The Man Who Did the Right Thing: A RomanceJohnston, Harry
General
The Man Who Did the Right Thing: A Romance
Johnston, Harry
British -- Africa, East -- Fiction; Missions -- Tanzania -- Fiction
"It’s Hamisi, our butler, that deserves your praise. I get so easily
tired in these days that I seldom do the flowers as I used. I make up
for it by doing all the mending that Maud will let me have and writing
all the letters home. John and Maudie expect a full account of our
doings every month.... And dear sister Maud that is here, is always
busy over our accounts and Roger’s business correspondence and her
poultry farming. You know whilst Roger was in South Africa she almost
took his place!"
"Oh, as to that," says Maud, who has a strong sense of justice, "you
must all admit Hildebrandt and Dr. Wiese both played up. I shall
_never_ forget how loyal they were to Roger ... they might have been
Englishmen ... and that, too, at a time when other Germans out here were
looking askance at us, and that horrible Stolzenberg was threatening to
raid the Concession and seize the mines..."
"By the bye," says Roger, "you never told me, either of you, about the
Flamingo outrage. There are many things I could forgive, but not that.
It was one of my great pleasures out here, going to see the Stotts and
watching the flamingoes on the lake shore. If I’d been here at the time
I should certainly have followed up the brute and shot him..."
"We didn’t tell you because we wanted you to get well, and feared you
might do something violent before your leg was healed."
"Well, now that I know, I shall certainly lodge a strong complaint with
the German Commandant at Kondoa...."
"Ann Anderson has solemnly cursed him for his cruelty," said Mrs. Stott.
"She said so in the letter she sent him by the poor Masai whose hand he
chopped off. I think that, by the bye, is better worth taking up with
the authorities than the flamingo massacre. I’m afraid you won’t find
many of the Germans sympathize with you there, though I must admit they
are a great loss to the scenery. But Ann said in the letter: ’If man
doesn’t punish you, God will.’"
"Of course," said Roger, "it is a scandal the way the Germans tolerate
this monster, just because, like Patterne—I suppose _he_ hasn’t turned
up again?..."
"Don’t know."
"... Just because he lives on the outskirts of civilization in no man’s
land. I shall try a ride on one of the Basuto ponies next week, go
first of all and see your old station of Mwada, interview Ann, remind
her of the parable of the Mote and the Beam, ask her to go slow ... with
these denunciations of moral frailty; and get some idea of the damage
done to the flamingoes. I expect my complaints may draw down on me
counter remonstrances from the Germans. I heard a growl the other day
from a Herr Inspektor of Native schools that you taught no German"
(addressing Mrs. Stott), "only Swahili and a little English. What could
you do in that respect? I should not like them to have any excuse for
interference with you...."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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