man I was destined to see stricken with a fear a thousand times more
hideous even than the fear that was mine when I saw that writhing
abomination in Dottie Fairchild's hair, dangling over her eyes and
the trap of her bodice.

I was interested in leprosy, and upon that, as upon every other
island subject, Kersdale had encyclopedic knowledge. In fact,
leprosy was one of his hobbies. He was an ardent defender of the
settlement at Molokai, where all the island lepers were segregated.
There was much talk and feeling among the natives, fanned by the
demagogues, concerning the cruelties of Molokai, where men and
women, not alone banished from friends and family, were compelled to
live in perpetual imprisonment until they died. There were no
reprieves, no commutations of sentences. "Abandon hope" was written
over the portal of Molokai.

"I tell you they are happy there," Kersdale insisted. "And they are
infinitely better off than their friends and relatives outside who
have nothing the matter with them. The horrors of Molokai are all
poppycock. I can take you through any hospital or any slum in any
of the great cities of the world and show you a thousand times worse
horrors. The living death! The creatures that once were men!
Bosh! You ought to see those living deaths racing horses on the
Fourth of July. Some of them own boats. One has a gasoline launch.
They have nothing to do but have a good time. Food, shelter,
clothes, medical attendance, everything, is theirs. They are the
wards of the Territory. They have a much finer climate than
Honolulu, and the scenery is magnificent. I shouldn't mind going
down there myself for the rest of my days. It is a lovely spot."