第17章

LEINGOA？’literally’Whothename？’whichservesherefor’What’syourbusiness？’aswell。ItprovedtobeLafaele’sfriend；Ibadeakitchenboy，Lauilo，gowithhimtoseethespot，forthoughithadceasedraining，thewholeislandrananddripped。Lauilowaswillingenough，butthefriendofthearchangeldemurred；hehadtoomuchbusiness；hehadnotime。’Allright，’Isaid，’youtoomuchfrightened，Igoalong，’whichofcourseproducedtheusualshoutofdelightfromallthosewhodidnotrequiretogo。IgotintomySaranacsnowboots。Lauilogotacutlass；MaryCarter，ourSydneymaid，joinedthepartyforalark，andoffweset。I

tellyouourguidekeptusmoving；fortheduskfellswift。

Ourwoodshaveaninfamousreputationatthebest，andourerrand(tosaytheleastofit)wasgrisly。Atlast’theyfoundtheremains；theywereold，whichwasallIcaredtobesureof；itseemedastrangelysmall’pickle-banes’tostandforabig，flourishing，buck-islander，andtheirsituationinthedarkeninganddrippingbushwasmelancholy。Allatonce，Ifoundtherewasasecondskull，withabullet-holeIcouldhavestuckmytwothumbsin-sayanybodyelse’sonethumb。

MySamoanssaiditcouldnotbe，therewerenotenoughbones；

Iputthetwopiecesofskulltogether，andatlastconvincedthem。Whereupon，inaflash，theyfoundthenotunromanticexplanation。ThispoorbravehadsucceededintheheightofaSamoanwarriorsambition；hehadtakenahead，whichhewasneverdestinedtoshowtohisapplaudingcamp。Woundedhimself，hehadcrepthereintothebushtodiewithhisuselesstrophybyhisside。Hisdatewouldbeaboutfifteenyearsago，inthegreatbattlebetweenLaupepaandTalavou，whichtookplaceonMyLand，Sir。To-morrowweshallburythebonesandfireasaluteinhonourofunfortunatecourage。

DoyouthinkIhaveanemptylife？orthatamanjoggingtohisclubhassomuchtointerestandamusehim？-touchandtryhimtoo，butthatgoesalongwiththeothers:nopain，nopleasure，istheironlaw。SohereIstopagain，andleave，asIleftyesterday，mypoliticalbusinessuntouched。Andlo！herecomesmypupil，Ibelieve，soIstopintime。

MARCH2ND。

SinceIlastwrote，fifteenchaptersofDAVIDBALFOURhavebeendrafted，andfiveTIRESAUCLAIR。Ithinkitprettygood；there’sabloomingmaidenthatcostsanxiety-sheisasvirginalasbilly；butDavidseemsthereandalive，andtheLordAdvocateisgood，andsoIthinkisanepisodicappearanceoftheMasterofLovat。InChapterXVII。IshallgetDavidabroad-AlanwentalreadyinChapterXII。ThebookshouldbeaboutthelengthofKIDNAPPED；thisearlypartofit，aboutD。’sevidenceintheAppincase，ismoreofastorythananythinginKIDNAPPED，butthereisnodoubttherecomesabreakinthemiddle，andthetaleispracticallyintwodivisions。InthefirstJamesMoreandtheM’Gregors，andCatriona，onlyshow；inthesecond，theAppincasebeingdisposedof，andJamesStewarthung，theyruletheroastandusurptheinterest-shouldtherebeanyleft。WhydidI

takeupDAVIDBALFOUR？Idon’tknow。Asuddenpassion。

Monday，Iwentdownintherainwithacolictotakethechairatapublicmeeting；dinedwithHaggard；sailedofftomymeeting，andfoughtwithwildbeastsforthreeanxioushours。Allwaslostthatanysensiblemancaredfor，butthemeetingdidnotbreakup-thanksagooddealtoR。L。S-

andthemanwhoopposedmyelection，andwithwhomIwasallthetimewrangling，proposedthevoteofthankstomewithacertainhandsomeness；IassureyouIhadearnedit……

HaggardandthegreatAbdul，hishigh-casteIndianservant，importedbymywife，weresittingupformewithsupper，andIsupposeitwastwelvebeforeIgottobed。Tuesdayraining，mymotherrodedown，andwewenttotheConsulatetosignaFactoryandCommission。Thence，Itothelawyers，totheprintingoffice，andtotheMission。ItwasdinnertimewhenIreturnedhome。

Thismorning，ourcook-boyhavingsuddenlyleft-injuredfeelings-thearchangelwastocookbreakfast。Ifoundhimlightingthefirebeforedawn；hiseyesblazed，hehadnowordofanylanguagelefttouse，andIsawinhim(tomywonder)thestrongestworkingsofgratifiedambition。

NapoleonwasnomorepleasedtosignhisfirsttreatywithAustriathanwasLafaeletocookthatbreakfast。Allmorning，whenIhadhopedtobeatthisletter，Isleptlikeonedruggedandyoumusttakethis(whichisallIcangiveyou)forwhatitisworth-

MEMOIRSOFHISADVENTURESATHOMEANDABROAD。THESECOND

PART；WHEREINARESETFORTHTHEMISFORTUNESINWHICHHEWAS

INVOLVEDUPONTHEAPPINMURDER；HISTROUBLESWITHLORD

ADVOCATEPRESTONGRANGE；CAPTIVITYONTHEBASSROCK；JOURNEY

INTOFRANCEANDHOLLAND；ANDSINGULARRELATIONSWITHJAMES

MOREDRUMMONDORMACGREGOR，ASONOFTHENOTORIOUSROBROY。

Chapters-I。ABeggaronHorseback。II。TheHighlandWriter。III。IgotoPilrig。IV。LordAdvocatePrestongrange。V。ButterandThunder。VI。Imakeafaultinhonour。VII。TheBravo。VIII。TheHeatheronFire。IX。I

begintobehauntedwithared-headedman。X。TheWoodbySilvermills。XI。OnthemarchagainwithAlan。XII。GillaneSands。XIII。TheBassRock。XIV。BlackAndie’sTaleofTodLapraik。XV。IgotoInveraray。

Thatisit，asfarasdrafted。ChaptersIV。V。VII。IX。andXIV。Iamspeciallypleasedwith；thelastbeinganepisodicalbogiestoryabouttheBassRocktoldtherebytheKeeper。

MYDEARS。C。，-Takeitnotamissifthisisawretchedletter。Iameatenupwithbusiness。EverydaythisweekI

havehadsomebusinessimpediment-Iamevennowwaitingadeputationofchiefsabouttheroad-andmypreciousmorningwasshatteredbyapoliteoldscourgeofaFAIPULE-

parliamentman-comebegging。AllthetimeDAVIDBALFOURisskelpingalong。Ibeganitthe13thoflastmonth；Ihavenow12chapters，79pagesreadyforpress，orwithinanace，and，bythetimethemonthisout，one-halfshouldbecompleted，andI’llbebackatdraftingthesecondhalf。

WhatmakesmesickistothinkofScottturningoutGUY

MANNERINGinthreeweeks！Whatapullofwork:heavens，whatthewsandsinews！AndhereamI，myheadspinningfromhavingonlyre-writtensevennotverydifficultpages-andnotverygoodwhendone。Weaklinggeneration。Itmakesmesickofmyself，tomakesuchafashandbobberyoverarottenendofanoldnurseryyarn，notworthspittingonwhendone。

Still，thereisnodoubtIturnoutmyworkmoreeasilythanofyore，andIsupposeIshouldbesinglygladofthat。AndifIgotmybookdoneinsixweeks，seeingitwillbeabouthalfaslongasaScott，andIhavetowriteeverythingtwice，itwouldbeaboutthesamerateofindustry。Itismyfairintentiontobedonewithitinthreemonths，whichwouldmakemeaboutone-halfthemanSirWalterwasforapplicationanddrivingthedullpen。Ofthemeritweshallnottalk；butIdon’tthinkDavieisWITHOUTmerit。

AndIhavethisdaytriumphantlyfinished15chapters，100

pages-beingexactlyone-half(asnearasanybodycanguess)

ofDAVIDBALFOUR；thebooktobeaboutafifthaslongagain(altogether)asTREASUREISLAND:couldIbutdothesecondhalfinanothermonth！ButIcan’t，Ifear；Ishallhavesomebelatedmaterialarrivingbynextmail，andmustgoagainattheHistory。Isitnotcharacteristicofmybrokentenacityofmind，thatIshouldhaveleftDavieBalfoursomefiveyearsintheBritishLinenCompany’sOffice，andthenfollowhimatlastwithsuchvivacity？ButIleaveyouagain；thelast(15th)chapteroughttobere-wrote，orpartofit，andIwantthehalfcompletedinthemonth，andthemonthisoutbymidnight；though，tobesure，lastmonthwasFebruary，andImighttakegrace。ThesenotesareonlytoshowIholdyouinmind，thoughIknowtheycanhavenointerestformanorGodoranimal。

IshouldhavetoldyouabouttheClub。Wehavebeenaskedtotryandstartasortofweeklyballforthehalf-castesandnatives，ourselvestobetheonlywhites；andweconsented，fromaveryheavysenseofduty，andwithnotmuchhope。Twonightsagowehadtwentypeopleup，receivedtheminthefrontverandah，entertainedthemoncakeandlemonade，andI

madeaspeech-embodyingourproposals，orconditions，ifyoulike-forIsupposethirtyminutes。Nojoketospeaktosuchanaudience，butitisbelievedIwasthoroughlyintelligible。Itooktheplanofsayingeverythingatleasttwiceinadifferentformofwords，sothatiftheoneescapedmyhearers，theothermightbeseized。Onewhitemancamewithhiswife，andwaskeptrigorouslyonthefrontverandahbelow！Youseewhataseaoftroublesthisisliketoprove；butitistheonlychance-andwhenitblowsup，itmustblowup！Ihavenomorehopeinanythingthanadeadfrog；Igointoeverythingwithacomposeddespair，anddon’tmind-justasIalwaysgotoseawiththeconvictionIamtobedrowned，andlikeitbeforeallotherpleasures。Butyoushouldhaveseenthereturnvoyage，whennineteenhorseshadtobefoundinthedark，andnineteenbridles，allinadrenchofrain，andtheclub，justconstitutedassuch，sailedawayinthewet，underacloudymoonlikeabadshilling，andtodescendaroadthroughtheforestthatwasatthatmomenttheimageofarespectablemountainbrook。Mywife，whoispresidentWITHPOWERTOEXPEL，hadtobeginherfunctions。