The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-10-24
WADE WARREN THAYER
In Cavalier Magazine

LAM sat crOss-legged on the porch
and took her scolding in silence. Not
that she felt she deserved it all. but
Meie's torrent Of scornful sarcasm was
so continuous and 50 high-pitehed that
il did not seem worth while TO tr--
to interrupt. So the elder sister had
her say out. and all Of Lani's delin.
qnencies were paraded forth in detail.
But the very uncontentiousnes of the
culprit finally brought the TRADE to an
end
Why don t YOU answer me7 Why
don I You deny it, if it ism I soq' Mela
cried at length. dropping the hat she
had been braiding while She talked. and
turning upon her sister, exasperated al
the meekness with which her lecture
had been received E"You know that
Kali is twice the man that Paki is.
Yet, you let Paki hang around YOU all
day long. playing his guitar under the
palm-trees when he ought to he work
ing in the taro-patches or fishing on
the reef, like Kali. Paki is a fool,
with his singing and his loafng and
his understanding
:" He's not fool,'' LAM broke in
suddenly ''He led his class at the
great school in Honolulu, and he won
the debate and the silver medal
when he graduated He's not a fool. -
''Oh. he's bright enough" Mele
conceded, "but he's a fool, Just the
same Wasted all the money old Laa
left him already. His taro-patches
are all grown up with weeds. He has
sold the canoes his grandfather made
fifty years ago far up in the forest
and brought down here to the sea.
Soon he1l not have anything left.
Then what viii he do?"
~ don't care the younger girl
said stolidly. ~ like him better than
that old Kali All he thinks about
are his taro-patches and that new
house he's building, and his stupid old
father lying helpless there on his mat
in the old grass hut
'You don't see Paki bother much
about the old man, - retorted Mele
quickly. "And yet old Mana brought
him up as his own son, when his mother
died and his father went off in the
whale-ship Kali and Paki grew up
like brothers. But Paki never even
goes to see the old man now. since the
court gave him MS SIdnuIdlHSI pup
erty to waste
Eyes, he. Does" LAM said, "and
old Mana thinks a lot of him, too, for
he ALWAYS wears that silk shirt that
Paki brought him from Honolulu, and
he s always talking about him-how
smart he is. and how much he has
learned at school,
Mele merely shifted, and went on
49, Ii ba, hot N, l.inC
''You are all against Paki here IN
Kahaluu,' LAM said bitterly. "and
you are all trying to set me against
him. but YOU can't do it. I like him,
and I don't care who knows it. :"
"And vet. before Paki came back
from Honolulu, with his fine clothes
and his guitar. You used to think lot
of KALI her sister reminded her.
Kali is worth two of Paki. I've been
married long enough to know man,
and Kali is man.
With this sententious utterance, Mele
rose and went indoors. LAM sat look
ing musingly out through the trees,
where there was a glimpse OF the sea
shimmering in the sunlight.
On the distant reef a brown inquire
was visible, thigh deep in the SURF, hsn-
inc with net and spear. 1t was ran,
and the full bag hung from his shoulder
showed that he would have good load
TO take to the Kailua market to dispose
of proftably tomorrow.
II
There came a clatter of horses hoots,
and LAM woke from her revere to see
two mounted men coming along the
beach road from Kailua- She reeog-
nized Paki by the flame-covered kerr
chief about his neck and the Jaunty
angle at which he wore his hat. The
other was a foreigner, and, with the
instructive shvness of the Hawaiian girl,
LAM slipped from the porch and hid IN
the angle of the stone wall which bound
ed the road.
5 ssThere is Kali" she heard Paki say
TO the stranger. as they passed, "out on
will be at home alone, and if we hurry