Page:The further side of silence (IA furthersideofsil00clifiala).pdf/235

 akin. "Your man shall not be taken from you. Who is it that seeks to separate you from him?"

"Men say it is an order," she replied.

To the Oriental an "order" is a kind of impersonal monster, invincible and impartial, a creature that respects no man, and is cruel to all alike.

"Have no fear," I said. "It is true that I have bidden the headmen of the villages report to me concerning the number of those afflicted with the evil sickness, but this is only done that we may be able to aid those who suffer from it. Moreover, in this land of Pahang, the number is small, and the infection does not spread. Therefore, sister, have no fear, and believe me, come what may, the Govern- ment will not separate you from your man. Return now in peace to your home, and put all trouble from you. Moreover, if aught comes to sorrow you, remember that I, or another, am here to listen to your plaint.'

As I finished speaking, the woman before nie was transformed. Her eyes filled with tears, her brown skin faded suddenly to a grayish tint with the inten- sity of her relief; and before I could stay her, she had thrown herself upon the matting at my feel, encircling them with her warm clasp. I leaped up, humbled exceedingly that such a woman should so abase her- self before me, and angered by an Englishman's instinctive hatred of a scene; and as I stooped to dis- engage her hands, I heard her murnur, almost in a whisper.

"Your servant hath little skill in speech, bul in