The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1883-02-17
A Story.

/ e. 1AaNANhN A@cAG - ~ WOaNa A1N w w
rela,e the one fatal romance OF HE life without
tsing a nome de plume. Yes, it is best to call
lin John Griffith and associate the actual pedi.
gree, character and incident. which we intend TO
elineare, with that altogether fictitious cogno-
ren. Then it is in order to state that this
griffith came to these islands from New England
png ago. when there were almost no white men
Iere except missionaries. lie was a stout, fear
ess, frank, good-looking young man at that time.
there was not an ion OF vacillation stimuli
alton or dishonesty about him. la fact he
.prang from The old Puritan stock that bra red
he dangers OF a wild world, and the rigors oi a
exile rather than surrender religious
liberty. He could readily trace HE lineage back
10 the Plymouth rock in 1920, and occasionally )
he was, pardonably, not u little proud to do 80
or he inherited all their stauncll hardihOod OF
Incorporating morality and daunt-
es courage. In thinking OF such u character
me is apt to deploro the degeneration Of modern
times and regret that such prime manhood is not
to be met with more frequtntly now-a-days. u
would not be a bad thing indeed, il the presoni
age could boast many another John Griffith 10
give young men an example that would put
the feminine swells and spendtbrifts OF to-day to
shame. But with all his sterling qualities. 70
justly worthy deemed Of all praise, John landed IN
Honolulu without a dollar, and he was perhaps. II
tribe ragged but that matters not. He did not ome
here additionally or even willingly. lie had
been mate OF a vessel which had been lost at sea,
and this accident alone accounted for his arrival
in Hawaii. 1t is probable that the destitutiOn
Of has forlorn and unfortunate condition was
sufficient to him to the kind consid-
Grafton of u people proverbially generous, but at
any rate he chose to remain where the elements
had cast him. and alter he had speedily learned the
Hawaiian language, was employed to teach the
small native school ct K. Now. there was
at that time a certain missionary who resided not
far from this place. The good divine had u warm,
hospItable heart, a comely home and an extremely
fair young daughter named Edith, who had been
born and reared here in mid-ocean. Never had
she visited the East or the West, or tnsied the
fascinating but often intoxicating sweets OF
foreign society. But, instead. che had associated
with the deep-heaving sea, the sublime noun
tains and the bright tropical scenes o these
almost Elysian isles. Her mind partook Of ma
tnre's unsullied glory; her heart was translused
with the serene beauty around her, and her fea-
lures wore the innocent, lovely expressi ycness
which poets attribute to the angelic perfection
that is charmingly imagined IN spotless realms
beyond the skies. And oft in the blisslul solitude
OF evening had she sat in her bower of palms aud
flowers with the inferminable vista Of ocean ex.
panding before her, and fixed her dark blue medi-
sative eyes upon the ruby aud golden Ha waiInn
sunset skies that glowed above her. as il sho was
dreaming of something pleasant. supernaI. holy
and Internationally blessed. Oh did she
think OF love?
1t is not the puny, mincing, efEeminatc quail
ties that true women most admire Ia men. IL Is
the vigor. accomplishments strength aud innate
nobility of stalwart manhood that ever speaks
most eloquently to. their ~sentient souls. and
finally awakes the harmonious echoe Of halIowed
and divine affection in pure and gentle bosoms
John Griffith was every inch a man. When HE
missionary first invited him to the parsonage.
winch happened in the due course Of eyents. that
eelesiastic ielt a spontaneous confidence in Johns
honor. for such is the force and impressiyne-s OF
exalted manliness that 1t commands credence and
respect by its very appearance. And Edith ns
she soon came to know the visitor, loved him
with a deep aud genuine animation. From time
to time, when they casually met under the pa
ternal roof, an eye skilled in the subtle lore Of
love might easily have detected the vague but
certain evidences OF mutually reciprocated al
fiction. Yet the good missionary gave no sign
OF disapprPval, perhaps, because he failed to
fathom the truth, and "a whole year-oh, such a
happy period for the lovcrsl rolled raj Idly away,
during which, there were many meetings. such as
tend to unite aor eternity the fate of young and
loyal hearts. oft arm IN arm they strolIed by
the %seashore, when the shadow of night whs
crowned with its oIadem of stars and the wan
moon cast her mellow enchanting beams Of sub
dued light athwart the m-urmuring pillows. Oft,
when evenings supreme Tranquility prevailed.
they roved together in fragrant grooves and woye
garlands Of leaves and roses to deck eAach other's
brows, or reclined sweetly conversing in grottos.
which the sea laVed when the tide came in. and
str Q wed with shells when retreating way les sinh
sided. But the time came too spetsediiv
when the transport Of these meetings, so
closely blended with the incense and elor,A,
of natures magnifcence, should be forever
blIghted by the agony of an everlasting separation.
John Griffith solicited Edith's hand IN marriage.
Her father stared in blank surprise at the propo-
sition. and when he had recovered himself suHi-
GENTLY to reply, he answered sterhly. no. The
sutton impiored in vain. The father still ar
rogantly declared his daughter should wed a
richer and more distinguished nan. The next
day Edith was.sent in charge of an elderly aunt
to distant lands, and John hastened to quit a
place where even the ever present sea perpetually
him of a dear face and heavenly form
was commanded to forget and Danish
from hE dreams.
80 r.
AtS8 Rue -, Paris. there died a wretched old
miser, who had boarded his chests Of gold will a
nigardly hand. To his death bed, an hour before
he breathed his last, he summoned an eminent
to frame his will.
MY name is John Griffith, - said he, {. and
l give all my money to q certain homele.s
of Edith -. whose husband wasted
his inheritance in debauchery that defled his
honored fathers name and brought his angel