L &> PERHA SBY

SIR FRANK WETTE HAM

LONDO : JO LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD

NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY MCM 1I

ONTE TS

FIRST AND LAST LOVE

nii: KALEIDOSCOPE OF LIFE

ALSO

THE WIND A. D THE WHIRLWIND

SOME PROVERB

COINCIDENCES

ABSENCE 0 THE CRITICAL FACULTY

FAITH AND FICKLENESS

PERHAPS

A HOUR·GLAS AND A SUN-DIAL

DEATH'S DEV TlON

IN UHEA LANU

000 ISLAND

LE REDUIT

TAMARIN AND ILE DE LA PASSE

CILAOS

DISBELIEF IN THE UNSEEN

THE KRIS I CARNADINE

..... MALAY SPORTS

...... AN UNSOLVED MYSTERY

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ALS A D PERHAPScienti t would consent to argue on such a subject;

but) 'f i were permitted, I hould like to a k f, ranex~ t definition of first love. For there are somemen and many yomen (or it may be put the otherway, it is perhaps presumptuous to make any suchdistinction)) who cannot remember clearly the firsttime they fell in love; but) after a long and varie~

experi nce) they belieye that the last pa sion, if notthe only real one, i at least that which has mo t deeplystirred them. Often hey are right.

It may be aid of some that they h d th ir earliestlove-affair when they were still in the nursery; but,probably) science takes no note of these precociousand immature pa sions) tho gh perhaps some allowancemay be mad for the influence of latitude. If theconsideration be confined to per ons of a marriageableage) there is till a ufficient margin for practicalpurpo es.

Dismissing, therefore) the" calf-love" period in bothsexes) and coun ing early experiences as mere targetpractice) we are told that first love is "absolutelyantecedent to all r lative experience whatever," andthis statement is e plained to mean that love is notan individual matter at all) but that the dead, and notthe living) are re ponsible for it.

No riddle can be so attractive as this riddle of love,especially as the s ientists and philosophers do notpretend to have solved it entirely yet. They have2

ALSO AND PERHAPSand they al 0 str'ke in the anguish of fear. There wasthe tension of overpowering strain, of an atmospherecharged with electricity, and then the sudden panic-hock when the storm burst in all its sublime but

transcendent fury.The rain fell in torrents, lashing the sea and drown

ing the ship, while, at short intervals, the ele tric fluidblazed through the deluge in a stream of horrible light,that only served to blind those on watch. And everand again the crash and rattle of the thunder seemedto strike the vessel with staggering blows and weaken dthe knee that made put a poor support to many atremb ing heart.

uddenly the bell of the engine-room rang, anddown the tube was shouted, "Sto her!" at oncefollowed by the words" Full speed aste n !" A brownman was near the lever, the white driver round on theother side of the machinery. As the latter rushed backto hi post, he cried to the drudge, "Stop her! " and,in the second that the brown man seized the 1 ver,there was a horrible grating, crunching noi e, followedby a bump that threw down every one w~o was notholding 0 to something. The white man sprang up,and, as he passed the rack, he pulled me out, andtru k the brown rna a cru hing blow on the head,

under which he sank down on the gratings, a limpunconscious mass. The driver pu hed the thingout of his way with his foot, threw me down2.54

THE K IS I AR DI Ebeside the body, nd, seizing the lever, reversed theengl es.

He was too la e. As I lay there, and the brownman's life-blood 10 ly welled over me, a dade apool on th iron gratings, hoarse voices on deck wereshouting orders for boats to be slung out, and thestokers were rushing wildly through th engine-room,up the ladder, away from the fires an the st m, andthe water which they hard rushing into the hold ofth ship. Th white man, realising that he ship wasfast pon a rock, ~nd that nothing further could bedone with the engines, opened the steam-pipe andstarted for the ladder. Then he stopped, 100 edround and turned back to the brown man. Hecaught him by the arm, but the limpnes' of thebody told its tale, and after one glance at the f: ehe dropped the arm and made for th ladder, ipinghis fingers on the bundle of waste which he heldin hi hand.

Fo ome tim~ I heard a great commotio on deck-shouts, orde , hurrying to and fro, and I realisedthat the boats were being lowered and preparationmade for leaving the ship. I nd rstood th reason.The vessel was hard on the rocks with great rent inher bottom, through which th water of the sea h dbur t tumultuously and wer now gradually filling thehold and rising high in the after part of the ship. Thstorm of rain wa abating, the wind was going down,

z55

AN UN OLVED MYSTE ~y

been a particle 0 vidence to give colour to thi~uspicjon. The men were apparently the bes offriends always and up to the moment of their deaths.There was no sound of quarrelling, no call for helpeven, ye they seem to have killed each othe, and,from the number of shots fired, the intention tokill was a determined one.

Then, as to what actually took place, there aretwo suppa itions. Either Mediwi, for 'ome unknownrea on, shot at and mortally wounded Adam, who wasstill able to wrench the gun from his as ailant, reloadit, nd fire a fatal shot before his own death j orMcrawi shot Adam and then committed suicide.Thongh the second of these suppositions, if correct,would furnish an instance of Malay murder anduicide which has few parallel. it is still a theory

which, except for one difficulty, seems the mostacceptable. The fact that Mer1'twi asked pardon ofthe corporal shows that he meant to do somethingde perat. The loaded rifle under Adam's bed mayhave been put there by Merawi, for convenien use,more probably than by Adam for his own protection.Merawi first entered the house, and he had pIer tyof time to load the gun, and, either wait quietly inthe offic, or, once there, call AJam in, when helatter had en ered th dining-room. It would bevery dark, but at, uch close quar ers, and out offour or five shots, one would surely tell. Then,

301

ALSO A D PERHAPSif the murderer wa pas essed by some mania (as.his peech to the corporal suggests), it is not altogetherunlik ly that he would turn the weapon againsthimself, and the position in which the gun was fou d,with its muzzle clo'e to the wound in his head, makesthi probable.

o the other ha ld, there are the empty blood­stained cartridge, the canister and gun-barrels alsosmeared with blood, and the fact !hat, whil Adam hada wounded and bleeding hand, Mer!l.wi's hands werefree of any such stain. Taking all things into con­~ideration, it seems, therefure, more p obable thatMer1'twi, armed and waiting in the darkne s of the tinyroom, shot Adam with the first or second barrel, assoon as the latter was inside the open doorway;. Adan 'shand being lightly grazed in an attempt to seize orward off the muzzle of the un. Very likely the firstsho took effect in his chest, an ,wh 'Ie Merftwi wastrying to put in another, Adam wrested the gun fromhis grasp; the s cond shot doing no damage beyondutting his hand. hen Adam, from the doorway,

the only m ails of exit, might reach the artridges onthe shelf, and reload the gun, and continue firing athis adversary; till they both fell and the gun dropped,strangely enough, between the knees of Merlwi.Adam, grievously wounded as he was, might even havecollapsed on to the floor, and succeeded in shootingMerftwi fro 11 that osition, as suggested by George.

302

]01 LIST OF Ie ION

BY ARTHUR H. ADAMS.GALAHAD JONES. A Tragic Farce. Crown 8v 6/-

With 16 full-pag. Illustrations by Norman Lindsay.••• Galabad Jone • a middl(H~ed bank clerk, wltb a lamlly. ODe day, CD

his wl\.y hOD.18, &. Jetter faUs to his feet from the b leony <,I 8 bouse be is paalol.1 il addrc "1.'0 You,' A.nd on l'eadinK it be dlscoTera that be Is T8Queetedto meet tbe writer in tbe sarden 01 tb. bouse & 10 o'clock tb&t nlsbt. In & aplrlt01 k '~bt-6rrantry, b. decides to .0, &nd ;e..rna tbat tbo wrlter-& YOWlS lul­lS kept practically In prison b ber fa.ther, becAuse of her a.ffection for a. man of"'bom be dOM not &J)[Jr "e. The chha.b"y of Gala-had Jones plunges blm LDOOma.ny difficulties, ..nd leads to some "ery awkward and extremely a.m lug sltua.Uona.

A TOUCH a Cl'own vo. 6/-A Romance For Those who are Lucky Enough to \ ear Glasses.

BY CIRO ALYI.

6/-Crown vo.

iro Atvi by Mary Gi on.••• Sisnor iro AI,I baa wrltteD a 10nK aDd moot uympatbetlc no••l dMllllC

wltb tbe 1IIe 01 on of tbe nobl.. .plrll8 01 tbe Cbri,tl"" Cburcb wbo ....... _bap"the rno t extr ~dlnary man of hJa e Tho somewhat dissolute early life of tll.[ under of tb FraDciac&n rder Ia delUy ouWned, tbe yOWlK m&ll'1 IllJl&to scodn...ol beart and kludly disp..utlon belnS cJ rl, apparent e.on in tbe midst of ~II

""tent.lloUi K..lety ..nd sudden Impala...

THE S I

BY W. M. ARDA H.THE MAGAD . Crown Bvo. 6/-

Pall M(JlL Gout .-'" The M&~ada.· 18 a. ltore-ho 18 of ra.re and curtou! learn·In~ ... It Is .. w.U·....ritten and plctur..que .tory 01 blsh ad.enture &lld deed.oj derrina-do."

Oblll,.,."r-" '1'11 book bM admirably cauKht the spirit of romancB."Daily Ch"m"c/'-'" Tbe Mesad.' I... fin. anu 5nely told story, ..nd we

COOliCl'atulate Mr. Arda.gh."

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