The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-05-02
LOLA OE
BY Jack London.

| Steve put out MS hand. when she felt
/ the grip of the fingers that had gripped
hers a thousand times on surfboards
| and lava slopes, she heard the words
of the song with new understanding
as they sobbed in the Hawaiian wo-
man g silver throat:
''Ka halia ko aloha kai hiki mai,
Ke hone ae nei ku u manawa,
| O oe no ka u aloha
A lOko hama nei.
J Steve had taught her air and words
and meaning-so she had thought, till
in this instant; and in this instant of
the last fngerclasp and warm contact
of palms she OWNED for the first time
the real meaning of the song. She
scarcely saw him go, nor could she note
him on the crowded gangway, for she
was deep in memory maze, living
over the four weeks just past, reread-
ing events in the light of revelation.
When the senatorial party had land
ed, Steve had been one of the commit
tee of entertainment. 1t was he who
, had given them their first exhibition
of surf riding, out at Waikiki beach,
padding his narrow board seward un-
/ til he became disappearing speck, and
then, suddenly reappearing, rising like
sea god from out of the welter Of
spume and churning white-rising
swiftly higher and higher. shoulders
and chest and loins' and limbs, until
he stood poised on the smoking crest of
a mighty, mile-long bhlow, his feet
buried in the flying foam, hurting beach
ward with the speed Of an express train
and stepping calmly ashore at their as
founded feet. That had been her first
glimpse Of Steve. He had been the
youngest man on the committee,
youth, himself, of twenty. He had not
entertained by speechmaking, nor had
he shone decoratively at receptions. 1t
was in the breakers at Waikiki, in the
wild cattle drive ON Mauna Kea, and
in the breaking yard of the Haleakala
Ranch that he had performed his share
of the entertaining.
She had not cared for the intermina-
BILE statistics and eternal speechmaking
of the other members of the committee.
Neither had Steve. And it was with
Steve that she had stolen away from
the open air feast at Hamakua, and
from Abe Louisson, the coffee planter,
VINO udu bdlhtu COllCt, CUnct. uOlulug
but coffee, for two mortal hours. 1t
was then, as they rode among the tree
ferns, that Steve had taught her the
words of "Aloha Oe, the song that
had been sung to the visiting Senators
at every village, ranch and plantation
departure.
Steve and she had been much to-
gether from the first. He had been her
playfellow. She had taken possession
of him while her father had been occu-
pied in taking possession of the sta
tistics of the island territory. She was
too gentle TO tyrannize over her play
fellow, yet she had ruled him abjectly,
except when in canoe, or on horse or
surfboard, at which times he had TAX
en- charge and she had rendered obedi-
ence. And now, with this last sing
ing of the song, as the lines were east
off and the big transport began back
ing slowly out from the dock, she knew
that Steve was something more to her
than playfellow.
Five thousand voices were singing
Aloha De, /" "My love be with you
! till we meet again and in that first
moment of known love she realized that
she and Steve were being torn apart.
/ When would they ever meet again2 He
had taught her those words himself
She remembered listening as he sang
them over and over under the hau tree
at Waikiki. Had it been prophecya
And she had admired his singing. She
had told him that he sang with such
expression. She laughed aloud, hyster-
ically, at the recollection. With such
expression!-when he had been pouring
| his heart out in his voice. She knew
now, and it was too late. Why had he
not spoken? Then she realized that
girls of her age did not marry. But
girls of her age did marry :. in
Hawaii, was her instant thought. Ha-
wall had ripened her-Hawaii, where
J flesh is golden and where women are
all ripe and sun-kissed
| Vainly she scanned the packed null
titude on the wharf. What had become
of him2 She felt that she could pay
any price for one more glimpse of him,
and she almost hoped that some mortal
sickness would strike the lonely cap
tain on the bridge and delay departure.
For the first time in her life she look ed
at her father with calculating eye,
and as she did she noted with newborn
| fear the lines of will and determination.
1t would be terrible to oppose him.
And what chance would she have in
such struggles, But why had Steve
not spoken9 Now it was too late. Why
had he not spoken under the hau tree
at Waikiki?
And then, with a great sinking of
| the heart, it came to her that she knew
why. What was it she had heard one
day9 Oh, yes, it was at Mrs. Stanton S
| tea, that afternoon when the ladies of
the Missionary Crowd had enter
tanned the ladies of the senatorial par
ty. 1t was Mrs. Hodgkins, the tall
blonde woman, who had asked the Gues-
tion. The scene came back to her Wv
idly-the broad lanai, the tropic flow
ers, the noiseless Asiatic attendants
the hum of the voices Of the many
women, and the question Mrs. Hodg-
kins had asked in the. group next to
her. Mrs. Hodgkins had been away on
the mainland for years, and was evi
IDENTIFY inquiring after old island friends
of her maiden days. ''What has be
come of Susie Maydwell9" was the
question she had asked. 'Oh, we never
see her any more; she marriedNWillie
Kupele,n another island woman an
swered. And Senator Behrend' s wife