Valentine Williams

Name: Island Gold — II. In which a Gentleman pays his Debt
Author: Valentine Williams

Island Gold — II. In which a Gentleman pays his Debt (1923)

Summary

“Island Gold — II. In which a Gentleman pays his Debt”, published in 1923, is a work by Valentine Williams. It explores elements such as San Salvador, Dutchy and Neque.

Quotes from Island Gold — II. In which a Gentleman pays his Debt (Valentine Williams)

Valentine Williams, Island Gold — II. In which a Gentleman pays his Debt (1923)

“ It's the humble people, like Luisa here on whom I sponge, who keeps me, Okewood, who is proud to keep me...”
His voice quavered and broke. Tears welled up in his sunken eyes. One hates to see a man break down, so I looked away. And the beach-comber went to his pannikin for solace.
“That day at the calaboose at San Salvador,” he said presently, “I wanted to tell you who I was. Twenty-five years ago I buried my real name, but what you did for me ... well, it was a white thing to do. I wanted to say to you: Race tells, Sir! You have helped one of your own breed and upbringing. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Valentine Williams, Island Gold — II. In which a Gentleman pays his Debt (1923)

“ The outcast spoke again.
“I mustn't waste your time. But it's so rare to find one of my own world to talk to. Listen to me, now! You stood up for me at San Salvador and in return... You're not a rich man, Okewood?” ”

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Source: Wikisource

Valentine Williams, Island Gold — II. In which a Gentleman pays his Debt (1923)

“ A table, on which stood some unappetizing remnants of food, was set against the wall beneath the unglazed window which faced the sick man's couch. A broken stool and a couple of soap-boxes, one furnished with a tin basin and a petrol can of water, completed the furniture.
“There's a bar to go across the door,” said a weak voice from the corner where the sick man lay; “would you be good enough to put it down? I don't want us to be disturbed...”
He cast an apprehensive glance at the window. I fitted the rough beam across the door and approached the couch. It was merely a bed of maize stalks. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Valentine Williams, Island Gold — II. In which a Gentleman pays his Debt (1923)

“ The foreigner gave them a bottle with a writing in it, bidding them swear that they would put it on his grave or he would haunt them. Then he died, and the Kanakas buried him, and having placed this object on the grave as he had ordered, fled from the island in the ship!'
“The fat man spat. 'Who shall believe a Kanaka?' he said contemptuously.
“'The foreigner was the only white man with these natives,' argued Neque. 'They feared him, and they did as he bade them lest his spirit should torment them. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Valentine Williams, Island Gold — II. In which a Gentleman pays his Debt (1923)

“ There was an old news paper, a piece of dirty packing-paper, and a cigar-box.
“He was a queer chap, this Dutchy. We never could quite make him out. Personally, I thought he wasn't all there. He spoke very rarely, but when he opened his lips he talked some kind of German-American double Dutch. He was very taciturn: the sort of man, you know, who gives no confidences and invites none. That was really what attracted him to me when we chummed up on the beach at Papeete. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Valentine Williams, Island Gold — II. In which a Gentleman pays his Debt (1923)

“ But the beach-comber thrust out a hand—such a thin and wasted hand!—and clutched my sleeve. He could not speak for the moment, but he cast me a despairing look eloquent in its appeal to me to stay.
“A fortune,” he gasped out when his breath began to come back to him. “I'll make you rich! I want to show my gratitude to the man who knows what is due to a ... a ... a gentleman!”
He fell back with livid face. I raised his head and held the pannikin to his lips. It was half full of some terrible-looking dark brown liquor. He drank a little, then lay back with closed eyes. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Valentine Williams, Island Gold — II. In which a Gentleman pays his Debt (1923)

“ Black Pablo, Neque, Mahon ... dere's not one of them dawg-gorn four-flushers dare open deir face when El Cojo's round. Dey shoot off deir mouth to me 'bout deir l'il' island. Pretty Goddam mysterious 'bout it, too. No blab to Dutchy, dey say. El Cojo won't have it. But Dutchy knows. Blarst me sowl...'
“Dutchy had a great flow of language. And he let it rip as he told me the way he meant to crow over El Cojo and his gang when he got back to San Salvador.” ”

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Source: Wikisource

Valentine Williams, Island Gold — II. In which a Gentleman pays his Debt (1923)

“ Besides, the grave has been seen on the island since...'
“At that the fat man woke up and became interested.
“'Never!' he exclaimed in astonishment.
“And then Neque told him of a conversation El Cojo had had with a 'mad seaman,' in whom it was not difficult to recognize Dutchy, who had landed with a companion from a Dutch schooner and had seen the grave and on it a bottle. The other man, the 'loco' (madman) had said, had taken out of the bottle a piece of writing. ”

Valentine Williams

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Quotes from Island Gold — II. In which a Gentleman pays his Debt (Valentine Williams)

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