The Cassowary; What Chanced in the Cleft Mountains
Page 15
CHAPTER XV
A SAMOAN IDYL
Among the passengers from one of the other coaches who had occasionallyvisited the Cassowary and listened as the novel symposium progressed wasa brown-bearded, middle-aged gentleman with a tanned face and merry eye.That he was of the navy the Colonel had soon learned, and to the navalofficer he now addressed himself:
"Lieutenant, you, necessarily, have visited many parts of the world andmust have become acquainted with the facts of many a pretty romance orrough adventure. I believe you mentioned the circumstance that you werestationed for a time in the Samoan islands. Can you tell us a tale ofSamoa?"
The Lieutenant smiled: "I'll tell you a tale of Samoa, a little one," hesaid. "I was a witness to its main incident, and it interested me. Itwas this way:
A SAMOAN IDYL
Una Loa was a Samoan girl, and she was fair to look upon. They havefestivities in their season in Samoa as we have here, and, as here,there are rivalries among the young women. There are tests of beauty,too, and she who can show the most beautiful headdress of flowers iscounted the most charming among the maidens. She is as the Jersey heiferwhich takes the first prize at the annual fair in some prosperouscounty; she is as the lithe and graceful and beautiful creature whodoesn't fall over her train at the receptions at the Court of England;she is an adornment to the society in which she moves, and, in Samoa, itmust of course be the best society, must consist of those who enter intothe contest exhibiting the sublimity of all head-gear--for head-gear isa woman's glory.
There was stationed upon one of the islands of the Samoan Group--thereis no use of mentioning the island in particular--a young gentleman whohad been sent out under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture ofthe United States, and, to speak more definitely, from that branch ofthe Department which is known as the Weather Bureau. His business was tosit at the top of a somewhat illy-constructed tower and note thevariations of wind and temperature and all that sort of thing, and thensend his report to the Department at Washington, when he could catch asteamer, which didn't always often happen, for this was some time ago.Still he sat up in the tower and took notes and glowered, and made thebest of things, and the work in this region of mild latitude and muchlassitude did not wear upon him to such an extent that he could not fallin love, not in the purely abstract way that he loved some thingseither, as for instance, the equation of the parabola, but vigorouslyand deeply.
He fell in love to such an extent that he became personally interestedin the contest among the fair Samoans as to whom among the belles shouldshow the most ardent and effective floral decoration of her mass of hairon the day appointed.
Now, be it known that the Atlantic Ocean is the Atlantic Ocean, that theWashington Monument is the Washington Monument. They exist as they are.Be it known also, that the hair of a Samoan beauty, a great burnishedmass, also exists as it is and is rarely washed between the rising ofthe sun and the dropping into the ocean of the same luminary, or at anyother time.
The name of the young man connected with the Weather Bureau was JohnThompson. That is not a very poetic name, but John Thompson can lovejust as hard as Everard Argyle. This John Thompson did anyhow, and hevowed that his sweetheart should win in the contest of flowerydecorations of the heads of the maidens. This resolve came upon him somesix weeks before the time of trial. He visited Una Loa.
"How long is it, sweetheart, since you let your hair down?" said he.
"I do not remember," said she.
"That is all right," said he.
Now, John Thompson had entertained certain ideas regardingagricultural speculation in the Samoan Islands, and had imported forexperimental purposes various small quantities of assorted delicatefertilizers--powdered bone and ammonia, or something of that sort. Herewas material, and inspiration for action comes to a man sometimes in away which makes it seem to him as if all the ancient gods were behindhim and beside him, aiding him in every way. This sublimity ofinspiration came to John Thompson at this moment.
This is how the man, thus sublimated, reasoned: "All the other girlsmust, necessarily, as in the past, wear cut flowers, which must, to anextent, wither before the judgment of the Wise Ones is declared. I willmake a real, living garden of my darling's head, a garden in which shallbloom, not only flowers of the islands here, but of Europe and America,and all countries of the world. Above one of her dark eyes shall danglesuch a bunch of glowing and living pansies as the Islanders have neverseen; the phlox shall lift itself aloft from her coronet; sweet peas andold-fashioned pinks shall adorn one side of her shapely head, while theother side will be blazing with tossing poppies. She shall appear amongthe contestants with such a crest as never a queen has worn, though thejewelers of all ages have struggled to make a surpassing crown."
And the man did his work. "Eh," he said, as he patted the matted mass ofdusky hair, "talk about farms in the States! Here is an area of theright kind for the support of a family! Talk about landscape gardening!I'll show them what real landscape gardening is!"
He did.
He planted right and left with ardor and good judgment, for he wasnot only an enthusiast but had the artist's gift. Una Loa yieldedbecause she had the trust which every girl should have in a real loverof good character. As Thompson sowed and sowed, she submitted with allhopefulness and slept each night with her neck upon a little log, thateach flower plant might grow without abrasion or disturbance. She sawbut little of her kin, save a sister who stayed beside her, for Thompsonwas arrogant--said he was making a botanical experiment--and allowednone to visit her.
"THE AWARD COULD BUT GO TO UNA LOA"]
The day of the contest came, as the world went round and round. At theappointed hour, all the Samoan maidens appeared together, each with herhead in the halo and glory of fair flowers. But there was no contest.Una Loa stood among them all like a bright spirit from somewhere. Thefragrance from the flowers upon her head sapped itself into the sensesof all who were near her, and there was a glittering, a very splendor ofbrilliant, multicolored and flaming humming-birds about her queenlyhead. There was no discussion among the judges. The award could but goto Una Loa, and so it went!
They say that there is a laziness, which is not, after all, a laziness,begotten in those who dwell among the islands in the Southern Seas. Itis but adaptation, possibly most sensible. Thompson has resigned fromthe Weather Bureau and married Una Loa. He is keeping a cigar-store inSouth Apia and is doing tolerably well.
And the listeners agreed that the Lieutenant had at least looked upon aromance as genuine as simple.