4ISLE O' DREAMS
and red roofs of Manila with the hungry eyes of a man
who has been separated from civilization and his own
kind too many days to remember.
Before the steamer anchored, Trask saw the Taming
passing out for Hong Kong, white moustaches of foam
at her forefoot and her decks alive with men and
women. She was as smart as a big liner.
But be looked away from her to the Luneta and the
villa-like Bay View Hotel, white and stately, at the
lip of the bay. That was his goal, for he had promised
Marjorie Locke he would be in Manila the day before,
and he was now a day late.
The customs boarding officer took him ashore with
his bags and graciously allowed him to depart in a
quilez, after holding his baggage for examination.
Trask went whirling up Calle San Fernando, through
Plaza Oriente, Calle Rosario, Plaza Moraga, over the
Bridge of Spain and into shady Bazumbayan Drive,
skirting the moat of the Walled City. It was a
roundabout way but the quickest, for the cochero made
his ponies travel at a good clip for a double fare.
The rig shot across the baking Luneta, and ere it
had come to a full stop before the Bay View Trask was