Evening star., 1924-06-22
BY FREDERICK O'BRIEN.

S l walked up from the beach
~ of Atuona, where l had
~ touched the shore of the Mar
quesaS for the first time,
had remarked a European dwelling
squalid, forbidding and peculiarly
desolate. Although it was painted
black originally, the heat and storms
of years had worn and defaced it,
the sun had shrunk the boards from
one another and posts and beams had
gone awry.
had felt a sudden fear of the pos
sibilities of degradation, as if the
dreary house were symbol of the
white mans deterioration in these
wild places. A sense of physical and
spiritual abandonment to alien en-
vironment, without fitness of soul or
habit, depressed me.
AS we passed, I saw on the veranda
a girl of sixteen or seventeen with a
white face and light blue eyes Her
long yellow hair was slightly con-
fined by a piece of ribbon, but hung
down loose on her rounded shoulders
She wore a blue cotton gown, becom-
ing and not in keeping with her
soiled and frayed surroundings. She
seemed not to notice US until we were
opposite her, when she raised her
head and glanced at us a moment
She fixed her eyes on me the feet
ing instant of her gaze. They had the
innocence and appeal of a fawn and
the melancholy and detachment of a
cloiStered nun. There was no curl
osity in them. though we were the
et n nd
had come with the new governor, who
had landed but the day before. A
second or two her eyes met mine and
conveyed an unconscious message of
youth and sorrow, of budding woman
hood that had had no guidance or
companionship and only sad dreams.
From the room opening on the gall
lery a man came and shouted to US,
Bon jour- in a raven-like croak.
He was in soiled overalls, barefooted
and reeling drunk. His brown hair
and beard had not been cut for
months or years, and rudely margined
his bloated, grievous face, of rugged
strength, in which grim despair con-
tended with fierce pride.
THAT is Peyral," said Ducat, the
second mate of the schooner. He is
always half-seas over, except when
he sews. He is the village tailor, and
makes the priests gowns and clothes
for any one who will buy them. That
daughter of his is the only white girl
in the Marquesas. She is all white,
and he keeps her chained in that dark
house as If he was afraid some one
would eat her"
MO one called on Peyral save very
" occasional buyer of copra or an
fnfrequent customer for clothes.
These. prevalently, met him on the
trail or at church, and dealt with him
there. Either his jealous solitude
was respected or disagreeable expert
ences had caused the villagers to
shun his dwelling. At the Catholic
Church only was he a regular at
tendant. One Sunday there he spoke
10 me.
You are American" he said in
French, his voice hoarse and broken.
said I was and that had come to
the islands to stay an uncertain
length OF time. We exchanged the
days greetings after that, and when
Painter Le Moine and I were examin-
ing the remains of the studio Of Paul
Gauguin, who had died ten years be-
fore, it was Peyral who showed us
how everything had been and who
told me of his daily intercourse with
the famous symbolist Thus we
struck up a real acquaintance, il not
friendship.
Peyral was hunter. He. would
wander, always alone, in the upper
valleys, to shoot kuku. or along the
beach for saltwater birds, walking
slowly and not alertly, but he was a
crack shot and hardly ever failed to
bring back a bag of game. He was
not contented with birds, but also
tramped to the mountains to kill
goats or even the wild bulls that
were growing scarce there under a
promiscuous use Of firearms.
LIE Brunnec, a trader, an amiable
and intelligent Breton, and met him
there, fortunately, at critical mo-
1nent for me. We had, LIE Brunnec
and I, climbed on horses in the late
afternoon to a plateau high up in the
hills and camped there the night. In
that altitude IL was cool after the
sun had set, and we sat about fire
of twigs and branches until we were
sleepy.
In the morning we were up at day.
break, and after coffee and hardtack
we rode toward the sea There was a
faint trail, but LIE Brunnec was a
skilled tracker and picked up the
epoor in a few minutes. After half
an hour we saw fresher traces OF our
prey and began to make plans for
the attack. We felt sure we were
tho only ones on the plateau, and so
were safe. for MarQuesans are reck-
less with guns, and when we heard a
horse coming toward us we halted
and waited. 1t was PeyraI. We could
see his frowsy head quarter of
mile away as it bobbed in the trot.
'Th bien!" said Le Brunnec, philo-
sophically. He is not 50 bad here.
Il Is curious that when Peyral has
been drunk for q month, and reforms
30 As not to die, he goes to the noun
tains for a week and shoots an an
imai"
We said bon jour. and he Joined US.
Le Brunnec proposed that We try to
kill two bulls, share the labor of
carrying the meat to Atuona. and di-
vide 1t there. Peyral gruffiy assented.
and. a. he was the more skillful chaS-
sour, gave US our stations. We were !