The road of living men Author:Will Levington Comfort Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: the sail. That time the legs of the native boat-men, in the gleam of moon or river light, were like dragons with writhing necks. ... I seemed to have a fellow un... more »derstanding with Huntoon. He was off his head, too, from the fever that comes in when the blood goes out. Once he thought he was drinking again—and he hadn't meant to. Once he revealed the white inner scroll of his heart where the taint of wild living had never reached, and the record of a clean love was hidden. . . . Yuan, the woman's lover, listened and wept—as the mumbling words of the man who could never be his rival, trailed out to the wide night. ... At last there was a quick curve in the big river, and all were awake, though it was my lone part of the night. ... I saw a great field of lights on the left bank —gun-boats and Hankow. All I knew for a long time was that Mary Romany should be near me now. . . . Jane Forbes was standing by, her face craned outward to avoid the matting, the first glow of morning in her eyes. ... I didn't understand—only that it was some change, some crossing of eternity and the end of river- junks. Heart and soul, I was waiting for Mary Romany, because this was a crossing. Surely she must meet me at every life-crossing. . . . The dawn was a great gray temple with crimson foundations. The sun lifted itself, a flaming disk of orange-red, with the black boom of a clipper man-of-war carved against the arc. Sailors were lifting Huntoon to the deck of a ship. The native boat men near me watched raptly and whispered, for this man had done much to keep the fear of violent death in their hearts. Having that, they served us well. ..." Save him all the suffering you can. Heis one of the bravest men in China," Jane Forbes called softly, to those standing above. Another small boat was near. Th...« less