A Galahad of the Creeks guide

Summary

Characters

• PeregrineAlso JacksonLeadFrom Chapter 1 (1)
• HawkshaweHelperFrom Chapter 1 (1)
• HabakkukAlso SmalleyOtherFrom Chapter 1 (1)
• BahAlso HmoayVillainFrom Chapter 2 (1)
• MieHelperFrom Chapter 2 (1)
• RuysLoveFrom Chapter 3 (1)
• SenVillainFrom Chapter 3 (1)
• JohnAlso Little John, GalbraithSuitorFrom Chapter 3 (1)
• AnthonyAlso PozendineGatekeeperFrom Chapter 6 (1)
• IyerVillainFrom Chapter 6 (1)
• SerferezHelperFrom Chapter 6 (1)
• BullinGuardianFrom Chapter 8 (1)
• LizzieAlso BullinSuitorFrom Chapter 8 (1)
• PhipsonGatekeeperFrom Chapter 9 (1)
• Li FongVillainFrom Chapter 12 (1)
• HalsaAlso LamportSuitorFrom Chapter 1 (2)
• BunnyHelperFrom Chapter 1 (2)
• EddyAlso BunnyChildFrom Chapter 1 (2)
• SarkiesSuitorFrom Chapter 1 (2)
• ManuelHelperFrom Chapter 2 (2)
• Steve LamportAlso Stephen Lamport, Captain S. LamportVillainFrom Chapter 5 (2)
• BillAlso DungareeVillainFrom Chapter 7 (2)

Chapter by chapter

Storylines

• Peregrine and Hawkshawe begin an acquaintance marked by mutual appraisal, practical assistance and hospitality.

  • The evening produces anger and moral disapproval in Peregrine and hostility in Hawkshawe, obstructing their developing friendship.
  • Hawkshawe's teasing deeply offends Peregrine. Hawkshawe apologizes and offers a ride, but Peregrine declines while considering Anthony's affair.
  • Peregrine expresses sympathy and confidence in Hawkshawe's innocence, then attempts to visit him during his disgrace.
  • Peregrine restrains Hawkshawe, then helps and shelters him; Hawkshawe's death ends their relationship and leaves Peregrine shaken.

• Smalley takes offence when he mistakes Peregrine's condemnation of nga-pe for contempt toward salvation; Peregrine learns the cause, but Smalley has left without hearing his explanation.

  • Hawkshawe explains the misunderstanding to Smalley, who becomes willing to reconcile; Peregrine learns this, but their reconciliation has not yet occurred.
  • Habakkuk offers practical assistance and revises his unfavorable judgment of Peregrine to regard him as excellent, ending the estrangement, although no explicit explanation of the original misunderstanding is recorded.

• Hawkshawe undertakes to reconcile Smalley with Peregrine after their misunderstanding.

  • Hawkshawe carries out his intervention and secures Smalley's willingness to reconcile, leaving the actual meeting outstanding.
  • The intended reconciliation is achieved through Peregrine's encounter with the Smalleys; these events do not establish that Hawkshawe intervened.

• Geelong becomes Peregrine's head servant, with Peregrine initially judging him excellent.

  • Geelong attends to Peregrine's comfort with a prepared drink and withdraws when dismissed.

• Peregrine agrees to dine with Hawkshawe that evening.

  • Peregrine visits Hawkshawe, joins him in the dining-room, and departs after the evening.

• Peregrine seeks to guide and improve the lives of the people he governs through a paternal programme of administration.

  • Peregrine identifies a possible threat to the district and announces his intention to plan action against Bah Hmoay.
  • Although he tries to apply himself to his papers, his preoccupation with Ruys displaces his governing commitment to duty.
  • Conflicting accusations, a witness's repudiation and Anthony's plea for pardon confront Peregrine with an unresolved administrative affair that he withdraws to consider.
  • Peregrine explicitly wishes to finish his work, but his death ends his pursuit with that work unfinished.

• Hawkshawe conceals Mie's presence from Peregrine with a false explanation about preparing bitters; Peregrine believes the explanation but remains curious about the disappearing robe.

• Peregrine undertakes to plan the suppression of Bah Hmoay after learning Hawkshawe suspects the priest of organizing the dacoits, despite initially doubting the accusation.

  • Peregrine approves a concrete defensive measure for Yeo's treasury, although no direct action against Bah is recorded.
  • Peregrine learns of the robbery and receives eyewitness testimony identifying Bah and Sen as its leaders, strengthening the grounds for action against Bah.
  • The campaign against Bah becomes an active pursuit, with eight gang members captured; the fugitives remain beyond reach in the jungle.
  • Peregrine learns that Bah remains active and receives a clue to his hiding place. An authorized pursuit kills Sen, but Bah escapes, leaving his suppression unfinished.
  • The police rout the attacking dacoits and capture Bah, accomplishing the immediate suppression Peregrine undertook.

• Peregrine and Hawkshawe become estranged over Hawkshawe's account of local life: Peregrine resents his intrusive question and leaves, while Hawkshawe judges him a cold-blooded prig.

  • Peregrine feels relief at leaving Hawkshawe and rejects the prospect of becoming like him, reinforcing his repudiation of Hawkshawe's example.
  • Peregrine threatens to end their association over Hawkshawe's remarks about Ruys, although Hawkshawe apologizes.
  • Peregrine's sympathetic note and attempted visit begin to bridge their estrangement, although reconciliation is not shown.

• Peregrine resolves to resist the personal deterioration he associates with Hawkshawe, although he loses confidence that strength alone will protect him.

  • Peregrine briefly recovers confidence by rejecting Hawkshawe's prophecy, but getting lost again unsettles his belief in his own moral strength.
  • His resolve against personal moral deterioration becomes an exhausting overnight struggle to resist loving another man's wife; its success remains unsettled.

• Mie approaches the distressed Hawkshawe, understands his emotional state, and offers good news whose substance remains undisclosed.

  • Hawkshawe now resolves to get rid of Mie at all risks, opposing the continuation of their connection.
  • Mie's proposal to travel together for Hawkshawe's recovery gives way to his announcement of separate departures. She experiences this as betrayal, and their exchange ends in threatened violence and her withdrawal.

• Bah conducts clandestine preparations for revolt and a treasury raid, meeting hidden conspirators and securing Mie's cooperation in a concealed inner hall; Peregrine has not been shown learning these particulars.

  • The raid becomes known to Peregrine, and Serferez identifies Bah and Sen as leaders. Mie's involvement and the wider preparations for revolt remain undisclosed.
  • Bah and Sen are publicly wanted and members of the gang are captured, further exposing the criminal enterprise without establishing that its full preparations are known.

• Bah prepares a revolt and organizes a raid on Yeo's treasury in one week, promising half the proceeds to the men and reserving half for the cause.

  • The planned treasury raid succeeds after the guard is reduced through a forged order. The wider revolt and the promised division of the proceeds remain unfulfilled in the recorded events.

• Bah, Sen and the conspirators bind themselves by reciprocal oaths of fidelity, although Bah subsequently doubts whether the men will remain faithful.

  • Sen delivers the forged order and is identified alongside Bah leading the attack, demonstrating active cooperation.
  • Bah and Sen continue acting together in the attack on Li Fong and are subsequently found together at their hiding place.

• Bah purchases Mie's cooperation with payment including a ruby bracelet; she agrees to arrange for Yeo's police guard to be very weak next Friday and promises to settle arrangements after Hawkshawe's dinner guest leaves.

  • The intended weakening of Yeo's guard occurs through a forged order delivered by Sen; these events do not establish Mie's part in producing it.

• Peregrine's confidence in his humanity-centered creed and personal moral strength is challenged by his disorientation and by Ruys's Christian declaration of love without reward.

• Peregrine and Ruys begin an acquaintance charged with attraction and flirtation; learning that she is married disappoints him, while she feels his attraction strongly.

  • Peregrine's attraction deepens into acknowledged love and possessive longing. Ruys's marriage causes renewed distress and shame, prompting resistance; no further response from Ruys is shown.
  • Ruys invites Peregrine to dinner, and he accepts despite recognizing his love as something he must conquer.
  • Peregrine suppresses speech prompted by Ruys's touch, then suspects her of playing a double game; his enthrallment weakens.
  • A secluded encounter and Ruys's gift deepen their attachment; Ruys recognizes her love, while Peregrine suspects a mutual understanding that has not actually been established.
  • Their attraction becomes explicitly confessed mutual love and a kiss, followed by Peregrine's insistence on permanent separation.

• Ruys increasingly resents her marriage to Habakkuk, challenges and rebuffs him, and directs him to read the Bible as his attempts at companionship intensify her irritation.

  • Habakkuk responds joyfully to Ruys's apparent concern and touch, while Peregrine suspects duplicity. The apparent warmth does not establish that the marital conflict is resolved.
  • Ruys urgently presses Habakkuk to take her to Dagon and becomes impatient when he fails to understand her request.
  • Retrospective events establish the marriage's progression from admiration to regret and alternating affection and coldness. Her present affection briefly elates Habakkuk before his discovery of her love for Peregrine devastates him; he chooses mercy.
  • Ruys recognizes Habakkuk's efforts and feels renewed attachment and self-doubt, softening the marital estrangement, although she evades his proposal.

• Peregrine and Habakkuk grow more at ease together during their walk; Habakkuk offers practical care, and Peregrine invites him inside, although Habakkuk returns to his wife.

  • Habakkuk's language knowledge helps Peregrine receive Serferez's eyewitness account, extending their practical cooperation.
  • Peregrine's insistence that Pazobin needs Habakkuk flatters him and strengthens their personal regard.

• Peregrine recognizes his love for the married Ruys and struggles to resist a desire he finds shameful.

  • Peregrine reacts sharply to teasing about Ruys, resolves to face and conquer his love, accepts her invitation and destroys her letter.
  • Peregrine commits to mastering his passion and restrains an impulse to speak, but remains emotionally entangled and feels disloyal for suspecting Ruys.
  • Peregrine accepts Ruys's gage and promises to keep it forever, while restraining his desire to embrace her and declare his love.
  • Peregrine believes he has mastered temptation, yields to mutual desire, then renews restraint by demanding permanent separation and leaving.
  • Peregrine's death beside Ruys ends his continuing struggle against his love for her.

• Anthony resents Hawkshawe's repeated summons and public insults, and attempts to retaliate through a formal complaint.

• Iyer encourages Anthony's retaliation while anticipating his own promotion, repudiates him when questioned, and subsequently forms a tactical alliance with him despite their mutual hostility.

• Hawkshawe undertakes to send thirty additional police to Yeo on Saturday, with Peregrine approving reinforcement instead of moving the treasury's money.

  • The guard is reduced, the defending force is overwhelmed, and all treasury money is stolen before the proposed reinforcement can secure it.

• Peregrine must judge Anthony's allegations against Hawkshawe and Iyer's counterallegations that Anthony accepted bribes from Bah and Sen; Anthony begs for pardon.

• Hawkshawe resolves to get rid of Mie at all risks and conditionally to abandon his unspecified misconduct if his present scheme succeeds.

  • Hawkshawe makes his separation scheme concrete: he will send Mie to Ava in a fortnight and leave for his own country in a month, offering promises of return and further provision. Mie explicitly resists; the separation has not occurred.
  • Hawkshawe reverses his effort to separate from Mie by pursuing her to force her return; his death ends the plan without accomplishing its intended reform.

• Anthony and Iyer agree to go to Rangoon to expose Hawkshawe and recover their posts.

  • Hawkshawe is suspended and replaced, and concludes that Anthony and Iyer combined to bring the charges. Their responsibility remains his inference, and recovery of their posts is not shown.

• Despite their renewed alliance and Iyer's oath of fidelity, Anthony and Iyer each privately intend to settle accounts with the other after recovering their posts.

• Mie regards Hawkshawe's proposed separation as betrayal and loses trust in him; her pleas for continued attachment meet a threatened blow.

  • Repeated abuse culminates in Mie's attempted killing and denunciation of Hawkshawe. She nevertheless returns to support him at his death, which ends their conflict.

• Mie resolves to remain with Hawkshawe wherever he goes and resist separation until death; she recognizes an opportunity to kill him while he drinks and reaffirms her determination to keep him hers at any spiritual cost.

  • Mie urges Hawkshawe to flee and takes away his revolver during an apparent suicide attempt, acting to preserve his life and their attachment.
  • Mie attempts to kill Hawkshawe, escapes and renounces her protection of him, but returns to his deathbed and remains with him until he dies. She subsequently departs.

• Ruys conceals the novel beneath embroidery before Habakkuk enters; whether he learns of it is not shown.

• Habakkuk's reported employment as town doctor traps him between withheld pay and an armed threat preventing his resignation.

• A forged order presented as Hawkshawe's induces Serferez to reduce the Yeo guard; the forgery is subsequently disclosed to Hawkshawe and Peregrine, but its authorship remains unidentified.

• Hawkshawe places the pagoda under watch following the treasury robbery and suspicion of Bah.

• Hawkshawe pursues Bah to kill him and suppress his dangerous knowledge, but his recall interrupts the pursuit.

  • Hawkshawe dies without completing his pursuit of Bah or suppressing Bah's dangerous knowledge.

• Serferez seeks personal, tenfold revenge for Hashim before allowing the fugitives to face legal punishment; impassable jungle prevents him from reaching them.

  • A clue lets Serferez reach the fugitives. He secures leadership of the pursuit, waives his reward, and returns Sen's severed head, advancing his personal revenge; Bah nevertheless escapes.

• Hawkshawe faces official investigation, suspension and confinement to Pazobin; exposure of his guilt drives humiliation, an apparent suicide attempt and withdrawal.

  • Hawkshawe submits a defence and chooses to fight the case despite deterioration and another aborted suicide attempt. The governor has already decided against him, but Hawkshawe dies before an inquiry outcome is shown.

• Habakkuk considers moving to Dagon to serve the flourishing mission school, while Peregrine urges him to remain in Pazobin.

  • Habakkuk agrees to move, prepares their transport, and departs with Ruys; arrival and service in Dagon are not yet shown.
  • Habakkuk abandons the prospective move to Dagon by committing to leave the East permanently and relinquish his work.

• Ruys asks Peregrine to conceal her headache from Habakkuk and later washes away the signs of her private tears before returning to her husband.

• Ruys recognizes her love for Peregrine and struggles against it through prayer and a vow of service to God.

  • Ruys's resolve weakens. She renews her escape plan but cannot request permanent separation and confesses her love; after Peregrine imposes a farewell, she leaves with Habakkuk.
  • Ruys's inward struggle produces greater courage and seriousness at the cost of her former vivacity; renewed attachment to Habakkuk further changes her emotional position.

• Ruys urges Habakkuk to move immediately to Dagon and take her with him, seeking departure after recognizing her love for Peregrine.

  • Habakkuk welcomes the proposed move, arranges departure, and leaves the parsonage with Ruys.
  • The proposed move to Dagon is superseded by their joint commitment to leave the East permanently and their departure aboard the Woon.

• The governor commits to purifying Burma's administration and prejudges Hawkshawe's case before the inquiry concludes.

• Mie undertakes to cleanse Hawkshawe's memory through restitution and surrenders her jewels, including the ruby bracelet, into Peregrine's custody.

• Peregrine vows to protect Ruys from moral downfall and maintain a sisterly attachment, but their mutual confession and kiss breach his restraint.

  • Ruys witnesses Peregrine's fatal condition and death; his effort to maintain a restrained attachment ends without any further settlement between them.

• Peregrine insists that his farewell to Ruys must mark permanent separation and leaves her.

  • Their farewell was not their final encounter: Ruys is present when the wounded Peregrine returns and dies beside her, making separation permanent.

• Habakkuk secretly witnesses Ruys and Peregrine's meeting and learns of their love; neither is shown learning that he knows.

  • The secret of Ruys and Peregrine's love reaches Bah through a servant girl, and he uses it to devise revenge. These events do not show either lover learning that Habakkuk knows.

• Habakkuk chooses merciful restraint after discovering his wife's love for Peregrine and prays for strength to sustain it.

  • Habakkuk turns merciful restraint into practical sacrifice, planning to finance Ruys's return home; his efforts renew her attachment to him.

• Li Fong plans to leave Pazobin after his profits collapse and Pillay rejects a profitable arrangement; he sells his shop, but is murdered before any departure is shown.

• Bah and Sen restrain and threaten Li Fong while Bah steals his jewels; Bah declares his intention to kill him, and Li Fong is subsequently found murdered.

• Phipson seeks to see Bah hanged after learning of Li Fong's murder and Bah's mocking message.

  • Phipson personally captures Bah and secures him under armed guard, enabling prosecution; no hanging is shown.

• Serferez leads six selected policemen to the dacoits' hiding place and orders a flanking rush to capture Bah and Sen alive; Bullen's shot disrupts the ambush, Bah escapes, and Sen is captured but later killed.

  • Mie's warning supplies a fresh opportunity to capture Bah, and Serferez mobilizes police and transport. Bah's capture remains unachieved.

• Serferez tells Phipson that Sen's attempted escape made killing him necessary; the account is presented as Serferez's claim rather than independently established fact.

• Habakkuk resolves to relieve Ruys by enabling her return home, withholding some charitable giving to fund it; Ruys attempts to evade his proposal by professing good health.

  • Habakkuk and Ruys depart together and commit to leaving the East permanently, advancing his intention to enable her return home; arrival is not shown.

• Bah plans to enslave Ruys to torment Peregrine, timing his attack for the third day according to his interpretation of the silver gifts.

  • The attack reaches the mission village, but police intervention routs the attackers and Bah is captured. Ruys remains with Habakkuk rather than being carried away.

• Mie seeks revenge against Bah while he claims leverage over her sick outlaw brother and secures her apparent agreement to assist his attack on Ruys.

• Mie's apparent cooperation conceals her effort to bring the police against Bah; her mother suspects wrongdoing, while Serferez instructs Mie to keep the warning secret.

• Mie undertakes a concealed journey to warn Peregrine about Bah's raid; finding him absent, she informs Serferez and offers an additional reward for Bah's capture.

  • Mie's warning produces an armed intervention and Bah's capture, fulfilling her effort to bring the police against him.

• Serferez acts on Mie's warning by directing her to return secretly, ordering a telegram, assembling twenty picked men, arranging a police steamer and riding toward Peregrine's camp.

  • The rescue expedition collects police, overcomes the steamer's grounding, reaches the village, breaks the attack and captures Bah, though Peregrine is fatally wounded.

• The rescuers press on to the attacked mission village, replacing the grounded steamer with canoes, taking a creek shortcut and dividing their forces to relieve the defenders and intercept the attackers.

• Peregrine and Phipson pursue the escaping dacoits and attack their island refuge from two sides; Phipson captures Bah, while Peregrine is fatally wounded.

• Fatally wounded, Peregrine insists on surviving to finish his work, but dies beside Ruys.

• Habakkuk invites Phipson to visit and promises him a warm welcome.

• Habakkuk affectionately attends to Ruys as they leave the East together; her response is not established.

• Serferez plans to return to the Salt Range with Motee and enjoy retirement, supported by his pension and rewards.

• The Rigaum congregation restricts relations with Halsa to armed neutrality; its women avoid friendship with her, while public scrutiny provokes her anger.

  • The congregation extends its affection for John to Halsa and wholeheartedly accepts her into its community.

• Sarkies intends to accompany Halsa home, but his confrontation with Bullin interrupts the intended approach.

• Bullin publicly condemns Sarkies for swearing and bars him from his house; Sarkies seeks pardon but withdraws under the denunciation.

  • Eddy reports an impending church expulsion to Sarkies, who responds with renewed anger and swearing.
  • Bullin carries his condemnation of Sarkies into the council, which votes to expel Sarkies and hands the signed notice to its clerk for dispatch.
  • Sarkies's exclusion becomes actual loss of church membership, and his family answers by repudiating the congregation.
  • Bullin helps maintain Sarkies's exclusion; Sarkies subsequently marries Lizzie, whom Bullin repudiates.

• Bullin commits to reporting Sarkies's conduct at the next meeting.

  • Bullin reports Sarkies's alleged misconduct at the meeting and formally seeks his expulsion.

• Lizzie reveals her attachment to Sarkies through distress at his treatment and an appeal to her Jimmy as he departs.

  • Sarkies reciprocates Lizzie's attachment, declares his wish to marry her, and entrusts a romantic letter for delivery.
  • Sarkies persists in pursuing Lizzie despite his expulsion, and their meeting establishes a satisfactory mutual romantic understanding.
  • Their attachment culminates in elopement, marriage and departure on honeymoon.

• Lizzie's appeal to Sarkies provokes her father's wrath; Bullin orders his daughters to the carriage.

  • Alienated by Bullin's bullying, Lizzie elopes with Sarkies. Bullin repudiates her and orders Laura to forget their sisterhood, causing Laura grief.

• The Jain worshippers virtually triumph in the noise lawsuit, while Bullin continues to seek divine punishment for rival worshippers.

  • The lawsuit has depleted church funds, and the tabernacle dissolves and sells its property, to the Jain community's delight.

• The American evangelist seeks to evangelize white people in the East and establishes at least twelve churches, but most congregations lose their zeal after his departure.

• John attempts to cultivate a garden beyond the thriving cocoa palms.

• John rebukes Manuel for repeatedly omitting milk and sugar and questions his religious observance; Manuel's account of confession provokes John and exposes their religious disagreement.

• John commits to abstaining from smoking to preserve the Sabbath despite his desire to smoke.

  • John catches himself unconsciously reaching for his pipe and puts it down, actively maintaining his Sabbath abstinence.

• John seriously considers marrying Halsa and resolves to approach her about marriage, encouraged by her kindness and his romantic excitement.

  • Despite forgetting his prepared words, John asks Halsa to marry him and she accepts.

• Bullin's religious instruction terrifies Sunday-school pupils into leaving in tears, while his requirement that his daughters reproduce his lecture causes them distress.

• John repeatedly oscillates between doubt and certainty about direct providential intervention.

  • John seeks divine help against temptation and then interprets his engagement as God's blessing and direct work, moving toward certainty without establishing that his recurring doubts have ended.
  • John shares his continuing mental struggle with Halsa and receives comfort from her sympathy and common sense; its resolution is not established.

• John requests a private interview with Halsa; she agrees to meet after church and walk home with him, without any stated knowledge of his marital intention.

  • Their agreed meeting takes place, John makes his proposal, and Halsa receives confirmation that marriage was his intended disclosure.

• John and Halsa become engaged and share kisses and embraces; John regards their engagement as God's work.

  • The engagement is confirmed to the Bunnys and receives their affectionate approval. John and Halsa agree to announce it, and Halsa voluntarily kisses John to reassure him of her acceptance.
  • John's intended marriage to Halsa is announced to the council, including a proposal for a speedy ceremony.
  • John delights in Halsa's proprietorial manner and approves her refurbishment of the room; their accepted kisses and embrace reaffirm their affection, and he kisses her publicly at parting.
  • John and Halsa marry, enjoy their honeymoon, and deepen their intimacy through mutual disclosure and Halsa's sympathetic support.
  • John assures Halsa that he believes her, but Lamport's surviving marital claim leads John to relinquish her companionship.
  • Halsa grieves her separation from John and nearly resolves to return to him, but does not act on that intention before Lamport strikes her unconscious.

• Eddy witnesses John and Halsa's intimacy and threatens to tell his mother; Halsa resents his intrusion and threatened disclosure, while John becomes comfortable with their relationship becoming known.

  • Eddy discloses John's kissing to Bunny, and the couple confirms their engagement. Bunny nevertheless plans to discourage further disclosure by Eddy.
  • Despite his father's threat of punishment for disclosure, Eddy tells Sarkies that Halsa intends to marry John.

• Bunny's relations with Bullin approach an open rupture; Bullin takes satisfaction in Bunny's inconvenient Sunday walk.

  • Bunny attempts to interrupt Bullin's criticism of the marriage, yet Bullin ends the meeting grateful for Bunny's support and insists on driving him home.
  • Their threatened rupture gives way to close cooperation in responding to John's crisis.

• Bunny adopts walking to church on Sundays to uphold his convictions despite irritation and regret.

• Bunny painfully punishes Eddy, prompting Maggie to intervene against punishment on Sunday.

• John and Halsa agree to announce their engagement at the next Tabernacle Council meeting; Bunny plans to discourage Eddy from disclosing it beforehand.

  • Bunny has attempted to secure Eddy's silence by threatening a beating, but Eddy discloses the engagement to Sarkies before the planned announcement.
  • The intended marriage is announced at the Tabernacle Council meeting, fulfilling the announcement plan.

• Maggie fears that Halsa's engagement to John may end badly and questions whether Halsa's deserting husband Stephen is really dead; Bunny ends their discussion without settling her doubt.

  • Halsa's account supplies the basis for her certainty that her former husband died: inquiry reports and an interview with a survivor who saw the escape boat swamped. His death remains unconfirmed by these events, and Maggie is not shown receiving this information.
  • Maggie's unresolved doubt about Stephen's death is confirmed: he is alive, and his return separates Halsa from John. Maggie is not shown learning this.

• Sarkies arranges for Eddy to pass his romantic verses through Florry to Lizzie in secret, paying eight annas; Eddy and Florry subsequently abandon the delivery.

  • The verses intended for Lizzie reach Bullin and are read before the council; their delivery to Lizzie is not shown.

• Eddy claims Florry as his sweetheart and proposes marrying her when grown; she initially assents, then reserves the possibility of choosing another husband, leaving him distressed.

• Florry and Eddy plan to retaliate against Lizzie and Sarkies by secretly leaving Sarkies's letter on Bullin's table; execution is not shown.

  • Bullin finds the envelope on his table and reacts angrily to Sarkies's verses, consistent with the children's intended retaliation, although their placement of it is not shown.

• Eddy concludes without stated evidence that Billy Bunder is his romantic rival and threatens retaliation.

• Lamport claims responsibility for sinking a ship and its occupants in a scheme whose intended benefit was frustrated by a lawyer's questions; he subsequently went into hiding.

• Bill intends to leave after the drinks and sail with the tide, but Lamport's drugging incapacitates him before any departure is shown.

  • Bill discovers that he missed his intended ship and subsequently obtains employment aboard another vessel.

• Lamport secretly drugs Bill and steals his heavy canvas belt and knife; Bill appears to recognize the attack but collapses before completing his accusation.

  • Bill identifies Lamport as the thief, confronts and kills him after a knife attack, and recovers his belt, though its contents are diminished.

• Lamport conceals his drugging and robbery of Bill from Kavasji, diverting the proprietor's attention with another drink order before slipping out.

• Lamport flees with Bill's stolen possessions and heads toward the nearest railway station, regarding the theft and escape as a fresh start.

  • Lamport's attempted fresh start ends when Bill finds and kills him and recovers the stolen belt.

• John longs for a warmer, more loving and charitable belief; he wishes to confess his spiritual blindness but suppresses the confession.

• Bullin mistakes Sarkies's romantic verses for an address to himself and becomes enraged when John disputes that interpretation.

• Bullin publicly opposes John's intended marriage to Halsa but abandons further criticism after recognizing the council's discontent.

  • Bullin renews his opposition by seeking John's resignation and boycotting the wedding, but the marriage proceeds. John later offers reconciliation, without an established response from Bullin.

• John seeks to prevent Sarkies's expulsion and reform him instead, but the council votes for expulsion and prepares its formal notice.

  • The expulsion John sought to prevent takes effect.
  • A renewed attempt to admit Sarkies, supported by Bunny, fails when the meeting confirms his excommunication.

• Following Sarkies's expulsion, his family repudiates the congregation, returning society work with an accusatory note and publicly severing social relations.

• The Sarkies family suspends church attendance and postpones choosing another denomination, to Sarkies's relief.

  • Sarkies and his family end their postponement of a denominational choice by entering the Roman Catholic Church.

• Sarkies and Captain Lamport become acquainted over billiards and drinks, exchanging identifying information; Sarkies tells Lamport of widow Lamport's impending marriage to Galbraith and Galbraith's access to church funds.

• Sarkies loses consciousness after drinking with Lamport and awakens outside the Fort with his watch chain missing; how he arrived there and how the chain disappeared remain undisclosed.

• Manuel plans to obtain a written dinner menu with Pinto's son's assistance, but the son's absence defeats the arrangement and John stops Manuel's substitute announcement of the dishes.

• Manuel seeks to leave John's service because he anticipates increased household control and work; he refuses higher pay and obtains permission to leave after John detects inconsistent claims about his mother.

• Bullin seeks supporters for a resolution condemning John's marriage and demanding his resignation, and resolves to boycott the wedding and prevent his daughters from attending.

  • Bullin's compassion and solidarity with John displace his campaign against him; no explicit withdrawal of the proposed resolution is shown.

• John offers reconciliation with Bullin; witnesses assume it succeeds without hearing Bullin's reply, and Halsa subsequently believes Bullin is becoming fond of her.

  • Bullin visits John and offers a silent gesture of solidarity, providing direct evidence of reconciliation.

• Halsa commits herself to assisting John's work and takes charge of the tabernacle accounts and access to its cash-box.

  • Halsa's departure with Lamport interrupts the shared household through which she undertook to assist John's work; no subsequent handling of the accounts or cash-box is shown.

• Stephen Lamport confronts Halsa and demands a thousand dollars under threat of disclosure; she refuses payment and resolves not to deceive John.

  • Lamport's death ends his ability to enforce his demand against Halsa; no payment or reconciliation is established.

• Halsa briefly plans to pay Lamport for a temporary reprieve, then abandons the plan.

• Halsa resolves to tell John everything, but he overhears the confrontation before she can make her intended disclosure.

• John's loss of Halsa brings rage and despair, followed by doubt that surrendering her was right and an inability to face church.

  • John remains unable to perform his pastoral duties, destroys his sermon, feels severed from his religious past and finds no consolation in scripture or prayer.

• Lamport asserts his marital claim over Halsa despite his previous ill-treatment and desertion; Halsa accepts that she must accompany him, and John yields to his understanding of priestly duty.

  • Halsa accompanies Lamport but questions her submission and nearly chooses to return to John. Lamport's assault and flight interrupt their departure together without settling his marital claim.
  • Lamport's death ends his power to compel Halsa to accompany him as his wife; neither Halsa's nor John's knowledge of his death is established.

• John resolves to tell Bunny everything and follow his advice, reaching Bunny's house and being taken aside.

  • Bunny knows the circumstances, advises departure and arranges passage; John follows that advice and leaves the quay toward the ship.

• Halsa doubts her sacrifice in leaving John and nearly resolves to return; Lamport strikes her unconscious, considers killing her, and flees when a carriage approaches.

  • Lamport flees after his intended killing is thwarted and retains his hatred of Halsa, but his own death ends the continuing threat from him.

• Halsa receives rescue, shelter and care from Father St Francis, Mother St Catherine and the nuns; she entrusts her history to Mother St Catherine and receives counsel.

• After recovering, Halsa believes she must leave the religious house, but consequential news and counsel lead her to deliberate and reach an undisclosed decision.

• Bunny and Bullin cooperate despite their longstanding rivalry to support John and manage the church during his crisis.

  • Their cooperation ends in reciprocal suspicion, accusations and a narrowly prevented physical struggle. Bunny and his followers leave the tabernacle and join another congregation.

• John follows Bunny's advice to leave that night; Bunny secures passage and accompanies him to the quay, and John departs alone toward the ship.

• Bunny undertakes to inquire about Halsa and send John any news, promising a letter at the Cape.

• The tabernacle community seeks a suitable successor to Galbraith, but Bullin prevents fresh nominations and the congregation ultimately dissolves.

• Sarkies seeks readmission with Bunny's support, but the general meeting confirms his excommunication.

• Sarkies, his mother and his aunt join the Roman Catholic Church and accept Father Faly's spiritual guidance; Faly learns of Sarkies's attachment to Lizzie and agrees to help.

• Sarkies intends to convert Lizzie to Catholicism.

  • Lizzie experiences sincere religious fervour, comfort in the congregation and renewed tearful excitement during worship, favouring Sarkies's aim of converting her; no conversion is established.

• Encouraged by Faly's assurance that guardian consent is unnecessary, Sarkies resolves to marry Lizzie; she agrees to elope, and they leave together and marry.

• Eddy attempts to strike Sarkies's buggy, loses his favourite marble, and seeks revenge by telling Bullin about the elopement; Bullin responds by beating him.

• Bullin threatens legal action against Faly and his associates after learning that Lizzie has married Sarkies.

• Bill seeks to recover his stolen property and kill Lamport in revenge; he kills him and recovers the belt, although some of its contents are missing.

• Lamport seeks to escape Bill by leaving aboard a ship that day, falsely reassuring himself that Bill cannot meet him at the quay.

Places

Burma, Pazobin, The courthouse, Myobin, Rangoon, Shan States, Yeo, Treasury at Yeo, Dagon, Thomadine village, The tabernacle, Rigaum, Bombay, Rigaum Methodist Tabernacle, Custard apple garden, Mauritius, High School, Digby Street, Hotel Metropole, Divan Exchange, The Fort, Harbour, Church of the Holy Innocents