General Macarthur
Traits and Quotes
Heartbroken
“And then – he found out!
It had come about exactly in the way things happened in books. The letter in the wrong envelope. She’d been writing to them both and she’d put her letter to Richmond in the envelope addressed to her husband. Even now, all these years later, he could feel the shock of it – the pain….
God, it had hurt!”
Pessimism
“Of course it won’t come. We’re counting on the motor boat to take us off the island. That’s the meaning of the whole business. We’re not going to leave the island….None of us will ever leave….It’s the end, you see – the end of everything….”
Sagacity
He said:
“Ah! It’s you! You’ve come….”
Vera sat down beside him. She said:
“Do you like sitting here looking out to sea?”
He nodded his head gently.
“Yes,” he said. “It’s pleasant. It’s a good place, I think, to wait.”
“To wait?” said Vera sharply. “What are you waiting for?”
He said gently”
“The end. But I think you know that, don’t you? It’s true, isn’t it? We’re all waiting for the end.
She said unsteadily:
“What do you mean?”
General Macarthur said gravely:
“None of us are going to leave the island. That’s the plan. You know it, of course, perfectly. What, perhaps, you can’t understand is the relief?”
Vera said wonderingly:
“The relief?”
He said:
“Yes. Of course, you’re very young…you haven’t got to that yet. But it does come! The blessed relief when you know that you’ve done with it all – that you haven’t got to carry the burden any longer. You’ll feel that too some day…”
“And then – he found out!
It had come about exactly in the way things happened in books. The letter in the wrong envelope. She’d been writing to them both and she’d put her letter to Richmond in the envelope addressed to her husband. Even now, all these years later, he could feel the shock of it – the pain….
God, it had hurt!”
Pessimism
“Of course it won’t come. We’re counting on the motor boat to take us off the island. That’s the meaning of the whole business. We’re not going to leave the island….None of us will ever leave….It’s the end, you see – the end of everything….”
Sagacity
He said:
“Ah! It’s you! You’ve come….”
Vera sat down beside him. She said:
“Do you like sitting here looking out to sea?”
He nodded his head gently.
“Yes,” he said. “It’s pleasant. It’s a good place, I think, to wait.”
“To wait?” said Vera sharply. “What are you waiting for?”
He said gently”
“The end. But I think you know that, don’t you? It’s true, isn’t it? We’re all waiting for the end.
She said unsteadily:
“What do you mean?”
General Macarthur said gravely:
“None of us are going to leave the island. That’s the plan. You know it, of course, perfectly. What, perhaps, you can’t understand is the relief?”
Vera said wonderingly:
“The relief?”
He said:
“Yes. Of course, you’re very young…you haven’t got to that yet. But it does come! The blessed relief when you know that you’ve done with it all – that you haven’t got to carry the burden any longer. You’ll feel that too some day…”
His crime that the Voice said
John Gordon Macarthur, that on the 4th of January, 1917, you deliberately sent your wife’s lover, Arthur Richmond, to his death.
How he died
When he was alone outside, Wargrave came from the back, quietly, and hit him in the head.