Then some of _them_, the tourists,
understand--Well, they had to spring the latest thing from Broadway. And
then this woman of mine--Well, you can imagine. Like a woman with a new
hat. Got to run right off and show it to the whole damn length and
breadth of the South Seas. That's all.--And once upon a time I thought I
was bright.--"
Out of the half house at the rear of the platform came the daughter of a
queen, bearing under one arm a prince of this island valley, and in the
other hand a bowl of coconut wine for the visitor. And for her lord. For
you will see that at last, despite the malignant thrusts and obstacles
of destiny, this gutter snipe of Gotham had come to a certain estate.
When I left, he accompanied me slowly to the beach.
"You ought to like it here," I said. "After all, the city could never
have given you so much."
"No," he said. Wide-eyed, he took in the azure immensity of the sea.
"No. Here a guy has got time to think, think, without any hurry or
worry.--I been thinking, Dole, a lot. I ain't going to say nothing about
it, but Dole, I b'lieve I got an idea coming along. No flivver this
time. A real, sure-fire hunch. Something that'll go big in the city.
Big!"
And so I left him there in the shadow of the mountain, staring at the
impassable sea.
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