Part 25 (1/2)

Nor were these words of empty import, for others of the victorious army were much displeased at O'olo's clealoa and killed hi expression, so that he dared not leave his father for an instant so greedy were the warriors for his head All that day he crouched beside hialoa preciously; and had it not been for the confusion that attends the finish of a battle, and the lessening of authority that follows, he would have been overpowered by a multitude, and all his bravery wasted But those who assailed his, rushi+ng up to affright, and then losing courage at O'olo's demeanor, which was fierce and unshaken, with his rifle at the cock

It was a day terrible to reer and unbearable thirst, with about the, and over them the sky without a cloud, and always at their hearts the dread of Asi and the chiefs, returning to kill theet his father to his feet, so destroyed was the oldcanoe, or a sting ray flopping on the reef, and abandoned by the tide But O'olo persevered, dragging and supporting him until coconuts were reached, where he climbed a tree and thren nui in abundance; and as they drank the water they were greatly refreshed, and with every bite of the rind, vigor returned, and with vigor, boldness

Then Tangaloa said: ”Let us pray”; and with that they both went down on their knees, the old chief beseeching God for deliverance, and repeating again and again his thankfulness for O'olo, and for the nuts

But all was far from finished, and there was ain the security of Savai'i; and O'olo proclai eastward circuitously, and n or stir until the close of the war, and the withdrawal of the Tuauuidance, and o, for by dae hts, and beyond pursuit”

Thus determined, they took the plantation road upward, assisted by thethe limits of the cultivated land, buried the and hurt, and frequentof a watercourse their path, and at tih the earth had closed over thealoa fell exhausted on a bank of ferns, saying: ”More I cannot do” Then O'olo built a fire to war of cold, and rubbed his legs, and shaped a bough for his pillow, and kissed hily; and when the old man said: ”I am convinced we shall die”; he answered stoutly, ”No, we shall live, for God has not brought us thus far to desert us now”; at which Tangaloa was comforted and went to sleep, while O'olo watched and watched beside him, his heart much troubled by the evil of their situation, and the frailty of the old chief, and the assailing doubts as to whether, after all, they should ever escape

The news of O'olo's desertion was variously twisted by the returning troops, so that to Evanitalina, inquiring in anguish, there were as many tales asdetails; others that he had run away from the battle, in wildness and panic; others praised him truthfully for a hero, and as the first to leap the fort Of these there was a fewness, for the most preferred to laud thely most of the chatter was scornful of O'olo, and to his discredit But Evanitalina knew that O'olo was no coward, and herwas that he was dead, which deepened with the passing ofto prove the contrary Vilia it, which he did with artfulness and pretended sorrow, urging all the while his own suit, like a squid of apparent har venomously below

Never was a maid in sadder straits, ed before she was a wife, and unceasingly plagued by Sarew thin, and when she walked it was like a sick person, staggeringly, and once of so passionate a te could disturb The compassion of the other maids lavished itself upon her, for they saw that she was dying of grief for her beloved; and at night, ooed under the stars, they spoke with tenderness of O'olo and Evanitalina, and of their love so cruelly ruptured; so that every one wept, even young men who previously had had neither consideration nor sense, to whom a maid was a maid, were only she pretty, and ould have hastened for another had the first died; which shows that true love is like a seed, growing and beco a tree, from which others eat the fruit to their own i

Every day Evanitalina grew more weak, yet unlike most sick persons, she ithout fear at her condition, even welco: ”Soon I shall pass beyond the skies on a_”; an once when she sailted _aute_, she said: ”Such a and now a-droop,” and with that she plucked fiercely at the petals, and crushed the her own extinction

One , shortly after prayers, as she reclined on a mat, with her eyes raised to that far-away country of which she often spoke, while Sa his serentle staves, who, stopping at that distance, inquired loudly whether this was the house of Sareeted, and answered, ”Yes,” the three old gentleed the that they had co-party of sixty boats with Cloud-of-butterflies, the young chief of Leatatafili, as seeking a wife At this, reatly, Samuelu inforhness Cloud-of-butterflies was unknown to him, and he surely unknown to Cloud-of-butterflies But the old orators replied, No, they were not hter named the Lady Evanitalina, for it was for her that Cloud-of-butterflies, in sixty boats, was at hand to offer e

Then Samuelu's auid, looked up surprised, and in her face was a strange expression like that of a startled pigeon; and on being asked in a beco speech whether she would condescend to receive the visitor and his gifts, she answered with bewilderment that it was as her father wished, at which Sa to continue his ser the outlay in _'ava_ for the reception of so vast a coentlemen excused themselves in polished phrases, full of beauty and eloquence, and retired to inform Cloud-of-butterflies that the Lady Evanitalina was desirous that he should come

Shortly afterwards there was the beat of dru of innus borne on poles, and a sound like that of an advancing ar The eaves of every house was black with onlookers, and there hite people, galloping up on horses, astounded, and round with its progress the procession s there see; and at the head were youths, throwing their rifles in the air as they sang and danced But of these things Evanitalina was scarcely heedful, for with breathless body and quivering heart her whole attention was on Cloud-of-butterflies in the center of the pageant, who, girded in a pricelessat his throat a whale-tooth necklace, and surrounded with deference and honor, was not to her Cloud-of-butterflies at all, but O'olo, arisen fro to claim her for his bride

BEN

I was in the bark Ranso for a station up in the Westward, when I fixed it up with Toood little station, and far better than I could have hoped for at the money I had to offer, with a new tin roof and a water tank and a copra shed with a cement floor, and an iive a natty effect to the back view--the front being all reef and dazzle and Pacific Ocean

Lonesome? Coffin-lid, nail-her-down, lonesome--why, of course! Was there ever a coral island that wasn't? But there was copra in plenty; only one other trader and him a boozer; quite a bit of pearl shell, and To how he had cleared thirty-three hundred dollars in a year

He had boils so awful, and for the last two years it had just been a fight to stick it out I ca the line, with Toet away

There hadn't been a shi+p in fivethe natives receipts in advance that he had died a natural death, they being afraid soht hold them responsible and shoot up the island

We had settled everything, counted out the ood-by nip of Square-face: ”Oh, that girl of mine, Ben,--you'll take care her, won't you?”

”Girl?” says I

”She's broke in to cooking and washi+ng and white ways,” explains Toainst my conscience to feel I hadn't left her comfortable”

”Let's see her,” I said

He called her in, and one glance at her settled the ht as a dart, and, by far and away, the prettiest wohty sullen as I sized her up, and admired her splendid black hair that was bound by a red ribbon at the nape of her neck, very coquettish and attractive I've always liked that proud, to-hell-with-you look in a girl, and it see to master before you could have your ith her Yes, it was bargain day for etting cheap