Story of the Month: The Palm with the Bell

...It was the tallest palm on the shore, its trunk rising ninety feet above the ground... and with the swaying of the tangled fronds there rang out the notes of a bell, even in its strokes, never ceasing except when the wind was still.

...And the young woman who lived in the house next to the palm would grow very anxious whenever the wind fell still and the ringing of the bell in the palm was cut off, at times when her husband was far away...

Her husband, "Dick Kennedy," was fishing from a boat two miles out over the shallow water... on his head a threadbare hat, its color faded... his legs bare, and clothes on his back the like of which no white man had ever worn...

The strokes of the bell would reach his ear, and his face would light up and gladness spread across his brow; contented satisfaction and happiness would show, rippling with the sun's rays over his strong face.

He pulls in the line, and there on it is a valuable fish... "Dick" runs his fingers over it to learn what kind it is... for "Dick Kennedy" was blind...

...The sound of the bell still ripples in the distance... and there passes through his mind what his beloved wife "Ella" said to him the day she hung this bell in the palm: "So that we never lose our way, Richard."

Ella... she was always waiting for him... he would always find her there, waiting for him under the bell while he followed its ringing, and he would throw himself into her arms.

"Dick" believed that "Ella" was very beautiful, though he had never seen her face before... How did this deep intuition come to him, that "Ella" was beautiful? He still remembers the day he was struck by the shock of an explosion that robbed him of his sight, and how he found himself on the coast, blind, wretched, with no one to help... But Ella took him in and cared for him until

his strength returned to him; then they boarded a ship together to be married...

Even "Honer," that odious hypocrite who owned the only store on the island, and who would point at them with contempt, saying, "that good-for-nothing blind man and his wife" —

even this "Honer" could not daunt them... and they went on living their happy life under the palm with the bell...

No sooner had all these things passed through his head than he turned his boat toward the house... and he could hear Ella calling him from the shore:

"Hurry, Richard, I have a wonderful surprise!"...

He heard the rustle of her steps in the shallow water as she crossed it to meet him, and before the boat had settled she had thrown her arms around him so that he nearly fell into the water... and she was saying: It is a happy surprise, Richard...

He said, laughing: "Something good to eat, Ella?!"

She took his cheek, teasing him, gave it a light pinch and said: "Ah, you are like all other men — your heart is in your stomach."

"Ella" was carried away; she paid no attention to anything, not even to the fish he had caught; she took it from his hand, and together they ran to the happy house.

Ella danced for joy, saying, "Look, Richard! The wonderful surprise!"

Dick knit his brow, for he could not look as his wife had asked; she was so excited...

He began to feel the thing she had placed in his hand... something soft as velvet...

Ella cried out... "It is a rare pearl, Richard... black and beautiful... the loveliest thing my eyes have ever seen." And she went on telling him excitedly how she had found it inside one of the oyster shells.

...This is a pearl, Richard, such as a man sees only in a dream...

She kept chattering about the pearl's beauties while she went to and fro about the house, preparing them a meal of fish and fruit...

After the meal she brought him his pipe and lit it, and he settled down contentedly, stretched out on a mat of grasses, his head in her lap, her black hair falling over his brow...

Dick forgot everything then, and felt happiness flood his whole being; he forgot everything, even the precious pearl that was in his hand... and nothing remained in his head but "Ella," this priceless pearl beyond all money — and he felt a violent bitterness, for the first time, that he could not see Ella's beautiful face... And while "Dick" was living in his sweet dreams, his head in his beloved wife's lap, "Ella" drew a newspaper from under the mat and said to him: Richard, I never read you this before today, because there was no use in it; but now the matter is different... we were poor, and now we are rich...

He interrupted her: What do you mean, Ella?

She said... This paper says that Dr. "Steiner," the famous eye specialist, has succeeded in restoring sight to many of the blind... those who were not born blind but were stricken, like you, by an accident that came later... He is staying this winter in "Papeete."

Kennedy sighed and said: Fine words, Ella, but a doctor like him charges high fees!

— True, said Ella, and now we can pay him — this pearl.

— And would he come, Ella, from a thousand miles away?

— And why should he not come, in exchange for this beautiful pearl?

— But is this pearl worth enough for him, Ella?... We must find out what it is worth, and the best appraiser on this island is that sly "Honer" — he is a swindler, but there is no one else!!

Honer was the owner of the store and of the post office at the same time; not one of the islanders trusted him. His store stood a few yards from the grass-roofed hut that stood beside the palm with the bell... and "Honer" heard the ringing of that bell whenever the wind blew... He was a corpulent, red-faced, malicious man who took pleasure in mocking the helpless and the wretched. His eyes were small as pinholes, his mind scheming, plotting against all men... He liked to sit alone with a bottle of liquor, drinking until conceit took hold of him...

Kennedy never allowed his wife to enter "Honer's" store... And that evening, when Kennedy came to have his pearl valued, Ella came with him as far as the steps, and he went in, feeling his way with his cane... Honer was drinking, and "Kennedy" did not know he stood before the man himself until he called to him with coarse insolence: "What do you want?"

The blind man came forward with the black pearl and said: Can you give me an idea of its value, Honer?

The pearl was large and perfect in form; its light was reflected like a magic

glow. Honer's tongue was tied at the sight of it, for he had seen many beautiful pearls, but never the like of this one...

The fever of greed seized him — if only he could possess it. A hundred thousand riyals would be little for it; it was worth more than a hundred thousand riyals...

It went through his head to ask: "Where did you get it?!" But he shrewdly pressed his lips together and did not [...]

The next morning Honer saw the blind man and his wife coming, arm in arm; they placed a letter in the mailbox, then left the place as they had come, arm in arm, without exchanging a single word with Honer...

Honer fell to thinking about this letter... To whom had they sent it? What was in it? Was it a complaint against him for his attempt to steal the pearl?

His eyes turned to the mailbox... and he formed a resolve. He must know what was in this letter. And that was no hard thing for him...

He opened the box and found the letter, addressed in the name of Dr. "Steiner" in Papeete... He felt no prick of conscience; he opened it over steam and read:

Dear Dr. "Steiner,"

"Could you come to this island to treat a blind man who places all his trust in you? Our house is near the shore, under a palm in which a bell is hung. We hope that your coming will be the answer..."

"Honer" understood everything, and replaced the letter with another letter, to his friend Kixon...

A month later the other swindler, Kixon, landed on the island under the name of Dr. "Steiner," with all the medical instruments and apparatus; he had covered his face with a beard and a pair of gold spectacles, and he wore elegant dress...

Coming off the ship, Kixon passed in front of Honer, but pretended not to know him; bag in hand, he made straight for the palm and knocked at the little door.

When the door opened, he was dazzled by the lady's wondrous beauty, but he betrayed no sign that might give him away, and asked in an American accent: Is this the house of Mr. Kennedy...! I am Dr. "Steiner."

Ella stared at him; she had not believed that the great doctor would come.

She cried out: "He has really come, Richard!"

It was not easy for Kennedy to believe it, but he began to be convinced of the matter as he smelled the odor of medicines rising from the bag.

Ella asked eagerly: "And can you really, Doctor, give him back his sight?..."

Kixon passed his hand over his beard and said with gravity: "We can only hope for the best..."

He set to work... He asked for warm water and told the patient to lie down; he washed his face lightly, then brought out lenses and crystals of various kinds and looked and examined minutely. Then he brought out a number of tubes and vials containing colored liquids — sharp-smelling acids, green and blue — and put drops of them in the eyes... and waited... his watch in his hand... then examined once more... then repeated the round, putting three drops of a green solution in each eye...

Ella believed all this... and her hope was great that her husband would be cured and his sight restored... and Kennedy pressed his wife's hands, smiling.

In her joy, Ella went straight to the cupboard and brought the pearl, saying: Of course you would like to see it...

Kixon saw it and his eyes gleamed; he longed to seize it quickly, but he restrained himself... He was more expert in pearls than Honer himself. He weighed it in his palm, then put it in his pocket, saying: No doubt it will cover all the expenses.

He ordered the curtains made of tree leaves lowered, so that no light should seep in to the patient's eyes and harm them... then bound the eyes tightly and said... That is enough for today.

He slept three nights beside "Kennedy," changed the bandages many times, and put, time after time, the blue and green and pink drops into the closed eyes...

On the afternoon of the third day, Kixon wound the bandage firmly around Kennedy's head,

feigning triumph, and said:

"I am confident that I have succeeded, and tomorrow he will see your beautiful face, Mrs. Kennedy."

Ella was weeping as she said: "Tomorrow you will see."

Kennedy kissed her and said: "Tomorrow there will be no darkness."

The breeze blew, stirring the fronds of the palm, and the bell sang for them the anthem of hope.

..."Honer" was still on hot coals, waiting for Kixon with the black pearl. "Honer" knew that Kixon was a swindler born and bred, and that he would not easily manage to settle his account with him. When Kixon returned, Honer asked him roughly: "Where is it? Did you get it?"

Kixon took it in his hands, baring his teeth in a grin, then sat down and poured himself a glass of liquor.

Honer asked him: How are we to cut up this pearl?

Kixon answered him: That is very easy. I have found a buyer in Papeete, and I will send you your share after I arrive.

Kixon was lying, and Honer knew he was lying, but he pretended to believe him and asked:

And what is the sum you think we shall get, Kixon?

— Ten thousand riyals; we may get more, or a little less. I will tell you everything, and I will stake my own share from this moment and give you a draft for five thousand...

...Honer had to hold himself in hard before bursting into laughter... This swindler would give him a draft for five thousand riyals... a worthless draft... And Honer was turning over in his mind a plot to wrest the pearl from Kixon.

— Six thousand, Kixon, and let the pearl be yours...

Kixon took out his book of drafts and wrote a draft for six thousand riyals...

Honer slipped the draft into his pocket calmly and quietly, with every sign of satisfaction on his face; and when Kixon asked him how he was to get off the island without a stir, Honer answered: "I have arranged everything." You will leave this place before dawn; you have six miles ahead of you... it is the only road of escape.

— A walk of six miles... to where, Honer?

— You cross the island, by way of an unknown plantation, to the northern shore. There a fishing boat will pick you up and carry you to Rider Island...

Kixon scowled... Was he to walk a distance of six miles through the forest alone?...

— And it may happen that I lose the way. Honer answered him: You will not lose it, my friend; I will show it to you myself.

Dawn had begun to break when the two men set out on their road. In "Honer's" pocket, a ridiculous, worthless draft and a bottle of liquor; in Kixon's pocket, a precious black pearl. Honer walked ahead of Kixon, since he knew the way, and it mattered to him that his companion should know that in his bulging pocket there was a revolver... They pushed deep into the forest, the forest growing ever denser, the path stretching on through it as they wound this way and that around the trunks of the trees; and the ringing of the bell still reached their ears, fainter and fainter...

Kixon said angrily: "You said six miles, but I see it is a hundred miles..."

Honer corrected him: Take it easy; so far we have covered only two miles.

They went on walking until they reached the northern shore, and on that shore there was no sign of life but the sea birds wheeling overhead...

Anxiety showed on Kixon, and he asked: "Where is the boat?"

— "It will not arrive before sunset. Let us go into this house and rest a little."