The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1895-02-25
The Clown and The MISSIONARY.
Ely VIOLA RosBBORo,

copyright, 1893, by the Century Companyl
1t was n sunny May morning, and the
Baltic was stcaming out Of New York
bay for Liverpool. 1t was the old ships
las5 tip in these waters, and she made
it Under special conditions. She was
given up entirely to second class passen-
gels, VINO, of course as q result, had in
tome respects first class accommoda.
tons. The consequence was social
mixture perhaps shade odder and more
varied than is usually seem Two weeks
before my friend Miss Milman had hap
pened to see this arrangement adver-
tsed, and we had suddenly and happily
discovered that at the rates given we
could afford to drop work tour painting
and writing) for month or two and to-
gether run over to the othor side"
| We were on deck in that May sun
shine, our hands full of flowers--for our
/ friends had graciously ignored our low
1 ly second class estate in their farewells
the bright waters dancing around us,
the workaday world behind u.s. enchant-
| ed lands of romance and beauty before
us, and at our elbows a new and hotero-
geneous representation of the dear, dull,
supremacy interesting human race. By
the time we had spent an eternity of
two days in a universe of water and
sky we had discovered beneath the pre-
vailingly commonplace exteriors various
pleasing features among our fellow pas
sengers. The Irish ward politicians OBJ
vious moral Nervousness, taken together
with his tender devotion to little sick
wife, gave us an enjoyable incongruity.
We relished the simple and profound
moral patronage we received from a
trio of professional feminine philan
thropists, well meaning souls, dripping
with self esteem, who were going over
to investigate the workings Of some so.
ciety for the promotion of some sort of
good works We delighted in their
genuine horror Of stunning, bouncing
good looking young woman who was
said to be an actress, but whose normal
! position, it was perfectly clear, was at
the head of column of lightly clad
amazons in Kiralfy spectacle, and we
liked her as a perfect specimen of her
kind, but we had most pleasure in the
simple admiration and respect we felt
for shabby, gentle, intelligent mis-
/ sionary from China, who was on his
} way to great Exeter hall meeting in
London, and in the curiosity aroused in
us by a dumb, wooden youth with wa
terry, pale eyes and a red head, who
, looked rough and "horsy," and whom
, we repeatedly saw sitting in his state
, room-it was opposite ours--reading a
3 small Bible.
We thought it piquant when we
found he knew the spectacular amazon,
but that was but til, beginning Of salts
factions, for we soon discovered that he
! was himself a circus clown.
To look upon little dull, faithful
, looking creature like that, to see him
= absorbed in reading pocket edition of
1 the Holy Scriptures and to be able to
. reflect that he lived by the violent vi
! vacities Of sawdust butfoon was a
= privilege that, among other things
made me laugh till | cried Perhaps the
r step from the one expire ssion to the 9th
or was shorter than usual
@ The sight of him gave me new thoughts
Q as to the possible value Of rites, of form
al observances. There was nothing in
HIS dSItCJ as ue Itdtl w slSStNt htSIi
tellectual on spiritual activity. On the
b. contrary, l could imagine him turning
e two leaves at once and being never the
wiser or the less wise The occasion
> was plainly one Of ceremony, but it was
o equally plain that il was ceremony OBJ.
served with religious feeling, and with
out going into the gloomy question of
how far religious feeling may be re-
moved from sense Of moral obliga-
tons ! felt very sure to such boy as
! this, English or American, and unflat-
, tered by the public opinion Of his world,
( the ceremony of Bible reading was
I morally conserving.
q The third day out did a highly rep
rehensible thing / had seen the clown
on deck as / came down to my state
room, and when near the open door of
!. his l saw the Bible lying on one of the
l. theatrical trunks with which the place
y was filed. The temptation was ire