Ralph Stock

Name: South of the Line — Hit or Miss
Author: Ralph Stock

South of the Line — Hit or Miss (1922)

Summary

“South of the Line — Hit or Miss”, published in 1922, is a work by Ralph Stock. It explores elements such as Amery, Baird and partner.

Quotes from South of the Line — Hit or Miss (Ralph Stock)

Ralph Stock, South of the Line — Hit or Miss (1922)

“ When he had gone, Amery settled back on the cabin locker to smoke a disreputable pipe in slow, methodical puffs, and stare fixedly at the swinging lamp. He knew exactly where his partner was going. He would catch the two-thirty ferry across the harbour and climb the red earth path to the bungalow with the garden overlooking the sea. There he would be as charming as Frank Baird knew how to be. He would balance a tea cup on his knee with the ease of an expert, and talk trivialities until the old man fell asleep. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Ralph Stock, South of the Line — Hit or Miss (1922)

“ An hour later the auxiliary was propelling the Spindrift through an oily calm when a shudder ran through the ship, followed by the faint clang of metal and the crazy racing of the engine.
Amery sprang aft, and saw under a bare fathom of crystal-clear water a forest of coral fronds, and above them, protruding from the ship's quarter, the shattered remains of a propeller. They had barely grazed a submerged reef, another atoll in the making, but it was enough; the Spindrift lay helpless as a log. Thus the Islands kiss on one cheek and strike the other within an hour. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Ralph Stock, South of the Line — Hit or Miss (1922)

“ There came a night, as dead as the eternity of days and nights that had preceded it, when Amery woke from a fevered sleep and lay staring at the beams above his bunk. His throat ached abominably, his tongue felt like dry flannel in his mouth, but there was nothing new in this. The ship's company was long since down to half a point of water a day, and all that remained was a bare three gallons in a beaker carefully guarded in the saloon. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Ralph Stock, South of the Line — Hit or Miss (1922)

“ By such trivialities do the unsophisticated tell the fibre of a man.
The land they were now rapidly nearing was shrouded in mist—a mist of birds that rose and hovered and shrieked. It was necessary to shout above the din. Wings fanned the face. The whale boat was lowered and rowed shoreward under a drumming roof of them.
Amery and Baird landed without difficulty, and trudged inland through an ankle-deep, grayish dust that rose about them in choking clouds. Neither spoke. All day, without food or drink, they scoured the island in a wilting heat that seemed to affect them not at all. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Ralph Stock, South of the Line — Hit or Miss (1922)

“ She put down her work and went over to the window, standing with her back to the room, her eyes fastened on the little square of suburban garden outside.
"You shot Frank," she said quietly.
For hours after that ghastly interview Amery paced his hotel bedroom. Curiously enough, he felt no resentment, only an overwhelming pity for his partner. Heavens, what a confession for a man to have to make! And he, Amery, must listen to it and say something at the end—"to make it easier for him." He laughed in sheer hopelessness at the task none but a woman would set. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Ralph Stock, South of the Line — Hit or Miss (1922)

“ Even then he only missed his partner by a few minutes. Once they had met on that red earth path leading up to the bungalow, and it had constituted a situation not to be repeated. Thereafter, through all the years that they had known Dorothy Fielding, it was tacitly agreed between them that Baird should go in the afternoon and Amery in the evening. Their understanding of one another was extraordinarily clear.
"I envy you Tom," the girl had said, and she spoke truth. There was that in Amery that inspired confidence, a quiet solidity that was infinitely restful, especially to a woman. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Ralph Stock, South of the Line — Hit or Miss (1922)

“ If he didn't tell you, I believe it would kill him; he is like that." Her head bent lower over her work, her voice was a low monotone. "It is a thing that he—that we both think shameful. Nothing will make it right, but something—surely something that a man can say to a man will make it easier for him." She lifted her head for the first time. "Promise me you'll say it."
"I promise," said Amery. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Ralph Stock, South of the Line — Hit or Miss (1922)

“ Better break with your partner than hate him. Besides, the thing was childish.... Amery uncrossed his legs, stood up, and shook himself like a mastiff, then reached down a roll of charts from the rack in the cabin roof, and fell to studying them with knit brows.
So correct had he been in his estimate of Baird's movements, that at that moment his partner was balancing a blue-and-white china cup on his knee, the while he discussed party politics with the old man. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Ralph Stock, South of the Line — Hit or Miss (1922)

“ An hour later he was sitting in the vine-clad arbour at the bottom of the garden, pretending to watch the ferry boats that scarred the fair face of the harbour, but in reality unconscious of anything save the woman at his side.
"The Islands are a lottery," he was telling her. "Draw the right number, and you're made. That's why we stick to them."
"You and Tom have had a good many draws, haven't you?" ”

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Source: Wikisource

Ralph Stock, South of the Line — Hit or Miss (1922)

“ They knew instinctively what there was to be done, and did it with a maximum of efficiency and a minimum of fuss. Moreover, they had shed their shore-going clothes as effectively as their party manners. ”

Ralph Stock

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