John Fleming Wilson

“ We played like children in Hibiscus; but ever conscious of that watchful, serene spirit looking out of the windows in that unwieldy, gross habitation of flesh. Hence this story, dénouement of silence.
As prime minister, it fell upon me to speak, as the king’s mouthpiece, of the heir. Never was such a questioning: sly women besought me at morning, as their daughters passed down, flower-wreathed, to bathe in the surf; bold mothers sung praises of their offspring to the tune of flattery ”

“ As I look back upon Hibiscus and its people, as I remember the activities of the day, the glitter of the night sky, the commerce that came to anchor in the bay, the pomp of festivals and the ceremonial of our society, it seems impossible that that realm has passed, leaving no trace upon human history, thrust aside into the appendix of civilization as a mere geographical fact. ”

“ The heir twitched my arm. I looked into the king’s face.
In the silence of that little grove the greater silence pressed against us. The heavy-lidded eyes were open. Their gaze rested upon the young man, the heir to Hibiscus. ”

“ You want power and money and position. But you love me. You need me.”
Once more she turned to the other, to her betrothed. I could see that she hoped he would save her from herself; show a valiancy that would help her word of honor, and assure to her what she had so shrewdly intrigued to attain. But the heir was under the spell of the cold eyes of the Silent Presence.
I would have leaped to save that woman for myself. She was magnificent. But Destiny! We all cry out that name. It made me bank-clerk, instead of the prime minister of a king! ”

“ Men are prone to mistake such gentle clamor for harmless trifling. I, the prime minister, made this error. I enjoyed the fever of preparation, the industry of coquetry making ready for conquest. I walked among that giddy throng, confident that when the time came I should brush to one side all this fuss and accomplish a statesmanlike stroke—marry this heir to a worthy consort, do as the silent one approved. ”

“ True, that kingdom is not often mentioned in the daily journals, and one never hears of So-and-So being accredited to Hibiscus as minister extraordinary and envoy plenipotentiary. But I was prime minister to a king who ruled for many years over a whole archipelago—chief servant to King Oscar, known throughout his part of the world as The Silent.
No historian, probably, will celebrate Hibiscus, nor will the events of my period of dignity find place in any written record. But my master was a great man. Retrospect takes nothing from his splendor. ”

“ Years ago, as I traveled on the trading-schooner Constance d’Arvers from the Sandwich group to the Lower Archipelago, Captain Surrennes told me, among a thousand items of little moment, of Hibiscus. “It is ruled,” he said, “by a philosopher. All Germans approach philosophy by the way of science. King Oscar studied birds, and by degrees, pursuing his profession, he arrived in the South Seas. Here he became a philosopher. ”

“ I was left to fight the battle alone.
But there is a destiny above all speech and intrigue. That destiny brought about the great coup d’état of which I spoke at first. Listen, and hear the story of the end of Hibiscus.
IV.
One day, when I had given up hope, and the mothers reviled me because the heir was going to marry a white woman from nowhere, leaving the beauties of the kingdom to furbish their coquetries for lesser game, a schooner hauled her wind off the harbor and a man came ashore. ”

“ Therefore, a hundred mothers preened their daughters’ plumage and gossiped of the time to come. A hundred girls wove wreaths and anointed their faces with oil to enhance their beauty against the day of the home-coming. ”

“ What he came for I could not discern, until Colonel Tulliver, the head of the regiment that defended the flag and treasury of Hibiscus, sought me out and told me that this James Smith desired to take service with us.
“He’s a useful sort of chap,” said the colonel, wagging his head. “And if the French take a notion to turn this island over to some of their freebooters to plunder, we’ll need men of his blood. He’ll be worth the money.” ”