The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1893-02-23

untl. my divinity turning to go, | bound
ed toward her. But she was gone-like
mist she fed before me. Over hills and
hills l leaped. hruising my hands with
harsh branches and hazarding my life in
the mad chase. In vainl had lost her.
When the realization of the fruitlessness
Of my search dawned upon me l sat
down exhausted to collect my scattered
thoughts.
Good heavens. what had been doing:
l, the hoary cynic, the irrepressible scott
sr Of love and its bold intriguesl
Was 1t not ali q Wild delirium? It
must be. / had been duped, enslaved,
captvated by mad, insane dream.
| Away with such bosh, / will go and
eat good dinner.
The is nothing like well cooked din
ner to bring one out Of the realms of 70
nance into the cruelty sensible plane of
| realism
The illusion has not been dispelled.
| The same phantom came to me in the
night; the same thrilling eyes looked in
| terrogatively into mine; the same ire
sistible smile challenged my daring, and
| / awoke-alone. felt out Of patience
| with myself. With the desire to forget
| this tantaiZing witch maiden resolved
to throw myself in the crowd of pleasure
seekers at the resort.
| But oh, the resistlessness of fate! Pass
ing through the flower stalls, saw again
the form of my divinity. The eyes looked
| worlds into mine and seemed entreating-
| ly to draw me to her. followed to
where she stood behind huge punches of
purple piolets; but, laughingly throwing
me spray from a knot of flowers in her
hair, she vanished again like will-o'
the-wisp.
| passed my hands over my eyes in per
| plexity. Surely this was no delusion.
| She was flesh and blood like myself !
had seen her in q crowd of mortals.
Farewell, cynicism! Welcome, love. ]
am conquered
| And so, day after day continued the
search for my witch maiden. and day
| after day successfully she eluded me.
| One night while sitting on the cool
verandas Of the hotel, she glided past me
-spiritlike, radiant with the reflected
light of the stars. I stretched my arms
| toward her-she was gone. And vet
hoped increasingly She had looked
upon me not disdainfully, but ever with
teasing pleasure in her eyes. would
win her in the end.
Life took on new phase. 1t was no
longer the dull, listless, half hearted
thing it used TO be, but an eager, am
bilious, consuming fire. There was some
thing to live for-something besides the
mere qualification Of my own selfish
desires. / would live for her-for my
beautiful witch maiden. To make her
happy-what God given missioni
New aspirations, new ideals, new hopes
came surging through my being, filling
me with strange ecstasy-an exquisite
yearning. Happiness! All, now knew
it's meaning!
| How laughed at my old time scorn of
love, my condemnation of womankind!
was fool then-now am wise.
| What heaven is open to me! I'm
worthy that am, dare to kneel before
the throne and crave the love of its scep-
ter Queen-Iny peerless witch maiden.
|
1t was the full OF the moon A calm
almost divine had settled upon the star
kissed tips of the hills, while all nature
slept. Only the fond, caressing murmur
of the waters as they touched the shores
and again receded disturbed the weird
enchantment Of the night.
walked along the beach. My fancy
reveled in pictures of the future. I saw
| myself in sumptuous home, surrounded
by all the elegaEcies and luxuries of life
my sweet witch maiden, the guardian
angel over al, the dear companion Of my
joyous hours, the sympathizer Of every
thought, my solace in all earthly trials.
A sudden splash in the water and a
cry Of distress. 1 look up; I sea
nymph bathing in the moonlight. She
has dared too far into the deep; she is
struggling to keep her head above tho
waves. 1t needs bht glance to reveal
her to me. 1t is the witch maiden !
make one desperate plunge; she Is in my
arms-my own, my beautiful Undine;
clasp her to me with fierce ardor. The
long golden masses of hair, dripping and
| sparkling with the spray of the lake, coil
about my neck.
But her arms hang limp: her face is
pale and expressionless. lay her ten
derby upon the beach, chaff her cold
hands and rain passionate kisses upon
the velvet lids that cover her purple eyes
l implore her to speak. Breathlessly
wait the return Of consciousness. Slowly
the wondrous orbs open and look be-
wilderingly upon me. She rises-again
she is close in my embrace-my heart is
pouring out its burden of love.
In aparrotlike voice she exclaims, with
a furious scratch at my eyes: Great
, guns! Hain't You never got no mercy or
| nobody"
| walk slowly back to the hotel an
shivering with the cold and the shock OF
--a:f Colt, get TO my room, mechan
icallv change my clothes, pack my lug
gage and Eait down stairs to pay my
bill. IS th3 clerk hands me receipt
she walks through the room, CHANGING
back at me over her shoulder with ths
Same mischievous laugh in her eyes.
Ihave just enough energy, just enough
curiosity TO gasp, Who is She?
Unfeelingly, rpsuspiciously, comes the
dread answer, "Our iishwasher."
Farewell, love! Welcome, cynicism