The drama of Saint Helena . ding from theright of the house to the Jamestown road. Thisplantation, protected from the trade-winds by thebuildings occupied by Napoleon and by the adjoiningout-houses, made a tolerably fine show, and thebranches of its few rows of trees subdued the glare ofthe tropical sun and rendered it bearable. At other times, when the weather was agreeablycool, the Frenchmen took the air in front of theverandah, or farther away in the midst of the leaflessgum-trees of the plateau. The Emperor walked withmeasured steps, now talking to his companions, nowsilent. A semi-circle
The drama of Saint Helena . ding from theright of the house to the Jamestown road. Thisplantation, protected from the trade-winds by thebuildings occupied by Napoleon and by the adjoiningout-houses, made a tolerably fine show, and thebranches of its few rows of trees subdued the glare ofthe tropical sun and rendered it bearable. At other times, when the weather was agreeablycool, the Frenchmen took the air in front of theverandah, or farther away in the midst of the leaflessgum-trees of the plateau. The Emperor walked withmeasured steps, now talking to his companions, nowsilent. A semi-circle of heights, overlooking theenclosure of Longwood, seemed to watch the littlecaptive group and keep guard over it. And, as amatter of fact, from Deadwood Camp, pitched on amound near Flagstaff Hill ; from the various summitsof the mountain range to which Diana Peak belongs ;from Alarm-House and the lofty citadel of High Knollclose to Jamestown ; from north, south, and west,telescopes followed and optical telegraphy signalled. THE TEDIUM OF SAINT HELENA 171 all the movements of the Frenchmen. On one sideonly the horizon had no eyes wherewith to spy them :to the east, the sea extended its blind mirror, itssmooth sheet almost always deserted. Sometimesseveral days elapsed without the appearance of thethree black balls that announced the sight of a sailfrom a semaphore situated near the Barn, that solemn,massive mountain next the cone of Flagstaff. Whenthe event occurred in the course of one of Napoleonswalks, he took a field-glass, usually carried by one ofhis attendants, and often saw nothing but the tops ofmasts, at the extreme limit of the waters. A shipthat did not touch at Saint Helena was passing downthere faraway. If, however, the ship happened to bebound for Jamestown, and approached the island, shegenerally turned out to be a vessel of the East IndiaCompany or a man-of-war. Betsy Balcombe devotesa page of her recollections to describing the scene theEmperor then had before
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectnapoleo, bookyear1910
