Fairhaven High School - Huttlestonian Yearbook (Fairhaven, MA)

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THE HUTTLESTONIAN 17 felling about one tree a day down on the farther and seldom- ever-frequented end of the island. When he had a sufficiency of logs, he cut them to a common length and bound them with rawhide stolen from the home of the insane lepers. All was now in readiness for the final step to freedom, a step which had taken nearly three years to arrive at. There could be, there must be, no slip. To prevent the authorities from doubting the authenticity of his affliction he had cut off another finger, following up this procedure by rubbing the deceiving herb on both the wound and his entire body. One night, exactly six months from the date of his arrival, after the inspection of the nurse, he slipped through the window by his bed, and made for the secluded little cove, in which his raft lay provisioned and waiting. With only the approving darkness as witness and the sound of the loose, lackadaisical lapping of the incoming tide, Jean put to sea. The few miles he paddled seemed to stretch into infinity. A strong wind impeded him, and his state of mind, as he thought how he was betraying Father Simal’s trust in him, was not conducive to haste. So emerged would he become in his reveries, that he would suddenly become aware of the fact that he had been drifting. As dawn began to tint the horizon, he was filled with the fear that he had lost his course. Then he noticed a black ridge over which the sun was casting rays. His first thought, that this blackness heralded an approaching storm, was banished when, after paddling furiously for a brief time, he discovered that it was the sky¬ line of the gently swaying jungle foliage. Ashore, he flung himself on the soil which would lead him directly to freedom, alternatingly pressing his feverish cheeks into the hard-packed sand. His mind could fasten to no definite thought or emotion, but rather whirled giddily about in a fashion over which he had no control nor attempted to exercise any. It was enough to know that he was going to live again, be free again, be happy again. After the flush of ecstacy had deepened into a warm, satisfying glow, Jean pushed the raft out into the current of

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16 THE HUTTLESTONI AN blue and frank, into which one might gaze and probe the very depths of this man, knowing that the reaction obtained would be correct. A feeling of guilt enveloped Jean. This was the one whom he was going to dupe, the one who, obviously, would be responsible for him, on whom would fall the blame for his escape. For a split second, Jean’s plan tottered and then swiftly regained its equilibrium. Too much had been endured, too much was waiting for him — he must go on, and it was a dictate of fate that the simple-minded priest must pay for his freedom. Perhaps, mused Jean as he threaded his way up a winding path overhung with foliage still glistening with myriads of cobwebs of morning dew, the priest would con¬ sider this added trouble as just one step nearer Heaven. The He Lawrence remained Jean’s world for six months, and he was sure that a lovelier spot did not grace the world. After three years of sand and sun, there were trees and brooks and moss, and freedom to wander and enjoy all this. Often he would lay on the moss, listening to the alternating melan¬ cholic murmur and rippling laughter of the brook, smelling the air pregnant with the heavy scent of heliotrope, such as only twilight can sire, and, occasionally, entertaining the thought of passing his life here with no respect for tomorrow and no care for today. There is a strong likelihood that this might have come to pass had it not been for the fact that, lovely as the island might be, it was given over to lepers and, regardless of the cautions that Jean might take, his position was precarious. It was when they allowed him the privilege of roaming about the island unattended that he first began to formulate his plans for escape. He knew, from information imparted to him by Rasset, that the He Lawrence was four miles from the mainland and that the waters thereabouts were infested by baracudas. His only means of departing from the island were either to hide in the packet which brought the provisions, and this was too risky, or to fashion some sort of a raft or canoe that would get him across the river. He commenced building a raft,

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18 THE HUTTLESTONI AN the river, and made himself a bed in a secluded bunch of bushes. He waited until the cool of evening had commenced to temper the heat of the vanquished day, and then started on his way. The first village he came to was run by traders who, understanding whence and why he came, clothed and fed him. But when they had heard his story about the stay in a leper colony, the warmth of their hospitality rapidly diminished. Two weeks later, Jean set out for Cayenne with a trading party. It had been Jean’s plan to get on a boat out of Cayenne bound for Rio de Janerio. Every moment he tarried on French soil he was in danger of being taken into custody by the police. If this happened, it would mean his life. But work was scarce around the docks, and, if expert hands were not required, credentials were; Jean defaulted in both requisitions. In order to live, he became a waiter and strong-arm man in one of the dives down near the docks. One night a drunken sailor whom he was ejecting, thrust a corkscrew deep into the palm of his hand. There was no sensation whatsoever. Jean tried to convince himself that he did not feel the pain that a normal person would have felt, because he had practised im¬ munity to it, like the Indian fakirs. But he knew that he lied. On the He Royale when he was inflicted with pain a message was telegraphed to his brain, which told him to keep still quicker even than his primitive instinct to cry out asserted itself. This time there had been no necessity to brace his body through his mind to accept the hurt silently. And the fact that he was unaware of any corporal discomfit signified but one thing; he had leprosy. The stay on the He Lawrence had been fatal! He lost his job at the dive and was ousted from his rooming house as soon as the unmistakable stench of his disease became noticeable. It was inevitable that the authorities should hear of him. They found him one day burning with fever on the outskirts of the city. He was removed to the home for lepers, or hansonians as they prefer to be called, on Mt. Canthus.