The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-10-07
THE KINGS CALABASH.
BY ETHEL WATTS MUMFoRD.

Opunui was very drunk and why, b.
the hair of Pele, Fire-eyed Goddess o
Volcanoes, should he not be? Was h
not at the house of friends? And wa
there not a great and glorious feast il
progress?
4 Behold, the sky was beautiful pinl,
the stars pricked the eyes like pins; also
Hawaii nei" had many wrongs. Opu-
nui wanted sympathy and an audience
| they appeared in the person of Kahala
maker of poi bowls. Opunui addressed
him oratorically.
Behold, oh, my countryrnan! What
has come to lis with the American an
nexation! Individually we are robbed;
as race we are dying out Can we,
the honest and simple, compete with the
subtle and wicked? Look behind you,
oh, Kaha1a!'
The wood carver turned obediently.
The full moon shone softly on the tiny
wooden house with its many rambling
out-buildings and the newly erected
shelter OF palm branches that protected
the feast tables, laden with native deli
cacies of seaweed, poi and fish. The
sound of many native guitars accom-
panying soft Hawaiian voices in Turing
hula tune, foated on the warm night air,
the rythm further accumulated by the
hollow clap of gourds and punctuating
whacks upon a sonorous tin pan.
Where did Kulima find the money
for this luau?y demanded Opunui, tragi-
cally; "where?"
Kahala took long pull from his pri-
vate stock of illicitly distilled gin, and
shook his head
From the plantations !" the speaker
went on. You know what that means
the cane shall wave where Kulina's bed
mat is laid this night know, oh, |
know O'Reilley, the overseer, from
the Oil, once came to me, saying, To
day you are three years married to your
beautiful wife. Why not give a feast
give you money-thirty, forty, fifty dol
lar-for which you have but to put your
name upon some paper 1t is nothing,
no trouble" He paused. Tears cours-
ed freely down his cheeks. ''Woe is mel
l gave that feastl'
"Wellakalao said Kahala, and pass
ed into the Gin Nirvana.
Opunui picked up the half emRtied gin
bottle and comforted himself therefrom. !
"Alasi he went on, now the planta- !
ton has taken ali, for where can ma /
tive earn forty dollars to repay-and !
they own my land, my house-every- |
thingl And tomorrow must go! He /
waved a tragic hand at the dancers
swinging dangerously to and fro in the |
moonlight. Dance on" he cried, but
the cane shall eat you all-and you, oh, |
Iungles of Hawaii He stretched his
arms to the velvet black mass OF giant
ferns that surrounded the clearing.
iyou. too, the cane shall eat, and greed
shall swallow us all Il
A great longing grew in the soul of
the prophet for the sight OF the little
home OF which he was so soon TO be
Dispensing with all for
nalities of farewell. he turned upon his
heel, making a zigZag course tor the
gateway opening upon
the Hilo road.
Moonlight witchcraft had transformed
everything, making similar things new
and strange He paused moment, un-
certain in which direction to turn 10
the right the way led through the jun
pie and over the brittle, broken surface
Of old lava flows. to the home of the
Fire Goddess, Pele. in the great PIT OF
KiIauea. To the left. the road passed
the plantations on its winding way TO
Hilo. The home of Opunui stood at the
frontier OF Oil Twice he started and
turned back, vaguely wondering why
path known since childhood should
prove so confusing. Again he started,
and this time kept on The jungle way
ID. muttered and beckoned The road
became alive and undulated like the sea.
Then came a blank till something trip
ped and threw him. He struggled to
his feet and looked about. Thick dark
ness encompassed him, but on all sides
he felt the ciinging arms OF vines. Fern
;ronds touched his face. his feet sank
among interviewer roots into soft mould.
Far overhead the sky was bright and