The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-02-18

but her intense and fervid soul would
not have allowed her to be absent on
an occasion in which she was so ter
ribly interested. From the moment
that the decree had gone forth, that
her lover should decide his fate in
the kings arena, she had thought of
nothing, night or day, but this great
event and the various subjects con-
nected with it. Possessed of more
power, influence, and force of char
acter than anyone who had ever be-
fore been interested in such a case,
she had done what no other person
had done-she had possessed herself
of the secret of the doors. She knew
in which of the two rooms, that lay
behind those doors, stood the cage of
the tiger, with it's open front, and
in which waited the lady. Through
these thick doors, heavily curtained
with skins on the inside, it was i'm
possible that any noise or suggestion
should come from within to the per-
son who should approach to raise the
latch of one of them; but gold, and
the power of a woman's will, had
brought the secret to the princess.
And not only did she know in which
room stood the lady ready to emerge.
all blushing and radiant, should her
door be opened, but she knew, who the
lady was. 1t was one of the fairest
and lovliest of the damsels of the
court who had been selected as the
reward of the accused youth. should
he be proved innocent of the crime
OF aspiring to one so far above him:
and the princess hated her. Often
had she seen, or imagined that she
had seen, this fair creature throwing
glances of admiration upon the per-
son of her lover, and sometimes she
thought these glances were perceiv-
ed and even returned. Now and then
she had seen them talking together:
1t was but for a moment or two. but
much can be said in a brief space:
1t may have been on most import.
ant topics, but she had no means of
knowing. The girl was lovely. but
she had dared to raise her eyes to
the loved one of the princess; and,
with all the intensity of the savage
blood transmitted to her through long
lines of wholly barbaric ancestors,
she hated the woman who blushed
and trembled behind the silent door
When her lover turned and looked
at her, and his eye met hers as she
sat there paler and whittier than any
one in the vast ocean of anxious
faces about her, he saw, by that
power of quick perception which is
given to those whose souls areone,
that she knew behind which door
crouched the tiger, and behind which
stood the lady. He had expected her
to know it. He understood her ma
ture, and his soul was assured that
she would never rest until she had
made plain to herself this thing, hid
den to all other lockers on, even the
King. The only hope for the youth in
which there was any element of GER
tainty was based upon the success OF
the princess in discovering this mys-
terry; and the moment he looked up
on her, he saw that she had succeed
ed, as in his soul he knew she would
succeed.
Then it was that his quick and anx-
lous glance asked the question:
which," 1t was as plain to her al
II he shouted it from where he stood
There was not an instant to be lost
The question was asked in a fash; Il
must be answered in another.
Her right arm lay on the cushioned
parapet before her. She raised hej
hand and made slight, quick move
ment toward the right. No one bu
her lover saw her Every eye but hi
was liked on the man in the arena.
he turned, and with a firm and ra.
pid step he walked across the empt,
space. Every heart stopped beating
every breath was held, every eye wal
fixed immovably upon that man
Without hesitation, he went to tn,
door on the right, and opened it.
Now, the point of the story is this
Did the tiger come out of that door
or did the lady?
The more we reflect upon thi
question, the harder it is to answer
II involves a study OF the human
heart which leads us through deviou
mazes of passion, out of which it 1
difficult to find our way Think of II
fair reader, not as if the decision de
pended upon yourself, but upon tina
hot-blooded, semi barbaric princess
her soul at white heat beneath tn