Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1897-03-24

her lawful guardian, inasmuch us she has
declined to marry Taliau, high chief Of
Apolima, most worthy and virtuous
prince. And l, Aeli, do hereby declare
that my daughter Sefalina shall be joined
to Taliau in marriage tomorrow as the
sun goes behind Upolu. And if this devil
departs not from her soul and she still de-
clines to marry him, 1 hereby place great
taboo upon her, even though she be my
daughter No one shall speak to her, no
one shall shelter her, no one shall give her
of the kava or coooanut to drink, nor of
the breadfruit nor the palusami to eat.
She shall be cast out from the tribe of
Manono forever. l, Aeli, have spoken it.
The great taboo had been pronounced, and
no one would dare disobey Besides, the
women all disliked Sefalina and whispered
with each other that it served her right,
the impudent thing, with her proud ways.
She must either marry Taliau or starve to
death.
Her mother came and wept with her
and begged her not to disgrace the family,
but Sefalina only shook her head and re-
peated, II cannot marry Taliau." AT
night she lay down upon her mats-coarse
ones, for she would not touch those Of soft
texture which Taliau had sent her. But
she coud not sleep. She crept out on the
beach and sat down under the waving
palms. All was still around her, save the
gentle tapping of the waves as they caressed
her bare feet. The white line of the beach
separated the feathery foliage of the Vine
clad trees, which shaded the peaceful huts
from the vast ocean. 1t divided the world
of Sefal1na from the great world beyond.
Inside that line she knew every shrub and
veery insect but beyond all was darkness
Once she had seen the missionaries who
had come over from Apia on visit. They
had been kind to her and had given her
delicious piece of food called lollie, which
did not grow in Samoa. If she could only
60 to those missionaries now, perhaps
they would help her. They were SO good,
and they would not be obliged to mind the
great taboo because they were of foreign
race
She could not, she would not, marry
Taliau. Before she had simply disliked
him, but now she hated him. What right
had he to cause her all this trouble when
she had been SO happy She laid her head
ON the sand and wept the first bitter tears
she had ever she'd
With each sob her hatred for Taliau in
creased. Better anything than to marry
him. She would sooner plunge into the
sea. Perhaps some boat would pick her up
and carry her to Apia.
She heard a rustic in the bushes Some
one was coming. She must not be found
here. And quicker than thought she
jumped into the dark ocean.
oil Of hnr ranp che ooyI11 cwi,,, n
easily as she could walk, and she was soon
far out OH the reef, the deep water gradu-
ally lengthening the distance between her
and her native isle By and by she lay on
her back and rested She did not much
care what happened to her now. 1t was
pleasant to lie there peacefully in this cool
cradle and SEQ the rising sun gradually
reddening the sky.
What would her father say when he
found she was gomez He would search for
her in the mountains and would finally
conclude that she had drowned herself.
But suppose he guessed where she was 60
ing and should attempt to follow her? The
thought alarmed her. 1t would never do
for her to float in this peaceful fashion.
She must hasten.
So again she began to swim. But her
arms ached and her back grew tired, and
the burning sun, which was now shining
with all its tropical force, made the heat
oppressive and blistered her bare shoulders.
Her own island was almost out Of sight,
and she could see the mountains of Upolu
appearing in the distance. She must-she
would-reach them. But her weary arms
moved more and more slowly, and she be.
came faint for lack of food.
She had gone ten miles already, and
there were four more ahead of her. She
grew dizzy. She would rest just little
while-only little while. Where was she
anyway
Late that evening two plump little Sa-
moan boys were wading out on the reef to
pick up shells.
"Papalagi aelip'-white man swim
ming-said one, laughing, as he pointed
to figure in the water painfully padding
and keeping afloat with great difficulty.
Up they swan to have little fun with
the unfortunate foreigner and to show
him their own skin. But they stopped
aghast as they saw that it was a girl, and
Samoan, too, who was swimming in that
undignifed way.
Soon company Of natives was standing
around the PROSTATE figure Of little Sefa
lima. "Poor thingr' they murmured. One
old dame soothed her blistered shoulders
with cocoanut oil, one rubbed warmth
into her cold body, while another went to
the misilangi-mi Missionaries for some
thing with which to revive her.
Little by little strength returned to Sefa-
lima, and she told her story to the kind
faced missionary who bent over her.
"Leai, will not go back!" she cried. II
will stay here always. will work. but
will not marry Taliau. Don't make me
60! Don't make me gon'
For two years Sefalina staid in Apia and
lived in the family of the Rev. Mr.. White,
while her father thought that she was
dead. When he did find out that she was
living and that she had escaped his great
taboo-when Taliau came over in his war
canoe to bring her back or fight for her
1t was too late, for she was already mar
ried to Samoan named Mangifu, whom
she loved with all her heart.
This is her story as she told 1t to mo
one Sunday afternoon at the mission in
Apia, and she added, with little touch of
pride, that she was the only woman who
had ever been able to swim the IA miles
from Manono to Upolu. M. Ide
In Youths Companion.
Pennies In Hiding.
There are 11o, 900, 900 old copper pennies
somewhere Nobody knows what has be-
come of them, except oncein awhile sim