Robert Louis Stevenson: An Anthology

by Kevin MacNeil

  One night it was so when Kokua awoke. Keawe was gone. She felt in the bed and his place was cold. Then fear fell upon her, and she sat up in bed. A little moonshine filtered through the shutters. The room was bright, and she could spy the bottle on the floor. Outside it blew high, the great trees of the avenue cried aloud, and the fallen leaves rattled in the verandah. In the midst of this Kokua was aware of another sound; whether of a beast or of a man she could scarce tell, but it was as sad as death, and cut her to the soul. Softly she arose, set the door ajar, and looked forth into the moonlit yard. There, under the bananas, lay Keawe, his mouth in the dust, and as he lay he moaned.

  It was Kokua’s first thought to run forward and console him; her second potently withheld her. Keawe had borne himself before his wife like a brave man; it became her little in the hour of weakness to intrude upon his shame. With the thought she drew back into the house.

  ‘Heaven!’ she thought, ‘how careless have I been—how weak! It is he, not I, that stands in this eternal peril; it was he, not I, that took the curse upon his soul. It is for my sake, and for the love of a creature of so little worth and such poor help, that he now beholds so close to him the flames of Hell—ay, and smells the smoke of it, lying without there in the wind and moonlight. Am I so dull of spirit that never till now I have surmised my duty, or have I seen it before and turned aside? But now, at least, I take up my soul in both the hands of my affection; now I say farewell to the white steps of Heaven and the waiting faces of my friends. A love for a love, and let mine be equalled with Keawe’s! A soul for a soul, and be it mine to perish!’

  She was a deft woman with her hands, and was soon apparelled. She took in her hands the change—the precious centimes they kept ever at their side; for this coin is little used, and they had made provision at a Government office. When she was forth in the avenue clouds came on the wind, and the moon was blackened. The town slept, and she knew not whither to turn till she heard one coughing in the shadow of the trees.

  ‘Old man,’ said Kokua, ‘what do you here abroad in the cold night?’

  The old man could scarce express himself for coughing, but she made out that he was old and poor, and a stranger in the island.

  ‘Will you do me a service?’ said Kokua. ‘As one stranger to another, and as an old man to a young woman, will you help a daughter of Hawaii?’

  ‘Ah,’ said the old man. ‘So you are the witch from the eight islands, and even my old soul you seek to entangle. But I have heard of you, and defy your wickedness.’

  ‘Sit down here,’ said Kokua, ‘and let me tell you a tale.’ And she told him the story of Keawe from the beginning to the end.

  ‘And now,’ said she, ‘I am his wife, whom he bought with his soul’s welfare. And what should I do? If I went to him myself and offered to buy it, he would refuse. But if you go, he will sell it eagerly; I will await you here; you will buy it for four centimes, and I will buy it again for three. And the Lord strengthen a poor girl!’

  ‘If you meant falsely,’ said the old man, ‘I think God would strike you dead.’

  ‘He would!’ cried Kokua. ‘Be sure He would. I could not be so treacherous—God would not suffer it.’

  ‘Give me the four centimes and await me here,’ said the old man.

  Now, when Kokua stood alone in the street, her spirit died. The wind roared in the trees, and it seemed to her the rushing of the flames of Hell; the shadows tossed in the light of the street lamp, and they seemed to her the snatching hands of evil ones. If she had had the strength, she must have run away, and if she had had the breath she must have screamed aloud; but, in truth, she could do neither, and stood and trembled in the avenue, like an affrighted child.

  Then she saw the old man returning, and he had the bottle in his hand.

  ‘I have done your bidding,’ said he. ‘I left your husband weeping like a child; tonight he will sleep easy.’ And he held the bottle forth.

  ‘Before you give it me,’ Kokua panted, ‘take the good with the evil—ask to be delivered from your cough.’

  ‘I am an old man,’ replied the other, ‘and too near the gate of the grave to take a favour from the Devil. But what is this? Why do you not take the bottle? Do you hesitate?’

  ‘Not hesitate!’ cried Kokua. ‘I am only weak. Give me a moment. It is my hand resists, my flesh shrinks back from the accursed thing. One moment only!’

  The old man looked upon Kokua kindly. ‘Poor child!’ said he, ‘you fear; your soul misgives you. Well, let me keep it. I am old, and can never more be happy in this world, and as for the next—’

  ‘Give it me!’ gasped Kokua. ‘There is your money. Do you think I am so base as that? Give me the bottle.’

  ‘God bless you, child,’ said the old man.

  Kokua concealed the bottle under her holoku, said farewell to the old man, and walked off along the avenue, she cared not whither. For all roads were now the same to her, and led equally to Hell. Sometimes she walked, and sometimes ran; sometimes she screamed out loud in the night, and sometimes lay by the wayside in the dust and wept. All that she had heard of Hell came back to her; she saw the flames blaze, and she smelt the smoke, and her flesh withered on the coals.

  Near day she came to her mind again, and returned to the house. It was even as the old man said—Keawe slumbered like a child. Kokua stood and gazed upon his face.

  ‘Now, my husband,’ said she, ‘it is your turn to sleep. When you wake it will be your turn to sing and laugh. But for poor Kokua, alas! that meant no evil—for poor Kokua no more sleep, no more singing, no more delight, whether in Earth or Heaven.’

  With that she lay down in the bed by his side, and her misery was so extreme that she fell in a deep slumber instantly.

  Late in the morning her husband woke her and gave her the good news. It seemed he was silly with delight, for he paid no heed to her distress, ill though she dissembled it. The words stuck in her mouth, it mattered not; Keawe did the speaking. She ate not a bite, but who was to observe it? for Keawe cleared the dish. Kokua saw and heard him, like some strange thing in a dream; there were times when she forgot or doubted, and put her hands to her brow; to know herself doomed and hear her husband babble, seemed so monstrous.

  All the while Keawe was eating and talking, and planning the time of their return, and thanking her for saving him, and fondling her, and calling her the true helper after all. He laughed at the old man that was fool enough to buy that bottle.

  ‘A worthy old man he seemed,’ Keawe said. ‘But no one can judge by appearances. For why did the old reprobate require the bottle?’

  ‘My husband,’ said Kokua, humbly, ‘his purpose may have been good.’

  Keawe laughed like an angry man.

  ‘Fiddle-de-dee!’ cried Keawe. ‘An old rogue, I tell you; and an old ass to boot. For the bottle was hard enough to sell at four centimes; and at three it will be quite impossible. The margin is not broad enough, the thing begins to smell of scorching—brrr!’ said he, and shuddered. ‘It is true I bought it myself at a cent, when I knew not there were smaller coins. I was a fool for my pains; there will never be found another: and whoever has that bottle now will carry it to the pit.’

  ‘O my husband!’ said Kokua. ‘Is it not a terrible thing to save oneself by the eternal ruin of another? It seems to me I could not laugh. I would be humbled. I would be filled with melancholy. I would pray for the poor holder.’

  Then Keawe, because he felt the truth of what she said, grew the more angry. ‘Heighty-teighty!’ cried he. ‘You may be filled with melancholy if you please. It is not the mind of a good wife. If you thought at all of me, you would sit shamed.’

  Thereupon he went out, and Kokua was alone.

  What chance had she to sell that bottle at two centimes? None, she perceived. And if she had any, here was her husband hurrying her away to a country where there was nothing lower than a cent. And here—on the morrow of her sacrifice—was her husband leaving her and blaming her.

 
; She would not even try to profit by what time she had, but sat in the house, and now had the bottle out and viewed it with unutterable fear, and now, with loathing, hid it out of sight.

  By-and-by, Keawe came back, and would have her take a drive. ‘My husband, I am ill,’ she said. ‘I am out of heart. Excuse me, I can take no pleasure.’

  Then was Keawe more wroth than ever. With her, because he thought she was brooding over the case of the old man; and with himself, because he thought she was right, and was ashamed to be so happy.

  ‘This is your truth,’ cried he, ‘and this your affection! Your husband is just saved from eternal ruin, which he encountered for the love of you—and you can take no pleasure! Kokua, you have a disloyal heart.’

  He went forth again furious, and wandered in the town all day. He met friends, and drank with them; they hired a carriage and drove into the country, and there drank again. All the time Keawe was ill at ease, because he was taking this pastime while his wife was sad, and because he knew in his heart that she was more right than he; and the knowledge made him drink the deeper.

  Now there was an old brutal Haole drinking with him, one that had been a boatswain of a whaler, a runaway, a digger in gold mines, a convict in prisons. He had a low mind and a foul mouth; he loved to drink and to see others drunken; and he pressed the glass upon Keawe. Soon there was no more money in the company.

  ‘Here, you!’ says the boatswain, ‘you are rich, you have been always saying. You have a bottle or some foolishness.’

  ‘Yes,’ says Keawe, ‘I am rich; I will go back and get some money from my wife, who keeps it.’

  ‘That’s a bad idea, mate,’ said the boatswain. ‘Never you trust a petticoat with dollars. They’re all as false as water; you keep an eye on her.’

  Now, this word struck in Keawe’s mind; for he was muddled with what he had been drinking.

  ‘I should not wonder but she was false, indeed,’ thought he. ‘Why else should she be so cast down at my release? But I will show her I am not the man to be fooled. I will catch her in the act.’

  Accordingly, when they were back in town, Keawe bade the boatswain wait for him at the corner, by the old calaboose, and went forward up the avenue alone to the door of his house. The night had come again; there was a light within, but never a sound; and Keawe crept about the corner, opened the back door softly, and looked in. There was Kokua on the floor, the lamp at her side; before her was a milk-white bottle, with a round belly and a long neck; and as she viewed it, Kokua wrung her hands.

  A long time Keawe stood and looked in the doorway. At first he was struck stupid; and then fear fell upon him that the bargain had been made amiss, and the bottle had come back to him as it came at San Francisco; and at that his knees were loosened, and the fumes of the wine departed from his head like mists off a river in the morning. And then he had another thought; and it was a strange one, that made his cheeks to burn.

  ‘I must make sure of this,’ thought he.

  So he closed the door, and went softly round the corner again, and then came noisily in, as though he were but now returned. And, lo! by the time he opened the front door no bottle was to be seen; and Kokua sat in a chair and started up like one awakened out of sleep.

  ‘I have been drinking all day and making merry,’ said Keawe. ‘I have been with good companions, and now I only come back for money, and return to drink and carouse with them again.’

  Both his face and voice were as stern as judgment, but Kokua was too troubled to observe.

  ‘You do well to use your own, my husband,’ said she, and her words trembled.

  ‘O, I do well in all things,’ said Keawe, and he went straight to the chest and took out money. But he looked besides in the corner where they kept the bottle, and there was no bottle there.

  At that the chest heaved upon the floor like a sea-billow, and the house span about him like a wreath of smoke, for he saw he was lost now, and there was no escape. ‘It is what I feared,’ he thought. ‘It is she who has bought it.’

  And then he came to himself a little and rose up; but the sweat streamed on his face as thick as the rain and as cold as the wellwater.

  ‘Kokua,’ said he, ‘I said to you today what ill became me. Now I return to carouse with my jolly companions,’ and at that he laughed a little quietly. ‘I will take more pleasure in the cup if you forgive me.’

  She clasped his knees in a moment; she kissed his knees with flowing tears.

  ‘O,’ she cried, ‘I asked but a kind word!’

  ‘Let us never one think hardly of the other,’ said Keawe, and was gone out of the house.

  Now, the money that Keawe had taken was only some of that store of centime pieces they had laid in at their arrival. It was very sure he had no mind to be drinking. His wife had given her soul for him, now he must give his for hers; no other thought was in the world with him.

  At the corner, by the old calaboose, there was the boatswain waiting.

  ‘My wife has the bottle,’ said Keawe, ‘and, unless you help me to recover it, there can be no more money and no more liquor tonight.’

  ‘You do not mean to say you are serious about that bottle?’ cried the boatswain.

  ‘There is the lamp,’ said Keawe. ‘Do I look as if I was jesting?’

  ‘That is so,’ said the boatswain. ‘You look as serious as a ghost.’

  ‘Well, then,’ said Keawe, ‘here are two centimes; you must go to my wife in the house, and offer her these for the bottle, which (if I am not much mistaken) she will give you instantly. Bring it to me here, and I will buy it back from you for one; for that is the law with this bottle, that it still must be sold for a less sum. But whatever you do, never breathe a word to her that you have come from me.’

  ‘Mate, I wonder are you making a fool of me?’ asked the boatswain.

  ‘It will do you no harm if I am,’ returned Keawe.

  ‘That is so, mate,’ said the boatswain.

  ‘And if you doubt me,’ added Keawe, ‘you can try. As soon as you are clear of the house, wish to have your pocket full of money, or a bottle of the best rum, or what you please, and you will see the virtue of the thing.’

  ‘Very well, Kanaka,’ says the boatswain. ‘I will try; but if you are having your fun out of me, I will take my fun out of you with a belaying pin.’

  So the whaler-man went off up the avenue; and Keawe stood and waited. It was near the same spot where Kokua had waited the night before; but Keawe was more resolved, and never faltered in his purpose; only his soul was bitter with despair.

  It seemed a long time he had to wait before he heard a voice singing in the darkness of the avenue. He knew the voice to be the boatswain’s; but it was strange how drunken it appeared upon a sudden.

  Next, the man himself came stumbling into the light of the lamp. He had the Devil’s bottle buttoned in his coat; another bottle was in his hand; and even as he came in view he raised it to his mouth and drank.

  ‘You have it,’ said Keawe. ‘I see that.’

  ‘Hands off!’ cried the boatswain, jumping back. ‘Take a step near me, and I’ll smash your mouth. You thought you could make a cat’s-paw of me, did you?’

  ‘What do you mean?’ cried Keawe.

  ‘Mean?’ cried the boatswain. ‘This is a pretty good bottle, this is; that’s what I mean. How I got it for two centimes I can’t make out; but I’m sure you shan’t have it for one.’

  ‘You mean you won’t sell?’ gasped Keawe.

  ‘No, SIR!’ cried the boatswain. ‘But I’ll give you a drink of the rum, if you like.’

  ‘I tell you,’ said Keawe, ‘the man who has that bottle goes to Hell.’

  ‘I reckon I’m going anyway,’ returned the sailor; ‘and this bottle’s the best thing to go with I’ve struck yet. No, sir!’ he cried again, ‘this is my bottle now, and you can go and fish for another.’

  ‘Can this be true?’ Keawe cried. ‘For your own sake, I beseech you, sell it me!’

  �
�I don’t value any of your talk,’ replied the boatswain. ‘You thought I was a flat; now you see I’m not; and there’s an end. If you won’t have a swallow of the rum, I’ll have one myself. Here’s your health, and goodnight to you!’

  So off he went down the avenue towards town, and there goes the bottle out of the story.

  But Keawe ran to Kokua light as the wind; and great was their joy that night; and great, since then, has been the peace of all their days in the Bright House.

  The Sinking Ship

  ‘Fast, Mr Spoker?’ asked the Captain. ‘The expression is a strange one, for time (if you will think of it) is only relative.’

  ‘SIR,’ SAID the first lieutenant, bursting into the Captain’s cabin, ‘the ship is going down.’

  ‘Very well, Mr Spoker,’ said the Captain; ‘but that is no reason for going about half-shaved. Exercise your mind a moment, Mr Spoker, and you will see that to the philosophic eye there is nothing new in our position: the ship (if she is to go down at all) may be said to have been going down since she was launched.’

  ‘She is settling fast,’ said the first lieutenant, as he returned from shaving.

  ‘Fast, Mr Spoker?’ asked the Captain. ‘The expression is a strange one, for time (if you will think of it) is only relative.’

  ‘Sir,’ said the lieutenant, ‘I think it is scarcely worth while to embark in such a discussion when we shall all be in Davy Jones’s Locker in ten minutes.’

  ‘By parity of reasoning,’ returned the Captain gently, ‘it would never be worth while to begin any inquiry of importance; the odds are always overwhelming that we must die before we shall have brought it to an end. You have not considered, Mr Spoker, the situation of man,’ said the Captain, smiling, and shaking his head.