John Galsworthy

“ Well, I knew that what I had to do was to hold on ahead till we got to a creek about 100 yards wide that ran from the lagoon, inland. If I could get there first I was safe; I was a good swimmer, and in those days old Synge couldn't swim more than a few strokes. Still, if murder-madness could make a man run half as fast again, it could probably make him swim. ”

“ That devilish silver streak was his Malay kriss, and he brandished it like one possessed. I've seen Malays run amok twice—once in Bangkok, and once in Sumatra—and if Synge wasn't at that moment a Malay, and a Malay amok, I'm a German Jew. He didn't look mad, only mad murderous. ”

“ You fellows may just "lift up your hearts" that you've never heard a sound like that; it sent the blue creeps through me—I sat there wondering what the deuce it was, till, looking through the window, I saw in a bright patch of moonlight in front of the house a naked figure, dancing a kind of fantastic dance, and brandishing a streak of silver above its head; then I heard that awful cry again, and the figure darted forward and disappeared. ”

“ The moon was full, and the sea gleamed in silver and black ridges, and that blessed sand shone in the bright moon- light like burnished plate, and we two white figures fled over it like disembodied spirits, with the whole of Nature—sea, sky, and land—looking on and mocking at what was meant to be as grim a tragedy as ever came about. ”

“ I used to be a bit of a sprinter at school, and in the ordinary course of things could give Synge about 30 yards in the 100, but that night I could only just keep away, if it can be called keeping away from a man whose breath you can feel on your neck, and whose hand you can see coming over your shoulder. ”

“ Diving for a madman with a kriss in his hand in twelve feet of water, even if he has gone down three times, is no sort of a pastime. Well, I found him at the second go, quite motionless at the bottom, and pulled him up ashore. He was unconscious all right, but I had the devil's own trouble to get that silver streak out of his paw. Then I sat on my haunches, and rubbed him, and prayed the gods to send me help. Presently they did, in the shape of my wife and Judy, on horseback, with brandy and pistols. Judy wouldn't come anywhere near, though he could see him lying like a log ”

“ And yet all the time, you know, I couldn't help seeing the comic side—the only two white men on the island—sworn pals, you beggars! sworn pals—and the one chasing the other for dear life, and no mortal reason—it appealed to me very much, that is, as much as the discomfort of the blamed thing would allow. All things come to an end, and so did that run. I must have made record time, but it seemed like a couple of hours. I never got more than about two yards away—it varied from that to about two inches—and I can tell you I was all out at the end of that half mile, when we came to the creek. ”

“ Poor old chap, he was mighty limp and light, and the madness had clean gone out of him; his skin was white again, and his hair shorn—I suppose I must have been a bit mixed there. We held him on, and got him back somehow, and gave him brandy, and gradually he came back to life ”

“ I thought you and Mrs Hay were coming out to see us off; it was to have been an all-night sitting for the last, you know, and now here you are one by one deserting, and leaving us to face this abominable melancholy departure alone.' Thus Clemenson, ruefully. Taplin lit a cigarette.
'What's wrong, Hay?' he said, and pointed with it down the path.
'Oh! It's all right. Nothing, nothing; my wife's tired, and the infant's not well; that's all.'
'Nonsense, man, I saw Synge's face, and I saw your wife's, that's enough ”

“ He was gazing intently from under the broad brim of his hat at Mrs Hay. Sitting forward in her chair, her face ashy white, she was looking with an intent, scared expression at her husband.
'I must go, too, I'm afraid,' she said, 'the infant will want me; little wretch, she always cries on hot nights if she's left long. Good- bye, Mr Clemenson ”