The daily Alaskan., 1915-05-24
v v w v '' V v v v Pearl of the
 Crossroads How She Met Her Fate.
 By FREDERICK BRIGGS Copyright by Frank A. Mnnsey Co.
By FREDERICK BRIGGS
Copyright by Frank A. Munsey Co

Some one said that q sailorman was good for nothing but to chase about the world and send people presents. Pearl Smith had known this all her life, though perhaps she had never resolved 1t into Just that expression.
 She drew the line at having more than one man on the same ship. Still, this was not at all inconvenlent, for there were sometimes no less than four teen men-of-war, besides a score of merchant ships, in the crossroads Of the Pacific at one time.
 The girl came by the prosaic name of Smith because her fathers name had been something else in some other country. He came to Honolulu before the cable was in good working order and remained. Marrying half caste Kanaka girl, he had kept a sailors boarding house on Kings road since Pearl was a baby. The presents had been coming in since the little girl was big enough to climb on a sailormanS knee, and their volume increased with her size. She was grown up at four teen.
 To see her then was like being walk. ened from a sweet sleep on d balmy afternoon by having great clusters of red, red roses pressed to ones checks Young men dropping in at the Cross. roads swore that they would never go to sea again, only to ship with the next tide for the Indian ocean in search of q pearl to match her skin.
 She was like Honolulu days. The shimmering softness of her skin match ed the warm afternoon skies. Rich reds of the island sunsets burned in her full, dimpcd mouth Truptc twi. lights lay behind her inky cyclaShcs. deepening to midnight in her long hair.
 Men-of-war's men and merchant sail ors sent different presents. The navy men leaned toward fancy jeweiry and manicure sets, while the traders stuck to silk, uncut rubies, loose pearls, ivory fans and ostrich plumeS.
 This from the young men. To emu merate the junk that was dumped at the feet of this island goddess by silly old sea captains and others would be to copy the cargo bills of an East and West India tradesman. There would also be a list of small animals and birds, with a number of arctic treas ures appended. Pearl kept what she fancied. and her father sold the rest
 As for a girl accepting presents from a dozen men at the same time, it must be remembered that Pearl lived neither east of Frisco nor west of Suez, which is only another way of saying that the girl was bred in a mans country, where anything a woman gets Is so much for her gain and no less for her honor.
 New admirers invariably meant more presents. But when a sailorman can jolly hls superior officer and get any thing he wants just for the asking wo men had better beware of him. When he stands six feet in his socks, laughs out of big blue eyes and concealS a cello note in a drawling voice so much the worse for the women. Heine-that was as far as they got with his name aboard ship, and It will suffice here HeIne was all of this and more. He was an American bluejacket, boat swain's mate of the destroyer Shark.
 There is one amusement the Ha- yaiians have which Americans do not possess. We are enthusiastic surf bath CTS and are good swimmers, but q sight that is seen in Hawaiian waters is never seen on an American coast A Hawaiian takes with him to the beach board, usually about twice his length. This board he carries out as fnr as he can; then, placing himself on 1t. it bears him, forced by the waves, back again to the beach Those who are not expert at this exercise may lie flat on the board, but those who are trained to 1t stand erect, balancing their bodies as they roll toward the shore.
 He met Pearl at Waikiki beach. She was shooting the surf when Heine saw her first Standing upright with out. flung arms, she balanced on her polish ed board of kamani wood as 1t raced ahead of a giant breaker. Swift as the wave she flashed past the swimming sailor, but as the waters broke over his l head he remembered every line of her beautiful body. The grace of her att- tude struck him harder than the wave. Turning, he swam strongly toward the beach, where the spent roller had land ed the fairy surf rider.
 Half dozen men were begging Pearl to be allowed to take her board out to the reef again, but she laughed them away with a flash of milk white teeth and struggled out alone. Heine met her a hundred fathoms from the beach, where the water came almost to his shoulders as he stood on the sand. I'll carry your board for you" he cried as the girl broke through q wave | almost upon him.
 Startled, she turned her head, and the board slipped, striking on her flower mouth. As the blood came Heine caught her in his arms. The wave, re- ceding, shut the other bathers from view, and for ten seconds the sailorman held the girl close to his heart.
 My lip will swellw she panted' struggling to free herself.