第29章

IbelieveitwillbetenchaptersofTHEEBBTIDEthatgotoyou；thewholethingshouldbecompletedinIfancytwelve；

andtheendwillfollowpunctuallynextmail。ItismygreatwishthatthismightgetintoTHEILLUSTRATEDLONDONNEWSforGordonBrownetoillustrate。Forwhom，incaseheshouldgetthejob，Igiveyouafewnotes。Apuraoisatreegivingsomethinglikeafigwithflowers。Hewillfindsomephotographsofanoldmarinecuriosityshopinmycollection，whichmayhelphim。Attwater’ssettlementistobeentirelyovershadowedeverywherebytallpalms；seephotographsofFakarava:theverandahsofthehouseare12ft。wide。Don’tlethimforgettheFigureHead，forwhichIhaveagreatuseinthelastchapter。Itstandsjustclearofthepalmsonthecrestofthebeachattheheadofthepier；theflag-

staffnotfaroff；thepierhewillunderstandisperhapsthreefeetabovehighwater，notmoreatanyprice。ThesailorsoftheFARALLONEaretobedressedlikewhitesailorsofcourse。Forotherthings，Iremitthisexcellentartisttomyphotographs。

Ican’tthinkwhattosayaboutthetale，butitseemstometogooffwithaconsiderablebang；infact，tobeanextraordinarywork:butwhetherpopular！Attwaterisanoendofacourageousattempt，Ithinkyouwilladmit；howfarsuccessfulisanotheraffair。Ifmyislandain’tathingofbeauty，I’llbedamned。PleaseobserveWisemanandWishart；

forincidentalgrimness，theystrikemeasinit。Also，kindlyobservetheCaptainandADAR；Ithinkthatknocksspots。Inshort，asyousee，I’matriflevainglorious。ButO，ithasbeensuchagrind！Thedevilhimselfwouldallowamantobragalittleaftersuchacrucifixion！AndindeedI’monlybraggingforachangebeforeIreturntothedarnedthinglyingwaitingformeonp。88，whereIlastbrokedown。

Ibreakdownateveryparagraph，Imayobserve；andliehereandsweat，tillIcangetonesentencewrungoutafteranother。Strangedoom；afterhavingworkedsoeasilyforsolong！Dideveranybodyseesuchastoryoffourcharacters？

LATER，2。30。

ItmayinterestyoutoknowthatIamentirelyTAPU，andliveapartinmychamberslikeacagedbeast。Lloydhasabadcold，andGrahamandBellearegettingit。Accordingly，I

dwellherewithoutthelightofanyhumancountenanceorvoice，andstrapawayatTHEEBBTIDEuntil(asnow)Icannomore。Fannycanstillcome，butisgonetoglorynow，ortohergarden。Page88isdone，andmustbedoneoveragainto-

morrow，andIconfessmyselfexhausted。Pityamanwhocan’tworkonalongwhenhehasnothingelseonearthtodo！ButI

haveorderedJack，andamgoingforarideinthebushpresentlytorefreshthemachine；thenbacktoalonelydinneranddurancevile。Iacquiesceinthishandoffate；

forIthinkanothercoldjustnowwouldjustaboutdoforme。

Ihavescarceyetrecoveredthetwolast。

MAY18TH。

Myprogressiscrabwise，andIfearonlyIX。chapterswillbereadyforthemail。Iamonp。88again，andwithhalfanideaofgoingbackagainto85。Weshallseewhenwecometoread:Iusedtoregardreadingasapleasureinmyoldlightdays。Allthehousearedownwiththeinfluenzainabody，exceptFannyandme。Theinfluenzaappearstobecomeendemichere，butithasalwaysbeenascourgeintheislands。

WitnessthebeginningofTHEEBBTIDE，whichwasobservedlongbeforetheIfflehaddistinguishedhimselfathomebysuchNapoleonicconquests。Iamnowofcourse’quitearecluse，’anditisverystale，andthereisnoamanuensistocarrymeovermymail，towhichIshallhavetodevotemanyhoursthatwouldhavebeenmoreusefullydevotedtoTHEEBB

TIDE。Foryouknowyoucandictateatallhoursofthedayandatanyoddmoment；buttositdownandwritewithyourredrighthandisaverydifferentmatter。

MAY20TH。

Well，IbelieveI’veaboutfinishedthething，Imeanasfarasthemailistotakeit