‘I suppose he told you more. How, in Heaven’s name, did it come to pass?’
‘It seems that these ladies were, in a literary sense, exploiting the South Sea Islands world, with which earthly paradise, as it appeared to them, they were charmed—one may even say intoxicated, as were many before them. The younger one (they were aunt and niece) took photographs [181] ]and kept a diary—she purposed to write a book when they reached “home.” Poor girl! how little she thought where that home was to be!’
‘And so?’
‘Yes, indeed!—gruesome, mysterious, hardly credible; but true, or it would not be life. They left Honolulu for Sydney in the San Francisco boat after touching at Ponapé. For a week all went well. Then they kept their cabins. The stewardess, the doctor, when appealed to, would say nothing beyond that the lady passengers were ill—very ill; fever perhaps; people often got it in these latitudes. But by and by dark rumours began to emanate from the forecastle—the crew knew what sort of fever was occasionally spoken of with bated breath by island passengers. Captain and mate knew nothing—bluffed off all inquiry. But the Health Officer came on board directly the Heads were passed. It was early morning. The doctor was interviewed, and a very strict examination made of passengers and crew. After which the two lady passengers, muffled up to the eyes, were carried off in the doctor’s own boat. They were transferred without loss of time to the Little Bay Hospital. Leprosy, of course! Poor things! it was never known how they contracted it, but the fact was indisputable.’
‘Was it known before they came on board?’
‘Not suspected for an instant. But within a week after leaving they began (the stewardess said) to suffer from great depression and strange, unaccountable sensations. Dull pains, accompanied by semi-delirious conditions, supervened, gradually [182] ]becoming more acute and distressing. The doctor prescribed medicines which gave temporary relief, but did not explain his suspicions, and advised confinement to their cabins; occasionally, as the boat neared Sydney, sobs and wailing cries were heard by the attendants. As little as possible was said, and the facts of the case did not find their way into the papers.’
‘I never heard of anything so dreadful in my life,’ said the listener; ‘I feel like a man in a dream. But what became of them?’
‘The elder lady died, mercifully, within the year, after which the younger became insane, and was taken to an asylum, where she may be lingering yet for all I know. Better dead, perhaps.’
‘Of course the seizures are one in a thousand compared with the ratio of people killed by typhoid fever or smallpox—but what an awful possibility! One shudders at the thought not only of pain unceasing—almost unendurable, but of becoming loathsome to one’s fellow-creatures, even to one’s nearest and dearest. Why such a sacrifice of all things held dear to humanity should be permitted, shakes one’s belief in the Divine interposition in mundane affairs.’
‘Which leads into the domain of the unknowable, where the paths are dubious. Thank Heaven at least for the power of action! That at least is left to us. “So to bed,” as the late Mr. Pepys hath it.’