Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-07-27
JOE OF LAHAINA..
From the Overland Monthly. !
II. WHITMORE,
Publisher and Proprietor.

From the Overland Monthly.l
j was stormed-in at Lahaina. Now
Lahaina is little slice of civilization
beached ON the shore of barbarism. On,
can easily stand that little of it, fo
brown and brawny heathendom beco me-
more wonderful and captivating by con
trast So was glad of dear, dro'wsy
little Lahaina and was glad, also, tha
she had but one broad street, which pos
sibly led to destruction, and yet loo kec
lovely in the distance. 1t didn't ma tie
to me that the one broad street had bu
one side to it; for the sea Tapped c,vel
the sloping sands on its lower edge, art
the sun used to set right in the face O
every solitary citizen of Lahaina, just a,
he went to supper. -e
| was waiting to catch passenger il
"a passing schooner, and that's why
came there, but the schooner flashed BY
US in great gale from the south, and so
was stormed-in indefinitely.
1t was Holy Week, and / concluded tc
60 to housekeeping, because it would BIZ
so nice to have my frugal meals in pri:
vate, to go to mass and vespers daily
and then to come back and feel quite q,
home. My villa was uburban--built OF
dried grasses on the model of haysta ok,
dug out in the middle, with doors and
windows let into the four sides thereof.
1t was planted in the midst of a vine
yard, with avenues stretching in, all di-
rections, under network of stems and
tendrils T. g
!" Her breath is sweeter that the sweet winds
That breathe, over the grape-blossoms of
- lana 3 lHI.ab
20 the song SAID, and l began to think
upon the SURPRISING sweetness OF that
preatn, as I inhaled the sweet winds of
Lahaina, while the wilderness OF its vine
yards Diossomed IKE the rose l used to
sit IN my verandah and turn to Joe (Joe
was my private and confidential servant),
ana would say to Joe, while we scented
the odor OF the grape, and saw the great
banana leaves waving their cambric
sans, ana heard the sea moaning IN the
melancholy distance would say TO him,
Joe, housekeeplngtsg good fun, ISM 'titY
Whereupon Joe would utter a sort OF
yes, with his whole body and
soul; SO that question was carried tri-
umphantiy, and we would relapse into q
comfortable silence, while the voices of
the willy singers down on the city front
would whisper to us, and cause us to
wonder what they could possibly be
dong at that moment in the broad way
that led to destruction. Then We would
take q drink OF cocoa-mllk, and finish
our bananas, and go to bed, because we
had nothing else to do.
This is the way that we began our CO.
operative housekeeping One night, when
there was rlotous sort of festival off
IN n retired valley saw in the excited
thr0ng OF natives, who we're gong mad
over their national dance, a young face
that seemed to em6ody a whole tropical
romance. On another night, when lot
Of us were bathing in the moonlight,
saw figure so fresh and joyous that l
began to realize how the old Greeks could
Worship mere physical beauty and forget
Us higher forms. Then l discovered
hat face on this body-a rare enough |
,ombination--and the whole constituted
Ioe, ayoung scapegrace, who was school
ng at Lahaina, under the eye--not a I
7ery sharp one-of his uncle. When
yot stormed in, and resolved on house
Seeping for season, took Joe, brib-
ng his uncle to keep the peace, which
le promised to do, provided i gave bonds
or Joe's irreproachable conduct while
yithm willingly gave bonds-verbal
,nes-for this was just what | wanted of