KAIUOLANI 
 
 A PRINCESS OF HAWAII 
 
 BY 
 
 I. WILLIAM .ADAMS 
 
 AUTHOR OF "YODOGIMA IN FEUDALISTIC JAPAN," "SHIBUSAWA- 
 THE PASSING OF OLD JAPAN," ETC. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 THE MIKILOSCH PRESS 
 
 1912 
 
Copyright, 1912 
 By I. William Adams 
 
 Composition, Press Work and Binding 
 by L. H. Jenkins, Eichmond, Va. 
 
Bancroft 
 
 KAIUOLANI 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 The bugle call, clear and shrill, rang out upon the 
 fttill, hollow air of a mild winter's morning, as the 
 queen and her invited guests, alike the royalty and 
 commonalty of fair Hawaii, awaited the blast that sig- 
 nailed the beginning of the fete sounded the march. 
 ^* Liliuokolani calmly arose from a quiet seat in the 
 ^ Blue Room and proudly walked to the portico's edge 
 ^ in front. Looking out, over the gay guests assem- 
 J bled in the broad gardens below, her heart swelled with 
 contemplation and no thought of failure disturbed her 
 peace of mind. The kindly woman welcomed some 
 C relief; for upon ascending the throne, at the death 
 of her brother, Kalakawa, nearly two years thereto- 
 j fore, she had faithfully said : 
 J ''My ministry shall be responsible to me." 
 
 Her attempt to invoke this ancient privilege, of 
 appointing the cabinet and holding it responsible to 
 the throne, had cost Liliuokolani two years of almost 
 constant turmoil and struggle with the opposition ; as 
 the Progressionists an organized body of foreign 
 merchants, politicians and adventurers had, during 
 the administration of her predecessor, Kalekaua, 
 wrested from him an alleged amendment to the con- 
 
4 KAIUOLANI 
 
 stitution, placing that privilege and responsibility in 
 the hands of the legislature. In her contention the 
 queen had been loyally supported by the Royalists 
 (consisting mainly of the planters and older foreign 
 residents) and the Patriots, the predominant and 
 better class of natives. Thus her position became 
 clearly defined and seemed certain of hearty encour- 
 agement throughout the kingdom. 
 
 A decision had just been rendered in her favor, 
 by the supreme court, and at the convention of the 
 legislature the queen had thrown open her summer 
 residence, Waikiki Villa, as was the custom, for the 
 purposes of inaugurating the impending session with a 
 grand garden party. Upon this occasion she may 
 have possessed a deeper motive in making the fes- 
 tivities as nearly universal in their application as pos- 
 sible, for she was a gracious queen and would exceed 
 the bounds of liberality to eradicate the last taint of 
 difference. 
 
 Presently the band came into sight it was the Royal 
 Military band playing the national air, Hawaii Poni 
 (God Save The Queen), and every head in that vast 
 throng was quickly bared. Liliuokolani bowed and 
 gray-haired men and garland-ladened women thrilled 
 with the pride of loyalty. 
 
 The troops followed, with their steel bayonets glis- 
 tening in the sunlight, while sturdy officers in scarlet 
 regalia, their polished sabers dangling at their sides, 
 rode in front or galloped along, in one grand valiant 
 acknowledgment. They were men with the vigor of 
 ascension or the dread of displacement burning hot in 
 their veins, for the Rifles (the white branch of the 
 militia), five hundred strong, led the advance, with the 
 
KAIUOLANI 5 
 
 Guards, or natives, in the rear. All, however, were 
 animated with a single aim : they marched in unison to 
 do homage to a wise and beloved ruler. 
 
 As they tramped along the broad, winding driveway, 
 beneath the overtowering cocoa palms and amid the 
 borders of verdant flowers, a thousand voices rose in 
 response to the last echo of that anthem which always 
 moves so deeply the hearts of patriotic men and noble, 
 generous women. It was a confirmation of true en- 
 deavor,, and Liliuokolani breathed freely the inspira- 
 tion that comes only of a marked appreciation. In her 
 heart no rancor lingered, and of a free will she would 
 have crowned each and every one of her subjects with 
 the material reward his efforts merited as she gave 
 him in her heart a spiritual blessing. On they came, 
 the solid column advancing, until directly under the 
 portico, where Colonel Floyd Wellington Young, com- 
 mander of the Rifles, wheeled his charge and loyally 
 saluted. 
 
 The gallant young officer rode his mount with the 
 dash of a Napoleon, his red hair glowing with the fire 
 of victory, though from his deep blue eyes there shone 
 a determination to enforce justice, alike to himself 
 and to his fellow men. The queen, standing there, 
 high above his head, extended her white-gloved hand 
 in humble recognition of his true worth and her 
 superior regard ; and not a few wept with joy at the 
 apparent reconciliation of two contending factions, 
 that had so long threatened to disrupt their island 
 home. 
 
 Bowing gently in response, the colonel's voice, 
 loud and musical, echoed from the mountain side 
 above to the rollicking sea below : 
 
6 KAIUOLANI 
 
 "Battalions halt !" 
 
 Then: 
 
 "Right line march !" 
 
 Immediately : 
 
 "Present arms !" 
 
 And finally : 
 
 "Parade rest !" 
 
 Quick and orderly the maneuvers were executed 
 to the rhythm of "tramp, tramp" and the thud of a 
 half-thousand rifles. Grandly they saluted, and with 
 upturned faces awaited the queen's response. 
 
 With chosen words and deliberate accent the con- 
 siderate woman calmly said : 
 
 "I thank you in behalf of myself and my people 
 for this splendid expression of fealty, and pray that 
 God may give me strength to render a just and gen- 
 erous recognition. On this day, and I trust many 
 others, my home is open unto you. The Queen's 
 blessing." 
 
 Tears stole into the colonel's eyes, as wheeling in the 
 saddle he shouted command : 
 
 "Shoulder arms! Column fours left! Forward 
 march !" and the steady ranks moved on down the 
 avenue, to give place to a more sympathetic advance. 
 
 The native company, with less dash but as certain 
 a tread, came forward and at the command of their 
 leader, Prince Aokahameha, executed quite as dex- 
 trously a similar movement ; but when their salute had 
 been given a deathly silence ensued. With filled eyes 
 and heavy heart Liliuokolani leaned far over the rail- 
 ing and extending her arms, in hopeless expression, 
 silently voiced a message that stirred deeply the Wood 
 that knew no land but theirs. Then with bowed heads 
 
KAIUOLANI 7 
 
 and resolute step they hearkened to the voice of a 
 Kamehameha and followed their commander down the 
 lane, toward the Armory, behind the koas, a short dis- 
 tance away, at the capital city in front. 
 
 Ihoas-Kahili, the queen's chief lady in waiting, stood 
 near by and when the troops had passed from sight 
 the queen still watching them she came to her 
 majesty and consoled her and directing an attendant 
 to place a seat counselled the queen to remain in the 
 open, where she might view the gay throngs seated 
 about the lawns or indulge the soft sea breeze that 
 floated in from the nearby shore. Liliuokolani quickly 
 consented, for on this day more than any other she, as 
 well as Ihoas, was interested in the outcome of the 
 chivalries. 
 
 The tall, young princess, a descendant of the Kame- 
 hamehas, seated herself close by and presently she too 
 sank into deep, unsatisfying thought. Though her full 
 name was Ihoas-Kahila Ralph, and her flowing hair 
 and mild eyes contrasted noticeably with the massive, 
 jet black waves and controlled, penetrating look of the 
 queen, she was none the less of a royalty long antedat- 
 ing the Mauas, of whom Liliuokolani was the then 
 reigning descendant. Aokahameha was of the same 
 blood as Ihoas, and notwithstanding their displace- 
 ment, like her cousin they being of the younger gene- 
 ration of the Kamehamehas had become reconciled 
 to the new order and, altogether, sought with loyalty 
 to do homage and render service unto their lawfully 
 recognized queen. 
 
 Liliuokolani had long ago recognized the value of 
 the grave and patriotic Aokahameha and his support 
 in her desperate struggle against the final encroach- 
 
8 KAIUOLANI 
 
 ment of the foreigners, and was anxious that upon 
 this occasion Kaiuolani, the young and vivacious heir 
 apparent, should crown him victor of the fete. This 
 beautiful princess was one of the queen's own blood, 
 named by her majesty as the lawful successor to the 
 throne, yet Liliuokolani would that Kaiuolani loved 
 Aokahameha, for in him she trusted, saw her own 
 beneficent plans unfold, and with his rise and promo- 
 tion to the chief command of the army believed the 
 throne secure. 
 
 Ihoas had become the queen's real confidante, and 
 though hopelessly (as there was good reason to be- 
 lieve) loved by Aokahameha, her majesty trusted her 
 affectionate chief lady in waiting to urge the recon- 
 ciliation of Aokahameha to a new love, while she 
 herself would bring her own influence to bear upon 
 Kaiuolani. In the pathway of all these fervent de- 
 sires there had already come to view an almost end- 
 less chain of apparent obstacles ; yet Liliuokolani 
 felt in her heart that she was right, and no trial seemed 
 too hard or measure severe for her to withstand. She 
 sat there in the cool of the shade, her determination 
 rising, the tears had long ago dried, a huge fan 
 gently swaying in the sweet-laden zephyrs, while her 
 faithful companion pondered more apprehensively, if 
 less sternly, the troubled situation. 
 
 "Has Kaiuolani made her appearance in the gar- 
 den ?" asked the queen, after a while, thoughtfully, but 
 kindly. 
 
 "I believe she is on the veranda below. Shall I call 
 her?" asked Ihoas in answer, rising, and ready to do 
 her majesty's bidding. 
 
 "Please send the princess to me; I should like to 
 
KAIUOLANI 9 
 
 speak with her before the day is further advanced. 
 You can leave us here, to ourselves : the diversion will 
 be a welcome relief to you, and there is someone, 
 now, on the lawn ; he looks ; he desires you to come, 
 I know." 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 Presently the princess came and sat by the side 
 of her aunt, the queen. Ihoas bowed herself away 
 and as quickly disappeared below, where she sought 
 relief and opportunity in the crowded garden. She 
 had a duty to perform, and though her position must 
 be an embarrassing one, her appearance could but 
 arouse interest, invoking both happiness and hope. 
 
 On the steps at the veranda in front Ihoas met 
 Aokahameha accompanied by Colonel Young ; they 
 had disposed of their commands at the armory and 
 returned to pay respects and join in the festivities at 
 the villa. The one tall, dark and austere: the other 
 slight, fair and genteel, they doffed their helmets to 
 the stately princess as she met and congratulated them 
 upon the events of the day. There was indeed a wide 
 contrast between the old-time feats of chivalry, as 
 exemplified in the one, and the modern heraldic dis- 
 play, underlying the martial supremacy of the other ; 
 yet Ihoas was brave, and with her memory running 
 back and her heart yearning for still another she made 
 no distinction, greeting them alike with a heartiness 
 that bespoke neither preference nor prejudice. Per- 
 haps Floyd Young may have conjured a distrust in her 
 composure, but he became quite undeceived as to his 
 comrade's position, for the young prince uncon- 
 sciously betrayed the secret of his love. 
 
 Designing not to intrude upon good will, Young 
 
KAIUOLANI ii 
 
 withdrew and sauntered into the midst of the gayety 
 on the lawns. Not a few offered words of felicita- 
 tion as the deserving young officer passed on, address- 
 ing this one or recognizing that one, but none seemed 
 to express more than passing interest in what he had 
 hoped to be the most successful military parade the 
 little kingdom had seen. The seeming indifference 
 stung him sharply, but he remembered that this was 
 the queen's day, however loyal the opposition, and 
 acting in obedience to natural impulse turned toward 
 the portico where his eyes met fairly those of the 
 princess, Kaiuolani. 
 
 The .dazzling garnishments of his regalia glittered 
 in the sunlight and heightened the sparkle in Kaiuo- 
 lani's eyes as he bowed and turned to shake the hand 
 of Mr. Elmsford Oscar Donworth Elmsford a dis- 
 carded English duke, an artist by profession, but at 
 that time a resident manager who stood high in social 
 circles at the capital city, Honolulu. 
 
 A frown crossed the queen's brow ; she had witnessed 
 the glance of recognition, which had so inadvertently 
 passed between the two, and as quickly engaged the 
 princess in conversation. Young did not observe the 
 apparent change in her majesty's countenance, but con- 
 tinued talking to his neighbor, Elmsford, till pres- 
 ently Ihoas again came upon the scene of his dis- 
 comfiture. 
 
 This faithful intermediary had had her say with 
 Aokahameha, and left him standing in the shade of 
 the veranda, debating whether to follow and press his 
 claim for a true love or go above and encourage a 
 false one. He had understood Ihoas's warning only 
 too well, but for that did not believe her lost to him, 
 
12 KAIUOLANI 
 
 although she had positively declared her preference 
 for the man that she was at that very moment ap- 
 proaching, and as to Kaiuolani: she was entirely 
 too frolicsome for him, and he doubted even her 
 aunt's ability to govern her decision in any manner, 
 much less about a thing so vital as that of marriage. 
 The sudden turn of affairs disturbed but did not over- 
 whelm the puzzled man, who stood momentarily de- 
 bating his proper course, then entered the house and 
 ascended the stairs. 
 
 Turning, Young again paid his respects to the de- 
 signing Ihoas. A slight flush perceptibly reddened his 
 face. A new thought possessed him; he would use 
 her to relieve himself and disarm others as to the 
 possible thought of any rising intimacy with Kaiuolani. 
 
 Barely granting Ihoas an opportunity to recognize 
 the artist manager, whom she had grown to love with 
 a passion characteristic only of her race, Young said, 
 banteringly : 
 
 "You do me undeserved honor, in granting me 
 this the second opportunity to greet you this morn- 
 ing. Will you join me while paying respects to Sir 
 Charles, the princess Kaiuolani's father? He is over 
 there, in the shade of the old historic palm let us 
 go." 
 
 The thought of arousing Kaiuolani's jealousy sud- 
 denly flashed into Ihoas's mind. Possibly she may 
 have divined a submerged interest in herself, lurking 
 in the colonel's motive : if so, she was mistaking ; 
 withal her dignified bearing and noble sentiment, Floyd 
 Young at heart preferred another kind of quest. And 
 when he really led her away his only purpose augured 
 of the subtle art of diplomacy. His every hope was 
 
KAIUOLANI 13 
 
 founded upon the progress of events, and from the 
 time he had landed in Honolulu an ambitious but 
 penniless youth, from far distant New York, a recent 
 graduate from Columbia, educated in the law and 
 honorably discharged from the State militia his ad- 
 vance had been due to his sterling grasp with oppor- 
 tunity, his ideals founded upon what he believed to 
 be the ultimate decree of human greatness the mili- 
 tary strength of a country, the force behind the throne 
 and the arbiter of God's eternal law. Love, with him, 
 was an essential trait of manly existence, but its rite 
 should be more : marriage must be made the stepping- 
 stone to a broader usefulness, used to round out a 
 sphere in which man attains his noblest virtue, serves 
 in the molding and wielding of destiny. 
 
 A union with the heir apparent would strengthen 
 his position and open the way to a larger development, 
 but the time had not yet come nor was it advisable 
 upon this occasion to publish even the possibility of so 
 daring a prospect. If he could only check the impetu- 
 ous princess, and confuse the minds of others, by 
 paying some unusual attention to Ihoas, he should 
 gain a positive advantage ; so he led the advance 
 adroitly, and his willing victim of the same mind, but 
 with a different end in view assisted in the ruse with 
 all the grace and likelihood at her disposal. 
 
 "By jove," said the surprised Englishman, to him- 
 self, as the others walked away ; "she has cut me cold ! 
 I wonder if she really means it? I hope so, at all 
 events. I can't stand her pose : it lacks in perspective. 
 Besides, a respite would give me the chance to trim 
 my sails for a more likely princess." 
 
 Elmsford once more shifted positions, always keep- 
 
14 KAIUOLANI 
 
 ing himself in the open and within sight of the portico, 
 frequently adjusting his eyeglass and vainly assum- 
 ing a bearing strictly in accord with his shrivelled 
 dignity. His robust figure and odd mannerism finally 
 attracted the queen's attention, causing her to remark, 
 pleasantly : 
 
 "I wonder who is the guest in fancy dress? He 
 seems to be always looking this way !" 
 
 "Oh, that is Mr. Elmsford the gentleman papa 
 has given the privilege of doing my portrait in oil. 
 He is really an interesting character; and, they say, 
 of the English nobility. We shall, no doubt, see 
 more of him before the day is out," said Kaiuolani, in 
 her characteristically careless way. 
 
 "I trust not; at least, until after the leis" (a kind 
 of ceremony, at which the victor in the games for- 
 merly literally, but at that time figuratively was 
 crowned with a garland by the queen of flowers, 
 usually a chosen princess). "Any sort of a coxcomb 
 from over there becomes a gentleman immediately 
 he is stranded upon our shores. I am very weary of 
 it all," replied the queen, with emphasis. 
 
 "But, aunty, they are so nice; and then, you know, 
 the 'foreigners' have given us so much of civilization 
 they say, all that we have," continued the princess, 
 innocently. 
 
 "They say so; but, I vow, we have not gained so 
 very much. There was far more contentment and 
 much less distress before they set their treacherous 
 feet upon our sacred soil. Excuse me, dear; I should 
 not talk like that ; but, I cannot help giving vent to my 
 feelings, at times," said Liliuokolani, proud, and un- 
 
KAIUOLANI 15 
 
 able to restrain the deep and abiding sorrow that 
 welled up from her hard-tried benevolence. 
 
 "Never mind, aunty; everything will in time come 
 out for the best. We all love you, and will comfort 
 you, no matter what the consequences," said Kaiuo- 
 lani, moved with natural sympathy. 
 
 "I do wish that Aokahameha would come ; we can 
 trust him, and he is such a noble man. I should choose 
 him to others less qualified if more pretentious," an- 
 swered the queen, guardedly concerned as to Kaiuo- 
 lani's attitude. 
 
 The princess did not answer, but her thoughts went 
 out, in a myriad aspects, to the crowning event of 
 the day. It had of right fallen to her to place the 
 braided wreath upon the brow of a chosen champion, 
 and there arose no question in her mind as to the 
 choice she should make, yet the pathos of her majesty's 
 situation appealed momentarily to Kaiuolani's sym- 
 pathy. Judgment seemed a thing quite foreign to her 
 temperament, and she sat battling between love and 
 affection till presently Aokahameha walked into their 
 presence, bidding both a friendly good-morning. 
 
 Kaiuolani brightened. It mattered not so much who 
 the visitor might be, just so his coming brought new 
 interest; for remaining there on that portico, alone 
 with her aunt, on so delectable a morning, amid such 
 a host of admirers, became almost unbearable. 
 
 "I am so glad you came, Aoka aunty and I were 
 this moment talking about you the parade was just 
 lovely how I do admire the horses !" said Kaiuo- 
 lani, without stopping to regain her breath or divine 
 the effect of her speech. 
 
16 KAIUOLANI 
 
 "The prince deserves our compliments," said the 
 queen, quickly and earnestly. 
 
 "Thank you," replied he, bowing. 
 
 Perhaps Aokahameha's unsympathetic answer 
 caused her majesty to hesitate further conversing, 
 Kaiuolani waited for him to introduce a more invit- 
 ing subject, and the prince, glad that the queen had 
 stopped short of then and there betrothing them, the 
 hapless culprits, leaned against the railing and pon- 
 dered anxiously an incident accidentally noticed while 
 approaching. 
 
 On reaching the top of the stairs, having trod softly 
 over the noiseless carpet, the prince had involuntarily 
 hesitated before entering the boudoir, through which 
 he must pass to gain access to the portico, and ob- 
 served through the wide open door one of her majesty's 
 ladies in waiting hidden behind the folds of the 
 drapery, overhanging the exit, and within convenient 
 hearing distance of Kaiuolani and the queen. 
 
 The recognition, instantaneous and unpleasant as it 
 proved to be, was mutual, and Martha Norton, flushed 
 and confused, tried as best she could to divert atten- 
 tion by pretending to have been arranging Liliuoko- * 
 lani's private writing table, the most convenient if 
 suspicious article at hand. Aokahameha paused sud- 
 denly, then recovering himself walked in and through 
 the room to the portico in front without manifesting 
 the slightest concern or pretending to notice the sur- 
 prised woman's unbecoming act. The unexpected 
 meeting, however, though to neither of them no more 
 disconcerting than pleasing, revealed to him a press- 
 ing danger. 
 
 He said nothing about the circumstance, nor tried 
 
KAIUOLANI 17 
 
 to elicit the purport of a conversation that an enemy 
 had evidently overheard, but so lost himself in studied 
 contemplation that his anxious hostess directly suf- 
 fered more discomfiture at his silence than she could 
 have done from a complete revelation of the occur- 
 rence. 
 
 Discovered, the listening attendant quickly with- 
 drew and sought her confidant, among the guests 
 below. The sharp-visaged spinstress had not long to 
 search, for Xane Bender, eager and cunning, awaited 
 her coming at a secluded place in the background. His 
 dark brow and sunken form fairly writhed in dis- 
 tress, when the spying emissary reported the queen's 
 conversation and predicted that Kaiuolani would place 
 the crown upon Aokahameha's brow r . 
 
 "They are a treacherous lot, these dusky Islanders; 
 the old scapegrace as good as promised that I should 
 be selected by that rattle-headed flirt, whose Scotch 
 cross with a Polynesian ape entitles her to so pre- 
 tentious a claim. I will have her, by G d: Xane 
 Bender shall not be trifled with!" hissed the mad- 
 dened man, his foul teeth showing white, while clench- 
 ing nervously his one deformed fist and glancing with 
 furtive eyes from under a stooped and tortuous 
 posture. 
 
 "I would advise that you hold your temper; this is, 
 not an agreeable time or place for the making of idle 
 accusations. What care we for their descent or pro- 
 testations? It is success that we covet: we should 
 rather use our wit than lose it," said the wily Norton, 
 with biting emphasis. 
 
 "D d harlot; accursed woman; you would chide 
 me now, that you think Young is safe. I'll beat your 
 
i8 KAIUOLANI 
 
 game to a standstill, see you in hades, shorn of the 
 last pretence, before I go down to defeat, alone and 
 single handed. The princess shall marry me, then 
 you can the better victimize the colonel; though little 
 worth he is, I assure you," said her tormentor, with 
 curled-up lip and sarcastic voice. 
 
 "Take care, Xane Bender; I have a hand yet to 
 play, that you little suspect. And if you press me 
 beware " 
 
 "Strumpet! Adventuress! Why should I press any- 
 body ? Have I not given you honor, position, influence 
 all that you possess? Whose money 
 
 "Why, good-morning, Mr. Bender. I see that you 
 are very delightfully engaged with my most worthy 
 assistant.* I trust that I am not intruding am I?" 
 said a mild, effeminate voice, as a jolly, whole-souled 
 Progressionist bobbed round the bush, discovering 
 them, as he thought, in the very act of love-making. 
 
 "Good-morning, Mr. Wayntro. Good-morning, sir ! 
 I hope you are both well and happy this morning. 
 Miss Norton and I, as you see, were just having a lit- 
 tle pleasantry; discussing the social side of the func- 
 tion not for publication, of course the good lady 
 journalist is too considerate for that but only in a 
 friendly way as we are often wont to do, at an aside 
 from the constant crush of congratulatory friends/' 
 replied the designing Bender, with changed expres- 
 sion and fawning politeness. 
 
 "I vow : I myself found their lavishments somewhat 
 depressing," answered the interloping newspaper man, 
 quite boastfully. 
 
 "Mr. Bender has been very kind to me, and I hardly 
 know how I should have survived the morning had it 
 
KAIUOLANI 19 
 
 not been for his timely attention," proffered the good 
 Miss Norton, without any apparent recollection of 
 what had sooner taken place. 
 
 George Wayntro was the sometime founder and 
 at that auspicious moment proprietor of the Ware 
 Wizzard Wise, the newspaper of the place, inde- 
 pendent as professed but Progressionist by accident; 
 and Miss Martha Norton, a still later importation 
 from America, had by stint of endeavor and the help 
 of Bender risen on the staff from local reporter to 
 chief assistant editor. Her word bore much weight 
 with the would-be brilliant proprietor; and in con- 
 sideration of the many "turns" she had done her 
 friend Bender, that crafty fellow had forced the lady 
 editor's claims also in other directions ; at least to the 
 extent of wresting from; the queen herself the illy 
 deserved social distinction his calculating accomplice 
 then enjoyed: that of a lady in waiting by courtesy 
 if not in reality. 
 
 The three immediately sauntered into the open, 
 where shortly they came upon Colonel Young and the 
 Princess Ihoas, who sat conversing pleasantly with 
 the Honorable Sir Charles Stuart Prentiss, president 
 gf the local foreign club, and the Princess Kaiuolani's 
 father, a retired Scotch gentleman and an early set- 
 tler in the Islands. 
 
 Here they were received with civility, if not polite- 
 ness ; though Young was not at all friendly in spirit, 
 and as to the rest there seemed nothing in common be- 
 tween them. No one took the pains to arise at their 
 coming, and they stood around coldly chatting until 
 presently Aokahameha and the princess were seen ap- 
 
20 KAIUOLANI 
 
 preaching. Kaiuolani's presence upon the lawn be- 
 came the signal for others to move in that direction, 
 and by the time she had reached her father's side a 
 semicircle was formed and all waited anxiously, with 
 the queen in the distance, the coming event of the 
 day's festivities. 
 
 The happy-go-lucky princess tripped lightly to the 
 front perhaps a secret motive impelled the mood : 
 more likely the heart laid bare its yearning and tak- 
 ing up the floral wreath, which had been intrusted to 
 her father's keeping, she looked all round, from one 
 to another, her eyes betraying only love, though the 
 hand battled against indecision, and as by chance 
 raised the leis above the blushing Young, saying with 
 a voice sweetly revealing the soul's gratitude: 
 
 "With this frail token, an emblem, I crown you 
 victor the people's sacred choice, a hero, the queen's 
 righteous defense." 
 
 The colonel's voice failed him. He loved Kaiuolani 
 with virtue and in truth, but the soul revealed a mes- 
 sage sweeter than affinity. He would have undone the 
 wrong had he possessed the power, torn her love 
 girdle into shreds and thrown it at her feet would that 
 have released him and saved her. Deep in his heart, 
 he felt the sincerity of her rash act, and with his 
 eyes discerned a thousand hands raised to strike that 
 she had deigned to venture, yet in the face of positive 
 decision he remained absolutely helpless. He would 
 do battle with the giants, but a woman's way for the 
 moment undid him. 
 
 A smile brightened Aokahameha's countenance as he 
 caught the retreating glance of Ihoas, whose face 
 
KAIUOLANI 21 
 
 grew cold with pallor; she divined better than he the 
 strength of Liliuokalani's purpose, and the secret un- 
 derlying the composure of Kaiuolani ; who, stung with 
 the blush of bewilderment, turned to her father to 
 escape the confusion of faces surrounding them. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 The bestowal of an honor so vital, to their way of 
 thinking, could but arouse deep and widespread inter- 
 est, especially now that the public mind had reached 
 a high state of nervous tension. Its effect upon every 
 man and woman in that assemblage was instantaneous 
 and changed entirely the situation, for weal or woe, 
 however false or sincere his motive. 
 
 Martha Norton flushed with envy, and Bender grew 
 fierce at disappointment. Aokahameha alone wel- 
 comed the respite, though Ihoas sat for the time being 
 overwhelmed with sorrow. Young chafed under the 
 yoke, while Kaiuolani nestled in her father's embrace, 
 wondering at the havoc her innocent attempt had 
 wrought. 
 
 After a little, when the first shock of disappointment 
 had passed, the queen rose and entering her boudoir 
 directed that the doors be drawn and the entrance to 
 the room closed. Truly she felt mortified at the 
 heir apparent's conduct and grieved the necessity of 
 resorting to other means in the attainment of her 
 plans; but Liliuokolani was a resolute woman and 
 met reverse with a calm and dignified determination 
 that brooked no reasonable defeat. She held Aokaha- 
 meha free from blame, as he had evidenced a willing- 
 ness to gratify her majesty's wish, at least so far as 
 that day's decoration was concerned, for had he not 
 accompanied the princess to her post and shown no 
 inclination to avoid the leisf 
 
KAIUOLANI 23 
 
 Nor would she at that time call him to her, though 
 it was he more than any other that she desired forth- 
 with to counsel. Upon her withdrawal into the house 
 the assemblage once more began to break into frag- 
 ments and scatter in groups about the lawns, leaving 
 Aokahameha alone to congratulate Young and offer 
 the princess a first word of encouragement. Drawing 
 her away from her father and inviting Ihoas along, the 
 three walked out upon the green to the gratification of 
 Liliuokolani, who stood looking through the glass door, 
 as they chatted and whiled away the time. 
 
 Presently they separated, and Aokahameha walked 
 rapidly toward the house. He realized that Liliuoko- 
 lani had suffered a painful defeat, and feeling that 
 the responsibility of sustaining her devolved upon him, 
 sought directly her majesty's presence. 
 
 The queen had watched his movements safely from 
 within, and clearing the room of attendants, met him 
 upon his arrival at the door. 
 
 "Come in, Aokahameha," said she, warmly grasping 
 his hand and kindly leading him to a seat on the sofa. 
 "I need your advice, though as you may well know our 
 ideas be somewhat cross-purposed. You understand 
 my motive : I hope I have not forfeited your respect." 
 
 The prince seated himself at her pleasure, recogniz- 
 ing the gravity of the queen's situation as well as 
 the sincerity of her purpose, and turning to her said, 
 softly but gravely : 
 
 "No, your majesty ; you have done nothing to merit 
 in the least the displeasure of a loyal subject. The 
 matter of my domestic felicity is only an incident that 
 I had hoped to recognize in the sphere of duty. I 
 am at your majesty's service : command me." 
 
24 KAIUOLANI 
 
 The encouraged champion's familiar address had 
 the effect intended, and Liliuokolani freely laid aside 
 the reserve that naturally attended even less guarded 
 communications. They held in common an abiding 
 interest in their country, its people, their homes, and 
 themselves. They knew each other to be true. They 
 alone could resolve the virtue of their course. The 
 queen's great, dark eyes softened as she looked ten- 
 derly into the young man's straightforward counte- 
 nance, there was no need of fear there ; he was a 
 scion of royalty, untainted, grave but heroic, and 
 with modulated voice frankly said : 
 
 "You speak well, Aokahameha; I too have loved, 
 and would that your portion be even less bitter. Let 
 us pass that; the state demands our attention. The 
 heir apparent must be gotten out of the way of de- 
 signing politicians and the host of scheming adven- 
 turers who now surround her and threaten the gov- 
 ernment." 
 
 Without venturing an immediate answer, the proud 
 prince sat momentarily pondering the course of events 
 that had led to their hard-tried predicament and the 
 momentous questions confronting them. For years 
 their beautiful land had been buffeted upon the sur- 
 feited seas of vain endeavor and base cunning to fall 
 at last to the grace of a sovereign whose heart went 
 out to her own and whose endeavor seemed founded 
 upon but a shattered hope. How could he in their 
 plundered and helpless condition resolve the means 
 with which to restore security and gratify the laudable 
 ambitions of a deserving and hopeful ruler ! A cheer- 
 less mission confronted him, but Aokahameha, the 
 iron-willed, a Kamehameha of to-day, felt no test of 
 
KAIUOLANI 25 
 
 patriotism too severe and knew not an undertaking 
 undeserving the sacrnce. The queen's will resolved his 
 duty, and he believed her not only worthy the confi- 
 dence, but capable of directing safely the course of 
 events. 
 
 "Your majesty's intentions are certainly good; but 
 I am doubtful about controlling the princess," said 
 he, after a while, having resolved fully the queen's 
 motive. 
 
 "I had hoped to encourage a different termination of 
 the day's sports ; it would, at least, have given tne ap- 
 pearance of solidity on our part; for to-morrow 1 
 shall present your name to the cabinet as commander- 
 in-chief of the army. We could have resolved, after- 
 wards, and in time, the suitableness of my plans for 
 a permanent alliance with the princess," replied the 
 queen, fully conscious of both his and her feelings in 
 the matter. 
 
 "It could have done no harm : we all seem to under- 
 stand the situation, except it be the princess herself," 
 continued he, somewhat regretfully and with reference 
 to those individually concerned. 
 
 "I need not ask what the general effect was, I could 
 see that from where I sat, but did you notice particu- 
 larly how Kaiuolani's actions impressed Hans Guten- 
 borj ?" asked Liliuokolani, her mind reverting to the 
 political situation. 
 
 "Only that he showed extreme reserve, as usual ; yet 
 I am not quite sure but he was deeply moved," said 
 Aokahameha, guardedly, as he arose and crossing the 
 room looked out at the window, continuing directly : 
 
 "Young and he appear to be engaged in conversa- 
 
26 KAIUOLANI 
 
 tion now, and are walking toward the street I won- 
 der if they can be so soon taking their leave?" 
 
 The queen did not answer at once, but coming up 
 leaned gently on the prince's arm, the while watching 
 Colonel Young and Mr. Gutenborj, the largest planter 
 and wealthiest merchant in the Islands, disappear 
 through the gate, far in the distance. 
 
 Kaiuolani, Ihoas, and Elmsford leisurely strolled 
 in the garden, the former's lively interest betraying an 
 entire forgetfulness, as she courted the willing Elms- 
 ford's attention, to the utter disgust of staid and 
 resolute Ihoas ; while Bender, Wayntro, Q. N. Varnum, 
 a local banker, and Webster Faneuil, the queen's at- 
 torney, grouped themselves around Sir Charles, with 
 whom Young and Gutenborj had just parted. Only 
 Martha Norton appeared to be absent, and scanning 
 carefully the numerous parties within his range, Aoka- 
 hameha's memory reverted to his discovery of her, 
 earlier in the day, in rather an unbecoming attitude. 
 
 The very thought of her present whereabouts made 
 him nervous, and despite the queen's urgent business 
 he grew anxious and presently to her surprise and 
 utter astonishment excused himself and departed the 
 house. Upon taking his leave he had, it is true, taken 
 the pains to reassure Liliuokolani of his unshaken 
 trust and hearty support, yet the apparent change in his 
 bearing suggested the possibility of a breakdown and 
 disturbed her majesty not a little. 
 
 With Aokahameha's coming into the open, Bender 
 disappeared Martha Norton had given him the signal, 
 forthwith apprising the queen of his request for an 
 audience. Liliuokolani sighed, saying heavily : 
 
KAIUOLANI 27 
 
 "I will receive him here; call Ihoas and Mr. 
 Faneuil." 
 
 Her majesty's duly appointed lady in waiting loit- 
 ered a little, just enough to insure the arrival of 
 Bender, whom she announced, then went out of the 
 room. 
 
 Liliuokolani did not bid her caller come nearer. 
 She sat at the farther side of the room, facing the 
 entrance and awaiting his pleasure. Bender ap- 
 proached, and bowing profusely complimented her 
 majesty on the felicities of the day. A frown dark- 
 ened Liliuokolani's face, afterwards giving way to an 
 expression of anxiety. Her would-be cabinet minis- 
 ter pretended not to see the very potent change in her 
 countenance ; his eyes glanced furtively elsewhere. 
 
 Recognizing the necessity of promptness, the queen 
 unattended had never encouraged his presence, Ben- 
 der spoke f awningly, but with emphasis : 
 
 "I thought you might desire a final word with me; 
 the legislature meets in the morning." 
 
 The queen looked down at the cringing man's pos- 
 ture. She knew better than he a disturbing element 
 with a boughten membership of the proposed session, 
 and felt more keenly the consequence. Without undue 
 haste or prolonged delay Liliuokolani replied, nerv- 
 ously : 
 
 "You know well my position : what more would 
 you have at this late hour?" 
 
 "Your consent to the bills." 
 
 "You still insist upon disgracing my people with a 
 cruel opium measure and a vicious lottery bill?" 
 
 "The terms are reasonable, considering that I am 
 
28 KAIUOLANI 
 
 willing to concede the appointment of Aokahameha 
 and 
 
 "You will. guarantee that?" 
 
 "Yes; and, also, the new constitution as you pro- 
 pose. I have the power." 
 
 "I will give you my answer in the morning." 
 
 "At twelve o'clock?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 Liliuokolani dismissed the caller and retired to the 
 quiet of her chamber; she knew only too well that 
 Norton had prolonged her quest for the attorney and 
 Ihoas, and desiring to resolve in her own mind, alone 
 and undisturbed, the virtue of an only alternative, 
 withdrew from the danger of any further or other 
 disturbance. 
 
 Until a late hour straggling guests loitered in the 
 gardens and upon the verandas, amid the golden 
 shadows that changed and lengthened from the tall 
 and slender leaf-capped palms that swayed and rus- 
 tled in the soft, intoxicating air of a tropical even- 
 ing's dawn. They were content with joy or burdened 
 with concern, lingering till the close of day when 
 still the last had not gone. 
 
 Liliuokolani looked out through the stately tree 
 tops and over the quaint house roofs to the silent 
 waters beyond. From the deep mysterious blue no 
 voice of old arose to counsel her, to encourage the 
 deeds of heroism that once made those shores resound 
 with noble thought and vital conquest. Life still 
 seemed consequential, yet the heavens darkened with 
 the dark of southland: Liliuokolani breathed heavily, 
 and the world closed its portals upon her. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 The assembly halls echoed an ominous awakening 
 on the following morning when the legislature began 
 to hustle within the broad corridors or gather upon 
 the marble steps in front. Liliuokolani, composed and 
 reliant, sat in regal attire, not far away, anxiously 
 awaiting the word that should confirm or deny her 
 most sanguine expectations. Uniformed couriers ran 
 to and fro over the smooth-paved streets, carrying 
 alike the letter of commendation or the communica- 
 tion of state. 
 
 An oo fluttered in at the open window, and perching 
 upon the gilded scepter warbled a friendly note. The 
 queen looked up with softened eyes at its yellow- 
 purpled tufts, and reveried a deep-felt thought: 
 
 "How innocent, yet supremely beautiful. I wish 
 I were you, no ; they'd pluck my feathers, singing 
 the song of freedom, basking in the God-light of 
 truth." 
 
 Only striven duty answered ; she must grind out 
 the essence of her existence as countless numbers of 
 mere humans before had done. Shortly the high cham- 
 berlain approached and bowing low notified his sover- 
 eign that the legislature stood convened, humbly await- 
 ing her majesty's pleasure. Liliuokolani hesitated, 
 then bending forward, with parchment in hand, said 
 kindly but firmly : 
 
 "The Queen's Message." 
 
 The high chamberlain Jefferson Pauahieu Arns- 
 
30 KAIUOLANI 
 
 took, a half-caste prince, formerly resident of Lanai, 
 banker at Honolulu, and broker to his majesty, Kala- 
 kaua took the significant document from the queen 
 with feelings of respect, though somewhat of misgiv- 
 ings, and without a word forthwith dispatched his 
 charge to the halls of legislation. 
 
 Its arrival at desk became the signal for renewed 
 interest, particularly in the galleries where had gath- 
 ered the fortune and the flower of social Hawaii. 
 Hans Gutenborj was there, surrounded by Progres- 
 sionists, Royalists, and Patriots alike. Norton and 
 Wayntro, Lou Isaacs, a money changer, and Ah Mia, 
 the Chinese merchant and opium dealer, buttonholed 
 or importuned members who came into the balconies to 
 greet a friend or scent the trend of opinion. Bender 
 busied himself on the floor, while a host of the fairest, 
 in flowing garments and modest adornment, looked 
 down from the circle above. Kaiuolani leaned from a 
 box in the rear, and Ihoas glanced guardedly at her 
 idol, the artist member from Diamond Head. When 
 the chairman had ceased rapping and the queen's 
 message was announced, a momentary quiet broke into 
 an uproarious hand clapping and the shouting of 
 hearty cheers. 
 
 Each member hastened to his seat, while Don Du- 
 pont, the dapper sergeant-at-arms, arose and with a 
 clear voice and pronounced accent read the message 
 through. A painful silence ensued, then Xane Bender 
 led, and every patriot in that house and not a few of 
 the Royalists applauded with zest. Barely respecting 
 the occasion Colonel Young, member from Honolulu, 
 marvelled at the measures proposed, while Kaiuolani 
 rose in her seat and waving a handkerchief cried ap- 
 
KAIUOLANI 31 
 
 proval. Gutenborj, too, showed conservatism, though 
 from a different motive, and Varnum, the banker, 
 colored with anger. Now and then a submerged 
 hissing feebly issued aloft, though few there heeded 
 the portent and none of the more ardent, excepting 
 Aokahameha, divined the measure of its significance. 
 
 After the first shock had passed and the im- 
 portance of the queen's recommendations commenced 
 to unfold, the spectators began shifting about or set- 
 tling in corners discussing the probabilities and search- 
 ing for a motive. 
 
 "It is an outrage upon decency!" shouted Varnum, 
 to his neighbor Gutenborj, who sat quietly contemplat- 
 ing the best means of turning a dilemma into a re- 
 source of safety. 
 
 "There is more behind this latest move than the 
 most vigilant among us dare suspect," continued Var- 
 num, not having made any apparent impression upon 
 his immediate listener. 
 
 "Things have come to a pretty pass, if law and order 
 shall abide savagery !" burst again from the irritated 
 banker's lips, just in time to greet the ears of Mr. 
 Whilom S. Harvenoiq, the American minister, who 
 had edged himself into an audience, uninvited. 
 
 "See here, Varnum," ventured Gutenborj, the larg- 
 est individual property holder in the Islands, whose 
 patience no longer bore him silence ; "that sort of talk 
 can do no earthly good, and what is more, it may do 
 irreparable harm. My humble advice, if such be meet, 
 would be to hold your tongue." 
 
 "I am a white man, sir ; and I believe in the domina- 
 tion of superiority," replied the injudicious Progres- 
 sionist. 
 
32 KAIUOLANI 
 
 'There are others, I believe, who are also considered 
 white," pleasantly retorted the modest Royalist. 
 
 "Would you so forget our wives and daughters as 
 to tolerate these infernal schemes, make of our land 
 a gambling dive and an opium joint?" queried the 
 excited financier, with vehemence. 
 
 "Hold ! man ; I would neither forget our pocket- 
 books. Both of the measures are expedient, and 
 would replenish the national treasury without taxing 
 you or I a cent or interfering with our morals one 
 whit. I am not sure but the queen is more prudent 
 than we, after all," answered Gutenborj, thoughtfully. 
 
 "A clever monstrosity; and, if I mistake not, the 
 groundwork for a larger army! That is where we 
 shall end, Hans Gutenborj," growled the intolerant 
 Varnum, with more of heat than prudence. 
 
 "I dislike your intemperance ; please excuse me, my 
 good friend," replied the philosophic planter, as he 
 arose and walked away in company with Harvenoiq. 
 
 The suspense following the reading of the message 
 bore heavily upon all those members who were already 
 pledged to support the queen's proposals. Bender 
 had been active among local politicians and, though in 
 fact a resident of Honolulu, his membership from the 
 lower island, Hawaii, gave him a powerful influence 
 with the outside and preponderant constituency. He 
 could already count a safe majority, and felt that by 
 the time the orators had Finished debating the ques- 
 tion, the Patriots for and the Progressionists against 
 the bills, the patriotism of the Royalists had made 
 certain Liliuokolani's victory. 
 
 Elmsford was entrusted with making the opening 
 address, quite willing to do anything that might en- 
 
KAIUOLANI 33 
 
 courage his chance with the princess, and when he 
 had ceased haranguing, and proudly looked hence, only 
 Ihoas led a fairly hearty encouragement from the gal- 
 lery above. 
 
 Kaiuolani, too, seemed not any the less enthusiastic, 
 but her interest apparently centered in the subject 
 alone, for when Young arose, cool and magnificent, to 
 lead the opposition her eyes riveted upon him and did 
 not relax until the last word had fallen from his lips ; 
 when she arose and clapped her hands vigorously, to 
 the utter astonishment of all Patriots, Royalists, and 
 Progressionists, none of whom ventured to emulate her 
 example. Even Martha Norton dared not voice a 
 sentiment, though she sat facing the speaker and 
 coldly smiled; whereupon Bender laughed and im- 
 prudently cheered. 
 
 It now came Aokahameha's turn to urge the pas- 
 sage of the bills, and as the tall man arose and thun- 
 dered forth his native eloquence, in support of ancient 
 law and traditional right, roar after roar of applause 
 went up from the floor only to be hurled back again 
 doubly strong by the galleries. There was no mis- 
 taking the sentiment of either the legislature or the 
 audience there assembled, and as the speaker waxed 
 hotter and grew stronger the hearts and minds of 
 men and women ceased to bicker and barter the crim- 
 soned promise or lofty notions of race superiority. 
 It were enough that man should resolve the virtue 
 of higher being in the light of righteous intent, and the 
 power of oratory swept them into the vortex of larger 
 truth. 
 
 When the last round of applause had died out a 
 deep, strange uncertainty seized upon the more 
 
34 KAIUOLANI 
 
 thoughtful and everybody breathed heavily in the pause 
 that followed. There seemed to be no unity of pur- 
 pose, not a fixed ground upon which to base a rea- 
 sonable presumption. Men and women, completely 
 wrapped in mysticism, groped through the dismal halls, 
 unsettled in bearing and doubtful of their safety, 
 while Xane Bender moved freely about and hovered 
 over all like a sphinx in lowering darkness. 
 
 The queen sat some distance away silently, hope- 
 fully awaiting the vote that should restore a lost and 
 beneficent heritage. She had more at stake than any 
 other living soul in that land, yet bore the suspense 
 with a fortitude and dignity that none had hitherto 
 shown. 
 
 The inactivity either in the balconies or upon the 
 floor did not last so very long, however, for the Pro- 
 gressionists soon came to realize that in some mysteri- 
 ous way their schemes were being placed in jeopardy; 
 and that, too, by one of their own number. They 
 could understand how Bender, a shrewd cattle man 
 from the mountain wilds to the southward, might 
 stoop to any expediency, would for a purpose play 
 them false, but what was the consideration? How 
 should he profit by the ruse? 
 
 Throughout the halls little knots of members or 
 interested spectators eagerly sought for the secret 
 or discussed plans to check their opponents' rising 
 strength. On the Patriots' side of the house each 
 moment lent enthusiasm and Bender's leadership grew 
 in popularity : rapidly moving from one to another 
 his judgment soon became the keynote to success and 
 his counsel was finally heralded with respect. Not 
 a few volunteered their hitherto doubtful support, 
 
KAIUOLANI 35 
 
 and everywhere he went, among his adherents, they 
 loudly proclaimed him "The Champion Ranger from 
 Waiahiui." 
 
 Amid the confusion upon the floor, led by Bender 
 on one hand and Varnum, an outsider, on the other, 
 a far more significant gathering, though small in num- 
 bers, sitting in the extreme front of the balcony, dis- 
 cussed seriously the impending crisis and prospective 
 ballot. Guttenborj, Harvenoiq, and Young thus con- 
 stituted their own audience, and the subject that con- 
 cerned them most grew out of the likelihood, should 
 the queen gain control, of Young being dismissed 
 from the army ; or, if retained, would he be placed at 
 its head? A grave matter this was, and not from 
 choice did the ambitious young officer tolerate the 
 presence of an American diplomat in the ventilation 
 of a question so personal, but out of respect for his 
 employer's wish made no protest, feeling it a duty to 
 express himself freely and without reserve. The man 
 whose confidence and favor had raised him from a 
 small mercantile clerkship to the position of chief ad- 
 viser to the largest concern in the Islands, made it 
 possible for him to win social distinction, stand at the 
 head of one branch of the militia, and meet and gain 
 the love of a prospective occupant of the throne, 
 wielded an influence little short of conviction ; hence, 
 perhaps unwittingly, Young freely subordinated his 
 own interests to those of Gutenborj. 
 
 Directly facing them, far back to the rear, sat Kaiuo- 
 lani, Ihoas, and Norton who had nosed herself into 
 an unwelcome tolerance. They were admiring the 
 beautiful costumes or casting side glances at the 
 young gallants, particularly the one in the farther 
 
36 KAIUOLANI 
 
 end of the balcony. Presently Aokahameha entered 
 the box ; and complimenting him upon his splendid 
 success in debate Ihoas, after a little, withdrew. 
 
 Norton acted less discreetly, and took it upon herself 
 to lead in a decidedly frigid conversation. Neither of 
 her listeners paid more than civil attention to her 
 stilted remarks or considered seriously the silly effu- 
 sion of weak sentimentality indulged ; though imme- 
 diately she broached the subject of Young's emulation, 
 and undertook foolishly to elicit an expression, they 
 rebelled and politely made known the agreeableness of 
 her absence. Then and not until then the piqued 
 woman arose and excused herself for having intruded. 
 
 "I really pity Martha," said Kaiuolani, sympa- 
 thetically, though contemplating more the situation of 
 a menial than of a lady. 
 
 "I am not quite certain that she deserves as much," 
 replied Aokahameha, recalling his accidental but well- 
 fixed opinion. 
 
 "But she is ambitious, and I do so love to see a 
 deserving person succeed," continued the princess, 
 with no thought of Norton's really patent but unsug- 
 gestive designs. 
 
 "A very laudable termination for truly worthy ef- 
 fort," remarked her listener, with due respect. 
 
 "I should believe her worthy, if, perhaps, well ad- 
 vised," remarked Kaiuolani, still heedless of the young 
 lady journalist's aspirations. 
 
 "Possibly. I presume there are circumstances under 
 which she might be considered the equal of the man 
 she covets. At all events, their marriage could in no 
 manner influence our regard for them," said Aokaha- 
 
KAIUOLANI 37 
 
 meha, adroitly, though fully anticipating the force of 
 his remarks. 
 
 The shock proved greater than he had expected. It 
 opened Kaiuolani's eyes and she faltered helpless 
 under the stress of a sudden realization of her pre- 
 dicament. She had chosen so to forget as to love 
 beneath her station; and Aokahameha knew it: pos- 
 sibly all of her friends at that moment, out of respect, 
 withheld their condemnation. Then the bare con- 
 sciousness of a rival seized upon her and, in conse- 
 quence, what cared she for rank or birth? Love 
 reasserted its sway, and bald reason fell a weakling 
 at the call of heart. She would face even an inferior 
 to win love's trophy, though triumph cost her undoing. 
 
 The observant prince left her there to conjure an 
 undisputed feeling, and hurried to his seat on the 
 floor; the vote upon the enactment framed into one 
 sweeping bill had been called, and no time or strength 
 must be lost. Aokahameha proved faithful, and when 
 the "Ayes" had determined a safe majority a thunder- 
 ous applause startled the dead walls within or rent 
 the still air without. In the pandemonium that fol- 
 lowed the efforts of weak-kneed statesmen to change 
 face, Young's fruitless ballot was lost to notice; and 
 turning doubtfully conscious he read in Kaiuolani's 
 tears a kindly consolation. She had this time happily 
 expressed a becoming loyalty, but her heart was his; 
 and out of their love arose a strength to measure any 
 destiny. 
 
 The queen alone remained fixed and undisturbed. 
 The news of victory only impressed her more deeply 
 with the gravity of an unalterable situation. She was 
 not there to exult over a triumph conceived in justice, 
 
38 KAIUOLANI 
 
 nor to sympathize unduly with those who would base 
 their contentions solely upon material progress. Life 
 to her held a deeper meaning, and turning thought to 
 loftier ideals her majesty awaited calmly the conclu- 
 sion of business, then forthwith and unhesitatingly 
 prorogued that legislature. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 With the passage of the bill, the old regime, of cat- 
 hauling and graft-taking, which had for so long a time 
 disturbed their peace and threatened dire disaster, 
 bade fair to become a derelict. The thankless greed 
 of political tricksters and the benevolent craft of 
 suckling kings was in one short session wiped from 
 the governmental chessboard. The ancient constitu- 
 tion, the glory of the Kamehamehas, had been re- 
 claimed ; and forthwith, in modernized form, Liliuoko- 
 lani undertook its promulgation. 
 
 The work laid before the legislature had been car- 
 ried through swiftly and according to agreement ; Ben- 
 der did as he had bargained to do; so had the queen 
 kept her word, to the letter : the new cabinet con- 
 firmed, thereat, upon the dismissal of the old one, 
 included Xane Bender, Minister of Finance, and no- 
 body there, excepting Varnam and his clique of inter- 
 lopers, at that time regretted the circumstance. 
 
 True the newly recognized leader had come into 
 their midst, only a few years theretofore, a stranger 
 and without taking the pains to make known his ante- 
 cedents or the place whence he came. Old man Qualb, 
 the hermit cattle king, on the south side of Hawaii 
 island, had taken him in, at his coming, presumably 
 a tramp, and given him employment. Only a few 
 years elapsed (during which time the transformed 
 vagrant faithfully attended his benefactor's herds) till 
 Bender, designing and shrewd, seemed to have con- 
 
40 KAIUOLANI 
 
 vinced the aged rancher of a blood relationship, that 
 of a nephew in uncertain degree, and had become, 
 by some secret influence, his sole legatee; whereupon 
 the aged recluse obscurely died, and the nervy young 
 man suddenly possessed himself of the uncounted 
 herds and abundant treasure that roamed the slopes of 
 Mauna-Loa or lie hidden in the caves of Kileauea. 
 
 A bold stroke this seemed to some, good business to 
 others ; and, perhaps, even Gutenborj may have in- 
 wardly preferred a man at the head of a depleted 
 national treasury who could do things. At all events 
 no protest was made against the new minister's enter- 
 ing into the discharge of his duties, and as to the past 
 it might never have been known, or concerned any- 
 body, in a land where neighbors are loath to question 
 methods, had not fate followed him and in time laid 
 bare the well guarded secret. 
 
 The last of the Kalakaua cabinets, composed entirely 
 of designing foreigners, had been dismissed and in its 
 stead the new one a compromise, perhaps, but be- 
 holden to the throne and subservient to the laws 
 met in the great chamber of state and proceeded to 
 the discharge of its bounden duty. No question could 
 arise as to leadership; Bender stood over them as he 
 did over the legislature ; and public attention now 
 centered in the choice of a commander-in-chief of the 
 army. 
 
 The foreign holders of property and rights had 
 gained their possessions and concessions largely 
 through the instrumentality of the recently defeated 
 and now turbulent Progressionists, but with that their 
 interest ceased ; they now looked to the queen for 
 
KAIUOLANI 41 
 
 protection, and while trusting her implicitly were 
 doubtful about Bender. 
 
 In the creation of the Rifles, which grew out of the 
 disturbances a few years theretofore, his money and 
 influence, more than that of any other, enlisted and 
 equipped the regiment. He had conceded Gutenborj 
 the right to name a leader, though his friendship for 
 Young had never been the best. That a fancied 
 rivalry had grown up between them for the hand 
 of the princess, Bender's once passive acknowledg- 
 ment developed into a deep-seated hatred. He would, 
 therefore, humble his social superior: by keeping his 
 word, gain further the queen's confidence; through 
 the medium of Aokahameha, tighten his grip upon the 
 opposing army division ; and, consolidating the hitherto 
 heterogeneous elements of discord, lay the immediate 
 foundation for ultimate supremacy. 
 
 Martha Norton alone knew, or could guess, rea- 
 sonably, the outcome of Bender's independence. She 
 it was who, in the hope of personal aggrandisement, 
 had played false her trust to further his schemes, and 
 now that he, in the flood-tide of enthusiasm, had been 
 swept quite beyond her reach, she realized for the 
 first time the futility of a one-sided intrigue. Her 
 accomplice might succeed in wresting Kaiuolani ^rom 
 Young's grasp, but in so doing the latter's prospects 
 must be effectively shattered. What cared she for 
 any man's hand without success? 
 
 "He will pay me back in my own coin but I can 
 crush him, crush him with a word !" she said, to her- 
 self, tramping angrily the floor, in her bachelor apart- 
 ments at the hotel. "No, I can't do that ; I must first 
 secure Young. I shall go this minute there is no 
 
42 KAIUOLANI 
 
 sane reason why a woman should wait for a man to 
 propose." 
 
 Young and his employer were closeted in a con- 
 venient anteroom when Norton arrived at the capitol 
 building, fully prepared to press her suit to but one 
 conclusion. She knew full well her hero's aspirations, 
 but believing him to be a man of sound judgment, as 
 well as good taste, could see no worthy prospect of 
 a refusal, particularly under the circumstances. She 
 had been reared to take care of herself in the walk 
 for greatness, and at no distant past was still con- 
 sidered, by some, not at all bad looking, in form if 
 not of face. He need have no fear of any social 
 failure, her presence at court had proven as much,-- 
 and there she was, in person, ready and willing, to 
 answer any reasonable test as to her amiability. 
 
 As she entered, unannounced, Gutenborj arose and 
 bidding her scant recognition went into the adjoining 
 chamber, in quest of Bender. He had decided to 
 have a last interview with the man who, he knew, most 
 of all, held their peace and security in hand. 
 
 "How fortunate!" said Norton, deliberately ap- 
 proaching Young, who sat overwhelmed with concern. 
 "I came over on purpose to have a talk with you ; and 
 here we are, alone and at liberty ; without the slightest 
 difficulty. May I sit with you for a moment?" 
 
 "Pardon me, Miss Norton, for the incivility. Shall 
 I place you a chair, here, at the table?" 
 
 "Let us sit on the couch, by the window. The morn- 
 ing air is refreshing, and I am so heated. What T 
 want to say is confidential : I should rather have you 
 close at hand." 
 
 "Very well. If you like, I will close the door." 
 
KAIUOLANI 43 
 
 "Please do. You can trust me being within calling 
 distance." 
 
 They remained in the open, where the bay breeze 
 floated in, cooling their cheeks, as they edged side- 
 wise, facing each other, underneath the window. Those 
 solid walls had listened to intrigue, wrangle, states- 
 men's harangue, society's welcome, the joy of triumph 
 or, even, the fear of death ; but never before had they 
 witnessed, scarcely, the ponderous business of simple 
 love-making. The door, however, stood securely closed 
 before them, and no restraint marred a speedy begin- 
 ning. 
 
 "Mr. Young," said Norton, directly they had settled, 
 "my mission may surprise you, but the advantage to 
 be reaped I know you will understand. There is a 
 movement on foot to displace you. I need not mention 
 the consequences, inevitably an augury to us all. Would 
 you save disaster before it is too late?" 
 
 Young looked his questioner squarely in the face. 
 Her eyes shone with the force of conviction, but 
 underlying the frank expression there seemed to lurk 
 a hidden meaning. He pondered. She abided the 
 working-out of his conscience. 
 
 Presently the satisfied officer again raised his eyes 
 and said kindly but knowingly : 
 
 "Yes ; if the act be not inconsistent with my rights 
 or duty as a man and a citizen." 
 
 The blood rushed to Norton's face, and before she 
 could utter the cherished words Bender swung open 
 the door and stamped angrily into their presence. The 
 two arose, standing expectantly by ; then, answering 
 his heated questioning, with a civility begot more of 
 understanding than complacency, departed from the 
 
44 KAIUOLANI 
 
 room, quite undaunted if, perhaps, somewhat undeter- 
 mined. 
 
 On the steps in front they encountered Gutenborj, 
 who counselled them be cautious; whereupon Norton 
 sprang into her carriage and drove rapidly toward the 
 palace, while Young and his confidant walked pru- 
 dently away, in close consultation, to their place of 
 business, not far distant in the city. 
 
 Inside the chamber all had settled down to the 
 studied routine of executing, religiously and unquali- 
 fiedly, what the wily minister of finance now rigidly 
 imposed. The interview by Gutenborj and after-en- 
 counter with Young and Norton stimulated in him a 
 desire to hurry through with the cabinet proceedings 
 as expeditiously as possible, and before the midday 
 recess was taken Aokahameha's appointment to the 
 chief command of the army had been ratified and 
 confirmed. 
 
 When the last resistance had been brushed aside 
 and the final agreement announced, the old halls rang 
 with enthusiastic praise, and far out into the city the 
 news spread as if swept thither in a speeding whirl- 
 wind. Even Wagner P. Onslow, Minister of Foreign 
 Affairs, an avowed Varnumite, appointed to con- 
 ciliate in a measure the Progressionists, vowed that 
 there was not another in the whole of Hawaii who 
 could so command the respect of both natives and 
 foreigners as Aokahameha, and that under his guid- 
 ance the army should become, at last, the true con- 
 servator of peace and real guarantor of law and order. 
 
 At the palace, Kaiuolani peevishly unfolded her 
 childish plea and uncertain desires to her gracious 
 majesty, who diligently answered with loving caresses 
 
KAIUOLANI 45 
 
 and easily escaped anything resembling a positive 
 denial. Martha Norton was there, hiding on the out- 
 side; an opportunity was all she craved. Thus a 
 courier dashed up ; the coveted word had at last ar- 
 rived, and Liliuokolani's countenance beamed with 
 satisfaction ; his manner revealed the truth, and Kaiuo- 
 lani threw her arms around the queen's neck, breathing 
 a deep-drawn sigh. 
 
 "Do you love me aunty?" asked she, her eyes re- 
 flecting tenderly the burden of a great compassion. 
 
 "Yes, darling; your happiness embodies the con- 
 tent of my highest ambition. I wish that God had 
 so symbolized your deepest inspiration." 
 
 Kaiuolani's bright eyes shone with a love that gath- 
 ered and flashed a depth deeper than the reach of 
 man, yet the mind faltered and wavered in the bal- 
 ance of duty. She would have clung to the God soul, 
 had not the tempter of morality bade vulgar defiance. 
 She must yet find strength to resolve the inevitable, 
 and as they sat in soothing embrace the mother queen 
 and child daughter an unexplained but potent deter- 
 miner rose before them to snatch from truth its cer- 
 tain victory. Aokahameha, with braided vestments 
 and uniformed poise, had softly entered and silently 
 stood, biding the command that fate decrees. 
 
 Arising as if conscious of a thing mysteriously com- 
 pelling, the princess flew thither as a moth to its doom. 
 Admiration overcame inclination, and addressing him 
 in his new role she said, buoyantly : 
 
 "Aokahameha !" 
 
 The proud man extended both hands for answer, 
 and as they stood the queen admonished him: 
 
 "It ill becomes me to congratulate you, Aokahameha ; 
 
46 KAIUOLANI 
 
 I have imposed a burden that no other could have 
 assumed with such grace and devotion. You honor 
 me and serve your country, in accepting this responsi- 
 bility : may God be your guide, and I worthy your con- 
 fidence. Your own volition is the sole guarantor of 
 our liberty. I have no other command. The Queen, 
 Liliuokolani." 
 
 "Words of mine would be an unfitting answer; I 
 shall endeavor in act to merit your esteem, and with 
 pleasure go forthwith to my command," replied he, 
 with renewed determination. 
 
 "Can't I go with you? I should love to visit the 
 armory, and the ride alongside 'Tie' (his war horse) 
 would be just delightful. 'Ipo' (her riding horse) is 
 at my service can't I Aoka?" asked the princess, 
 with tempting voice. 
 
 "If you choose to ride thus, I shall certainly enjoy 
 the treat. Have you the queen's permission?" in- 
 quired he, in courtesy. 
 
 "Yes," volunteered the good queen, anticipating 
 Kaiuolani's request; "and I can't resist saying that 
 another such pair never rode the streets of Hawaii." 
 
 "We shall try not to forfeit your majesty's most 
 gracious opinion," answered Aokahameha, pleasantly. 
 
 They galloped along to the merry clatter of ringing 
 steel, flitting the long shadows that fell glimmering in 
 the roadway. A husky guard saluted as they passed 
 the gate and plunged on, down the broad avenue, in- 
 spired by the cool breath of approaching twilight and 
 livened with the glow of happy thought. Heads were 
 bared and chance flowers strewn as they went ; no feel- 
 ing of disloyalty entered the hearts of those who had 
 
KAIUOLANI 47 
 
 learned to respect their superiors in the fullness of con- 
 tent. 
 
 Slowing down at the big bend, sweeping round to 
 the parade grounds, a squad of native soldiers, ma- 
 neuvering in the distance, possessed Kaiuolani with 
 new impulse; whereupon, turning suddenly to Aoka- 
 hameha, she, half doubtfully, half in confidence, said : 
 
 "Will Colonel Young never again wear his uni- 
 form and sword and ride in front of the Rifles?" 
 
 "Oh yes, he may," replied the newly made general, 
 divining her concern ; he shall retain his rank : the only 
 change shall be an added piece of braid or an extra 
 plume for, possibly, myself. Some one must lead the 
 Rifles, and I could scarcely choose another to fill his 
 place may find it difficult, even, to select one of equal 
 merit to serve the Guards." 
 
 "I am glad," answered the princess, as they came 
 closer and a sentinel back-stepped to salute. 
 
 They rode on, round to the front, where two guards 
 seized the reins and Aokahameha, springing to the 
 ground, assisted Kaiuolani to dismount. A deathly 
 stillness pervaded. Some strange, ominous something 
 seemed to possess the place and drive cold the blood 
 in Aokahameha's veins. Kaiuolani held fast to his 
 arm, and walking in at the door they found the build- 
 ing empty ; the Rifles had gone ! 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The sudden revelation momentarily overcame the 
 anxious Patriot, but looking Kaiuolani in the face he 
 read afresh the lesson of traditional loyalty. The 
 young princess may have been fickle with her love, 
 but the conscious glance of a Mau had laid bare the 
 unwarranted trickery of a foe. 
 
 "Go, Aokahameha," said she, with energy; "you 
 have need for a better occupation than the entertain- 
 ment of a friend. The armory, the bulwark of our 
 homes, has been rifled of its stores; the troops divided, 
 and the half stolen away: you must call to arms a 
 friendlier keep, and for its equipment my fortune is 
 at your command. Use it. Arouse them. And by 
 the spirit of our fathers save the nation's glory." 
 
 Kaiuolani rode alone and without fear toward Cas- 
 tle Banyan, her home in the mountain gorge, just out- 
 side the city limits. With each stride a new inspira- 
 tion possessed her and from every thought a myriad 
 aspects arose: before Ipo, steaming and blowing, had 
 carried her beneath the historic arch at the old an- 
 cestral estates a deep-set consciousness of her own 
 shame burned hard the blush and conjured a hatred 
 of that whence it had sprung. She would give her 
 life to reclaim a passion, and sacrifice a fortune to 
 establish her worth. 
 
 Thus the two most ardent Patriots in the land lost 
 faith in the Royalists, whom they charged not only 
 with insubordination but with trickery as well. To 
 Aokahameha's mind none except Young could have 
 
KAIUOLANI 49 
 
 spirited away the half of their little force without 
 immediate detection. Kaiuolani charged Gutenborj 
 with the incentive, and saw in his interests the colonel's 
 motive unfold. The ready defenders of questionably 
 gotten gain had deceived alike the Progressionists and 
 the Patriots, and though shocked at the audacity of 
 so flagrant a move as this, both the prince and the 
 princess entertained no doubt as to the final outcome. 
 
 A government founded upon all that they had 
 evolved must be sustained, and the queen upheld at 
 any hazard though she at that moment was paying 
 heed to the tongues that would do her destruction. 
 
 Norton had spent the afternoon gaining an audi- 
 ence, not in an official capacity, but as a representa- 
 tive of the press, and upon eliciting finally the informa- 
 tion that Young's command had not been taken away 
 from him hastened to carry thither the intelligence. 
 This she had not succeeded in doing, however, without 
 attracting the attention of Bender ; who, no longer pos- 
 sessing the influence to coerce his former accomplice, 
 went forthwith to the queen for information. 
 
 "I would not question your majesty's choice of at- 
 tendants, not in the least, but I doubt seriously the 
 motive in this woman Norton. She will bear watch- 
 ing," said he, in answer to the queen's assurance that 
 no other interest than a friendly care for Young had 
 been expressed. 
 
 "She is not of my selection you may remember 
 that; though, I am free to say, as yet, I have no con- 
 sequential reason to regret the appointment," replied 
 she, to his further importuning, fully conscious of her 
 apparent helplessness. 
 
50 KAIUOLANI 
 
 "Your majesty's minister of finance would not in 
 any manner abuse that sensibility, far from it, but 
 should anything occur to arouse suspicion please allow 
 him the credit for having advised you in due time. 
 Neither Young nor Norton can longer be of service; 
 their usefulness has passed," answered Bender, know- 
 ingly and with good intentions, though personally 
 anxious for Young's dismissal. 
 
 "Aokahameha will attend to Young's proper dis- 
 position ; I shall have at court all I can manage, before 
 the new constitution is proclaimed. Pardon me for 
 declining to discuss the circumstance further at this 
 time," said the queen, moved with the fellow's im- 
 pertinence, but dignified in her response. 
 
 At his departure Liliuokolani resolved to investi- 
 gate on her own account the mysterious intelligence, 
 at least so far as Norton was concerned. She enter- 
 tained no doubt about Aokahameha's ability to cope 
 with Young, should occasion arise; therefore, resign- 
 ing herself to what appeared to be no more than an 
 unpleasant household duty, sent hurriedly for Ihoas. 
 
 Her trusted lady in waiting came quickly, and nerv- 
 ously crossing the room stood waiting her majesty's 
 pleasure. Until then, courage did not desert her ; now, 
 that she confronted the queen, whom she loved with a 
 life, her face whitened in despair. The power to speak 
 had gone. 
 
 "What is it, Ihoas ?" asked the queen, conscious that 
 some great burden overwrought her attendant. 
 
 "I have news for your majesty," answered she, hesi- 
 tatingly. 
 
 "Is it bad?" 
 
 "Yes !" 
 
KAIUOLANI 51 
 
 "Then, pray, don't tell me. I had hoped to hear no 
 more," replied Liliuokolani, heavily. 
 
 "It is from Aokahameha and concerns us all, your 
 majesty," ventured Ihoas, adroitly. 
 
 "Then I should hear it. You may speak, Ihoas; I 
 can trust you." 
 
 "The Rifles have disappeared!" 
 
 The queen fell back in her chair, powerless to speak. 
 Disloyalty was a thing Liliuokolani could not, did not 
 comprehend. Her opponents might wrangle for pref- 
 erence even contend for recognition ; that any within 
 her jurisdiction might strike at government, tamper 
 with the army, she must not, would not believe. 
 
 Ihoas kneeled at her side, secretly offering a prayer 
 for deliverance, and after a little the queen said, com- 
 posedly : 
 
 "Send Miss Norton to me." 
 
 Dispatching a messenger as directed, Ihoas begged 
 her own excuse and went in search of Elmsford, 
 whom she found, together with Sir Charles, seriously 
 engaged at the British consulate, while the queen 
 awaited patiently the arrival of Norton ; who came, 
 directly, not at all advised of the circumstance or pur- 
 pose for which she had been called. 
 
 "Possibly you can tell me what the withdrawal of 
 the Rifles at this most trying time means?" demanded 
 the queen, candidly. 
 
 "I do not understand you?" replied Norton, perfectly 
 innocent of the unexpected coup. 
 
 "Do you mean to tell me that you know nothing 
 about this treacherous move?" queried her majesty, 
 half doubtful. 
 
52 KAIUOLANI 
 
 "I certainly do not. It is the first intimation I have 
 had of anything's having gone wrong." 
 
 Then you have ceased to be of usefulness I dis- 
 charge you from any further connection with the 
 household. Please govern yourself accordingly." 
 
 The sudden falling from grace affected the witless 
 aspirant more than any danger that might arise from 
 treason in the ranks. How could she gain the col- 
 onel's hand if socially dethroned? The queen had but 
 done her duty. Someone must have quietly tattled : 
 the most likely of all appeared to be Bender. She 
 should first prove his unworthiness, then seek a recon- 
 ciliation. Her conscience grated cold upon the hard 
 bars of disappointment and ambition conjured an over- 
 whelming desire for a speedy reinstatement. 
 
 Wayntro was gone ; he, a captain in the Rifles, had 
 been hastily assigned to their immediate command, in 
 the absence of Young; everybody had disappeared as 
 if by magic ; the queen had been left to sorrow, and 
 Norton sat alone in her sanctum: the Ware Wizzard 
 Wise should contain an editorial, in the morning, that 
 would right a discredited lady and consign Bender to 
 his deserved doom. 
 
 The lone journalist did her work well ; for long be- 
 fore the last sheet had dried from the press that morn- 
 ing, a wave of discontent had spread and swept, the 
 like of which they had never until then experienced. 
 Little knots of Progressionists gathered here and there, 
 in dark corners and secluded byways, while the 
 Patriots flocked with renewed zeal to Aokahameha's 
 call. Royalists were roused, from the workshop to the 
 drawing room, and everywhere upon the street or in 
 the house the significant cry arose: 
 
KAIUOLANI 53 
 
 "Down with Bender! Up with the queen!" 
 
 The storm lowered and centered round Gutenborj. 
 It was he who had weathered the stress of other up- 
 risings and by the force of his logic snatched the crest 
 of state from the seething tide of unrest. He alone 
 could save them again, should wrest the queen from 
 the hands of pilfering concessionists and gambling 
 vagabonds: would he answer? 
 
 They cajoled, threatened, even implored he re- 
 mained stolid, and replied sharply: 
 
 "Call upon the queen." 
 
 Young, in the excitement, became no less confused 
 than they were ardent, and quietly approaching his 
 employer and supporter cautiously ventured : 
 
 "What had we best do?" 
 
 The old philosopher leaned back in his chair, and 
 with a twinkling in the eyes said, kindly: 
 
 "My boy, I understand you, know your feelings, 
 but as a friend would advise: never swap horses in 
 the middle of a stream." 
 
 The ladies gathered in numbers : among them were 
 ex-queens and disappointed royalty ; leaders of the 
 missions, and the wives of magnates : they were deter- 
 mined, and failing to impress the great financier, made 
 their way toward the palace. It was a cheerless, som- 
 ber afternoon, and when they had gained audience and 
 made known their opposition to the bills and stated 
 their reasons, requesting that she withhold her signa- 
 ture and serve their wish, the queen looked from one 
 to another, arouwd the assemblage, and, in the ab- 
 sence of the only woman she had dared to heed, kindly 
 but firmly referred them to Gutenborj. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The signing of the bill had been deferred not from 
 want of decision, but as a matter of policy until, hav- 
 ing had a few days' reflection, the public mind should 
 adapt itself to government necessity. Liliuokolani 
 understood well the force of diplomacy, and though 
 capable of calling upon the militia to enforce executive 
 authority would have healed with time the difference 
 that had so unfortunately aroused social discontent. 
 
 Ah Mia regarded the delay with stoical indifference ; 
 indeed, felt so secure in his right that he had already 
 paid into the treasury a first installment on subsidy, 
 to the amount of one hundred thousand dollars, and 
 held himself ready to pay the remaining four hundred 
 thousand upon the final enactment of the measure in 
 which he alone was directly interested. Isaacs, father 
 of the lottery scheme, grew less sanguine, and upon 
 Norton's unthought-of outburst hastened to her for an 
 explanation. 
 
 "I don't see that the business has cost you anything, 
 as yet," said the wily editress, in answer to his plea 
 for mercy. 
 
 "It vill though, if you don't let up a leetle," replied 
 he, wringing his hands and feigning abuse. 
 
 "How much?" queried Norton, promptly. 
 
 "Veil, I might make it a couble thousand," ventured 
 Isaacs, as a "feeler." 
 
 "Humph ! You certainly mistake me. I am no 
 
KAIUOLANI 55 
 
 cheap guy. Make it an even hundred thousand and 
 we can do business; if not, I shall do you," threat- 
 ened she, with calculating exactness. 
 
 "Have mercy, good lady! My gracious benefactress! 
 I haf not so much !" begged he, in humble attitude. 
 
 "Where are the proceeds for the fake jewels you 
 palmed off on Kalakaua? How about the strong box 
 at Niihau?" asked Norton, with imperturbable calm- 
 ness. 
 
 "Father Abraham !" gasped the surprised Israelite, 
 grasping the significance of her last insinuation. 
 
 "Martha Norton, you mean !" snarled the merciless 
 "grafter." 
 
 There was no avoiding a deal with that woman ; the 
 pawnbroker's cash was not only forthcoming, but its 
 ancient hiding place discovered ; thenceforth he be- 
 came the slave that his avarice made him, and Martha 
 Norton devised a ready use for his luckless contribu- 
 tions. The Ware Wizzard Wise, in the absence of a 
 shiftless proprietor, suddenly turned its batteries upon 
 Gutenborj (having already spent its force against 
 Bender), relieving judiciously the insatiate Isaacs and 
 holding up as a martyr the sorely coveted Young. 
 
 An anxious delegation of defeated women became, 
 thus, hopelessly bewildered in their search for some 
 potent factor round which to rally an organized move- 
 ment, while the disposition of the Rifles remained a 
 perfectly guarded secret ; and as intended the ultimate 
 purpose became solely a matter of conjecture, outside 
 the immediate source of their apparent wantage. 
 
 The scurrilous attack of the press had the tendency 
 to upset somewhat the comfortableness of the sugar 
 king's position, yet did not in the least alter his well- 
 
56 KAIUOLANI 
 
 set plans. He had in conjunction with the colonel 
 surmised the danger of a demoralizing influence that' 
 the Progressionists might reasonably be expected to 
 set at work among that portion of the ranks. They 
 were, mostly, a lot of raw recruits, tempted solely by 
 the cash offered, and were drawn promiscuously from 
 doubtful sources, largely political rousters, discarded 
 incompetents, deserting sailors, escaped convicts, and 
 cheap adventurers, without any ingrafted or deter- 
 minate discipline, the whole of them always enshroud- 
 ing the regiment's dubious enlistment with an innuendo 
 that connotated in the philosopher's mind anything but 
 a settled conviction. Gutenborj believed in law and 
 order, and saw in the queen's restoration his own 
 security attain ; he could not trust her defense alone 
 to the caprice of a luckless lot whose personal require- 
 ments suggested a willingness to sell at any and all 
 times to the highest or best bidder. 
 
 Young held his command in better esteem, and 
 thought gallantry sufficient to hold together in any 
 emergency the soldier boys whom he had learned to 
 love, for their enthusiasm if not their stalwartness. 
 He would have marched his men at the head of the 
 constitutional procession and shown by valor rather 
 than cleverness an honorable intention to uphold good 
 government, even at the cost of personal sacrifice ; but 
 his benefactor's maturer years influenced him and 
 finally occasioned complete acquiescence. The Rifles 
 had been dispatched somewhere upon some sort of 
 mission, and out of the mystery enveloping that 
 maneuver a cloud gathered and enlarged until the 
 whole populace trembled with oncoming fear. 
 
 Gutenborj hastened to the queen with his assurances ; 
 
KAIUOLANI 57 
 
 public wrath had turned upon him, but he scorned to 
 enlighten them; that his motives had been questioned 
 he proposed to declare to her alone his fealty. 
 
 ''Do you think the proposed measures vicious?" 
 asked the queen, candidly, after having satisfied her- 
 self as to the listener's faithfulness. 
 
 "I do not. It is an expedient compromise, in the 
 interest of good government," answered Gutenborj, 
 with the stress of firm conviction. 
 
 "I regret the disaffection : I should like to obliterate 
 all dissension," replied Liliuokolani, in a voice that 
 betrayed the heart underlying a fixed resolution. 
 
 "Your majesty's humanitarianism well becomes her 
 exalted province, but in the administration of justice 
 it is not always possible to gratify factional require- 
 ments ; the vast majority of your subjects coincide with 
 the administration ; property interests under your juris- 
 diction are almost a unit in their approval ; what 
 greater encouragement can serve a ruler?" queried he, 
 logically and truthfully. 
 
 "Your friendly auspices strengthen me; I would do 
 the greatest good to the largest number," said the 
 queen, thanking him for the kindly interest shown. 
 
 Upon returning to his place of business the now 
 thoroughly denounced Royalist found public indigna- 
 tion gradually giving way to a decidedly heated specu- 
 lation. All eyes had once more turned toward the 
 queen : would she, in the face of respectable demon- 
 stration, sign the obnoxious bill? If so, there must be 
 some sympathy between the removal of the Rifles and 
 her majesty's plans. The Patriots became enthusiastic 
 with expectations; Royalists generally resigned them- 
 selves to the consolation of such a possibility ; a strag- 
 
58 KAIUOLANI 
 
 gling few malcontents and sympathizing missionaries 
 still harped their disapproval or joined forces with the 
 Progressionists in prophesying dire disaster. Indecision 
 had dissipated the possibility of any concerted move- 
 ment, and the one hope of everybody centered in the 
 queen's doing. 
 
 Bender alone chafed under restraint; the press had 
 turned the tide of denunciation from him, but in so 
 doing it had raised Young to greater public notice, at- 
 tempting a justification of his act personally, what- 
 ever the motive might prove to be. The shrewd minis- 
 ter of finance understood full well the young colonel's 
 situation with reference to the army ruse, which he be- 
 lieved ill-advised and of its own accord, whatever the 
 intention, a harmless failure, and to check Young's 
 suddenly growing popularity without exposing, and 
 thus alienating the master hand, Gutenborj, he strove 
 to urge a hasty conclusion of proceedings at court. 
 
 To this end he had been materially assisted by the 
 hearty planter's words of encouragement to the queen ; 
 no less had she been strengthened in her position by 
 Aokahameha's success in mustering additional troops 
 among the Patriots; there seemed now to be no ob- 
 stacle in the way of enacting the bill except failure 
 arise within the ministry itself. From all sources came 
 a constantly rising intelligence that the only real oppo- 
 sition to the throne centered round a few rabid Pro- 
 gressionists or weakly sympathizers, and that their 
 apparent contention had resolved itself into more the 
 condemnation of an unexplained incident than a deter- 
 mination to resist established authority. In this belief 
 and with such assurances the queen gave final audi- 
 
KAIUOLANI 59 
 
 ence to Bender, their own highly commended spokes- 
 man. 
 
 "I have only one more request to make," said she, 
 after having exhaustively discussed the subject from 
 the standpoint of the populace. 
 
 "Your majesty has but to command me," replied 
 he, with no appearance or thought of betrayal. 
 
 "Satisfy me that the ministry approves this meas- 
 ure," continued Liliuokolani, in the face of earnest 
 desire. 
 
 "I give you my word: they are for it to a man. 
 You have only to call them to prove my assertion," 
 replied Bender, certain of his position. 
 
 "You know whereof you speak: I do not question 
 your veracity; your honor is my only guaranty," an- 
 swered the queen, none the less positive that in self- 
 abnegation rested her ultimate strength. 
 
 Liliuokolani bade the chief minister remain ; where- 
 upon, sending for him, the high chamberlain ap- 
 proached, and presenting the document, the queen, in 
 a bold hand, attached her signature. Calmly laying 
 aside the pen her majesty looked Bender in the face, 
 saying, kindly: 
 
 "I have done my duty; it now remains only for you 
 to do yours." 
 
 With the signing of the bill the last doubt had been 
 removed and the legality of the measures established 
 beyond peradventure ; no one questioned the authority, 
 and everybody seemingly resigned himself to a fore- 
 gone conclusion that the cabinet would be equally as 
 prompt with endorsing the new constitution as had 
 been the queen judicious in executing the act authoriz- 
 ing, among other things, its promulgation. Liliuokolani 
 
60 KAIUOLANI 
 
 had even gone farther : she had listened with patience 
 to sectional discord, and as well kept faith with those 
 in whom she trusted. Though some may have har- 
 bored a bitter disappointment they no longer openly 
 voiced their feelings ; the vast majority of her subjects 
 believed in a "square deal," and with her majesty's 
 part faithfully done they all looked anxiously forward 
 to the ministry's unqualified and speedy acquiescence 
 in the last act of restitution. 
 
 So confident was the queen of success that she sent 
 for Kaiuolani and planned a meeting with Bender, in 
 the afternoon, at the palace not that she personally 
 favored any friendly communication beneath the 
 princess's station, or that she aimed to flatter him, but 
 that his real worth as shown by continued steadfast- 
 ness apparently entitled him to some little appreciative 
 and pleasing recognition. 
 
 The day shone bright, as is usual in that climate 
 at wintertide, the flowers shed a pleasing fragrance, 
 and the birds sang sweetly in the tree tops. All nature 
 did her part to bless earth and point the way: only 
 man's ingratitude fanned the flame of ruthless dis- 
 content. Out of each crannied nook stole the self- 
 same voice, speaking its never ending melody, only to 
 vibrate faintly against the discordant notes of am- 
 bition's deafening clamor. A nation lay close to the 
 smoldering forge of human endeavor, and in the heat 
 that welds the tempering iron Xane Bender mounted 
 his best horse and rode confidently toward the goal 
 of a far-fetched desire. 
 
 There, in the light of dawning reality, a new world 
 burst into view ; the fruit of timeless struggle revealed 
 the secret of true accomplishment; he had not fairly 
 
KAIUOLANI 61 
 
 won the right to indulge, and a stolen morsel seemed 
 the more bitter for its taking. His eyes feasted upon 
 the wholesome scene; then, by the force of resistless 
 chance, the mind wandered afar to the source whence 
 soul had sprung. 
 
 Outside, beneath the hard level of tried conscience, 
 there arose a sickening wail : calling, begging, grovel- 
 ling for that which they knew not; the spark of 
 enlightenment lured them yet its warmth seemed a 
 thing infinite. The queen held the key to salvation, 
 marked the course of flight, made the need for refuge, 
 inspired the will should she survive? would truth 
 bridge the chasm, shelter the fold, ordain the right? 
 A few there were who had lost a bearing or crazed at 
 the prospect; the drones, no longer useful, were cast 
 out; but the living, active, faithful body politic fol- 
 lowed their leader and shared her destiny. 
 
 All interest bordered upon a single thought the 
 promulgation of the constitution. The people, by their 
 representatives assembled, had granted the privilege; 
 her majesty's sanction resolved the verdict; on the 
 cabinet's support rested her final prerogative would 
 the queen ultimately proclaim the law? 
 
 As yet, since the days of Lunalilo, no foreign gov- 
 ernment had brought its influence directly to bear upon 
 the shaping of their national policy, and now that the 
 queen proposed to exercise a test rite, all hastened in 
 good faith, except one, to participate in the ceremony. 
 Elmsford, through his own strenuous efforts, had been 
 specially delegated as an honorary member of the 
 British diplomatic representation, and in his exultation 
 called immediately at the castle, particularly to impress 
 Sir Charles with the importance of his station, and 
 
62 KAIUOLANI 
 
 incidentally to meet and curry favor with his daughter, 
 before others of greater moment had dared embrace 
 the opportunity. Thus he chanced to be present when 
 the request came for Kaiuolani to appear at court, 
 and out of courtesy was asked to accompany her 
 thither on horseback, as the princess chose. 
 
 Once at their destination the overzealous gentle- 
 man of leisure suffered a severe setback, and except 
 for Ihoas might have gone away disgusted with him- 
 self and doubtful of the queen's sanity. That her 
 majesty could tolerate the presence of an unlettered 
 man like Bender, much less throw a princess at his 
 feet, was more than he could comprehend ; politics 
 formed no part of his moral, and surfeited as he was 
 the shabby Englishman colored noticeably at the recep- 
 tion accorded him. 
 
 Liliuokolani gave her company the liberty to in- 
 voke its own proper agreement, and went about order- 
 ing the intended grand ceremony; she sincerely ap- 
 preciated the big Britisher's haughtily proffered as- 
 surances, and believed her niece quite capable of do- 
 ing properly in the pacification of Bender's awkward 
 conceit. 
 
 Knowing her strength and divining Bender's weak- 
 ness Kaiuolani won an easy victory, while Ihoas 
 labored hard to save the day; yet in the course of a 
 short if studied conversation with the unsympathetic 
 Elmsford she unconsciously elicited an inspiration that 
 should presently save a positive, humiliating termina- 
 tion to a very unexpected and persuasive disaster. 
 They were sitting at one side, in a cosy corner, when 
 suddenly Ihoas, for want of a stronger incentive, 
 said, adroitly: 
 
KAIUOLANI 63 
 
 "Americans are really interesting don't you think 
 so, Mr. Elmsford?" 
 
 "They are a gigantic bore at least all that it has 
 been my misfortune to encounter," growled he, roused 
 to the pitch of resentment. 
 
 "They are truly persistent," continued the princess, 
 affecting a partial concurrence. 
 
 "They are tiresome, with the instinct of a swine: 
 that is more his like," replied Elmsford, hotly. 
 
 "And usually gets what he goes after," ventured 
 Jhoas, cautiously. 
 
 "He'll get these islands, if somebody doesn't crack 
 his snout," retorted he; continuing, "there is one 
 spot, however, he'll let alone: Diamond Head is safe 
 from intrusion." 
 
 "How so ?" queried Ihoas, with rising interest. 
 
 "There is a flag there, and a pole from which to 
 swing it: I rather think they'll stop outside," replied 
 the dull Britisher, petulantly, the while his ponderous 
 intellect vainly grappled the dawning possibility of 
 a hated rival's breaking down its historic barrier to 
 reach forth into the world of empire. 
 
 Ihoas opened wide her eyes; she loved the big, 
 hearty fellow with true complacency ; she believed his 
 lowly words inspired with the force of certainty 
 had she known better the trend of his nativity she 
 might easily have won also his heart, but alas ! the 
 confiding princess shared only the conviction that 
 enthralls, leaves man to lead and slash the way. She 
 lingered on in the throes of vain reality conjuring the 
 sweets of a dazzling expectancy, he resolving the scope 
 of a colder, crueler inevitableness. 
 
 Kaiuolani and her company after a little sallied 
 
64 KAIUOLANI 
 
 forth on horseback, and riding briskly against the 
 stiffening breeze presented a timely contrast she 
 sitting on her horse in the grace and dignity of a 
 native Hawaiian, he stooped and agile, disdaining the 
 least attention, clung to his- shaggy beast with the care- 
 less abandon of a frenzied cowboy. 
 
 In the city below, Floyd Young had received 
 orders from Aokahameha to report at the armory; 
 and taken unawares, the doubtful colonel, after a 
 hasty consultation with Gutenborj, sprang into the 
 saddle and hurried away in civilian's clothes toward 
 the place appointed. 
 
 No sooner than he had escaped the latter's influ- 
 ence, however, his ardor cooled perceptibly, and with- 
 out designing to falter in his purpose he began seri- 
 ously to contemplate the rare possibilities before him. 
 There could be no less a confidence on his part in the 
 queen's policies, but was her organization sufficient? 
 and the discipline perfect? The farther the progress 
 the less haste, and before reaching the armory he 
 had changed his course, riding directly out the avenue 
 leading past the palace to the seashore beyond. 
 
 Putting the spurs to his horse a growing inspira- 
 tion quickened the dawning contemplation till sud- 
 denly coming upon Kaiuolani and Bender riding 
 abreast his wit faltered, and wheeling in the saddle 
 he fetched up motionless in the dumb brute's tracks. 
 In passing she had barely recognized him: sitting 
 erect, the breeze freshening the glow in her cheeks, the 
 haughty princess bowed stiffly and passed on without 
 even a conscious glance. 
 
 Young urged his horse forward and ran for a 
 short distance after them, but they did not heed his 
 
KAIUOLANI 65 
 
 coming only galloped away the faster ; whereat morti- 
 fication cruelly possessed him, and reigning in he sud- 
 denly changed his course and rode' gloomily toward 
 the palace. 
 
 That they were bordering upon a crisis the really 
 conservative must concede, so Young no less than 
 the queen, realizing the danger of any serious mis- 
 understanding, and, as well, feeling the necessity for 
 harmonious action decided upon the spur of the 
 moment to consult a higher authority than the one 
 who had issued the order that carried him thither, 
 conjuring the while some huge, approaching blunder. 
 Kaiuolani's unseemly recognition disturbed him, and 
 he quickly resolved not only to learn the cause of 
 her treatment but to exact if possible its true rela- 
 tion to Aokahameha's command. Liliuokolani received 
 him with gracious candor, while her expressions of 
 confidence shamed him out of an opportunity and the 
 sacredness of his trust overawed a weak determina- 
 tion. With being politely informed that there was 
 no change of purpose at court and that the ceremony 
 would take place on the morrow at twelve o'clock, 
 Young went his way, satisfied that the queen's sin- 
 cerity if not her position warranted a speedy pro- 
 mulgation of the constitution. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The assembling of the patriots began early the 
 next morning, and never before in the history of 
 Hawaii had they witnessed such an outburst of gen- 
 uine sympathy. A thousand troops were massed at the 
 armory for distribution throughout the city in the 
 maintenance of order or to march in unison with the 
 forthgoing procession. 
 
 The day seldom dawned, even there, in such 
 grandeur, and long before the appointed hour of 
 advance the streets had lined up with gaily clad chil- 
 dren and happy, contented mothers and fathers. Their 
 queen should that day restore the law that gave them 
 social being, and not a true voice or worthy subject 
 deigned venture a protest. 
 
 The line began to form, and far down the clean- 
 swept streets or back upon the palm-sheltered byways 
 clattering hoofs and tramping feet foretold the readi- 
 ness with which a loyal people responded to a ruler's 
 just and virtuous call. Civic orders turned out in 
 uniform and bands played national anthems; soldiers 
 stood guard, while the populace went wild with enthu- 
 siasm. At last, when it seemed none remained to do 
 further honor, Kaiuolani rode into view at the head of 
 a hundred mounted, royal daughters. 
 
 A shout went up, at the sight of their chosen 
 princess, that must have convinced the last doubting 
 Royalist, if such there was, and driven terror into 
 
KAIUOLANI 67 
 
 the hearts of conniving Progressionists who skulked in 
 the background or schemed in dark, significant places 
 elsewhere about. With Kaiuolani in the lead the gaily 
 mounted women galloped down the line, their scarlet 
 habits falling in graceful folds on either side: the 
 crowns of leis foretelling a sworn allegiance, and 
 circling the farthest ranks returned to salute the com- 
 manding general and receive instructions for the day. 
 
 "We, sir, are the Royal Daughters, and in our 
 humble way would do honor to the queen and serve 
 faithfully our country. Command us," demanded 
 Kaiuolani, in a clear, ringing voice. 
 
 "Your position is at the front; please do me the 
 honor to lead," replied Aokahameha, duly recogniz- 
 ing her superior rank. 
 
 "Attention, platoons into right and left columns, 
 on either side the parchment bearers forward, 
 march !" rang out upon the still, vibrant air, to echo 
 and reecho in the hearts of all, from saint to sinner 
 and palace to plantation, as the brave princess rose in 
 her stirrups and shouted the command. 
 
 The constitution, carefully draughted in vellum, 
 rolled, and wrapped round with yellow and gold cord, 
 awaiting only the signature of the queen and the en- 
 dorsement of the cabinet to make it the supreme law 
 of the land and final arbiter of their peace and well- 
 fare, lying exposed to view, on the quaintly embossed 
 bearing tray, suspended from the neck of a past grand 
 dignitary and guarded by a stalwart guide at either 
 side, was carried proudly in front. Led by the Royal 
 Hawaiian Band, the Hawaiian League, an organized 
 society of Royalists and Patriots, escorted by the 
 Royal Daughters, constituted the first and honorary 
 
68 KAIUOLANI 
 
 division of the parade, while the troops followed, 
 with the various organizations coming next in order; 
 and a vast retinue of private citizens and high dig- 
 nitaries, many thousand in number, afoot, on horse- 
 back, and in carriages, bringing up the rear. 
 
 It was a joyous day for the multitude, whose memory 
 went back to the heroic feats of a rapidly fading past 
 when laws were enacted and government maintained 
 at the expense of the strong and in behalf of the 
 weak, bringing light and hope to the door of faith 
 and endeavor. They believed in themselves, in their 
 country, and in their God who might there be to 
 envy, to covet the occasion upon which a nation's 
 invincible necessities should be peaceably determined? 
 
 The old spirit revived and why should it not? 
 They had fought and died for those necessary lands, 
 suffered the pangs of childbirth to do God's will, 
 worked out a happy interpretation of His laws, and 
 were justly and commendably entitled to call upon 
 the last right of mortal defense. They did breathe of 
 the same temper that has from time unto eternity 
 preserved the moral of human energy, and the sneers 
 of sneaking barterers can but intensify the virtue of 
 a last heroic stand. There was no trickery in their 
 methods, no stealing behind stolen doors to undo the 
 work of ages, sow the seed of discontent, and reap 
 the reward of iniquity. They were simple-minded and 
 pure of heart, and the world bows only to righteous 
 accomplishment. Some day the noble deeds of fallen 
 Christs will be sung over the forgotten graves of 
 lust-ridden giants, whose bones shall lie void in the 
 hollow space of everlasting nothingness, and then, 
 perhaps, and then only, the purpose of Kaiuolani shall 
 
KAIUOLANI 69 
 
 have wrought fully its inevitable good upon the tried 
 and trusted destinies of humankind. 
 
 The word given, the long procession moved toward 
 the palace. A thousand thousand huzzas broke harshly 
 upon the listening ears of a dismal few. "Long live 
 the queen," rang significantly throughout the land. No 
 man could have questioned that outpouring : the secret 
 of their doom lay hidden in the dark recesses of a 
 distorted and withered conscience ; Xane Bender knew 
 the consequence, and little heed was paid to an un- 
 organized, however wholesome enthusiasm. 
 
 The idols of respectability entered as lightly into the 
 composition of his morality as do the ethics of re- 
 ligion sway an abandoned imagination. The stern 
 realities of the day fixed the limit of life's usefulness, 
 made progress subservient to delectableness, divorced 
 right from justice, and chained man to the hard-driven 
 stake of self-willed attainment. The means justified 
 the end, and all the suffering of creation outside the 
 sphere of his own little entity must not disturb a 
 scheme of self-aggrandisement however faint the 
 voice of concordance. The lion gave no quarter, the 
 shark devoured its kind, the falcon pursued its prey 
 why should he not succeed, even at the cost of Kaiuo- 
 lani's sorrow ? Only the crude wild answered : the 
 star of ideality lay hidden behind the veil of his dull 
 consciousness. 
 
 Down in the city, well removed from public notice, 
 a clique of hirelings and associate schemers played 
 hard and fast at the game he had fostered. Their 
 hearts were set upon success success at any cost, and 
 with ears deaf to reason Martha Norton conjured in 
 
70 KAIUOLANI 
 
 the immediate downfall of Young her own speedy at- 
 tainment and his ultimate rise to power. 
 
 "I will pay the price," said she, finally parting with 
 Bender, under the stress of forced confidence. 
 
 "Then you have my best wishes, and support," 
 replied he, confident of his own success. 
 
 Kaiuolani must be gotten out of the way, that her 
 sudden change in bearing could but deepen interest 
 already aroused, Norton felt with a bitter heart; that 
 Young loved the princess beyond hope, she believed 
 to an extent bordering upon madness; that her own 
 rise to place and preferment depended upon gaining 
 his favor, there could be no question ; she had set 
 her mind upon marrying the colonel and in despera- 
 tion turned her back upon decency and her face 
 toward the only expedient within the scope of a crude 
 comprehension, Bender's marriage to the princess 
 would rid her of an intolerable foe, and when the 
 smoke of battle had cleared away she herself could 
 turn her intended's defeat into certain victory : she 
 held the power within her own secret grasp. 
 
 Aokahameha rode along, proudly leading the guards ; 
 there was no one's love to swerve him from the 
 bounden duty of a trusted patriot. His respect for 
 Kaiuolani had risen to the height of admiration, but 
 his heart remained at the palace was the prize of 
 one who cherished his coming, but centered her hope 
 in a man whom fortune alone had raised to a seat 
 in Sir Charles's carriage. Ihoas looked yearningly 
 out at the window and, when the certainty of his 
 apparent preferment had dawned, jealousy stole deep 
 into her heart; Elmsford seemed beyond her reach, 
 enthused with but a single thought. 
 
KAIUOLANI 71 
 
 Though a multitude of obstacles stood in the way 
 of final realization, each measured the scope of his 
 prospect by the yardstick of self-proportioned desire. 
 The lovers were all bent, individually, upon attain- 
 ing but one particular end. A certain inevitable force 
 of circumstances controlled the limit of personal 
 security, merging the lesser accomplishment with a 
 greater whole, and in the face of distrustful motives, 
 bordering on frenzied action, older heads looked for- 
 ward to an outcome born only of tried and true con- 
 viction. 
 
 An apparently endless concourse of supporters 
 some shouting, others deliberating moved upon the 
 palace. They carried in front the cherished instru- 
 ment, that should soon release them from attempted 
 oppression, resolve their liberties, and guarantee an un- 
 disturbed autonomy. Liliuokolani looked down with 
 deep compassion upon the hopeful sea of happy faces 
 below, and turning to the exalted personages, of many 
 nations and various stations, who thronged the room in 
 which she stood, expressed sincerely and heartily her 
 appreciation of the respect and consideration shown. 
 Was it half doubt that moved her, half appeal she 
 sorely made? A cloud hung heavy upon her brow, 
 and she may have then foreseen the terrible storm 
 that should presently rend the foundation of her 
 throne. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The intrigue in reality began with Bender's rise 
 to prominence, though long before that the elements 
 out of which it finally grew and at last so rapidly 
 assumed form had taken root and thrived to a greater 
 or less extent, as the exigencies of the times, with- 
 out any definite leadership, seemed to warrant. From 
 the day the first missionary set foot in the Islands 
 discontent began and did not cease, except at forced 
 intervals, until the greed of attending interlopers had 
 swept the whole country into a holocaust of fierce 
 disturbance. 
 
 Lunalilo had been the first of the reigning mon- 
 archs to let down effectively the bars to an onrush of 
 pretending capitalists and shady politicians. In fact 
 his accession to the throne was due entirely to foreign 
 influence, and in consideration of the favor shown 
 to him personally he undertook forthwith to conserve 
 as complaisantly as possible the unreasonable demands 
 of an immediate benefaction. 
 
 Interests were thus created and property rights 
 granted out of all proportion to their simple mode of 
 living and contrary to the established laws of the 
 land. Nor was this beginning to be an end of it ; the 
 adventurous foreigner and uncouth settler once estab- 
 lished in the enjoyment of a luxury illy adapted to his 
 use, wholly unthought-of in the land whence he came, 
 
KAIUOLANI 73 
 
 began to look upon his suddenly puffed-up host as a 
 gracious fool, and the differently constituted people 
 as inferiors and rightful subjects of plunder. The 
 moral influence of a society and the unsophisticated 
 rules of a government founded upon self-denial 
 aimed only at emulating the cardinal virtues and re- 
 lieved inherently from the necessity of combating 
 with human depravity proved totally inadequate to 
 meet the exigencies of a new and strange order, not 
 at all welcomed and still less understood. 
 
 The respective home governments of these lust- 
 endowed fortune seekers were too far removed and 
 too little concerned to reach out and thwart the im- 
 moral purposes of well-rid absconclers or to interfere 
 with the domestic affairs of an insignificant nation, 
 however virtuous the people, or helpless their rulers 
 might prove to be. There was no restraint ; and once 
 the arrogant newcomer secured a firm hold upon prop- 
 erty interests, both government and sentiment were 
 unable to restrain his gradual absorption of the peo- 
 ple's rights. 
 
 In generosity they bade the foreigner welcome; 
 through ignorance of his social tendencies they per- 
 mitted him to share their country's productiveness; 
 with justice they undertook the hopeless task of har- 
 monizing the good and the evil ; not until danger had 
 irrevocably fastened itself upon them did they seek 
 to find an effective remedy; and then, in desperation 
 they sent their sons and daughters broadcast to the 
 source of other nationalities to discover the means 
 with which to restitute a tottering civilization. 
 
 Thus Kaiuolani, a princess of the blood, sacrificed 
 by birth to the dangers of an impossible assimila- 
 
74 KAIUOLANI 
 
 tion, was in her tender years sent away to gain an 
 education and encourage a relation that was hoped 
 should adapt her to the necessities of a complicated 
 but unalterable situation. Lord and Lady Xenoav, 
 from philanthropic motives and associate memories, 
 had taken her up and from childhood bestowed the 
 best that castle Bairdsraith and European institutions 
 could afford. They were old acquaintances of Sir 
 Charles, her father, who being of a roving, retiring 
 disposition had at an early period in life wandered 
 from home and Scotland to settle in these health-giv- 
 ing, peace-inviting islands of the far-away Pacific, 
 and no sooner had the dark, bewitching daughter of 
 the West fallen to their care than they learned to love 
 her and began to guard her nurture with the fond- 
 ness of a natural parentage; and when the greater 
 portion of her early life had been spent there, in Eng- 
 land, as a member of their household and the time 
 had come for a returning to her native land, Lord 
 Xenoav would not trust her going to the guidance of 
 any except himself and his lordship's lady helpmeet. 
 The long and tedious journey was finally undertaken 
 in Kaiuolani's behalf, and from the courtesy extended 
 and the accomplishments attained the returning 
 daughter of a tottering kingdom became the idolized 
 of many suitors and a fatal object of envy in the eyes 
 of jealous rivals. 
 
 Upon the young princess's arrival at Honolulu a 
 splendid reception was tendered to her and her spon- 
 sors by no less a personage than Hans Gutenborj, 
 the planter king, who had then come, through long, 
 continuous endeavor, to be regarded the most sub- 
 stantial foreign resident there, if not the most level- 
 
KAIUOLANI 75 
 
 headed supporter of law and order in the land. His 
 vast estate at Kahilui on the island of Maui, was 
 for the occasion converted into a veritable land of 
 delights, and without a conscious design Kaiuolani 
 gracefully bore the distinction and Floyd Young 
 naturally became her choice of gallants. 
 
 Four large ships of the sugar king's own fleet had 
 been drawn into service to carry the invited guests 
 thither, and the queen in honor bade them good- 
 speed. The princess Like-Like, a charming lady and 
 member of the then reigning family, the wife of Sir 
 Charles and mother of Kaiuolani, chaperoned her 
 daughter, and many of the dignitaries, including mem- 
 bers of both royal families, the ascendant Mauas and 
 the dethroned Kamehamehas, assisted their host and 
 hostess in receiving the guests; who, landing at the 
 long wharf in Kahilui, drove thence through broad 
 palm-set and lantern-lighted avenues to the low, 
 rambling bungalo on the hillside at the plantation. 
 
 Among them were descendants of a once proud line 
 of rulers ; wives or widows and sisters and brothers 
 of deceased or dethroned monarchs ; members of a 
 successfully progressive reigning family ; the flower of 
 royalty and the best of society; merchant princes and 
 leading statesmen, foreign residents and native citi- 
 zens alike were there; the buoyant and the downcast, 
 the hopeful and the disheartened, the worthy and the 
 unworthy all joined heartily or sullenly in the gor- 
 geous splendor that overwhelmed the confident or 
 aroused feelings of jealousy, hatred and discontent 
 in the minds and hearts of the disconsolate. 
 
 Not alone were these heart-burnings or joyous sen- 
 timents confined to those who danced and dared, 
 
76 KAIUOLANI 
 
 but out in the fields, back in the kitchens, or liveried 
 at the doorstep labored a larger throng, whose hearts 
 and heads were set upon relations that conjured 
 deeper emotions. Some had found their level in the 
 wake of subsistence by the hard grind of ruthless fate, 
 through cunning and neglect, misfortune or careless- 
 ness; others were the product of new conditions, glad 
 for the privilege of serving, cast thither with the 
 timely trend of progress, or risen from hope to reality 
 by the forging chain of consequence. Indomitable, 
 overpowering circumstance opened wide the floodgates 
 of opportunity, and from the highest to the lowest 
 they waged triumphant their sphere. 
 
 All these contending elements had been drawn to- 
 gether and placed in juxtaposition at an auspicious 
 moment, and under the most favorable circumstances, 
 for the most part to harmonize the several contending 
 factions in national affairs and material interests. 
 How well the promoters could be expected to suc- 
 ceed might have been inferred from the queen's 
 respectfully declining personally to encourage the 
 party (upon the ground of indisposition), permitting 
 the high chamberlain to exemplify in his person her 
 majesty's best wishes. 
 
 Liliuokolani, however, occupied a position that com- 
 pelled her to submit rather than dictate in matters 
 of discretion, partially sustaining her dignity by 
 executing the law as she found it ; not, possibly, as she 
 may have willed. This determination on her part 
 to abide the just performances of her bounden duty 
 had been the cornerstone of Gutenborj and his allies' 
 confidence in her ability to rule. It became an eye- 
 sore in the estimation of glumpy Kamehamehas, and 
 
KAIUOLANI 77 
 
 they would rather she failed than a Maua preserve 
 their crumbling hold upon respectability. The queen's 
 plans proved too slow of materialization to suit the 
 rabid under-element, and whichever way she turned, 
 as prompted by self's own heart-will, a dark, ill- 
 shaped mistrust loomed before her, foreshadowed the 
 dangers that surrounded them. 
 
 The gathering at Kaiuolani's reception bore its cer- 
 tain fruit, and the hybrid germs clandestinely hatch- 
 ing beneath the scaly fungus quickly spread through- 
 out the empire. David Kenlikola Ralph, a resident 
 prince of Kanai, the father of Ihoas, and a staunch 
 believer in the divine right of the Kamehamehas, had 
 embraced the very good opportunity to revive 
 memories and exchange ideas with his old-time friend 
 and confidant, Pauahieu Arnstook, the once powerful 
 Lanaiu leader, whose fortunes had dwindled to noth- 
 ing more than a substantial post at the royal boards. 
 They brooded between them their loss, the one a 
 fallen prestige, the other his wasted estates, and be- 
 fore parting there had been sworn inviolable a secret 
 pledge that afterwards served well the purposes of a 
 less scrupulous compact. 
 
 Bender, alert and ambitious, had observed from a 
 retiring situation the heterogeneous proclivities of an 
 unorganized, distrustful following, and from the many 
 discordant voices there discerned selected the few that 
 should do him service in the carrying forward of a 
 daring venture. Prince Kenlikola, with his estates 
 spread over limitless plains, had been from birth 
 trained and allied to the undercurrent: the masses 
 were at his beck and call, and his sympathies found 
 vent through the channels of a natural, if unexalted 
 
78 KAIUOLANI 
 
 association; the sheep herders of Kanai were his 
 friends, and it required no great stretch of affiliation to 
 cultivate a fast and true liking for the cattle ranger 
 of Kaiahiua and a lasting coalition of the rough and 
 ready shouters at the disposition of either. The jeal- 
 ous northerner cemented the bond of union, the 
 scheming southerner afforded a ready leadership. 
 
 The Progressionists were but the instruments of the 
 latter's bounty; he had subsidized them, armed the 
 force, augmented their ranks why not use them? 
 
 Such proved to be the philosophy of a man who 
 aimed to rise to wealth and power wholly by the aid 
 of conjured wit. He had with a single stroke wrested 
 from the hands of a decaying, self-ordered lord of the 
 forest all that made worth the while staid Gutenborj's 
 pother about law and order. Necessity compelled him 
 to become his own defender ; the strong arm of gov- 
 ernment seemed but a mockery and a cheat in the 
 wilds whence he throve. He may have been content 
 to remain there alone and supreme had not the trend 
 of society reached out to gather him in, to make him a 
 part of its never-ending conquest, and to profit at the 
 expense of universal freedom. 
 
 The caldron proved an easy tempter, but no sooner 
 had the trapped truant been turned loose amid the fold 
 than he began ravenously to feed upon the best forage 
 at hand. The captors' threats, the claims of Young, 
 and the prowess of Kaiuolani only served to whet the 
 roused rancher's appetite and before the powers that 
 be could measure his capacity or gain a shelter he had 
 bid defiance to restraint and gorged with wide-open 
 opportunity. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 The reception at Kahilui had long ceased to be a 
 subject for gossip when the clouds of destruction be- 
 gan to gather and settle round the court at Honolulu. 
 Lord and Lady Xenoav had enjoyed a brief vacation 
 at their island villa, Diamond Head, and then returned 
 to assume their duties at home. The visit, though 
 ending only too soon, had revealed better than hear- 
 say the grandeur of the place and proven beyond gain- 
 say Kaiuolani's more than worthiness. 
 
 Their beautiful estate, rising to the broad level of 
 a high promontory, had been selected and bought years 
 ago through the influence of none other than Sir 
 Charles himself, and in gratitude for its first enjoy- 
 ment the bonds of friendship doubly cemented. 
 Kaiuolani became an idol of mutual concern, and pos- 
 sibly they saw in Elmsford the attainment of lasting 
 reward; this young aristocrat, a nephew by birth and 
 favorite of their own choosing, had been sent there 
 and placed in charge at an early day in the hope of 
 regenerating a fallen but cherished manhood. At heart 
 he remained a gentleman ; by nature became an artist ; 
 it was planned that the influence of a direct responsi- 
 bility should bring to light his true nobleness of char- 
 acter, was intended to redeem an erring youth from 
 the loathsome possibility of a wasted usefulness. 
 
 Kaiuolani was true at heart, her father grateful but 
 sympathetic, the throne not averse to strengthening 
 
So KAIUOLANI 
 
 its position : sheer fickleness hovered over them like a 
 moth fluttering to its doom, and the force of circum- 
 stances drove dame fortune her destined way. 
 
 The dawn of day had not yet broken, the slumber- 
 ing patriots of as fine a land as then kissed the blue 
 black skies lay peacefully in their cots, the queen may 
 have tossed restless with anticipation : a stealthy, con- 
 fident foot, approaching a dark, latticed house in the 
 ,noiseless haunts of a down-town section, paused at 
 the side stoop and looking around with breathless ex- 
 pectation, rapped once, twice, three times with studied 
 precision. Words were a dangerous thing now ; only 
 a faint repeating within, essayed the answer ; a bull's- 
 eye flashed the keyhole ; the door opened and closed, as 
 Xane Bender stole through, accosting his friend Harve- 
 noiq in whispered tones : 
 
 "The Rifles: have you heard from them?" 
 
 "No ; the mystery only grows the deeper," answered 
 Harvenoiq, leading the way through dark halls to an 
 inner, securely barred chamber. 
 
 "Then we must act; the patriots will be gathering 
 before daylight they are sadly in earnest," replied 
 Bender, cold and relentless. 
 
 "But my country? I cannot betray it!" whispered 
 the American, desperate with contemplation. 
 
 "Never mind your duty; ambition calls you, and the 
 world shall applaud the deed," answered his enticer, 
 growing firmer in conviction and stronger of purpose. 
 
 The American diplom'at sank fearful and childlike 
 upon a lounge at one side. Bender followed in the 
 dull light of a half-burned candle. The two sat in 
 silence, the one meditating possible failure, the other 
 contemplating certain victory. The motive of each 
 
KAIUOLANI 81 
 
 lay coddling within the secret preconception of two 
 separate and widely divergent notions, but their 
 method centered in a single prospect and neither 
 shrank from the moral of its doing ; rather, both invited 
 the mood that baffles sense and allures man to where 
 only the bewitching voice of smiling fancy would 
 dare to lead. 
 
 "Is the plan really feasible, Xane?" queried the 
 American, doubtful of his own senses. 
 
 "It is. My life that we win," replied the crafty 
 ranger, with characteristic brevity. 
 
 "On your oath, you will serve me true?" 
 
 "I call upon " 
 
 "Hold ! my friend ; before you swear, remember 
 that Whilom 1 Harvenoiq has it in his power to enforce 
 a penalty." 
 
 "I ask no lesser test. Hold the charge over me, I 
 pray; let it bear witness to my faith; but do not give 
 me occasion to doubt your confidence. Xane Bender 
 never played a true friend false." 
 
 "In case of failure: what then?" 
 
 "There is no such thing as failure. Die in the at- 
 tempt, if needs be, and success will be written indelibly 
 upon the only crown that man suffers men to wear." 
 
 "I believe you are right. Why should I be bound 
 by the laws of conventionality? The force is at my 
 disposal; you have revealed to me the possibilities of 
 higher endeavor, and I shall and ought embrace the 
 opportunity. Give me your hand, Xane Bender, and 
 trust me to do my part, and to do it well : yours need 
 not be questioned." 
 
 The two men remained there, in the dull glow of a 
 burned-out light, till the last detail of a secret coup 
 
82 KAIUOLANI 
 
 had been planned and the day's requirements loomed 
 before them. It was not long, however, and when the 
 scheming Bender at last departed, slipping out 
 through the back door and into the refreshing dark, 
 a faint glinumer of early twilight consciously hastened 
 his step and quickened the thought. He must yet 
 lay the groundwork for an unexpected turn, and withal 
 keep himself safely in the background. The sleepy 
 natives would soon be upon the streets, and they knew 
 him to a man ; Varnum should be seen, an organiza- 
 tion devised, and his own retreat covered ; the patriots 
 might directly form in line to carry forward the new 
 constitution ; time seemed a precious thing, and raising 
 the lapels on his coat the hard-pressed fellow boldly 
 walked across the lower part of town, reaching the 
 banker's door at barely dawn of day. 
 
 A quick, light knock brought the excited Progres- 
 sionist out in person ; he had tramped the floor nearly 
 all night, and chose to arise long before servants 
 deigned awaken. 
 
 "Have you heard from the Rifles friend Varnum?" 
 queried Bender, patronizingly, as the former bade him 
 enter and be seated in the library. 
 
 "I should think you yourself the better qualified to 
 know ; I am not so privileged as even to presume an 
 intelligent answer. Come, my good man, what have 
 you done with them? I have dared do nothing but 
 walk the floor since their departure. It is a downright 
 shame to keep virtuous men in such gruesome sus- 
 pense. Where are they?" 
 
 "Don't lose your head about so trifling a matter ; we 
 have need for a more serious occupation, just now, 
 we have, if your humble servant knows himself aright. 
 
KAIUOLANI 83 
 
 Let us get to work close that door, please, and sit 
 down here, at my side, like the man you are." 
 
 "Not I, if you please; I had better call a body 
 guard. You have turned your back upon everything 
 that is dear to a gentleman, and how am I to know 
 but you would snatch me? These are strenuous 
 times, my dear sir, and it behooves every one to mind 
 his p's and q's." 
 
 "That's what it does, friend Varnum, and you, your- 
 self, are the last to lay down, if I mistake not." 
 
 "Don't call me 'friend'; you and I have parted 
 ways; I am for annexation, first last and all the 
 time, and oil and water don't run together." 
 
 "Not necessarily; yet there are occasions when 
 enemies had best bury their differences, this is not, 
 believe me, an exception to the rule, and if you per- 
 sist well, before twelve o'clock has fairly passed, you 
 may dance attention even to a less delectable situation. 
 The Patriots will be marching upon the palace and the 
 queen shall have promulgated the constitution 
 
 "Sh-sh-sh ! don't ; for heaven's sake, don't mention 
 that word in my presence; it gives me the shivers to 
 think of it." 
 
 "Will you listen to me?" 
 
 "Yes ; let us bolt the door the shades are down." 
 
 "There is going to be trouble at the capitol to-day. 
 Everything points to a storm, and nobody is prepared. 
 There should be some sort of organization gotten to- 
 gether to manage affairs till the debris is cleared and 
 confidence restored. Who is better prepared to effect 
 such than you, your very good self?" 
 
 "Do you make me out an ass?" 
 
84 KAIUOLANI 
 
 "No; far from it; though your past might justify a 
 surmise." 
 
 "Agitation has been my forte: I had not gone so 
 far as to anticipate the advisability of action." 
 
 "And you have succeeded so well that I have no 
 doubt of your ability to focus an event." 
 
 "I am agreed as to the necessity, but how and 
 where am I to begin risking my neck?" 
 
 "Now; always now. Get the boys together, the 
 Chamber of Commerce is a convenient place, and 
 before nine o'clock have organized a committee of 
 safety. You know best whom to trust and how to pro- 
 ceed I will then manage to see and advise you; my 
 connection it is hardly necessary to say must not 
 be known to another living soul. Can you do it?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Good. My word as a bond." 
 
 "You can make undetected your escape from here? 
 There are evil eyes all about us you realize that." 
 
 "Lend me a pillow; my dress is already prepared, 
 and this wig and face will comlplete the disguise." 
 
 "Upon my word, you might well be taken for our 
 mutual friend, Gutenborj. A happy thought," said 
 Varnum, after the change had been made and his con- 
 federate stood ready to go. 
 
 No time was lost in the adventure, once Bender had 
 left the house; Varnum held himself only too ready 
 to engage in any undertaking that savored of oppo- 
 sition to established rule. He had fought against 
 everything Hawaiian so long that resistance became 
 a mania with him, and without stopping to consider the 
 prospects or ponder the consequences the excited 
 
KAIUOLANI 85 
 
 banker plunged headlong into the fray, trusting luck to 
 a favor and an enemy for advice. 
 
 Bender sallied forth, toward home, fully confident 
 that his make-up sufficed to carry him thither without 
 detection; though Varnum's unexpected likening him 
 to so prominent a character left his mind a little dis- 
 turbed. It was early, however, and none likely to 
 be upon the streets would hardly accost a man of 
 Gutenborj's appearance, even though the resemblance 
 proved but partially adequate; and, hurrying along, 
 an already overburdened consciousness soon grew 
 oblivious to any and all surroundings. 
 
 "Good-morning," said a husky feminine voice, at 
 the rickety gate in front of his own neglected prem- 
 ises. 
 
 "Ah er good-morning, madam," replied the recal- 
 citrant fellow, attempting to shield his voice and side- 
 step past the short-skirted individual who blocked the 
 entrance. 
 
 "How fortunate that we should meet here, and at 
 this time Mr. Bender isn't at home : hasn't been the 
 many hours that I watched have you heard from the 
 Rifles ?" queried Miss Norton, with insinuating modu- 
 lation, as she reached out and lifted the mask from 
 Bender's rigid face. 
 
 "D n you," retorted he, his twitching muscles 
 hardening ; "I'll end your ungrateful work, presently." 
 
 "We'll see, my very good friend," replied Norton, 
 turning upon her heel and walking briskly away. 
 
 The surprised minister of finance stood stunned 
 and overwhelmed at the disclosure. Had he been 
 tracked ? and would this woman yet unearth his plans ? 
 The bare thought of exposure sickened him, and 
 
86 KAIUOLANI 
 
 dragging himself into the house without further 
 molestation he quickly changed his garb and called for 
 a decanter. 
 
 Norton tramped jauntily along until she had come 
 to the foot of a stairs leading to the dilapidated, helter- 
 skelter editorial rooms of the Ware Wissard Wise. 
 The crisp morning air inspired thoughts transcendent 
 in life's bitter grind, and a voice from nature whis- 
 pered of the sweets incarnate with hope. Lou Isaacs 
 was there, on time, with the graft money, as agreed, 
 and the cheery editress drank copiously of the draught 
 that inspired courage to meet and master one by one 
 the contingencies arising in the path of her advance- 
 ment. Young's intentions upon that important occa- 
 sion still remained a blank, even to Norton ; she had 
 failed to batter down the high wall that Gutenborj 
 builded round their fortunes. Her editorials were 
 directed against the one to no purpose : a half-hearted 
 eulogy failed to move the other; she must as a last 
 resort plead the privilege of doing an humble service 
 in the hope of resolving a means with which to cap- 
 ture the colonel and serve her own better fortune. 
 
 Dismissing Isaacs, she called a cab and drove to the 
 sugar company's headquarters, where Gutenborj him- 
 self proved to have been, as usual, an early arrival. 
 Without so much as announcing her business, having 
 learned of Young's absence, the knowing woman boldly 
 opened the door to the merchant king's private office 
 and without an apology or an explanation walked 
 deliberately in. Bender sprang to his feet, confront- 
 ing her with a wild, threatening look. All the animal 
 within him revolted at her unexpected appearance, 
 
KAIUOLANI 87 
 
 and had he had the courage he would have torn her 
 into shreds. Norton only smiled and said, calmly : 
 
 "You are quite as expeditious of foot, Mr. Bender, 
 as you are in method; I hardly expected to find you 
 here; however, it may prove to be a fortunate meet- 
 ing: I trust that my presence does not in the least 
 disturb either one of you. May I sit, Mr. Gutenborj ?" 
 
 "I have no objection, if it is your pleasure." 
 
 "Please excuse me," said Bender, angrily; "I am 
 convinced that my being here is not at all agreeable 
 or necessary; this lady and myself have nothing at 
 all in common, and when she has finished we can, if 
 you so desire, resume our conversation. Good-morn- 
 ing." 
 
 The already overcharged merchant's jaws set with 
 that determination so easily characteristic of his tem- 
 perament. The daring woman had insulted him ; he 
 had long ago formed an opinion of her and her 
 methods ; his life had been devoted to what he believed 
 legitimate and wise, the building of private fortune, 
 and not once had he sought to exercise any personal 
 influence upon government convert public faith in'to 
 private gain except as stability required in the better 
 preservation of life and property ; the woes of the peo- 
 ple and the ambitions of publicists concerned him lit- 
 tle; he would rid himself of her. 
 
 Norton bided her time and when reasonably pos- 
 sessed addressed his lordship fearlessly: 
 
 "Have you heard from the Rifles, Mr. Gutenborj ?" 
 
 The answer that he would have made failed, and 
 looking her squarely in the face the big man flushed, 
 then grew pale ; suspicion had weakened confidence, 
 and associating Norton's unreasonable call with Ben- 
 
88 KAIUOLANI 
 
 der's proffered advice he did that least intended, say- 
 ing sarcastically: 
 
 "Possibly you know more about them than I do?" 
 
 "I know no more than some others should know, 
 nor would I seek to dislodge a privileged truth. Your 
 attitude is not convincing. Good-morning, Mr. Guten- 
 borj." 
 
 Norton arose and brushed out, leaving Gutenborj 
 puzzled to know the meaning of her visit. The 
 moments flew by, as he studied hard the situation, and 
 directly he decided to send for Bender, Young came 
 in, dust-covered and red in the face, closing the door 
 behind. 
 
 "Have you heard from the Rifles?" asked Guten- 
 borj, with suppressed emotion. 
 
 "Yes; they are marching," replied Young, coldly 
 candid. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 ''Then," said Gutenborj, "we are safe; I have just 
 been informed by the new minister of finance that 
 the queen is desirous of carrying out the program as 
 laid down and sanctioned by the cabinet. With her 
 willingness and our equipment it should be an easy 
 matter to suppress any threatening demonstration of 
 the Patriots. I hear they are developing unexpected 
 strength." 
 
 "Only in numbers/' replied Young, confidently ; 
 "they are lacking " 
 
 "In leadership? Perhaps. We should not, however, 
 underestimate Aokahameha. He is a fine fellow, and 
 I wish the princess could be brought to her senses; 
 she might have a good influence in settling his con- 
 victions. The queen has shown remarkable judg- 
 ment." 
 
 "I think you mistake me," interceded the leader of 
 the Rifles, the blood rising cold in his veins ; "I do 
 not mean to belittle my rival not in the least: it is 
 in organization they are lacking." 
 
 "Leadership beats organization, every time. Give 
 me the man that grips his fellows, holds their confi- 
 dence; such an one can smash any combination. But 
 why do you speak of Aokahameha as a rival? I 
 thought our motives accorded, if not the method. I 
 may not catch quite the meaning. Please enlighten 
 
90 KAIUOLANI 
 
 "I take it, Kaiuolani is free to choose." 
 
 "Oh, ho ! Then the crowning was not altogether 
 accidental? My good assistant is encumbered with 
 personal reasons ? I can already foresee a clashing of 
 interests/' 
 
 "Not necessarily ; I believe myself equal to the occa- 
 sion." 
 
 "But love and business do not mix. They are antag- 
 onistic elements." 
 
 "That depends quite upon character, I promise." 
 
 "We shall see, before the sun has gone down this 
 day, young man." 
 
 "I trust I may at least prove myself worthy of your 
 confidence." 
 
 "I cannot ask more nor expect less ; mutuality of 
 interests must after all govern any seasonable under- 
 taking. Go the limit, my boy, and Hans Gutenborj 
 will stake his last dollar on the outcome." 
 
 The big planter's shaggy eyebrows relaxed as he 
 arose and the younger man's hand forcibly assured 
 him of a steadfast purpose. Looking each other fairly 
 in the face they parted, and no words could cement 
 more firmly the bond which tied them securely to- 
 gether. 
 
 Out in the seething city, in a cold, uncanny office, 
 shut in from the warmth of candor. Bender breath- 
 lessly awaited an invitation to resume his visit with 
 Gutenborj. Having torn himself away, at Norton's 
 coming, only as a bluff, the fleeting moments sorely 
 betokened failure. His contemplated interview must 
 be concluded, and lest inadvertence should prevent he 
 finally dispatched a messenger to remind the financial 
 magnate of a sorely neglected opportunity; and when 
 
KAIUOLANI 91 
 
 answer came that Mr. Gutenborj had sooner absented 
 himself for the day, the wily cow-man closed the door 
 and dropped down at his work-desk, trembling with 
 fear and dread. 
 
 The possibilities had to him suddenly shifted from 
 the bright and hopeful to the dark and shady : Castle 
 Banyan stood before him in all its glory and signifi- 
 cance, and to lose now Ead crushed him cruelly. 
 
 Presently a fixed smile lit his countenance, and tak- 
 ing a significant letter-head from some hidden drawer 
 the hard-pressed minister nervously ran off at a de- 
 serted typewriter a short note, characteristic of 
 Gutenborj's positiveness, and carefully addressing an 
 envelope to match began the task of copying the neces- 
 sary signature, in a manner that dispelled any doubt as 
 to his deliberate intentions. 
 
 "I began the parley in good faith and shall conclude 
 it in desperation. The American commander must 
 be convinced, and what matter how we do so long as 
 the accomplishment be effective ? Let them come now, 
 as they will; Bender has never yet failed, and with 
 Gutenborj closeted at the queen's stronghold, both the 
 commander and the minister shall surmise an agree- 
 able rather than elicit a doubtful verification. Begin 
 the fray; the first gun is trained!" rose half audibly 
 from his lips, as Harvenoiq entered, leading at his 
 elbow Admiral Gordon Uhlrix, of the Flag Ship 
 Bonton. 
 
 "You are in high spirits, friend Bender ; were it not 
 for your candor one might think you in your cups," 
 said the American minister, drawing near, and intro- 
 ducing the veteran mtariner, whom he had inveigled 
 into so questionable a call. 
 
92 KAIUOLANI 
 
 "I am elated to see you at this particular time. 
 Here are Gutenborj's views, reduced to writing. It 
 just now came ; having called in relation to the matter, 
 he preferred to place himself on record, in black and 
 white, as you see, with the queen's ministry. Read 
 it, friend Harvenoiq, aloud if you li'ke, and judge for 
 yourself the occasion for my unseemly out-slip. Read !" 
 replied Bender, with confidential emphasis. 
 
 Taking the missive from his friend's outstretched 
 hand and reading aloud, each word inspired an over- 
 whelming confidence. There appeared no longer any 
 doubt about having a plausible excuse for the high- 
 handed undertaking that lay at the bottom of his 
 activity. He did not stop to question the authenticity 
 of the document in hand ; it were enough that Guten- 
 borj, the most powerful agency in the kingdom, had 
 sanctioned the contemplated move, and had he had 
 any misgivings he would not have inquired for fear 
 they had proven true. For years he had remained 
 shut up in that isolated principality, far removed from 
 fame and opportunity, and now that an occasion had 
 arisen whereby he might shake the shackles of Wash- 
 ington apathy from his tried and tired ambition he 
 proposed using every privilege at hand to startle the 
 world, plunge America into an inextricable position, 
 and hand the name of Harvenoiq down to future gene- 
 rations as the daring originator of a world wide and 
 glorious policy. 
 
 Bender's aspirations and plans had served him well : 
 they should be used only as a stepping-stone to loftier 
 ideals. Honor is as honor sees, and with the responsi- 
 bility resting securely upon his own shoulders the end 
 warranted the grasp : he should strangle an accomplice 
 
KAIUOLANI 93 
 
 to glorify self; a survival of the fittest resolved the 
 blessings of potential existence, and conscience sternly 
 forbade him falter. 
 
 Uhlrix listened through with satisfaction. Without 
 having doubted in the least Harvenoiq's word, a con- 
 firmation from such a source more than strengthened 
 his confidence; it roused feelings of pride satisfac- 
 tion with his post, his compatriots, and with himself. 
 Lavished by nature with the wisdom of orderly con- 
 duct and trained at Annapolis to believe in the 
 sublime virtue of rigorous enforcement, it required 
 but a short stretch of the confiding admiral's fixed 
 imagination to conjure the necessity of a prompt and 
 effective service in the guarding of the property and 
 the lives of his country's subjects, wherever or what- 
 ever they might chance to be. Rising from his seat, 
 his breast distending with soldierly pride, the veteran 
 warrior unconsciously touching the tip of his corded 
 cap responded with exact emphasis : 
 
 "The marines are at your service, friend Harvenoiq : 
 please command me." 
 
 An almost too sudden success overcame the design- 
 ing minister, who stood for the moment battling be- 
 tween self-conceived emulation and farceful indecision. 
 Now that he had become the master, his wit wholly 
 failed him; whereupon Bender rose, and volunteered 
 the necessary advice. 
 
 "Land them at twelve o'clock, sharp," said he, with 
 bolstered assertiveness. 
 
 "Excuse me, sir," replied Uhlrix, forcibly conscious 
 of the breech; "I hold myself subject only to 
 America's call. The minister must himself direct." 
 
 "Oh, yes," stammered Harvenoiq, involuntarily; "I 
 
94 KAIUOLANI 
 
 was but studying the best course to pursue. Land 
 them at the dock, and we shall then more properly 
 give instructions for their final disposition." 
 
 "Very well," continued the admiral; "I shall, ac- 
 cordingly, with your permission, leave you, going at 
 once to my ship. Bear in mind the time and place; 
 Uhlrix and the marines shall be there, on time, 
 promptly." 
 
 Both Harvenoiq and Bender accompanied the re- 
 tiring admiral to the door, and at his departure turned 
 to each other, speechless and uncertain. Their experi- 
 ences in life the one weak and vascillating, the other 
 strong and determinate had taught them that power 
 once gained might surely be expected to be used solely 
 in accordance with the trend of individual desire. The 
 former disclosed his over-anxiousness by the twinkle 
 in his eyes; the latter reassured himself with ven- 
 turing to remark : 
 
 "You are the true born diplomat, Harvenoiq; no 
 other man in these islands could so quickly gain con- 
 trol of a nation's destiny. Hawaii lies at your feet." 
 
 "A small credit, thankfully received, Mr. Bender," 
 replied the pompous fellow, unmindful of an only too 
 patent disclosure of temperament. 
 
 "You shall have the praise you deserve, in due time 
 there is no doubt about that, Harvenoiq ; we owe 
 you in advance a debt of gratitude, and on behalf of 
 the people and the government I promise you a just 
 and speedy recognition. Let us bend our energies 
 toward enforcing opportunity, and trust to merit for 
 place. I mean well, and I dare say Harvenoiq designs 
 nothing less. Come, my good man, let us be off and 
 content; the hour is rapidly approaching." 
 
KAIUOLANI 95 
 
 "You do not understand me, not at all ; I had rather 
 die mean than mix with petty bickering. Men given 
 to small affairs can hardly appreciate the depth of 
 feeling that moves a man like me. I have at heart the 
 laudations of a boundlessly progressive people, not the 
 thanks of a decadent handful of petticoated worship- 
 pers. They may rightfully claim you, but I shall be 
 the idolized of all America," fairly shouted the filled- 
 to-overflowing worthy, in a voice little intended to gain 
 his vainly sudden expectations. 
 
 "We shall see, friend Harvenoiq. Only take care 
 that you make no slip between now and midday. You 
 must know the effect of a broken link, and I take it 
 you will follow my program, to the letter. If you 
 don't, beware of the consequences. If you do, then 
 it shall be meet to parley. I must now proceed with 
 a better business, the one most urgently at hand ; there 
 are others interested, and it scarce behooves you and 
 me to divide spoils not gained or to anticipate fame 
 unearned. Be off, now, and remember well the time 
 and place, my good fellow," said Bender, as he urged 
 Harvenoiq out, closing the door at his back. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Again freed from interruption, Bender resumed his 
 seat and began, nervously, to twist at his short-cropped 
 mustaches. The force necessary to carry out his 
 plans had been effectively provided, and though read- 
 ing correctly Harvenoiq's intentions there seemed no 
 need for worry on that score; for he well knew, as 
 he believed, when and how the American minister's 
 personal ambitions must sooner or later end. No one 
 foresaw better than he that everybody's bounty from 
 that intrigue depended wholly upon his individual 
 manipulations, and in the midst of a multiplicity of 
 cares one thing at a time were enough to master ; 
 therefore, the committee of safety at once absorbed his 
 entire attention. 
 
 Would Varnum succeed at the chamber of com- 
 merce? If not, how might he abridge the need of 
 an organization? Taking from its pocket the self- 
 same watch that had measured out the long, vital 
 moments of a hard-made career, his face colored 
 in anger and the dry-parched lips inaudibly said : 
 
 "Curse disappointment! Give me subterfuge in- 
 stead," and the undaunted fellow reseated himself 
 contentedly at the typewriter. 
 
 Presently a loud tramping in the hallway and hasty 
 banging of doors announced the presence of an illy 
 proposed confederate ; Varnum had arrived, and all 
 the building must know his mood; success with him 
 
KAIUOLANI 97 
 
 meant enthusiasm for every one, and in he bounded 
 regardless of consequences. 
 
 "Heavens, man, would you wake the dead to make 
 known your secrets?" whispered the impatient 
 Bender, as he ran forward, closing and barring the 
 door. 
 
 Varnum stretched out his arms time and again, 
 vainly attempting to ease the warmly protesting coat 
 on his back, then burst out, with pent-up excite- 
 ment: 
 
 "We've organized!" 
 
 "Who has organized?" gasped Bender, nervously 
 seizing the winded banker's fidgety hands and urging 
 him to a seat in a hurried effort to quell the excite- 
 ment. 
 
 "Wliy, Cole and I. Yes, we've organized: he's 
 chairman and I'm secretary." 
 
 "Cole? Cole? Let's see: you mean old missionary 
 Cole, the retired justice of the supreme court, don't 
 you?" queried the other, a little in doubt as to the 
 identity of his newly found prospective executive. 
 
 "Exactly so," continued Varnum. "We've organ- 
 ized, and adjourned subject to call. There are three 
 vacancies on the board, standing ready to fill, if 
 deemed expedient though two constitute a quorum. 
 The salaries were fixed, and we are, it is needless to 
 advise you, prepared 
 
 "For any emergency, I trow," intercepted the sur- 
 prised but gratified minister of finance. 
 
 "Yes, that's it ; no doubtful entanglements." 
 
 "How is Cole; you sounded him, of course?" 
 
 "Oh he's all right. The salary's the thing." 
 
98 KAIUOLANI 
 
 "I've noticed his run down appearance since 
 Gutenborj threw him over/' 
 
 "Yes; hard pressed to keep the family from want. 
 They're quite shabby we can count on him." 
 
 "There. Give him that," said Bender, tossing over 
 a roll of bills; "and you, yourself, gaze upon this," 
 continued he, proffering a newly written note with 
 Gutenborj 's supposed signature attached; "it will do 
 your eyes good, and properly explained should 
 materially strengthen Cole's flabby backbone. Don't 
 neglect to impress our 'chairman' with the fact that 
 Gutenborj is behind this business; and, now then, 
 you had best hustle back to the chamber of commerce, 
 collar Cole, and hold yourselves ready at the com- 
 mittee room; I shall advise you what and how at an 
 opportune time. Go." 
 
 With unbounded lust centered about so small a 
 nucleus and supported with only a doubtful makeshift 
 the mind waxed clear and an undaunted nerve drove 
 him to the verge of desperation. Having carried 
 every point that signified, overcome each obstacle as 
 it arose, he would yet sacrifice manhood to save a 
 conflict, to shield cowardice; the thought of blood- 
 shed sickened him, and gain the goal he must 
 Bender knew of only one expedient. 
 
 Kaiuolani must sue for a respite, and her hand 
 seemed not too great a price. Her kingdom as a 
 dowery should pay him for the subtle overthrow of 
 Liliuokolani : the national guard brought over to his 
 support by the timely acquiescence of the princess 
 must resolve a salutary ending, even to Harvenoiq's 
 resourceful dreams. The father must be made the 
 means of reaching her heart, and with rising hope 
 
KAIUOLANI 99 
 
 the conscience-hardened victim quietly slipped the 
 cover on his desk and gratefully stole away. 
 
 The stealthy wending of a deserted street, round 
 one side of the procession that guilelessly formed, 
 and a lively, undiscovered jaunt toward Castle Ban- 
 yan, in the distance, roused fresh determination, and 
 before the gate was reached an overweaning desire 
 urgently matured a hastily devised plan. There re- 
 mained no question as to what he should demand, 
 nor how best to proceed; Sir Charles possessed a 
 reasoning mind and felt keenly the future of his 
 daughter; the princess worshipped her father, and 
 of necessity should so forget herself as to assume 
 the responsibility of any favorable reconciliation. He 
 would reveal so much of the situation as to con- 
 vince the one: the other must of her own volition 
 grasp the possibilities of an effective alliance. He 
 alone held the (key ; Sir Charles's sensible influence 
 and Kaiuolani's impetuous disposition should ac- 
 celerate the desired result; hope alone conjured the 
 certain approach to a hitherto doubtful success. 
 
 Riding through the gate and along a winding, 
 coral-surfaced driveway the bare thought of prospec- 
 tive inheritance inspired the spirit of real actuality. 
 The crooked, pinched form vainly straightened in the 
 stirrups and from those over-hung, glancing eyes 
 there for once shone the fire of conviction. Passing 
 the entrance with a haughty indifference and careless 
 flourish of the whip the scarcely tolerable official 
 sprang to the flagstone and briskly ran up the marble 
 stairs. 
 
 "Your card, sir," demanded the reverend page, in 
 opposing a deliberate, unbidden entrance. 
 
ioo KAIUOLANI 
 
 "Stand aside, flunkey; it is I, your oh ? I beg 
 your pardon, Mr. Hislop. How thoughtless of me ! 
 Please inform your honorable master that our humble 
 minister begs an audience. Important, parson the 
 times are exacting: not so fruitful as in the good 
 old missionary days, you know. There, now," replied 
 Bender, discreetly; afterwards as the white haired 
 pensioner disappeared under the pain of started 
 tears muttering : 
 
 "How changed !" 
 
 Respectfully entering as bidden and accepting a 
 proffered seat the uninvited fellow looked eagerly 
 round at the high, frescoed ceilings and long pillared 
 corridors. A rising sense of the ridiculous gradually 
 possessed him. The significant friezes, the decorated 
 walls, the carved panels, the set floors suddenly con- 
 trasted with the airy freedom of the mountains. For 
 the moment his spirit bended un3er the weight of an 
 awe inspiring something that seemed to call him 
 thither; carried him away to the rambling voice of 
 the wild ; laid bare the secret bounds of a God-given 
 temper, but directly the welkin of Kaiuolani's voice 
 rang temptingly through the vibrant halls that other 
 self seized him like a vise gripping an imprisoned 
 part. 
 
 Bender answered to all that is human. The soul 
 claimed him, and urged him on toward the reach that 
 makes, that separates the one from the other, and 
 marks the limit of man's endeavor. 
 
 Sir Charles came down to greet him ; he had just 
 left the floor above, where Kaiuolani stood, the ad- 
 mired of a coterie of friends, most of all her father. 
 Uena-O-Zan, her maid, had straightened a last fold 
 
KAIUOLANI 101 
 
 in the long habit that she should that day wear at 
 the head of the Royal Daughters, and was ever time 
 too precious ? 
 
 "Superb," was the father's verdict, and a chatter 
 of more versatile voices pronounced him scant in 
 his praise. 
 
 "It is the dearest thing imaginable, and so becom- 
 ing! You just look too sweet for anything. How I 
 envy you, Kaiuolani. Everybody shall fall at your feet 
 to-day. We shall all feel so proud don't you think 
 so, Mr. Pauahieu?" said a voice, who had come in 
 for a very different purpose, but under the stress of 
 fortune could not resist. 
 
 Coming down the stairs Sir Charles's pride in his 
 achievements and concern for his offspring brought 
 the glow to his cheeks. This world seemed to him 
 the very best that could be, and with orderly pro-, 
 gression as to him the events of the day foretold 
 every man must partake in a measured round of 
 succession the joys and sorrows justly and inevitably 
 apportioned. No such thing as the denial of others 
 to gratify self had ever entered there. The lover 
 of the hearthstone and the administrator of truth 
 did not despise a false ambition, for such a thing re- 
 mained foreign to his understanding; and upon 
 proffering his hand to a man whom their country 
 had honored, and trusted, it was with that underly- 
 ing confidence that real brotherhood must necessarily 
 beget. 
 
 "Good-morning, Mr. Bender. I am delighted to 
 see you. Can I be of service?" said he, approaching 
 and extending both hands. 
 
 The greeting, so unconcerned and gentle, encour- 
 
102 KAIUOLANI 
 
 aged the designing minister with every conceivable 
 energy except the one which had driven him thither; 
 and in the presence of an unexpected dilemma he 
 stood mute and motionless, unable to collect his 
 thoughts or dispel the mood that disturbed his poise. 
 
 "I ran in hurriedly to discuss an important matter, 
 Mr. Prentiss, but under the stress of circumstances 
 I seem unable agreeably to broach the subject; the 
 environment does not augur success," stammered he, 
 inadvertently. 
 
 "Oh, ho; how so; my good Bender? I regret 
 exceedingly that a friend should feel the least dis- 
 comfiture in my house. Please disclose at once the 
 source of your embarrassment; my encouragement 
 may assist somewhat in restoring at least a partial 
 equanimity. Do me the honor to try, my worthy 
 neighbor," replied Sir Charles, without manifesting 
 the least perturbation. 
 
 "An easy mark/' thought Bender, under the impulse 
 of the moment; "why should I stand here like the 
 fool that I am? He is only a piece of clay, after 
 all: subservient to the rule of individualism, like all 
 other men ; these works of his are but the product 
 of universal endeavor, and why should I hesitate to 
 appropriate when producers are loath to keep? I'll 
 proceed with the business, at once." 
 
 "Come into the study, Mr. Prentiss; excusing the 
 impudence; it is a serious matter that I wish to 
 discuss one that affects us all alike and, I'll predict 
 you'll grant, demands strict secrecy." 
 
 "Pardon me, Mr. Bender, for not anticipating your 
 pleasure; though I promise there is none here who 
 would disdain to conserve an interest or abuse a 
 
KAIUOLANI 103 
 
 privilege. Let us proceed thither I should have 
 formally proposed." 
 
 They ambled along quietly over the hard, mosaic 
 floors, the one's mind cogitating the mystery of so 
 unseasonable a visit, the other's prospects rising by 
 leaps and bounds. Bender was fast approaching that 
 stage of quest where expectation heeds not defeat. 
 Kaiuolani and position must be his. The merry- 
 making from above had suddenly ceased ; all became 
 strangely quiet within the great walls, and only the 
 imagination swayed or encouraged a thought. They 
 had passed through the high, over-domed archway 
 and stood facing each other before the great mantle 
 that sparkled with the heatless glow of a small make- 
 believe log fire. The little, ungainly dwarf, drawing 
 himself up to the full height of his cramped, crooked 
 form, looked furtively past the big, whole-souled 
 man that he faced; then softly but surely the long 
 and ponderous draperies at a convenient side entrance 
 slightly parted, and Martha Norton again confronted 
 her victim. A cold chill ran through him, and for 
 want of Sir Charles's assistance he had fallen to the 
 floor. 
 
 "Excuse me, Mr. Bender ; I have been waiting for 
 only a word with Mr. Prentiss, and I know you will 
 pardon a woman's simplicity: I shall engage him 
 but a moment and, in fact, it is not at all undesirable 
 that you, yourself, should be present. May I have 
 the pleasure, good sir?" said she, kindly, and with- 
 out showing the least uneasiness. 
 
 Bender, quickly regaining his breath, turned upon 
 her and the fire flashing underneath his shaggy eye- 
 brows fairly hissed with deliberate wrath : 
 
104 KAIUOLANI 
 
 "Curse you !" 
 
 "I beg your pardon," stammered Sir Charles, over- 
 come with surprise and burdened with suspense. "My 
 friend Bender, you forget yourself. It is a lady you 
 address; an apology is due." 
 
 "Never!" shouted he, with the rage of a defeated 
 and driven animal. "I am master of my own inclina- 
 tions. You are at liberty to resolve the appropriate- 
 ness of my speech. I'll pursue my own chosen course. 
 Good-day, sir." 
 
 The dumfounded host stood gasping for breath 
 as Bender mounted his horse and tore down the road, 
 his one arm akimbo and the other dangling at a loose- 
 drawn rein. 
 
 Norton barely excused herself with the assurance 
 that time had best reveal the good faith of an un- 
 pardonable behavior and that her presence at another 
 place now became a most urgent necessity. 
 
 "Please, Mr. Prentiss I shall not ask your for- 
 giveness; I am not worthy such confidence, and plead 
 only for time I must go," said the hard-pressed 
 woman; who, without further adieu or explanation, 
 ran from the house and entering a waiting carnage 
 drove frantically away. 
 
 Seating himself at the one high, sun-awned window 
 Prentiss looked down through the long, widening 
 valley and out over the broad, coral-reefed plain to 
 the dark still ocean in the distance. For a mile or 
 more the soft green of the hilled-up pineapple con- 
 trasted in long straight rows with the dark golden 
 earth between; loosing their identity in the mottled 
 irregular kalo and rice patches of the populace beyond. 
 From early manhood he had looked upon that self- 
 
KAIUOLANI 105 
 
 inspiring scene, revelling in the peace and content 
 of an honored citizenship. Should he at last be drawn 
 into the holocaust of ambition's seductive gripe? 
 
 Only a child wrought the transformation : an off- 
 spring sucked up the waning energies of a well- 
 balanced life, as self asserts the rising and our fellow 
 men command the noontide. Prentiss but answered 
 to the voice of God and resolved inevitably and irre- 
 vocably the world-exacting sacrifice. Rising from the 
 chair and turning to call an only child his eyes 
 moistened with gratification ; she had involuntarily ap- 
 peared, and quietly approaching stood silently over 
 him. 
 
 "What a comfort, Kaiuolani ! and so considerate. 
 I could not bear the burden except for you," said he, 
 stooping to ease an overtaxed brow upon her ready 
 and willing shoulder. 
 
 "What is it, papa? Some great trouble bears heav- 
 ily upon your mind. Am I doing wrong? I shall 
 give up the parade if it is not quite proper. Please 
 tell me, dear father." 
 
 "No, daughter ; it is with gladness that I am moved. 
 I would see you at the side of Aokahameha a man 
 whose ambitions rise above sordid realities. Kiss me, 
 darling child, and I shall be comforted. I, an old man, 
 am of right a beggar." 
 
 "There, papa," replied Kaiuolani, raising her lips 
 and throwing her arms round his neck ; "you shall 
 never, never need ask again." 
 
 "Nor have I needed ; you are a good, good little 
 daughter, and I shall indulge your utmost desires." 
 
 "I should prize more your advice how about a 
 husband? It seems I am doomed!" 
 
io6 KAIUOLANI 
 
 "Not so, but privileged; there appears to be no 
 end of opportunity." 
 
 "But the choice : that is the secret." 
 "Quite true, Kaiuolani ; though the better life rather 
 makes toward serving one's welfare. Let worthiness 
 precede our sensibilties. Your judgment alone can 
 determine the necessities." 
 
 Meditating a little the reason of his logic, and 
 feeling directly the responsibility resting upon her, 
 Kaiuolani looked fondly up and whispered: 
 "Trust me, father; you shall be happy." 
 The princess rose before him, satisfying and im- 
 mortal. The weal and the woes of humanity were 
 as tinder amid the crash of individualism. No atone- 
 ment seemed too great to make, not a desire unworthy 
 or a gulf impossible in the waging of an ordered 
 supremacy. Kaiuolani's frail form trembled mo- 
 mentarily with the force of sudden conviction; the 
 crucial test had come: it left her not as it found her, 
 and all the pain of subjection or the bitterness of 
 disappointment could not stay the doing; a subtler 
 charm must inevitably hold to reveal the divine, make 
 toward perfection, resolve the end. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Sir Charles gloried in his daughter's triumph, and 
 marvelling the extent of her democracy quite forgot 
 the circumstance of Bender's apparent frustration. 
 It were enough that his philosophy survive; and, 
 reading into Kaiuolani's simple promise an assurance 
 other than she had purposed, the cares of citizenship 
 and duties of parentage immediately shrank to the 
 moral of a shallow content. 
 
 "Pshaw ! Why need I pother about intent? My 
 respectability is a shield to Kaiuolani, no matter what 
 the diversion. I'll not burden her, a princess, with 
 parental interference," promised he, to himself, as she 
 broke away and ran up the stairs, granting him 
 freedom to resume his place at the window. 
 
 Sitting there, possessing, the glory of being so filled 
 him that concern for the getting were a sorrow and 
 a waste. That other men's hard proportion might 
 condition the future seemed a thing entirely outside 
 the bounds of a man whose place is easily attained 
 and idly preserved; the taste of struggle had never 
 tickled the palate or whetted the appetite with higher 
 appreciation, and thus unquickened the repast must 
 fall short of an all-sufficient cast. His subjection 
 echoed only heart desire: salvation abides not alone 
 the cross ; it must be revealed. 
 
 Though the father sought peace along lines of 
 meager resistance, the daughter's keen appreciation 
 led her to heed the possibilities that rivalry must at 
 
io8 KAIUOLANI 
 
 last engender. Neither could she dismiss so easily 
 the circumstance of a parent's worriment. He had 
 said nothing about the immediate cause, nor did she 
 know that the queen's minister had just left in a rage 
 and that Norton's volunteered compliment in reality 
 shielded an undisclosed purpose. Bounding lightly 
 away and seeking at once the freedom of her own 
 apartments, Kaiuolani sorely pondered the conse- 
 quences of what now seemed to be an early, childish 
 indiscretion. 
 
 Could she renounce love, deny self, and abandon 
 him? Must Colonel Young, after all, be made the 
 tool of propriety? These were questions hitherto 
 beyond her inclusion or need. She had hearkened 
 only the unattainable; and now, that her eyes had 
 opened, the God-will shone forth, overpowering and 
 satisfying in its wondrous uplift. 
 
 "At last, I see!" cried Kaiuolani, with joy, as the 
 veil lifted and her way stood bared of man's ungrate- 
 ful subterfuge. 
 
 The bonds of nativity fain lay broken in the free- 
 dom that light had brought, and without a regret or 
 a fear the young princess rose up over a forbidden 
 past strong and eager to press forward the battle 
 whose wage has from time's eternity decreed only 
 the God-given humanities. Floyd Young had led her 
 close to the precipice, but fortune decreed that she 
 should not leap ; the queen intervened to save her, 
 and now that she realized fairly the difference be- 
 tween liberty and license the burden lifted and duty 
 prompted the vitalized step. 
 
 The revelation that inspired her only fettered 
 Young, urged him the more. Gutenborj had cautioned 
 
KAIUOLANI 109 
 
 well, but the heart interest grew with conviction; and 
 at parting with his adviser the young man sprang 
 into the saddle and rode away hopeful to attain, be- 
 fore facing an unavoidable crisis, the boon of a per- 
 fect understanding. Kaiuolani was still at the castle; 
 she had not yet gone out at the head of her troop, 
 Norton apprised him of that, among other things, 
 and he sped on at a lively gait to meet the princess : 
 to tell her of his steadfast purpose and if possible 
 regain her faith. 
 
 As he galloped along the blood rose hot in his veins ; 
 while the bare thought of serving their queen, invok- 
 ing triumph, and proving loyalty engendered within 
 him a broadened sympathy. Who 'might there be to 
 dispute right, baffle justice, and profit at the expense 
 of truth? If such be there let him, learn well the 
 emblazoned lesson of repeated glory. His arm grew 
 strong, and he would have stricken the vile only to 
 quicken the blessings of regeneration. That day he 
 should lead a recognized force, if needs be, to put 
 down disorder and preserve the emblem of progress : 
 plant their flag over the homes of those who trusted 
 him and prized unhindered advancement. Man's 
 highest hope lay within the possibilities of state, whose 
 transcendency rested upon the only force that time 
 had evolved. The military strength of a nation 
 should concern every individual that stood for real 
 manhood, and its aid must be invoked to crush, that 
 government might expand. The sympathy of its sub- 
 jects marked the limit of empire, and the destinies 
 of mankind bided only the great: there should be no 
 halting short of one universal power, a nation limited 
 
no KAIUOLANI 
 
 only by the bounds of earth itself. That alone 
 exemplified His will. 
 
 The source of Floyd Young's stalwartism carried 
 him thither that he might gain the inspiration to rise 
 to the heights of conviction, and when the big iron 
 gates swung open at his approach every fiber in his 
 body responded to the thrill of encouraged action: 
 Kaiuolani must sanction the thought; his will de- 
 manded her compliance, and God alone made woman 
 to bear the sacrifice. 
 
 Dismounting at the stoop the anxious colonel was 
 coldly ushered into the house, where only Sir Charles 
 politely received him. The sudden disappointment 
 overcame a hitherto unshaken confidence; Kaiuolani 
 had never failed him at the doorstep, and at last 
 a false impression, forced at the roadside, had met 
 with positive confirmation : another had gained her 
 favor, and he must now plead for what had seemed 
 his for the taking. Would she respond to his re- 
 quest ? The very thought of disappointment stole 
 away his breath and revited mute the words. 
 
 "Possibly you would prefer to see my daughter," 
 remarked the big-hearted father, observing the un- 
 becoming embarrassment, even of so unusual a call. 
 
 "If it is not an imposition, I should very much like 
 to do so ; though the hour is certainly an unseasonable 
 one," said Young, nervously conscious of the elder 
 man's scathing look. 
 
 The princess shall be her own judge: it is my 
 pleasure to accord her respectful freedom," replied 
 Sir Charles, fully convinced that Kaiuolani should 
 have no difficulty in proving herself equal to the oc- 
 casion. 
 
KAIUOLANI in 
 
 Calling Uena-O-Zan, Kaiuolani's chief maid, a 
 Japanese at birth, but Hawaiian by adoption, Sir 
 Charles sent word to his daughter that Colonel Young 
 awaited her pleasure. 
 
 Uena's dark eyes took in at a glance the situation 
 with respect to Kaiuolani's relative position. Having 
 for years observed closely and experienced not incon- 
 siderably, this keen-witted little maiden knew better 
 than her mistress the mainspring governing the move- 
 ments of a man like Young, a once favored suitor, 
 who now came pleading for conclusion and encourage- 
 ment, not to cherish and protect; to take till content, 
 but give with moderation; make the heart serve the 
 hand, and the faithful servant's olive cheeks turned 
 scarlet as she conveyed to her idolized benefactress 
 by word of mouth the message and in looks her feel- 
 ings. 
 
 Nor did the unguarded expression fail of its warn- 
 ing, for the princess upon going below met her lover 
 with a reserve that for once augured a decided ad- 
 vantage. 
 
 "What would you have of me, this morning?" 
 queried she, in a little while, after having jauntly en- 
 tered the room, whip and habit in hand. 
 
 "Your promise/' answered he, unfaltering in the 
 purpose to go away with Kaiuolani's assurance. 
 
 "Indeed? Is it not rather late? I have had time 
 to plan a world of loves since I last attempted to 
 thaw your frozen heart. I wonder that you would 
 condescend to recognize so much as a woman's feel- 
 ings? What secret spring under-bubbles so generous 
 an impulse ? Come ; be as frank with me as I am 
 tolerant of you. The exigencies of the time demand 
 
ii2 KAIUOLANI 
 
 it," replied she, haughtily, and with an air of authority 
 that quite overcame her suitor. 
 
 "Kaiuolani !" whispered he, utterly unable to com- 
 prehend the meaning or to face the possibilities of her 
 changed bearing. 
 
 The princess tilted her head the higher, and look- 
 ing with half -closed eyes at the man who faced her, 
 would have trampled upon, brushed him aside had 
 he condescended to weaken ; but Young penetrated at 
 a glance the thin veil that she tried hard to make 
 serve as a shield. Kaiuolani may have been impulsive 
 and labored with effort, yet the heart needs must lay 
 bare its secret under the master's influence, and had 
 he borne patiently the will's way she had fallen a 
 victim to reality; but at the first sign of returning 
 consciousness with the hand voicing the soul he 
 must gloat over her, invoke his own delight, ignore 
 her inevitable sensibility, and rising in his natural 
 might he cried aloud: 
 
 "You are lost, Kaiuolani; feign it otherwise, if you 
 choose, you cannot escape me." 
 
 "It is false !" said she, in a voice that stung him 
 with an appreciation of her wounded pride. ''You 
 think me weak, and capable only of serving impulse, 
 but I shall convince you that I am worthy a man's 
 love : take care that yours is none the less, before you 
 so lightly cast it to the fortunes of a Maua." 
 
 With each added word the fire glowed freshly in 
 Kaiuolani's eyes. She had begun by tantalizing her 
 prey, then weakened under the stress of his conduct, 
 but now that her pride was touched the old spirit 
 revived and she begged or gave no quarter. Young 
 for the first time felt correctly the force of her de- 
 
KAIUOLANI 113 
 
 termined worth, and with its fearless expression his 
 love quickened and deepened beyond human control. 
 
 "I surrender, Kaiuolani; you have to do with me 
 as you will. Please pronounce the verdict," said he, 
 kneeling and begging forgiveness. 
 
 "No, Floyd; you are obeying only impulse: when 
 you have regained your senses, I should have need 
 for a better wit. I would not take undue advantage, 
 nor suffer the pain of indiscretion. Go forth and win 
 your laurels. A woman's consolation is her strongest 
 encouragement. Better merit, though you lose I pre- 
 fer a husband given somewhat to daring, not alone in 
 bond with sympathy." 
 
 Young arose, and departed from the house without 
 making any answer. The mists had been cruelly 
 dispelled, his feelings bitterly crushed, and a severer 
 test evoked than he had deigned conceive. Cold 
 reason settled the necessity, and a burning fancy bade 
 him do. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 As the disappointed lover rode away, down the 
 avenue, toward the city in the foreground, Kaiuolani 
 hastened to the window above and peering from be- 
 hind the half-drawn curtains stole a last, determined 
 glance. Now that he had gone, her heart quaked 
 and all the world had been a thankless price could she 
 have recalled those words; and sinking unconsciously 
 to the floor, a hard-said prayer inaudibly escaped her 
 cold-drawn lips. 
 
 "How could I ! God forgive me !" cried she ; in a 
 voice that startled Uena from the nearby watch she 
 had vigorously maintained. 
 
 "Please help me to my horse," demanded Kaiuolani, 
 of her trusted maid; "I must join the procession; the 
 Daughters will conjure alarm at my tardiness. Is 
 Ipo in readiness? Where are the footmen? Why do 
 you look so serious, Uena? I wish you could accom- 
 pany me." 
 
 Directly the princess had gone Elmsford drove up, 
 proposing to ask Sir Charles to share his carriage in 
 the procession. He had just left the palace, where 
 the officers, dignitaries and foreign diplomats were 
 already assembling, and brought much of interest 
 to say to his pleased and curious host. 
 
 "Is the representation complete?" asked Prentiss, 
 having accepted the invitation and seated himself at 
 Elmsford's side. 
 
 "Oh, by the way," continued he, changing the sub- 
 ject, as the driver started off, "hold, a minute; I 
 should like to give some instructions.' 1 
 
KAIUOLANI 115 
 
 "With pleasure," replied Elmsford. 
 
 "Hislop? Here, please," commanded Sir Charles, 
 addressing a shabbily departing attendant. "You and 
 as many of the household as like are at liberty to at- 
 tend the ceremonies. You can drive down, and I 
 should be pleased to see you all going." 
 
 "Thank you," answered the aged derelict, without 
 disclosing any apparent nervousness. 
 
 "That is all, Mr. Elmsford: I thank you for the 
 kindness," said Prentiss, returning his attention to the 
 puffed-up host at his side. 
 
 "The attendance was complete," began Elmsford, 
 resuming an interrupted conversation, "but I doubt 
 if it shall remain thus, through the day." 
 
 "Why so, my good Elmsford?" asked Prentiss, 
 quickly, being a little surprised. 
 
 "I question Harvenoiq's good faith," replied the 
 cool Britisher, without the least hesitation. "He is 
 a slippery fellow as all Americans are, so far as my 
 experience goes." 
 
 "The minister has no authority, however; and, 
 furthermore, the country he represents is not suffi- 
 ciently settled in policy to make a specific demand 
 outside of thread and needles, perhaps," replied the 
 long ago naturalized Hawaiian, confidently, and with 
 no thought of national interference from that source. 
 
 "That is quite true," continued Elmsford, "and the 
 very fact that its foreign representatives are wholly 
 unbound by conservative rules gives designing poli- 
 ticians appointed to self-ridding outside posts 
 an opportunity to make shift any kind of wholesome 
 or unwholesome interference. That sort of diplomat 
 is the most dangerous of all grouty pretenders; and 
 
n6 KAIUOLANI 
 
 once a decisive step is taken the false patriotism of 
 his hot-headed countrymen will lead their awfully 
 elusive government into dire straits, even at the cost 
 of shame, to avoid what a bragadocia nature shuns 
 most of all; the possibility of having to face a back- 
 ing down and out's ever scornful finger." 
 
 "But Harvenoiq is weak, too puerile to rise above 
 the taint of flattery, and his country, a republic? My 
 friend, the dawn of empire in America is a thing our 
 remotest posterity need not presume to see," remarked 
 the other, with the certainty of a pent up and un- 
 mistakable conviction. 
 
 "And should that particular star chance to peep 
 above their checkered horizon well, there is one con- 
 solation; John Bull shall see it safely set. What an 
 inspiration; the very thought touch of old Jack! 
 The unwinding may be slow, but sooner or later its 
 folds shall make common the lot of all this earth's 
 deserving. It is invincible, traditionally grand !" 
 
 "Ergo!" fairly shouted the, for the moment, un- 
 conscious disallegiant. "But what about those he 
 disdains? You know, John is not bestowing his 
 patronage except the vintage be satisfying. Strug- 
 gling principalities, too small or tasteless to tempt 
 for instance, it is not so long since Mr. Bull de- 
 liberately refused our own, these very islands, as a 
 gift. Come; should we not be content?" 
 
 "Until routed, I should say; I myself dislike any- 
 thing that smacks too much of encouraged activity." 
 
 "You are the right sort, Elmsford: only you are, 
 if I may say it, a little too suspicious. Let the world 
 wag on ; each, active or passive, tolerable or intolera- 
 ble, shall get his due, even his Americanism." 
 
KAIUOLANI 117 
 
 "And that's no play; the force is there; eighty 
 millions no; they lack consistency. England is 
 bearer. The cross ! Brotherhood ! Finality ! Sweet, 
 oh sweet eternity !" 
 
 "Aye, aye; good Samaritan, vain prophet; you for- 
 get the lesson of to-day's events ; you shall see :i 
 queen vouchsafe the blessings of man, providential 
 mortal. How thankful !" 
 
 "Not I," replied Elmsford, as he looked round at 
 the drawn, open-mouthed that everywhere waited, they 
 knew not what. 
 
 Nor did clamor avail the credulous or disturb those 
 who reasoned. A few gathered together and ordered 
 while the multitude gaped in ignorance. A thousand 
 strong hearts quaked mute and aimless amid the con- 
 cord of intellectual sway, utterly unable to invoke a 
 bloodless right or to arrest their traditional despoila- 
 tion. 
 
 At the palace were congregated all those who count, 
 or that had not their interests elsewhere. Ihoas con- 
 soled with the queen, and Gutenborj supported her in 
 the trifling contentions that seemed to arise on every 
 hand. 
 
 The throne room had been set apart as the most 
 agreeable and more proper place for the signing of 
 the big parchment roll that should, from the doorstep, 
 at high noon, be proclaimed the sovereign law of 
 Hawaii; and shortly before the hour of promulgation 
 had arrived, or the procession that was to carry hence 
 the unsigned document had moved, the queen pro- 
 ceeded to seat herself in the olden chair of state. As 
 the venerable woman marched down through the as- 
 sembled throng a thrill of pride ran triumphantly 
 
ii8 KAIUOLANI 
 
 over all; there were present a host of admirers and 
 all the dignitaries who were known not to be engaged 
 with the doings on the outside. Ministers and ap- 
 pointees of all nations represented at the capital were 
 there; the Royalists came in force, and disgruntled 
 Kamehamehas buried for the occasion what jealousy 
 may have lingered; Patriots filled the room to over- 
 flowing, and the open windows wafted afar their happy 
 approbation. 
 
 A long line of guards stood like statues on either 
 side the passageway that led from the queen's boudoir 
 to the respected seat of might, and as the stately sov- 
 ereign, led by bearers of tall Kahili, the significant 
 emblem of justice, made her way down the cleared 
 aisle all men bowed their heads, and a silent prayer 
 filled the hearts of those who appreciated the force 
 of will. 
 
 Climbing the short, easy stairs that led to empire's 
 sway a myriad clustering, golden oo feathers wavered 
 and fluttered in the soft light that glistened and 
 shadowed in the folds of her traditional garb. It was 
 the cloak of divinity, and tens of thousands had 
 spent their lives in the weaving, and the gathering; 
 centuries had come and gone since its beginning; the 
 touch of its hem had been held a privileged honor; 
 the lon'g train widened and spread before a worship- 
 ping multitude, and yet beneath its royal shelter there 
 beat the heart of a human a woman who prized the 
 welfare of a nation. Slowly but deliberately as- 
 cending, she calmly turned and resolutely faced an 
 eager, attentive throng. 
 
 No man or woman there would have changed that 
 scene: even Bender flushed with the pride of privi- 
 
KAIUOLANI 119 
 
 lege, and could he recall the last hours would have 
 surrendered to the heed of righteousness. Only 
 Harvenoiq winced and labored with the strain of 
 abeyance. He had rushed upon the head of state, 
 would have snatched away the jewelled scepter, and 
 placed the crown upon his own ungrateful brow. The 
 claims of fitness to him bore no significance, and an 
 ugly frown wrinkled his hard-set countenance. 
 
 Calmly surveying the expectant, upturned faces all 
 about her, Liliuokolani in a deep, convincing voice 
 announced the purpose of the meeting, and ordered the 
 ministry to attend her at the throne. Thus none was 
 absent, and without a hesitation all approached and 
 seated themselves at either side the minister of finance 
 in front; whereat her majesty announced: 
 
 "It is my privilege and, I trust, your pleasure this 
 day in the presence of all nationalities here assembled 
 to execute and publish to all the world a new constitu- 
 tion, the supreme law of this our destined land. Is 
 there one who would protest?" 
 
 A breathless silence overcast the room. Not a 
 sound disturbed the refreshing air that fanned their 
 flushed and eager faces. Bender's heart beat hotly 
 with the delights of a quickened transformation. His 
 whole soul went over to the delectable, and not a 
 member shrank at the thought of doing his bounden 
 duty. Only stillness seemed a fitting answer, and then 
 rudely and arrogantly the American minister stalked 
 into the open, close at the queen's place. A guard 
 seized and held him back, as he shouted and brand- 
 ished, huskily : 
 
 "I deny the right. It is the people's business!" 
 
 The queen made no answer, and Gutenborj hastened 
 
120 KAIUOLANI 
 
 to hustle the diplomat from the scene of his un- 
 pardonable behavior. 
 
 "You are mad, man," said the roused planter, 
 thrusting the slight, half-turned fellow aside. "At 
 least have the decency to save your country's shame; 
 rude, untutored lout, that you proclaim yourself to 
 be." 
 
 "Who are you, that you would dictate? I am 
 sponsor here, I would have you know, ungrateful 
 beggar," replied Harvenoiq, tearing himself loose, and 
 stamping away, toward a convenient exit, the while 
 firing and fuming with ungoverned rage. 
 
 With Harvenoiq, a foreign minister's disappearance, 
 the audience broke into an involuntary chatter, and 
 Gutenborj quite forgetting himself earnestly begged 
 her majesty to grant him the privilege of apologizing 
 on behalf of the country to whose flag he as a matter 
 of convenience still bore allegiance. Without conde- 
 scending to reply, the farcical nature of the whole situa- 
 tion forced itself upon the queen's immediate atten- 
 tion to such extent that she quite neglected for the 
 time being to restore order or proceed with the busi- 
 ness at hand. 
 
 The pause occasioned by Harvenoiq's disorderly 
 conduct not only gave doubtful and weak-kneed local 
 ministers a chance to question in their own minds antf 
 parley with each other the propriety of continuing 
 in the absence of one so vital to their welfare, but it 
 at once became the signal for casual though earnest 
 remarks on the part of others : if less concerned about 
 material interests, then more deeply conscious of a 
 wounded dignity. 
 
 "It is a most unpardonable offense," wildly urged 
 
KAIUOLANI 121 
 
 the redoubtable Mr. Earnest de Seionoff, resident 
 charge d' affairs and minister plenipotentiary of the 
 French republic, in discussing the circumstance with 
 Sir James S. Hardthrust, diplomatic representative 
 from Great Britain. 
 
 "A trifle enthusiastic, my good Mr. Seionoff. I 
 dare say, no harm is meant or ill shall come of it. 
 We, who are wise, must make due allowance I am 
 heartily pleased with the queen. How does she im- 
 press you, this morning, brother ambassador?" re- 
 plied the discreet Englishman, in a vain attempt to 
 allay the Frenchman's heated nerves. 
 
 "It is not for me to answer while in a state of very 
 great upsetting. The American : he has given cause 
 for the most severe treating about his disciplinable- 
 ness. We are spokesmen for our speaking and cannot 
 hold ourselves within ourselves " 
 
 "I shouldn't be a bit disturbed by the Honorable 
 Mr. Harvenoiq's mistakes," intercepted the judicious 
 Hardthrust, sympathetically. "He will make amends 
 just give him a chance." 
 
 "Oh ! You are too most easy of feeling. It is 
 only a Frenchman who can see, who can do 
 
 "Have you pardon the digression seen a draft of 
 the proposed new constitution, Mr. Seionoff?" 
 
 "Constitution ? Constitution ? I have looked at only 
 insult. It is most unbearable, this unfeeling of polite- 
 ness ; I must make myself amends," shouted the ex- 
 cited diplomat, huskily in his neighbor's dull ears, the 
 while dancing about like a suddenly decapitated fowl. 
 
 "Politeness will follow development: it is not so 
 long, you know, since the great La Fayette discovered 
 
122 KAIUOLANI 
 
 America," ventured the thoughtful Britisher, good- 
 naturedly. 
 
 "La Fayette ! Oh, the too not far seeing. Only 
 for without him we had already a big empire where 
 now is but confusion for money. It is a large dis- 
 grace in the world. La Fayette ! La Fayette !" 
 
 The decidedly heated though close conversation be- 
 tween the two foreign diplomats significantly escaped 
 the attention of everybody there, excepting only one. 
 The queen remained too deeply absorbed with con- 
 sciousness and suspicion to observe or realize the pur- 
 port of any the incidental and chaotic surroundings. 
 Bender's keen eye and ready ear, on the other hand, 
 divined everything, even the pained, telltale look that 
 disturbed her majesty's presence. 
 
 Surmising Great Britain's careless attitude and 
 France's unpreparedness, the shrewd minister of 
 finance dismissed with a sweep of the intellect any 
 possible thought of interference from either one or 
 the other. With renewed courage and lessening re- 
 spect his temporary and sudden patriotism began 
 rapidly to wane. After all it seemed but a matter of 
 self-provision. Why concede anything? The plans 
 were laid, and withal a force stood ready to do his 
 bidding. Harvenoiq had blundered himself into the 
 blame, why not drive to a finish the resolution that 
 seemed all but a reality. 
 
 Deprived of an ideal the world seemed cold and 
 dreary: in one opportune moment ambition claimed 
 and drove its faltering victim. The blood of royalty 
 had but rosed the pathway to success. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 First one and then another retired until finally only 
 the officials, the foreign diplomats, the Patriots, and 
 a partial representation of Royalists remained. Guten- 
 borj held his post and at each withdrawal renewed 
 his activity. The queen rallied with encouragement 
 and turning directly to the high chamberlain demanded, 
 sharply : 
 
 "Order, in the throne room." 
 
 Instantly the confusion ceased, and every man re- 
 sumed his place. Wrangling ministers shuffled back 
 to their seats and not one dared voice a contrary senti- 
 ment, though the interim had been spent in dangerous 
 parley and hostile subterfuge. Their faces alone be- 
 trayed a signal change, some flushed and excited, 
 others pale and serious, but Bender ! His counte- 
 nance revealed not a thought or an emotion. A color- 
 less skin drew hard round the dark, meaningless eyes 
 that held an audience keenly subservient to his pene- 
 trating thought. No word or act escaped him, and 
 only the distant rumble of fife and drum disturbed 
 his withering conscience. 
 
 The procession came on, diverting the queen's at- 
 tention; yet they had marched too soon; the soft 
 strains of God Save the Queen rose above the din 
 of tramp, tramp, tramp; patriotism again stirred the 
 hearts of those he had betrayed: but there was one 
 whom he understood; he could trust Kenlikola, ap- 
 
i24 KAIUOLAN1 
 
 pointed to the ministry at his sole solicitation ; Paua- 
 hieu, doubtful courtier, knew the way, and only time 
 stood between the thought and the deed. 
 
 Among the many faces there assembled, but one 
 caused the wary minister of finance the least uneasi- 
 ness ; Norton was rid of : had her hands full else- 
 where; Ihoas never lost sight of him; her native 
 wit followed his every movement, discerned the depth 
 of his feigned plausibility and Bender knew it; her 
 presence disconcerted him, and the queen's chief lady 
 in waiting viewed thus afar the lone cloud that fore- 
 shadowed a beggarly attempt. 
 
 "The devil take me," said he, to himself, with set 
 and angry jaws, as the knowing princess half watched 
 at the window for Elmsford's carriage. "I have be- 
 trayed myself. And to her, cursed mongrel ?" 
 
 The constitution bearers halted at the doorstep 
 below. A shout of applause drowned the players' best 
 efforts, and their lofty sentiment resounded far above, 
 even unto the throne they worshipped. 
 
 Bender trembled at the awful approbation, shriv- 
 elled at his own base intent, and then that other force 
 seized him, and taking advantage of an opportune 
 moment, amid their confusion, he gave the signal that 
 set in motion an avalanche that respects neither the 
 virtuous nor the. sinful, grinds beneath its ponderous, 
 listless weight alike the strong and the weak. 
 
 The high chamberlain turned his back and prince 
 Kenlikola, sulking Royalist that he proved to be, 
 secretly left his post and devoid of a promise or a 
 hope stealthily left the room. 
 
 The ministry stood broken, and without their un- 
 divided sanction and individual signatures the queen's 
 
KAIUOLANI 125 
 
 act of promulgation while yet one remained present 
 had been considered revolutionary. Kenlikola, a de- 
 scendant of the ancient Kamehamehas and a power 
 under the Mauas, had, with the connivance of Paua- 
 hieu, the high chamberlain, deliberately absented him- 
 self, thus_openly denying the queen her pleasure and 
 lawful prerogative. In such manner Bender reasoned 
 himself free from taint. Should his scheme fall 
 through he could still save face before the populace 
 and force retention upon the administration. Busy- 
 ing himself at table, ostensibly with legitimate busi- 
 ness, but in reality with fanning into flame the spark 
 that ignited the fancy of servile ministers yet linger- 
 ing, the queen doubting none other momentarily re- 
 laxed under the stress of enthusiasm her vigilance, 
 and unfortunately the withdrawal of Kenlikola for the 
 time being passed unnoticed. 
 
 Directly the carriers entered, solemnly proceeding 
 down the aisle, Pauahieu, trusted custodian, turned 
 mechanically to meet and greet them. It remained 
 only for him to receive at their hands and lay before 
 the queen and cabinet the precious instrument ; there- 
 fore, sooner than face the displeasure that his willing 
 demeanor must have provoked, the poisoned, revenge- 
 ful decadent irreverently grasped the proffered tray 
 and wheeling round advanced within convenient dis- 
 tance, announcing bruskly: 
 
 "The proposed constitution, your majesty." 
 The queen, pained and alert, gazed steadfastly at 
 her old and respected chamberlain. She could not 
 make answer; that thrust had been a dagger, reach- 
 ing deep into a bewildered consciousness. Amid the 
 great rejoicing many were the discrepancies that had 
 
126 KAIUOLANI 
 
 met the keen, unslackened observation of Liliuokolani. 
 She knew only too well that there forged traitors on 
 every hand, cunning artificers ready to strike as 
 served their convenience, but whom to suspect and 
 how effectively to eradicate the destructive germs were, 
 in consequence of so strained a situation, beyond the 
 ken of humankind. 
 
 Without taking her eyes from Pauahieu's rigid, 
 downcast face, the proud, resourceless woman half- 
 unconsciously muttered : 
 
 "And you, too, Pauahieu?" 
 
 A hushed fear seized upon all those within hear- 
 ing, and shorn of a warning or an apology the disap- 
 pointed heir to nobility dropped dead before their 
 startled gaze. Bender stood ready at hand and realiz- 
 ing instantly the unexpected rushed forward in time 
 to save the jeopardized instrument: assuming an air 
 of wounded respect, he looked all round, haughtily 
 and self-convinced, as he proudly spread the ruffled 
 parchment directly before the throne. 
 
 Thereupon Norton ran into the room, nervous and 
 expectant. The guards closed in front, but she tore 
 by and frantically approaching cried with vehemence : 
 
 "There is commotion at the docks!" 
 
 A deathly silence ensued ; the lifeless form of Paua- 
 hieu lay stretched on the floor; the weird notes of 
 bewailing natives fell significantly upon their ears, 
 and all eyes turned toward the queen. 
 
 Liliuokolani sat motionless and serene above the 
 cowering throng, while a rising flush drove the pallor 
 from her cheeks; then an effective majesty asserted 
 its sway; with fixed expression and studied emphasis 
 the tottering monarch gave command : 
 
KAIUOLANI 127 
 
 "Arrest the offender." 
 
 Two heavy guards laid hold upon the good-inten- 
 tioned intruder, and pandemonium reigned in the 
 throne room. Everybody sprang up and shouting his 
 say ran hither and thither, while the ministry flew 
 with fear and only Bender remained to thwart the 
 queen, or to deny her the inalienable right of pro- 
 mulgation attending their total decampment. 
 
 His presence alone saved the cabinet's only pre- 
 rogative and left the queen helpless either to enforce 
 conjoint submission or proclaim individually the law. 
 Liliuokolani, therefore, looked hopelessly after the ab- 
 sconding ministers, whose signatures she so urgently 
 required, and for once and for all realized fully the 
 necessity of a controlling force behind the mandates 
 of effective government. Gutenborj stood ready with 
 reasonable assurances, her own life seemed to ex- 
 emplify the virtue of sympathy, but underneath it 
 all there appeared to stand boldly and effectively the 
 supremacy of grim-visaged arms. Philosophers might 
 predict, the humanitarian deplore, a vain world swag- 
 ger blindly on, yet shot and shell lay at the foundation 
 of all that man in his wisdom had deigned concede 
 the end and aim of modern civilization. The queen 
 deeply despaired and leaning hard upon Ihoas re- 
 tired to the Blue Room, where Bender begged cring- 
 ingly : 
 
 "I would do your majesty the service were it in 
 my power alone you see I am helpless ; my colleagues 
 have deserted. I 
 
 "Hold your tongue, defamer of other men's sacred 
 rights ; Ihoas is the truer spokesman. What would 
 you have, good lady ?" said the queen, as the towering 
 
128 KAIUOLANI 
 
 princess arose and beckoning a hearing thrust herself 
 between the prating minister and their sovereign whom 
 she worshipped. 
 
 "That man is a traitor ; I hold the proof," replied 
 Ihoas, pointing to the halting man who stood wincing 
 under the fire of her unremitting gaze. 
 
 "Stand aside, Ihoas: let the minister interpose a 
 defense, if such he has," commanded Liliuokolani, 
 firmly but respectfully. 
 
 Shuffling and hesitating the whipped minister glanced 
 round, then advancing observed not alone Ihoas but 
 Gutenborj firmly standing at the queen's side. Their 
 eyes met momentarily, and Bender read in that one 
 supreme look the fixed determination of a dreaded 
 opponent and the real mainstay of the throne : his 
 thoughts ran back to Kaiuolani, to wealth, to posi- 
 tion all these crowded fast upon a quickening 
 memory, and without warning or preparation the 
 means of their fruition must be subtly resolved. The 
 lip that he would hold firm quivered, and clutching 
 tight the loose parchment that shook in his hand a 
 mastering will and broken movement laid hare the 
 weakened mainspring behind a bolstered purpose. 
 
 "I am not responsible for a refractory ministry," 
 said he, with unmeaning emphasis and doubtful intent. 
 
 "But you have led me to the brink of a precipice : 
 would you have me take the leap alone?" replied the 
 queen, significantly. 
 
 "The act would be revolutionary, as long as there 
 is, even, but one member present." 
 
 "Then complete the representation and sign the 
 document or depart, that I may serve my people. 
 Your promise: have you forgotten?" 
 
KAIUOLANI 129 
 
 "I we have not examined the document; I must 
 ask for time 
 
 "How dare you say that, having had it in your pos- 
 session for a month? Officer, eject the unruly min- 
 ister; the law must be proclaimed." 
 
 No sooner had the words escaped her lips, than the 
 shrill blast of a strange, mysterious bugle broke faintly 
 upon the still, resonant air. Every man's heart leaped 
 and their feet stood riveted and chained in the pres- 
 ence of threatening danger. Bender smiled a sickening 
 smile, and rolling taut the fated constitution boldly 
 withdrew and quietly absconded before an astonished 
 court could recover its sense or a destined people 
 might comprehend the sudden burst of decisive revolu- 
 tion. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The guards stood lined up on either side the drive- 
 way leading through the palace grounds to the main 
 entrance in front. A strong reserve rested upon loaded 
 arms at the rear, and Aokahameha with his aids, 
 mounted and happy, waited underneath the high ve- 
 randa's edge. At the sight of Bender the unsophisti- 
 cated, warm-hearted general saluted respectfully, and 
 possibly a sense of pride touched his bearing; these 
 were true and virtuous men who heeded his command, 
 and not a breath of suspicion tainted their lives. 
 
 No hope of reward augmented those ranks or 
 mercenary motive compelled their allegiance; they 
 came from the soil; were filled with patriotism; grew 
 with traditional energy; embodied the spirit of higher 
 purpose their sole aim and province foretold the 
 humane preservation and liberal encouragement of 
 established, progressive institutions. 
 
 The skulking minister irreverently brushed them by, 
 his starved, ruthlessly denied soul withering under 
 the stress of manliness reflected in their open, self- 
 poised countenances. In vain he may have hoped for 
 scant disturbance, conjured a faltering intent, observed 
 the slightest infraction ; they were men to preserve 
 order, nor would abuse law, and until reaching the 
 docks where another kind of activity roused fresh 
 desire a myriad faint conceptions baffled his troubled 
 conscience. 
 
KAIUOLANI 131 
 
 He had gained his ground by promising the visiting 
 commodore that there should appear at a given hour 
 and proposed place some urgent occasion for the land- 
 ing of the marines, and now the time had arrived it 
 seemed utterly disastrous that his prediction should 
 not prove verified: there appeared no disorder at the 
 palace or elsewhere that he could see other than that 
 occasioned, through his own instrumentality, by the 
 landing of foreign troops, and the scheming min- 
 ister with all his cunning knew not the secret of 
 diplomacy ; he relied implicitly upon patent causes for 
 desired effects and held himself responsible for an 
 apparent justification, even at the cost of forgery. 
 Just how to sustain his position and, possibly, save 
 his neck, under the circumstances, became an all ab- 
 sorbing problem. Looking only to individual gain 
 the responsibilities waxed entirely personal and the 
 means narrowed to his own contemptible efforts. 
 Bender had prostituted the truth, and before the first 
 launch arrived, carrying at her stern the as yet un- 
 daunted and in her hold a solid mass of blue and 
 white, with bayonets fixed and belts strapped heavy, 
 the instigator of it all would have gladly surrendered 
 everything but his mask and departed from the Islands 
 could he have recalled only the treasonable design. 
 
 Shout after shout went up from the small circle 
 who huddled about and struggled for a first glimpse 
 at close range. Somehow the landing had been noised 
 about in private, Norton's tongue would wag, and 
 at the first blast on board the Bonton the annexa- 
 tionists to a man rushed to the water's edge ; and upon 
 the minister of finance's appearance renewed courage 
 
132 KAIUOLANI 
 
 enabled them to raise their voices in behalf of what, 
 they knew not but deemed delectable, if not safe. 
 
 Looking round, their once-upon-a-time leader's spirit 
 revived ; these men had been his earliest and staunchest 
 supporters why should he abandon renewed encour- 
 agement, even if unmerited ? He would once more fall 
 back upon his kind, and trust to fate or falsehood 
 for justification in the eyes of an abused commander. 
 Opportunity after all awaited only the making, and 
 the force assembling at his feet had neither the time 
 nor the inclination to question the veracity of his or 
 any other man's doing. The men were glad for a 
 chance to stretch their careless limbs, their leader 
 was anxious for the privilege of burnishing his own 
 rust-eaten valor ; Bender forgot danger, eschewed duty, 
 and saw only with eyes bleared by the belated promise 
 of war's attendant enthusiasm. 
 
 The troops came in squads and formed into com- 
 panies their faces and build and demeanor portray- 
 ing fairly the many nationalities; Germans, Irishmen, 
 Englishmen and whatnots, with a sprinkling of native 
 sons filled well the American ranks; but they all 
 marched to music and lived on never-failing rations 
 far up on the open, that hitherto had answered the 
 purposes of a more friendly pursuit ; the bickering and 
 bartering of market tradesmen and flower-laden sales- 
 women. 
 
 Bender livened with anticipation. Here proffered 
 a different kind of fighting man from the one who 
 had moved him to broader sympathy while yet within 
 the confines of government's lofty touch. A soldier 
 drilled to obey, not a patriot born and bred to live 
 and die for principle ; more easily encouraged to shoot, 
 
KAIUOLANI 133 
 
 and less observant of consequences; inspired with 
 belly, and devoid of a mental comprehension just the 
 kind with which to build empire, and not over-particu- 
 lar about the moralities other than a full and hearty 
 compliment. The prospect of gain outweighed in 
 the scales of duty, primordal instinct drove its thirsty 
 victim toward a fancied relief, and the ascending star 
 of human energy hid its face behind the fleeting orbit 
 of darkened consequence, with the tread and trumpet 
 of mercenary arms. 
 
 Only one condition fairly stood between the untamed 
 minister and success : the marines soon divined the 
 sources of their outing, and appeared friendly; their 
 commander mistook his real intentions, and believed 
 him sincere ; the onlookers applauded an old champion, 
 and rallied with enthusiasm: jealousy crept into the 
 American minister's heart, and the very laudations 
 of the bystanders, the rising confidence of Uhlrix and 
 the suppressed admiration of the troops drove deep 
 a burning hatred; which finally obliterated the slight- 
 est taint of political if not moral discretion. 
 
 Finally as the last launch discharged its cargo of 
 men, "Three cheers for the boys in blue," inadver- 
 tently resounded from the tall buildings that studded 
 on three sides the old historic square, and when the 
 commodore, himself, escorted by a sallow staff in 
 gold and braid, set foot on shore the shouting re- 
 doubled and ceased only when Harvenoiq pressed for- 
 ward to greet and advise. Nobody cared to applaud 
 him, and few there were who did not understand 
 in some measure his flaunted brusqueness. They had 
 already had enough of him: but so soon as Bender, 
 a child of the primeval, followed and grasped the 
 
134 KAIUOLANI 
 
 outstretched hand of Uhlrix the noise multiplied unto 
 breaking significantly upon the ears of some at the 
 palace, who lingered and strove to fathom the quicken- 
 ing mystery. 
 
 "I am not at all satisfied about this seeming dis- 
 turbance at the water-front square," said Gutenborj, 
 while occupying the central place in a group of in- 
 terested men and women summoned hastily by the 
 queen to discuss possible events. 
 
 "It is Bender's work, you can be sure of that, if 
 I am permitted to say as much," ventured Norton, 
 who had been recalled to explain the reason for her 
 unexpected appearance. 
 
 "How could they do such a thing? and what has he 
 to gain by soliciting the interference of foreign arms?" 
 queried Liliuokolani, impregnable in the belief that 
 honest government however insignificant could but 
 command the respect of nations as well that of hon- 
 orable men. 
 
 "If strange troops are landing, I have no doubt 
 it is as a friendly escort to some foreign dignitary, 
 who desires to pay your highness some unusual and 
 formal respect. I can conceive of no other reason," 
 intercepted Aokahameha, utterly unable to fathom the 
 purpose and possibilities of modern diplomacy. 
 
 "Don't be too sure of that," replied Gutenborj, 
 promptly and unequivocally. "I had best communi- 
 cate with Colonel Young, immediately. Is there a 
 messenger at court whom I can trust?" 
 
 "Pardon me, Mr. Gutenborj," said Kaiuolani, the 
 color rising a little and her pretty teeth evincing a 
 determination, positive though respectful; "I should 
 rather Aokahameha endeavored to reach and direct 
 
KAIUOLANI 135 
 
 his own command. He has at his service at least a 
 respectable staff, and I too, if a woman may be 
 pardoned for assuming a voice, should Hike personally 
 an interview with the gentleman and officer, whom you 
 mention if it is possible for him to be located and 
 brought in. We may have need for your counsel and 
 advice at the palace. Please do the state that service ; 
 the general may dislike to enforce a governmental 
 necessity." 
 
 The up to this time undefied merchant prince started 
 with surprise. Interpreting boldly and fairly the 
 gentle command, of one whom he prized so tenderly, 
 only a slight flush betrayed any pain at surrendering, 
 and promptly the answer characteristically set at rest 
 all doubt as to Gutenborj 's reasonable position: 
 
 "I am pleased to obey the mandates of any govern- 
 ment that governs." 
 
 "What is your pleasure, Aokahameha? Would you 
 advise that Mr. Gutenborj remain here, or depart in 
 quest of your very honorable absentee?" asked the 
 queen, in a friendly, half-confident, and utterly sub- 
 missive tone. 
 
 "I have no doubt Mr. Gutenborj would prefer me 
 to assume the responsibility. With his immediate en- 
 lightenment, as to the particular whereabouts, I should 
 be able to produce the wanted derelict very shortly. 
 This is a convenient place for friendly meetings, es- 
 pecially under the circumstances," replied Aokaha- 
 meha, in a conciliatory manner, though expectant of 
 a ready and speedy acquiescence. 
 
 All eyes turned toward Gutenborj, who hesitated 
 and engaged with meditating the course of events that 
 had brought him face to face with so delicate a situa- 
 
136 KAIUOLANI 
 
 tion : one that appeared to be tucked in on every side 
 and hemmed round irrevocably. Presently the thought 
 flashed upon his slow but ponderous intellect. 
 
 "Too much feminimity." 
 
 He could see no possible means of escape, how- 
 ever, and all he possessed or anticipated depended 
 solely upon the principle (under which he had pros- 
 pered) of letting well enough alone. Setting his own 
 against the will of others, except he be in authority, 
 was beneath his theory of success and, as of old, the 
 conclusion finally dawned that he had best acquiesce 
 and continue to support, where freedom permitted, 
 trusting to good sense and careful reasoning to keep 
 within the bounds of healthy, effective security. 
 
 "I am " began the weighty reasoner, in a cool, 
 
 convincing manner. 
 
 "I demand it !" intercepted Kaiuolani, emphasizing 
 the order with a resolute toss of the head and gentle 
 stamping upon the floor. 
 
 "I trust the good princess shall find others as easily 
 subdued, if only during the day," continued the big 
 financier, changing his speech and smiling approval, 
 while suppressing with effort a heartier response 
 
 "Kaiuolani is our hope, and with the good Mr. 
 Gutenborj as a guide I wish it were possible for us 
 all to be as philosophic," said the queen, a rising sense 
 of cheerfulness prompting her to speak feelingly and 
 unreservedly. 
 
 Gutenborj loved a courageous woman. Possibly 
 his own disinclination to face danger, if avoidable, 
 led him to admire that particular trait in the opposite 
 sex. Hitherto he had looked upon the lively young 
 princess as a petted child, tender, true, and lovable, 
 
KAIUOLANI 137 
 
 withal destined to be buffeted about in the harsh ad- 
 justment of cold, relentless affairs. The late assump- 
 tion of forbidden authority at first shocked him; then 
 upon measuring her disposition and temperament with 
 those of the queen, and resolving the extent of courage 
 and sincerity of purpose underlying her unexpected 
 stand, he could but applaud the effort, and as well 
 lay his utmost in her behalf. 
 
 "Floyd Young made no mistake : God bless him 
 for the deed," subtly fixed itself in his roused sensi- 
 bility, while pressing forward to bestow upon Kaiuo- 
 lani that assurance which had been withheld only too 
 long. 
 
 For, immediately he felt the warmth of her two 
 hands, the dull rumble of a steady "rub a dub dub" 
 and the soul stirring melody of the fife's shrill treble 
 burst strangely upon the vibrant air that cruelly floated 
 in to startle and stir those who heard and surmised. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Liliuokolani turned cold with pallor, and Gutenborj 
 paced the floor like the caged lion he seemed, Kaiuo- 
 lani grew impatient and hostile with suspense, and 
 only Aokahameha tried as best he could to calm a 
 dangerous and growing distrust. The rabble of mal- 
 contents or the parade of underlings bore no signifi- 
 cance to an ardent believer ; his command was supreme 
 and their motives pure but the noise and the con- 
 fusion would not cease; the ambition of Harvenoiq 
 flamed and raged under the quest of rapidly increas- 
 ing power. 
 
 He had at last seen with his own eyes the fighting 
 forces of pent up America, his own belated and hard- 
 scoffed country, land upon the shores of a belligerent 
 if well-meaning nation. He had foretasted the pride 
 of conquest and marvelled the possibilities of a new 
 birth and broader sphere. All this impressed him, 
 and awakened within a truer comprehension of the 
 individual responsibilities ; but the only too potent 
 thought of sharing the glory with an unregenerate, 
 an escaped culprit and traitor to all restraint, more 
 than outweighed the waning sense of an illy begotten, 
 scantily developed understanding. The spokesman of 
 a great and trustful people floundered in the throes 
 of consequential duty, and thence found himself given 
 over body and soul to the wiles of a revengeful, senile 
 mood. 
 
KAIUOLANI 139 
 
 These men were applauding another for the enter- 
 prise they had long sought; America, their native 
 country, had for once and for all taken a hand in 
 the moulding of a destiny ardently hoped ; his own 
 act had set in motion the machinery with which to 
 build; the empire launched, no force within the grasp 
 of mere man could stay its certain progress, the honor 
 of the occasion would fall to the lot of a hated ac- 
 complice, for his fellows were keen to light the fires 1 
 and an absent constituency stood quick to applaud 
 heroism whether false or true, to lionize and up- 
 hold. There must be some devised means of attain- 
 ing the desired end, as to a man they would not, could 
 not release a vantage hold. 
 
 Standing at one side, well up on the bank, free 
 and unmolested, the vexed minister viewed with satis- 
 faction the mixed faces that appeared only too eager 
 to do homage and maintain. They should not be 
 checked in their zeal, but an abounding sympathy 
 were better bestowed where self might relish the 
 plaudits. 
 
 Long years of deprivation and hope had seared 
 the breast of every Annexationist with an abiding 
 faith in the government which he had left behind. 
 At home the toiling populace engaged itself with en- 
 couraging, maintaining and strengthening an edifice 
 that reared within the boundaries of a birth-given 
 domain. The seed of larger unity must germinate 
 outside the walls of a sacred, prolific field of sus- 
 tenance : must take root in the barren soil of a rock- 
 ridden wilderness, fit only for the habitation of as- 
 piring renegades, the handful that always blaze the 
 
140 KAIUOLANI 
 
 way, cradle the song that soothes, uplifts the fallen, 
 builds forever anew. 
 
 The picture of greatness loomed before their 
 covetous brother. Harvenoiq could see well the end. 
 These same men who labored at home would go to 
 any extremity if their patriotism were but touched, 
 their loyalty seemed in the least questioned. A 
 leader's name should be toasted by every tongue, 
 heralded as a father's, and inscribed upon the pages 
 of universal history. 
 
 It was more than he could bear to lose, and facing 
 the raniks Harvenoiq read in that stalwart uniform 
 and abundant equipment the means of ready attain- 
 ment. 
 
 They were men-fashioned instruments who of ne- 
 cessity stood ready to hear and eager to do the bid- 
 ding of a nation. No pride of freedom disturbed their 
 consciences, no love for kind stayed the primal blow ; 
 the spurs that stimulate had never penetrated their 
 born-servant skins. Little should they care were the 
 whole earth to find itself tied hand and head to the 
 merciless stake of a tyrant's driving so long as they 
 might brush and beg. Here again chieftainship waxed 
 supreme, became the sole important thing, as men lose 
 individuality only to respect the more the individual. 
 
 Bender alone stood in the pathway of ultimate su- 
 premacy. 
 
 Momentarily the thought burned hotly his cheeks, 
 which soon turned a livid white. He could stand no 
 longer such treatment. His own neglect he might 
 have borne, but a rival's praise unnerved him, and 
 taking advantage of an official semblance the blunder- 
 ing minister rushed among Bender's admirers, ut- 
 
KAIUOLANI 141 
 
 terly ignoring the only shadow of an excuse that he 
 might have advanced for his own unwarranted acts, 
 shouting authoritatively to the commodore: 
 
 "Arrest the leader, and disperse the mob !" 
 
 Uhlrix started with surprise, and looking round at 
 the friendly faces and feeling yet the warm grasp 
 of Bender spoke inquiringly : 
 
 "Who is the leader, of whom you speak, and where 
 are the rioters, may I ask?" 
 
 Harvenoiq looked down whipped and irresolute to 
 the ground he maligned. He had never before so 
 much as ventured an unborrowed or self-suggested 
 assertion ; and now that he had blundered himself into 
 an inexplicable and irrevocable responsibility his whole 
 being resolved itself into one continuous, unbroken 
 whirl of uncertainty. Presently his eyes rose appeal- 
 ingly to the man he would dislodge. Possibly he may 
 have conjured the hope of an up to that time welcome 
 adviser's grateful surrender; more likely he found 
 himself devoid of a single trait obligatory of inde- 
 pendent action : what with expectation and failure dis- 
 approbation rent asunder the weak but ardent dream; 
 the accused answered adroitly, and the commodore's 
 brow knit with vexatious determination. 
 
 "These men are Americans," said Bender, "and 
 neither you nor I have cause to question the good 
 faith of this assemblage or to insult the command 
 that would do us justice. I deny you the right to 
 dictate ; an American commodore brooks no inter- 
 ference. The disturbance is at the capitol." 
 
 "Liar! Deceiver! I require ' shouted Har- 
 venoiq, unable further to restrain an unbridled temper. 
 
 "Orderly, arrest these men, and we shall march 
 
142 KAIUOLANI 
 
 them forthwith to the seat of justice. Unable to 
 retrace my steps, that I am, I shall have done a ser- 
 vice in landing here to-day if only to escort two 
 belligerent subjects into the hands of a proper au- 
 thority," said the commodore, savagely cutting short 
 the hot-headed minister's heedless speech. 
 
 "I am an American official, sir, and as such claim 
 superiority," remonstrated Harvenoiq, without the 
 least perceptible effect. 
 
 "I am an American citizen, but must not be seen 
 behind these ranks. My local duties deny me the 
 pleasure of so flagrant a spectacle," pleaded Bender, 
 no less unable to gain the commodore's listless ear. 
 
 "Companies into fours, forward, marcR !" awakened 
 some dull comprehensions and gladdened the knowing 
 ones, as lines of glistening carbines and a jovial, eager 
 command stood ready to wheel and tramp, they cared" 
 not where, but to the time and tune of a regularly 
 cash-paid corps. 
 
 The crestfallen minister doggedly pursued them, 
 with Bender, mortified and expectant, close at his 
 guard-watched elbow. They bore the predicament in 
 silence, but a waning hope vainly satisfied the quicken- 
 ing consciousness of each. Only a few minutes of 
 grace and their part stood well to abide fairly the 
 prowess of a lone, unhampered mother wit. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The rattle and peal of fife and drum drove from 
 every source the last lingering doubt. Uhlrix was 
 on the march, and the shadows of intrigue or the un- 
 certainty of authority bore no significance as to final 
 results. He had been tricked into landing, but once 
 on shore nothing short of annihilation could restrain 
 an orderly ordering of events that rose in the pathway 
 of power or forestall the destiny an abused confidence 
 bespoke. The marines were there to do, not to quib- 
 ble, and the grim-visaged deeds of fate quickened 
 and multiplied at the progress of an unchallenged 
 daring. 
 
 A dash and venture that fires the pride of men, 
 no matter where or what the occasion, had stood erect 
 every soldier and possessed the officers as never be- 
 fore. Jack's bib and tucker seldom looked so tidy, 
 and the lieutenant's spare and tender form wore neatly 
 the spotless uniform that marked his finished course 
 at school. For the first time in all their lives op- 
 portunity had given them a chance to swell and banter 
 in the eyes of foreign lassies. 
 
 From every door step Hawaii's fairest came, carry- 
 ing garlands of flowers and tokens of delight; these 
 boys off duty had been their sweethearts, their hope 
 since the days of Cook and the missionaries, and now 
 that they had come ashore, as true Hawaiians be- 
 lieved, on dress parade and kindly show, the girls 
 strove hard to outdo themselves in extending even a 
 
144 KAIUOLANI 
 
 heartier welcome than before. Soon those innocent 
 children had literally strewn the roadstead with em- 
 blems that emanate from nowhere except the tropical 
 seas : the boys relished the fun, and many were the 
 friendly side glances bestowed and stolen greetings 
 tendered; Jack Tar knew well his finish and cherished 
 the contemplation, regardless of higher consequences. 
 
 But for the rations he drew and the smiles they 
 bestowed life had seemed an empty thing to him. Not 
 so with them. They sought his love in earnest, re- 
 solving anew the neglected lesson that all things in 
 course of provision drive toward a common level, an 
 unalterable consequence of material change, the 
 spiritual end in which necessity had wrought its in- 
 evitable virtue. 
 
 Nor were the fathers and the mothers less friendly 
 to a mistaken intermingling of foreign sons and native 
 daughters. They had been taught by the advance 
 guards of these blood-letting experts strangely ef- 
 fective, in view of its contrast with the tenets of their 
 own religion that sacrifice and toil were cardinal 
 virtues, and that the simple and unostentatious lives 
 their tradition taught them to live were relics of bar- 
 barism fit only for the uninitiated ; that the absence 
 of poverty in the land offered no excuse for the lack 
 of individual wealth; that the love for song and 
 flowers and the inborn generosity and hospitality of 
 the people were effeminate and of no consequence in 
 the higher and better life that European civilization 
 would engender. 
 
 Without the means of judging or an opportunity 
 to compare and overshadowed with the display shown 
 or driven to the terms exacted they, at last, like their 
 
KAIUOLANI 145 
 
 invaders, through sheer force of continuity, becoming 
 dead to all civic virtue the individual waxed drunk 
 with blind appetite. 
 
 The clouds rolled high above their heads and from 
 content within they conjured a freedom illy spoken 
 in the language of reality everywhere around. The 
 flowers they strew fought the elements for existence; 
 the song bird in the tree top defended his vantage 
 point; the very ground on which they stood had for 
 ages struggled with the forces of nature to retain its 
 place: should man alone be favored with exemption? 
 Only their misconception flattered the belief, for be- 
 hind the personality, the entity they knew, might rea- 
 sonably have trusted, lay the state, broader in its 
 conception, less tolerant of the individual and more 
 dependent upon community, supreme in authority and 
 ready to destroy .if destruction be meet. 
 
 Aokahameha, their only hope and recognized leader, 
 remained no less oblivious to the storm that hung low 
 upon the land. He had spent his energies in trying 
 to convince the queen's assemblage that no danger 
 threatened, but somehow his words seemed fraught 
 with misconception; Liliuokolani hesitated between 
 doubt and fear until desperation drove her into a con- 
 cession that stung Gutenborj to the quick. 
 
 "I am helpless : what would you, my grateful sub- 
 jects?" asked she, weary with endeavor. 
 
 "Promulgate the constitution," replied the planter 
 king, with set jaws and determined look. 
 
 "Where is it?" demanded the queen, wholly con- 
 scious of somebody's blundering attitude, whether of- 
 ficial or supporter. 
 
 They looked from one to another, in amazement 
 
146 KAIUOLANI 
 
 and with chagrin. In all their patriotic contentions 
 nobody but Bender had retained the presence of mind 
 to save and hold intact that precious instrument. An< 
 where might he be ? Aokahameha hurriedly dispatched 
 Norton, the quickly released culprit and only person 
 capable (as he had good reason to believe) of reach- 
 ing the decamped minister and, possibly, influencing 
 his or its return. Gutenborj was also granted no less 
 a permission to communicate with Young and as 
 promised present him and his command at court; 
 where Aokahameha desired their immediate presence, 
 but would not concede the necessity for invoking war- 
 like aid. 
 
 Thence the trusted commander, with Ihoas leaning 
 gently upon his arm, and the Guards, from the west 
 gate to the palace door, resting contentedly on their 
 empty guns, sauntered dreamily into an unmolested 
 nook in the garden, there suffering and pondering 
 good-naturedly the hoped for lover's frank and earn- 
 est avowals that made plain and irrevocably certain 
 his utter quandary. 
 
 "But you must love me, Ihoas : can't you see that 
 I am master? that all eyes are turned toward me? 
 that my work is done ? What more could a loved one 
 desire?" pleaded the big patriot, leaning back and gaz- 
 ing fixedly into the tall, willowy princess's downcast 
 eyes. 
 
 She did not answer, and the warm flush that crept 
 into her cheeks convinced him that in her veins still 
 ran the blood of a Hawaiian amiable and sweet, 
 though stern and truthful. Aokahameha paused, and 
 measuring the force of a thought by the depth of 
 her emotion would yet deny the privilege of refusal. 
 
KAIUOLANI 147 
 
 The soft, still air and close proximity with fancied 
 ease lolled to dreaming the good great man, who 
 believed the world an ordered reality and all that is 
 in it a peaceful heritage; and reclining leisurely upon 
 velvety woven pillows, banked underneath gracefully 
 drooping purple and pink tall-growing, wide-reaching 
 ferns, the simple Islander's dark, weary eyes barely 
 opened to feast now and again upon the love-vision that 
 soothingly haunted him, forsooth exacted only the 
 plaintive, soul touching, 
 
 "Aloha." 
 
 The distant rumble and warning of an approaching 
 army did not disturb his peaceful quest. Ihoas 
 breathed heavily under the influence of an uncontroll- 
 able impulse and Uhlrix swept on toward the goal 
 of a larger, simpler contact. The wiles of woman or 
 the charm of intrigue made no impression upon him; 
 they were alike foreign to his office and impotent 
 under a nationalism that guaranteed supremacy. 
 
 America had intrusted those arms and their wielders 
 with the protection of its citizens and the guarding 
 of her interests. Duty's thought-throb impelled them 
 forward ; the impetus of principle lay behind the bul- 
 wark of advancement a spirit enlivening the step 
 and quickening the conscience to blindest deeds of 
 heroism and the only lift to greatness the ages yet 
 had marshalled. 
 
 Along these lines they progressed, it mattered not 
 so much to where or how ; the reason well ; there 
 seemed, this time, but slight excuse grew out of the 
 inevitable, and consequences more than justified the 
 sacrifice ; Uhlrix would not have missed that ride from 
 
i 4 8 KAIUOLANI 
 
 the water front thence for all else a true officer courts, 
 and the horse on which he charged outdid itself to 
 merit the color borne and uphold a well-known tradi- 
 tion of the state whence he came. 
 
 The warring hosts of an unhampered invader made 
 bold their advance, and the very elements lent as- 
 sistance to the awe-inspiring scene: to the resolving 
 of an inconsequential movement into a calamity 
 fraught with world-wide effect. The half of those 
 who lay within reach of battle's weal could not, would 
 not, rouse from the lethargy of an inborn belief; the 
 remainder hearkened the call with indecision, became 
 confused at the thrust and the take that clear the 
 way to ultimate if tardy sodality. 
 
 Kaiuolani's heart alone throbbed with life, grew 
 impatient at the delay of those upon whom she de- 
 pended, and waged war within herself or tolerated 
 the abuse of others whose only interest waxed strong 
 with personal desire. For once her coterie of lovers 
 and adherents had dissipated, with the sole exception 
 of Elmsford; who, taking advantage of the only op- 
 portunity fate had given, sought to impress the sorely 
 coveted princess with his much neglected importance 
 as well as conjured usefulness. 
 
 They were sitting in the cover of an alcove in the 
 great Blue Room, where Sir Charles had intention- 
 ally left his daughter to the homely Britisher's care, 
 while he himself joined Gutenborj in a last consulta- 
 tion with the queen, prior to the planter's final with- 
 drawal ; presumably in search of the missing division 
 of a sadly depleted army. 
 
 No base or petty contentions disturbed them. The 
 remaining auditors were scattered here and there 
 
KAIUOLANI 149 
 
 around, in close communion; they neither sought nor 
 chose to intrude. 
 
 Elmsford broke the somewhat lengthy silence that 
 ensued by asking, candidly: 
 
 "What are you thinking about, Kaiuolani?" 
 
 "The future, of course," replied she, with a long- 
 drawn, carelessly-heeded accent. 
 
 "I wish that I might share it," ventured he, dili- 
 gently expectant. 
 
 "The thought, or the future?" queried the open- 
 minded princess, calmly, and without manifesting the 
 least concern about discretion. 
 
 "Just as you prefer, lady beautiful," replied the 
 artist manager, so quickly and earnestly as to impress 
 deeply his listener. 
 
 "I should think that Ihoas had best be arbiter," 
 suggested Kaiuolani, a knowing smile the while 
 brightening her apparently vexed countenance. 
 
 The color rose to the ruddy Englishman's face; he 
 had not taken into consideration the chief lady in 
 waiting's bearing ; neither her likes nor dislikes ; did 
 not understand that his demeanor had given occasion 
 for any such confusing of interests or sentiments. 
 He could not, however, recall that he had openly de- 
 nied Ihoas the privilege of pressing an inclination, 
 hence the reasonableness of Kaiuolani's presumption: 
 the thought, therefore, very reluctantly but forcibly 
 dawned that he had best not disabuse the latter's 
 mind, as her present enlightenment might tend ulti- 
 mately to thwart his real purpose. 
 
 "I fear both of you shall have need for my protec- 
 tion if not affection before nightfall: I would not 
 
150 KAIUOLANI 
 
 so much as presume partiality," replied Elmsford, 
 rather more sure than hopeful of a footing. 
 
 "Are you not alarmed at such prodigality? Really, 
 it is not becoming," retorted Kaiuolani, a little pro- 
 voked at the possible need for his assumption. 
 
 "It is English, though." 
 
 "What of that?" 
 
 "Ah I say really, you amaze me!" 
 
 "I shall probably do more than that before your 
 dull comprehension concedes less than a woman's 
 disparity." 
 
 The straight, out and out, cast in the die, believer 
 in and practitioner of male superiority adjusted his 
 one eyeglass and looked blankly at the sole personage 
 of his acquaintance who dared voice her entity in 
 the very presence of man. Elmsford was shocked. 
 He had never before met with such audacity in woman, 
 outside the few chance Americans it had been his 
 good fortune to meet. Where the princess could have 
 imbibed such thoughts, found the courage to ques- 
 tion a suitor's role, was more than he should under- 
 take to guess. That she, a woman, born and reared 
 to the code, might assert an independent personality 
 opened wide his mouth, and with bowing stiffly at 
 her rising and withdrawal the wounded Britisher 
 mumbled inaudibly but bitterly : 
 
 "Oh ; these blasted Americans : they shall yet poison 
 the minds and shrivel the hearts of all womankind!" 
 
 Elmsford was in love, however, and he did not 
 propose to yield the advantages of a convenient mar- 
 riage, even at the cost of changing face, however 
 inexorable. Living beyond the pale of etiquette for 
 so long a time, only sentiment and not form grated 
 
KAIUOLANI 151 
 
 upon his inborn sense of propriety: the level, if must 
 be, of the New World's profanity need not follow be- 
 yond the limits of a woer's exigencies. 
 
 The fruitage, too, already seemed the more in- 
 viting for its plucking; a deliciousness quite without 
 the reach of antiquated taste inspired the thought; 
 necessity laid bare the hard-beaten track of advance- 
 ment : to win, the determined suitor must relegate 
 and adapt, buckle on the armor of to-day, plunge into 
 the world alive to the new and dead to the old, his 
 face bright, purpose triumphant, and action as free, 
 as bold, and as untrammeled as is the spirit that 
 moves comes no man knows whence, yet resolves 
 the endless trend and tramp of time. 
 
 "I am no longer a slave," said he, as he hustled 
 forward, begging the retiring princess to heed a de- 
 termined future. 
 
 "That is pleasing: I might say encouraging," re- 
 plied Kaiuolani with a careless, harmless tilt of the 
 head. 
 
 "What care I for empty forms," urged the livened 
 enthusiast, dashing a prized eyeglass into fragments 
 on the floor. These fixings and such trumpery are 
 but a handicap : I am going to prove myself a man. 
 Give me only a chance." 
 
 The opportunity soon came burst upon him before 
 he had fairly assumed the part of combatant; but 
 Elmsford proved more than equal, as compared with 
 Aokahameha who bandied aimlessly with chance. 
 
 "I am content" became his watchword, as it had 
 been, always, the people's ruling passion ; and at the 
 arrival of couriers bearing the news of Uhlrix's ad- 
 vance their commander in chief waved them aside 
 
1 52 KAIUOLANI 
 
 with the vain assurance that peace and not war leads 
 to ultimate glory. 
 
 Aokahameha looked into the vast unrealized every- 
 where around then whispered contentedly: 
 
 "Let me lie here communing ; the god instinct holds ; 
 immortality possesses, and love adjures a fellowship 
 with deeds grander, thoughts purer than the con- 
 quest of all arms ever yet attained." 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The palace housed securely its fate. Liliuokolani 
 faltered in the midst of a confusion utterly beyond 
 her control, much less understanding; only Kaiuolani 
 was left to counsel courage or excuse neglect, and 
 the more earnest her admonitions the less effective 
 the appeal, falling like cold shot upon a hardened 
 conscience. 
 
 Gutenborj had faithfully promised the Rifles's un- 
 swerving stand for established law and universal order, 
 and Aokahameha's complacency still bore a misty sig- 
 nificance ; yet with each distant drumbeat the princess 
 grew impatient: in some mysterious, forceful way 
 impressed the queen ; who, when the last counsel had 
 departed, crossed the room and looked out at the 
 beautiful land she knew of right was theirs, behold- 
 ing in the foreground yet a loitering band of unmar- 
 shalled Guards, the only defense she could trust. 
 
 "I wish I had placed myself at the front ; which, 
 after all, is the sole support of royalty and only ef- 
 fective hope of individualism," said she, half meditat- 
 ing, the curious princess staring the while blankly in 
 her face. 
 
 "Never mind, aunty ; the constitution may soon be 
 here, and if not I shall bring it: then you shall pro- 
 claim the law. That will put an end to all our trou- 
 bles," promised Kaiuolani, encouragingly, a secret 
 thought rising to kindle determination and light the 
 fires of constructive energy. 
 
154 KAIUOLANI 
 
 "There can be no end, dear child, until the con- 
 flict is over and it shall wage until one or the other 
 is submerged; there is no crossing of civilizations. 
 Once the channels merge the lesser stream must yield 
 its course: the walls should have been repaired be- 
 fore the breach grew hopeless the constitution will 
 never reach my hand," sighed the queen, her heart 
 torn, to bleeding, with regret. 
 
 "Oh, yes; it shall. Norton is clever, and well, 
 I may not have been heard from, as yet," replied 
 Kaiuolani, the red blood showing in her face. 
 
 "The fruits of cleverness are but for those who 
 indulge them. Your security and my fate abide a 
 loftier aim; and, you are only a woman Who is 
 yonder courier? What is the commotion? Look, 
 Kaiuolani; the troops are moving!" 
 
 "It is Norton: the Guards load: they fire!" cried 
 the princess, as she sprang back from the window 
 and ran toward the stairs. 
 
 Norton had returned. 
 
 Upon leaving the palace she had gone direct to 
 Bender's quarters, finding there only Ah Mia, cowered 
 in a corner, waiting and meditating with stoic in- 
 difference. Said he consolingly and with distress, 
 after a while, having been moved temporarily to rouse 
 from a prolonged stupor: 
 
 "Ah Mia pay cash : no catchee opium law. Blender 
 no fetchee constitution ; makee new glovernment ; Cole 
 heap much plesident. Melican minister big fliend: 
 Chinaman no ledress." 
 
 Comprehensive and elusive, Norton elicited from the 
 abused Oriental further the advice that Cole held 
 himself ready at the chamber of commerce rooms, 
 
KAIUOLANI 155 - 
 
 while Varnum meandered between that place and Ben- 
 der; who marched, as her informant believed, with 
 authority, and in company with the supposed friend, 
 at the very head and front of the marines, carrying 
 in his own hand the much abused but sorely coveted 
 document. 
 
 Without further ado the by this time thoroughly 
 aroused woman re-entered her carriage and drove 
 directly to the chamber of commerce building. 
 
 "What in heaven's name are you doing here, man?" 
 demanded she, of the startled Cole, having burst 
 in, unexpectedly and unbidden. 
 
 "Oh ! my good Norton ; you came very near start- 
 ing my back you see, I have been under 
 
 "Instructions, I presume; but, what's doing?" 
 
 "Haven't done anything, as yet, except to organ- 
 
 "And what are you going to do?" 
 
 "Whatever Bender suggests ; Varnum says that's 
 the best way out, now the thing's done." 
 
 "And where is Bender?" 
 
 "Why, bless you, haven't you heard? He's just now 
 in charge of the marines. They're on the way to 
 the capitol : Varnum says Harvenoiq's going to raise 
 the flag. A great day, this, Norton." 
 
 The wily messenger cut short her stay there, and 
 gathering Isaacs by chance an opportune caller 
 into the carriage hastened toward the front. 
 
 "Vat for you mix me und der marines? I haf 
 droubles already enough," protested he, as she 
 dragged him along. 
 
 "Never mind the trouble; it's your pocketbook that 
 
. 156 KAIUOLANI 
 
 I shall need," replied she, unmindful of the Jew's 
 contemptible plea. 
 
 "Got in himmel, Norron ; take mine bloot, but spare 
 der pocketbook !" 
 
 "Down, dog!" snarled his impatient drag, throwing 
 open the door, as they wheeled past the ranks and 
 neared the lead, where Harvenoiq and Bender still 
 trudged and planned or quarrelled their way long. 
 
 "Stop!" yelled she, to the driver, a native mal- 
 content, as he swung into the lines, running Har- 
 venoiq nearly down, startling Bender into surprise, 
 and bolting a good-sized panic all round. 
 
 "Take this ! and give me the constitution," demanded 
 Norton, in threatening undertones, as she leaped to 
 the ground and in the confusion thrust Isaacs hard 
 upon Bender. 
 
 The speech-stricken minister of finance feigned in- 
 nocence. 
 
 "You have it in your hand: I want it," scowled 
 she, unmindful of his predicament. 
 
 Bender growled disapproval. 
 
 "I am from the palace Kaiuolani is sponsor," urged 
 her ladyship, now doubting the potency of a threat. 
 His frown vanished; an idea moved him. 
 
 "Better think well; it's " began she, more hope- 
 fully. 
 
 "Take the laidy, too," shouted the busy lieutenant, 
 who had now successfully apprehended both Isaacs 
 and the unruly driver. 
 
 "You are a blackguard and a bully," screamed the 
 editress, snapping her fingers in the strident man's 
 sallow-complexioned face. 
 
 "Make way for the commodore," urged a burly es- 
 
KAIUOLANI 157 
 
 cort, the while reining forward a plunging, halting 
 mount. 
 
 "Hie, yeo; do my eyes deceive me? Is it a lady 
 you would accost ? Attention marines ; fall back on 
 your lines; salute make way with your nonsense; 
 cut it ; duck every one of you ; can't you see it's 
 I?" roared the pompous commodore, as he rode his 
 ponderous horse steadily into their midst. 
 
 "I don't believe I have the honor madam, may 
 I have the pleasure confound it ! Is there no one 
 here to introduce me? Fall to; relieve your com- 
 mander ; the mount gaping idiots !" gasped the badly 
 winded American, swinging a dapper boot and daintly 
 proportioned leg snappily to the ground. 
 
 "I am Miss Norton, the queen's special messenger." 
 
 "Commodore Uhlrix, in command of the Pacific 
 squadron, by grace of her majesty a visitor in the 
 harbor and d n me (aside) with due respect a 
 conservator of the peace and content throughout 
 the land. This is indeed an unexpected pleasure. I 
 trust I may be permitted 
 
 "To serve. Most agreeably 
 
 "You have but to mention a wish. I should be 
 only too happy 
 
 "This man (indicating Bender) has purloined the 
 only draft of her majesty's proposed new constitution. 
 He has it now : please compel its surrender." 
 
 "What? A constitution? I am shocked. Stand 
 to, ready marines ; double up the guard watch ; march 
 the culprit hence in haste ; deliver the priceless charge 
 anent the throne." 
 
 Norton dodged behind the carriage, and in the 
 twinkling of an eye emerged beyond the lines : the 
 
158 KAIUOLANI 
 
 commodore blurted away, confusedly, then turned to 
 pursue a deep-intentioned friendliness his fair visi- 
 tor had flown ; no one around cared, or would raise 
 a hand to prevent her going: pertinacity seemed to 
 merit the indignation, and turning upon his tormenters, 
 the beaten gallant hissed reproachfully: 
 
 "A spy !" 
 
 No one answered: Isaacs trembled. 
 
 "Who is the Jew? An escort?" demanded Uhlrix, 
 his stub legs scarcely trudging the huge corpus that 
 now writhed in distress. 
 
 "Bray, sir, belief me ; I am an unwilling auditor," 
 humbly pleaded the sorely conscious Isaacs. 
 
 "A hostage, you are. And a healthy one, too; the 
 look of you betrays somebody's proper reimbursement. 
 Shackle him, lieutenant, and send scouts after the 
 spy. Uhlrix is an American, every inch a democrat.'' 
 
 The scouts, as it were, did not pursue their quest 
 beyond an entrance to the first saloon. Norton had 
 spied them, nevertheless, and redoubling the speed 
 soon landed safely, but sorely tried within reaching 
 distance of the palace guard lines. Here she paused 
 for reflection. The drumbeats grew louder; the ma- 
 rines were close at hand : time were a boon, but intui- 
 tion served better the necessities ; grappling with fate, 
 her conscience by eagerness, Norton ran, with tatters 
 flying, into the midst of an only defense, screaming: 
 
 "To your arms; make haste; the palace is endan- 
 gered !" 
 
 Aokahameha, their sole trust, unmindful of the 
 timely warning, headless of decisive opportunity, care- 
 less of a nation's destiny, turned from duty, ignored 
 
KAIUOLANI 159 
 
 the call and eschewed privilege to coddle the spirit 
 that bound him slave. 
 
 "Can't you love me, Ihoas? give me some little 
 encouragement ? brighten with only a smile the tedium 
 of living? It is so little to give, yet all the world to me. 
 Answer, Ihoas; my hereafter depends upon it," 
 pleaded he, over drunk even to the dregs. 
 
 Ihoas's head drooped and her face flushed; she 
 could neither answer nor comprehend, only whis- 
 pered : 
 
 "So little to give!" 
 
 Could this man whom she had hoped to reconcile 
 to a serviceable, more befitting love might share the 
 throne prize so much a thing deemed of so little 
 consequence? The answer that he would have must 
 crush her hope, and if mortality be the end, why the 
 sacrifice ? 
 
 "I am unworthy the repose. Do you not discern 
 the inevitable? Everywhere around, stalwart mei? 
 await you : hearken the voice of a leader. See ! 'i'hey 
 are already tauntingly pressed; shot and laughter rent 
 the air. Rise, Aokahameha, and bid defiance to con- 
 science." 
 
 "Let them shoot," replied the heedless general ; "I 
 lie content till Ihoas speaks." 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The marines pressed hard at the gate. 
 
 "Halt !" shouted Aokahameha, rising upon his elbow 
 to confront the courier who had advanced unmolested 
 close to the palace doors. 
 
 "I demand your immediate surrender," replied the 
 intruder, half sarcastically, half in earnest. 
 
 "Whose surrender?" interceded Ihoas, while 
 Aokahameha barely changed to a less comfortable posi- 
 tion on the bench. 
 
 The nonplussed messenger made no reply; just 
 whom he sought or where to begin had not dawned 
 upon Uhlrix's mind, much less had it occurred to the 
 aid who carried his dispatch. 
 
 "Who dares so boldly?" ventured Ihoas, after a 
 while, cutting short the pause that ensued. 
 
 "America," knowingly replied the lackey. 
 
 "Charge!" shouted Aokahameha, turning to face 
 the Guards, before either one speaking had recovered 
 the shock; which, seemingly, affected both alike. 
 
 Instantly the glad soldiery wheeled to, a thousand 
 deadly cartridges dropped into place, and as many 
 rifles leveled in the face of a halting, mystified foe. 
 
 Ihoas arose, imploring wildly : 
 
 "To battle, Aokahameha ; Kaiuolani is the prize !" 
 
 Terror seized the over-conscious man and running 
 forward he would have ordered a cessation, but his 
 voice failed him : the wild gesticulations of a frightened 
 
KAIUOLANI 161 
 
 leader only encouraged the more the determined ranks, 
 whereat a wicked report from two solid columns rang 
 out defiance, echoed the warning its trained, undaunted 
 purpose bespoke. 
 
 The Americans wavered. The charge had come 
 unexpectedly, and their broken lines needs must have 
 faltered had not an undaunted leader rallied and held 
 them face to face with danger. 
 
 Uhlrix astride his heavy horse galloped to the fore, 
 and lifting in the stirrups, his harsh, nasal voice heard 
 above the din of tumult, shouted: 
 
 "Fire!" 
 
 Their aim proved deadly. The havoc wrought was 
 more than he had expected. An organized front broke 
 into scattering fragments and daring men ran to 
 shelter. Aokahameha fell among the first, bleeding 
 at Ihoas's feet. The startled princess threw herself 
 over him, calling loudly : 
 
 "Courage, Aokahameha; Ihoas speaks/' 
 
 But the proud man was past heeding, even a 
 cherished hope, and lay helpless upon the ground. 
 The Guards ran hither and thither, trembling with 
 disaster. The marines advanced upon the capitol, 
 clearing and slashing the way with carbine and saber ; 
 and with driving the enemy and surrounding the build- 
 ing an ominous silence overcast the place. High above 
 them drooped and fluttered the cross and bars, waving 
 to the world its innocent grace and sacred claims. 
 Harvenoiq spied it. 
 
 Still 'standing prisoner beneath the folds of his 
 own a flag that he would do honor, yet suffer to 
 degrade the fain diplomat cogitated with Bender the 
 best means of escape or pandered self with the pos- 
 
162 KAIUOLANI 
 
 sibility of unheard-of rehabilitation. The flag cord 
 stood wound securely within reach; the crafty Isaacs 
 now displayed round his shoulders the significant stars 
 and stripes ; Harvenoiq breathed intently ; temptation 
 mastered, and grasping the unthwarted emblem the 
 ready reckoner made it fast, loosened the cord and 
 as the one lowered the other rose, striking terror into 
 the hearts of a friendly people, raising enthusiasm 
 among his own, to the point of tolerance signalled 
 the outcome that none but he had dared design. 
 
 The retreating Guards halted and gazed, breath- 
 less and expectant amid the sacred grounds in front 
 of the queen's palace. The marines drew up in order 
 round the capitol building. Not a word escaped. All 
 eyes turned toward the flags. A chance whirlwind 
 entangled them and Harvenoiq tugged at the rope, 
 but could raise the one nor lower the other hardly an 
 inch. Providence had decreed the flight of empire 
 and all the powers of earth could not raise the em- 
 bargo nor broaden those bounds beyond the bare 
 limit of conquest's idle fruitage. 
 
 Nor was the trophy to be won without an essential 
 cost. Twice the little flag fluttered free in the skies. 
 No common man appeared able to check or advance 
 its beneficent inspiration ; all sweltered blind in stupid 
 lowness but again the faithful, star-voiced standard 
 waved loose from the unthinking, feeling-bereft mon- 
 ster that would gorge serene on plundered plenty, and 
 open-mouthed men started amazed at an only call 
 rising as of old from the deep unfathomable, claiming 
 recognition, rousing energy, signalling the goal. 
 
 Kaiuolani dashed into their midst, Ipo snorting and 
 foaming, her corded cap, tasseled boots, and 
 
KAIUOLANI 163 
 
 legginged uniform afresh and scabbard dangling: the 
 stilled environs livened with valor and torn breasts 
 breathed anew the spirit that survives, as she charged 
 up and down a rapidly reorganizing front, shouting: 
 
 "Rally, comrades ; Kaiuolani leads !" 
 
 They did recover; and with one sharp, decisive ad- 
 vance hurled the marines, Uhlrix, his pensioners and 
 all, back upon adjoining streets, bleeding and torn 
 and overcome. 
 
 Kaiuolani, fired and foremost, ran toward the flag- 
 staff. A swarthy Guard hauled aloft the emblem of 
 their country : the stars and stripes swung low, and 
 the proud princess rising in the saddle and brandish- 
 ing her sword whipped the hated rag into shreds at 
 their feet. 
 
 "Long live the princess," rang out in chorus from 
 a myriad hoarse throats, scarcely failing the hushed, 
 hard suspense, till their leader turned to meet and 
 face a more painful, deadlier conflict. 
 
 Young and the Rifles had come, and with fixed 
 bayonets and double step bore down upon the rear. 
 
 The march had been continuous and the distance 
 great, but the new and untried were eager for a chance 
 and their commander waxed hot with revenge. 
 
 Norton had convinced him. 
 
 Having misled Uhlrix and stirred the Guards to 
 ill-advised action, she, close pursued and eager, made 
 good her disappearance and drove away to meet and 
 surcharge the Rifles ; arriving scarcely Gutenborj had 
 reached and directed their reasonable necessities. 
 
 "But, I tell you, you are misinformed; or, perhaps, 
 not at all aware of recent developments," urged Norton, 
 to the surprised planter, with emphasis, in a last en- 
 
164 KAIUOLANI 
 
 deavor to convince Young, the three having met in 
 hasty consultation. 
 
 "I understand the situation perfectly: all that we 
 require is a safe, sound and conservative management 
 of the Rifles the queen is spokesman," replied he, 
 quite positive and not the least argumentative. 
 
 "She is a prisoner and a back number, this very 
 minute," declared their unsought informant, with 
 crafty vehemence. 
 
 "What?" queried they, in breathless unison. 
 
 "The palace is surrounded, and Kaiuolani is 
 chief- 
 
 "That is false! If there is any such disturbance at 
 the palace, depend upon what I say: Bender is at 
 the bottom of it," interposed Young, unable to bear 
 the contemplated accusation, particularly as he him- 
 self had encountered the two both Bender and Kaiuo- 
 lani keeping close company, while riding on the 
 avenue, earlier in the day. 
 
 "He may be a close counsellor : I shouldn't under- 
 take to venture less, though I have no very apparent 
 reason for predicting as much: you may know more 
 about that than I do," replied Norton, her eyes riveted 
 hard upon Young's reddening face. 
 
 Gutenborj weakened, the possibilities were more 
 than he could risk, saying in compromising tones, 
 to Young only, having ignored Norton entirely: 
 
 "Possibly we had best hold the Rifles in check 
 until better advised. Let us keep our hands clean; 
 Bender may be on top; I understand Uhlrix is sus- 
 ceptible the marines are invincible : our interests " 
 
 "Hold, man !" interrupted Young unable longer to 
 
KAIUOLANI 165 
 
 restrain his feelings. "Would you place property 
 above life, sacrifice honor to save dollars?" 
 
 "Order is my religion; the laws subserve best who 
 the powers heed most," answered the shrewd financier, 
 with characteristic confidence. 
 
 "Fain reason never won fair laurel. Policy de- 
 grades : patriotism uplifts go your way : Floyd Young 
 shall do his part in deeds that ring true," replied the 
 younger man, with a vigor that convinced; thereat, 
 leaping astride his horse and flashing the steel that 
 welds, shouted: 
 
 "Forward, march !" 
 
 Both Gutenborj and Norton did go their way, and 
 the Rifles doubly quickened toward the palace ; Young's 
 indignation grew with each recurring memory ; the 
 distant crack and rumble of musketry hardened con- 
 science, and barely the Guards recovered their front 
 Kaiuolani met face to face her old-time champion. 
 
 Their eyes flashed determination. The one flamed 
 and encouraged with the glow of success: the other 
 measuring well the consequences of a mistaken con- 
 duct how could they but alter the progress and 
 change the course of a conflict in which they waged? 
 
 "Lay down your arms, Kaiuolani, and heed a more 
 befitting usefulness," said Young, calmly, having meas- 
 ured well, as he took it, the probable outcome of a 
 conflict. 
 
 "Then lay down yours, or prove the right to chal- 
 lenge," replied the princess, wholly unmindful of any 
 possible inequality. 
 
 Kaiuolani met her lover's gaze without a tremor; 
 he flushed and hesitated, the supreme test had come, 
 
166 KAIUOLANI 
 
 then recovering turned to his command and ordered 
 them advance with bayonets fixed. 
 
 Wheeling round and facing her men, Kaiuolani 
 shouted : 
 
 ''Charge, Guards ; your princess leads !" 
 
 They fired, and the battle raged anew. 
 
 Twice the sturdy patriots forced the hungry on- 
 comers hard upon their reserves, but each time those 
 careless hirelings heeded a master's call and rallying 
 forced admittance beyond the gates. But the Guards 
 stood upon principle, and the voice of a princess 
 brooked no retreat the marines once again came into 
 sight! they pressed forward in the distance! 
 
 "Trapped?" whispered the princess, half audibly 
 "No, no ; not I ; never these men on with the battle ! 
 forward the lines !" cried she, charging fearlessly 
 ahead, her voice ringing triumph in the ears of those 
 she trusted, striking terror to the hearts of a ruthless 
 foe. 
 
 The ground she gained ran red with blood; the 
 moans of the fallen, the ghastly heaps of dead and 
 dying did not stop them; Kaiuolani knew no halting 
 short of a queen's deliverance, her country's salva- 
 tion. She urged and directed: Young rallied and 
 implored but personal interests pitted against national 
 valor proved a hopeless task: the Rifles weakened, 
 became panic-stricken, and the onrushing Guards 
 swept over them like a storm trampling the heavens. 
 
 The queen sat there, in her room, throughout it 
 all, stoic and indifferent. The destiny of her cares 
 had passed into other hands; the hopes and aims of 
 a lifetime trembled in the balance; the aspirations of 
 generations seemed crushed beneath the ruthless hand 
 
KAIUOLANI 167 
 
 of fate; centuries of development, and the highest 
 and best at their disposal must abide the decree of 
 a stronger will : Liliuokolani breathed easily, and' 
 at last placed her faith where kings and princes, 
 paupers and producers alike find a living, unyielding 
 consolation. 
 
 She set her foot down to stay. The place belonged 
 to her, and no man bore the right to dispossess. Norton 
 stole into the room. She came there as she had gone 
 elsewhere hurriedly. 
 
 "Fly, Liliuokolani, fly; the Rifles are crushed; the 
 Guards are marching out, the marines advancing!" 
 whispered Norton, eagerly. 
 
 "Why should I go? and who are you, to address 
 me thus?" replied the queen, calmly. 
 
 Thereat Elmsford burst in at the door, and Norton 
 as quickly left. He had gone there as a last resort 
 to save the queen from possible capture. 
 
 "Come with me; it is your majesty's only refuge 
 the walls of my house shall protect you against harm. 
 Come?" said he, earnestly and in good faith. 
 
 "No. I remain here, where I belong, even in the 
 face of abandonment. Go. Save yourselves ; Liliuo- 
 kolani is immovable." 
 
 And they went the victorious Guards, the queen's 
 retinue, and all those in authority who sympathized 
 orderly and rapidly toward Diamond Head: though 
 Kaiuolani did not know until long afterwards that 
 the queen herself remained shut up and alone at 
 the palace. 
 
 Those upon whom the princess relied for counsel 
 knew better than she the futility of undertaking peace- 
 fully to induce Liliuokolani's going, and to remove 
 
i68 KAIUOLANI 
 
 her by force had been an act of rebellion so con- 
 strued by both Uhlrix and Young in justification of 
 their openly wanton and widely intentioned assaults. 
 The two hard-fought engagements had so depleted 
 the Guards that to stand ground against such odds 
 had been worse than madness : the possibility of re- 
 cruiting under shelter the necessary force to regain 
 the capital and effectively establish authority out- 
 weighed in the minds of knowing ones: Kaiuolani 
 was led innocent and the flight directed. 
 
 Sitting, however, in final council just outside the 
 city, where a temporary halt was made to recover 
 breath and prepare the march, their gallant commander 
 suddenly arose and nervously turning her glasses upon 
 the doomed capitol in the distance reeled, and shrieked : 
 
 "The flag!" 
 
 Thenceforth her advance became solely a matter 
 of their prevision. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Young quickly overcoming surprise gathered to- 
 gether his frightened remnant and in the absence of 
 anything more definite or satisfying hurled them 
 against the oncoming, but now sturdy marines. 
 
 Uhlrix met the young colonel in the open. The 
 lines were drawn up, facing each other, between the 
 two buildings the palace directly in rear of Young's 
 division, the capitol well behind the invader's strength- 
 ened force. The two men carefully measured chances. 
 The stilled agony of defeat urged their respective 
 commands on in the quest of thirsty revenge. 
 
 Bender stood champion at the side of Uhlrix ; Har- 
 venoiq's exploitations ended with the flag's first fall : 
 his antagonist's word thenceforth augured the reliance 
 a better judgment signified; the American commander 
 sent the one to the rear in stricter confinement, called 
 the other forward to direct better the movement that 
 he had contemplated should forthwith deliver the 
 drafted constitution where it of right belonged di- 
 rectly in the queen's own hand. 
 
 Norton edged close to Young; her work still re- 
 mained but partly done: Gutenborj's stiff-necked ab- 
 sentation afforded fresh occasion ; Young yet believed 
 himself capable of sweeping the land of a last un- 
 patriotic showing, listened to the voice that stirred 
 his fancy conjured an only ideal. 
 
 Little did either think himself standing in the midst 
 of a tragedy that should go, unheeded, perhaps, but 
 none the less decisive, down through time unforgotten 
 
170 KAIUOLANI 
 
 as an epoch-building event the one opening the long 
 closed and self adjusting doors of a pent up and 
 overwrought people, the other but ' attending death's 
 last faint quiver; as a tempting morsel lingers, sooth- 
 ing the palate of some gaunt, writhing monster. Life 
 to that pursued sacrifice, to those vain Islanders, had 
 been as sweet, their hopes as grand, the struggle as 
 earnest, as are the progressions of every giant grown 
 thing that thrives to prey and devours that it may 
 survive : fulfilling in the end an unchallenged decree, 
 that to live all things must perish. 
 
 "Strike hard, my love," said Norton, whimsically, 
 drawing close and assuming much. 
 
 The words fell cold and parched upon the over- 
 led colonel's fast waning conscience ancl surcharged 
 patience. He knew that she had tricked him, for 
 the stars and stripes floated high above them : no 
 mean man placed it there, nor would the mecanations 
 of, even, a titled dreamer serve to keep it aloft a 
 worthy commander's head. Uhlrix, a compatriot, and 
 fellow, must be rigidly in honor possessed Kaiuolani 
 had been driven to all but lost by the ready wit of 
 a sister in kind, if rival of choice. 
 
 His own best endeavors had counted for nothing 
 in worthiness, yet he believed her the embodiment 
 of a truth that knows no higher, elects not to trifle 
 with compromise. 
 
 Norton inspired him with the same kind of courage 
 she herself had always displayed, convinced him again 
 of the superior desirableness of doing things, and 
 above others remained despite all that transpired 
 the sole exponent of an innate conviction. Had bare 
 faithfulness shunned better opportunity? misjudg- 
 
KAIUOLANI 171 
 
 ment frowned upon favor? the wanting sacrificed the 
 willing? Momentarily the thought ran riot with 
 the words, and then that higher self, which had never 
 failed him in the end, perchance determined the deed, 
 hearkened distinctly that hinder call, the siren-voiced 
 ambition flayer, duty. 
 
 Young argued severely the right, but Uhlrix re- 
 mained inexorable. Bender had gained his sympathies 
 and knew better the wiles of policy : he had seen from 
 a distance Young's failing stand for principle and wit- 
 nessed Kaiuolani's ruthlessly wrought predicament 
 only were the Rifles under his command Norton could 
 be made way with, the queen apprehended and Kaiuo- 
 lani coerced. But how 
 
 ''The desertion !" flashed upon him like a thunder- 
 bolt from heaven. "I'll rid myself and incumber 
 him. Here, General, why waste words with an im- 
 poster? a deserter from the United States army?" 
 
 "Who is a deserter? Show me the villain, or I'll 
 make you smart for the trouble," growled Uhlrix, 
 unexpectedly shaking with anger at so serious ai. af- 
 front. 
 
 U F. W. Young, the fellow whom you would con- 
 front," replied Bender, unflinchingly anticipatory. 
 
 ''I? face a criminal? Out with the proof!" 
 
 "Harvenoiq will sustain me." 
 
 "D d poor evidence ; but, I'll hear it. Officer, 
 
 produce the witness." 
 
 Harvenoiq, by this time securely impaled and doubly 
 guarded, unwillingly shuffled forward. Bender at- 
 tracting his attention and catching his eye spoke first; 
 no risk should be taken now, that the perspiration 
 oozed in dripping beads from the commodore's mighty 
 
172 KAIUOLANI 
 
 forehead and Norton eyed with cool deliberation and 
 hard-tried patience the apparently senile proceedings. 
 
 "I have accused Mr. Young, here, of desertion. 
 Do the records in your office verify the charge?" 
 
 The crestfallen minister looked his oldtime accom- 
 plice straight in the face, crowding a thousand serious 
 memories into one short instant: the best and most 
 satisfying of which undoubtingly urged further al- 
 legiance if not absolute acquiescence: especially that 
 freedom proffered at the instance of an easily verified 
 subterfuge. 
 
 Harvenoiq, though, did not observe Norton forward 
 of the opposing ranks or he might have thought twice 
 before venturng upon so hazardous an undertaking. 
 Dazed and overpowered by Bender's stress he labored 
 and stared, seemingly tongue-tied and wholly uncon- 
 scious, till Uhlrix snarled snappishly : 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "Yes," whined the bewildered fellow, apparently 
 relieved for the chance. 
 
 "And I can fix the identity/' interposed Norton, 
 advancing with set, determined foot. 
 
 "Stop, woman," 'demanded Young, sternly but 
 kindly. 
 
 Norton wheeled, and looked her arrester inquisi- 
 tively in the face. 
 
 Young colored with anger ; whereat she replied, 
 threateningly : 
 
 "You may have good need for my interference." 
 
 "Wayntro," said Young, addressing his under-com- 
 mand hotly, "relieve me of this woman's presence; 
 when in need of a champion I'll call a man." 
 
KAIUOLANI 173 
 
 i 
 
 The uncalled-for imputation caused Norton little 
 uneasiness, but just what should become of her cham- 
 pion's career under such circumstances presented a 
 trying problem. To oppose were to estrange, to 
 acquiesce to suffer him the pain of an avoidable ac- 
 cusation and, still yet, would the princess listen to 
 the explications of an accused? No. Therefore let 
 him reap the chagrin his cold resistance to her own 
 proffered friendliness merited. Time itself must work, 
 in its own proper way, a just and reasonable solution 
 of all his difficulties, and an humble acquiescence 
 have raised her in the estimation of the very one she 
 deigned to sacrifice. 
 
 "As you like, my good sir," said she, bowing and 
 walking away, under the itching stare of Bender, 
 who feigned to grin at a for once prospective revenge. 
 
 "Take it, and prove the charge," said Young, de- 
 liberately casting his sword upon the ground. 
 
 "An easy riddance of a useless appendange? Of- 
 ficer, place the good culprit under careful surveillance ; 
 there seems to be some trick behind this rather awk- 
 ward if ready affair," replied Uhlrix, confused and 
 puzzled beyond immediate comprehension. 
 
 In the lull that ensued Bender snatched up the 
 discarded weapon and springing astride Young's dis- 
 mounted horse dashed behind the bewildered but happy 
 Rifles. A sharp, threatening volley burst high over 
 their depleted ranks, but the flying bullets bore no 
 significance to Bender other than to make good at 
 all hazards his own escape. Nor did he get off en- 
 tirely alone, for a willing soldiery heralded his re- 
 turn: the marines offered no resistance, were glad 
 of the withdrawal, and the last conjured support to a 
 
174 KAIUOLANI 
 
 tottering monarchy promptly departed the otherwise 
 deserted grounds ; though Bender took occasion before 
 quite out of reach to dismount and attempt a stolen 
 satisfaction within what seemed to be an utterly 
 abandoned palace. 
 
 "I'll surprise myself ; the queen is gone and Norton 
 well, catch her if you can," said he, to himself, clutch- 
 ing tightly the now cumbersome constitution. "Kaiuo- 
 lani is mine ! and I'll leave the precious document 
 anent the throne; where Uhlrix shall find it, and 
 claim it, and defend it, till all America is content. 
 
 Striding through the quiet halls and in at the open 
 door, no thought of encountering her majesty disturbed 
 his rising spirits. The Guards had marched away, 
 there was no doubt about that, and to try the great, 
 high chair in anticipation of its future occupancy had 
 been an easy matter had not the redoubtable Liliuo- 
 kolani rose to greet his startled presence. 
 
 "You here? I thought your majesty a deposed 
 hostess, not a mystic monarch," gasped he, trembling 
 under the force of sudden impulse. 
 
 The queen made no answer, yet stooped to take 
 from his hand the proffered constitution. 
 
 A grating and a slash but Norton struck the 
 fiendish steel from his treacherous hand. 
 
 "Foiled !" snarled she, drawing from her waist a 
 loaded pistol which she held covering his face. 
 
 "Listen, cowardly villain," continued the roused 
 woman, prefacing the queen's unequivocal declara- 
 tion: 
 
 "Hear ye, all men and women : I proclaim this 
 written constitution the sovereign law of Hawaii." 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Elmsford and his now disconcerted company had 
 safely reached Lord Xenoav's island possession, the 
 beautiful villa and estate at Diamond Head, where 
 the British flag was made to do hasty service in pro- 
 tecting Kaiuolani and the Guards from immediate 
 molestation. At sight of the obnoxious stars and 
 stripes aloft the capitol building the over-proud princess 
 had fallen in a swoon, but now that a short, swift 
 march brought them into friendlier environments, 
 where she beheld the raising of a trusted if not less 
 objectionable standard, new thoughts and a promised 
 deliverance rekindled severely tried energy. 
 
 The discovery of her majesty's failure did not 
 in the least weaken Kaiuolani, only hastened the more 
 a decision to make restitution, to survive a huge 
 blunder; Young's downfall shattered the barest pros- 
 pect of entreaty; a tyrant laid siege, and would batter 
 down even the flag of truce to satisfy an ungovern- 
 able end : with what of hearing at the instance of 
 friendly couriers and conjecturing from the cold 
 caldron of resolute reflection the past loomed a danger- 
 ously contrived escapade necessitating thenceforth a 
 stricter adherence to the settled requirements of con- 
 ventionality's harsh ultimatum. 
 
 She had done what she did under the hot impulse 
 of lone personality, paying little heed to the uncon- 
 trolled potentialities of superior force and conflict- 
 
176 KAIUOLANI 
 
 ing interests. Henceforth she must not only combat 
 with evil, but lessen the gap between the deed and 
 the occasion, consulting more the necessities, ques- 
 tioning less the right. 
 
 With resolving proper conduct and conjecturing 
 a fancied means, Kaiuolani breathed fresh relief, but 
 the look of the situation frightened her: obligation 
 alone made it possible for her to do, even dare. 
 
 Pickets had been thrown out in every direction 
 and the troops massed around the main buildings : the 
 little coterie of disconsolate patriots earnestly en- 
 gaged themselves with discussing behind secure con- 
 fines the probable outcome of what now seemed to all 
 but one an ill-advised if well-timed retreat. Kaiuo- 
 lani's ardor had not cooled, as yet, with the elimina- 
 tion of dash, and the very thought of England and 
 those upon whose hospitality she still survived en- 
 couraged strongly a secret belief. She ventured, even 
 reasoned. 
 
 "You are risking a lot to save perhaps a very foolish 
 princess, Mr. Elmsford I wonder what Lord Xenoav 
 might think?" said she, in reply to the artist man- 
 ager's repeated protestations of unselfish aim. 
 
 "He would say it were not a bit too much: I 
 should call out the tars if I thought it at all neces- 
 sary; Elmsford is jolly game, you know." 
 
 "Possibly you shall have an opportunity, if we suc- 
 ceed in resting here until under cover of night I can 
 reach the harbor ; Ihoas suggests wrongly, and I shall 
 want forthwith to visit the flagship before venturing 
 toward castle Bairdsraith ; this affair has not gone 
 entirely beyond our reckoning, as yet, believe me." 
 
 "Quite right you are, Kaiuolani, but how is your 
 
KAIUOLANI 177 
 
 ladyship to make good the escape? There seems to 
 be no end of pursuit/' suggested Elmsford, deeply 
 concerned; for just then word had come that ad- 
 vancing troops were to be seen in the distance. 
 
 "I shall not for that trust so much to luck as 
 to my good friend Elmsford," replied the princess, 
 less disturbed than resolved. 
 
 They looked from one to another, mystified ancf 
 uncertain. Ihoas had urged Kaiuolani to take definite 
 steps to influence Lord Xenoav's intercession, to bring 
 Great Britain to their defense; that her own love 
 should be so jeopardized was more than she had 
 bargained, Kaiuolani's reliance foretold Elmsford's 
 availment, yet rising above personal interests the 
 deep, unfathomable princess resolved in silence and 
 bade them speed their pleasure. To her life held a 
 higher reverence than bare affinity: she would die 
 for the gods, and a thousand years unbroken al- 
 legiance made easy the sacrifice. 
 
 Kaiuolani again buckled on the sword, and turning 
 to her latest recognized champion asked sharply: 
 
 "Are you ready?" 
 
 Elmsford, twisting about, hemmed and hawed un- 
 intelligibly ; just what should be expected of him under 
 the circumstances had been fully gathered from Kaiuo- 
 lani's conversation and answer; that Ihoas's proposal, 
 however, suited him best there could be no question. 
 Strategy should avail him in getting the princess on 
 board a convenient Englishman, now lying in the har- 
 bor, her own heroism to the contrary notwithstand- 
 ing, but would the lone attempt of a doubtful sub- 
 ject be sufficient to insure the secretly contemplated 
 kidnapping? 
 
178 KAIUOLANI 
 
 Darkness was already coming upon them and the 
 clouds ran thick and murky. Temporary command 
 had been advisedly turned over to Ihoas, in view of 
 Aokahameha's continued disability, and a feint in due 
 course prepared. Kaiuolani had dressed for the oc- 
 casion, and Elms ford stood ready to father with might 
 and main the inwardly doubtful undertaking when, 
 of a sudden, Norton apparently out of breath and 
 full in earnest subtly shied herself into their presence, 
 waving and ejaculating: 
 
 "Fly, Kaiuolani, fly ; the Rifles, with Bender in com- 
 mand, and the combined force and friendly sanction 
 of both Uhlrix and the queen at his beck and call, 
 press hard upon you!" 
 
 Strangely enough the false, cruel makeshift im- 
 pressed deeply those who heard; they knew, how- 
 ever, only too well the crafty minister's master am- 
 bition ; and, perchance, had their withdrawal estranged 
 Liliuokolani ? the conflict convinced Uhlrix? Kaiuo- 
 lani's eagerness exceeded the bounds of discretion, and 
 Elmsford foolishly made manifest their unqualified 
 intent Norton had not only accomplished her pur- 
 pose, but went away again, as mysteriously as she 
 had come, the wiser for the trouble. 
 
 No such thought as to run away entered Kaiuolani's 
 head, though to Elmsford's way of thinking and 
 Norton's supreme delight it had saved the one a dis- 
 tasteful expedient and the other an artless com- 
 promise. They were surrounded, and the fire once 
 more flashed from her dancing, dark eyes she would 
 mow down the foreign fiends as stubble falls under 
 the sickle bar, but little Uena-O-Zan came modestly 
 bowing and whispering: 
 
KAIUOLANI 179 
 
 "Hush, my lovely mistress; would you save life, 
 bid Uena speak. The foreign lady and the great, top 
 minister hold counsel. They are out, over the gate: 
 some scheme they discuss to do. The flag he sees 
 my honorable mistress may yet escape; Uena hears 
 much and fears not any." 
 
 "You are a dear, good little maid, and I shall truly 
 heed you. Had you not come as a fairy the whole 
 regiment should have fallen like the victims they are. 
 Now that you have quenched the fire you may arrest 
 the fiend. What shall a captive do?" 
 
 "Make ready to wait; Uena shall say for you 
 where to go. Kwannon much do mercy." 
 
 The night grew darker, and Bender waxed mad 
 with thwarted zeal and confounded advice, for that 
 flag alone waved effective defiance and Norton, know- 
 ing her man, lost no time in the attempt at unmaking. 
 
 "Wayntro," demanded he, after a while, angrily, 
 "here. Take charge of this business and hold good 
 the siege till I return ; it is necessary for me your 
 commander to consult the English admiral, at once. 
 Take care that none escape I charge you at your 
 peril; British arrogance never ventured beyond trade 
 and bluff." 
 
 "And an Irishman's patience," put in the doughty 
 captain, good-humoredly. 
 
 Bender galloped away, and the Rifles lay down to 
 snatch a very needed rest. The captain, commanding, 
 ordered a strict watch, and himself proceeded at once 
 with the not altogether arduous task of enticing with- 
 out the invested place an only, anxious sweetheart ; 
 for Wayntro possessed a heart big and true that, 
 also, throbbed with love's own pulse beat. 
 
i8o KAIUOLANI 
 
 "Be after resting snugly on your arms, and never 
 a peep till Wayntro speaks," said he, significantly, 
 as the tired sentries ambled toward their careless 
 duties 
 
 "I am too very shy," replied a modest voice, but 
 a moment later, within, as the captain edged close 
 under the overgrown hedge at one side a convenient 
 gate. 
 
 "Uena ! Bless your two souls. I'd risk anything 
 brave these devilish thorns to get one more smack at 
 those tiny lips; I do believe it's an age since I've 
 tasted such sweetness. Do, now, be after letting me 
 in; I want you so bad, I don't want you what's 
 that? Danger, duty: duty, danger there's not a soul 
 in there that would hurt a hair on Wayntro's head." 
 
 "Oh Joyce! How could they? You haven't any 
 got." 
 
 "Come, Uny; that's not fair; no poking fun at long 
 range, through the bush, nor over closed gates. Loosen 
 the latch, deary; I can't wait no longer." 
 
 "If you'll not come, promise, till three I count, 
 and close under the hedge inside follow, your lonely 
 sweetheart shall so run " 
 
 "Break it off, Uny; I'll do the whole thing as you 
 say, and nary a quibble." 
 
 Uena withdrew the bar, as agreed, and her good- 
 intentioned lover followed (none too expeditiously) 
 the blind wake of her secret vigil; till, presently, a 
 faint light lured him beyond their improvised cover 
 and into the big, rambling barns near at hand. 
 
 "Now here you wait," said his enticer, extinguish- 
 ing the torch and leaping over an empty manger, leav- 
 ing the dumfounded captain to grope in doubt abreast 
 
KAIUOLANI 181 
 
 a deserted stall, "till Uena one thousand counts. Her 
 sweetness shall then the uncertainty displace." 
 
 There was no getting out of that place, either with 
 or without detection; so Wayntro waited, and Kaiuo- 
 lani together with Elmsford, her secretly plotting gal- 
 lant, escaped the plantation, deliberately drove through 
 the listless lines and went their way, regardless if 
 undecided. 
 
 Soon after an excited launch load of muffled blue- 
 jackets, prowling and peering hither and thither, 
 stoutly hailed and roughly overhauled a dingy, frolic- 
 some little dugout that cautiously creeped and dili- 
 gently watched among the giant ironclads here and 
 there casting their dull shadows at anchor in the dark, 
 silent waters of an overcast harbor against the noised- 
 up capital below. The miniature flag of England trail- 
 ing defiantly at the little boat's stern bore no signifi- 
 cance to those hawk-eyed sleuth-dogs ; they were bent 
 on capturing a prize, and heedful lest Kaiuolani es- 
 cape would run down even the king's own craft. 
 
 "Let, go, bobby," shouted Elmsford, as a hurled 
 grappling iron hooked their frail canoe, splintering 
 it from stern to stem; "it's all a huge blunder; can't 
 you see the colors?" 
 
 "To h 1 wid y'r ruse," growled a burly boats- 
 wain, hauling hard fast the already sinking, water- 
 logged craft. 
 
 That voice and those huskies were more than Kaiuo- 
 lani could well face, and dropping carelessly from 
 her shoulders a loose-bodied garment the undaunted 
 little princess slid overboard and into the deep, warm 
 waters of the bay, where a trained eye and dextrous 
 stroke saved her scarce a known identification. 
 
182 KAIUOLANI 
 
 Her trapped escort, however, fared less agreeably; 
 snatching the flag abaft the sinking hulk the morti- 
 fied Englishman permitted with something of per- 
 suasion his rude arrestors to haul him, wet and thank- 
 ful, safely aboard their own dry, but detested deck; 
 whereat he boisterously belabored and threshed in 
 the face the most convenient flunkey at hand, boast- 
 fully asserting: 
 
 "Great Britain shall make you pay right smart for 
 this: carry me at once to her majesty's flagship, the 
 Londoncan." 
 
 "My friend," said a voice in authority, "you had 
 best take your medicine like a man. You are only 
 guest here, and subject to a host's pleasure. Confess. 
 Who was the damsel that just now so gracefully 
 eluded me?" 
 
 "The queen " 
 
 "What? Liliuokolani?" 
 
 Elmsford, on being interrupted, stopped short of 
 what he had intended saying. 
 
 "I observed no perceptible rise in the tide," con- 
 tinued the American, facetiously. 
 
 "Nor shall you till you've landed me where I be- 
 long; the flagship's a safer barometer and refuge, 
 now that you choose to dally with opportunity." 
 
 "Pull away, men," shouted the officer; we'll over- 
 take her, you bet; though these duskies swim like 
 eels, if proportioned as whales." 
 
 Elmsford settled back in the boat's bottom, happy 
 and content that each stroke brought him nearer the 
 revered war ship, Kaiuolani's intended place of go- 
 ing, if not originally his own; knowing the princess 
 of old he would chance her pursuit at such hands 
 
KAIUOLANI 183 
 
 with anything short of a harpoon, and once within 
 hailing distance no vulgar bluecoat would do a British 
 subject the least insolence; an Englishman demands 
 first the person, then the controversy. 
 
 Passing, however, close under the big Mariposa's 
 lee, the English merchantman having, as usual, 
 called at Honolulu on her regular run from Sydney 
 to Vancouver, had already begun to weigh anchor, 
 save the rippling and rumbling occasioned by the 
 corded chains, no sound or sight disturbed the stilled 
 waters around. Elmsford would have given half his 
 life had Norton and her Uncle Sam's blunt assailant 
 come upon the scene but a moment later, for he too 
 should have climbed the rope ladder dangling at that 
 ship's gangway high above, as did Kaiuolani no sooner 
 the launch that bore him captive had gone round 
 the stern and away from discovery. 
 
 Presently the head on bell sounded, and the linger- 
 ing heir to an unrecovered throne went out into a 
 cold, politic world to fight her battle anew, but none 
 the less inspired for the experience gained ; those 
 waters were to her as was the land she departed, and 
 no base man nor arrant knave might arrest her progress 
 upon or beneath the one's surface nor challenge un- 
 answered her right to the other's beneficence. 
 
 Such environments and so vital an expression 
 served but to adjure achievement upon a broader 
 plane, to baffle sense and quicken the reach toward 
 endeavors yet unrealized, and as she looked back 
 upon the lore-rent castles of a slumbering people a 
 deep gathering sympathy beamed from her dry-burnt 
 eyes the sorrows of depleted sway had long ago 
 worked from the soul its crucial bitterness, and the 
 
184 KAIUOLANI 
 
 will, insurmountable, as it were, carried her beyond 
 the bare vortex of failure and into the hard and fast 
 bounds of an inexorable divine-striven energy. 
 
 "All things are for the best," said she, patiently, 
 to herself, as she turned her back upon disappoint- 
 ment, facing again the hopeful, "and Kaiuolani shall 
 yet ride justly recognized over the cruelties of fail- 
 ing mankind." 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 With a trampled queen doggedly clinging to an un- 
 heeded, hinderless authority and Kaiuolani speeding 
 toward but a conjectured mission the long sown, po- 
 tently dormant seed of restlessness quickly, subtly 
 sprang into a veritable reality. The secretly compell- 
 ing force of a self -adapting, all-pervading heterogene- 
 sis, however, suddenly brought out undeniably the 
 new and existant, if undetermined body politic. An- 
 archism had supplanted organization, and of neces- 
 sity more than prevision the occasion for some sort 
 of provisional government inalterably arose. 
 
 Chaos reigned everywhere and there remained not 
 an effective agency to stem the tide of disintegra- 
 tion: unrealized purpose stalked gloomily in the face 
 of apparent disorder, and no man seemed able to 
 marshal the courage of his convictions. 
 
 An abused heir and gauged correctly at the last 
 moment Great Britain's probable attitude in the ab- 
 sence of positive instructions; Elmsford's slow at- 
 tempt convinced her of as much, though she never 
 did guess rightly his blundering intent, and if dogged 
 away her escape, even at the cost of personal indignity, 
 proved as confusing to those who would build upon 
 her absence as it was gratifying to the admiral who 
 winked at her going. 
 
 Norton had, as Isaacs had good reason to know, 
 seen the Englishman first Kaiuolani, Bender, Elms- 
 
i86 KAIUOLANI 
 
 ford, or any other interested individual to the con- 
 trary notwithstanding and the direction of her im- 
 mediate actions more than proved the wisdom of 
 his conclusion. There seemed to be no prospect of 
 interference in that direction. 
 
 The marines had done all that lay within their 
 scope or power and resting back in camp awaited 
 further developments or speculated upon the outcome 
 of Young's forthcoming trial. 
 
 Their commander waxed hot with borrowed indig- 
 nation, but could not be induced to take a hand at 
 bringing order out of an uncertainty occasioned for 
 the most part by his own stupid gravity and soggy 
 temper. Harvenoiq had been restored, it is true, to 
 his questionable liberties, but shorn of Bender's sup- 
 port or usage his flabby conscience scarce ventured 
 so much as an excuse. Here again no prospect 
 gleamed to insure those whose fortunes tossed and 
 buffeted at sea. 
 
 The Rifles and Guards played at hide and seek; 
 Gutenborj awaited anxiously an opportunity to cling 
 to some one; Varnum slunk at Uhlrix's indifference; 
 Young remained a prisoner; Aokahameha lay 
 wounded; and Bender dogged his pursuers all were 
 as babes, nursing their feelings or afraid of any kind 
 of expression, yet Norton boldly but advisedly pub- 
 lished a pretended call requiring those who might to 
 appear on the morrow, at twelve o'clock noon, in 
 the armory, to answer in person for the establishment' 
 of a temporary government. 
 
 It was a first deliberate attempt at wielding public 
 influence, and, saving Young, no one knew or sus- 
 picioned the real purpose of her sudden activity. 
 
KAIUOLANI 187 
 
 "You shall heed me, though," growled Norton, 
 in suppressed anger, as the colonel firmly denied her 
 last request, upon departing his prison quarters, where 
 she had gained an interview before proceeding to 
 the editorial rooms, now besieged by anxious inquisi- 
 tors. 
 
 Young made no answer, but stood reflecting the 
 baseness of her proposal and the probable outcome of 
 his own displacement. 
 
 "You shall heed me," repeated she, more savagely 
 than before, her hand gripping tightly the knob in 
 the still closed door. 
 
 "No; never," replied he, downcastfully. 
 
 "The nomination might change your mind." 
 
 "Not in the face of a constitution.'* 
 
 "What constitution?" 
 
 "The new one." 
 
 "There is none." 
 
 "Bender says there is." 
 
 "Have you seen him?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 Norton slammed the door and went her way, trou- 
 bled with a new and unthought of situation. That 
 they two Bender and Young should, would or could 
 have communicated with each other under the cir- 
 cumstances went beyond her farthest contemplation. 
 Though she had misadvised Young as to Kaiuolani's 
 situation, possibly sooner known to him at Bender's 
 hand, she would not weaken, and with troubles doubled 
 nerved herself for the occasion. 
 
 "Yes," said she to Gutenborj, but a few moments 
 later, having received him privately at the office of 
 
i88 KAIUOLANI 
 
 the for once respected Ware Wizzard Wise ; "Young 
 must be made chairman; it is our only compromise. 
 
 "He? A convict? With my support? The thought 
 of it ! I have been, I acknowledge, fooled these many 
 years, but not any more. 
 
 "Tut, tut ! Vain wisdom outruns your good sense ; 
 he is only a prisoner, not a convict and if I mistake 
 not would be gladly released under shelter of the 
 first pretext." 
 
 "I don't understand your philosophy." 
 
 "Nor shall you till made." 
 
 "The army is inexorable; he is an American, not 
 a Hawaiian." 
 
 "Like pretty much all the rest of us ; and, per- 
 chance, no more susceptible, if less cosmopolitan. Try 
 him; the rest shall; they are helpless." 
 
 "My hands are clean. Let events resolve their 
 own proper course ; discipline is unavoidable and my- 
 self content." 
 
 "You may think well of retiring; the lion's share 
 is tempting, but please don't forget that there are 
 others who would share in the spoils." 
 
 "You insult me. I have nothing not my own." 
 
 "Did you ever hear of anybody's pretending other- 
 wise? It ill becomes Kalakaua's best friend to fail 
 of comprehension." 
 
 "Stop wrangling, madam; the sweep of empire 
 alone inspires. Hawaii is doomed in the recreation 
 of America." 
 
 "Along with some of its would-be conservatives. 
 See here, Hans Gutenborj : if compelled, I can re- 
 lease Colonel Young in a jiffy. I may do so rather 
 
KAIUOLANI 189 
 
 than see him thrown down by the man who has 
 profited most, and for years, at his expense." 
 
 "Gracious goodness, goodness gracious! As if his 
 release would serve your highfalutin purpose. Really, 
 you make me tired. I trow, Bender shall attend to 
 the clipping of your wings." 
 
 "Bender! The one man, who but there now; I 
 shall not insist; they say a woman cannot hold her 
 tongue; we shall see. I presume you intend being 
 on hand, as usual, in furtherance of a 'safe, sound 
 and sane' interpretation of 'law and order'?" 
 
 "If it serves my convenience, yes." 
 
 "Your fortune, you mean." 
 
 "Heaven save us ! A woman's tongue is our readiest 
 means of undoing. Madam, premit me the privilege 
 of an humble good-day." 
 
 Drawing round a rapidly waning apprehension still 
 more snugly the cloak of security issuing as the re- 
 sult of a final installation of the marines the big, 
 oversure planter, fat with knightly if debatable con- 
 cessions quietly left the humble editress amid the 
 storm of denunciation a last, intolerable straw had 
 provoked. 
 
 Designing little but caring much Gutenborj walked 
 leisurely round (only a short distance) to Uhlrix's 
 ominous camp "Bonton," deliberately and newly es- 
 tablished at the old historic villa where Liliuokolani 
 herself had spent most all her childhood days. The 
 once resplendent halls now resounded with the rattle 
 and bang of heavier stalkings. A foreign force with- 
 out leave or license had cold-heartedly appropriated 
 this the most inviting place at hand to its own uncer- 
 tain use and doubtful occupation; their puffed-up com- 
 
190 KAIUOLANI 
 
 mander vainly renaming it in honor of the ship they 
 proudly manned. Their latest visitor, confident and 
 hopeful, tendering his card, with compliments, at the 
 gate, soon found himself ushering into the presence 
 of the one he sought but Norton had sooner an- 
 ticipated his going. She too had been there. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Promptly at twelve o'clock, as announced, the doors 
 of the armory were thrown open to the straggling 
 few who ventured or ambled thither. These were, 
 though, however reduced in numbers, deeply in 
 earnest, and contrary to expectation consisted mostly 
 of missionaries, a few disgruntled Royalists, and 
 others still less desirable. In fact the leading element 
 in all parties or castes, those upon whom the burdens 
 had hitherto rested, made themselves conspicuous only 
 by their timely absence. 
 
 Even Bender, who had regained so quickly and 
 absolutely his liberty, already going at will upon the 
 streets and elsewhere without any danger of molesta- 
 tion, was not there. Norton the original publicist 
 and only proposer could nowhere be found, and 
 Gutenborj, shut in and alone at his own private 
 quarters, raged and fussed about "such nonsense." 
 
 Out at Diamond Head the Guards and Rifles al- 
 ready mingled upon friendly terms, for both Wayntro 
 and Ihoas proved easily relaxing and in the absence 
 of Bender on the one hand and some sort of con- 
 trolled inspiration on the other the two forces agree- 
 ably and irrevocably interpenetrated in a search for 
 individual aelectation. 
 
 No collective tendency abridged their unrestricted 
 bent and those once belligerent regiments, the nation's 
 only defense, aristocracy's sole support and democ- 
 
192 KAIUOLANI 
 
 racy's last effective hope, joined hands in the humbler 
 reliefs of an overworked and browbeaten man's per- 
 mitted part. 
 
 A populace, those upon whom the burdens rest, 
 devoid of enthusiasm or despair must only gape at 
 opportunity's repeated offering. What could these 
 do for the fate of nationalism or the prolongation 
 of state ? Neither sharing the law's benefits nor rising 
 to social requirements they of necessity and of right 
 stood back heedless amid the great unglorified : once 
 relieved of the juggler's wiles settled down to the 
 lone enjoyment of a vainly provisioned lot. 
 
 The ambitious alone, those eager to break down 
 barriers, courted the extravagant, were to be found 
 overstepping the bounds of sobriety, and as they fared 
 they waged: 
 
 "Would you lie here a prisoner, in the face of 
 humanity's call ? Everywhere the people demand your 
 fitting response. Be a man, Colonel Young, as I can 
 and will obtain your release : you and I could annex 
 these islands to the United States in a trice. Brace 
 up my good fellow," urged Harvenoiq, his words burn- 
 ing with renewed self-anticipation. 
 
 "Me? Sacrifice honor? Lay opportunity at the feet 
 of expediency? Never!" 
 
 "You may change your mind, as all great men do. 
 It shall go hard with you here, and why not take ad- 
 vantage of a certainty? I know whereof I speak." 
 
 "If you have the right, then release me. If not, 
 your assurances belie the reason. Come; out with it; 
 what have you to do with my detention?" 
 
 "Your recently accepted friend Bender might 
 answer that in a less dissatisfactory manner. I have 
 
KAIUOLANI 193 
 
 a more urgent business at the armory, just now ; the 
 missionaries are there, in force." 
 
 Scenting a fancied opportunity, yet to lift himself 
 at the expense of another man's sincerity, Harvenoiq 
 quietly abandoned Young to his fate and undertook 
 adroitly to fasten his own flight to the tail end of 
 another's forced if welcome obligation : the true mis- 
 sionary element remained absolved, had not shown 
 their hand, and of choice or compulsion held in fact 
 ultimately the balance of power. 
 
 These soldiers of the cross had led the white van- 
 guard here, as elsewhere, and from the landing of 
 Cook and the Judds's arrival made themselves felt, 
 slowly at first, but effectively at last, in a friendly 
 recasting of individual belief. Content with inner 
 regeneration, their soul enervating endeavors would 
 not disturb the outer form: allowed spirituality best 
 conserved by a natural adjustment of material re- 
 quirements. 
 
 Their blood had long ago taken root and shorn, 
 as it was, of mercenary motives resolved the beginning 
 of a homogeneous admixture and tolerable assimila- 
 tion, which might have determined in time its own 
 attendant exaltation. The veins of royalty already 
 coursed with an improved morality: no less did the 
 interceding religion benefit by the superior infusion, 
 and had not pelf (there could have been no other in- 
 centive) inspired a stronger agency's pursuit, lowered 
 the scale of activity to the bare standard of com-* 
 mercial worth who knows what their destiny? 
 
 Now that the two contending factions, the avari- 
 cious foreigners on the one hand and the dazed and 
 tolerant natives on the other, stood motionless and 
 
194 KAIUOLANI 
 
 surprised, each at the blow stricken of his own weak- 
 ness, the hitherto ignored and abused missionary and 
 his natural born or truly converted brother once more 
 arose, alone and unhindered, as the sole redeemer of 
 a bereft and disordered people. They were few in 
 fact, but loyal to themselves and fearless of any trial ; 
 uncertainty had driven the last doubting culprit from 
 their ranks Varnum and his kind had quietly but 
 effectively decamped; the call was made, not at their 
 instance, but as a better utilization of them, by those 
 who dared not face the consequences of their own 
 act ; the empty building in which they gathered seemed 
 to echo but a single responsibility; the little band 
 unconsciously grouped in the center; a few disconso- 
 late loiterers scattered here and there about the wide 
 bare floors; presently one among the group, taller 
 than the rest, more ungainly and less nervous said 
 almost in a whisper: 
 
 "Gentlemen, the time has come for us to act; we 
 must have a government, cannot exist without." 
 
 The speaker's words bore no bitterness, nor elation, 
 nor self-imposed preferment. Cheer alone rang in 
 his voice, and deep underneath heavy dark eyelashes 
 a pair of small piercing eyes sparkled with determina- 
 tion and kindled their confidence. 
 
 Those who saw and heard believed "old man" Cole 
 sincere, and in these times and under such circum- 
 stances small sincerity were worth any quantity of 
 so-called ability. Don Dupont, their former sergeant 
 at arms, a half-cast royalist of high descent, an. old- 
 time missionary's son and a lawyer by profession, 
 climbed upon a handy stool and quietly placing him 
 in nomination the Honorable Christopher C. Cole sud- 
 
KAIUOLANI 195 
 
 denly became without a dissenting voice the first 
 chairman of the then barely improvised but after- 
 wards seriously potent government of Hawaii. 
 
 These men and women who were by chance or 
 strategy thrust forward supposedly to their doom, at 
 a time when every other agency seemed politically 
 dead, proved themselves fairly equal to the thankless 
 task imposed, and as missionaries once installed all 
 the wiles of Christendom could nor would jar loose 
 the clutch nor break the grip of their tenacity. 
 
 Both Commodore Uhlrix, in command, and Colonel 
 Young, his prisoner, thence had good grounds for 
 the discernment of a new factor, rising boldly to 
 harass and defeat each in his unquestionable part. 
 The latter sank down shorn and forlorn in his cell; 
 Xane Bender had just left and perchance the news 
 seemed the more frightful. The commodore hastened 
 to consult Liliuokolani, at last effectively deposed and 
 possibly beaten. 
 
 Had Floyd Young then and there resigned himself 
 to a fate that determines as surely as follows politi- 
 cal fortune he might not have taken a step that could 
 only prolong an ending as inevitable as just ; bringing 
 in the wake of its certain progress alike ignominious 
 failure and deplorable disaster. Faltering, the thresh- 
 old of greatness his naturally destined scope again 
 slipped his reasonable grasp, and a law higher than 
 his apprehension or man's making must unavoidably, 
 though bitter, work its never-ending, changeless, 
 course. 
 
 All plans were doomed, their situations inexplica- 
 ble, and in spite of Young's unseemly plotting and 
 Kaiuolani's higher appeal, Harvenoiq's doubtful sup- 
 
196 KAIUOLANI 
 
 port or Bender's rabid opposition, a freshly gather- 
 ing whirlwind enveloped and swept them, a regret- 
 ful, drooping nation, always faster, still more artfully 
 toward the lisping jaws of a larger born and stronger 
 grown world-adjusting power. The newly begotten 
 and strongly conceived empire of an overruling West 
 swooped upon them, and her steel-sharpened talons 
 and explosive-laden charge already rent loose the 
 startled prey and held fast a tightening grip. 
 
 Hawaii hung limp in the eagle's clutch, and those 
 who might have rescued the tiny victim, stilled of 
 its liberty-stirring melody, her golden plumage ruf- 
 fled, neglected that broader summons in the blind rush 
 for individual shelter. 
 
 Only one man dared so forget the future as to 
 provision the present : bore no interests contrary to 
 the welfare of others, and that man rose up, as most 
 final arbiters do, from absolute innocuousness and 
 shamefaced insignificance. Run down at the heels and 
 neglected by his friends, hard pressed at home and 
 content in the world, his unencumbered ears tilted 
 easily to the feeble sounding of wholesome fame. 
 
 Nor did ascendancy the least disturb his apparent 
 equilibrium; rising steadily above the fixed horizon 
 of its accidental discovery the fain controlling orbit 
 of his rapidly coming-into-view constellation shed a 
 warmth and brilliance and radiation that bespoke al- 
 ready and undeniably the lasting tenure and cohesive 
 powers of his administrative capacity. 
 
 The commander of the marines, possibly more 
 anxious to justify the report which he had already 
 dispatched to Washington than to accommodate the 
 new government, forthwith let it be known of his 
 
KAIUOLANI 197 
 
 intention to remain indefinitely at camp Bonton ; and 
 though there was no friendliness between them 
 Uhlrix indeed did not so much as deign to recognize 
 the new chairman or his quasi government the pres- 
 ence of an active though foreign army, all equipped 
 and ready, was openly welcomed alike by those who 
 feared either life or property and the ones upon whom 
 devolved the responsibility of policing the new regime. 
 
 There was no other government, not another ef- 
 fective force. Hence by virtue of a certain indispensa- 
 bleness rather than insistence the one, though dis- 
 claimed, of necessity gained obeyance ; the other, how- 
 ever delectable, they condescended to respect : the two, 
 while antagonistic in spirt, together resolved an only 
 safeguard to both persons and effects, which of it- 
 self made either agency supremely forceful, each in 
 its own proper sphere. 
 
 Young paled at the outlook, and Gutenborj alone 
 of all those possessed with ulterior designs and per- 
 sonal aims ventured an open declaration. 
 
 "You are the man for the occasion," said he, 
 adroitly, to the chairman, deliberately bolting him- 
 self into an audience before any kind of organization 
 had been fairly perfected. "Every schoolboy here 
 knows of your integrity; and if, perchance, I can be 
 of any service, call upon me. Hans Gutenborj stands 
 for law and order: I need not advise you, as to that, 
 of course." 
 
 The gaunt, respectful Cole, not unmindful of the 
 intruder's motive and ability, paid no other heed than 
 dignified answer to the pretended courtesy bestowed ; 
 and, proceeding as if no interruption had occurred, 
 convinced possibly one interested spectator that at 
 
198 KAIUOLANI 
 
 least a man helmed the ship who could and would re- 
 sist temptation. Nor was his policy and its effect 
 less openly established; as the first important com- 
 mittee appointed and dispatched proved none other 
 than one of annexation to the United States, and the 
 proclamation presently issued, pronouncing the pro- 
 visional government duly established, only redoubled 
 anxiety in the land. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 The revolution had come and gone like an ava- 
 lanche, whence, no one knew; to what purpose, none 
 foresaw, leaving in the wake of its savage rush the 
 bared intent and beaten hopes of but a few hours 
 hence. An empire had gone down and lay shattered 
 amid the heaps of debris that once served the felicities 
 of a nation. Just why this had been, nobody knew; 
 how done were an enigma: it all seemed so unlike 
 reality ; yet, an inspiration. 
 
 Looking out at the window, across the once re- 
 spected but now invested lawns, a prisoner, Floyd 
 Young's hard-strained eyes caught sight of Bender, 
 coming in the distance, and his face paled with con- 
 templatation. 
 
 "He seeks me out; I have committed myself to 
 his schemes ; what shall I do ? I have it : I'll adapt 
 myself: the queen must rule!" 
 
 The door opened and Bender slipped in, calm and 
 aggressive. Young's mind reverted to their last meet- 
 ing, and then he thought of how easy it should be 
 to comply with Norton's demand Bender had advised 
 it, and were not liberty worth any price, that he might 
 serve the state, in undoing the tangle his own folly 
 had wrought? 
 
 The outcast minister, however, pressed hard, upon 
 this occasion, in another direction. 
 
 "The committee of annexation has departed in 
 
200 KAIUOLANI 
 
 earnest," said he, trembling with overwrought con- 
 cern. 
 
 Young looked into space. 
 
 "Yes; they are already well under way, and you 
 can be sure that a republican administration will not 
 be loath to listen." 
 
 "Thank God " began Young, unthinkingly. 
 
 "There is soon to be a change," interceded the 
 visitor, presuming to anticipate Young's unspoken 
 words. 
 
 "I didn't say so, if inauguration day is not far 
 off," replied the other, coloring quickly. 
 
 "But you mean it ; though the politics don't suit 
 you; and, I grant it's hard for some to acknowledge 
 virtue in expediency, however necessary," said Ben- 
 der, ignoring Young's embarrassment and believing 
 the germ to have taken root, forsooth, of its own 
 accord. 
 
 Nor had either long to await the fulfillment of 
 both predictions. Upon landing at Washington the 
 committee found the retiring president ready to hear 
 and recommend any measure that bore the ear-marks 
 of national uplift, still more would the outgoing ad- 
 ministration involve and encumber the incoming: 
 their petition, therefore, received initiative in the 
 appointment of a commissioner, Rand by name, duly 
 empowered to proceed thence and investigate, thor- 
 oughly, on behalf of the American government. 
 
 A weighty mission this proved to be, launched in 
 the worthy Rand's opinion ostensibly for the purpose 
 of whitewashing the dubious acts of a featherweight 
 diplomat, but in reality with a view to fixing upon 
 an adverse administration the odium (if such the 
 
KAIUOLANI 201 
 
 public ear might descry) of having attempted to in- 
 augurate a strange, new policy, as broad in scope as 
 the reason lay deep. 
 
 March 4th came and with it a severely fashioned 
 executive, in the eyes of the committee, ushered 
 in as president of the nation and father of all its 
 ills. A very great man, seemingly, and though they 
 believed him as innocuous of harm as apt in de- 
 suetude their success for all they knew or could 
 foretell depended upon none else's sanction. 
 
 "Grant us a hearing," they urged, time and again, 
 upon the prophetic hesitator's attention, until distrac- 
 tion bore hard upon their patience. 
 
 "The president begs to inform you that he is 
 not yet fully advised," as regularly came back for 
 answer, at the hands of an over-polite and gaudily 
 dressed secretary. 
 
 "Advised of what?" finally inquired the uninitiated 
 committeemen, more indiscreet than republican. 
 
 "Of the expediency, I believe," curtly replied the 
 president's spokesman, slipping the exuberance of 
 a new-found assurance. 
 
 The chairman of the committee ventured to insist 
 no further, at that time, believing discretion not the 
 least part of diplomacy and tolerable forbearance no 
 detriment even in the face of a new and unthought 
 of democracy; and, what seemed more gratifying, 
 had learned since his arrival at Washington that "ex- 
 pediency" under this sort of government could be 
 ntade to cut both ways ; especially as a subsidized 
 press in the hands of a friendly faction apparently 
 held absolute sway over both public morals and ad- 
 ministrative opinions. 
 
202 KAIUOLANI 
 
 "Give this public expounder of private convenience 
 time, only time, and his own strange politics shall 
 have sooner, and unaided, wrought Hawaii's annexa- 
 tion. The people are approachable, if not their exe- 
 cutive," said he, to his associate committeemen, in 
 confidence. 
 
 This process, though, however flattering, proved 
 difficult of ingrafting and slow with materialization: 
 Kaiuolani wielded a readier weapon and, discreetly 
 coming upon the scene not until the determined in- 
 cumbent had of his own accord fully set upon un- 
 doing what a knowing predecessor of an opposing 
 faith had subtilely launched, forthwith developed a 
 more promising outlook. 
 
 The president had, only four years hence, ended 
 a prosperous term and now looked upon his second 
 election as little less than Godlike reverence. Hav- 
 ing once served the nation faithfully and believing 
 his renewed hold none other than prophetic the un- 
 crowned veteran looked round for more satisfying 
 fields of expression. Not in conquest, for age and 
 circumstance dulled the heroic: he would that kings 
 and queens pay their respect; the realms of these 
 he held supreme. 
 
 "Convey to his honor, the president, Liliuokolani's 
 best respects, and say that Kaiuolani, bearing assur- 
 ances as well from her majesty, queen of England, 
 begs the favor of an early audience," said Kaiuolani 
 to the president, soon after, through a duly ac- 
 credited spokesman, in consultation with the highly 
 puffed and lowly bended secretary. 
 
 This would-be lordly underling's high-pitched 
 
KAIUOLANI 203 
 
 answer and hard-strained dignity rasped harshly upon 
 the surprised messenger's delicate sensibilities. 
 
 "Yes sir," said he, "it is my duty, I might say 
 privilege to inform you, on behalf of our most ex- 
 cellent and twice elected president to these United 
 States, that he, in his official capacity, shall so soon 
 as informed by me, his very humble but widely re- 
 spected secretary, grant, with the greatest of pleas- 
 ure, her royal highness, the well-known and, in Amer- 
 ica, highly thought of princess, Miss Kaiuolani, an 
 audience." 
 
 The clean-cut Britisher, Kaiuolani's delegated 
 friend and escort, a Mr. Jackson Best, did not tarry 
 upon that occasion longer than necessary. He had 
 been selected by Lord Xenoav and entrusted by the 
 queen to accompany the princess on account of his 
 especial fitness, and the bare possibility of encounter- 
 ing at the very outset of their mission such unheard 
 of snobbery was more even than he, a hard-fisted 
 merchant, had deigned anticipate. 
 
 They were there, however, to accomplish a purpose, 
 and believing the president's word final and supreme 
 resolved upon facing the consequence of a meeting 
 at the designated place, anent the innermost cover 
 of the White House itself. 
 
 "Be seated," grumbled the weighty executive, with 
 a characteristic flourish of the hand and hard-fetched 
 pretense at rising. 
 
 The startled princess responded as best she could, 
 though at a significant distance, while her more dex- 
 trous aid and champion drew closer still to the would- 
 be confidential host and otherwise determined patron. 
 
204 KAIUOLANI 
 
 "In behalf of a friendly nation, the princess thanks 
 you for your splendid hospitality and magnanimous 
 auspices," said the witless Best, getting down to busi- 
 ness, in excellent form and better tact. "No more 
 flattering guarantee or positive assurance could be 
 wished. It is seldom one meets with such cordiality, 
 even among kings." 
 
 "My mind is settled beyond peradventure on that 
 score; no act of this government shall stand to mar 
 the higher relations that I would internally and eter- 
 nally foster and enjoy. Hawaii is a vested sov- 
 ereignty, and the queen shall be reinstated, at any 
 cost; though I would, without any beg pardon dis- 
 respect to Kaiuolani, the crown were a man's in- 
 heritance. Woman can best serve God and the under 
 weal by rearing her children and mending a husband's 
 pants : it is decreed, and so written. Am I not safe 
 and sound there, neighbor?" queried the great man, 
 quite unmindful of Kaiuolani's scarlet cheeks and far- 
 away, conscious look. 
 
 Momentarily her thoughts ran back to the time 
 Floyd Young would have crowned her a like queen, 
 the source of a brood and mother of his convenience, 
 and then she wondered if all Americans were of a 
 kind. 
 
 "No," said she, to herself ; "woman, too, has a 
 voice, is as she ordains, serves a nobler God than 
 man. I shall rise independent, and live as I would, 
 dependent only upon a common fatherhood." 
 
 Kaiuolani, thereupon, went her way, more than 
 pleased with the splendid success thrust upon her; 
 though she had rather have attained the same end by 
 
KAIUOLANI 205 
 
 the aid of her own self-devised energies. There re- 
 mained no doubt in her mind as to the president's in- 
 tentions ; all the croakers in Christendom could not 
 pry from his head a motion once securely set. His 
 hand she believed incapable of deflection the 
 monarchy as good as restored. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Anticipating Rand's report, and waxing eager with 
 determination to do justice and serve his own re- 
 stricted inclinations, the president duly appointed a 
 successor, and began without delay the preparation 
 of a message asking congress to undo the bold, un- 
 questioned work of Harvenoiq, the nation's trusted 
 representative at Honolulu. 
 
 The American minister's act, in contriving so 
 serious a thing, as the intervention of the marines, 
 could be looked upon, from an exalted viewpoint, in 
 but one of two ways : as being patriotic or villainous. 
 The president chose the latter; a cold, deliberate con- 
 sideration of all the facts and circumstances as re- 
 vealed in truth reasonably permitted of none other, 
 and the forthcoming report of an opponent's duly ac- 
 credited and dispassionate commissioner more than 
 justified the conclusion. 
 
 Going upon the ground at a time when any sort 
 of an excuse had been agreeable politically, the far 
 seeing Rand found it impossible personally to pursue 
 the veriest kind of partisan examination ; the risk of 
 contamination augured too vile even for a diplomat's 
 consideration. Every inducement seemed consistently 
 winked at by those in authority; lying resorted to 
 by the ones most in danger; the stench excused by 
 everybody who would attune his advantage to the 
 deed : Rand, however, proved unpurchasable or con- 
 
KAIUOLANI 207 
 
 trollable, and went about his work with a deliberation 
 and impartiality that brooked no speculation as to 
 the final outcome. 
 
 With hearing the blandishments of intriguers, who 
 hastened to welcome, then deigned revile; listening 
 to the complaints of others wronged, yet unwilling to 
 concede the inevitable; and searching for a common 
 ground on which to do justice and open the eyes of 
 the administration at Washington, amid circum- 
 stances almost disheartening, the hard-pushed and 
 ill-adjudged commissioner soon found his task even 
 more thankless there where, upon the whole, they 
 had reason to trust and encourage a truthful investi- 
 gation than the report should be unsatisfying at 
 home, in view of a changed and fomented political 
 situation. 
 
 "We demand to know the purport of your recom- 
 mendations," ventured Gutenborj, with the old-time 
 audacity that he was want to employ, heading a dele- 
 gation of conservatives who threatened a final appeal. 
 
 Rand bore the last straw with such dignity and 
 patience as under the circumstances a more politic 
 man might be expected to muster. Neither disin- 
 terestedness nor a lack of sympathy prevented him 
 from concluding his labors as begun: with honesty 
 of purpose and faithfulness to the trust imposed. 
 
 Answering adroitly, the surprised representative of 
 a supposedly indifferent people quietly said: 
 
 "It is not my province, good sir, to recommend: 
 I am here only to report the facts, in so far as ob- 
 tainable. I should respectfully advise that you ad- 
 dress your request to Washington." 
 
 "That is just what we propose to do, when the 
 
208 KAIUOLANI 
 
 proper time comes ; but, first of all, we as representa- 
 tive citizens insist upon getting you right. Do you 
 understand me, Mr. Commissioner? If anything is 
 lacking well, you know, we are prepared " 
 
 "Pardon me, Mr. G.utenborj. I have been advised 
 by your good selves as well as others interested that 
 the evidence is all in and the argument concluded. 
 I have, therefore, only to forward proper findings. 
 Please consider the matter closed." 
 
 Rand understood only too well his auditors, and 
 upon their piqued withdrawal paid no more than re- 
 spectful attention to the scathing rebuke and bcur- 
 rilous denunciation thereat promised. On the con- 
 trary, having exhausted every recourse attainable, the 
 result of a somewhat prolonged investigation was 
 undeniably reduced to writing, signed, sealed and 
 dispatched under cover of the strictest secrecy and 
 most favorable assurances. The commissioner had 
 done all that he could do fairly to advise his superiors, 
 thence quietly awaited a reasonable recall and proper 
 discharge. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding every precaution, no sooner 
 had the document reached its destination than were 
 the coveted contents known in far off Hawaii. As 
 if by magic those least entitled had been forewarned ; 
 hence Rand was duly maligned, and Harvenoiq pro- 
 ceeded as best he knew with clearing the way for 
 an unannounced but verily known successor. 
 
 Bender and he were closeted in the latter' s local 
 residence : their recent differences had been forgotten 
 or brushed aside as if unknown and unfelt. 
 
 "There is but one safe ground on which to stand," 
 
KAIUOLANI 209 
 
 whispered the American, his face whitened, and 
 withered frame shaking from head to foot. 
 
 "Young must be gotten rid of," answered the other, 
 eager with anticipation. 
 
 "Yes it is imperative." 
 
 "And how?" 
 
 "Don't tempt me, friend Bender; you know my 
 weakness." 
 
 "A prodigy, good Harvenoiq, to be taken oppor- 
 tunely. Shall I slip the noose?" 
 
 "Pray do; I lack only the courage, if hung." 
 
 "As an example? Don't predict yourself a martyr; 
 the lure of guilt absolves only the doing, the deed 
 the consequence. Act gingerly, old man, and let your 
 knees be worthy a good fellow's confidence. You 
 know that I am proof, the evidence is yet in your 
 possession." 
 
 Harvenoiq had been fully convinced by Bender 
 that little short of total annihilation awaited him upon 
 the arrival of Langdon, his duly appointed succes- 
 sor, and the restoration of the queen, a consequence 
 easily predicted. Had he known better or stopped 
 to consider the temper of his own people and the 
 possibilities of diplomatic dodging, all this pother 
 about hanging might well have been saved ; but Har- 
 venoiq, in the tangle, had lost all control of self and 
 come to regard with fear and trembling Bender's 
 every suggestion. 
 
 On the other hand Young fretted more and harder 
 under an ignominious restraint. He knew full well 
 that nothing short of the most damnable perjury 
 could in the end substantiate the charges laid, yet 
 
210 KAIUOLANI 
 
 realized that his apparent tormentors were capable 
 of stooping to any depth to carry their point. 
 
 That murder stared him in the face he was wholly 
 unconscious; his duty called him; there seemed no 
 possible means by which he might induce a speedy 
 trial; when tried, though, as he felt in justice bound 
 to be, Norton must stand between danger and him- 
 self; she had not once failed under stress, and he 
 believed her sincerely and unalterably bent; the forces 
 that had cornered him must, before he lose, reckon 
 with her, yet Bender's oily tongue entranced him. 
 
 It was not quite dead of night and the sentry on 
 his dismal beat peered into the dark, moody fog that 
 overhung the stilled rounds of his ominous watch. 
 
 "Who goes there?" cried he, his lone words barely 
 rising above the levelled rifle's dull whack. 
 
 "A friend/' answered a familiar voice, approach- 
 ing with fearless, quickened step. 
 
 "All's well," replied the trusty, doubly relieved, 
 while Bender strode on and into darkness. 
 
 Presently Young's accustomed ear discerned an 
 expected approach, and two huskies retired into a 
 welcome corner, there to snooze and snore till more 
 urgent business roused them to a less tasteful duty. 
 
 "I thought you not coming; the hour is so late 
 and the night gloomy," said Young, his heart thump- 
 ing with renewed anticipation. 
 
 "Sh-h-h- don't speak of gloom; it's a gloomy busi- 
 ness; everything is gloom, and the end shall be still 
 more gloomy if we don't get at it and out at once. 
 Here is a knife: secrete it, and use it if you would 
 escape to-night, my boy. The devil is to pay, all 
 round." 
 
KAIUOLANI 211 
 
 Young gasped at the thought. He had early enough 
 accustomed himself to the use of manly weapons : 
 this one sickened him. All his life he had shunned 
 the need of personal defence or public offense. What 
 terrible necessity had at last arisen, when all seemed 
 so propitious? 
 
 Bender answered. 
 
 "I had it hard enough to get the documents " 
 
 "Did you get them? Did you succeed 
 
 "Yes ; I have them, here, securely, on my person ; 
 where, I take it, they shall 
 
 "Give them to me," demanded Young, gripping 
 tightly the handle of the dirk, which he still held 
 openly, if undecided. 
 
 Bender looked his man hard in the face. He had 
 not contemplated any such turn, nor did he on the 
 spur of the moment propose to yield. 
 
 "Oh, well," said he calmly; "if you think it best, 
 here they are: take them. I have no doubt you shall 
 find a way to save their falling again into Harve- 
 noiq's " 
 
 "Harvenoiq !" whispered Young, turning with bated 
 breath to scan the bolted doors round about him. 
 
 "Yes, Harvenoiq," continued Bender, with subdued 
 satisfaction; "and I shall have need to hurry away 
 would even I escape him. He is undoubtedly on the 
 way now, and I thought possibly you might have 
 enough to do to save your life, as against him. I, 
 as a friend, unchallenged, should be better able to 
 shield your honor at least save the papers from 
 certain publicity." 
 
 "What do you mean, man?" demanded his listener, 
 almost choking with rising consciousness. 
 
212 KAIUOLANI 
 
 "There is no time now for parleying, hence listen: 
 Kaiuolani and Harvenoiq were closeted at the lega- 
 tion house when I left to hasten thither. You may 
 judge the risk I ran in obtaining the papers I trust 
 you do not forget, solely for your benefit and under- 
 stand my concern for your safety, both in person 
 and honor, when I tell you that it is planned to kill 
 you, here in this room, this very night, at twelve 
 o'clock. Now then, perhaps you can see that your 
 reputation and my safety depend upon my going: do 
 with the papers as you like." 
 
 "Thieves can trust no one, if not each other. Take 
 them; and, if it serves your own pitiful interests, 
 protect my good name. If not, I still owe you a 
 debt of gratitude for the chance to live. Go." 
 
 Bender hurried away. The very thought .of hold- 
 ing in his own hand the only evidence that could pos- 
 sibly stand between him and any success lone ability 
 might encourage quickened the unregenerate, ill-fash- 
 ioned trend he would pursue. 
 
 "At last, an unfettered man !" rose in mind to 
 plunge him toward the freedom craved. 
 
 "To the woods, the mountains, the undefiled ! Only 
 there lies the spark that feeds on reality. I'll claim 
 it, fan it into flame, send onward the crackling, 
 thundering holocaust that rids the earth and purifies 
 the doing. Bender shall survive: Kaiuolani but eke 
 his exultation." 
 
 No man deigned hinder his progress. Ihoas, bent 
 and sore, listened not reluctantly and saw with opened 
 eyes. Together, they flew to the wilds ; there to foster 
 pretended rights, and redress a fancied wrong. 
 
 Presently, however, Harvenoiq's underhandedly ap- 
 
KAIUOLANI 213 
 
 pointed successor came hauling into port. With 
 trumpet a-blowing and promises galore this half- 
 starved political supplicant, from the interior, would 
 neither listen to the one nor substantiate another of 
 the party factions that wended alternately toward the 
 fawning doors of contemplated recognition or ex- 
 pected rehabilitation. 
 
 "I'll do as duty bids me," said he, over-proud and 
 uncomfortably explicit. "What care I for scant 
 foibles and bothersome energy ? Americanhood is 
 topmost, and our intentions are no less expedient than 
 privileged: when the flag comes down you'll know 
 the reason. Coates R. Langdon, Esqr., may look 
 seedy, but he'll bear boosting. Hie you, Gutenborj ; 
 make way for the queen !" 
 
 The Royal band played in the open that night, and 
 native daughters riding in oldtime uniforms galloped 
 upon the streets. Sympathizers (many of them new 
 ones) gathered round the queen in plenty. The 
 Provisionalists slunk back or stood counselling one 
 another, for Langdon's brusque deliberations non- 
 plussed them. They had all, once upon a time, known 
 something of Yankee aptitude, but thenceforth try 
 as best they might nothing short of cold possibility 
 stared them in the face; Kaiuolani had captured 
 Washington. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 The president's instructions to his own carefully 
 selected minister were generally thought to be un- 
 qualifiedly positive; so much so, that all factions and 
 everybody closely identified expected thence to wit- 
 ness the hitherto undreamed spectacle of a monarch's 
 being restored to power by a supposedly unsympa- 
 thetic form of government, a republic, the good and 
 great United States. 
 
 Hawaiians chafed under the yoke. They would 
 to a man have had done with it, and confidence in 
 somebody or in some sort of government fairly re- 
 stored; but Langdon for reasons unknown or unsus- 
 pected took it entirely upon himself as they thought 
 unduly to prolong the agony. 
 
 The delay occasioned, also, no lesser a disappoint- 
 ment at Washington. Nobody doubted Langdon. He, 
 like his kind, should have been only too glad to justify 
 in the estimation of those who had given him a 
 chance. 
 
 "Why such dillydallying? unnecessary on the one 
 hand and dangerous at the best?" asked everyone of 
 himself and of each other. 
 
 Langdon, however, had suddenly risen to both place 
 and power; and had they but known at all some of 
 the accidents attendant upon his arrival, and con- 
 sidered better the underlying traits which in him only 
 typified the vast, unmeasured sentiment whence he 
 
KAIUOLANI 215 
 
 sprang, there might have been less uncertainty at 
 Honolulu and more subtle dispatch at home ; for, with- 
 out entire disencouragement, the committee of annex- 
 ation remained quietly at work, and the aptly inclined 
 overtaking minister had been, as well, met and ad- 
 vised by none other than the busy Miss Norton her- 
 self. 
 
 The charge laid against Kaiuolani by Bender, upon 
 departing the closed quarters of Young, had so en- 
 raged the latter that he directly made bold to face 
 any consequence and support with all his might the 
 now tottering provisional government. Kaiuolani, 
 of whom his every love-thought burned deeper and 
 more luridly, though wholly innocent of as much 
 as a hint at wrongdoing, still more the falsehoods 
 concocted by a jealous suitor, was thence cast down 
 and trampled as a thing unworthy his remotest con- 
 cern. 
 
 "Away with love's infantile lure ! Ambition is the 
 nobler half : release me of woman's influence and I'll 
 build aim's highest end," threatened he, half aloud, 
 just as the big iron key began again to rasp in the 
 door. 
 
 Like a flash, dread uncertainty triumphed over self- 
 willed resolve. Bender's seemingly just warning had 
 proven opportune, and fearful of consequences a kind 
 of wierdly creeping realization pinned him coldly 
 against the waging ironies of hinderless disadvan- 
 tage. 
 
 "All is lost," said he, vainly clutching at the sharp- 
 ened steel which lay hidden and helpless in the sag 
 of his illy buttoned and carelessly donned waistcoat. 
 
 "What is the matter now?" asked Martha Norton, 
 
216 KAIUOLANI 
 
 with emphasis, as the looked-for gallant, turning 
 meekly round, stared hard past and into space. 
 
 Young straightened up and slowly looked his tor- 
 mentor humbly in the face. Underneath the dis- 
 hevelled hair on his head an oozing brow disclosed 
 a faint of red which, deepening into blush, revealed 
 shamefully his innermost thoughts. 
 
 "I I " stammered he, reluctantly conscious of 
 an unsurmised weakness. 
 
 "Oh, you needn't mouth it, Colonel Young. 
 There's " 
 
 "Pardon me: culprit, you mean; don't you?" 
 
 "No, foolish man ; neither culprit nor victim. You 
 thought me a forerunner of harm; whereas, I am 
 only bearer of righteous news : you are a free man. 
 Now then; how about your backbone?" 
 
 "How in the name of 
 
 "Tut, tut; don't ask vainly; you are at liberty, and 
 that's enough. The queen is not yet restored, and 
 that is better. But seek, cheerily, and I'll promise the 
 best." 
 
 Surveying the situation under the force of striven 
 conscience, Young's understanding broadened, and he 
 should have thence ignored former resolve and courted 
 occasion had not the heart held superior. Norton's 
 words rang true to life, as he had found it, and of 
 the Graces were not Thalia greatest ? Shere womanli- 
 ness had saved him from possible disaster, Harve- 
 noiq's skulking presence outside the barracks soon 
 convinced him of as much, and though none except 
 Uhlrix and she knew exactly the manner of his re- 
 lease the logical sequence of forthcoming events dis- 
 
KAIUOLANI 217 
 
 closed plainly the reason : Norton still wanted a hus- 
 band. 
 
 "My boy, you are foolish," reasoned Gutenborj, 
 with greater heat than wisdom, in a personal endeavor 
 to swerve Young to further accommodation. 
 
 "I'll admit that I have made mistakes, trying to 
 follow as best I could your advice; it's not too late, 
 however, to attempt amends." 
 
 "Nonsense ! A broken dish is not worth the mend- 
 ing: restock with new, every time, young man, if you 
 care to get on in this world or to occupy a front 
 seat anywhere." 
 
 "Philosophy and practice don't always agree. 
 Henceforth our paths lead in opposite directions." 
 
 "Oh, very good ; I guess your old man has enough 
 to carry him I trust you shall do as well." 
 
 "Barring taste, I may." 
 
 "The queen's headsmen, you might better say." 
 
 Young understood fully the import of his oldtime 
 employer's remark, and well knew that none quite 
 so soon as he nimself should or must fall under the 
 restored Liliuokolani's ban. That the queen was 
 ethically and morally entitled to all she claimed or 
 that had been proffered by a cognizant and obliging 
 president, he duly conceded; that she would or could 
 be reinvested at his hands with any further or greater 
 authority than that enjoyed by Americans in America, 
 he openly denied : in fact so impressed Uhlrix with 
 the logic of the situation, if not the worth of his neck, 
 that Langdon immediately found himself, under re- 
 fusal of the marines, unable to do more than person- 
 ally reason with the queen and officially await his 
 superiors. 
 
218 KAIUOLANI 
 
 But Liliuokolani proved obdurate. She would not 
 listen to immunity. These men whom Langdon plead 
 to save had stirred the nation into disorder long be- 
 fore any foreign agency had found intervention either 
 expedient or opportune, and whatever the occasion 
 for her restoration the government must retain and 
 possess the right to judge and dispose of its own 
 disturbing elements or rehabilitation end in bitter 
 failure. 
 
 No one appreciated the logic of Liliuokolani's posi- 
 tion more keenly than did Floyd Young, himself : if 
 not the more aggressive the most essential in the 
 wreaking of their immediate downfall. Yet life to him 
 suddenly became a sacred reality; especially as his 
 very probable exit under the proposed regime 
 portended anything except that he held dearest the 
 heroic. With his elimination not a soul in authority 
 rallied to monarchy's support. 
 
 Kaiuolani had very wisely returned to England, 
 there to reinforce the pressure she believed herself 
 to have wrought upon the president. 
 
 Bender mysteriously dropped out of sight, and 
 Norton egged the queen. 
 
 Patriotism inflamed America. 
 
 "What in God's name shall be done?" plead the at 
 last discordant Gutenborj, whose miserly dollars tilted 
 woefully in the balance. 
 
 "Await results," answered Langdon, coolly. 
 
 And they did more: they lagged with opportunity, 
 breathless and stunned. In truth among them there 
 was only one, if any, who rightly interpreted events. 
 
 The world, too, looked idly on; little dreaming that 
 in that brief suspense the fleeting balancer of progress 
 
KAIUOLANI 219 
 
 should so gain with momentum as to thresh and shape 
 without a break or jar such elements of empire struc- 
 ture as kings and queens yet were want to see. 
 
 Here amid strength and loyalty, an alluring spark 
 still smouldering in the hearts of sturdy patriots was 
 rapidly fanning into flame. Americans, in America, 
 for the first time were in fact challenged to do honor 
 in foreign lands. The fires once started spread with 
 the fury of a cyclone. Congress turned a deaf ear 
 upon tradition and respected the voice of a new 
 moulder. The press, if fanatical, had doomed republi- 
 canism: an empire, though embryonic as yet, was 
 building to save democracy. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Everywhere throughout America men's blood ran 
 hot. It mattered not that the rising furor's inception 
 lay grovelling in fraud and deceit: whether the con- 
 stitution forbade expansion or not. The cause quickly 
 lost itself in the effect wrought, and men rallied to 
 save their flag discredit. 
 
 What cared they for statutes, where law is no more 
 or other than crystallized sentiment? How restrained 
 when executives are made not born? When, where, 
 and why break the divining wand of aggressive better- 
 ment? No; all the presidents, the constitutions, and 
 the traditions of humankind or divinity could nor 
 would restrain, if widen, one whit the bounds of col- 
 lective regeneration. 
 
 The newspapers had stirred public conscience to 
 such degree that of universal accord the nation rose 
 to defend its position, no matter what the charge. 
 With no thought at first of planting authority beyond 
 their own shores, whisperings to the contrary at last 
 gained credence, openly invited support. The big 
 throbbing heart of untried America had gone farther 
 than they would or knew ; in denying the accepted 
 right of inheritance elsewhere, they established the 
 principle of progression at home. The emipre, risen, 
 would not down ; spontaneously reproduced itself in 
 the quickening mold of a larger if inopportune decay. 
 
 The president angered at the boldness, as he termed 
 
KAIUOLANI 221 
 
 it, of public presumption. He had been elected to 
 do their thinking, inaugurate public weal, and fiame 
 the nation's policy. What of accident and the ballot 
 he believed his tenure, however disposed or reigned, 
 no less than divine. 
 
 "Stop this babble about Hawaii," roared he, to his 
 ardently chosen but individually politic secretary of 
 state, Arthur F. Doolittle, directly Langdon's official 
 report and personal advice had reached its utmost 
 destination. 
 
 "It is possible to control Langdon, but how about 
 these newspapers? The people will read, you know, 
 once they can." 
 
 "And vote as privileged, I vow. Thanks to su- 
 perior wisdom, that man Jefferson, we hear about, 
 was throttled at the very outset of sanity. Let the 
 mob howl, if it will ; but, bear in mind, declarations 
 do not constitute law : no more is this republic a 
 democracy ! I would have you bear in mind that rab- 
 bling ends and government begins at the ballot box, 
 my good secretary. I am president. So take down 
 the flag and return those marines; we may have need 
 for them at home, before another election survives 
 the press is damnable, but there's a remedy." 
 
 The news strange to say once more reached Hono- 
 lulu in advance of orders. Whichever way their reso- 
 lute intermeddler turned, his intentions, however well 
 guarded, seemed certain of anticipation; particularly 
 where least expected or desired : thinking ones gathered 
 round the apparently despised provisional government 
 and made ready for a most blunderingly fore- 
 shadowed scene, while mistaken zeal and overwrought' 
 enthusiasm flamed afresh all patriotic Hawaii. 
 
222 KAIUOLANI 
 
 The queen stubbornly awakened, and Cole bided 
 calmly striven opportunity. 
 
 On the Progressionist side a certain kind of force- 
 ful gloom verily worked toward a deeply conscious 
 preparation. On the other hand an airy delight in 
 freedom's humbler compensation carried its unsuspect- 
 ing possessors hard over against the border line be- 
 tween feigned confidence and seasonable vigilance. 
 
 Cold necessity revealed time's continuous ebb. 
 
 "Would you of your own free will condemn these 
 men to die?" asked Langdon, indifferently, in a last 
 considerate attempt to gain the queen's clemency. 
 
 The great woman's eyes dimmed, while her heart 
 throbbed and voice failed. A will stronger than hers, 
 a duty higher than man's, and a being not of the 
 flesh answered: 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Then devise the means; ordinary mortals are not 
 privileged as gods, nor shall they at this day and 
 under my nose presume to do the devil's own work. 
 Please pardon the expression, my good lady ; anything 
 less emphatic, in my humble estimation, should cer- 
 tainly sound profane." 
 
 Liliuokolani laughed a low guttural laugh, and turn- 
 ing to her compatriots invited acclamation, none the 
 wiser of apparent defeat. She and not mortality had 
 in her estimation triumphed, for in a land where 
 patriotism heeds no loftier aim than personal content, 
 a thing promised is as good as gained. That there 
 is no end to ambition's tempting grasp, she and her 
 kind had not the temerity to comprehend. 
 
 The time had been set. America's emblem must be 
 disgraced: right re-establish their own. 
 
KAIUOLANI 223 
 
 The day revealed a glorious aspect to those privi- 
 leged with anticipation; the sun rose big and red in 
 its accustomed place; not a cloud overhung the 
 heavens; songs of joy wafted all around; the hush 
 of night had left spread its own malignant germs, 
 but the biddings and reliance of day looked up toward 
 the promise of warmth and expectancy, with no 
 thought of the mists and stagnation underhanging ; 
 where lurked and sloughed pregnant quagmires of 
 despair. 
 
 Liliuokolani prayed that morning for the president 
 and all others in authority. From her lips the word 
 spread till low gratitude had stilled the half-roused 
 nobler sentiment of yesterday. These people were 
 born to do homage, and a filled cup served best their 
 need. 
 
 From every part of the Islands they came, some 
 blessed perchance with a little more than others, but 
 all above want and none sunken to the declining level 
 of a scrambled rectitude. Old rites were revived and 
 new ones devised. Here a gorgeous procession did 
 obsequies, as they presumed, to a dead and all but for- 
 gotten consciousness; some encircled the palace and 
 there sang songs or strewed flowers ; vast throngs of 
 the more curious, but silenced, belabored hard this or 
 that vantage point on the streets and avenues leading 
 toward the flagstaff, but none felt or knew the signifi- 
 cance of that they beheld. 
 
 The growing, seething, listless crown gorged in- 
 dulgently upon disordered content. 
 
 A handful of whites marched down through the 
 salf-making rent in the jumbled ranks. These bore 
 arms reversed; they would not disobey, though a 
 
224 KAIUOLANI 
 
 charge filled each upturned gun : halting, and awaiting 
 the scene that strong hearts humbly grieved, their 
 heads uncovered and hands ready, a courier rushed 
 forward, the bugle sounded and a tumultuous noise 
 rent the air; the mob had given vent to its only 
 worth, and if ever might made right or an order 
 lost its bearing those sturdy patriots in the face of 
 that flag wrought a noble deed. 
 
 Far away, at Kanai, whence he had been spirited, 
 the better to nurse a bleeding wound and revive an 
 endangered courage, Aokahameha lay low with mend- 
 ing. A loved one's father, prince David, and Bender 
 her accomplice, parleyed at one side the big lodge 
 where she herself had romped and grown to maiden- 
 hood. The warmed winds from over the desert sands 
 and off the tumbling waters in front lolled and soothed 
 him into dreaming. Ihoas sat tenderly by. 
 
 "The gods be praised, for the queen is restored," 
 said he, fully looking the conscious princess inquir- 
 ingly in the face. 
 
 "Yes ; we owe much to providence," replied she, 
 evasively. 
 
 "No, no, Ihoas; tell me, are my words but mock- 
 ery?" cried he, vainly attempting to rise from the 
 pillow at his head. 
 
 "There, now; you must not take on so; your parr* 
 is done well; the queen shall yet tell you as much 
 with her Own lips," urged the princess, apprehensive, 
 but knowing. 
 
 "I did ignobly. Let it stand that Aokahameha 
 sacrificed honor, intelligence, everything, to pander 
 hopelessly: let me suffer like the traitor that I am; 
 Ihoas deserves a better love." 
 
KAIUOLANI 225 
 
 Sinking back again in bed, the big man's eyes dulled 
 with far-off, unsatisfied comprehension. Presently 
 Ihoas, clasping gently his hand and bending over in 
 silence, heard him say, distinctly : 
 
 "Elmsford is Ihoas's; his eyes are open; Americans 
 cannot be trusted." 
 
 Aokahameha's one prediction, upon that occasion, 
 had sooner proven true, though to him it remained 
 unverified. 
 
 In the confusion resulting from the president's well 
 exposed, but half enforced orders Gutenborj deemed 
 it advisable, in consequence of no other prospect, to 
 place himself directly upon the queen's side. Kaiuo- 
 lani had returned and bore the best of assurances: 
 the hardfisted planter's interest above all else must 
 be conserved, hence Young pressed into a new leader- 
 ship and the crown princess reconciled to an old love ; 
 neither of which seemed a difficult undertaking in 
 view of the queen's ready acquiescence and his own 
 hitherto untouched resources. 
 
 Thus it was that Floyd Young had found it pos- 
 sible within short notice to raise and equip for hasty 
 service a new troop of five hundred men. Isaacs had 
 been stripped of everything to effect the other's re- 
 lease, and now lay bound and gagged by the marines 
 as a convenient excuse, if needed, for delaying an 
 idly questioned departure. Norton waxed more anx- 
 ious than ever. The one that she cared for openly 
 denied an only rival, and had he not barely escaped 
 her? 
 
 "It is fortunate that I once befriended her royal 
 highness," said Norton, to herself, with ecstacy, after 
 
226 KAIUOLANI 
 
 a first personally requested meeting with the planter 
 king. "Me? A go-between? What luck!" 
 
 In the break, occasioned for the most part by 
 Gutenborj's advice against Norton, Young had in his 
 own mind completely relegated the once duly heeded 
 philosopher. That he, in his present attitude, cringing 
 and childlike, could personally render effective aid 
 to either the queen or the opposition seemed a thing 
 utterly behind the trend of latter requisition. Why 
 not take advantage of a misjudged proffer to use his 
 fortune ? 
 
 "Press him as needs be, and I'll promise " 
 
 "Your hand and oh Floyd; how I have waited 
 
 and tried for this!" 
 
 "I was about to say: an army. That is the first 
 requisite. All delectation hinges upon accomplish- 
 ment. Force of some kind or manner lies behind 
 every privilege. You have earned the highest felici- 
 ties at my disposal; but let me prove in truth a hand 
 before you would deign accept on trial the heart." 
 
 Norton blushed; not with disappointment, but at 
 the price exacted of an under-help. Man might reason 
 himself superior, in fact make himself such, but sooner 
 or later fate must resolve the equalities of patient 
 endeavor. 
 
 "I'll build, encourage, and cherish him: Kaiuolani 
 could but hate, retard, and destroy; she is impolitic, 
 and policy lies at the foundation of all worldly ap- 
 preciation : for all we know, or would, the heavens 
 measure recognition with the same yardstick used on 
 earth. Up and at it, then, with the grace of a kind," 
 said she, to herself, bidding Young attend his part; 
 as there should be no failing of funds so long as 
 
KAIUOLANI 227 
 
 Gutenborj reasoned; or, thought she, "obstacle in 
 the way of my own attainment if Kaiuolani be the 
 only rival." 
 
 The plan worked admirably, as they all thought, 
 though the princess puzzled her inquisitor severely 
 and provoked Gutenborj not a little from the first 
 attempt hence. 
 
 "I love you, aunty, and am ready to die, if needs 
 be, for you ; but please remember that my heart is my 
 own and that it will be not at all unlike me to choose 
 the manner of sacrifice." 
 
 "What do you mean, child?" queried the queen, 
 much disturbed. 
 
 "Give me the command of this proposed soldiery, 
 and I shall put an end to strife hereabouts. Now, 
 then ; you have my ultimatum ; what is your pleasure?" 
 replied the princess, as Gutenborj emerged clandes- 
 tinely from an adjoining room. 
 
 "Nonsense ! Woman can better rock the cradle," 
 proffered he, coming forward vehemently. 
 
 "Thanks. Others before you have said as much, 
 but I still have a chance. Bender 
 
 "Kaiuolani !" interceded the good queen, unable 
 longer to contemplate further possibilities. 
 
 "Very well," ejaculated Gutenborj. "But, I might 
 say if it can in any manner serve as an encourage- 
 ment to you that Young is in command and already 
 holds, beyond dislodgment, the state house and all 
 there is in it : possession is nine points in law, and 
 sanity compels your humble servant to get and keep 
 in line with order, every time, if I know myself, 
 my good lady, so don't count on me." 
 
 Kaiuolani refused longer to parley, and politely de- 
 
228 KAIUOLANI 
 
 parting from the palace made haste to see and advise 
 the still loyal, if indignant Elmsford. 
 
 "I am departing for America, on to-day's outgoing 
 steamer," said she, after a little, wholly convinced. 
 "Please see Ihoas, and advise her of my intentions 
 and sympathy." 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Upon arriving in America a second time, though 
 absent but a few short weeks, it seemed as if some 
 overpowering influence, something larger, more ef- 
 fective and evasive than humans could or should know 
 and comprehend had seized upon and changed the 
 fate of government. 
 
 All this appeared to Kaiuolani as in a trance. 
 
 At San Francisco, her place of landing, the news- 
 papers set their headlines with type bigger and blacker 
 than any she had theretofore seen. The shout of 
 freedom everywhere arose from hardset lips. The 
 very activities on the streets portended larger unreal- 
 ized claims. 
 
 "In heaven's name, what sort of license do these 
 people want? I know of no place on earth where 
 men are not privileged to do right. Certainly at my 
 small birthplace such a thing as bondage is unknown 
 never was. Then why this clamor about liberty? 
 there lies a deeper wellspring than Hawaii," said 
 Kaiuolani, half-consciously, as the vitally suggestive, 
 comfortably appointed, pulsating train, in which she 
 rode, swiftly carried her over land and water, across 
 voiceless wastes and round unresponsive heights, 
 toward an endlessly enervating destiny. 
 
 Answering to will-call alone, the newly inspired, 
 perchance reasonably dissatisfied princess leaned back 
 in the car seat, and looking out at the window con- 
 
230 KAIUOLANI 
 
 templated the possibilities of such a horde should am- 
 bition overstep the bounds of individual interest and 
 self-contended place. To what purpose might not 
 such a people awaken ; or, in fact, heights attain. 
 
 The dawn seemed wrapped and fettered with an 
 endless chain of unrealized possibilities, yet a faint 
 light began to break the gloom as sometimes distant 
 hope gratifies a stricken conscience, and Kaiuolani 
 resolved to meet and determine as best she knew her 
 little part and place. 
 
 "I think," said she, barely listening to the trend 
 of an inner thought, "I deign fairly see America's 
 rising orb scarcely entering, boldly disclosing an in- 
 separable, if inherited horison: no agency without 
 or factor within appears to reveal an attendant mag- 
 nitude or attraction sufficient to check or alter one whit 
 her humanly transcendant march down through the 
 welkin of a divinely provisioned nebula: thriving m 
 a field as boundless as fertile, push has made him what 
 he is, and the same energies, directed and inspired 
 heroically, would drive his empire on and over the 
 crackling bones of a pinched and scarce-knowing 
 world's autocracy. Americans wax supreme. 
 
 What in the conflict might her own dire land do 
 best? Better lay its hopes and aspirations as kindling 
 to the spark that portended conflagration. 
 
 The serpent coiled, its forked tongue lipped, and 
 fixed gaze bewildered : Kaiuolani stood motionless and 
 her enticer willed his prey. 
 
 "I came a seeker: the matchless bounty that lures, 
 claims me, rivets self a hostage. My God, what is 
 the charm! Whence my haven? How reach the 
 sublime?" 
 
KAIUOLANI 231 
 
 At Washington the streets were thronged ; idle men 
 lauded themselves into headless armies, marching from 
 everywhere, apparently ineffective, upon the capitol; 
 a few, with brows knitted or eyes beaming, gathered 
 in orderly fashion these Kaiuolani observed to 
 emerge with pleasing expression ; the president roared 
 and backed, at bay : none bore him confidence, not 
 a man or faction heeded his advice ; the whole machin- 
 ery of state seemed ready to break Kaiuolani paused 
 at the threshold, level heads adjusted the values, the 
 old ship made ready to head-on, and the larger thoaght 
 loomed in the foreground. 
 
 Away, back in Hawaii, where only a short week 
 hence all the possibilities of life, as opened to her, 
 apparently centered in a single purpose, Floyd Young 
 hotly forged toward the same enlarged idea, though 
 the craft in which he launched should prove a leaking 
 hulk, already sighted and fairly prepared to sink and 
 drift in the foremost runners wake. 
 
 At Norton's hands Gutenborj had furnished the 
 funds and Chairman Cole the occasion to raise him to 
 a respectable leadership under the auspices of a linger- 
 ing provisional government. 
 
 Uhlrix became his friend the need of it stared 
 Young in the face: just what prompted the former 
 to hold the marines at his beck and call, in the face 
 of orders from Washington, they both seemingly in- 
 tended a sophisticated public to surmise, if interested. 
 
 A few stragglers from the disbanded Rifles once 
 more enlisted on provision of pay; there were some 
 missionaries more enthusiastic than discreet, but the 
 rest of Young's five hundred came from no one 
 claimed to know. 
 
232 KAIUOLANI 
 
 The little band stood organized and equipped. A 
 strange signal sounded from afar, and their com- 
 mander springing into the stirrups, as on another day, 
 ordered the advance. 
 
 The American flag came down. 
 
 Strange pickets quickly surrounded the place, and 
 those rilled with the pride of country or inspired by 
 reverence to deplore an abuse abhorred, turned their 
 backs or hung the head in disgraceful accord. 
 
 The marines, attending the flag lowering, retired 
 into camp, and Young grappled with opportunity. 
 
 At last he stood master; Gutenborj had for the 
 first time committed himself; unconsciously assumed 
 the aggressive: without intending as much had tied 
 hand and foot to measures and responsibilities he 
 would dodge ; Young looked keenly deep into the 
 situation, and drove hard ahead under an only too 
 subtle advantage. 
 
 Cole alone, of those at hand whose station or in- 
 terests warranted, dared offer resistance to the fired- 
 up general's growing ambition. 
 
 "Would you make yourself dictator?" meekly 
 queried the conscience-stricken chairman, confronting 
 advisedly at last his newly risen adjutant. 
 
 "I would make you president, had you the courage 
 to take advantage of a very great need," declared 
 Young, candidly. 
 
 Slow of comprehension, Cole did not grasp at once 
 quite the meaning of that reply. He had taken the 
 relegated young colonel, of doubtful proclivities, into 
 his confidence and as a progressionist reinvested him 
 with both rank and authority, not at all in conse- 
 quence of any particular respect for his personality 
 
KAIUOLANI 233 
 
 or hold upon the future, but solely because in him 
 and through him he conjectured the readiest means 
 with which to break down local antagonisms, dis- 
 creetly or otherwise standing in the way of final an- 
 nexation to the United States. 
 
 It was this latter thought, and that only, which 
 had in the first instance prompted him to accept a 
 chairmanship so fraught with possibilities : to that 
 end and no other he would now make any concession, 
 bend every energy. 
 
 "Very well," said he, after a time, having reasoned 
 long but well the probable consequences ; "I am at 
 your service." 
 
 The intelligence wrung out of Young, apropos that 
 final word, more than justified Cole's surprising con- 
 cession ; there was no alternative ; armies rule. 
 
 That night a special issue of the Ware Wizzard 
 Wise disclosed an astounding bit of intelligence, pub- 
 lished a call for delegates to a new kind of national 
 convention ; Norton, too, had felt the hand of mastery, 
 and begun to utilize the powers of larger love. Uhlrix 
 ordered the last of the marines on board his flag- 
 ship there seemed no further need or advisability of 
 their lending assistance the whites, under the forced 
 encouragement of Giitenborj, flocked to Young's sup- 
 port, and the constitution an altogether new one 
 suddenly sprang into possible reality. Aristocracy 
 had stopped short of restitution, and the Republic 
 rose instead. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Amazed and terror stricken everybody cowered 
 or ran to cover under stress of Cole's surprising 
 growth. Upon the floor or in the lobbies his will 
 soon came to resolving their actions, and without 
 questioning motives or denying the inspiration every 
 man not in sympathy with stagnation found himself 
 unknowingly and irrevocably bound to a single dicta- 
 tion. 
 
 The division seemed fairly made; with few excep- 
 tions the. hopeful, progressive whites were rallied and 
 driven as only progress demands. The natives still 
 groped in darkness. Their Messiah did not mate- 
 rialize. 
 
 From behind an abandoned throne the queen feebly 
 protested, but Cole read the new declaration aloud 
 from the court house steps, and without a dissenting 
 voice (none being permitted such, except he swore 
 allegiance to the new regime) was elected president, 
 and Young turned his attention to larger doings. 
 
 "This new Fourth of July only marks the beginning 
 of my career," said he, earnestly but discreetly, to 
 Norton, a few days after the date of their proclaimed, 
 independence. 
 
 They were sitting on the upper veranda, at the 
 big hotel where Norton lived and chose to entertain. 
 The deposed Royal Band occupied a stand in the 
 foreground they were now glad of a living and 
 
KAIUOLANI 235 
 
 played with energy, but the melody of an unforgotten 
 past ladened each strain with yearnings that reached 
 and touched the heart cords of defeated and victor- 
 ious alike. 
 
 "I wish the management would dispense with that 
 out-of-date music," replied Norton, purposely ignor- 
 ing Young's remark; "I hate bygones, and these poor 
 Hawaiians rouse unpleasant memories." 
 
 "You are too hard, altogether, Norton," remarked 
 Young, concernedly. ''Give them a chance they are 
 but rinding their level." 
 
 "General, have you forgotten? It is 'Martha' you 
 are addressing." 
 
 "Oh, yes; excuse me; 'Martha' it is, as promised. 
 Well Martha, as I was saying, these people must 
 live; there is no occasion, that I know of, for their 
 extermination; and, as they prove their fitness, I 
 have a mind to take them over." 
 
 "Kaiuolani, as well?" ventured Norton, facetiously. 
 
 "Bender shall attend to her if he succeeds in es- 
 caping me : I hear he is leaving on the next steamer." 
 
 Norton made no reply, though Young, in a polite 
 manner, stared her fairly out of countenance. He 
 wanted Bender rid of, and knew of no better or 
 swifter means than permitting or inducing a voluntary 
 or devised going abroad. Once out, he himself should 
 take care to see that he did not soon return, if at 
 all: Kaiuolani would not; she had no reason for the 
 doing of so rash a thing. 
 
 Presently a messenger ran up and, saluting, said: 
 
 "His excellency, the president, desires your presence 
 at the mansion." 
 
236 KAIUOLANI 
 
 "Tell Cole that I shall be at army headquarters 
 within a short half-hour." 
 
 "I may as well have it out with him, now," said 
 Young, to Norton, immediately the messenger had 
 gone. 
 
 Norton again denied him the satisfaction of a reply. 
 Possibly she may have expected her turn to come 
 next, but if so was most agreeably disappointed; for, 
 admonishing a strict censorship over the press, and 
 hinting the possibility of a speedy marriage between 
 Wayntro and Uena-O-Zan, he arose and bade her 
 a hasty good-afternoon. 
 
 The distance from the hotel was not great and 
 Young chose to walk, as he was want to do always, 
 with head down, when alone and burdened with 
 thought. 
 
 Presently while rounding a deserted corner, about 
 midway thence, the crack of a rifle startled him into 
 consciousness. 
 
 The bullet barely grazed his head, and Young 
 dropped as if dead. 
 
 Lying there, unarmed, the suspense drove hard upon 
 him his folly. The ruse, however, availed him, and 
 at the sound of retreating footsteps in the nearby 
 brush the thoroughly frightened general scrambled 
 to his feet and proceeding without further hindrance 
 or harm toward the armory marvelled the experience. 
 
 There he found Cole, accompanied by Gutenborj, 
 impatiently waiting. 
 
 "What is the meaning of your reply, to a presi- 
 dent's message ?" demanded his excellency, hotly. 
 
 "It means that hereafter Cole seeks Young, I take 
 
KAIUOLANI 237 
 
 it, upon reflection are you agreed: do you under- 
 stand, Mr. President?" 
 
 "That is, evidently, your interpretation; but, is it 
 right, is it politic?" 
 
 "Under the circumstances, yes." 
 
 "Is our republic different from any other the 
 United States for instance?" 
 
 "I hadn't stopped to think of that: this one, how- 
 ever, is modeled after a pattern strictly mine 1 I am 
 not particularly interested in the United States, that 
 I know of." 
 
 Cole's spirit sank. He thought of the army their 
 government's only hope and of how apparently every 
 available recruit had hurried to enlist, and now stood 
 ready and eager to do a risen comrade's bidding. The 
 very consciousness of Young's tactics and his own 
 feeble recourse drove cold the thought. Would or 
 could the world learn to accept diplomacy and de- 
 nounce the brutal exigencies of war? Gutenborj's 
 frozen countenance sufficed. Man must regenerate. 
 Till then, the cord is broken. 
 
 They sat in silence. No one dared answer. Not 
 men, but ambitions were at stake. Young resumed : 
 
 "I grant we are only human, therefore let reason 
 guide, if the will move us. You, gentlemen, each' 
 one of you, thoroughly representative, have your aims : 
 I have mine. Who shall determine the right?" 
 
 "God," said Cole, reverently. 
 
 "And I shall endeavor to gain His decision : the 
 army is at call, I have no further need in that 
 respect, but I would have two first class assistants. 
 Are you prepared?" 
 
 "For what?" asked Cole, interestedly. 
 
238 KAIUOLANI 
 
 "The building of empire." 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 "Here, in Polynesia." 
 
 "But this is a republic?" 
 
 "And but the means to an end as all republics 
 are," replied Young, with lighter heart. 
 
 "Good boy!" shouted Gutenborj, springing to his 
 feet, enthusiastically. "I always believed you should 
 come to some great end. Where do I stand?" 
 
 "On the right; I must have funds, first of all: 
 next, men. Cole is left lieutenant." 
 
 "Truly said, and accepted." 
 
 "You shall sit with the gods, for as men sacrifice 
 they reap." 
 
 Here were three men planning the destinies of a 
 nation, of nations, as time should prove, two of 
 whom did as one willed. They were but flesh and 
 blood, as others are, of about the same stature, 
 mentally and morally. Born of conventional 
 parentage, bred in the belief that all men are equal, 
 inspired with notions of progress, they had in some 
 unaccountable way converged at a common point, 
 under favorable auspices. What should we call it? 
 
 Young believed that individual will power were 
 enough to raise every man to any height as meas- 
 used by standards proportionately co-ordinating in ac- 
 cidental opportunity. 
 
 The world seemed good to live in, a prison had 
 taught him severely the lesson of conscience, and vvith 
 no other fear than failure he would drive hard the 
 limit of a self-provisioned endurance. 
 
 The light that radiated round his little sphere served 
 truly as a beacon at night. 
 
KAIUOLANI 239 
 
 But day dawned. 
 
 In America, where men's hearts aimed at liberty, 
 the master that heeds no other god than truth, a 
 force already builded, created opportunity, and willed 
 not at all beyond the ken of presidents or leaders. 
 Kaiuolani saw more and knew better than Young 
 verily imagined. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 There the whole populace appeared to have taken 
 up arms against their executive; for a lowering of 
 that flag in the nearby Pacific, had effectively turned 
 pride into hatred. 
 
 Their countrymen had planted it, right or wrong, 
 to stay : as evidenced by the native element's inability 
 to prevent another's taking its place. Young's final 
 coup had proven to all Americans at home conclusively 
 the wisdom of Harvenoiq's supposed initial inter- 
 ference. 
 
 Designing politicians and interested spectators every- 
 where advantaged themselves and weakened the ad- 
 ministration by antagonizing credits and curtailing 
 investments. Another election loomed close at hand. 
 Idle men crying for bread on the one hand, and 
 patriotic citizens shouting the freedom of Hawaii on 
 the other, cut short the president's oldtime influence. 
 The would-be sage at the White House and attempted 
 patron of autocracy roared defiant at the touch and 
 take of inadvertent omission. 
 
 Kaiuolani purposely held aloof ; a constantly in- 
 creasing comprehension, in truth convinced her that 
 neither kings nor presidents could nor should stay 
 or deny the inevitableness of public will. Floyd 
 Young might for the time being raise himself above 
 the good of country, and perchance the president of 
 the United States abuse confidence temporarily, but 
 
KAIUOLANI 241 
 
 in the end those who laid an ear most closely to the 
 unmistakable soundingboard of universal sentiment 
 should finally triumph over individual belief of what- 
 soever kind or import. 
 
 She lingered and Bender came upon the scene, 
 clandestinely and enthusiastic. 
 
 "You are wasting your time here, Kaiuolani. These 
 people are not in sympathy with your cause, and their 
 executive is bound underhandedly to the interests 
 responsible for his election. It is a give and take 
 proposition, and you have nothing to offer except, 
 perhaps, it were possible for you to accept and avail 
 yourself of my fortune, which I beg the privilege of 
 placing at your disposal." 
 
 "No ; I had sooner take you there could be no dis- 
 grace in that; now my rank is gone: my heart is 
 stone ; would you like me ?" 
 
 "This is not at all a jesting .matter, with me, Kaiuo- 
 lani. I am serious, though you have had occasion 
 to believe me wholly mercenary. There was a time 
 when borrowed or, shall I say, married station would 
 have satisfied me; but, I pray you, let me now prove 
 my sincerity. I can put an end to foreign meddling, 
 so far as we are concerned, and Young is " 
 
 "A traitor ! Fie on him, and his kind. I hate him ! 
 God shall surely strike them." 
 
 Bender did not finish the sentence, though he 
 really believed Young a dead man, and buried, too, 
 at that very moment. Kaiuolani had, however, broken 
 the spell and prudence saved him the consequence 
 of an incorrigible blunder. 
 
 "You didn't think so, once upon a time," replied 
 he, with returning confidence. "Had you reasoned 
 
242 KAIUOLANI 
 
 differently then but in that case Bender might not 
 have had an opportunity to prove his worth." 
 
 "A woman never reasons." 
 
 u She is right, nine times in ten, though just as 
 you were when you first declined, as you do no\v, my 
 favors." 
 
 "I had rather you won than bought your spurs." 
 
 "Good. Now then : there is one thing you'll promise : 
 poison Elmsford " 
 
 "Against the republic? That is easy, if you are 
 quite agreed." 
 
 "I can trust you." 
 
 "How confiding!" 
 
 "I haven't told you my plans, though." 
 
 "Nor would I have you do so however much I 
 believe you ought to begin with the United States, 
 as you would have me influence Elmsford ; American 
 recognition might go a long way toward establishing 
 Young's regime. Prevent that, and I shall believe 
 you worthy of well, most any old thing." 
 
 Having sooner conceived and determined a scheme 
 larger and better than his, Kaiuolani inwardly shrank 
 from seeming impossibilities, thus outwardly may have 
 assumed an apparently astonishing attitude; for no 
 other living soul whom she knew could or wou!.l 
 serve as Bender should the means to a desired end. 
 
 They had both set upon Young's downfall. He, 
 solely because he believed that were enough to win 
 Kaiuolani but she, in view of an ultimatum to her 
 of larger consequence. 
 
 The wailings and the admonitions of eighty mil- 
 lions inspired her: Young heard and voiced only the 
 askings of one little plea. Self had conquered both, 
 
KAIUOLANI 243 
 
 but the starting point of each had been as widely 
 distant as the race is swift. Either would sacrifice 
 anything, everything to win, and had Bender been 
 as guilty as he believed himself Kaiuolani would yet 
 lay even love at his feet to crush a foe and reinaugu- 
 rate the liberties that gave her being. 
 
 "No, Bender," said she after a little, neither one 
 having fully recovered the effect of her last remark; 
 "I would not have you believe me always fickle. I 
 too desire to do a real woman's part, but before 
 you and I can think of our little selves we must 
 attend to striven duty. Go back to my people and 
 tell them that you do not falter: the influence that I 
 alone may exert at Washington shall make you pos- 
 sible. You know thus far my plans, and I yours. 
 What the future holds, let truth itself unfold." 
 
 "I believe I understand you," replied he, truth- 
 fully. "I came here to reveal an undertaking that 
 you have sooner anticipated. We are agreed in every- 
 thing except its inauguration. I had desired bringing 
 the administration, you know money talks in Amer- 
 ica, but as you have conceived wiser I shall return, 
 as you suggest, and trust me, Kaiuolani, there shall 
 be no failure thence true chivalry lies deep in re- 
 spect." 
 
 Upon Bender's going, as he had come, Kaiuolani 
 brightened with fresh encouragement. She believed 
 him capable of playing his part, and well; and now 
 that so much depended upon her she directly turned 
 all attention to the big gnarly president, her only hope. 
 
 On the other hand the newly found champion sped 
 returning toward Hawaii, the place whence, but a 
 few days ago, he had departed, yearning and un- 
 
244 KAIUOLANI 
 
 certain. Kaiuolani's assurances now displaced doubt 
 and possessed him with a better courage; nor was 
 his withered conscience wholly devoid of character; 
 he should have in turn relieved her of further duties 
 or burdens distasteful had he not foreshadowed a 
 danger and Bender courted success at any cost. 
 
 Landing at Honolulu in confidence bolstered with 
 connivance, the police grabbed their intended victim. 
 Young was on the lookout, and before Bender could 
 realize it or comprehend his escape, another had been 
 thrust into jail, heavily ironed and doubly guarded. 
 
 "I have got you now," said Young, confidently, 
 upon entering the darkened cell, late that evening, 
 alone and unobserved. "You thought me dead, but 
 you see me risen. Yes; alive, as a result of you 
 bad marksmanship ; and, I am going to kill you !" 
 
 "No you're not; Floyd Young wouldn't kill any- 
 body, much less one in irons. Come, what do you 
 want of me?" replied the prisoner without a quaver. 
 
 "Those papers; you undertook to guard, so gra- 
 ciously. Where are they?" 
 
 "Norton can tell you that; she must have them 
 by this time." 
 
 "Liar!" 
 
 "A pretty speech for a gentleman." 
 
 "It is in vogue and, virtue abides recognition, I 
 assume." 
 
 "When questioned?" 
 
 "The underdog is disbelieved I can give or take." 
 
 "Strike, then!" 
 
 "A woman? Not I; yet I have a mind to unmask 
 you." 
 
 "Floyd! I couldn't help it." 
 
KAIUOLANI 245 
 
 "And you have served me, though jealousy prove 
 the means of our undoing. I'll not ask the reason. 
 Let bygones be such, and well it is that Kaiuolani 
 had not played me the trick; I could never have for- 
 given her, as I shall you." 
 
 "Nor love her as you do me?" 
 
 "No; not as you; that would be impossible. But, 
 have you the papers? We must quit this place; 
 Bender is at large, and Kaiuolani what of her?" 
 
 Norton boldly walked from her cell, disguised and 
 in company with Young, her ready protector, notwith- 
 standing the incident soon reached and roused Cole, 
 their astonished president, if not some others less in 
 authority. 
 
 Love knows no alternate. 
 
 As Kaiuolani, too, had good reason to exemplify; 
 for out of anticipation there arose silently but force- 
 fully a success gentler, more fanciful than lone realiza- 
 tion had ever brought: base gratitude worked its 
 pitiful compensation; and in her mind Bender soon 
 glorified by deed a just if bitter appreciation. 
 
 Surrendering wholly to the demands of conscience 
 and believing herself obligated inviolably, body and 
 soul, to the man who dared brave death that she 
 might attain the half she really conceived, Kaiuolani 
 faced round and turned progress with a confidence 
 which comes we know not whence or how, but evolves 
 solely within the driven reach of stern responsibility 
 alone. 
 
 Her associations at Washington had been most con- 
 fidential and agreeable, secretly placing her in a posi- 
 tion to reach and influence the president without its 
 being at all necessary for her personally to intrude 
 
246 KAIUOLANI 
 
 or suggest a wish very happily so, as all thought 
 and every expedient supposedly must originate within 
 the halo of his own masterly comprehension. 
 
 There should, however, be some apparent ground 
 upon which he might base a reasonable presumption: 
 Kaiuolani pondered. 
 
 "I shall draft a letter, submitting to congress an 
 impossible appeal. My personal grievances and their 
 innate helplessness should rouse the president's sym- 
 pathies. Some friend may suggest a remedy. He 
 must refuse Young recognition, and Bender shall do 
 the rest," said she, to herself, bursting out with 
 exuberance. 
 
 Losing not a moment, the conjuring elements that 
 should resolve a last triumph had scarcely rippled the 
 surface before American interference ended and the 
 U. S. S. Bonton weighed anchor for home. Their 
 president did as Kaiuolani willed, and the republic 
 failed to gain recognition. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Thus the new thought rooted and spread as Kaiuo- 
 lani had foreseen and chosen. That the giant forces 
 within its provisioned reach should drive and take 
 where least resistance held, science clearly demon- 
 strated. American, expansion throve and grew in- 
 carnate. 
 
 Young halted at the brink. Not to hear and heed, 
 though the roar and din of ordination across the 
 seas had warned him timely; nor as a test in the 
 crucible of conscience, but Kaiuolani had bidden him 
 do, and if she no longer bore any relations to his 
 actions her words seered deeply the soul. 
 
 "I am destined leader," said he, to the rallying 
 elements, standing ready and observent, "and no sordid 
 interests shall stay or deaden the wellspring of lofty 
 citizenship. Rise Polynesia, courage countrymen, to 
 establish and defend your home !" 
 
 They swore allegiance, and the frail Kaiuolani five 
 thousand or more miles distant mocked defiantly the 
 spirit wafting thither the message. 
 
 "Hang he shall !" declared she, boldly speeding 
 toward her home, the land that he would claim as 
 empire. 
 
 "You are my prisoner," whispered Young, as the 
 startled princess gravely tripped the gangplank at 
 Honolulu, her chosen place of landing. 
 
 "Yours? No. And you are a vagabond, with 
 
248 KAIUOLANI 
 
 neither heart nor hand; God forgave you the one, 
 a power higher than man shall save me the other. 
 Do you hear me?" replied Kaiuolani, with no thought 
 of the consequences. 
 
 Self -accused and smote in will the strong man at 
 last wavered, and chose to have done with strife; 
 the trees, the birds, and the air around essayed to 
 call forth freedom's way Kaiuolani's eyes danced 
 and freshened with the glow of inordinate being; but 
 Norton saved him. 
 
 "Shackle her," snarled the editress, confident in 
 her hold upon escheated love. 
 
 Having come into their lives at sympathy's door, 
 none harbored feelings as dead or deeds as fickle as 
 she. Kaiuolani had fallen at her rise, and the dip 
 of exultation kindled hatred, like dregs fire an unsatis- 
 fied thirst. 
 
 "Shackle her!" repeated Norton, gloating to taunt 
 an abused sister. 
 
 "No, no. I will not," cried Young, pathetically. 
 
 Kaiuolani raised her eyes from the dread ground, 
 whence she had fervently implored the spirit of old 
 Kamehameha. Young flushed, and thwarted her gaze, 
 She advanced and he backed. 
 
 "You are a coward and cannot," said the princess, 
 coldly cognizant. 
 
 "Then I shall," replied Norton, unexpectedly au- 
 thoritative. "Men, I command you : arrest this person 
 and hold her prisoner at the palace." 
 
 Cole forthwith very gladly and wisely sanctioned her 
 commitment; whereupon the proud princess, over- 
 whelmed and checked, was haled into a confinement 
 that, strange to say, not only gave her the freedom 
 
KAIUOLANI 249 
 
 of the one place she, most of all, just then sought, 
 but brought her into an otherwise, at that time, im- 
 possible communication with the queen herself ; Liiiuo- 
 kolani had sooner been fortunately, as it proved to 
 be accorded a like untimely treatment. 
 
 The two women met, rejoiceful, and eager, but 
 did not embrace. 
 
 Outside, a murky haze hung low, and thickened 
 under apparent pressure; whence, none knew or 
 questioned ; but Liliuokolani's eyes enlarged and peered 
 significantly. 
 
 "Hearken, daughter !" whispered she, fearfully look- 
 ing about, the while clasping tightly Kiauolani's two 
 cold hands. 
 
 "Yes, aunty; there is a storm brewing; but God 
 shall protect us." 
 
 "Do you still believe?" 
 
 "The times are ominous; yet He is our saviour.'* 
 
 "But the jewels are stolen. His coronet is gone. 
 Our land trembles with profanity. The gods are 
 disturbed !" 
 
 "Yes, dear; but our God, the one and only God 
 of all gods, shall proclaim peace in the great here- 
 after." 
 
 "But now; Kaiuolani, now!" 
 
 "Faith, aunty; have faith." 
 
 "In Kamehameha at my age. Hero of battles, 
 thunder your warnings; my trust is in Kileaua: no 
 stain escapes there, and Pele ! O, Pele. Let me again 
 behold your wonderful tresses. I feel them now, as 
 combed in heaven. Pele!" 
 
 They sat quietly contemplating; the princess would 
 not profane things picturing immortality, with any 
 
250 KAIUOLANI 
 
 answer the world had yet seen fit to reveal. The gods 
 now battled; and her idol lost consciousness in the 
 splendors of an unrestrained conception. Kaiuolani 
 drew close to the brink, awaiting breathlessly the light 
 that should beacon her safely into the reach of a 
 glorious past. 
 
 The heavens grew darker, and the atmosphere 
 heavier. Everything seemed as if chained, and doomed 
 to the treachery of fate. No man there could do or 
 discern anything. 
 
 Presently the earth rocked, as if rent in two. The 
 light flashed, sounds afar were heard distinctly, and 
 every person and thing sprang up. 
 
 "It is true. I see with my eyes. God. Mauna-Loa. 
 The Beautiful !" cried Kaiuolani, eagerly looking from 
 the window, at the fire-lit skies around. 
 
 "My prayer is answered," said Liliuokolani, "and 1 
 welcome Kileaua; would die to live again; sacrifice 
 myself unto eternity ; depart earth as the lowliest 
 things are crystallized into rarest diadem. Let me go." 
 
 The grandeur of a truly living present startled the 
 stronger of the two into a secret consciousness of a 
 dead and possible past. That all these things had sub- 
 tilely and effectually borne their proper relation to- 
 ward the ultimate regeneration and enlightment of 
 man made the bare thought of present-day remission 
 the more frightful ; but the other one had lived out the 
 fires of equanimity: the charred embers symbolized a 
 deeper glow than reflected in merely the passing. 
 
 "No, no; you must not leave me; God can yet do 
 quite well without you : I need you. Stay and en- 
 courage me Kileaua is a hot place !" 
 
 "An old woman's only consolation. Temporal sacri- 
 
KAIUOLANI 251 
 
 fice had been less trying. Faith, and want; hope, and 
 serve ; give, and take what you can get, bids the new 
 order. I should prefer more of liberty." 
 
 "And if Kileaua made it possible, would you 
 take it?" 
 
 "How can I ? Men do with me as they like." 
 
 "Look aunty; the gates are open, the guards fly; 
 terror seizes even those who frown at things we know. 
 God has answered your prayers : let us go." 
 
 "No ; I'll not budge this place. You can fly, as you 
 once did before. I am queen, and finite; God or 
 republic." 
 
 Kaiuolani forwith left the queen at her post, 
 consciousness told her she could avail nothing there, 
 and walked out, alone and unmolested ; the old regime 
 had failed her, but did more: it opened the way to 
 present if not ultimate freedom. 
 
 Everywhere men hurried under shelter. Believers 
 foretold the divine, and no Christian dared brave that 
 catastrophe to barter with or hinder lowly man. The 
 bars were thrown down, and everybody went his way, 
 as an awakening god-self at last provisioned. 
 
 The natives reclaimed by proof positive, as sym- 
 bolized in a phenomenon openly witnessed attributed 
 the unexpected disaster solely to Young's shortcom- 
 ings. He had made himself god of them and theirs, 
 and they held him alike responsible, be it volcano or 
 misfortune that disturbed their peace. 
 
 The army mutinied; their commander's display of 
 weakness in the presence of Kaiuolani, the one person 
 above any other, whom they feared, had shaken their 
 confidence, and the demoralization and uncertainty 
 attendant upon the withdrawal and denouncement of 
 
252 KAIUOLANI 
 
 the native element lost him his grip: only for Cole's 
 timely interference, and the most heroic measures, 
 Young's whole force had disbanded. 
 
 The little republic of Hawaii, already tottering under 
 the weight and influence of its creator's unbridled 
 aspirations, thus found itself suddenly confronted with 
 a new and unthought problem. One that should sooner 
 or later rent or strip it to the foundation: like the 
 avalanche, rolling and beating toward its shores, so 
 surely portended. Did they as men merit the conflict? 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 Back in the mountains or out upon the plains the 
 same spirit (if opposite in form), that under-lay 
 America's advancement urged a simpler minded, deeper 
 wrought people to gather and organize in defence of 
 an equally inborn prerogative. Hawaiians of old had 
 looked traditionally and knowingly upon Kileaua, and 
 in the thundering, blazing elements discerned the voice 
 and will of Kamehameha. 
 
 Answer, they must. And whether confronted by 
 the lone machinations of individual schemers or 
 threatened with annihilation underneath the jugger- 
 naut of advancing empire, mattered not; content once 
 roused knows neither fear nor limit. Heeds less, 
 Christianity. 
 
 Kaiuolani sought protection at home; there she be- 
 lieved her father, a citizen and patriot, supreme. 
 
 In this however, it was as soon discovered that she 
 had reckoned, in one particular, at least, without her 
 host. Sir Charles had already been influenced by 
 Elms ford ; who, conceiving the notion of fathering an 
 Utopia of his own, found it quite convenient, upon 
 Uhlrix's withdrawal and the shifting of fleets, to form 
 a satisfactory coalition with the hard-pressed Cole and 
 his ever-urgent missionaries. Castle Banyan had be- 
 come their fortress; sheltering alike the disgruntled 
 
254 KAIUOLANI 
 
 and the ambitious: having thus inadvertently trapped 
 herself, the princess for once invoked a deliberate, 
 if confusing expedient. 
 
 "I shall not surrender, neither disobey ; but, mind 
 you, it is a false judgment that holds not until veri- 
 fied," said she, in answer to her father's impatient 
 provisioning. 
 
 "Silence, Kaiuolani. Do you forget the place?" 
 replied Sir Charles, sternly. 
 
 "The castle is yours, I believe, under existing con- 
 ditions. Pardon me." 
 
 "Elmsford, come here," continued she, addressing 
 the artist manager, who attended cautiously, in a con- 
 veniently nearby room. 
 
 "Yes, Kaiuolani." 
 
 "Remove me from this place." 
 
 "Yes, Kaiuolani." 
 
 They were not long in reaching Diamond Head ; 
 Elmsford was in her power, and there she set up 
 housekeeping as prisoner in a way as convincing to 
 him that she knew her place as it was provocative 
 elsewhere of the belief that she held in her hand 
 effectively and irredeemably the destinies of them all. 
 
 "Go publish the news, broadcast," demanded she 
 of Elmsford, her slave, before Sir Charles had fairly 
 recovered the shock. 
 
 "What news, Kaiuolani?" asked he, meekly. 
 
 "That you hold me hostage. I shall have done with 
 this tangle, in a jiffy." 
 
 "And then?" 
 
 "I'll make no promises." 
 
KAIUOLANI 255 
 
 "By jove, I like you the more, for that. And, don't 
 forget, Elmsford is no 'peach.' " 
 
 "Hist! No slang, if you would serve me." 
 
 "Yes, Kaiuolani." 
 
 Norton published the notice, on the morrow, in 
 the Ware Wizzard Wise, under double blocked, full 
 page headlines, and Wayntro, her employer, in antici- 
 pation of consequences, took Elms ford's little mes- 
 senger thence unto himself as wife. Uena-O-Zan had 
 served again her mistress, whom the flag of Eng- 
 land once more saved from molestation. 
 
 The news spreading like wildfire, drove consterna- 
 tion into the hearts of all Hawaii; as expected and 
 planned by Kaiuolani. Cole and his element be- 
 lieved themselves tricked into a British coup by none 
 other than Elmsford; Young, with better reason, 
 conjectured it a scheme, of Bender's, to wreak his 
 downfall and, in consequence, sought to heal the 
 breach with Cole : conceding the latter all administra- 
 tive functions, he reserving only supreme command 
 of the army ; the natives fired with determination, and 
 flocked to the support of Bender; who, by this time, 
 had implanted himself firmly as their true god and 
 rightful deliverer. 
 
 Having successfully connived the evasion of Young 
 and imprisonment, upon landing at Honolulu, a short 
 time hence, the old spirit seized upon the ranger 
 culprit and carried him well back into the reach of 
 an alluring past. 
 
 He had had his try with conventional freedom, the 
 tribulations of bolstered supremacy, and would thence 
 hearken the voice of nature's own being; let the red 
 
256 KAIUOLANI 
 
 blood coursing its way alone speak for glories attained ; 
 go down into the wild and rise again by deeds more 
 valorous : Ihoas listened, and together they hastened 
 with importuning a deadlier endeavor. 
 
 "Would you sit here and see our nativity swept 
 into the seas?" asked Ihoas, of her father, Prince 
 Kenlikola, in the presence of Bender, who had accom- 
 panied her thither, to Kauai, in the hope of planning 
 some reasonable support, elsewhere than within his 
 own imagination. 
 
 That these people were slow to comprehend a 
 danger and loath to exert themselves in defense even 
 of an inborn right, Bender well knew; but he also 
 understood the secret of their complacency. Only 
 touch the wellsprings of patriotism and content were 
 a thing as quickly forgotten, the religion of a bygone 
 should burst out again in perfect frenzy, while for 
 their leaders and their gods they would stand ready to 
 fall at the stake. 
 
 The prince started at the import of his daughter's 
 plea, and recalling a former conflab with Bender 
 pondered well the situation. The warmth and heavi- 
 ness of a tropical environment belied the energies so 
 mildly rising to mind. Here no intrigue had pene- 
 trated; satisfaction and plenty reigned everywhere; 
 the very heavens proclaimed peace, invited their 
 enjoyment : 
 
 "Why encourage hardship?" asked he, half-weirdly 
 conscious. 
 
 "The gods, father. Do you forget our ancestors?" 
 
 Kenlikola looked from one to the other of his 
 auditors. There appeared no likeness between Bender 
 
KAIUOLANI 257 
 
 and those he had pictured in the galleries of an in- 
 definite past yet there grew and throve a liking; 
 others of the court supporters, less removed by con- 
 sanguinity, had done more to disturb the slumberings 
 of old Kamehameha. The air grew hot and stifling. 
 Ihoas came close. Kileaua flashed the hidden fire, 
 and Kenlikola bounded up a living torch : 
 
 "To war, men; the gods do lead!" 
 
 Thence there was no halting. Men that hitherto 
 had shunned the bare thought of conflict now sought 
 martyrdom in the ranks. Kenlikola led them, in the 
 North, slowly but determinedly toward Diamond 
 Head, the agreed field and rendesvous, while Bender 
 hastened into the South. 
 
 Here the whole populace stood in awe; not that 
 they feared or regarded Honolulu, the fate or stress 
 of government seldom touched even lightly these far- 
 away, unchanged believers, but the wonderful forces 
 unbosomed within Kileaua itself portended a return- 
 ing of the Messiah. 
 
 Bender knew them, and proclaimed: 
 
 "I am come to save you." 
 
 They gathered round him, kneeling and wailing in 
 fervent supplication. 
 
 The pressure remained heavy, and all about them 
 the lavas crawled and crumbled toward the seas. No 
 man's footing held against the awful insecurity there 
 experienced, and a demon lurked in every crystal 
 formed or pool that congealed, reflecting the crater 
 whence it poured out. 
 
 Hard pressed and unrelieved, the natives became 
 
258 KAIUOLANI 
 
 alarmed and grew more insistent. Some of Bender's 
 own men began to doubt. Their eyes enlarged, and 
 they made bold to ask: 
 
 "When shall the white man make peace with 
 Kileaua ?" 
 
 Ihoas heard them, and marvelled the outcome. 
 
 Shut within the deepest and darkest confines of 
 the sacred old nearby temple, Kaile, she welcomed 
 a newly found idol and willed him place. Her own 
 father had sent her thither, as an inspiration and a 
 help : Bender fell a victim to the wiles that won him 
 recognition, and when pressed without he too entered 
 the sacred chamber and there adjured liberties that 
 heed neither gods nor destruction. 
 
 Here no restraint hindered his own free will and 
 called-up fancy. The walls were thick, and rites as 
 supreme as ancient barred every door. Hoary priests 
 babbled strange melodies or admonished remem- 
 brances not of earth; and angels hovering in the 
 mists or crowding fain comprehension quickened the 
 sense and dulled dispute. 
 
 The fathers had taught well Ihoas a lesson, and 
 tradition denied her disobedience. 
 
 "Fate sent you to me, Ihoas an inspiration, a 
 fitting rebuke. Let the world rumble on; I am con- 
 tent; Ihoas is sanctified." 
 
 She had placed her trust, it seemed so very like 
 her, and all nature at once responded to the parched 
 and withered desires of restricted womanhood. The 
 beauties of creation unfolded within the discarded 
 
KAIUOLANI 259 
 
 bounds of an imagined halo the gods willed it, and 
 Ihoas lived, foretasted heaven. 
 
 Outside, a whole populace begged deliverance, and 
 the slumbering princess at last awakened. 
 
 Bender bowed submissively before her; the fires 
 had burned low and there appeared no means of 
 escape. 
 
 "Save me," cried he, "save me." 
 
 Ihoas looked the would-be traducer straightway in 
 the face. He had set himself over woman and defied 
 man. Questioned the superiority of wisdom, and 
 sought to make of procreation a convenient plaything. 
 Why such inconsistency? The tenets of her belief 
 made answer; the princess had not yet learned to 
 deny herself the saving privilege of worldly sacrifice. 
 
 Then word came of Kaiuolani. Had a like tempta- 
 tion befallen their revered one? If so, her God might 
 with remission cleanse the heart accordingly: Ihoas's 
 revealed no way so easy, or uncertain. For grace 
 there must be some atonement. 
 
 All around them men and women fell prostrate, 
 imploring the gods to release Kaiuolani. 
 
 "Save her, Ihoas, save her," cried they, with one 
 accord. 
 
 Bender had become an outcast ; none heeded longer 
 his presence. Their princess sat with downcast look. 
 Had she, too, misjudged him? fallen a victim to the 
 woes of misplaced confidence? Her heart grew with 
 heaviness, as did the atmosphere she breathed. All 
 the elements of nature seemed battling against dark- 
 ness. There must be some vent, an escaping of pent up 
 forces. Light awaited surely an awakening of the 
 spirit world. Should atonement of individual sin 
 
260 KAIUOLANI 
 
 relieve universal doubt? save the world from awful 
 catastrophe? The angels betokened finite gladness. 
 Everybody seemed turning toward her; conformity 
 predetermined the fate of Ihoas. 
 
 Sitting there, shut in and alone, her enticer had 
 long ago retired, the glories of eternity unfolded 
 certainly and pleasantly within the thought wafted 
 over by a thousand, thousand years of unbroken, 
 loyal condescension. 
 
 Were divinity asking too much? 
 
 Not as Ihoas saw. It seemed a pleasure to appease 
 wrath : serve humankind. And the grandeur of pass- 
 ing! The beauties of purification! The joy of 
 nothingness ! 
 
 "My God, I am saved; there is a way; I know it 
 now Pele, Kamehameha, Kileaua !" 
 
 The slumbering, grumbling, grinding earth lay inert 
 and restless at her feet. Ihoas looked out at the 
 jagged, ragged cone just above. A dull red under- 
 glowed and paled against the black blue clouds hang- 
 ing heavily over the gaping crater, now yawning and 
 persuading within a finger's reach. Only a drop, and 
 the troubled elements had electrified the earth and 
 cleared the skies. 
 
 Ihoas breathed more freely, and no sound escaped 
 her lips or thing of any kind hindered her fleetness of 
 foot: presently the forging heights were scaled, with- 
 out disturbing anyone or apprising them of her inten- 
 tion, and she stood complacently at the brink. 
 
 Far down beneath her, perhaps a thousand feet or 
 
KAIUOLANI 261 
 
 more, spread the molten seas, whence danced and 
 fretted little green and yellow wavelets amid gusts 
 of purplish, grayish cloudlets tumbling and vanishing 
 into space. Never had another sight seemed so placid 
 or inviting; and now that consciousness had fairly 
 dawned everything appeared to move or tend toward 
 the center, where a pool of many colors rimmed up 
 and swirled down round endless hollows. 
 
 "How sweet to contemplate !" cried she, tiptoeing 
 and balancing at the highest pinnacle around. 
 
 It seemed as if she must soar away, and there came 
 to her a winged fairy, wearing at the brow a wreath 
 of coral, who carried in one hand a twig of olive. 
 
 "Come," said he, taking her hand in his, thence 
 leading the way toward such happiness as Inoas haJ 
 not yet anticipated. 
 
 Only a flit, and the princess, too, had swept into 
 the awful vacuum. In the' twinkling of an eye its 
 thirsty elements gulped down the tiny offering, and 
 spitting forth a mighty wave, purging the heart and 
 clarifying the atmosphere, wrought a living, self- 
 explained transformation. 
 
 The liquid light shot high up, rending the clouds, 
 percipitating a calm: against the glowing heavens 
 there stood revealed a face. Ihoas smiled back upon 
 a startled world : men with gray and women past 
 usefulness, both the young and beautiful arose from 
 their knees and putting darkness behind them wor- 
 shipped thence the goddess they beheld. Ihoas had 
 risen, unveiling truth again. 
 
 There remained, among them all, only one whose 
 
262 KAIUOLANI 
 
 withered conscience and blind philosophy betokened 
 some scientific explanation or begged an unearned 
 forgiveness. Bender skulked off, toward Diamond 
 Head, alone and unreclaimed ; though time awaited 
 only the paltry accident of a more rational happening 
 to wreak a lesser change. 
 
 American expansion bore hard and fast upon 
 Hawaii's fate. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 The last note in Bender's discordant life had fairly 
 sounded. The awful visitation left him a wreck: a 
 doubter in man himself. All the things of earth that 
 he had been able to muster crumbled at the beckoning 
 of an impossible love and were she really a goddess ? 
 
 Half crazed and abandoned, the now thoroughly 
 repentant man hastened toward Diamond Head, alone 
 and unarmed. 
 
 Everywhere word had gone in advance of his com- 
 ing, in consequence of which none heeded him and 
 all revered her. Why Ihoas condoned? What ter- 
 rible thing had he done to merit their contempt? 
 
 "I'll do more than she," said he to Aokahameha, 
 who alone, and without hindrance, importuned of 
 him both respect and submission; "I'll surrender no 
 less my honor than fortune to end this senseless, cruel 
 misunderstanding." 
 
 "Then you shall have need to lose no less of time 
 than effort, for Kaiuolani and Young may again face 
 each other in the field." 
 
 Having sooner heard of Bender's perfidy, and sur- 
 mising the fright Ihoas's transition must reasonably 
 produce in the minds and hearts of uncontroverted 
 Hawaii, Kaiuolani forthwith called upon Kenlikola to 
 enter with his now frantic army the gates at Dia- 
 mond Head. 
 
 The prince, bowed with grief, and overawed by the 
 
264 KAIUOLANI 
 
 superstitious wrangling of others about a daughter's 
 ascendancy, made haste to obey ; there was already 
 much clamoring, in the ranks, for bloodshed ; the peace 
 of Ihoas, too, must be rendered, by timely sacrifice, 
 and none would spare the hated foreigner. 
 
 Young faced the situation unfalteringly, and with 
 a fortitude hitherto inexpressed; he had grown with 
 experience, and notwithstanding the government's un- 
 easiness and an only too apparently flagging interest 
 elsewhere at Honolulu marched his now thoroughly 
 sifted and carefully drilled little fighting force out of 
 the city, and toward the enemy, with all the vim and 
 confidence of a winning hand. 
 
 "The odds are against me," said he, to Cole, upon 
 departing the capital, "but as Bender is safely over- 
 come in the South, so shall Kenlikola fall at the 
 North ; shot and shell may be less fantastic, but it is 
 more effective than earthquakes or volcanoes in de- 
 termining the faith of men. As it has been always, 
 it shall be, here, to-day." 
 
 The roads were muddy, however, from the the out- 
 skirts thence, and progress became slower as they 
 neared the scene of expected action. Scouts return- 
 ing from the field continued reporting, "No enemy in 
 sight," and night came upon them. 
 
 Those gates must be reached and guarded, for 
 these men, whom they would face, prowled by night 
 like cats seeking their prey. 
 
 "Double, quick, forward !" ran along down the lines 
 from head to subordinate in a whisper. 
 
 It was dark now, and Bender lashed round them in 
 the distance. An accomplice urged him on : he neither 
 knew nor cared much where or for what purpose. 
 
KAIUOLANI 265 
 
 After a hard-forced tramp over treacherous 
 grounds, and much consultation among the heads of 
 staff, the government's sole available troop approached 
 cautiously and with rising apprehension the main en- 
 trance to Lord Xenoav's private estate at Diamond 
 Head. The place seemed deserted. Not even a lone 
 picket stood guard, and the only significant thing 
 Young could descry, there in the darkness, outside the 
 walls, appeared to be nothing more nor less than a 
 huge pile of loose timbers, stacked directly in front 
 of the closed and made fast front gate. 
 
 Wayntro had heard of such devices, through Uena- 
 O-Zan, of course, and cautioned his superior accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 "Fall back; line up; rest on your arms!" com- 
 manded Young, quietly, but without a tremor. 
 
 The halting columns obeyed, though consternation 
 rankled in their hearts. These men had fought un- 
 erringly in the daytime ; but the somber shades of mid- 
 night called to mind another and a deeper concern. 
 
 "What is yon heap?" whispered Johnny, of his 
 next, less agitated, comrade. 
 
 "You can search me," replied that one, none the 
 wiser. 
 
 "Doan yous know, what dat am?" cautioned a husky 
 voice from North Carolina. 
 
 "No; tell us, Sammy," came back in unison, from 
 those who now huddled about or craned to hear. 
 
 "Fs doan like to befrighten yous-all, I doan," re- 
 plied he, in a mysterious tone of voice and sore- 
 belabored manner. 
 
 "I'll give you a big chew of t'baccer, if you do," 
 intercepted a nearby listener, confidentially. 
 
266 KAIUOLANI 
 
 "Make it two, and I's gwine to do it," agreed 
 Sammy, doubly conscious. 
 
 "All right," put in another, less prudently inclined. 
 
 "Dat am a funeral pyle, boys; dat am so," replied 
 he, with deep satisfaction. 
 
 "Get into line there," commanded Young, sternly, 
 the while tapping those most venturesome upon the 
 back with his sword. 
 
 They all fell to and resumed quiet, though some 
 may have wondered at the temerity of their general 
 in expressing himself so flagrantly to encourage sta- 
 bility in the ranks. That pile of timbers disturbed 
 them not a little, and that none other than Young him- 
 self should be the first to quench its thirst became a 
 deep-seated conviction on the part of many there 
 breathlessly awaiting. 
 
 Presently a dull, grinding sort of noise at the "pyre," 
 as if some loosened part had settled into place, attract- 
 ing the attention of all, drove terror into the hearts* 
 of not a few. 
 
 "Wo-a-ough!" shrieked Samuel, who, dropping to 
 his knees, on his gun, sat mute and transfixed. 
 
 "Fire!" shouted Young, without a moment's warn- 
 ing. 
 
 The roar and flash of musketry broke weirdly upon 
 the still, dank surroundings; while splinters flew thick 
 and fast from the tumbling, tilting logs in the fore- 
 ground. 
 
 Bender groaned underneath the falling debris, and 
 Norton rushed from the background, pushing and 
 making her way toward the front. 
 
 "My God!" exclaimed she, as Bender's possible 
 death dawned upon her. 
 
KAIUOLANI 267 
 
 "The papers?" replied he, wounded, and unable to 
 rise. 
 
 "I'll take them," demanded Young, as he came up, 
 observing her to possess a familiar document. 
 
 "You shall not," retorted she, levelling a pistol in 
 his face. 
 
 Young backed away, and Norton followed; first 
 tossing the roll to her confederate, who lay jammed 
 and dying beneath the jumbled litter. 
 
 Bender feebly fumbled in his pocket for a match. 
 He had fallen, the victim of misjudged endeavor, and 
 whatever the consequence he proposed now that he 
 still possessed strength and opportunity to destroy 
 once and for all the evidence that had wrought alike 
 his fortune and his doom. 
 
 Striking a light the flames shot up like an avalanche. 
 Kamehameha's worshippers fixed well the pyre, and 
 combustion did what Bender had failed in the doing: 
 Young had made Norton a prisoner, and returned in 
 time. 
 
 The dying man smiled, and the living brushed hard 
 at the flames. 
 
 Weird sounds within the estate-walls froze cold 
 the blood in Young's command. Yelling and leaping, 
 and clambering over gates and fences, everywhere, 
 the foe quickly surrounded him. Uena-O-Zan ran 
 into the open, and Wayntro ordered a welcome re- 
 treat. 
 
 The flames roared and drove higher and fiercer; the 
 little republic furnished the fuel with which to waft 
 homeward its own determinate message. 
 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 With Young's capture and Wayntro's retreat the 
 already toppling government awakened to fresh dan- 
 gers and sought to invoke a last privilege: martial 
 law was, therefore, promptly declared, and Aokaha- 
 meha again placed in command, sent posthaste after 
 the rebellious natives; his policy had, vitally if not 
 happily changed. 
 
 Two years of dubious warfare and hotly contested 
 intrigue convinced him that it were futile to attempt 
 any sort of restoration. Cole, as well, held himself 
 free from taint, and stood ready to sacrifice individual 
 welfare for the good of a bettered whole. There 
 were, also, elements at work antagonistic to both 
 friends and foes; and, had Kaiuolani apprised him of 
 what she the sooner divined? 
 
 "I shall put down this rebellion, as enabled with 
 such force as can be mustered. Liberty is a birth- 
 right and loyalty its only safeguard. Whatever the 
 manifestations, whether robbed of our queen or 
 blessed with a president, though it be Occidental or 
 Oriental, sovereignty must obtain. Unity is ultimate, 
 and reason but a consequence : please bear me wit- 
 ness," said Aokahameha, candidly, to Cole and his 
 cabinet, making ready to go after Kenlikola and his 
 too rabidly inclined following. 
 
 "I am pleased that our friend Aokahameha under- 
 stands so well the present; though his after-theory be 
 
KAIUOLANI 269 
 
 at fault; liberty is rather the product of reason," re- 
 plied Cole, constantly doing and trusting the very 
 incarnation of belief. 
 
 "Philosophy and practice are not necessarily antag- 
 onistic, as I am taught : our religions are but one, not 
 rightly understood. Enlightened as well as endowed, 
 we may yet teach you to live ; Orientalism is founded 
 upon things we know," suggested Aokahameha, not 
 the least perturbed. 
 
 "And dies, only to live!" shouted Kaiuolani, flitting 
 into their midst, unheralded if tolerable. 
 
 Not they, nor Cole, would dispute, or thought to re- 
 strain her. Some vital potency lay behind the prin- 
 cess' sudden though elusive demeanor, and they were 
 only too glad that she chose to let them proceed with 
 the business of ordering a hopelessly shattered entity. 
 
 "On with the work," continued she, "and I promise 
 a just retribution. Like for like, and the dread waves 
 take me should I deign fail." 
 
 Aokahameha did go, he appeared not to under- 
 stand or heed, and a rapid advance soon brought him 
 to the foothills, whence Kenlikola's command had 
 flown. They fought valiantly, man for man, and un- 
 til Aokahameha's superior generalship outdid the 
 enemy there seemed no certainty of victory on either 
 side. 
 
 It was the often repeated story of gold against 
 God, and truth prevailing God had won but, as ever, 
 strategy outwitted, and the valient hosts of a passing 
 day scattered and ran pellmell over the hills and into 
 byways scarce none but them exactly knew. 
 
 Kenlikola escaped. 
 
270 KAIUOLANI 
 
 A secret growth of twisted pine and low koa fringed 
 the lower edge, reaching at places far up into rugged 
 canyons or along sloping ravines, severely impeding 
 the progress of men less accustomed to mountain 
 climbing or service dodging. There should be no halt- 
 ing, however; though another reason had saved all 
 except the ringleaders from an otherwise immediate 
 capture. 
 
 Aokahameha pursued them. 
 
 An ominous mist overhung the ragged sky line 
 higher up along the broken, precipitous coast at the 
 opposite side of the mountains. The sun blazed weakly 
 in the west, or let fleeting shadows dark and weird 
 against the somber woodland at places covering 
 dreaded tangles. 
 
 Here and there in the far-off open might be seen 
 now and then revered heads, carrying in their arms 
 from shelter to shelter mysteriously wrought symbols, 
 sacred and inspiring to those retreating. 
 
 White mice gamboled near by then hid in the reed 
 grasses; they had survived the ages immune to all 
 save princes these men, in quest, seemed strange to 
 them. 
 
 A lizard crawled into its hole, and knowing ones 
 sighed. 
 
 Aokahameha reflected. 
 
 "Dispose companies as directed," commanded he 
 (addressing Wayntro), having theretofore reconnoit- 
 ered and determined upon some sort of a round up. 
 "I am going to climb old Punch Bowl, the call is 
 resistless, and when you have returned I shall be 
 here, our most convenient place of rendesvous." 
 
KAIUOLANI 271 
 
 The captain, ordering, shouted: 
 
 "Form for attack, forward, march !" and the ragged 
 lines breaking into squads waged hard upon the trail 
 of Kenlikola's confused and disordered rear. 
 
 Facing the mists, Aokahameha walked briskly up 
 the gradual incline and on, to Pali, the highest point, 
 over jutting out and away toward the bewitching, coax- 
 ing waters far down at the ocean's tumbling, heaving 
 level. A long narrow hogback, worn deep with uncer- 
 tain stepping, led the way. The sands gave and sank 
 underneath his feet, as if to threaten and retard his 
 going; but some misshapen impulse lured him on, and 
 he would not stop. 
 
 After a while the broad, tinted valleys, with their 
 many diversities, lay spread and stretching afar at his 
 back. He did not turn, neither comprehended them. 
 In front, a more subtle, inviting aspect opened to 
 view. The fog hung thick and black before his eye?, 
 but just beyond, nearly a thousand feet below, the 
 blue seas adjured a sight that penetrated even darker 
 things. 
 
 The path grew wider now, and easier ; Aokahameha 
 quickened step, and suddenly someone appeared, as 
 if entranced. 
 
 A human being had risen in front, and wishing to 
 know who might be there to disturb him in his right, 
 the thwarted man called loudly and ran fast after: 
 only stillness answered ; a splash and his echoed voice 
 alike took wings and flew with the winds that howl 
 and moan their doleful eternity at this fated place. 
 
 "Cheated !" whispered he, leaning low over the edge 
 and peering dizzily down through space vaulting with 
 a taunt its wanted rest. 
 
272 KAIUOLANI 
 
 The sun's height saved him; it had been desecration 
 to disturb the peace of another; night must pass and 
 day come again before he might now make the leap. 
 
 But who had thus escaped him? 
 
 The thought burned deeply into hL growing con- 
 sciousness, and drawing back a little, over the slippery, 
 declivitous stones, himself puzzled and gainsaid, Aoka- 
 hameha made fast his hold upon a projecting root 
 at'one side the wind-swept, deep-cut roadway, where 
 he lay for a long time marvelling the consequence 
 of living. 
 
 "I'll return to my post," said he, to himself, in due 
 time convinced; "the sunshine is more of than rain: 
 the world is a better place, than hence we know not." 
 
 Composure quickly followed. A new life suddenly 
 dawned, and bounding to his feet Aokahameha 
 scrambled back over the short, steep incline, thence 
 tramped down the hill, toward whence he had come, 
 with a resolution as firm as hitherto wavering. 
 
 The skies seemed to twinkle with freshened mean- 
 ing, the earth beneath his feet resounded a goodlier 
 trend, and from his heart there sprang a yearning 
 that before only had lost him the opportunity. 
 
 "Ihoas is dead, but Kaiuolani lives," rose to mind, 
 and did not cease, till he had once more resolved. 
 
 Reaching again the field of action, Aokahameha 
 found that Wayntro's disappointed scouts were already 
 fast returning; these untrained and driven men could 
 or would not scale the heights as did those in retreat. 
 Kenlikola escaped, and the major portion of his de- 
 feated and scattering army made off through covering 
 of the mountains hard again toward the northland. 
 A few, however, less fleet than discreet were really 
 
KAIUOLANI 273 
 
 overtaken and brought proudly back : offering, as they 
 did, something of an excuse, if not purpose as in- 
 tended, the chase was abandoned and some sort of 
 reasonably plausible returning begun. 
 
 "And where are the prisoners?" demanded Cole, 
 upon the appearance of Aokahameha and his half-de- 
 serted, illy paid and grumbling command. 
 
 "Here, sir," replied he, lining up a dozen or more 
 indifferent duskies. 
 
 "Kenlikola is he gone?" 
 
 "I am not advised." 
 
 "Have you Elmsford?" 
 
 "Had not thought of him." 
 
 "I don't see Kaiuolani?" 
 
 "She was here the last I knew." 
 
 "I presume it hardly worth while to ask about 
 Young and others of our friends, is it, my poor Aoka- 
 hameha?" 
 
 "You see here, with your eyes, all the fruits of a 
 ready victory : the price, I take it, shall come next." 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 The trial and punishment of Aokahameha's pris- 
 oners conceded, finally, to range within army prov- 
 inces alone, the administration set about casting its 
 net for a really more commendable example. A great 
 rebellion had been effectively suppressed by their 
 twaddling government, and the law's penalty must be 
 meted out to someone as instigator. 
 
 Cole and Gutenborj sat quietly discussing the mat- 
 ter at' executive headquarters; the latter had come 
 naturally to be the president's, as he had been the 
 queen's most substantial adviser. 
 
 "What do you think of him, anyway, friend Guten- 
 borj ?" queried Cole, after the matter of Aokahameha's 
 apparent evasion had been threshed and winnowed as 
 far as understood or understandable. 
 
 "Oh, he'll do just give him a chance, and a bit of 
 coaching; these Hawaiians are susceptible, once you 
 get their confidence," replied the planter king, un- 
 guardedly, basing his philosophy upon a lifetime's ex- 
 perience. 
 
 "It's a pity somebody didn't think of that long ago." 
 
 "More is the pity they did. Were I as sophisticated 
 as you, I might have owned these Islands, natives 
 and all, before now/' 
 
 "You seem still to be in a fair way of doing so." 
 
 "No, thanks; there is too much authority and not 
 enough certainty, in these days, I trow." 
 
KAIUOLANI 275 
 
 "Possibly the queen had suited you better; she might 
 have been more susceptible." 
 
 "Come, now ; I am in no mood or position to quar- 
 rel. Liliuokolani's head must come off. I want it." 
 
 "How so?" 
 
 "She is the only one in or out of authority who 
 fully understands the situation. On the throne, I am 
 at bay: off, and there is no protection. Make way 
 with her, I say; she's the best sort of example." 
 
 Cole twisted in his chair, meditating long the moral 
 of Gutenborj's red-handed proposal. Since the good 
 queen's overthrow she had lived the life of a recluse, 
 a model sort of way, so far as their government was 
 concerned, occupying the palace (as she had said she 
 would), sitting upon the throne at leisure or mending 
 stockings at times for want of a better occupation. 
 
 No one had raised so much as a finger against her ; 
 the property was hers, of right ; she possessed an in- 
 come, privately, beyond the need of apparent require- 
 ments; the home had come to serve her every want, 
 and Cole believed it both cruel and unwise to disturb 
 that peace, thus endangering their own security. 
 
 Gutenborj, however, proved unrelenting. Those 
 excessive plantations which he had successfully 
 wheedled out of Liliuokolani's predecessors stood him 
 in want of cheap and tractable labor. Should their 
 state fall into the hands of a foreigner, especially the 
 United States, as he believed quite probable, with 
 Liliuokolani at large, the natives would not only rebel 
 against illy paid servitude, but another means of sup- 
 ply, recently developed, might necessarily be restricted, 
 or perchance entirely cut off. With the government in 
 his own hands, the Orient lay spread at his feet. 
 
276 KAIUOLANI 
 
 "Come," said he, in a commandatory manner, "you 
 know full well the reason of my support." 
 
 "But I do not, however, quite comprehend the 
 source of Kenlikola's supply ; possibly you may know 
 something about that; the queen is certainly inno- 
 cent?" 
 
 "Bother the queen ! Let the court determine its own 
 true verdict you did well in making Onslow chief 
 justice, and Faneuil is, after all, not so bad, as attor- 
 ney general. The evidence shall be forthcoming; Ah 
 Mia shall attend you may understand 
 
 "Yes; I do," meekly replied the president. 
 
 "Then what?" 
 
 Cole turned ashen; his conscience cried against in- 
 justice. Yet some unforeseen deliverance might arise, 
 and were it right to jeopardize security in the saving 
 of an individual? The reverend statesman prayed 
 and hesitated; then hesitated and prayed some more. 
 
 "Speak out," growled the master. 
 
 Cole looked up imploringly : Gutenborj avoided him. 
 whining significantly in his face: 
 
 "Coward?" 
 
 "Very well," snarled the other; "I'll issue the 
 order!" 
 
 Liliuokalani answered the summons, thereafter duly 
 served, by closing still more determinedly the palace 
 gates. Nor would anybody, who could, open them; 
 their queen waxed invulnerable, and Ah Mia, plying 
 his trade, supplied her only with the customary white 
 man's weapons, consisting in all of scarcely a dozen 
 pistols and half as many rifles; which, owing to the 
 good woman's own dread of fire arms, were never 
 
KAIUOLANI 277 
 
 unpacked, much less distributed; as afterwards re- 
 vealed by disinterested witnesses a-plenty. 
 
 She may have surmised, also, a better protection, 
 for Aokahameha as commander in chief, under the 
 new order, became as well head marshal of the Is- 
 lands. 
 
 The trial, therefore, progressed as rapidly and fairly 
 as occasion and the circumstances would permit. A 
 grave matter this seemed: questioning the faith of a 
 queen : solemnly provisioning the hope of a nation. 
 Gutenborj busied himself, as usual, at a distance, while 
 each added stage brought Cole one step nearer the 
 climax. 
 
 A large number of witnesses, some for and some 
 against the state, were examined; testifying to all 
 sorts of ocular demonstrations and circumstantial hap- 
 penings shaded and shaped as public sympathy or 
 private fortune demanded; weight and authority de- 
 termined, as measured against right and wrong, that 
 justice might be done. 
 
 This one saw a suspicious looking dray pass in the 
 streets, when the queen was nowhere to be seen; that 
 one heard her singing lulabies, at a time for prayer; 
 another smelt gunpowder in the vicinity of Honolulu, 
 while doing an errand at Diamond Head. 
 
 The attorneys for the prosecution laid stress upon 
 the law, in such cases made and provided, surmising 
 that the defendant might be implicated : establishing 
 the fact, as adduced from the testimony, that treason 
 and motive are not necessarily unallied. 
 
 The court charged the jury to heed well the law 
 and seal their verdict. 
 
 A great and sacred right was then performing. 
 
278 KAIUOLANI 
 
 Twelve men yawned in the box. The clerk, bald and 
 pale, arose in his place, calling aloud their names. 
 
 "Here," echoed back, each time in newly spun, 
 deep-fetched, or highly pitched tones. 
 
 The big room was packed, and the audience waged 
 breathless. Only Ah Mia remained composed, and 
 transfixed. Sitting alone, in one corner, no one ha4 
 condescended to notice or found it necessary to call 
 upon him; but, studying every expression, observing 
 each move, and deciding for himself both the law and 
 the case, Ah Mia awaited but an opportunity to fling 
 at the hated white man his own true story. 
 
 Suddenly quiet reigned; the jury should retire now: 
 Ah Mia jumped up, and clipclapping down the aisle, 
 toward the bench, singsonged aloud: 
 
 "Ah Mia now spleak!" 
 
 "Order in the court room," demanded the judge, 
 sternly, and with no intent upon recognition. 
 
 The bar sprang from their seats, both amazed and 
 chagrined, while a ruddy marshal hustled their un- 
 gainly, presumptuous intruder once more behind the 
 closed and made-fast railing. 
 
 "Melican man heap big fool: Chinaman velly much 
 abused," muttered he, as the jury, broad-faced and re- 
 lieved, marched forth to deliberate and return. 
 
 Cole, however, had witnessed the proceedings from 
 beginning to end, and instinctively associating Ah Mia, 
 a confederate's good-intentioned attempt with Guten- 
 borj's studied absence prepared himself at once to 
 act officially upon the final judgment and decree. 
 
 The jury filed in; there was but one verdict to 
 find. 
 
KAIUOLANI 279 
 
 Onslow faced them, demanding, with great satisfac- 
 tion, and no less of pomp : 
 
 "Gentlemen of the jury, are you ready to report?" 
 
 "We are," replied the foreman, promptly and know- 
 ingly. 
 
 "Let the verdict be pronounced," commanded the 
 court, addressing the pinched-out clerk ; who, breaking 
 the seal, read aloud: 
 
 "Guilty, as charged!" 
 
 A hush spread over the place. 
 
 "It is the judgment of the court that the defendant 
 be fined five thousand dollars and imprisoned for a 
 period of five years," declared Onslow, to the utter 
 amazement of everybody there. 
 
 "And I as chief executive do hereby and do now 
 remit the fine and release the prisoner," put in Cole, 
 before either one or anybody had time to regain his 
 breath. 
 
 The queen thus stood vindicated, and Cole more than 
 justified, even lionized. Another veiling, hiding the 
 hand that played them both fast and loose was torn 
 from the face of Gutenborj and cast at him, the rag 
 that he deserved ; while the little republic staggered 
 to its feet only to stem but briefly that larger tide 
 already set into world-wide motion as a result of their 
 own baser weakness. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 "This treaty shall not fail; it must be ratified/' said 
 Cole, in private, to Aokahameha, some little time after- 
 wards, while sitting together, at one side, in conven- 
 tion duly assembled. 
 
 Hawaii's commander in chief did not answer at 
 once, but fingered nervously at the officially printed 
 copy of the resolution held loosely in hand. 
 
 Perhaps he reverently contemplated the will of 
 Kaiuolani; or, doubting, earnestly looked forward to 
 an apparently last and only recourse; more likely a 
 recently disclosed conflict waging, one against the 
 other, by two predominating influences disturbed 
 him most. Whatever the thought, the mood served his 
 purpose, for as between these two overtowering com- 
 batants their people and the government must then and 
 there by representatives for that special reason con- 
 vened irrevocably if inconsiderately choose to deter- 
 mine. 
 
 Ah Mla's feigning to expose someone, as it seemed, 
 at the trial of Liliuokolani, had, on the one hand, 
 brought Gutenborj to his senses : forcing a coalition 
 that threatened to invest the shrewder Oriental with a 
 kind of ownership or mastery of all labor in the Is- 
 lands ; guaranteeing to the latter outright possession or 
 control of pretty much everything else there at all 
 worth the trouble of a monopoly. 
 
 These, thwarting the opposition, bade certain to 
 
KAIUOLANI 281 
 
 continue republicanism, as best suited to the require- 
 ments of individual domination. 
 
 On the other hand America had extended an un- 
 mistakable invitation to them to lay down their au- 
 tonomy. 
 
 Tiring of unprogressive administration, the Ameri- 
 cans had elected to office men who believed it their 
 province to serve, not to dictate. A lowering of their 
 flag at Honolulu had roused the nation. Expansion 
 reverted from danger into a public demand, became an 
 administrative necessity, and the incoming president 
 only voiced the sentiment of a stronger, less easily 
 controlled element in recommending that congress take 
 immediate steps to regain their fallen prestige. 
 
 This,, the proposed treaty, but evidently more a de- 
 mand, lay before the Hawaiians, now hopelessly 
 divided and utterly unable to resolve compliance. 
 
 What were they to do? What could be done with- 
 out the queen's sanction? 
 
 Aokahameha continued reflecting, and the delegates 
 wrangled. Cole grew impatient and again continued : 
 
 "We are losing valuable time, Aokahameha." 
 
 "I was just wondering how we might gain needed 
 time," replied he, not at all disconcerted. 
 
 "Try an adjournment; it should test the opposition's 
 strength, and if carried well, I for one should like 
 very much to see our good friend a benedict." 
 
 "If lost, though, our weakness shall have been pre- 
 maturely exposed." 
 
 "There isn't money enough in all Hawaii to buy the 
 queen everybody knows that." 
 
 The motion was made at Aokahameha's suggestion 
 and the debate closed. 
 
282 KAIUOLANI 
 
 All day long the two factions had fought over the 
 question as to whether or not a Kamehameha had once 
 proffered to the United States friendlier auspices than 
 to any other foreign power : the one side affirming the 
 other denying that annexation were an act of con- 
 quest, everybody welcomed a chance to vote upon 
 something. 
 
 The motion failed, and Cole and his followers turned 
 pale at the prospect of defeat. It proved a first warn- 
 ing, and the opposition shouted for the main question. 
 
 Aokahameha alone remained calm, and seemed to 
 understand the situation, saying: 
 
 "Politics lead but to empire; statesmanship alone 
 conserves democracy; let them vote, if they would." 
 
 And they did vote; but not until revolutionized by 
 an incident little expected. 
 
 Supporters of the proposed measure stood dum- 
 founded, and totally unable to recover the shock of 
 apparent defeat. The opposition, on the other hand, 
 waxed strong and careless with the first blush of sup- 
 posed triumph no more tribute or parleying or delay, 
 now that their opponents seemed routed; they must 
 press home their victory, and enjoy the spoils. 
 
 Isaacs sprang to his feet demanding an immediate 
 vote upon the resolution as offered ; a weak voice from 
 Kahulani seconded him; Elmsford twisted in the 
 chair; Cole motioned him "Put the question" and a 
 pin dropping had disturbed their quiet. 
 
 No one should venture a farthing upon the chance ; 
 but suddenly Kaiuolani burst into the room : tripping 
 lightly down the aisle, everybody turned to look, and 
 not one would bid her desist. 
 
 "Her majesty's abdication, and hearty support," said 
 
KAIUOLANI 283 
 
 she, to the surprised chairman, the while presenting 
 him with a carefully written, signed, and sealed docu- 
 ment in evidence. 
 
 Had a thunderclap stricken them no greater pan- 
 demonium could have prevailed. Annexationists fell 
 to hugging each other, and the roll call began. 
 
 "Aye." "Aye." "Aye," replied everybody, ex- 
 cepting those who skewed into a distant corner. 
 
 "The ayes have it, and the motion is carried," de- 
 clared the chair, amid profoundest confusion. "What 
 is your further pleasure?" 
 
 Aokahameha arose, saying distinctly : 
 
 "I desire to nominate the Honorable C. C. Cole for 
 governor of Hawaii, the first principality, duly an- 
 nexed, to the United States of America, and move that 
 we proceed to choose by acclamation." 
 
 "I second the nomination," cried a hundred voices 
 throughout the hall. 
 
 "And as governor, no less a man, I congratulate 
 you," said Kaiuolani, for the first time shaking the 
 hand of an humbler equal. 
 
 "Long live the Republic !" shouted someone in the 
 audience. 
 
 "Make it Empire, and we'll all join with huzzas !" 
 replied Gutenborj, who had come in expecting other- 
 wise to congratulate what now proved to be a sadly 
 routed constituency. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 Like magic the new Territory settled into a verita- 
 ble workshop. Lofty ideals and heroic attainment 
 lulled and languished under the sordid quest of politi- 
 cal preferment and material splendor. No longer did 
 the gods claim or disturb them : their food the inspira- 
 tion and gain a watchword, fraternity burned lower 
 in the bejeweled candlestick of fancied worth. 
 
 "Where is this deserter and delinquent, F. W. 
 Young, of whom you speak?" asked General Take- 
 meback, candidly, of Mr. Langdon, the at last out of a 
 job successor to Whilom S. Harvenoiq. 
 
 Takemeback had been sent out by the United States 
 authorities, in advance of annexation, to establish an 
 army post and naval station at Pearl Harbor, a re- 
 serve provisionally gained as an indirect result of 
 Harvenoiq's bold lone break, and in consequence, 
 upon the final passage of the act of admission, assumed 
 a sort of general supervision over things military 
 thereabouts. 
 
 The records in Langdon's discontinued office were 
 plain ; someone by the name of Young, bearing the 
 Colonel's initials, had deserted the regulars at Gov- 
 ernor's Island ; he should be haled directly into court ; 
 the information of right belonged to Takemeback. 
 
 "I am not even convinced, much less advised," re- 
 plied Langdon, no more certain than interested in 
 either phase of the case. 
 
KAIUOLANI 285 
 
 "Deuced queer circumstance," retorted the general, 
 emptying his glass again, and resting back in the chair, 
 anticipatory of further enlightenment. 
 
 "No more complicated than delicate, I should say. 
 Some of the governor's 'best' might prove to be im- 
 plicated were the searchlight turned too squarely on, 
 as I understand it," suggested Langdon, bantering 
 discretion. 
 
 "Not Aokahameha, I hope?" queried the listener, 
 somewhat enlivened. 
 
 "Here he comes, now : I should rather you judged," 
 replied his informant, a bit reluctant. 
 
 That Cole would be elected governor, with hardly 
 a disenting vote, at the coming poles, there could be 
 no reasonable doubt; not even Harvenoiq disputed 
 that. Neither did anybody question Cole's preference 
 or Aokahameha's rights concerning the commandery 
 of a territorial militia ; but there were some who cov- 
 eted the place less scrupulous, perhaps, than these 
 were anxious about the public weal. 
 
 Aokahameha seated himself at Langdon's invitation, 
 quietly joining as needs be in the conversation. 
 
 "We were just discussing Colonel Young, and his 
 probable bearing upon the future of Hawaii. How 
 do his chances affect you, friend Aokahameha?" 
 queried Langdon, immediately. 
 
 Takemeback reflected; the host's queer tactics had 
 aroused in his slow mind something resembling sur- 
 prise. 
 
 Aokahameha reddened, then turned white in the 
 face. He had not thought of Young since the fated 
 night at concerned old Punch Bowl ; not that he valued 
 any less his once-upon-a-time friendly compatriot or 
 
286 KAIUOLANI 
 
 harsh antagonist, but he had turned a new leaf, and 
 would let the gods be gods. Young had passed out 
 of his conduct, and bare consciousness alone con- 
 jured possibilities undreamed. 
 
 "A good man he was, and I wish that he were here 
 to-day," reflected the opportune commander in chief, 
 after a little, wholly unconscious of either listener's 
 self-originating meditations. 
 
 The subject thereat changed, and presently all three 
 went their way: Langdon immediately sought out 
 Isaacs; Takemeback stamped off toward headquarters; 
 their accidental friend lingered upon the already de- 
 serted streets, and none seemed the wiser of another's 
 doing or intent. 
 
 A stroll in the open and a good night's rest brought 
 Aokahameha to a final determination : Kaiuolani must 
 be seen and understood without needless delay. 
 
 The shades were already lengthening and reaching 
 toward Castle Banyan in the foreground when her 
 suitor, gallant but earnest, rode through the gate in 
 front, only a few days after, dismounting lightly at the 
 door. 
 
 "Who comes oftener than I," bantered he, of Sir 
 Charles, who himself hobbled down the steps to greet 
 and ask him enter. 
 
 "None is more welcome, I assure you, good Aoka- 
 hameha; nor half-told as modest," ventured his loyal 
 host in return, approaching unsteadily and with ap- 
 parent effort. 
 
 Proffering assistance, the younger led, now into 
 the hitherto familiar den, where other scenes more 
 exacting had dragged the elder down, forcefully 
 
KAIUOLANI 287 
 
 against better promise, till life itself seemed but a 
 vast unrealized suspense. 
 
 "Whither are we drifting?" asked the broken dowi* 
 father, half-consciously vague. "I hear of nothing 
 now-a-days except the governor's ball, silks and beaux, 
 plans and coquetry oh this scramble ! Why thrust 
 upon me so near death's claim? Promise, Aokaha- 
 meha, that you will do what I have failed : insure my 
 daughter's happiness ; I am done." 
 
 Aokahameha agreed in silence; soon finding himself 
 in Kaiuolani's presence, unable to counsel, much less 
 govern her; but the descendant of a Kamehameha 
 knew no fear, and looked into mood if not motive 
 with keenly discerning eyes. 
 
 "I shouldn't bother at all about that," replied he, 
 to her chatter, as a first attempt at reconciliation. 
 "Perhaps Norton is right after all; you may look quite 
 as well in white, or blue, as in red. It's the effect 
 that counts for most." 
 
 "Upon whom, I should like to know ?" queried she, 
 indignantly. 
 
 "Has Norton really returned?" 
 
 "Yes, she just this minute left the door." 
 
 "Then Colonel Young will be there, if none else; 
 you may be sure of that, if I am any kind of judge." 
 
 "He shall sooner be in jail, where he belongs. That 
 is about as near as you have guessed the truth. And 
 I am glad of it. Nor shall I wear red. Now then ; 
 you have my mind, just as you deserve." 
 
 Her would-be conservator made no further attempt 
 at disagreement or conversion, but in that brief sen- 
 tence read deeper than Kaiuolani had dared to do or 
 intended that he should. Thence he knew full well 
 
288 KAIUOLANI 
 
 if she had failed suspicioning the bitterest truth in 
 life ; and bidding her a friendly adieu hastened toward 
 the city, where the hardest trial that he had known 
 awaited only his coming. 
 
 Young had been court-martialed, and there stood 
 face to face with seemingly certain conviction. 
 
 "It shall not be," said Aokahameha, to Cole, the 
 day before that set for trial. 
 
 "The law is explicit, and the evidence conclusive, so 
 I am told," replied the now duly elected governor, 
 coldly. 
 
 "There is a truth that heeds neither law nor evi- 
 dence. Beware of justice, my dear governor ; this man 
 you need, and I herewith tender my resignation in his 
 behalf." 
 
 Norton sat by without saying so much as a word. 
 She had come in, earlier in the day, to urge the gover- 
 nor's intercession, and would not go away. Cole, in 
 consequence, had grown as obstinate as uneasy, posi- 
 tively refusing her, upon the ground of non-interfer- 
 ence. Thus remaining and hearing, the possible out- 
 come of Aokahameha's warning bore heavily upon her 
 conscience; whereat the repentant woman arose to go, 
 saying heartily: 
 
 "I thank you, Mr. Cole, for the privilege of this 
 overhearing: to you, Aokahameha, I owe a debt of 
 gratitude infinitely beyond my reclaiming." 
 
 The day after brought the accused, pale and wan, 
 directly into court : Young heard the charge, and faced 
 his accusers; he had grown listless to human weak- 
 nesses, and scoffed at falsehood's hardened attempt. 
 
 Exiled to an unfrequented island at the instance of 
 Kaiuolani, upon his capture, theretofore, at Daimond 
 
KAIUOLANI 289 
 
 Head, he had lost every confidence in civilized trust. 
 There was no means at all of any outside communica- 
 tion. Only Norton had found him out, thence intensi- 
 fying his disgust by enforcing her attention. Failing 
 to win fairly, she would woo compulsorily, and when 
 Isaacs came again, as arranged, to carry them home, 
 husband and wife, as designed, Young rebelled and 
 threatening to withdraw into the solitude of that lone- 
 some islet vowed never more to lay eyes upon his 
 kind or to share the lot of woman. 
 
 Langdon, however, decreed otherwise, and before 
 Young could make good his retreat Takemeback's 
 scouts ran down and brought him back to that sense 
 God intended better used. 
 
 ''Stand up," sternly demanded /the courts-martial, 
 frowning at the merest thought of anyone's outrank- 
 ing obedience. 
 
 Young reflected: an orderly pushed him forward; 
 no compassion obtained there ; the breaking in of mind 
 and body, directing thought and action, cowering mood 
 or inducing morals duty were an only virtue : mercy, 
 denial, or intervention standing without the pale. 
 
 "I am innocent," replied Young, considerately. 
 
 " 'Er ugh ; 'er ugh," growled the court. 
 
 "I am innocent," repeated he, still more kindly. 
 
 "How dare you speak till commanded ! Officer, pro- 
 ceed with the trial," shouted Takemeback, maddened 
 with insult. 
 
 Their testimony was all against him, no one deign- 
 ing or caring to appear for the defendant. The doors 
 stood closed, and there appeared not the slightest 
 chance of truth's obtaining. 
 
 The records were entirely introduced, marked this 
 
290 KAIUOLANI 
 
 or that exhibit, and regularly filed. Langdon had 
 sworn to all that he knew favorable to conviction, 
 carefully suppressing every hint that might in any 
 manner tend to influence an acquittal. Harvenoiq 
 now took the stand ; the culprit seemed convicted be- 
 yond all doubt, lacking only the very necessary and 
 properly connected identification. 
 
 "Are you acquainted with the prisoner at bar?" 
 asked the interrogator, methodically concerned. 
 
 "I am," replied the witness, fully confident. 
 
 "Do you know of your own knowledge that he, the 
 defendant, here present, in court, is the identical F. 
 W. Young charged in this case with desertion, from 
 the United States army?" 
 
 "I do." 
 
 "Is he the same individual described as one F. W. 
 Young in the records (tendering for identification 
 purposes exhibit 'A') of your former office as U. S. 
 minister to the now defunct, but formerly existant 
 republic of Hawaii?" 
 
 "He is." 
 
 "You lie !" shouted a regularly supposed orderly, 
 springing forward with outstretched arm and extended 
 finger shaking vehemently in Harvenoiq's rigid face. 
 
 The court gasped for breath, Langdon bounded up, 
 and the witness stammered inaudibly: 
 
 "Who areyou?" 
 
 Tearing off a mask that shielded a haggard counte- 
 nance, and facing him squarely, the court alone heard, 
 others understood: 
 
 "I am Martha Norton, and you are a villain !" 
 
 Those ia authority, recovering from their astonish- 
 
KAIUOLANI 
 
 merit, demanded, to the surprise and satisfaction alike 
 of everybody, an immediate and full explanation. 
 
 "Here is the proof, your honor under his own hand 
 and seal. I shall entrust you alone with the docu- 
 ment." 
 
 Whereupon Norton, blushing at her own disguise, 
 turned once more to the witness, saying: 
 
 "Tell the court what you know about this case. I 
 command it !" 
 
 Young was, in consequence, released, and com- 
 mended for his faithfulness : the same day an execu- 
 tive order made him Lieutenant General, commander 
 in chief of the Hawaiian militia, and no one disputed 
 him, just or right. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 The militia, at last a sole charge, became the one 
 all absorbing interest that Young would encourage. 
 
 Love had passed from his reach, as a thing be- 
 neath him. 
 
 The elections, now close at hand, were of no 
 moment ; Cole had selected his man, whose broadening 
 comprehension and settled opportunity fired ambition 
 with larger aims, conjuring a grander, more compre- 
 hensive union than theirs had in fact foreshadowed. 
 
 "War is vital, peace an ignoble thought," said he, 
 in reply to Cole's friendly protestations. ''True we 
 are Americans, and our governmental institutions are 
 founded upon the principle that all men are equal, 
 but excepting only the most trivial circumstance of 
 birth or death this is no less false than just. It is 
 with the living, life, that we have to do ; and not until 
 mankind, not men, is enlightened can the ideal attain 
 reality; art alone equalizes all things accidental: that 
 we are moving in that direction, the works of man 
 speak in no uncertain tone, but the force, with which 
 we advance, whether industrially, socially, or spirit- 
 ually, is war." 
 
 As a compromise, Aokahameha had finally con- 
 sented to stand for election to the lower house in Con- 
 gress, their duly allotted representative at Washington, 
 
KAIUOLANI 293 
 
 and when the poles closed and the votes were counted, 
 Kaiuolani truly rejoiced. 
 
 Her ideal lay deeper than state or fancy, hearkened 
 the voice of love. 
 
 Nor was Norton oblivious to the new, that hers had 
 perished. Duty called, and was she in turn justified? 
 
 The inauguration ball approached with a brilliancy 
 that dazzled even those who had witnessed the old- 
 time fetes at their best. Cole's election had stirred 
 them to loftier thought and a better appreciation. They 
 would now do honor to their chief, and wealth nor 
 show, culture, refinement, modesty or sincerity ever 
 proffered heartier representation. 
 
 Kaiuolani at hrst rebelled against the growing spec- 
 tacle. 
 
 "Democracy, the kind that I foresee," said she to 
 Aokahameha, whose every effort was putting forth 
 to win her over, "does not abide where pampered 
 worth obtains; it is elemental within every human 
 heart, and real beauty conserves better a more har- 
 monious adjustment the real and the ideal shall some- 
 time marry, and forsooth joy shall truly reign." 
 
 ''And America is the span over which that civiliza- 
 tion shall pass but to merge with the greater, if silent 
 Orient. Let us, then, be doing; the time draws near 
 at hand, and I promise I cannot be happy, at the fes- 
 tivities, unless you too are there." 
 
 "Then I shall go," said she, with the sweetest pos- 
 sible assurance. 
 
 Young, too, declined the privilege of attending in 
 just the manner that Norton had planned. 
 
294 KAIUOLANI 
 
 "It is revolutionary/' said he, in reply to her antici- 
 pations. 
 
 "What of that?" queried she. "Each revolution 
 places man on a higher plane of civilization and oppor- 
 tunity : then comes the slow process of legislating or 
 lapsing his rights and liberties away. You would not 
 rest oars at mid stream?" 
 
 "Conquest makes toward larger accomplishment 
 however, I shall not deny you; I but serve your 
 pleasure, Martha." 
 
 The night came on, under the starriest kind of skies, 
 and all nature seemed like to make this a fitting finale, 
 as well an auspicious beginning. Rich and poor, great 
 or small, the new and the old, were there in one 
 sympathetic accord. No expense had been spared to 
 make those halls and that scene a brilliant setting. 
 On the outside, flowers and bunting stretched away to 
 the humblest cottage or grandest palace, and every- 
 where the stars and stripes waved a glorious freedom. 
 
 "Liberty? No," said Cole, looking out at the stir- 
 ring scenes around him; "freedom and liberty are 
 antithetical: continuance of the one necessitates re- 
 straining the other it is, freedom!" 
 
 The governor and Mrs. Cole led the march down 
 through the long, pillared and arched-over halls. Visit- 
 ing dignitaries and ranking officials followed, with 
 Norton and Young arm in arm abreast the proces- 
 sion. 
 
 Pale and severe, Norton heeded anxiously every 
 word so earnestly or kindly spoken. Her simple dress 
 and plain adornment contrasted severely with Young's 
 elaborate regalia. These were serious. 
 
KAIUOLANI 295 
 
 After them, statesmen and representatives lined 
 up, in order. Kaiuolani leaned gracefully upon Aoka- 
 hameha's arm. He tall and genteel, she gowned in 
 purple and gold, they were the admired of all who 
 chanced to look or fashioned themselves to learn and 
 know the sequel to these long and arduous friend- 
 ships. This two chatted in livelier vein. 
 
 Perhaps they had forgotten former rank and place, 
 or had become too interested in the future to observe 
 well the present. 
 
 The march over and the dance begun, Norton and 
 Young seated themselves, at one side, under the mistle- 
 toe, that hung in large epaulet-like bunches, quite round 
 the edges. Norton flushed the least bit, perhaps her 
 heart beat faster, for presently Kaiuolani and her 
 escort bore directly down upon them. 
 
 Both Young and Norton arose: the latter's face 
 brightened, and Aokahameha looked deep, and know- 
 ingly into Young's eyes. 
 
 Turning to Kaiuolani and begging excuses it was 
 Aokahameha and Norton, now, who fell back, and 
 away, again, into the crowds that whirled and surged, 
 on and on, round and round. 
 
 "By jove !" said Elmsford, confronting them, at the 
 opposite side of the room, "you both did yourselves 
 clever." 
 
 "Not I, Elmsford; nor half as nicely as you your- 
 self shall do, if I am privileged to guess," replied 
 Aokahameha, begging Norton's pardon and once more 
 turning to enter the swirl. 
 
 "Oh, well; it's British, you know; and, I dare say, 
 this little American quite suits my fancy, after all," 
 
296 KAIUOLANI 
 
 shouted Elms ford, laughingly, over the shoulder and 
 after his rapidly retreating friend. 
 
 A lonely but satisfied man presently appeared at 
 the opposite end of the halls. Behind him stood the 
 dumb walls, echoing the dead and spent vibrations of 
 an ever-living, all sufficient time; and his eyes fell 
 wistfully and his heart beat warmly toward those 
 there repeating the lesson, so simple yet true, that 
 now and always leads on to empire.