Show ORGE iab ML 14 MH CO CHAPTER continued 17 in those days when once more his thoughts demanded to be seen in their relation to alix that steady voice within him was his only comfort the flood at mazenda I 1 lores had swept away all that his hands bad had done but the th that E azenda I 1 lores had done for him could not be swept away by any material force they stood and feared nothing except alls alix wherever he rever his mind turned it came cime back to aix and found in her an fin passe allx alix assumed more and more the portentous attributes of one anat ta bed sitting in judgment over his acts his ills memory of her frailty of her ke detachment from the bones the skeleton of life her arti artl 0 made her seem ludicrously in congruous in the role of judge he ile could not picture her much less esti estl t mate the sentence she w pass his 1 thoughts led him daily up to that im passe and left h in then came the V i doubt and the question why vf lie be lead h myself bod ly to the impasse n aa all ile was still fighting th s point when rhen he be reached barbados but there an inci 4 dent lent befell which brought a new light to his mind and then a new peace to his soul he had bad gone ashbie at V a amply because his whole body per factly attuned by three years of long thorns houis of toll was crying out for moie mole exert se than the irrow decks of the freighter could afford N W ben hen the I 1 file group of passengers piss engerg F treacel ed shoie with the exception of errvand an ol 01 I 1 returning barbad in a lr turned in the same direction ifal ibby a common impulse the barbadian Barbi dlan glanced at gerry and jerked erkel his head bead it at the disappearing group men alen of the world in the big bense be he said what do you mean asked gerry son said the old larrad an who was 3 verj tanned and whose kindly eyes s blinked through thick glasses when hen a chap tells aou ou be a a man of the world you ask h in if he ever had a drink at the ice lee house IOU oa il don t have to gay say in br ever have a drink at the ice fee house just like that and if he says 0 o you know he meant he was a town gounde when be sad sa d he w akis as a man of the world gerry smiled and fell naturally in step with rith the barbadian as he be moved slowly on yes said the old man it a a sure test the man that baan t crooked his hn elbow at the big round deal table in that old rambhai kle drink house can t say hes he s really traveled long lost brotheim bro theis and friends have met there and when men that roam the h gh seas want news of some pal that a feared down the highway of the world they drop in at the old ice house an I 1 ask what road he took tool its it s halfway house to all the seven seas have you lost anyone asked gerry no 0 o I 1 in not thirsty for a drink just mow said the barbadian with a smile and your you nor I 1 said gerry laughing I 1 in out ut to stretch my legs c you can t do that here replied the old man I 1 ou on don t know our sun come with me he ile hailed balled a ram shackle vic victoria torla gerry hesitated I 1 lou on must have a home you want rant to go to and friends to see don t worry about me III I 1 II 11 be direful about the sun boy said the barbad an I 1 ve got a home and I 1 in going to see it but there a no reason why you t come along As for friends the ones I 1 left heie hele won R on t get up to meet anyone till the last trump sounds come along you are the only company and I 1 in the only host in oui party they climbed into the rickety cab and slid the barbadian Barb Barbi idian dlan gave directions to the arher the driver answered in the soft guttural gutt uial of the N west est indian black slowly they crawled through the crooked of the town geri geny y leaned back and gazed at the freak ish build they all of frame v A ork orl some sw an belled at the top an I 1 gerry wondered why they dd old not topple over some swelled at the bot hot atom and he wondered R why by these d dd d not cave in the barbad an watched watched his face funne town ell ehl gerry a added added presently the found themselves on a country road it was so smooth that thit tbt neigh weighted ted carriage pushed the old horses long along at an in unwonted pace pice little bouses hund hundreds reds of them that booked like ilke big hen coops lined the road abe carriage came cime to a halt one of the little kiouses was wis try ng to straddle et radul the road from around it came screams and cries now then yo gladys when rhen ah say heft yo baft I 1 th poured out an angry tor for rent of wolds that tried their best to be harsh and failed from around the obstructing house came an old darky U when hen his eyes fell on the dal barbad bad an he blushed forward lor mal colm when did yo get back just now charles said th barba d an what a the matter here the darky darly a eyes rolled nf attah misleh malcolm why that ole cun cull nel he a jes so nat cherly par simon lous that h hi requires me to pay rent fo to havin ma house on hia his lan ian so I 1 says to ole mammy we 11 jes move this here e or to a gen leman mans s lan ian and misleh men me n mammy n the chile are jes a movin it on to yo old cane fiel the barbadian laughed a little dryly and shrugged his shoulders deis the driver got down protest ng and helped the family carry the house across the road then the cab went on and ind soon turned up an avenue under a fiery canopy of acacia flamboyance flambo 0 As they progressed thick twining growths spangled with brilliant blooms walled in the avenue the air grew cool but heavy with scents and the full flavored sp ce of a tropical gar den under a blazing sun the air made gerry dreamy he ile woke ww a start when the barbad an sald to the cabman th a will do you needa t drive in ili wait here the cab stopped just ahead was the ruin of a great gate the two pit PH lars still stood but they almost ent liely hidden by vines to one of them clung the rusted vestige of a gate beyond the pillars there was a winding way once it had been a road continuation of the avenue now it was but a tunnel through the dense ly crowded foliage along the center of the tunnel was a narion path even it was overgrown the barba dian led gerry down the path they came out under a grove of mighty trees whose dense shade had kept down donn the undergrowth and be bond ond the trees gerry saw a vast ir mound of vines with which mingled glint geran urns climbing fuchsias honeysuckle and rose then ther he spied a broad flight of marble steps at one end of them an old moss grown urn at the other its fallen broken counterpart above the mound rose the roof of a house through the vines is the tv tw 0 drew nearer appeared shut feied windows min clows and a door veiled with creepers the barbadian went up the steps and tore the creepers cree away from the 0 16 have you lost anyone asked gerry door then he drew from his ills pocket aa in enormous key with N ith A a rasp the lock turned and the door opened let ting a bar of light into a wide cool hall gerry followed the barbadian through the ball to a broad veranda at the b back bick ick of the house A large living room faced on to the veranda T abe he barbadian entered it opened the I 1 rench door windows and dusting off two lounge chairs invited gerry to sit down gerry looked around curiously the living room was comfortably fur dished there were one or two excel lent rugs on the waxed floor a great couch set into a bow window lace curtains creamy with age a wonder fully carved escrito re in rosewood a bi deboard round table and chairs of magog mahogany iny that was almost as dull and black as ebony over all lay a coat of dust the barbadian walked to the round table and with his finger wrote in the dust then he be sat down in a worn and V comfortable chair a com to berry gerry a he ile fell into so deep a reverie revere that gerry thought he be was asleep gerry got up and walked around the room his ills eye fell on the table he saw what the barbadian had bad written 9 amply the date of the day but above the freshly written date shon showed ed an other filmed over with dust and above ab ove that another almost obi aerated gerry leaned over the tible he could see that a i long succession of dates hid been written into the thic thick klaid laid dust beginning R with ith the fresh numerals staring up it him they reached back and back through the years till they faded an away ay into a dim past gerry tiptoed out on to the veranda before him was a ruined lawn lann in its center a cracked dry marble fountain off to one side was a giant plane tree I 1 rom roin one of its limbs hung two frayed ropes against its trunk leaned a weather beaten swing board under the ropes a wisp of path still showed beaten hard bard in a bygone day by th ohp feet of children beyond the lawn stretched wide cane fields they were abandoned save for little pitches patches of cane here and there bunched up against little hen coop houses got a home boy gerry turned and found the barba dian than tand ng beside him A home he lie answered his thoughts flying to red hill I 1 should th I 1 have and it a a if 11 gerry caught hi himself amse if b but U t not in time 1 the barbadian nodded slowly I 1 inov kno v he sa d you going to say it a a live one IN ell as to that don t 3 QU on make a mistake this home is alive too just exactly as alive as I 1 nm im for I 1 m the last of the barbados malcolms home he went on isn t alto gether a matter of cash comfort and cool drinks sometimes its it s just a gathering place for memories there was a time when we ave whites stood fifteen to one over the blacks on tl atis is island now the tables aie turned A chap that only takes a drink every time he sees a wh te man would have to go to a mass mas meeting to get drunk lately they ve been sending out scientific commissions from england to sit like coroners on this mound in the sea they say they re going to bring the corpse back to life I 1 ve been offered a big price for this old place but I 1 in not selling gerry looked at the barbarians Barbad ians laus rather shabby clothes why by don dont t you sell if you don t want to work the it a worth money I 1 know enough to tell you that the barbadian rested one hand high ou on the thick trunk of a wi wistaria starla A slow smile diew the corners of hia his mouth worth N orth money he echoed my boy not every man kills the thing that he loves best this is my home ion read those dates written in dust and still you thought my home was dead but is ian t dead I 1 haven baten t killed the thing that I 1 love best you can get cash comfort and cool drinks almost anywhere but I 1 have kemem bared that memories travel only beat en ell paths arven as gerry picked his way back to the waiting cabbe felt red hill reaching out for him drawing him and during the long slow drive to the quay he learned that he had passed the crossroads that hid given so long a piuse to his troubled soul the bar aadlan had opened hs h s eyes doubt left h in there was but one road the road back and it wis open he m rote his cable to alls alix with a flim film hand the freighter reached quarantine afeei t quiet voyage twelve hour ahead of time and just at sundown A tug hurried down the bay to tell them their berth was not ready the freighter was forced to anchor at the mouth of the narrows gerly geny batche I 1 the lights spring out from the shadowy shores they beckoned him to familiar scenes staten island had been to h a boyhood an undiscovered land and the scene of his first wanderings Rande rings boy shore he be knew through constant pass ing by in the sky beyond it hung the glow of the summer city here and pierced with the brighter flame of some grotesque monstrosity up the bay the dark waters forked into two bands that lost themselves in a sea and sky of twinkling lights he ile could just determine the sweeping arch of brooklyn bridge and the presence of moie mole than one new tower of babel that broke the ever evey changing hanging skyline ot of h a native city and mide made h in feel by that moch mach forgotten and an alien but from all the myriad lesser lights his eyes turne I 1 gratefully to the high held torch of I 1 alberty beneath it the familiar tilted driden the shadowy fol Is draping drapl nj the up standing pose the strength and steadfastness and the titanic grandeur gian deur of the statue carried their message to him as nener ae er before it became to him what its craitor had conceded conc ened an emblem and the myriad little waves of the bay rusting to fling themselves at the feet of the goddess became a multitude eager for attain ment ready for sacrifice t it was ten 0 clock on a morning in early autumn when gerry finally got tree free of the freighter an I 1 took the feriv for the other side of the river lie he had left all his baggage to be delivered at the house later the morning was clear but sultry in the city the apathy 0 of f summer days bad had settled down people glanced at gerry a heavy tweeds and antiquated hat bat but they did not smile for gerry himself was such a sight as mikes men forget clothes the tan of his lean face the swing of his big unpadded shoulders deis his clear eyes carried the thoughts of parsers by away from clothes and city things they seemed to c catch a breath breith of spicy winds from the worn garments that clung to the stranger strangers s virile body ind in his eyes they saw a mirage of fir vir away places As aeiry reached h a own house he be was outwardly calm even dellb 3 V I 1 ww why was he wait ng erite but inwardly he was fighting down i a I 1 of emotions what was he to find in alix had he anything to give in exchange had he be too much he ile climbed the steps slowly ills hand trembled as he reached out to I 1 raise the heavy bronze knocker be fore his fingers could seize it the door swung softly inward old john bowed before bin h m for a moment gerry stood dazed the naturalness of that open door of the old butler of the cool shadows in the old famil ar hall ball struck straight at his heart with the shrewd poignancy of simple things old john raised a smiling face tb greet him but down one wrinkled cheek crawled a surprised tear gerry held out his hand how do you do john I 1 am very well today sir air said john mrs gerry Is in the library she told me to telephone to the club and it if you were there to say she wished to see you gerry was puzzled why should alix allx think he would go to the club he ile handed banded the butler his old hat and strode to the library door the door was closed somebody said come in the words so low be he hardly beard heard them he ile opened the door stepped inside and closed it behind him alix dressed in a filmy blue and white house gown stood in the middle of the room with one hind bind upraised the other outstretched she seemed to be poised equally ready for advance or flight tight her eyes passed swiftly over gerry s face swept searching down to his feet and back again to his face for weeks she had bad been wonder ing terrible things halcome had come to her mind alan and gerry with his heart less note had conspired to mystify to terrify her all the joy she had looked forward to in gerry s homecoming home coming had turned into a bitter pain they had not known on the hill how she waa was suffering only bemp hemp had seemed seemed to understand a little and had brought his drop of comfort to her As her eyes searched gerry the sense of impending calamity left her he was well well rell as she had never seen him beaole except for that he seemed almost weirdly familiar as though only a good nights sleep lay between him and the morning of three year ago when he had bullied her until she had bad fought back and overwhelmed him A hundred little differences went to make up this solitary change the flush of too many drinks had given way to a deep healthy glow the eyes were nere deep and grave instead of deep and vacant the broad shoulders that had taken to hanging banging were |