The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-01-27
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plains They watched him disappear ana
then went back to the luau. About an
hour or so after that the priest came
back, pretty badly used up to be sure.
but the horse was broken. He rode up
to the hitching post, and went in and
asked old Peters If he would stand by
his word Then old Peters sobered up,
he shook the priests hand and ham
nlered his fist on the table, as he always
did when he announced his oratorical ef-
forts: ..Boys," said he Il have been mis-
taken about Father Francis. He Is
better man than any of you HIS opin-
ions and mine don't hitch, and L am TOO
old and bull-headed to change mine, but
you blooming beggars never had an ldea
of your own in your skulls and my ad-
vice is that you go to Father FRANCIS
and get some. the whole band Oh you.
And Father Francis, you'd better get on
your horse and go home. Tor TINS pace
is not fit for you to stay in now, but you
are always welcome to anything old man
Peters can do for you"
Next Sunday Father Francis church
was packed. Peters himself sat on the
fence and exhorted the kanakas 10 go
in-he himself could not be persuaded
he was ..too old dog to learn new
tricks" but he assisted the others for the
good of their souls. Most OF the natives
were willing enough to go-this horse
breaking affair had given quite a pun TO
the padre-but where fair words-they
were not so very fair or choice either
but where they would do no good, oid
Peters literally injected them into the
church with the fatherly warning that
he was going to stay outside TIL church
was pau, and he would break every bone
m the body of anyone who emerged be-
fore the last amen.
OF course the church was packed, but
even If the congregation was sllgntly
aided by old man Peters, according to
his lights it was filed afterwards with
~, 60, Of o nadrP
old man know that help of that kind was
not wanted The priest was sincere, and
what was even more, he was not talking
over their heads. How he ever came to
understand the natives In so short
time is more than can tell, though, for
that matter, the longer l stay here the
less I understand them. But the priest
interested them, he would cajole them
for while, then he would pitch into
them for one or another of their own
little particular pet sins, and make the
whole crowd look like a flock of wet
hens, then he would get enthusiastic
again, and when he got through you
would have flock of natives with good
intentions sufficient to pave his black
ma jesty's back yard twice over.
AS a matter of fact things were pro-
crossing at 2:4O with Father Francis.
There was only one thing that bothered
him: His native was bad-the more elo-
quent he would get and the longer his
understand it. So one night when 1 was
smoking a quiet cigar on his lanai, he
confided to me that at last he had got
ten sick of seeing the congregation try
ing to let on as if they under
stood, when he had given them a partic-
ularIy edifyirg young truth in what he
thought was splendid native. So he had
at last got someone to teach him.
"W-ho?"
"Oh, a young girl, PualeiIani. very
TO be of particular value for such a pGr-
pose" etc Yes, Dawson, my boy, you
may whistle and pride yourself on your
superior wisdom-ou est Ia femme Pas
the French lawyer said at every case
before him. Eve worked the downfall of
since. I, for my part, believe Saint An
ton.us was a mythical parsonage, at all
events, when 1 rode home l thought to
myself that it would DE a GeuCedly dam
eerous experiment for any man 1t
Father Francis, and it proved too much
even for him, poor chap. You see. Pua-
leilaui was what you in modern English
IS she is spoke would call a corker. Tail.
slender, well built, pretty as 4 picture,
with the carriage of a queen, and then
her eyes,-big soft, dark eyes, that had
made many a man here have q heart
beat of 50. She was an intelligent girl,
had been educated in a convent, and. last
but not least, she was straight. These
big, black ocula of hers had made TOOL
of every man in the district. She boxed
my ears once-what you need not tell
my wife, by the way-but a native girl.
who has It in her TO box a haole's ears
for him, is generally quite a bit above
the average.
When Francis came she, of course
soon met him-her peoples grass house
was adjoining the church lot-but she
was a. reserved and sedate as ever IhaC
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