His
aristocratic impulses were apt to run away with his conceptions of
brotherhood, and time after time it was only too manifest to White
that Benham's pallid flash of anger had astonished the subjects of
his disinterested observations extremely. His explorations in Hayti
had been terminated abruptly by an affair with a native policeman
that had necessitated the intervention of the British Consul. It
was begun with that suddenness that was too often characteristic of
Benham, by his hitting the policeman. It was in the main street of
Cap Haytien, and the policeman had just clubbed an unfortunate youth
over the head with the heavily loaded wooden club which is the
normal instrument of Haytien discipline. His blow was a repartee,
part of a triangular altercation in which a large, voluble,
mahogany-coloured lady whose head was tied up in a blue handkerchief
played a conspicuous part, but it seemed to Benham an entirely
unjustifiable blow.
He allowed an indignation with negro policemen in general that had
been gathering from the very moment of his arrival at Port-au-Prince
to carry him away.
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