die or they can fire
me, I don't care."

His roads were the joy of his heart and he made excursions constantly to
see that they were kept in order. They were simple enough, wide tracks,
grass covered, cut through the scrub or through the plantations; but
trees had to be rooted out, rocks dug up or blasted, and here and there
levelling had been necessary. He was proud that he had surmounted by his
own skill such difficulties as they presented. He rejoiced in his
disposition of them so that they were not only convenient, but showed
off the beauties of the island which his soul loved. When he spoke of
his roads he was almost a poet. They meandered through those lovely
scenes, and Walker had taken care that here and there they should run in
a straight line, giving you a green vista through the tall trees, and
here and there should turn and curve so that the heart was rested by the
diversity. It was amazing that this coarse and sensual man should
exercise so subtle an ingenuity to get the effects which his fancy
suggested to him. He had used in making his roads all the fantastic
skill of a Japanese gardener. He received a grant from headquarters for
the work but took a curious pride in using but a small part of it, and
the year before had spent only a hundred pounds of the thousand assigned
to him.

"What do they want money for?" he boomed. "They'll only spend it on all
kinds of muck they don't want; what the missionaries leave them, that is
to say."

For no particular reason, except perhaps pride in the economy of his
administration and the desire to contrast his efficiency with the
wasteful methods of the authorities at Apia, he got the natives to do
the work he wanted for wages that were almost nominal. It was owing to
this that he had lately had difficulty with the village whose chief men
now were come to see him. The chief's son had been in Upolu for a year
and on coming back had told his people of the large sums that were paid
at Apia for the public works. In long, idle talks he had inflamed their
hearts with the desire for gain. He held out to them visions of vast
wealth and they thought of the whisky they could buy--it was dear, since
there was a law that it must not be sold to natives, and so it cost them
double what the white man had to pay for it--they thought of the great
sandal-wood boxes in which they kept their treasures, and the scented
soap and potted salmon, the luxuries for which the Kanaka will sell h