Henry C. Rowland

“ When in the course of time Giles again went to the bat she watched him with dumb inertia.
This time, however, it appeared that Giles had come to stay. The fighting blood of the Anglo-Saxon which pulses the strongest in defeat, just as that of the Latin gains strength in victory, had risen to confront the situation and before long hope began to creep back into the hearts of the Gentlemen's sympathizers. Then the other man went out and Dessalines stepped forward; his smile was lacking this time, and the black face wore an expression which silenced the spectators. ”

“ Noises there are in the swamp, having their source for the most part in the lower element of living deadness, and transmitted echoless beneath the miasmatic blanket shrouding the cypress tops; also, there come noises from above, noises droning, homophonous; doubtful noises like those emanating from the fever-stricken brain and seem now within, now without.
Light is shorter than shadow; death longer than life. A gnat lives in the sunshine and lives but a day; the worm lives in the mold and lives long. The lower the type of life the more tenacious it becomes of the little spark it holds. ”

“ The Waccamaw was a good ship; she ran smoothly "in a groove," true as a liner. The brokers had played fair; Rosenthal had played fair; Dessalines had bought a good vessel cheaply. Her machinery held no false notes; no rough sounds.
Dessalines listened to the throb and beat and found himself adapting the time to an English evangelical hymn which had always stirred him. He began to voice the words to the thrust from the great cylinders, the click of the eccentric, the jar of the circulating pump:
"Mine eyes shall see the glory of the coming of the Lord!" ”

“ Virginia knew nothing of the technicalities of cricket; Giles had frequently attempted to elucidate the game to her, but like many clever women Virginia seemed singularly obtuse regarding the details of a sport. What appealed to her was the spectacle as a whole—the field, the teams, the eagerness, the quick, sudden action, the enthusiasm of the spectators. All she required was to be told, from time to time, who was ahead, and, in a general way, how much, and if the score was very uneven she invariably sympathized with the loser, no matter who. ”

“ Virginia, recovered in the respite when he had taken his eyes from hers, and now fighting hard to control the revulsion which impelled her almost irresistibly to rush shrieking from his presence, was unable to formulate a reply. Dessalines, led into a new train of thought by this query, stood for a moment in silence.
"What is it?" he asked, and an odd fretfulness had entered his voice. "Have we not the same souls, the same God, the same heaven? We feel no repulsion to the whites, why should they feel it toward us?" ”

“ The dull look had left the dark, metallic eyes.
"You must not dwell upon these doubts," continued Virginia. "Probably there never lived a man of your race more fully equipped for this task than you."
"Ah!" interrupted Dessalines, "it is true. You are right." The face was aglow again, inspired, confident. "It is the height of my ambition for my people which so appalls me, and—" his voice grew sepulchral—"the profound depths from which they must be raised. I could tell you things of Hayti, Miss Moultrie, which would appall you; which you would find difficult to believe." ”

“ The fire became merely a lurid glow; glistening shapes, heaving bodies, swam about him; the gloom of the jungle was peopled with unreal hell shapes; they represented the concentrated lust from the earth from which they had been banished. The air was thick with black passions.
Something stirred at his side—a flutter, a gasp. A white figure passed between him and the palpitating glow of the fire, lightly, with the swirl of a wisp of smoke borne on a zephyr. A low laugh trilled above the guttural sighs springing from the glistening shapes seen dimly through the gloom. ”

“ To Virginia he seemed to typify the negro race; a looming, colossal figure standing on the threshold of humanity, at the door of the council chamber, puzzled, bewildered, awed, yet stubbornly demanding the right to speak in conclave.
A more clever negro, one confidant, assured, cunning, diplomatic, would have been less impressive to the girl; a mulatto unimpressive altogether. Dessalines was typical. She believed him to be honest, earnest. She believed his ambitions for his country to be minor to those for his race, his personal ambitions least of all. ”

“ With an extreme effort he managed to shift his hold; then, gripping the slippery beam beneath Virginia's arm, he began to haul his way, hand over hand, along the weir by the sheer output of physical force opposed to that of the stream. Ten feet, perhaps, he gained in this way, bruised against projecting snags, torn and cut and buffeted, but fighting stubbornly for every inch. Perhaps by virtue of indomitable will coercing an unblemished physical machine he might have fought on so to the end of the obstruction and won his way clear ”

“ Dessalines was the statue of a Numidian king; the great, dominant face, muscular of jaw, haughty, prideful, seemed to proclaim the leader by divine right, the monarch of a virile race, and, as in his charger, the contour of the head, the clear velvet smoothness of the ebony skin indicated the pureness of the savage strain. Whatever he might lack, a glance proved the Haytian to be no mongrel; one would affirm that no vagrant corpuscle of alien blood had found its way into his veins. ”

“ A smiling assurance of physical damage from a Jew who stood ferociously ready to put his threat into execution had perhaps awed them more than the threat itself. Rosenthal had won his point, threatened violence, then invited them to drink. He was a competent man.
At midnight Dessalines awoke; his slumbers had been nervous and fitful. The African is not a deep sleeper; he is indolent; rests at odd intervals, like a dog, a cat, any primitive creature. In the deep night he will awake, listen, twitch, peer, often arise and prowl when a white man will be fathoms deep in oblivion. ”

“ Giles was in the stream at almost the same instant. Virginia could swim a few strokes, enough to keep her afloat until Giles reached her; the danger lay in the obstruction to which the current was rapidly bearing her, the old, dilapidated, deep-water weir; a sort of fence built out into the stream and constructed of a framework of stakes joined by rough planks, the whole woven together by a thatch of brush. ”

“ From without there came in swelling chorus the soft diapason of insect orchestra; the night air was heavy with dew-cooled, tropic perfumes.
"Hear it," said Calisthene. "Smell it! Ah, Hayti is only Hayti, is it not? Justitian, cher petit, come bid our guest bon soir."
Dessalines slept ill that night; the depth of fantasy which in the negro fills the place of sentient imagination had been more stirred by the events of this day of his arrival in his native country than at any time since the first formation of his ambitious projects. ”

“ A strong man is more imposing than a falling tree. Have you never been fascinated by watching a great mechanism—a locomotive, a steel hammer, the engines of a liner when the ship is racing, and one feeble man with his hand on the throttle controls the rotation of tons and tons of steel? You are a horseman; have you never been thrilled at the beat and throb of your hunter's great shoulder muscles as they swelled and contracted between your knees?"
Manning's hard, patrician face suddenly lighted, and Leyden, watching narrowly, saw that he had struck the responsive note. ”

“ It was for Giles to explain it, but he was lacking, not in courage, but in self-assurance. He appreciated that he was in love as much as it could be appreciated by a man for whom its course had always run smooth, and it filled him with a joyful misery, for he could not understand the possibility of a man like himself arousing any deeper sentiment than friendship in a woman of Virginia's talents. ”

“ Let there be some object, larger and more fantastic in design, and the sleep, like the snow, instead of softening the contours, serves only to cloak its true shape; puzzles the mind, the eye, and renders it more sinister for this distortion.
Virginia would waken, fix her mind on cheerful topics, fall into a light sleep and promptly become the prey of the same bizarre fancies differently presented; the constant element was the face of Dessalines; sometimes scowling, sometimes sad, stricken, or perhaps luminous with purposeful strength and dominant action. ”

“ A ball flew from the batter and Virginia, watching it apathetically as it soared far out to the deep field, saw all at once ahead of it a great black figure which spanned the sward in long catlike bounds, and as the ball seemed hanging high above its head, it leaped, leaped like a great black panther with a circular sweep of the big, loose-knit body. ”

“ Virginia reflected that whatever the past history of the race of which he was an exponent, there surely must have been some long-forgotten epoch of enlightenment to have transmitted this intellect through the dark eras which had followed.
"It is a shame to oblige you to stable your own horse, Count Dessalines," said Lady Maltby as they met.
Dessalines bowed. "The fault is mine, Lady Maltby. If one will ride a dragon one must expect to be his own hostler. It is far less trouble to stable the animal than to provide for a widow and a family!" ”

“ She laughed outright and turned to glance at the house. "And you know that Giles's rooms are on this side, because you know how fond he is of pets, and the pigeons are all fluttering around that corner window."
Sir Henry stared. "My word! My dear child——"
"Thank you, Miss Moultrie," said Leyden, "you more than bear me out." His keen eyes rested on her. "If you will permit me to say so, your quickness of perception is extraordinary for a house dweller; you apply these things, the things you see; you apply them to the convenience of your daily life."
"Does not every one?" asked Virginia. ”

“ Dessalines almost recoiled from his rush of emotion; the woman's words, welcome, costume, and demoralizing beauty, all invited an adventure; he thought of the words of General Miragoâne.
Suddenly he contrasted this with the greeting of another woman but a fortnight before; a woman purely white in skin and soul. The contrast shocked him; every conscious motive of the man was toward principle, probity, decency, the things which gentlefolk do. ”

“ He returned to the fire and stood, his strong shoulders against the stone carving of the chimney, facing Manning.
"Do you understand? do you see what I mean? how it would be an injustice to Miss Moultrie to suppose this attraction anything but physical. If you do I shall go deeper, just for this once. It is a subject which is better discussed but once—disposed of at one sitting. Such things, like your color question in the United States, grow and flourish with the reek and the stink of a carnivorous plant in an atmosphere of argument." ”

“ Manning turned to her a frozen but furious face. "Virginia! Are you crazy? Our equal! You ... a Moultrie ... speak of a——"
"But, Manning, think of our obligation! He saved my life ... Giles's life. ... Manning, you must treat him with respect. ... You must come with me now while I speak to him." She seized Manning's arm and moved toward the drag.
"Haven't we done all that we can?" demanded Manning, in a low, fierce voice. "I've called on him, Sir Henry's called on him, Giles——"
"Manning, I'm ashamed of you!" whispered Virginia furiously. "Can one be too grateful, too appreciative?" ”

“ Dessalines groaned; his sobbings became more audible.
"You shall come with me to the house, Count Dessalines," said Virginia firmly. "You shall be our guest—you are still our friend."
"No!" The negro raised his great hand. "I am not fit to go under your roof. I am a negro, a creature of inferior race; the same God does not love us both; our souls have their separate heavens—and hells!"
"You have suffered, Count Dessalines," said Virginia in the tone one would use to a grieving child. "I heard that you were betrayed by one who you thought was your friend. ”

“ Are we not capable of equal attainments? Am I not the peer of any man physically, mentally, spiritually?" The massive chest swelled; the eyes seemed to protrude, while their rims of white widened; the flat nostrils dilated. "Tell me, Miss Moultrie," he leaned slightly toward her, "is there any reason why I should not take a white woman—an English woman, a woman of good birth—to be my wife if I should ever succeed in becoming the king of Hayti?"
Virginia was unable to speak, to think, to take her fascinated eyes from the eager face. ”

“ By physical attraction one does not necessarily imply a—now do not misunderstand me again—sexual. A physical attraction may be defined as the attraction of cell for cell, fiber for fiber, nerve for nerve; an attraction which may go no higher than the spinal cord, a reflex sympathy; or, when it does go higher, what then? It is the joy of one vigorous vitality in another.
"To make myself more plain, there are certain inherent qualities in certain entities which may call to like qualities in another, entirely ex-intellect. Every human being possesses certain impulses, spiritual and physical. ”

“ Daylight dispelled the black aura of the night. Virginia descended to find that Giles, according to his character, had given a modest account of his part in the accident, cloaking all references to the foolish caprice which had caused it and making no mention of his own plucky efforts, but dwelling at great length upon the cool courage shown by the girl. Of course, Dessalines was the hero of the adventure and received the warmest praise, but Virginia had an uncomfortable feeling that Manning's praise was less unstinted than that of the others. ”

“ Dessalines wheeled; his face was calm, but there was a lurid light deep in the somber eyes.
"It is a pity," he said. "One does not wish to be cruel, but the brute is very dangerous and it is either that or a bullet."
He mounted with a lithe swing; Virginia saw a red stain against the black of his hand; blood was trickling from the mouth of the horse.
"Good afternoon," said Dessalines, bowing from the saddle. He spoke gently to the horse, which moved off down the road. Giles's eyes followed him. ”

“ Dessalines forgot his contempt; he struggled to remember that he was a spectator; cold, dispassionate, watching from a height the writhings of worms. His muscles began to twitch, his bulging eyes to roll.
The dance progressed; beside him La Fouchère trembled spasmodically. Shocking scenes were enacted; the earth seemed to have ruptured and spewed up the denizens of hell. The drum beat on; the chorus grew hoarse, supplicating, convulsive. Dessalines' brain swam; like a drowning man all but unconscious, he fought on blindly, not knowing why he should fight. ”

“ A ray of light crept into the black face. "And is there anyone, I should like to know, more fitted to rule than Monsieur le Comte? is there any other man possessed of such power of mind and body?" Dessalines' arms fell slowly to his sides where they hung, elbows bent from the tonic contraction of the heavy biceps. "Who," Jules continued, "has such a magnificent presence for the council chamber; such wisdom for the laws of statecraft?" Dessalines' eyes brightened. "Such honesty, such goodness, to endear him to his people!" The negro face assumed an expression of ineffable good nature. ”

“ The visitors were greeted with polite, if somewhat perfunctory, hospitality; but when Giles and his men trotted out from the pavilion the spectators burst into a yell of enthusiasm; then, before the cheering had died away, there was a sudden hush and simultaneously all eyes were focused upon a single sinister figure.
In the rear of the Gentlemen's Team there came a great ebony giant, a colossus he seemed compared to the others, some of whom were big men yet looked like children beside the massive, huge-boned, heavy- jointed figure of the black. ”

“ Giles looked infinitely relieved; he had feared that he was to be called upon to listen to further items of family history. Britishlike he was shy of looking at a man's naked past; he disliked personal confidences, as do all men strong enough to keep their troubles to themselves. Politics interested him; his career was to be political. His face showed his added interest, and Dessalines, seeing his change of expression, grew himself more confident.
"The government of Hayti as it now exists," he resumed, "is unstable; it cannot stand; there is no credit; everything is running down. ”