The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-01-27
FATHER FRANCIS
A HAWAIIAN STORY
By Henry W. Kinney.

The Kona wind was whistling through
the tree tops, the rain drove in sheets
against the windows of the cottage, and
Dawson sat among a file of late news
papers from the Coast, cursing the wind,
because it might spoil his young coffee,
the rain. because it disturbed his read
ing, and the Hawaiian climate in gen.
eral, because he was lonesome and out
of humor
Suddenly dog outside began to bark.
then came heavy footsteps on the veran-
da, and the Doctor stood in the door.
dripping from the brim of his wide felt
hat to the sole of his riding boots. He
shut the door quickly behind him to keep
out the wind, which caused the lamp to
flare dangerously, then he threw his hat
in the corner and his spurs after it.
Aloha nui, Doctor, seems as If you
are going to make night of it. L was
just feeling so deucedly lonesome, 1 will
tell All Sing to bring the good cheer,
etc.
"Bother your heather, he is tending to
my horse Bring it yourself my boy.
1 need exactly three fingers of good
Scotch. This weather Is beastly, and this
last bit of business has kind of gotten
ought not to sport such an article.
Beastly weather tool Well! here is howl"
What IS up?" asked Dawson. "Pake
gone through rollers? Native fishing
with dynamite or what?"
'Bless your rustic ignorance, my boy
, You don't even hear the news of your
own bucolic surroundings, and yet you
are laboring through San Franclsco
file. Haven't you heard about Frank!
No? Well, here goes then. This morn
I,Ou n "Erdnk
too much pililsia down Waikoa gulcn
You come wikiwik.!" And off he was.
Well, / am not very keen on going down
the Waikoa trail, it is bad as it is, and
in rainy season a bit too tough for my
liking, but down l went. There l found
Frank in a grass house on mat with
a hole in his head the SIZE of young
barn door,.
'Dead?"
make loa. Been dead for hours.
don't see why they did not lug the body
up instead of having me chase down that
slippery trail, just to certify what a blind
man could see. If it had been anybody
else. / should have given them few
choice selections not quite fit for publica-
ton, but as 1t waS-aS / Say-it got on
my nerves a bit. Frank, alias Father
Francis-a man who, in his day was the
finest man 1 ever knew, lying dead in
gin-reeking grass hut as a result of fall
ing off his horse going home from a
drunken luau. 1 am not given to Senti-
ment, but the feeling that came over me
there, made me feel queer. Sic transit
gloria mundi, my boy, and let TINS serve
you as an example,
ooh kulikuli Doc, moralizing Is not
becoming to your peculiar style OF beau
ty But / will tell you-you may. by the
way give me facts concerning this fell
low 1 always knew he had some kind
Of a history but you kamaainas always
seemed a bit shy on the subject, besides
1 never bothered my head about 1t. III
there is a yarn, though, take cigar and
spin ahead"
it so. We chaps, who knew, never cared
to gas about il while he was alive, but
now he is pau-finiS dolorum-iet 1t go!
Give me a light and I will tell you You
see, 1 came to this district as govern
ment physician to attend to the sick and
the halt, long before the plantations had
started-when the place was wild and
wooliy. Old man Peters up on the ranch.
and a few old whalers and beachcomberS
of his sort made up the white population
here besides your humble servant, SO
when the Catholics saw fit to build
church and send down a priest to look
after the souls of this place, we few Eel
lows were rather keen on seeing what
kind of a chap this Catholic father might
be. The district was rather tough
one-with okolehao, luaus, hulas, fights,
etc-in fact everyone did pretty much as
he pleased, as long as his fists could back
it. or course we expected some IlI4u-
hammered old fossil, and the whole thing
was looked upon rather as joke But
nothing ever happened up here, and any
thing that would break the monotony
was welcome. Well, the priest came, and
I happened to be down to the landing
place that day, so 1 took him and MS
luggage-it was pretty slim, too-up
mauka to his church and cottage, partly
on account of my natural benevolence.
but mostly. I confess because-as you
Jolly well know-one likes to size up
malihini that happens along in this out
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