Chapter 4
Oh, all you men Of pallid blood, again, and yet again Have offered insults to our island races. I own we once were savage; and the traces Of those wild days remain; but, sir, go back A little way, on _your_ ancestral track, And see what you will find. A horde of bold And lawless cut-throats, started many an old And purse-proud race; and brutal strength became The bloody groundwork for pretentious fame When Might was Right. If every royal tree Were dug up by the roots, the world would see That common mud first mothered the poor sprout. Your race is higher than my own, no doubt; Then shame upon you, for the poor display Of noble manhood that you make to-day, Thinking each brown-faced girl your lawful prey.
[_Turns her back upon him and starts to go_.]
RALPH (_pleadingly_)
Oh, say now, let a fellow have a show. I never meant to rouse your anger so; I only meant—I—well, you see the change Of climate was so sudden; and the strange And gorgeous scenery, and your glorious eyes Upset my brain. But you have put me wise. I own that I had heard—
[_Hesitates_, _and_ GIRL _breaks forth again_.]
Oh, yes, I know you heard Wild tales of Honolulu; and were stirred With high ambitions to return to Yale, The envied hero of a wilder tale; You thought each maiden on this Isle, perchance Wore skirts of grass, and danced the Hula dance; And gave her lips to any man for gold.
RALPH (_interrupting_)
Oh, ’pon my honour, I was not so bold—
GIRL (_ignoring_, _and with vehemence_)
You thought the old time licence still prevailed; You did not know across the heavens had sailed A beautiful star in brilliancy arrayed, The _Self Respecting New Hawaiian Maid_— Who prides herself upon her blood and birth And holds her virtue at its priceless worth; And stands undaunted in her rightful place Snow white of soul, however brown of face, Warmer in blood than your white women are And yet more moral in her life by far Than many a leader in your halls of fashion.
RALPH (_gazing at her with admiration_)
I vow I like to see you in a passion; Such royal rage! Your forbear was, I know Kame-a-lili-like-kalico, Or some such name; who got in that great tiff And tumbled all his foes down off the cliff. I feel I’m lying with them in the valley While you stand all triumphant, on the Pali.
GIRL (_smiling and softened_)
You mean Kamehameha First, I’m sure. Yes, I am of his line.
RALPH
May it endure Until the end of time; for you are _great_; The world needs women like you.
[GIRL _turns to go_.
RALPH
Oh, now wait! I want some flowers; please hang about my neck A dozen lais; and give me half a peck Of nice bouquets; then I will hire a band And celebrate my entrance to your land. I’ll dance the Hula, up and down the street And cry _Aloha_, to each girl I meet; And if she frowns, and calls me cad, and churl, I’ll shout, Long Live the New Hawaiian Girl— Rah, rah, rah, Yale, Yale, Yale!
[_A Hawaiian Band is heard approaching_.]
GIRL (_laughingly_, _as she hangs lais about his neck_)
Well, there’s your band; and since you are so kind, To purchase all my flowers, I’ve half a mind To favour you with, not the Hula, sir, But something more refined, and prettier. I’ll teach it to you; ask the band out there To play the Hula Kui dancing air; Then follow all I do, and copy me. This is the way it starts, now one, two, three.
[_After the dance ends_, RALPH _approaches the_ GIRL _with tense face and speaks with great seriousness_.]
Girl, though I do not even know your name, Yet here I stand, and offer you my own; It was for you I came, for you alone, Across the half world. I have never known Forgetfulness, since first your face I saw. In coming here, I but obeyed Love’s law; I thought it fancy, passion, or caprice; I know now it is _Love_.
FLOWER GIRL (_with emotion_)
I pray you, cease; You do not understand yourself; go, go;
[_Urges him towards exit_.
RALPH (_seizing her hand_)
I will not go until I hear you say That you remember even as I do That brief encounter on the street one day.
[FLOWER GIRL _turns her face away and tries to free her hand_.]
RALPH (_exultantly_)
Oh, it is _Fate_; and Fate we must obey.
[_Takes ring from his finger_.]
Let the ship go; but with my heart I stay.
[_Attempts to place ring on_ GIRL’S _finger_. _She wrenches her hand free_, _and stands with both hands behind her as she speaks with suppressed emotion_.]
The heart of every Island girl on earth I think hides one sweet dream, and it is this; To one day meet a man of higher birth— To win his heart,—to feel his tender kiss— And sail with him to some far distant land. This too has been my dream; wherein your face Shone like a beacon.
[_Repels_ RALPH _as he starts forward_.]
But I know your race, Too well, too well. I know how such dreams end, You could not claim me in your land, my friend, For colour prejudice is rampant there.
RALPH (_impetuously_)
But I will stay for ever here, I swear,—
FLOWER GIRL
Nay, do not swear, you would but break the vow As many another has. Our tropic sun Affects men like a fever; when ’tis run, Then their delusions pass. Oh leave me now; I hear the whistle of your ship,—adieu! Alohoa oie—may God be with you.
[_Enter_ ETHEL hurriedly]
Come, Ralph, your mother and your sister wait Quite frantic at the pier, lest you be late. They sent me for you.
[_Exit_ RALPH _with_ ETHEL; _he looks back and flings_ GIRL _a wreath_. GIRL _smiles and sings Hawaiian song_, _picks up the wreath and drops face in her hands as Curtain goes down_.]
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Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty at the Edinburgh University Press
FOOTNOTES
{19} _Written to be read at Luncheon_, _given by my Publishers to the London and Provincial Booksellers_, _April_ 12, 1910.