The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1900-11-20
THE TRADER s WIFE !:
Vivid Adventures of White Trader In
Samoa.
BY j. +. RosE-soLEY.
COPYRIGHT. 1900, BY j. F. RosE-sosnY.
SSNfO, SHE is not my wife," said
the old trader as he glanced
I. OF tho ,,ro+%r, x,a,,,-.

MNo, SHE is not my wife" said
NJ the old trader as he glanced
at the pretty young Samoan
woman who had just entered and
greeted the strange papalangi with a
graceful talofa ALI.
He was not at all offended at my
random suggestion. 1t was quite ex-
cusable, for in these regions trader
without native wife is phenomenon
But l might, if l had used my faculties
of observation, have known better.
There was no trace of womanly care
in the dingy, unkempt little dining
room, the wooden walls We're dirty
and bare of adornment, the table was
Uttered with old books and ragged,
much worn newspapers, while the
floor looked as if it We're stranger to
the broom
The girl, her smiling greetings over,
squatted cross legged on the floor and
busted herself preparing bowl of
kava, which, of course, had been sug-
gested as soon as arrived. An ample
lava-lava of blue checkered stuff was
wrapped around her loins, her full.
maidenly bosom was but partially con-
cealed by the black silk handkerchief
knotted carelessly over her shoulders.
and single flower of the red hibiscus
lit up her long, carefully dressed black
hair.
1t was the ordinary native costume,
such as any girl will put on when
called in to make kava for stranger.
But she wore it with an air of grace;
everything She had on was new and
clean; she looked certainly more favor
ed than her dingy Samoan sisters who
passed to and from among the huts
outside or hung around the edge Of
the veranda striving to obtain
glimpse of the new arrival. They
could not get any nearer, because the
veranda was inclosed with a high
fence of barbed wire, a device of the
trader to keep the too curious natives
at distance.
/ watched the girl closely, but the
trader took no notice. he seemed alb
sorbed in his sului, or native cigarette.
which gave forth great clouds of smoke
at each vigorous puff. The 1.-THE, slen-
der wrists, with muscles like fine
drawn wire, were wringing out the
fau, or strainer of bark fiber, with
which the pounded kava root is sepa-
rated from the water. The viselike
grip on the fiber never ceased until ev-
cry drop of juice had been expressed,
and then, with pretty, graceful GEES
ture, she tossed the strainer over her
shoulder to a boy standing outside,
who shook the dry dust free and threw
it back.
Again and again the process was re-
peated. With the utmost care every
grain Of sediment was drawn from the
bowl, and the dark brown liquid, nau-
seous but refreshing, was ready.
The first cup seemed to arouse the
old mans dormant loquacity. "She is
a strange girl" he remarked, letting
his eyes rest for moment on the kava
maiden. mot like any of the other
Samoans. can't make her out. She
never goes gadding about with the
other girls nor fiirts with the young
men. She just stays quietly at home
and refuses all the suitors who ask for
uef udnQ Sne mlSnL nave been mar
ried dozen times during the past year
had she chosen"
"Perhaps"-and hesitated.
He nodded. Eyes, perhaps she has
an eye on this establishment. People
do say SO, and they chaf me about the
girl. But she's nothing to me. She just
washes the clothes and looks after me.
That is ALL
There was no trace of unseemly lev
ity in his tone. l waited in respectful
silence, for he was one of those kindly
men who wear thejr hearts upon their
sleeves, and knew that he would, if
left to do it in his own way, tell me the
tragedy of his life.
He took another bowl of kava, rolled
q fresh cigarette and sighed. smoked