Valentine Williams

“ Garth and Captain Lawless stood at the head of the ladder in animated conversation with a very trim young man, beautifully dressed in spotless white drill.
“Hullo,” said the Vice-Consul, “it's Custrin, your new doctor!”
“It's no good,” Garth was saying as we approached the group, “we'll be away in ten minutes, Doctor, and there's so much work going forward on deck that your friends would only be in the way...”
“But, sir,” the young man urged, “they need only stay for a minute. As distinguished residents of Rodriguez, they wished to have the honour of meeting you, of showing you courtesy. ”

“ Unconsciously, as I repeated the words to myself, the clean white panels of the cabin melted away, and there rose before my mind a dim picture, a study in grey, an outdoor scene across which swept a wintry wind with biting blast.... A leaden sky, grey buildings, their roofs deep-thatched with snow, and grey-clad troops, masses of them, set about a vast square. ”

“ Last night a poor white, a drunken Englishman who lived with a negress in the native quarter, had his throat cut. He was a worthless creature, called himself Adams; I knew him well. In fact, it's only about a fortnight ago that we threw him out of the Consulate. Well, an information has been laid against you by two citizens who swear that they saw you leave this man Adams's shack in the early hours of the morning.
“Now in the ordinary way nobody in Rodriguez makes any bones about a plain murder like this. ”

“ The dead man, I had surmised, had an appointment with some one at Cock Island, probably with El Cojo's gang. Realizing that he was about to die, the Unknown had left this message for his friends; but, probably knowing that an occasional ship touched at the island, he had coded his instructions lest they should fall into the wrong hands. The date of the message seemed to give the clue as to why his friends had failed to keep their appointment, so that the message had remained on the grave until it was found months later by Adams. The Armistice had been signed: Germany was beaten ”

“ But I do know that, while straightforward murder in Rodriguez is scarcely a penal offence, dabbling in politics is a very serious matter. What I came off to tell you was to beat it while the going's good ... ”