ii8 THE WOODLANDS ORCHIDS 



' Let me attend to my business ! / can't help it ! ' 



All went well. So soon as the chiefs understood that 

 this eccentric white man fancied their weeds, they joyously 

 offered them — at a price. The time of year was excellent — 

 early in the dry season. Next day Micholitz returned aboard 

 and the Captain brought his ship round to the bay. But he 

 would not listen to the story. ' I told you they was rum 

 chaps, didn't I .? Well, you see I told you true.' In three 

 days, so plentiful was the supply, Micholitz had gathered as 

 many as he thought judicious, and heaped them on deck. 

 They could be dried while the vessel was waiting for cargo 

 elsewhere, and he longed to get away from that ill-omened 

 spot. 



Still luck attended him. The Captain ' filled up ' quickly, 

 and sailed, as by agreement, for a Dutch port, where the 

 orchids would be shipped for England. He arrived in the 

 evening, the ship lay alongside the wharf; next day his 

 precious cases would be transferred to the steamer. In great 

 content Micholitz went to sleep ; so did everybody else, the 

 watch included. Towards morning the harbour police raised 

 a cry of ' Fire ! ' It must have been smouldering for hours. 

 Not a plant could poor Micholitz save ! 



On arrival, he had telegraphed his success, and joy 

 reigned at St. Albans all day. Foresight and enterprise 

 were justly rewarded for once. What a coup — what a sensa- 

 tion ! Let us not speculate upon the language used when a 

 second dispatch came in the morning. 



' Ship burnt ! What do .? — Micholitz.' 



The reply was emphatic : ' Go back — Sander.' 



' Too late — rainy season.' 



' Go back ! ' 



And Micholitz went. His protest, had he insisted upon 

 it, was unanswerable. Hard enough it would be to return 

 among those anti-human wretches when the delights of home 



