Читать книгу The Dark River онлайн

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The young man hesitated in replying. "I hardly know, sir. I'm here with a friend. This is my first visit to the tropics. I must say that I was deeply impressed with the view of the island as we saw it coming in early this morning. I was eager to be ashore. And then..."

"Later impressions not precisely favorable?"

"Well, no; they're not, if you don't mind my saying so?"

"Mind? Why should I? But tell me a little more of how the place strikes you; in a general way, I mean."

"It's presumptuous to speak of it, after one day ashore. I've been charmed and repelled at the same time. The town seems a bit on the sordid side. I dislike squalor, and I've seen a good deal of it in rambling about to-day. My friend's enchanted with the place. He thinks Papeete is just what it should be."

Tyson smiled. "He'll be the first to want to move on."

"What makes you think so?"

"Experience--long experience. Those who dislike the place at first are the ones who stay longest. It's not to be explained, but so it is. You might be an exception, but take care! I loathed the island when I first came. I've been here thirty years. Lord knows why!"