The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1899-02-08

ohO huo ttNON bOhOWutT6 III Hawaii.
Inc kanaka women. young and old,
wore the flowing Mother Hubbard.
The young women were Of varying de.
grees of prettiness, even of beauty
the countenance of no Kanaka woman
is actually homely. The figure of no
Kanaka young woman is ever anything
but genuinely excellent-the forms OF
most OF them are simply beautiful.
One of these Kanska women at the
dock on this brilliant January afternoon
was as beautiful in face and form as an
Empress-in way of primitiveness, OF
course. She was clad like the rest of
the women of her race. Yet she was
stately, even in her bare feet, which
we're small and perfectly formed. She
was fully five feet ten inches in height,
and the white silk cord with which, I'M
like the other Kanaka women, she drew
her white dress about her waist empha.
sized the splendid, heroic proportions
OF her figure. Her glistening, raven
black hair hung straight down below
her waist. Her features were of the
aquiline, classic mould, her skin a
dark olive, with flm of rose under
her great black eyes, Kaomouna, who
had been one Of King David Kalakaua's
Hover girls, was woman such as
many young student, dreaming over
pipe in the Quarter Latin, would have
given worlds to see-painters did see
her and portray her.
Kaomouna, surprisingly beautiful,
seemed quite unconscious of her beauty
Oh this brilliant January afternoon.
The young shipping clerks, hurryng to
and fro on the dock, with their pencils
behind their ears, stopped suddenly
when they caught sight of her, and
then stole off behind bales of goods in
order that they might observe her care
fully, unobserved themselves. The
women in the carriages who had not
been long down from the States or
the women of longer Honolulu resi-
dence: "Who is that glorious crea-
ture?" Kaomouna, with a very sad
face. spoke only an occasional word to
the Kanaka woman. Her voice was a
deep contralto, like the harmonious
monotone of palms and the sea heard
from distance.
The Australia was made fast to the
pier and the passengers began to troop
over the gangway. There was one
man with his pretty young wife and
three-year. old little girl. The little
girl was the first to catch sight of Kao-
mouna as she reached the bottom of
the gangway. She quickly freed her
hand from the grasp of her fathers and
ran toward Kaomouna with baby
words. Kaomouna smiled at the little
girl, but did not offer to take her up.
Instead, she folded her arms, looking
down at the little pink faced child
| pleasantly. The child hung onto her
skirts and was thus found by her
mother. When the mother had taken
the little girl, she raised her eyes to
look at Kaomouna. She gave start
AS, indeed, all men and women did
who first gazed upon this woman, who
had been King David Kalaksus's
flower girl.
"Did you ever in your whole life see
such a perfectly beautiful woman?"
asked the young wife of her husband in
whisper when he came up. "And
Tita seemed to take to her Immediate
ly. If we could only have her for
nurse for Tita"
KaOmouna heard her.
"Kaomouna would love to be that,n
she replied in a soft Kanaka. accented
speech, smiling. Then look of pain
darted across her face, But it may not
bet may not be"-and with her
hands at her eyes Kaomouna turned
suddenly and disappeared among the
departing men and women of her race.
Three months later the parents of
the little girl-they had come from the
States to settle in Honolulu-were at
the dock together to witness, for the
| first time, the saddest sight in this
wOrld-the departure of the lepers for
the island of Molokai. The K lauea
Hou, the leper steamer, was out in the
stream, and the lepers were being car
ried out to her in barges. A litter was
borne through the roped Enclosure for
the lepers. On ii lay very old Kanaka
woman, loathsome in the final stages of
the disease. AT the side of the Ii ter
walked Kaomouna, still as beautiful as
ever, with no tear in her eyes. Yet
her face was very sad. The parents of
the little girl wondered. They spoke
to an official of the Hawaiian Board of
Health, who was busy in the task of
embsrkiDg the lepers.
"Surely," they said. "she does not
accompany the lepers?"
uO, hhOnUuuhG Tepileu Inc
health official. "Oh, yes, she does.
But it is her own choice. Kaomouns,
you know, has been secreting her old
mother, who, as you perceive, is leper
in leprosy's advanced stage, for num-
Der of years. We always knew there
was something mysterious about Kao-
mouna-that is, we have known it for
the past five years. She had made
queer visits to palm hut far over in
Nuuanu Valley. Last week we fol-
lowed her-we felt there was leprosy
in it. We found her in the hut--Kao-
mouna had had her in hiding, trying to
save her from Molokai, ever since the
disease became evident. Kaomouna is
not infected in the least-she has been
careful. But she elects to follow her
mother to Molokai, and she will be 3
leper herself after while. Extraord-
mary? Why, not at ali. You do not
understand the fiial devotion of Kan
aka women-meu, too, for that matter.