The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1907-10-25

! E1AC ILlcs W41CA Ut eI1Qllcu III lu6 ~
and followed up his courtesies by rails
ing and lowering a union Jack the
size Of a handkerchief. The battle
ship dipped her stately white ensign
in acknowledgment, as a swan might
salute a gnat, and swept on with
majesty.
wooded promontories grew increasing
ly familiar as Sir John was borne to-
ward Lihua, the scene of his boyish
folly. He locke ashore in wonder,
surprised at the vividness and exact
ness of his recollection. He might
have landed anywhere and found his
way through those tangled, scented
paths, with no other guide but mem
DRY.
There was Papaloloa. with its roar
ing falls; there, the tt u a Peau, where
he had h o his first goat; yonder h
misty heights of Tiarapu, where Te-
hea and he had camped a night in the
clouds In an air of English cold. 1t
was like a homecoming to see all
these familiar scenes spreading out
before him. He looked at his hands.
his thin, veined, wrinkled hands, and
1t came over him, with a sort of sur
- 49, AAeN AS x a. ONA ia
THAT was forty years ago." he said
to himself. Forty years agot"
AS Lihua opened out and he per-
ceived, with an inexpressfble pang,
the matched houses set deep in the
shade of palms and breadfruit trees,
he felt himself in the throes of Il
strange and painful INDIGESTION. He
paced up and down the bridge; he lit
a Cfpar and throw If aJUoU aOain- hn
twice approached Commander Still
well as though to give an order, and
then, still in doubt, turned shame
facedly on his heel.
by the deep niner' came the hoarse
murmur of the leadsman.
1t lay with him to stop the ship or
not-a word and she would come shiv-
ering to a standstill; a word and the
boatswain would pipe away his gig
and the crew would be running to
their places. His heart ached with
the desire to land; but something-he
knew not what-withheld the order on
his lips. Let him remain silent and
the opportunity would pass away for
ever. 1t was passing now with every
turn of the propeller. Had he not told
her he would return? Had he not
whispered it that night when they
were torn apart? Did he not owe it
to her to keep the promise of forty
years, a promise given in the flush of
youth n hope, and sealed with scald-
ing tears?
His resolution was taken. He or
dered Commander Stillwell to stop the
ship and lower a boat.
81 am going to treat myself to a
run ashore" he said by way of ex-
PLANTATION.
The vessel slowly stopped. The COW
ers were whipped off the gig. She was
hoisted out and lowered, the crew
dropping down the ladder into their
places at the peep-peep-peep of the
whistle.
Il leave the ship" said Sir John, not
to convey a fact patiently obvious.
in obedience to a naval formula.
He was landed at a little owe where
in bygone days he had often whiled
away an hour in charge of Hadow's
boat. 1t CAV him a singular sensation
to feel the keel crate against the shin
gle and to say to himself that this was
Lihua! He drew a deep breath as he
looked about and noticed how I'M
changed it all was. There were some
new houses in new places and grass
on the sites of others that were en-
deared to him in recollection, but it
was Lihua after all, the Lihua of his
boyhood, the Lihua of his dreams. For
awhile be strolled about at random,
walking with the phantoms of the past,
hearing their laughter, seeing their
faces, recalling a thousand things he
had forgotten.
IF M nvor him with q Stor-t fhat |
the village was empty. Then he re-
membered it was Sunday, and they
were all in church. Thank God there
were none to watch him, no prying,
curious eyes to disturb his thoughts. |
But they would o be out again. and
it behooved him to make the best use
of his solitude while he might. He
struck inland, his heart beating with a
curious expectancy. At every sound
he held his breath, and he would turn
quickly and look back with a haunting
sense nat Tehea was near him; that
perhaps she was gazing at him through
the trees.
He approached his old home through
oyergrown plantations. 1t awed him TO
part the branches and to feel himself
drawing nearer at every step to the
OulN uOuSeAc Adu " LIZ -" IL
AS he heard the splashing waterfall
he stopped, not daring for he moment
to go on. When at last he did so, and
mounted the little hill, he found no
house at all. Nothing but ferns and
weeds man high. He moved about
here and there. up to the armpits in
verdure. in CONSERVATION at discover
ing 1t rome.
His foot struck against a bowlder.
He had forgotten there were any rocks
the hill. He moved along and his
foot struck again. He pressed the
weeds back and looked down.
He saw a tomb of crumbling cement,
green with g and buried out of
sight under the tangle.
1t had never occurred to him before
that Tehea might be dead.
He held back the underground again
and peered into the depths. Yes, it
was the grave of a chief or a woman