The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-07-29

6IuOI WOulu see NE rlSnJ away. lie
got murderer in there, now he said,
"but he'll be through with him in no
time"
kept my eye on that door. 1t
opened presently, and Moro came out
"a Moro with face that might haunt
child's dreams, a one-eyed, sinister
Moro. He came unattended, glided
down the hall, and disappeared in the
blaze of the outdoor sunshine. | won
, dered if he had just murdered the gov
ernor.
But a voice through the open door
was asking me to come in, and the
next minute l was shaking hands with
homely, lean, khak-clad Kentuckian,
who was mighty glad to see me. He
wanted my wife and me to dine with
him that night, and seemed generally
to be trying to make me feel that we
should own the island of Jolo as long
as we would consent to stay there
I'm sorry l had to keep you waiting
just now" he concluded, but l had
murderer in here"
"The Moro who just came out?
There wasn't anyone waiting for him,
and he went off by himself" l had
an idea that this bit of information
might be important, if not disquieting,
but the governor didn't seem dis.
turbed.
ooh, l turned him loose" he said.
"He came in of his own accord and
told me he'd killed man. There was
some misunderstanding about cara
bao. But there hasn't been any COM
plant yet, so l sent him back to his
farm and told him I'd let him know
when we wanted him. That's better
than keeping him in Jail"
l asked the governor if he thought
the man would come when they let
him know. "Yes," he said. you see,
he knows he'll have to come in the
end"
Surely here was a contrast for you.
But before the eating hour" had ar
rived, there was to be another.
We talked on a while, but l had
something on my mind. Here we were,
invited out to dinner, and l knew that
one of my wife's trunks-an indispen-
sable trunk, too-had got left behind
In fhn or
noon on a Saturday, and the port was
closed. At last l confessed my plight
to the governor. He made light of it.
He'd go over there with me and see
what was to be done.
We found the custom house solidly
locked and bolted. But the governor
walked around the corner and called
up at an open window of an adjoining
house.
eli! Jim!" shouted the governor.
It appeared that Jim was our collector
of the port.
81 can't come out" shouted the col
lector. I'm shaving"
"Then throw out the keys of the
custom house." said the governor.
The collector threw them out, and
the governor and unlocked the build
ing and went inside. (Which trunk
is it," he asked. 1 pointed it out.
Catch hold" said the governor,
grabbing the other end, So we car.
ried it out into the street and locked
up the custom house. Now" said the
governor, you take the keys back to
Jim, while l go and find a couple OF
prisoners to carry the trunk up to
your place"
The collector wiped his razor and
put the keys in his pocket. Then he
looked me in the eye and grinned.
Found his excellency all right, did
your" he asked.
Any man who had listened to the
British joke" for a number of months
would find instant relief in one of the
American brand.
And yet, confess, as I laughed with
the collector at Jolo, l couldn't be
quite sure who the laugh was on,
Were they wrong, root and branch,
those English? Was the history OF
their empire in the East the history
of one vast mistake? That would, as
they say. want a lot of proving.
OF course, when we are content to
be our unvarnished, democratic selves
we puzzle the Oriental mind profound
ly. 1t shocks him to see any white
man, let alone a governor, carry a
trunk; and it offends him, quite wan
tonly and gratuitously, to be inter,
rupted in the middle of a serious ora
ton and told, flippantly and good,
humoredly, to go to hell. But don't
forget the other episode of that first
day in Jolo. The murderer was
tttYsnad lonco int +bo IoeIy,y ,,itI, t1,o