had fallen into passed, and he called to Coffee. 
 It was not his custom to let Coffee drink whisky, 
 as he knew the violent effect that it had ; but for 
 once in a way he thought it would be fun to make 
 the black fellow drunk. "Come here, Coffee; 
 come and sit down, you black-limbed image," he 
 shouted; "put some of that inside your ugly 
 face." 
 
 257 
 
258 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 Coffee needed no second bidding, for, like all 
 natives, he took it as an honour to drink the white 
 man's drink. Sherwin filled up his glass as soon 
 as it was empty. 
 
 The cheaply built, wooden room in which they 
 sat was bare save for the table and some wooden 
 chairs. On the floor were scattered papers and 
 magazines in all stages of disintegration, and here 
 and there on the walls were nailed up coloured 
 plates and advertisements. There was no other 
 attempt at furniture or decoration. The two men 
 sat on opposite sides of the table with the drink 
 between them. Sherwin talked incessantly, chaff- 
 ing his companion and exhorting him to drink. 
 For a while the black was taciturn and answered 
 in grunts and monosyllables, but gradually his 
 eyes became bloodshot, and the veins on his 
 temples swelled and stood out. Then as the 
 liquor told on him, he began to sing native songs. 
 At first Sherwin was pleased, but as the black be- 
 came almost mad with excitement he told him to 
 shut up, but Coffee sang on louder than ever. By 
 this time he was rocking to and fro on his chair 
 and shouting in his native tongue. 
 
 ''Stop that row, do you hear?" yelled Sherwin. 
 
 The black took no notice beyond showing his 
 teeth and shouting even louder his barbaric cries. 
 
 Sherwin rose and struck at him. In an instant 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 259 
 
 all the ancestral savagery of the black man showed 
 itself and he struck back, a thing he never would 
 have dared to do when he was sober. This was 
 all that was needed to make Sherwin wild with 
 rage. He went in with both fists, and in less than 
 a minute had knocked Coffee an unconscious heap 
 into one of the corners of the room. For a while 
 he kicked at his fallen adversary. By God, he 
 was the man to fight ! Why, he could do for that 
 little whipper-snapper of a doctor with one hand. 
 No fear about that! It was high time, he 
 thought, to give the fellow a lesson. 
 
 Seeing that there was no more resistance in Cof- 
 fee he went to the table and filled his flask with 
 spirit, then he set out in the direction of the doc- 
 tor's house. With uneven steps he walked along 
 the track. Before he had gone far, he found the 
 ascent of the sand-hill very steep. Instead of 
 keeping to the path he struck off obliquely. The 
 sand slipped from under his feet, and in the steep 
 places he stumbled. Before reaching the top of 
 the hill, there came on him an overwhelming de- 
 sire to rest. He thought he would lie dow^n for 
 a few minutes. As the white sand gave under his 
 weight he sprawled to full length. His head was 
 just on the level with a small bush and he became 
 curiously and attentively interested in its branches. 
 He lay still watching the patterns that their dark 
 
26o WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 outlines made upon the blue sea beyond. He 
 noticed, at the same time, swelling and diminish- 
 ing specks that glided between the branches and 
 seemed to stir the sea into an uneven motion. 
 These specks he could never quite focus; they 
 mingled together, and then swam apart, and at last 
 the shapes of branches became dim, and he slept. 
 
 When he next opened his eyes the sun was shin- 
 ing from the ever unclouded sky, and in his ears 
 was the buzz of insects' wings. For a short space 
 he wondered where he was, then remembrance 
 came back. His head felt very heavy, and for a 
 while he lay still gazing vacantly across the 
 smooth uneven surface of the dunes. 
 
 The place in which he lay was sheltered by thick 
 bushes, but he could see between their branches 
 the path that joined the two houses. Presently 
 along the path he saw Hicksey walk with his char- 
 acteristic quick step, with eyes fixed on the sand. 
 The sight of his enemy quickened his senses and 
 sent thoughts to his dull and heavy head. He sat 
 up and watched the doctor out of sight; then he 
 took a draught of the raw spirit; this made him 
 feel better, and gradually a glow of excitement 
 spread through his body. For a while he sat 
 still thinking of many plans, plans that started 
 with the acceptance of vague possibilities and left 
 off in nebulous uncertainty. He wished to per- 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 261 
 
 suade himself that he was not afraid of the doctor, 
 whereas he knew that he was afraid. Well, time 
 would show, and at all costs he would make a bid 
 for mastery. He stood up and took another short 
 pull at the flask ; then he set out towards the doc- 
 tor's house. Of what he intended he had no 
 clear idea, but it would be more to his liking to 
 talk with the woman than risk an interview with 
 her master. 
 
 As Sherwin approached the lonely corrugated- 
 iron building, that stood squat and blue in the sun- 
 light, he was oppressed by the silence in the air, 
 which hung like a muffling and protecting cloud 
 over the earth. Such stillness he had not noticed 
 before and it made him nervous, and yet he was 
 afraid lest there should be any sudden noise. 
 The white sunlight alarmed him in that it seemed 
 not only to reveal his own deep buried thoughts, 
 but to lay bare the future, so that he saw the in- 
 exorable sequence of man's actions, but yet could 
 neither pause nor draw back. As he mounted the 
 steps they creaked loudly beneath his weight; the 
 noise made him hurry and push on into the room. 
 
 He felt as if he were wound up to action at any 
 cost and nothing now could stop him. He had 
 expected to surprise Alice Desmond at some 
 household task, or perhaps to find her reading, but 
 when he opened the door, he saw in an instant that 
 
262 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 she had heard his approach, and he was flattered 
 to see that she was waiting in terror and suspense 
 to learn what he might do. She was standing up- 
 right at the far side of the room, her back against 
 the dresser, her head thrown back, and her breasts 
 rising as her breath came quick and short. Her 
 eyes were fixed in mortal dread on his face, the 
 dread of some animal that is cornered and knows 
 no way of escape. For a few seconds he looked at 
 her with surprised admiration. What a fool that 
 doctor was, he thought, not to know a good thing 
 when he had got it. He spoke in a forced, rather 
 jocular voice. He was always jocular when he 
 was nervous. "I just looked in to pass the time 
 of day with you. Miss Desmond. We neither of 
 us get too much company on this island — and 
 thinking you might be alone," he paused for a sec- 
 ond, ''I just looked in." 
 
 Once more the silence settled upon the house, 
 only broken by the buzz of a yellow blow-fly that 
 rattled against the window pane. The woman 
 still regarded him from her strained upright posi- 
 tion. 
 
 He spoke again; this time his voice was harsh 
 and brutal: ''Come, my darling, sit down and 
 talk to me. IVe not come to murder you." 
 
 She moved to a chair that he pointed at and 
 sat down. Then he walked to the table near 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 263 
 
 which she sat and leaned across, so that his red 
 face came close to hers. "So he's tired of you, is 
 he? Given you the chuck over? The damned 
 ungrateful little rabbit!" 
 
 Her dark eyes glowed at him from a pale face, 
 and her drawn lips moved, but no sound came 
 from them. 
 
 *'Come, don't be afraid of me," he added in a 
 softened voice. "I'm not going to hurt you." 
 Then, pulling a chair to the table and seating him- 
 self opposite her, he went on in a bantering tone : 
 "He ought to be ashamed of himself letting a lady 
 run through the water after him, and not so much 
 as give her a hand." 
 
 As if with difficulty controlling her lips and 
 tongue, Alice Desmond gasped, "Go away, please; 
 leave me alone." 
 
 "That's not very kind when I come up on pur- 
 pose to talk to you. Come, out with it; what have 
 you against me? Ain't I as good a man as him?" 
 
 The woman suddenly bent forward on the table 
 shaken and choking with sobs. The humiliation 
 of her position came with irresistible force ; it was 
 shameful that the man she loved should leave her 
 exposed to such insults. Then her anger rose 
 against the doctor even more hotly than against 
 Sherwin. 
 
 For a while the man watched her and said noth- 
 
264 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 ing. Her shaking body seemed impotent to ex- 
 press the fierceness of her grief. Then, after a 
 few minutes, when her sobs seemed not so violent, 
 he spoke, this time in a kindly tone: *'Don't 
 take it so hard, my dear." He had for her at that 
 moment genuine pity, and now that he felt that 
 she was in such direct opposition, his instinct was 
 to soften. ^'Don't take it so hard; I didn't mean 
 to hurt you like that." 
 
 "Oh! leave me! leave me!" she cried. "He's 
 treated me shamefully. Leave me alone 1 " 
 
 "Don't take on so hard," repeated the man. 
 "You had much better leave him, and let him rot. 
 If you come with me I'll marry you fair, and that's 
 treating you handsome seeing the way you and 
 him have been." 
 
 The woman looked up surprised and desperate. 
 "I wish I were dead and I wish he were dead too. 
 Oh! if only I could make him feel." Half glad 
 at Sherwin's sympathy, she was relieved to have 
 some one to speak to. "If I had the courage I 
 would kill him and then myself." 
 
 For a while neither of them spoke, and the yel- 
 low fly could be heard buzzing aimlessly up and 
 down the window. 
 
 "Don't take on so," said the man as he rose 
 from his chair, "but stay here quiet and I'll come 
 back in half an hour." 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 265 
 
 She jumped up. "Where are you going to, 
 what are you going to do? Stop, I won't let you 
 go like that! You're not to hurt him. You're 
 not to touch him, do you hear?" She seized him 
 by the arm. 
 
 "Who said I was going to hurt him?" growled 
 the man, pushing his way towards the door. 
 
 With both her arms she held him. 
 
 With small effort he freed himself, but still held 
 her hands in his Then with a sudden movement 
 he drew her to him and held her in a close 
 embrace. She stood motionless, making no re- 
 sistance, but letting his kisses fall on her white 
 face. 
 
 Then of a sudden the woman screamed, and 
 thrust herself free. A step was heard coming up 
 the stair on to the verandah. Sherwin turned with 
 an oath and faced the door, at which, in the next 
 second, Hicksey appeared. The doctor's face was 
 drawn and excited. For some moments he looked 
 from one to the other, then he laughed; but his 
 laugh he suddenly cut short and turned fiercely on 
 Sherwin. "What are you doing here? Didn't I 
 tell you to keep your distance? What do you 
 mean by skulking up here behind my back and 
 frightening women? Where were you lurking 
 that you .']^ot here without my seeing you?" 
 
 "Don't think I'm afraid of you," growled Sher- 
 
266 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 win; "I'll soon show you if I'm to be bullied. 
 I'm not afraid of the likes of you." 
 
 Hicksey came forward into the room. "Do you 
 see that door? Well, get out of it quick, and if I 
 see you here again or anywhere about I'll put a 
 bullet in you." 
 
 "Get out yourself," roared Sherwin. "I'm not 
 afraid of you. Perhaps you'd better report me to 
 the Government than talk so high about bullets." 
 He stepped across the room and grabbed at Nurse 
 Desmond. "If I go I'll take the woman with me." 
 
 Nurse Desmond, however, avoided his grasp 
 and ran to where the doctor stood; the two men 
 faced one another, the one red-headed, broad and 
 tall; the other slight and wiry and pale. 
 
 "Get out quick or it will be the worse for you," 
 said Hicksey in a voice that was kept under con- 
 trol, but which betrayed his intense and gathered 
 excitement. 
 
 "The worse for me! " mocked Sherwin. "You 
 bloody white-faced little Wesleyan ! you've got no 
 
 power to make me go. You " He stopped 
 
 abruptly in mid-speech. The colour had sud- 
 denly left his red face; he had gone white even 
 to the lips. 
 
 Hicksey had put his right hand behind his back 
 and kept it there. "Get out quick and thank your 
 stars you walk on your own feet ! " 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 267 
 
 Sherwin, the fight suddenly gone out of him, 
 walked sullenly to the door. When he reached it, 
 he almost tumbled through in his haste to be off ; 
 then he hurried down the steps and away across 
 the sand-hills. 
 
 Hicksey watched him out of sight, then turned 
 to the woman and laughed. "The man's a blus- 
 tering coward. Look — " he held out his empty 
 right hand, "he thought I was going to shoot." 
 His face twitched uncontrollably, for he had taken 
 a large dose of strychnin and he was stimulated 
 to an unnatural pitch of emotion. "What was 
 the fellow up to? How long had he been here?" 
 he demanded. 
 
 "Not long. Be careful of him." The woman 
 seemed dazed. Then, as if understanding and 
 volition had urgently come back, she spoke with 
 quick intensity: "He's dangerous; he means 
 killing. He told me so." 
 
 "Told you so? what do you mean?" 
 
 "Yes, he told me so. Oh, my God, it's all my 
 fault"; and then, flinging herself on the doctor 
 and clinging to him: "Forgive me, forgive me." 
 
 "Forgive me, what do you mean? What's the 
 fellow up to?" 
 
 "Don't hold me so tight." He held her from 
 him, and looking fiercely in her eyes he de- 
 manded: "What is there between you?" 
 
268 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 ^'No, no, no, there's nothing; but he means kill- 
 ing. I saw it in his face. He's desperate." 
 Then as if springing to new hopes she shouted: 
 *'Get your gun quick and kill him before he has 
 time to get his. It's one or the other of you. For 
 once you must believe me." 
 
 Her words and manner carried instant convic- 
 tion, besides, he remembered the look on the fel- 
 low's sulky face as he had passed out of the door, 
 and with that remembrance an unexpected gust of 
 fear blew upon his heart. Yes, the man meant 
 killing, and in a duel like this he would have to be 
 quick if he meant to save his own life. '^I believe 
 you are right," he said. "Quick, let me go; 
 there's no time to lose." 
 
 In the next room he found his rifle and slipped 
 a couple of handfuls of cartridges into his pocket. 
 Then he opened the magazine and filled it. The 
 woman, who had followed, watched narrowly all 
 his movements. His heart was beating wildly, 
 and there was no denying that he was very nerv- 
 ous. "I must get away quickly among the 
 dunes," he said. "If he comes back and finds 
 me in the house he'll have me at his mercy." 
 
 "But where am I to go?" faltered the woman. 
 "Don't leave me alone, for God's sake, don't leave 
 me alone." 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 269 
 
 "What? You can't come with me. I must 
 move quickly to get a shot at him somewhere 
 among the dunes. You must stay here. I'll 
 watch the house and not let him come near." 
 
 She clung to him. "God protect you," she 
 wailed. "Come back soon." 
 
 "I'll come as soon as I can; here, let me go." 
 
 "Give me a kiss first. Forgive me if it is all 
 my fault." 
 
 "Oh, damn ! " He gave her a perfunctory kiss. 
 He opened the door gingerly and looked nervously 
 along the path, then ran towards the high ground 
 at the back of the house and disappeared amongst 
 the sand-dunes. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THE high sand-dune that stood between the 
 two houses was an outlying spur to the 
 main ridges which formed the back-bone 
 of the island and which ran in long lines north 
 and south. In one of the gullies of these inland 
 dunes Hicksey paused for rest and breathing time. 
 Here he was secure from immediate danger, and 
 here he must make a plan of action. Looking 
 round, he could see nothing but the sky and the 
 soft undulating sand, and here and there dwarfed 
 xerophytic plants that sent long roots down into 
 the dry and crumbling soil. He looked anxiously 
 towards the crests of the higher dunes that over- 
 looked his position. No it was not probable that 
 Sherwin would have yet reached the high land. 
 He was most likely, thought Hicksey, to creep 
 round the big dune and, then from some safe posi- 
 tion lie watching the house. In that case Hick- 
 sey, by keeping high on the main ridge, would be 
 likely to surprise him. He started to run forward 
 among the hills, crouching low and taking care 
 
 never to appear on the skyline. In a few minutes 
 
 270 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 271 
 
 he reached a high crest that commanded a view of 
 the house and an oblique elevation of the dune 
 round which Sherwin must approach. He then 
 lay down and waited. 
 
 The day was one of supreme stillness and peace. 
 The sun, high overhead, fiercely flung down its 
 rays upon the white surface of the earth, that in a 
 shimmer of heat trembled beneath its blows. In 
 the distance the sea and sky mingled in a brilliant 
 sapphire; not a cloud was to be seen, not a breath 
 stirred. From the house there came not a sound. 
 Close at hand a sandwasp delved busily. Hick- 
 sey watched its sudden and impetuous movements. 
 With every quick lifting of the wings it expressed 
 the joy and the ecstasy of life. A creature fash- 
 ioned to live in the bright sunlight. Dissatisfied 
 with the hole it had so valiantly commenced, it 
 flitted from place to place. Of a sudden, it fell 
 dead and brittle upon the sand. Passing over 
 some hollow that caught and reflected too fiercely 
 the sun's rays, it had died of the sudden heat, 
 which had by an accident of circumstance concen- 
 trated upon one place. Hicksey picked up its 
 brittle body, looked at it for a moment, threw it 
 aside, and fixed his eyes once more on the face of 
 the opposite hill. 
 
 He had not been waiting more than ten minutes 
 when he saw Sherwin's head raised cautiously 
 
272 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 above the outline of the dune. In his hand was a 
 rifle. Hicksey watched him settle himself down 
 in a position commanding a good view of the 
 house. Now was his chance ; the man was armed 
 and intent on murder. He was justified in taking 
 the first shot. He put up his sight to four hun- 
 dred yards. The range was an easy one; there 
 should be no question of a miss. As he brought 
 the butt of the rifle to his shoulder his hands were 
 shaking. The overdose of strychnine that he had 
 taken still kept his muscles twitching. He took 
 aim just below the head ; with so much heat radia- 
 tion he must allow for refraction. 
 
 The crack of the rifle sounded intensely loud in 
 the stillness. A white spat of sand flew up in 
 Sherwin's face. 
 
 Hicksey raised himself rigid on his fore-arms 
 for a better view. A miss — incredible! The 
 next instant Sherwin had rolled into safety behind 
 the ridge of the hill. 
 
 Following upon the shot came a short dumb 
 silence. Then from the house a long-drawn 
 scream, a scream desperate and heartrending, ugly 
 and pathetic, that clove the still air and filled the 
 hearts of the two listeners with sickening dread, 
 with breathless fear, fear at the sudden knowledge 
 that the less than human in our nature had broken 
 loose and had escaped control. With a choking 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 273 
 
 gasp the scream changed to the long irregular out- 
 break of hysterics. The sound rose and fell, now 
 gathering to desperate and passionate convulsions, 
 now dying away to a. hopeless and despairing 
 chuckle. The inconsequent irregular stream of 
 sound, now thinly pathetic, now raucous and 
 threatening, turned upon itself, broke, and recov- 
 ered. Human control had snapped and the cruel 
 and senseless insistence of life ran on over deeps 
 and shallows, eloquent of all the fear that lies hid 
 in the heart of man. 
 
 For only an instant was Hicksey held by the 
 sound, then he leapt back into safety. For some 
 moments he lay still in the soft hollow of the 
 dunes. He must think of a plan, some definite 
 plan of attack. The idea pulsed through his head 
 and became strangely tangled with the screams of 
 the woman and with recollections of his earlier 
 life on the island. His ideas came with great 
 vividness, one on the heels of another. A press of 
 sensations, varied and unrelated, raced through 
 his brain, one close upon the other, like stars fall- 
 ing through space, leaving no track, and ever re- 
 curring the thought came that he must take action 
 immediate and ruthless. Then close on the 
 thought would come fear for his life, and fear 
 at the woman whose screams rang in his ears. He 
 stood up, perhaps he could think more coherently 
 
274 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 standing than lying. Yes, if he valued his life 
 he must get a clear view of his situation, make 
 some sort of mental picture of the island, must 
 take bearings from the sun, for it was easy enough 
 to get lost amongst the high inland sand-hills. 
 To the west, that was on his immediate right, was 
 his house, a little north of that was Sherwin's 
 house, and beyond that again was the hospital. 
 These buildings were all backed by a high ridge of 
 dunes. Beyond this ridge was a flat and open 
 space, part of which was used as a burying-ground 
 for dead natives. Then again to the eastward 
 of this plain rose irregularly shaped hills that in 
 billowy rises extended to the coast. He decided 
 to keep amongst these hills, and hoped to get an- 
 other shot at Sherwin across the open space of the 
 burying-ground. He set off at a run, intending 
 to make a wide sweep and come round behind 
 some high crests that overlooked the burying- 
 ground. 
 
 After he had jerked himself behind the shelter- 
 ing edge of the hill, it took Sherwin some few 
 seconds to gather his wits about him. He was 
 surprised and rather dazed by this sudden and 
 uncompromising way of being informed that the 
 doctor had already taken alarm. Instead of the 
 safe though exciting occupation of waiting for the 
 opportunity of a shot, he must engage in a stalk 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 275 
 
 among the sand-hills and play the part of quarry 
 as well as huntsman. For one heart's beat he 
 felt afraid, but that passed in a moment. Now 
 that it was a matter of life and death, and there 
 was no possibility of drawing back, he felt no fear, 
 but only mad and blinding rage. He had even 
 a rash impulse to approach openly, to take all 
 risks and at any rate settle the matter out of hand. 
 His was the rage of a wild beast threatened and 
 roused, and to augment his natural ferocity he 
 was irritated by the screams that came from the 
 house. Such sounds were an outrage on the day- 
 light ; they played on his strung nerves urging him 
 to immediate action. Gripping his rifle he started 
 to run from one sand-hill to another. Each rise 
 he came to he peered over, hoping for a sight of 
 the doctor. In a short while he came to the place 
 where Hicksey had crouched waiting for his shot. 
 He marked the footsteps leading away toward the 
 centre of the island.' At this sign of his adver- 
 sary's caution he became in his turn more cautious, 
 and judged it would be rash to follow too closely. 
 He decided to keep to the cover of the hills and try 
 for a long shot across the open. 
 
 All through the long hours of the midday and 
 afternoon the two men hunted one another, crouch- 
 ing and dodging among the sand-hills. Once or 
 twice they got a sight of a running figure that 
 
276 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 quickly found cover before there was time for a 
 shot. This seemed to be a struggle which en- 
 durance rather than any other human quality must 
 decide. By this time they had led each other 
 some distance from the house, and the far-distant 
 cries had at length ceased. The quiet of the even- 
 ing hung over the island, and in the south-west 
 the sun was sinking into the sea. Both men, 
 weary and parched with thirst, knew that between 
 them no truce was possible. The instinct for kill- 
 ing was aroused and could not now be checked. 
 
 It was not till after sunset that Sherwin, as he 
 ran from one clump of bushes to another, hap- 
 pened to notice a small hut that stood near the 
 burying-ground, which was occasionally used for 
 post-mortem examinations. He suddenly realized 
 that this would be a good hiding-place and that 
 Hicksey would never suspect him of being in it. 
 Besides being a good place of shelter, it was an 
 excellent post of observation, since it faced on to 
 the open, and he would be able to see if Hicksey 
 attempted to get back to the houses. He quickly 
 stepped inside and stood close against the back 
 wall so as to be better concealed. He was very 
 tired and glad of a rest; after a while he became 
 sleepy and dozed, letting his head fall back and 
 rest against the iron wall of the hut. 
 
 Not half an hour later Hicksey passed by on the 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 277 
 
 opposite side of the hut; the same idea entered his 
 head as had entered Sherwin's. He would hide in 
 the hut, from which he could get an excellent op- 
 portunity of a shot. He approached very quickly, 
 then, since the last few yards were across exposed 
 ground, he ran and quickly whisked into the dark 
 interior of the hut. 
 
 At the same instant, as he became conscious of 
 stumbling over Sherwin's feet, a gun went off close 
 to his head and a bullet tore its way through the 
 roof. Close on the report came a roar of surprise 
 and fear. For the first few moments both men 
 were alarmed and clumsy in their actions, each 
 thinking himself the attacked party. Face to 
 face, they were at such close quarters that this was 
 no place for rifles. They dropped their weapons 
 and grappled with one another. Sherwin in his 
 first surprise had let off his rifle at random, and 
 then, seeing that the shot had taken no effect, 
 had dropped it and had secured first grip on the 
 doctor. He had his arms tight round and was 
 trying to squeeze the breath out of him, and at 
 the same time was jerking him up and down trying 
 to rick his back. Hicksey, being much the 
 smaller and lighter of the two, and having his 
 arms gripped to his sides, found this difficult to 
 combat with. He tried to work his right hand 
 upward to a knife he carried in his belt. The two 
 
278 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 men swayed to and fro, kicking at each other's 
 legs, and from time to time bumping against the 
 wall of the shed. Just when Hicksey had his 
 hand on the hilt of his knife Sherwin saw what 
 he was trying for. He let go his hold and 
 clutched at the doctor's right arm that swung up 
 for a blow. He caught his wrist and held it. 
 Hicksey tried to change the knife from one hand 
 to another and at the same time he kicked Sher- 
 win's legs from under him. Both fell heavily on 
 to the wooden floor of the hut and the knife was 
 jerked far into a distant corner out of reach of 
 either of the men. Hicksey being the lighter 
 and the more agile made the best of the fall. 
 Every ounce of him was hard gristle and bone, 
 and he managed to twist himself on top of his 
 adversary and for a moment hold him down. 
 The next instant Sherwin had hurled him off, 
 and had rolled over towards the knife. By 
 this action he seriously endangered his position, 
 for Hicksey was at him again at once, and 
 this time managed to get his back against the 
 wall and his foot into a crack in the floor, so that 
 he could hold Sherwin powerless. Again and 
 again Sherwin tried to wrench himself free, but 
 the doctor had him in a strong grip and could not 
 be shaken off. The knife still lay out of reach 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 279 
 
 of either of them, though the eyes of both men 
 constantly rested upon it. 
 
 Finding himself helpless Sherwin began to 
 curse, he used every foul epithet which in a fairly 
 varied life he had ever heard. Hicksey kept his 
 lips tight together, and pressed the harder on his 
 enemy's wrists. Although Hicksey had the upper 
 hand, his position was little better than Sher- 
 win's ; for if he moved he would lose his purchase, 
 and, since he was furtlier from the knife, would 
 then be at a disadvantage. They wer6 thus fixed 
 in a deadlock; one unable, and the other daring 
 not to move. In their minds they both argued 
 that something must happen, but for the time they 
 remained as they were, glaring at one another. 
 Their fate was, however, near at hand, approach- 
 ing, hesitating and bewildered, in the shape of a 
 black and half-tamed savage. 
 
 Late in the afternoon Coffee had woken from 
 his drunken sleep. He had rubbed his bruised 
 limbs and then had looked about for his master. 
 He saw no sign of him, and there was no sound 
 to tell where he might be. He walked out into 
 the rays of the setting sun. Sherwin was no- 
 where in sight. Then he walked on up the 
 sand-hill and looked at the doctor's house. That 
 also was silent, and he saw no sign of any one 
 
28o WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 moving. He turned and walked toward the hos- 
 pital. No one was there either. He was 
 puzzled; where could the white men have got to? 
 None of the natives at the camp or at the hospital 
 had seen anything of them. He was afraid at a 
 sense of the unusual. It was very strange that he 
 should have slept so late; no doubt something 
 equally strange had happened to his white mas- 
 ters. Then suddenly he heard the report of a 
 rifle. Ah! they must have gone out shooting 
 wallabies. This explanation was reasonable, but 
 it did not make him feel quite at ease, nor did it 
 banish his feeling of loneliness and desertion. 
 Even though Sherwin should curse at him for his 
 intrusion, he would go and see what they were do- 
 ing. He set out in the direction from which he 
 had heard the report of the rifle. Before going 
 very far he came upon Sherwin's track. This he 
 followed, and was surprised at the curious num- 
 ber of turns and zig-zags it made. Why was his 
 master walking in that curious manner and 
 scrambling up the side of the sand-hills, only to 
 run down again? At length he came in sight of 
 the hut; then he heard his master's voice very 
 angry indeed, rising and falling in familiar oaths. 
 He hesitated whether he should go any further; 
 the sense that something unusual was happening 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 281 
 
 became stronger; he was afraid, but he was also 
 afraid to go back past the burying-ground in the 
 gathering twilight. In the dark his imagination 
 peopled the whole land with ghosts, and at the 
 thought of those that haunted the burying-ground 
 he became still more frightened and ran head- 
 long towards the hut. 
 
 The sight that greeted him was as alarming as 
 any conjured by his imagination. The two white 
 men were dimly discernible at the far end of the 
 hut crouching upon the ground, and his master 
 was swearing horribly. 
 
 As soon as Sherwin caught sight of him he 
 shouted out: ''Here, Coffee, you've just come at 
 the right time. Here, help me, help ! " 
 
 The black had but the vaguest idea as to what 
 was happening; he thought that perhaps the two 
 white men were struggling with a ghost, and his 
 first instinct was to run away ; but then there was 
 the burying-ground to be passed. On an impulse 
 he flung himself wildly forward to his master's 
 help. 
 
 Hicksey leapt up and struck him in the face, 
 and tried to push by to the open ; Coffee clutched 
 at him and clung to his arm. Sherwin was not 
 long in using his opportunity. In an instant he 
 had gained the knife and with quick, savage stabs 
 
282 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 had three times thrust it into the doctor's back. 
 Hicksey gasped, uttered a short cry, and fell back 
 limp and quivering on the sand. 
 
 At the sight and the touch of the hot blood on 
 his hands the rapid fury of Sherwin's heart was 
 changed to fear. He remembered that this that 
 he had done was called murder and that men 
 were hanged for no worse a deed. He remem- 
 bered with sudden anguish that there still existed 
 that vast and powerful society which had thrust 
 him forth, which had taken no thought for his 
 needs or frailties, but had asked only that he 
 should do its work, and now once more would put 
 forth hands to claim him, would accuse him of 
 murder, and perhaps in the unquestioned power 
 of its grip would persuade him that he had com- 
 mitted a crime worthy of death. His whole na- 
 ture protested at the thought. That was a lie ; he 
 could never believe that. The most primitive in- 
 stincts of his manhood had prompted him to the 
 deed; it was done and beyond regret or recall. 
 He would defy society and live. Sudden dread 
 of a witness possessed him; he gripped the knife 
 firmly in his hand and looked across at Coffee, 
 who stood watching him from the other side of 
 the body of the man he had killed. From his face 
 he could read nothing; it was blank and inscrut- 
 able. Methods of escape, lies to be invented. 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 283 
 
 ideas of all colours flashed through his mind, 
 among others that of killing Coffee presented it- 
 self; but human gratitude made it impossible that 
 he should kill the man who had just saved his life. 
 If he could implicate Coffee that would be his 
 safest plan. He suddenly leapt upon him, seized 
 him by the throat, shook him and forced him back- 
 ward against the wall of the hut. The savage 
 was limp with terror in his grasp. 
 
 When Sherwin saw that there was no resist- 
 ance left in the man he loosed him and let him 
 breathe. He then presented him with the knife 
 and told him to stab the body of the doctor. 
 
 Coffee was bewildered. "That one already 
 dead fellow," he protested. 
 
 "Do as I tell you and don't speak back to me," 
 roared Sherwin, and struck him on the mouth with 
 the butt of the knife. 
 
 Coffee, frightened and cowed, did as he was 
 commanded; he stooped down and three times 
 buried the knife in the doctor's breast. 
 
 Sherwin's face expressed a savage satisfaction, 
 and for a moment he seemed less mad with rage 
 and fear; then, with a grip of terror, he remem- 
 bered the woman at the house. He snatched the 
 knife from Coffee, and, shouting to him to follow, 
 made off with staggering and irregular steps across 
 the sand-dunes. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 AT the firing of the first sho^ Alice Des- 
 mond had stood tense and quivering. 
 That sound, that so easily clove the still- 
 ness and sent the echoes tumbling across the water, 
 shattered the last fragments of her strained con- 
 trol. Like live, mad things rising in her throat, 
 tearing at her breast, sobs and screams had their 
 way with her. The loosening of so hard-kept a 
 resistance was in itself a relief, and the babbling 
 language of despair was more tolerable than the 
 close scrutiny of silent things, things inanimate in 
 the room that cruelly watched for the nervous 
 twitch of a muscle, or mocked at any innocent de- 
 ception that would suggest the appearance of calm. 
 At length, tired out and empty of hope and energy, 
 she sank upon the floor sobbing quietly to herself. 
 Before long she slept — silence once more rested 
 upon the house. 
 
 When she woke, it was to hear a footstep on 
 the verandah. She raised herself in apprehen- 
 sion, then listened, motionless. The boards on 
 the verandah creaked, then were silent. Her 
 
 heart, like a bird caught in a net, was held still, 
 
 284 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 285 
 
 uien, suddenly breaking free, it fluttered desper- 
 ately in her throat. Again a step sounded and a 
 hand was laid on the knob of the door. The next 
 moment Sherwin had flung it open and entered the 
 room. With a short cry, that was half a gasp for 
 breath, she leapt to her feet. White and quiver- 
 ing she regarded him. There stood the incarna- 
 tion of all her terrors; the murderer, gaunt and 
 haggard, his clothes soaked red with the blood of 
 his victim. All the devilish of our nature, let 
 loose to work evil, yet still contained in human 
 form, was there. A flash of knowledge, a cer- 
 tainty, came at the first glance of his eyes; it 
 chilled her with an intenser dread, and drove out 
 all memory of the past, all hope of the future. 
 She saw in that instant that the fear of a witness 
 was on him. The fever of killing, that lust of 
 the knife, still had him gripped. There was mur- 
 der written on every feature of his face, in the pose 
 of every limb, in the come and go of his breath, in 
 the shifting glance of his eye; murder not yet ac- 
 complished, but still threatening and immediate. 
 Yes, in the power of that desperate logic that fears 
 a witness, he would kill her, and in the next few 
 minutes all would be over. She caught herself 
 wondering where he would plunge the knife on 
 whose hilt his fingers were now so nervously 
 twitching. The silence enveloped them. In it 
 
286 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 she could hear even the faint sound of his blood- 
 moist fingers tightening and loosening their grip. 
 He turned and deliberately closed the door. Her 
 mouth was dry and parched ; all her senses, doubly 
 alive in this hour of death, were fixed sharp to 
 anticipate his smallest movement. Swaying as he 
 moved he came a step towards her. She took a 
 corresponding step back. Thus, facing each 
 other with eyes fixed, they moved across the room. 
 For five steps she retreated, then her heel touched 
 the wall. She steadied herself with the palms of 
 her hands flat against it for support; with her 
 fingers she pressed fretfully against one of the 
 bevels of the match-boarding. Standing upright 
 with shoulders hunched and head thrown back she 
 watched his approach. For a moment he paused, 
 and she knew that his hand was tightening on the 
 knife. In that moment of respite her brain be- 
 came vividly clear. Images of life and death, at 
 other times mingled, had now disentangled them- 
 selves from the web of her thoughts. She saw 
 them poised and separate, then they rushed to- 
 gether, mingled, and again separated. In the 
 gulf between she saw her own life, at first pitiful 
 and small, then growing in importance, and 
 finally, in the swelling climax of its being, leaping 
 upon her, identifying itself with her own body, 
 claiming at all cost to be saved. 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 287 
 
 Her hands had left the wall and were now 
 clenched at her sides, the finger nails deep in the 
 moist palms. Like timid, diffident creatures they 
 crept upwards towards her breast, to her throat, 
 to her chin. Her eyes strove with all their shining 
 vitality to hold the man where he stood. For a 
 while her fingers fumbled at the neck of her dress, 
 then with a quick downward movement she tore 
 open the neck of her blouse. Petulantly she 
 snatched at the torn silk shreds, leaving her white 
 bosom exposed. Her eyes never left the man's 
 face. As she watched, she saw it go whiter even 
 than before, and in his eyes, she read the knowl- 
 edge that he was conscious of the fluttered beating 
 of her heart and the come and go of her breath. 
 She raised her hands, covering her breasts, press- 
 ing upon them with dimpling fingers. Still the 
 man did not move, only drew sharply his breath 
 between his lips. With supreme daring, as if 
 already celebrating her victory, she leaned back 
 her head against the wall and watched him 
 through half-shut eyes. On his face she read all 
 her danger. There was written there the sentence 
 of her death, her death already accomplished. 
 She saw that in his imagination he had already 
 plunged in the knife. Might not the picture of 
 the deed hide from him her own living body? 
 She saw that like a mask it hung before his eyes. 
 
288 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 He came a step nearer; his face was contorted 
 with the struggle of his emotions. In that instant 
 she saw the turn of her fate. She was saved. 
 The lust for the knife was not so strong on him 
 as the natural right to hold and to possess. With 
 a half cry he ran forward, letting the knife fall on 
 the floor at his feet. She closed her eyes, and with 
 no least thrill of repugnance waited his embrace. 
 There was no question of regretting the price 
 of her victory, only gratefulness that her life was 
 safe. She felt his hands touch her, felt his hot 
 breath on her face and his eager kisses. When 
 he lifted her and carried her across the room, she 
 was content to believe herself in the arms of her 
 true master and mate. Then a throb of fear shot 
 through her heart, the consciousness of a new dan- 
 ger. She stiffened herself in his arms, thrusting 
 herself from him. Her movements had in them 
 resistance but not antagonism. He was surprised 
 at the submission and sudden tenderness of her 
 withstanding. It surely had in it supplication 
 and not defiance. 
 
 *'Not now ; please not now." The glance of her 
 dark eyes thrilled him. "Think first of your 
 safety. You must change your clothes; they are 
 horrible with blood." 
 
 He stood questioning her with his glance, un- 
 certain of her meaning. She leant toward him 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 289 
 
 and whispered: "Please let me go now; later I 
 will do anything that you wish." 
 
 His hands, that were round her, unfastened^ 
 but, as if afraid of her escaoe, he snatched at her 
 wrist. 
 
 She spoke as if admonishing him for a fault, 
 guarding him from evil. "Look at the blood on 
 your clothes; your shirt is soaked with it. Go 
 and change them, hide them away." Then sud- 
 denly questioning, anxious for certainty: "Is he 
 dead?" she asked. 
 
 "Yes, he's dead, sure enough. It was him or 
 me and fair fight"; then suspiciously: "What 
 are you driving at?" 
 
 Her brain raced ahead. To find safety for her- 
 self, she must find it for him also. The new life, 
 the picture of which she had so suddenly and 
 vividly seen, must stand on a firm base of safety. 
 She flashed questions at him. "What will you 
 do with the body? Where's Coffee?" 
 
 He looked distrustfully at her. "Coffee's 
 right; he had a hand in it." 
 
 "Is there no chance of his telling?" 
 
 "No; Coffee won't tell." Suddenly he grabbed 
 at her again and fiercely drew her toward him. 
 
 "No, no, let me go," she pleaded, pushing with 
 her hands against his chest. "Not now; no, I 
 won't.'^ 
 
290 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 He held her close and glowered at her. *'And 
 you; what will you tell of me?" He bent her 
 backward, gripping her arms in his strong hands. 
 
 ^'Oh, you are hurting me!" she cried. 
 
 He gripped the tighter, and with his face close 
 to hers again demanded: "And what about you ; 
 will you tell of me?" 
 
 She was frightened at the fierce glance of his 
 eye. "No," she gasped. "I hated him." 
 
 "Then give me a kiss." 
 
 She moved her lips towards him and lay unre- 
 sisting in his grasp. "Let me go, please," she 
 murmured. 
 
 To her surprise he relinquished his hold. In 
 the first embarrassment of finding herself free she 
 began to tidy her disarranged hair and dress. 
 He watched her in silence, wondering what she 
 would do. 
 
 He became, as he watched her, unexpectedly 
 fascinated by the manner of her movement. It 
 was is if, looking into some crystal, she saw unex- 
 pectedly the true nature of a human soul, of his 
 own soul perhaps. This woman's body had in its 
 compass the magical power to give him happiness 
 and faith. He saw her as a man born and nur- 
 tured in the dark might see a flower for the first 
 time — a flower that opened a bold and beautiful 
 face fearlessly to the sun, a flower that was born 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 291 
 
 of the sun's heat, was nourished by its daily shin- 
 ing and that died without remorse in the natural 
 passage of the seasons. Here was a life born of 
 the primitive earth, an expression of life, graceful 
 and mysterious. It was within his grasp, yet 
 only to be secured by the sincere expression of his 
 nature and not by any histrionic or over-wrought 
 extravagance. As he now watched her she moved 
 without fear or hesitation, seeming to gather con- 
 fidence from the directness of his gaze. 
 
 In these moments of silence there grew between 
 them an understanding, a mutual antipathy to- 
 ward the crude and the extravagant. To both of 
 them had been shown, by virtue of their own un- 
 flinching vitality, a way to life renewed and re- 
 baptized. Yet how could life be possible without 
 convention and restraint? By one irreparable 
 act, the significance of which was embodied in the 
 corpse of the dead man, they were cut off from the 
 world; and yet, just at that moment when all 
 seemed lost, life had surprised and awed tliem 
 with new possibilities. Together with the ac- 
 cepted values of mankind's morality had fallen 
 away the cruder expressions of his brutality, and 
 they now confronted one another, man and 
 woman, in the simplicity of their first mating. 
 
 She came towards him with a diffidence that 
 cleared away as she spoke. The more urgent 
 
292 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 difficulties and dangers of the situation had all of 
 a sudden given place to a comparative calm. 
 
 *' Where is the body?" she asked. 
 
 ^'Dovm on the flat the other side of the hos- 
 pital." 
 
 "You must bury it tonight. Don't leave it till 
 tomorrow. One of the natives might find it. 
 Then change your clothes. While you are away 
 I will tidy the house and make all this straight. 
 I want time by myself." 
 
 "It will be dark down there," the man objected. 
 "Why fret so much about him? he's dead." 
 
 "Never mind about the dark. You're not 
 afraid. I want to feel that his body is buried 
 and that all that past is done with. Have you 
 matches?" 
 
 He handed her a box and she lit the lantern and 
 put it into his hands. "Go, I will wait for you 
 here till you come back." 
 
 He looked at her half-suspiciously. By going 
 he stood to lose all; she might be tricking him. 
 But then, he stood to win 1 Faith and happiness 
 were in the balance, and self-love, self-honour 
 stirred with a sudden pulse of his heart. He 
 guessed from the resolute glance of her eyes that 
 her instinct towards life was true and that in this 
 crisis she was handling it worthily. Yes, he 
 would risk everything. It was well worth while. 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 293 
 
 He abruptly turned to her. "I shall be gone 
 for about an hour. I shall come back here, and 
 in future shall live in this house." Then, before 
 she had time to answer, he strode out into the 
 gathering darkness. 
 
 The door slammed behind him and Alice Des- 
 mond was left staring at its cheap, ill-built frame. 
 For a while she stood listening to his departing 
 footsteps. Then, as the discreet and muffling 
 silence of the outer world crept in at the open 
 window, she gave a little shiver of fatigue. She 
 remembered that she had an intolerable thirst and 
 went to the canvas water-bottle hanging in the ver- 
 andah and drank deeply. She went to the bed- 
 room, washed and brushed herself, arranging her 
 hair carefully in front of the glass. Then she 
 went back to the sitting-room and began to tidy 
 the disorder of the room. Before long she came 
 upon the knife. She picked it up gingerly, went 
 to the open window and threw it out. It fell al- 
 most noiselessly, burying itself in the sand. 
 
 When all was in order and the supper laid, she 
 went out on to the verandah and sat down in the 
 long deck chair. She was glad to rest passive and 
 to listen to the quiet noises of the night. The dis- 
 tant waves breaking on the shore, the buzz of some 
 impetuous insect against a window pane, the occa- 
 sional cry of a night-bird and the scuttle of walla- 
 
294 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 bies in the scrub, all these noises spoke to her of 
 the sanity and well-adjusted order of life. She 
 leant back, letting her eyes rest on the dark and 
 distant line of the horizon. The wide peaceful- 
 ness of the sea caressed and hushed the land to 
 sleep. Overhead the bright glitter of the stars 
 tempted her thoughts to stray among the wide 
 spaces of the night, and be lost in the knowledge 
 of their majestic calm, of their unconcerned splen- 
 dour. 
 
 Not more than a mile distant Sherwin was dig- 
 ging a grave. He stood deep in the hole shovel- 
 ling lustily, and the sweat, which dropped from 
 his face, made moist his uncut red hair that clung 
 in wisps to his forehead. He hummed to himself 
 broken catches of a song, lest the solitude and the 
 strange character of his work might make him 
 afraid. When the hole was sufficiently deep he 
 leapt out and walked towards the lonely iron hut 
 that stood, a black mass, against the background 
 of scrub. He held the lantern high that it might 
 cast the better light. 
 
 The body of Hicksey was lying on its back, the 
 white face staring blankly into the yellow rays of 
 the lantern. Sherwin bent over the dead man, 
 closed the vacant eyes and bent down the stiff arms 
 to his sides. At that moment he had no feeling of 
 remorse, neither had he the least shadow of vin- 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 29? 
 
 dictiveness against his adversary. It had been a 
 fair fight; each had carried his life in his hands, 
 and by the favour of fortune he had won. In 
 other circumstances he might have been good 
 friends with the young doctor. He had always 
 wished for his friendship, but his offers had been 
 accepted too late. Now their rivalry had come 
 violently to an end, and he carried no grudge to 
 let fall into the grave. Holding the dead man by 
 the shoulders he dragged him to the edge of the 
 hole that he had dug, then, with little ceremony, 
 tumbled him in. Quickly he shovelled back the 
 sand. The grave was deep, and here on the flat 
 the wind was hardly likely to blow away the sand, 
 and so disclose the remains. His task done, and 
 the ground once more level, he picked up his lan- 
 tern, and, shouldering his spade, walked away to- 
 wards his house, leaving the doctor alone together 
 with his dead hopes, ambitions, and aspirations. 
 Sherwin was sorry for the dead man, in that he 
 was no longer alive and able to taste the sensuous 
 pleasures of life ; he never guessed at all the burn- 
 ing hope, the faith in a great purpose that was 
 buried there in the tumbled sand-grave. He had 
 looked upon Hicksey as an energetic, cold, un- 
 friendly man, and he had never seen the fanatic 
 and devotee to science, a man living in the thought 
 of his work and for his work, who had been side- 
 
296 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 tracked and thrown away on this bare and deso- 
 late island, destined to failure by the love of a 
 woman who was never his mate, a woman who had 
 taught him to hate and despise both himself and 
 her. 
 
 Sherwin made quickly towards his house, glad 
 to be done with his task. A new picture of life 
 was opening before him. The thought of Alice 
 Desmond thrilled him with warmth and pleasure. 
 He marvelled that she should so quickly and 
 firmly get a hold upon his heart. Subconsciously 
 he knew that her instinct for life was true and 
 admirable, and with satisfaction he assured him- 
 self that she was simple and easily understood. 
 He could see her actions and motives in their un- 
 adorned simplicity; no doubt she would under- 
 stand him ; give him that sympathy he so long had 
 needed. As he walked from the grave of the mur- 
 dered man, there was in his heart a song of thanks- 
 giving and praise, a thankfulness towards life and 
 a keen anticipation of its new possibilities. Hap- 
 piness came thus unexpectedly, turning guilt to in- 
 nocence, opening new channels, lifting new hori- 
 zons. The prospect of a simple and satisfying 
 life had suddenly shone for him through all the 
 clouds of his suffering. The miracle of that fact 
 changed all his immediate surroundings, all his 
 thoughts and desires. The island scenery was 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 297 
 
 satisfying and full of peace. The civilization of 
 that world which he had left had become a shadow 
 irrelevant and meaningless; here a larger sim- 
 plicity ministered to his soul. 
 
 He found his house dark and empty. He lit 
 all the lamps. A desire for tidiness and order 
 suddenly beset him; life, to be possible, must be 
 clothed, must have its nakedness adorned. He 
 washed and changed his clothes, then he brushed 
 his long hair that hung red and shaggy over his 
 ears. He spent some time clipping his beard be- 
 fore the glass. He was interrupted by the ap- 
 pearance of Coffee, who was still trembling with 
 fear, haunted by the dread of spirits and devil- 
 devils. The black was surprised but much re- 
 assured by the neat show that his master made, 
 and hurried away in response to the order to bury 
 the clothes that lay discarded on the floor. 
 
 The fact that the foul and blood-stained evi- 
 dences of his violence were now being buried, 
 and that he stood in his best clean white suit, 
 made Sherwin feel extraordinarily far removed 
 from the crude emotions of his former self, and 
 when he stepped out on to the well-known path 
 that led over the sand-hill, it was with a new feel- 
 ing of assurance and hope. 
 
 As he came in view of the house, in which Alice 
 Desmond was waiting for him, his heart beat with 
 
298 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 a new pulse of fear. The building seemed very 
 quiet and empty. The lights were burning in the 
 front rooms, but there was no sound of any sen- 
 tient thing. He approached with long strides, 
 and not till quite close did he pause and listen 
 intently. The house raised itself in blank planes 
 against the darkness of the night. All that he 
 hoped of life was within those silent and unpre- 
 tentious walls. He looked up at the stars; they 
 seemed infinitely remote. He knew not yet how 
 to interpret the distant and numerous sparkles. 
 Were they always to shine for him with cruel in- 
 difference, branding upon his soul his insignifi- 
 cance and misery? Or would they perhaps receive 
 significance from the softness of a woman's sur- 
 render and symbolize, now blazing, now trembling 
 in abashed beauty, the depths and intficacies of 
 life revealed? Not only the stars and the night 
 sky, but all material and spiritual things trembled 
 and wavered before the promise of faith and hap- 
 piness, a faith that he had staked all to win. 
 With hope and fear struggling in his heart he 
 walked to the steps that led to the verandah. 
 There was a slight stir in the darkness above him. 
 With two quick strides he mounted the steps, then 
 paused motionless, listening to his own heart beats 
 and the quick breathing of the woman, who sat so 
 still in the darkness not six feet distant. Her eyes 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 299 
 
 held him, wrapped him round, and kindled, in the 
 directness of their gaze, a warm and flickering 
 pain. She spoke no word, but sat motionless in 
 the soft quality of the silence and the night. 
 
 In two steps he stood close to her, then quickly 
 bent down, and, with a cry of mingled joy and 
 pain, gripped her in his arms and covered her up- 
 turned face with kisses. With a sob of relief and 
 joy she flung her arms about his neck. The night, 
 ponderous and immense, bent above them in an 
 arc of glittering stars which, in the far distance, 
 touched and mingled with the restless and ever- 
 moving sea. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 NOT till some days after the death of Dr. 
 Hicksey did the cutter arrive at Kanna 
 Island. Sherwin reported that while 
 swimming far out to sea Hicksey had been at- 
 tacked by several large sharks and had been 
 pulled under. No sign of his body had yet ap- 
 peared. Any one who had witnessed the doctor's 
 recklessness could not have been surprised at this 
 story, but would only say with Pomfrey that they 
 had expected as much and always had prophesied 
 an early death for the young man. 
 
 The death was ultimately reported to headquar- 
 ters, and an investigation was promised. This 
 investigation was no more than a word used in 
 official circles, and never reached as far as the 
 iron shed by the burying-ground with the smooth 
 sand-grave beside it. Mr. Ke3aies did, however, 
 visit the islands, and decided to have the men's 
 hospital moved to Fenton Island. He saw that 
 not many men would so lightly risk their lives in 
 a small boat as Hicksey had done, and that the 
 objections to having both hospitals on one island 
 could be overcome. In a conversation with Sher- 
 win he agreed to use Kanna Island as a small 
 
 300 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 301 
 
 sheep station, which, under capable management, 
 would be sufficient to provision the hospitals with 
 meat. Sherwin was obviously the man to put in 
 charge. 
 
 On Fenton Island some surprise was expressed 
 at Nurse Desmond's quick change of partners, but, 
 since she was not present to stimulate their resent- 
 ment or indignation, the subject soon lost interest 
 in the more pressing question as to who was to 
 be the future head of the hospitals. In this 
 James's hopes were not fulfilled; he was passed 
 over, and a fully qualified man, together with a 
 new matron, arrived to take the chief command. 
 
 So far as the world was concerned, and its im- 
 mediate interests in Kaimera, little more was heard 
 of Sherwin. He was a figure easily lost sight of 
 in the advance of a young colony, a colony press- 
 ing forward, eager to assimilate in a few years the 
 civilization won by Europe in centuries of strife 
 and toil. To the authorities, the only people with 
 whom he came in contact, he proved himself a 
 capable sheep-farmer, and was always readv with 
 a supply of meat equal to the demand. He never 
 asked for a holiday, or expressed any desire to 
 leave the island. In the long intervals, during 
 which no one visited Kanna Island, he was for- 
 gotten, and only the sailors, who occasionally 
 called with stores of provisions, wondered at the 
 
302 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 strange red-headed man who lived alone with his 
 woman in that solitary place, served and shadowed 
 by a black and naked savage, whose inscrutable 
 and ugly face betrayed no emotion, gave no clue 
 to his thoughts or feelings. 
 
 When Keynes, two years later, went over to visit 
 the island, he found a small red-headed baby 
 crawling on the verandah of the solitary iron 
 house ; and the back room, that one time was full 
 of Hicksey's instruments, was now converted into 
 a nursery. Keynes, in the course of his life, had 
 come in contact with many white men who were 
 forced by circumstances to live far from their 
 kind, and he obseved Sherwin with interest. He 
 found in him something, at the same time, final 
 and primitive, something extraordinarily free 
 and individual. No doubt that the man was 
 happy, and had found the harmony in life that so 
 many hope for and so few attain. Keynes' inter- 
 est was caught and held by the man. He thought 
 of his own life, and guessed vaguely that he had 
 missed something which Sherwin had found. But 
 he too had found happiness, and how else than by 
 satisfying his desire to work and to accomplish 
 what other men failed in. He had, besides, a 
 good conscience, and that was perhaps the secret 
 of the whole thing. In Sherwin and Alice Des- 
 mond he discerned the naivete and self-sufficiency 
 
WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 303 
 
 of wild animals. They were not, as are human 
 beings, abashed or apologetic for the unusualness 
 of any action, but went their own way with a sim- 
 ple disregard for what a stranger might think. 
 Often in the evening Sherwin would sit in the 
 dark shadow of the verandah and drink his even- 
 ing Kava. Coffee, who was growing very 
 wrinkled and surly, would sit beside him and 
 chew the root, spitting the fragments into a bowl 
 from which they made their common drink. 
 Alice would sometimes come for her share, but 
 generally she avoided Keynes. She w^as shy and 
 retiring in his presence, though he heard her talk 
 loud and volubly when alone with her man. 
 
 Keynes's visit was only of a few days' duration; 
 he w^as not sufficient master of his own time to 
 be able to stay on and observe this solitary couple 
 for as long as he wished. Sherwin came down to 
 the shore to bid him farewell. While he was 
 waiting for the dinghy to pull in and fetch him 
 he asked': "And how does this solitary life suit 
 you, cut off as you are from the world? Do you 
 never want to go back to the mainland?" 
 
 "No, I've all I wish for here," Sherwin an- 
 swered slowly. "All any man could wish for," 
 he added after a pause. "I never want to go 
 away, never want to go back. I like this place 
 better than any part I've set foot on." 
 
304 WHERE BONDS ARE LOOSED 
 
 "Don't you feel lonely at times?'' 
 
 "No, I'm not lonely now any longer, and what's 
 more, I can't understand how I ever could have 
 been lonely here." Then, as if apologetically, he 
 added: "I've learnt to see and feel so many 
 things." 
 
 Keynes was interested. "What sort of things ?" 
 he asked. 
 
 "Oh, just little things; you wouldn't take much 
 stock by them ; the hot sun on the sand, the noise 
 of the waves on the shore and sometimes the feel 
 of the wind, and the red and yellow butterflies 
 clinging to the thorn bushes." 
 
 Keynes was silent for a moment. "Well, good- 
 bye," he said, and gripped Sherwin by the hand. 
 He had a slight shudder at feeling there were 
 only three fingers. "I daresay I shall come over 
 again in twelve months' time. I'm glad you've 
 found the job that suits you." 
 
 He jumped into the dinghy that had just 
 grounded on the shore. Then, shoving off, he was 
 paddled to where the cutter waited for him. 
 
 Several times during the slow passage from the 
 shore he looked back on the long irregular coast of 
 the island. He saw that Sherwin had climbed to 
 the top of the high sand-hill, and stood there, a 
 solitary figure, watching him out of sight. 
 
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