# Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen/Chapter 47

CHAPTER XLVII
RELEASED ON PAROLE
On the 6th of September, about eight months after my arrest, I was notified by Colonel McLean that he was no longer responsible for my custody, and that at three o’clock that afternoon I might leave the palace. So a carriage was called, and I was driven from the doors of the beautiful edifice which they now style Executive Building, and was assured that I was under no further restraint. My pardon, as it was called, arrived at a later day. All the intervening time I was supposed to be under parole, and could have been arrested and recommitted at any moment.
As, in company with Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, I was driven from my prison—once my palace—to the gateway at Washington Place, my earlier home, it seemed as though Nature, our kind mother, smiled on my return. The flowers, the shrubs, the trees, had never to me looked so charming. How I enjoyed their welcome! Surely they could not have been so beautiful when I saw them daily in previous years! The orchids, the violets, the chrysanthemums, the geraniums, were still in bloom, and seemed to greet me with joy, expressive as silent. Bunches of red bananas hung from their stalks, clusters of yellow Loquot plums danced in the ​sunshine, and the bright red berries of the coffee-tree drooped down gracefully, waiting to be gathered. But my welcome was not altogether from the silent, waving leaves. Those of my people who had been released from imprisonment were here to greet me also with their fond Aloha.
On the morning following Mr. Wilson informed me that I had been released only on parole, and had been placed in his charge by President Dole. My custodian further notified me that but sixteen servants were allowed to me, and that my retainers (accustomed to maintain a system of watches for my protection ever since the death of my husband) were not to be permitted to come near me again. I was also prohibited from going where there was any concourse of the people, nor could I have any gathering at my own house. In consequence of these regulations I never went to church or to any public place. But I was not forgotten by his lordship, the bishop, who with Mrs. Willis was one of the first to call on me. Other friends expressed their sympathy in person; amongst these Mrs. J. S. Walker, who had lost her husband by the treatment he received from the hands of the revolutionists. He was one of many who from persecution had succumbed to death.
It was at this time that Bishop Willis invited me to be confirmed as a member of his church; to which proposal I very gladly assented, and I find much comfort in its fellowship.
The duties of Mr. Charles B. Wilson could not have been very irksome. I do not remember requiring him to do anything, or asking a favor at his hands. He ​took good care to keep my gates under lock and key, that no visitors might enter without his knowledge, because he was obliged—he said—to give to Mr. Dole a faithful report of all my visitors and doings each day. Some of my friends who prayed to be allowed to visit me were denied. I was very conveniently spared, however, the calls of strangers, who would have encroached upon my retired life simply from motives of curiosity.
Two events of some interest to me should be mentioned as related to these days. While the Philadelphia was the flag-ship of the squadron of the Pacific, the time of Admiral Irwin expired, and he was daily expecting his successor. Before he left, he very courteously called on me at Washington Place. He was accompanied by a member of his personal staff. I appreciated this mark of his attention, and it has never been forgotten by me; for it showed a kindly spirit on his part towards one who had received many officers of the navy in other days and under different circumstances,
On another occasion Admiral Walker visited the Islands. Exactly on what mission I have never been informed. If, as I have sometimes heard, and if one is to judge from the long report he made to the Department of the Navy on his return, it was for investigating the political situation, he certainly did not adopt the method of fairness and equal treatment to both sides pursued by Hon. James H. Blount. He was scarcely in position to have any but the most prejudiced ideas; for he was an old friend and guest of one of my enemies, and immediately on his arrival the missionary party took possession of him, and scarcely allowed him to ​move unless some one of their number was at his elbow.
On the 6th of February, 1896, while at dinner with Mrs. Wilson and Mr. Kamakau, we were informed that a messenger from the office of Mr. Dole was waiting to enter my presence in order to deliver a document; but Mrs. Wilson went for the paper, and took it from the young man, Mr. Alexander St. Maur McIntosh. I did not see him; but the document proved to be my release from parole as prisoner, although I was still forbidden to leave the island of Oahu. Mrs. Wilson said that this could not possibly be genuine; because her husband had not been made aware of it, and that everything like this had to come to me through him. I re-read the document to be assured there was no mistake. Mrs. Wilson immediately started to notify her husband, who sent her back for the paper, which I allowed her to take. It convinced, but much astonished, Mr. Wilson, for he made the comment that he ought to have been notified first; but it would appear that the president thought otherwise, and, without advising the custodian, had released the prisoner from his unwelcome custody.
Some days later, in company with Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Heleluhe, I took a drive out to my residence at Waialua, where we spent two very delightful weeks with the Rev. Mr. Timoteo and his agreeable wife. We had a quiet little celebration all to ourselves, fishing and riding, and the time sped by so pleasantly that we forgot to count the hours. While there we received a visit from Hon. Samuel Parker; Mr. Boyd, ​Secretary of American Legation; Mr. Lanse (who has since married Miss Widemann); Mr. J. S. Walker, the younger; and others,—who spent a pleasant day with us on the beach, We caught fish, and placed them immediately on hot coals, supplementing our picnic with bread and butter, and our native poi. Then, a week or so later, I went to my residence at Waikiki; and in this, my ocean retreat, I lived until my recent visit to the United States, only now and then, for a change, making a trip to my estates at Kahala. My life at the seashore was a tranquil and uneventful one, although while I was there a circumstance transpired of grave importance to my people.