The Washington times., 1921-03-20
Confirmed from Preced.no Pogo.

hor head sttll on her hand. her eyes
full. bsfIliant eyes Of the true
South. Sea type - piercing me
through. II
For answer I put the earrings In
my ears, sprang up from the moor
With one movement and ran out to
the back Of the house. There was
no one and nothing there 1t would
have been Just possible for someone
mounted on bicycle--or someone
on horse-or someone Who'll did
not finish that--to gain the shelter
ibf the palm grove behind the tcyBe
while was crossing from one room
to another.
! Magic" said Maiers's voice.
THE sun is going down." said.
4 felt strangely disappointed, almost
chilled. These women were pfxy.'
ing tricks on me. . fa-
ut is time got fome,'' I said.
Lorraine will want me for my
walk / said good-by to ,Lalta.
thanked her more formally thahN
had yet done for her many beauti-
full presents, and hurried back to
the cottage among the bougain-
villeas. / took care to slip In by the
back way and to make no noise IN
gaining my room. There was just
chance that my absence might not
have been observed
At my door / was checked by the
sound Of someone moving about
within. Had been caught? !
picked up a wrapper that was hang
ing on the veranda and fed to the
bathroom. A minute later Lorraine
came to the door. rN gfgs5B
''Is that you inside there, Dara?"
she called 1sttFF .tf'-ftat
yes" ! answered her, splashing
vigorously with my hands,
Z "The Garstangs have called"
I'm minute" I,replied. occu-
pied the minute in taking or my
outdoor clothes and getting into the
wrapper With my hair down and
my face convincingly wet i opened
the door and came out
n "She will think" ! said to myself,
that was sleeping and went for
q bath when / woke up"
Lorraine eyed me curiously.
whats the matter?" asked her.
II shan't be minute dressing. You
know I always like bath at this,
time"
"Do you always" inquired Lor-
raine, cbathe with pearl earrings
onr Then, without pausing for an
. answer, she walked away.
"Great heavens!" said, clappsng
my hands to my ears. The great
pink pearls were still there. "Now,"
/ thought, "the fat vii be In the
fire." But 1t was not. When1 came
into the drawing room, earringless,
my aunt did not SO much as look at
me. She was busy, apparently talk
ing to the family OF the Resident.
Later, when we passed each other
on the veranda, she gave me per-
fectly inexplicable look. II IT had
not been impossible | should have.
said that something had happened
during the afternoon to please her.
But her chaperonage was not
lightened. She seemed to watch
me, so to speak, with her teeth set,
defying anything in heaven or earth
to make her relax for a moment.
A day or two later-I do not quite
know when-I had a call from
Maiera. In the Hawongas there is
not the keen feeling about color
that one finds in islands governed
by Australia. New Zealand, with
hef own Maori people, has never
been over-sensitive in these mat.
ters. lColored wives of white men,
legally married; halfcastes of re-
spectacle life; the brown royalties
of Hawonga-all these were on our
visiting lists in Port Hervey. do
not think that we, or the colored
folk, were any the worse for it.
Maiera, legal daughter of an
island princess and an English
sailor (both dead), had been brought
up in the royal circle. She had been
educated at school in Tahiti, but
had spent most of her life under
Lalua's immediate care. She could
read and write perfectly, play the
piano and was no mean artist with
the pencil or the brush.
She was exceeding pretty-more
than pretty, indeed; she was, like
many eastern island half-castes,
beautiful. Her profile was singu-
larly sharp and clear. like some-1
thing on coin; she had black silky
hair that waved more deeply than
any human hair l have ever seen,
and eyelashes so long that one could
hardly believe they were real. Herr
skin was the color Of fresh cream.
At the time Of which l speak she
must have been about my own age,
seventeen, but she looked and in all
essentials was quite twenty-five.
She had hardly ever been to see me,
and felt so pleased when she
walked Neutrality-suspicious. al
ways seemed to move as II she were
Just going to dance-down the long
veranda where I was sitting, half
L