"I've got to _learn_. Miss Foster sails to-morrow, and after that--"
"I'll show you after that," he said, and smiled reassuringly.
At one there was an adjournment for luncheon. I then became the center
of interest, and was introduced by Miss Foster to the members of
the press. Jamaica boasted three papers beside ours, and there were
representatives at the Parliament's sessions from other West Indian
islands. I was also introduced to several of the members, both black
and white.
I went to luncheon with Miss Foster and two members of Parliament
(white) and three reporters, one of them the young man who had given me
the kola, and whose name was Verley Marchmont. He was an Englishman,
the younger son in a poor, but titled, family. We had luncheon at a
little inn hard by, and while there I made three engagements for the
week. With one of the men I was to go to a polo match (Jamaica had a
native regiment whose officers were English), with another I was to
attend a ball in a lighthouse, and young Marchmont, who was only about
eighteen, was to call upon me that evening.
At the end of the afternoon session, which was not quite so wearing, as
it had grown cooler, I was introduced by Miss Foster to the governor's
secretary, Lord George Fitzpatrick, who had been smiling at me from
behind the governor's back most of the day. By him I was introduced
to the governor, who seemed to regard me as a more or less funny
curiosity, if I am to judge from his humorous expression. Lord George
also introduced me to other government members, and he asked me if
I liked candies. I said I did. He asked me if I played golf or rode
horseback. I said I didn't, but I could learn, and he said he was a
great teacher.
By this time I thought I had met every one connected with the
House, when suddenly I heard some one--I think it was one of the
reporters--call out:
"Oh, all right, Mr. Burbank. I'll see to it."
Miss Foster was drawing me along toward the door. It was time to go.
Our carriage was waiting for us. As we were going out, I asked her
whether I had yet met Mr. Burbank, and she said she supposed so.
"I don't remember meeting him," I persisted, "and I want very specially
to meet Mr. Burbank."
On the steps below us a man somewhat dudishly attired in immaculate
white duck, and wearing a green-lined helmet, turned around and looked
up at us. His face was almost pure black. His nose was large and
somewhat hooked. I have subsequently learned that he was partly Hebrew.
He had an enormous mouth, and teeth thickly set with gold. He wore
gold-rimmed glasses with a chain, and these and his fine clothes gave a
touch of distinction to his appearance. At least it made him stand out
from the average colored man. As I spoke, I saw him look at me with a
curious expression; then smiling, he held out his big hand.
"I am the Hon. Mr. Burbank," he said.
I was startled to find that this man I had been planning to
cultivate was black. I do not know why, but as I looked down into
that ingratiating face, I was filled with a sudden panic of almost
instinctive fear, and although he held out his hand to me, I did not
take it. For that I was severely lectured by Miss Foster all the way
back. She reminded me that I could not afford to snub so powerful a
Jamaican as Burbank, and that if I had the slightest feeling of race
prejudice, I had better either kill it at once or clear out of Jamaica.
She said that socially there was absolutely no difference between the
white and colored people in Jamaica.
As a matter of fact, I had literally never even heard the expression
"race prejudice" before, and I was as far from feeling it as any person
in the world. It must be remembered that in Canada we do not encounter
the problem of race. One color there is as good as another. Certainly
people of Indian extraction are well thought of and esteemed, and my
own mother was a foreigner. What should I, a girl who had never before
been outside Quebec, and whose experience had been within the narrow
confines of home and a small circle, know of race prejudice?
Vaguely I had a feeling that all men were equal as men. I do not
believe it was in me to turn from a man merely because of his race, so
long as he himself was not personally repugnant to me. I myself was
dark and foreign-looking, but the blond type I adored. In all my most
fanciful imaginings and dreams I had always been golden-haired and
blue-eyed.
V
I got on better with Mr. Campbell after Miss Foster went. He told me
it was necessary for us to keep on the right side of Mr. Burbank, who
was one of the greatest magnates and philanthropists of Jamaica, but
he took occasion to contradict some of Miss Foster's statements. It
was not true, he said, that there was no social distinction between
black and white in Jamaica. That was the general opinion of tourists
in Jamaica, who saw only the surface of things, but as a matter of
fact, though the richest people and planters were of colored blood;
though they were invited to all the governor's parties and the various
official functions; though they were in vast evidence at polo and
cricket matches; though many of them were talented and cultivated,
nevertheless, there was a fine line drawn between them and the native
white people who counted for anything. This he wished me to bear in
mind, so that while I should always act in such a way as never in the
slightest to hurt or offend the feelings of the colored element, whose
good-will was essential to _The Lantern_, I must retain my dignity
and stoop to no familiarity which would bring me and _The Lantern_
into disrepute with the white element, whose good-will was equally
essential.
I think in less than a week my employer began grudgingly to approve of
me; in about two weeks we were friends. His eyes no longer glared at
me through his thick glasses. Once when I timidly proffered one of my
"poems," those same fierce eyes actually beamed upon me. What is more,
he published the poem!
Of course it was chiefly my work that won me favor with Mr. Campbell. I
came back every day from Government House with accurate and intelligent
reports of the debates. I wonder what Mr. Campbell would have said
to me had he known that nearly all my first reports were written for
me by young Verley Marchmont of _The Daily Call_, _The Lantern's_
deadliest rival! For the life of me, I never could grasp the details
of the debates clearly enough to report them coherently, and so young
Marchmont obligingly "helped" me. However, these debates were only a
part of my work, though at this time they constituted the chief of my
duties.
For a young person in a hot country I was kept extremely busy. Even
after my day's work was over I had to bustle about the hotel and dig up
society notes and stories, or I had to attend meetings, functions, and
parties of various kinds.
One morning after I had been on _The Lantern_ about a week, Mr.
Campbell handed me a list of my duties as an employee of _The
Lantern_. Perhaps you would like to know exactly what they were:
1. To attend and report the debates of the Legislative Council when in
session.