The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-10-07

bundle wrapped in mulberry cloth fol-
lowed 1t contained hooks, beautiful
hooks of tortoise shell, perfect as when
they came from the hands of their
maker then net of cocoanut fibre, and
a closely folded packet. His shaking
fingers tore away the bands, revealing a
wooden figure, black with age and hide
Gus of countenance. At another time he
would have died of sheer fright at thus
touching the veritabie body of a god.
Now. he only realized it was not good
to eat, and sobbed with disappointment.
More mats-somewhere there must be
food! He cast the worthless bundles
aside, the bones OF a king fell rafting
dry upon the ground. Bonesl He
picked up one eagerly 1t was porous
and light, he dropped it and turned to
the calabash once more. One packet re-
manned He lifted it out-now, at last,
to cato eat
Something soft and golden yellow
slipped from his fingers and lay in
shimmering beauty at his feet. Then
truly he wept, like a tortured child. No
food-no water He seized upon the
silken yellow thing and shook it as
savagely as his weakness would permit
1t spread, undulated, gleamed-the great
feather coat of chief, golden yellow,
with its border of blood red---the gar
ment of state, the treasure of a king
dom Opunui sank down, his fingers
straylng softly over the garment Fas-
cinated by the smooth texture, he patted
it gently.
Forty dollarsl' he said aloud. eff
had forty dollars -
In his grasp he held the royal coat, a
well nigh priceless thing Before his
eyes was vision of O'Reillev the over
seer of the Ola. L have no money
and / am hungry!" he stammered
Dragging himself to his feet by the
help of the calabash, he turned in sur
prise as shower of gravel fell through
the opening above. who called?" he
cried. The ground quivered, writhed as
if tortured. who calls? 2" cried Opunui
again; but his voice was drowned in
sudden tunu1t. With roar and grind
the shrek of riven world-the veil of
rock was rent, and cast in thunder
down the mountain, revealing to his
uncomprehending eyes the mightiest
spectacle of his days. Far below, the
great cauldron of Kilauea heaved and
boiled From the main crater, jets of
steam and clouds of smoke poured up
wards convulsively, while across the
grey, broken surface of the lake of fire,
red snakes of lava writhed and Kissed,
glowed darllly red and turned to ash.
Huge assures opened only to close again
with fame and clash, as the great vol
cano hurled forth its defiance and rage
in vast throes of meracing splendor..
Kilauea Pele!" he cried.
AS if the Fire Goddess answered.
Inightier blast burst forth from the pits
mouth. Masses of hurled rock showed
black for an instant in the steam, the
burning snakes writhed and broke shin
ing and glimmering. The earth shook.
Once more the ground loosened, ripped,
crumbled, and went tearing down the
hillside with the roar of artillery.
With 1t went Opunui, and after him
the empty calabash, down, down, rolling
over and over, to bring up at last against
scared lehua tree, on the very edge of
the heaving lake. From the land slip a
thick mist of dust rose heavily, obscur-
ing everything. Slowly it settled. Opu-
nui looked up. No sign of the cave was
apparent; nothing but the torn face of
the cliff. He moved his hand feebly
1t touched the smooth curve of the
Kings calabash, half covered by earth
and rock. The wind veered A scorcE1-
ing blast swept over him. The breath
OF Pelei He closed his eyes and knew
no more
When he woke he was in white
mans bed, in a room with blue painted
walls. Beside him stood various cha
olies particularly bug-hunting- gentle
man-from-Hilo. 1t was verye strange
but he did not at all care Later they
tantalized him with tiny doses of food,
and though he begged and pleaded for
he cfa, =
world was made for food and drink
nothing more. He wondered vaguely
where he was, and why, but it was
sometime before he took sufficient in
terest TO ask questions. Then he learn
ed ne was at the Volcano Hotel, which
was very crowded owing to the many
visitors attracted by the unusual activity
OF the crater. In fact, they had been
watching the eruption when the land
slide had come, and had been not a little
surprised TO see the form of a man fol-
lowed by a gigantic calabash hurled from
the cliff itself to the stones below. Both
he and the calabash had been rescued
unhurt-a double miracle.
Opunui lay and pondered all these
things. His terrible journey he recalled
perfectly, and something about two scar
let and black gods with flaming eyes.
who had kept him company in a shaking
room. The calabash he remembered
vaguely. Also there f1oated in his mind
the vision OF a marvellous coat of golden
feathers, but this he put down as one of
the many dreams that had visited him in
his weakness. Fortunately. for his peace
OF mind of the sacrilese he had commit
ted, he recalled nothing. He found
himself the object of intense interest to
the hotel guests. He must tell his story
over and over. which he did with varia-
tons. When the proprietor approached
him with an offer of fifty dollars for the
calabash, Opunui's breath was quite
taken away. but he hesitated. He had
overheard the nillionaire-sugar-m
from-Eonolulu saw that the bowl was a
unique specimen very old and valuable.