"The instinct's good. Somehow, all you learn at sea is good; I mean, it's morally bracing."
Wyndham smiled and indicated a faint dark line that melted into the horizon on the starboard hand.
"It's different in Africa, for example?"
"Oh, well," said Marston cautiously, "Africa has drawbacks, but if you don't get fever and are satisfied to look at things on the surface, you might stay there sometime and not get much harm."
Wyndham saw Marston meant to warn him and was amused. Bob was rather obvious, but he was sincere.
"Suppose you're not satisfied with things as they look on the surface and want to find out what they are beneath?" he asked.
"Then I think you ought to clear out and go back to the North."
"A simple plan! As a rule, your plans are simple. I'm curious, however, and sometimes like to indulge my curiosity. It's easily excited in Africa. There is much the white man doesn't know; he's hardly begun to grasp the negro's point of view."
"The negro has no point of view. He gropes in the dark."
"I doubt it," said Wyndham thoughtfully. "I rather imagine he sees a light, but perhaps not the light we know. There's a rude order in his country and men with knowledge rule. The Leopards, the Ghost Crocodiles, and the other strange societies don't hold power for nothing. Power that's felt has some foundation."