The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-03-20

of Elarno, on the river where | was
then living, and one of the first things
L did was to put the plant on the CEN
tre-table at my house. During the jour-
ney the Indian had fed it faithfully on
flies and it was apparently in an ex-
cellent condition.
The thing was so human in the way
it opened and shut its mouth that nam
ed it William Henry, after an old friend
of mine who had rather a remarkable
appetite, and as flies were somewhat
botherSome to secure, it occurred to me
to try it on meat. l gave it small
piece of beefsteak to begin with, and
it was really pathetic to see the evident
relish with which it gobbed it down.
The poor thing had never tasted civilized
food before, and as soon as it disposed
of the fragment of steak it opened its
petals so wide that l was actually afraid
they would split apart. 1t was its dumb
way of pleading for more. [ am fond
of good living myself" the Central
American went on, "and my house was
Well-Stocked with all sorts of delicacies
in tin and glass. After the experiment
with the steak I had William Henry
placed on the table whenever l ate. and
would feed him exactly as one might
feed a pet animal. He seemed to take
naturally to foreign luxries, and his ap-
petite was something incredible.
Whenever / looked up from my plate
would see that yawning purple mouth
staring me in the face like young bird
begging for a worm, and it was hard to
resist the appeal / always gave him
any special dainty that happened to be
on hand, and l will never forget the first
time William Henry tasted pate de foe
gras. He absorbed it slowly, the petals
squeezing together to half their natural
size. and a sort of delightful shudder ran
through all his fat green leaves. Then
no fnrx- Strd6 hot
the top petal was dislocated for a week.
Another great favorite of his was devil
ed kidney with Madeira sauce, and he
had a pronounced weakness for soft
shelled crab, broiled One evening, mere
4, ly as an experiment l gave him a few
drops out of a cocktail l was drinking
before dinner, and presently I noticed
with surprise that his petals were no
longer firm and outspread but We're
webbing strangely on their stem. He
ate little or nothing that night, and next
! day was curiously languid. 1t is my pos
tive conviction that William Henry was
drunk
But I fear 7 am firing you. and will
hasten to a conclusion. Several months
went by and all this high living began
to have marked effect on my singular
/ pet The thick green stalk had swollen
| in the centre until it resembled a gigan-
tic mango, and the side leaves were
mere sacks of pulp. In fact the whole
plant was strongly suggestive of some
fat, dissipated old clubman. Moreover.
I noticed unmistakable signs of bad
Health, especially after heavy meals. and
I was greatly distressed. for foolish as
lit may seem. I had grown deeply attach
led to the strange creature. I tried to
nut him back on a simple diet Of flies.
but his luxurious tastes had become
lconfirmed, and he refused positively to
receive them Meanwhile he was contin-
IualIy growing larger but 1t was a NOR
bid vegetable obesity, and 7 was pro-
lfcundly grieved but not particularly sur
'prised when I awolze one morning TO find
the stalk collapsed and the purple bios