Yet somehow the Canal Commission had dodged the
monotony you expected, somehow they have broken up the grim lines
that make so dismal the best-intentioned factory town. There are
hints that the builders have heard somewhere of the science of
landscape gardening. At times these same houses are deceiving, for
all I. C. C. buildings bear a strong family resemblance, and it is
only at the door that you know whether it is bachelors' quarters,
a family residence, or the supreme court.
From the outside world "P'reeso" scarcely draws a glance of
attention; but once in it you find a whole Zone town with all the
accustomed paraphernalia of I. C. C. hotel and commissary,
hospital and police station, all ruled over and held in check by
the famous "Colonel" in command of the latter. Moreover Paraiso
will some day come again into her own, when the "relocation" opens
and brings her back on the main line, while proud Culebra and
haughty Empire, stranded on a railless shore of the canal, will
wither and waste away and even their broad macadamed roads will
sink beneath a second-growth jungle.
Renson had come to lend assistance. He set to work among the negro
cabins, the upper gallery seats of Paraiso's amphitheater of
hills, for Renson had been a free agent for more than a month now
and was not exactly in a condition to interview American
housewives.
Pages:
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92