“Specialrisks“becamefrequent。Ilethimexplainhimselfout。
ItappearedhewasalsodemandinganapologyforsomethingIhadsaid。NodoubtIhadinsultedhimgenerously。Atlastcamedefiniteoffers。Ibrokemysilenceandbargained。
“Pollack！”Icriedandhammeredthepartition。
“What’sup？”askedPollack。
Istatedthecaseconcisely。
Therecameasilence。
“He’saCard。”saidPollack。“Let’sgivehimhiscommission。I
don’tmind。”
“Eh？”Icried。
“IsaidhewasaCard，that’sall。”saidPollack。“I’mcoming。”
Heappearedinmydoorwayafaintwhitefigurejoinedourvehementwhisperings。
Wehadtobuythecaptainoff；wehadtopromisehimtenpercent。ofourproblematicalprofits。Weweretogivehimtenpercent。onwhatwesoldthecargoforoverandabovehislegitimatepay，andIfoundinmyout-bargainedanddisorderedstatesmallconsolationinthethoughtthatI，astheGordon-Nasmythexpedition，wastosellthestufftomyselfasBusinessOrganisations。Andhefurtherexasperatedmebyinsistingonhavingourbargaininwriting。“Intheformofaletter。”heinsisted。
“Allright。”Iacquiesced，“intheformofaletter。Heregoes！
Getalight！”
“Andtheapology。”hesaid，foldinguptheletter。
“Allright。”Isaid；“Apology。”
MyhandshookwithangerasIwrote，andafterwardsIcouldnotsleepforhateofhim。AtlastIgotup。Isuffered，Ifound，fromanunusualclumsiness。Istruckmytoeagainstmycabindoor，andcutmyselfasIshaved。Ifoundmyselfatlastpacingthedeckunderthedawninamoodofextremeexasperation。ThesunroseabruptlyandsplashedlightblindinglyintomyeyesandIsworeatthesun。Ifoundmyselfimaginingfreshobstacleswiththemenandtalkingaloudinanticipatoryrehearsaloftheconsequentrow。
Themalariaofthequapwasalreadyinmyblood。
SoonerorlatertheridiculousembargothatnowliesuponallthecoasteastwardofMordetIslandwillbeliftedandtherealityofthedepositsofquapascertained。Iamsurethatweweremerelytakingtheoutcropofastratumofnodulateddepositsthatdipsteeplyseaward。Thoseheapsweremerelythecrumbledoutcontentsoftwoirregularcavitiesintherock；theyareasnaturalasanytalusorheapofthatkind，andthemudalongtheedgeofthewaterformilesismixedwithquap，andisradio-activeandlifelessandfaintlyphosphorescentatnight。
ButthereaderwillfindthefullparticularsofmyimpressionofallthisintheGeologicalMagazineforOctober，l905，andtothatImustreferhim。There，too，hewillfindmyunconfirmedtheoriesofitsnature。IfIamrightitissomethingfarmoresignificantfromthescientificpointofviewthanthoseincidentalconstituentsofvariousraremetals，pitchblende，rutile，andthelike，uponwhichtherevolutionarydiscoveriesofthelastdecadearebased。Thosearejustlittlemolecularcentresofdisintegration，ofthatmysteriousdecayandrottingofthoseelements，elementsonceregardedasthemoststablethingsinnature。Butthereissomething——theonlywordthatcomesnearitisCANCEROUS——andthatisnotverynear，aboutthewholeofquap，somethingthatcreepsandlivesasadiseaselivesbydestroying；anelementalstirringanddisarrangement，incalculablymaleficentandstrange。
Thisisnoimaginativecomparisonofmine。Tomymindradio-activityisarealdiseaseofmatter。Moreover，itisacontagiousdisease。Itspreads。Youbringthosedebasedandcrumblingatomsnearothersandthosetoopresentlycatchthetrickofswingingthemselvesoutofcoherentexistence。Itisinmatterexactlywhatthedecayofouroldcultureisinsociety，alossoftraditionsanddistinctionsandassuredreactions。WhenIthinkoftheseinexplicabledissolventcentresthathavecomeintobeinginourglobe——thesequapheapsaresurelybyfarthelargestthathaveyetbeenfoundintheworld；
therestasyetmerespecksingrainsandcrystals——Iamhauntedbyagrotesquefancyoftheultimateeatingawayanddry-rottinganddispersalofallourworld。Sothatwhilemanstillstrugglesanddreamshisverysubstancewillchangeandcrumblefrombeneathhim。Imentionthishereasaqueerpersistentfancy。Suppose，indeed，thatistobetheendofourplanet；nosplendidclimaxandfinale，notoweringaccumulationofachievements，butjust——atomicdecay！Iaddthattotheideasofthesuffocatingcomet，thedarkbodyoutofspace，theburningoutofthesun，thedistortedorbit，asanewandfarmorepossibleend——asSciencecanseeends——tothisstrangeby-playofmatterthatwecallhumanlife。Idonotbelievethiscanbetheend；nohumansoulcanbelieveinsuchanendandgoonliving，buttoitsciencepointsasapossiblething，scienceandreasonalike。Ifsinglehumanbeings——ifonesinglerickettyinfant——canbebornasitwerebyaccidentanddiefutile，whynotthewholerace？ThesearequestionsIhaveneveranswered，thatnowIneverattempttoanswer，butthethoughtofquapanditsmysteriesbringsthembacktome。
Icanwitnessthatthebeachandmudfortwomilesormoreeitherwaywasalifelessbeach——lifelessasIcouldhaveimaginednotropicalmudcouldeverbe，andallthedeadbranchesandleavesandrottingdeadfishandsoforththatdriftedashorebecamepresentlyshrivelledandwhite。Sometimescrocodileswouldcomeupoutofthewaterandbask，andnowandthenwaterbirdswouldexplorethemudandrockyribsthatroseoutofit，inamoodoftransitoryspeculation。Thatwasitsutmostadmiration。Andtheairfeltatoncehotandaustere，dryandblistering，andaltogetherdifferentthewarmmoistembracethathadmetusatourfirstAfricanlandfallandtowhichwehadgrownaccustomed。
Ibelievethattheprimaryinfluenceofthequapuponuswastoincreasetheconductivityofournerves，butthatisamereunjustifiablespeculationonmypart。Atanyrateitgaveasortofeastwindeffecttolife。Weallbecameirritable，clumsy，languidanddisposedtobeimpatientwithourlanguor。Wemooredthebrigtotherockswithdifficulty，andgotagroundonmudanddecidedtostickthereandtowoffwhenwehaddone——thebottomwasasgreasyasbutter。Oureffortstofixupplanksandsleepersinordertowheelthequapaboardwereasill-conceivedasthatsortofworkcanbe——andthatsortofworkcanattimesbeveryill-conceived。Thecaptainhadasuperstitiousfearofhishold：hebecamewildlygesticulatoryandexpositoryandincompetentatthebarethoughtofit。Hisshoutsstillechoinmymemory，becomingaseachcrisisapproachedlessandlesslikeanyknowntongue。
ButIcannotnowwritethehistoryofthosedaysofblunderingandtoil：ofhowMilton，oneoftheboys，fellfromaplanktothebeach，thirtyfeetperhaps，withhisbarrowandbrokehisarmandIbelievearib，ofhowIandPollacksetthelimbandnursedhimthroughthefeverthatfollowed，ofhowonemanafteranothersuccumbedtoafeverishmalaria，andhowI——byvirtueofmyscientificreputation——wasobligedtoplaythepartofdoctoranddosethemwithquinine，andthenfindingthatworsethannothing，withrumandsmalldosesofEaston’sSyrup，ofwhichtherechancedtobeacaseofbottlesaboard——HeavenandGordon-Nasmythknowwhy。Forthreelongdayswelayinmiseryandnevershippedabarrow-load。Then，whentheyresumed，themen’shandsbrokeoutintosores。Therewerenoglovesavailable；andItriedtogetthem，whiletheyshovelledandwheeled，tocovertheirhandswithstockingsorgreasedrags。
Theywouldnotdothisonaccountoftheheatanddiscomfort。
Thisattemptofminedid，however，directtheirattentiontothequapasthesourceoftheirillnessandprecipitatedwhatintheendfinishedourlading，aninformalstrike。“We’vehadenoughofthis。”theysaid，andtheymeantit。Theycameafttosayasmuch。Theycowedthecaptain。
Throughallthesedaystheweatherwasvariouslyvile，firstafurnaceheatunderaskyofascowlingintensityofblue，thenahotfogthatstuckinone’sthroatlikewoolandturnedthemenontheplanksintocolourlessfiguresofgiants，thenawildburstofthunderstorms，madelementaluproarandrain。Throughitall，againstillness，heat，confusionofmind，onemasterimpetusprevailedwithme，tokeeptheshippinggoing，tomaintainonemotifatleast，whateverelsearoseorceased，thechuffofthespades，thesqueakingandshriekofthebarrows，thepluppa，pluppa，pluppa，asthemencametrottingalongtheswinginghighplanks，andthenatlast，thedollop，dollop，asthestuffshotintothehold。“Anotherbarrow-load，thankGod！
Anotherfifteenhundred，oritmaybetwothousandpounds，forthesavingofPonderevo！。！”
IfoundoutmanythingsaboutmyselfandhumanityinthoseweeksofeffortbehindMordetIsland。Iunderstandnowtheheartofthesweater，oftheharshemployer，ofthenigger-driver。Ihadbroughtthesemenintoadangertheydidn’tunderstand，Iwasfiercelyresolvedtoovercometheiroppositionandbendandusethemformypurpose，andIhatedthemen。ButIhatedallhumanityduringthetimethatthequapwasnearme。
Andmymindwaspervaded，too，byasenseofurgencyandbythefearthatweshouldbediscoveredandourproceedingsstopped。I
wantedtogetouttoseaagain——tobebeatingupnorthwardwithourplunder。Iwasafraidourmastsshowedtoseawardandmightbetrayustosomecuriouspasseronthehighsea。AndoneeveningneartheendIsawacanoewiththreenativesfaroffdownthelake；Igotfield-glassesfromthecaptainandscrutinisedthem，andIcouldseethemstaringatus。Onemanmighthavebeenahalf-breedandwasdressedinwhite。Theywatchedusforsometimeveryquietlyandthenpaddledoffintosomechannelintheforestshadows。
Andforthreenightsrunning，sothatittookapainfulgripuponmyinflamedimagination，Idreamtofmyuncle’sface，onlythatitwasghastlywhitelikeaclown’s，andthethroatwascutfromeartoear——alongochreouscut。“Toolate。”hesaid；“Toolate！。”
