Mystic Isles of the South Seas.

ene at the Tiare Hotel-The New Year celebrated-Ex

en the liner came through the passage in the reef. Nothing had happened to disturb the peace of nations, but a dock strike in Auckland had tied up the ship. The relief of mind of the people of Papeete caused a wave of joy to pass over them. Business men and officials, tourists who expected to leave for America and the outside world on

109steamship which had been missing six weeks. She had left one of the Paumotu atolls and failed to reach her next port, thirty miles away. Rumor had sent her to the bo

he waterfront when, almost coincident with the sighting of the Noa-Noa, the Saint Michel appeared, pulled by the Cholita. Familiar faces of passengers appeared on her deck as she made fast to the quay, holding cigarettes as if they had waked up after a night i

firemen, and yachtsman, and six licensed captains, taking the places of the strikers, the town was filled with pleasure-seekers. A high mass of thanksgiving at th

110of the wedding of Cowan, the prize-fighter, brought in a throng

bill-boards as "a rock thrown by a mighty slinger." Cowan, a half-Polynesian, was beloved for his island blood, and was marrying into a Tahitian family of note and means. The nuptials at the church were preceded by a triumphal procession of the bride and groom in an automobile, with a score of other cars following, the entire party gorgeously adorned with wreaths,-hei in Tahitian,-and the vehicles lavishly de

oup, Messieurs, l'Inspecteurs des Colonies, were there, eating solemnly alone, as demanded by their exalted rank, and their mission of criticism. They glanced down often at their broad bosoms to see that their many orders were on straight, to note the admiration of lesser officialdom, and

ull uniform, were two French civil officials, who wore, as customary, clothes like soldiers. One unfamiliar with their regalia might mistake, as I did, a pharmacist for an admiral. Mary, the

l the Honorable Walter Williams, the most famous dentist within five thousand miles, and the most distinguished white man of Tahiti; Landers; Polonsky; page 112David; McHenry; Schlyter, the Swedish tailor; Jones and Mrs. Jones, the husband, head of a book company in Los Angeles; a Barbary Coast singer and her man; a demirep of Chicago and her loved one; three Tahitian youth

a-Noa; discussions of the price of copra, mingled with the chants of the native feasters and ribald tales. The Tiare girls, all color and

ferns on her head, sped the dishes and the wine. She kept the desserts bef

aata au ahu

me" because a former partner of his establishment exported limes, and Landers succeeded to his

erican woman bounced off the veranda with her sixth course uneaten to complain to Lovaina that her hotel was no place for a Christian or a lady. Lovaina almost wept with astonishment and grief, but kept the champagne moving toward the Chap

w no monkey bizeness. Drinkin' wine custom of Tahiti. Make li

tered the dining-room in a breathing spell to sit at my table, a rather unusual honor I

do again. Make fat people too much bigger. That flat woma

which the consuls dined

Vive la Republique!" "The Stars and Stripes!" as the glas

k the floor with Mathilde, a chic, petite, and graceful half-caste, and they danced the maxixe. David glided with Margaret, Landers led out Lucy, and soon the room was filled with whirlin

uncalled-for speech from a venerable traveler who apparent

jus Teetee. We are gathered t

st-pas vrai!" "Shove in

nivers'ry of the deat

is seat. He was once a governor of a territory under President Harrison, and n

ew Year!" and the Tahitians: "Rupe-rupe tatou iti! I teienei mat

e année. He executed a pas seul. He mimicked a great one of France. page 114He drank cham

nch in the porch and

....... 3 Roe

....... 5 cha

....... 2 cha

....... 4 pol

s and English sang, the French humming the air. The wine flattened in the glasses and open bottles, but no one cared. They gathered in the garden, where the perfume of the tiar

the beach,

had shot pythons in Paraguay and had a yacht in Los Angeles h

olks sitting on their verandas and the younger at dal

to us!" "Hoere mai u

e accordions sweet and page 116low, and the subdued chant in sympathy with t

had dropped in. The Christchurch Kid had beaten Teaea, a native, the match being a

and, putting them in his immense pockets, returned to his table and opened them all at once. He had them spouting about him while their fizz lasted, and then drank most of their contents. He then threw a

noise! Nobod

became quiet. But Atupu slept in a little alcove by the bar, and any one in her favor h

are "in the archives." I have the word of the secretary-general of the Etablissments Fran?ais de l'Oceanie for that, and in the saloo

edoubtable knight had his prototype here in the van of it, the second in comm

ins, and the decks. The crowd of "scabs," untrained white sailors, and coal passers was supplemented by Raratonga natives, lounging about the gangway and sitting on the rails. On the wharf hundreds of people had gathered as usual to see the liner off. Lovaina was there in a pink lace dress, seated in her carriage, with Vava at the horse's head. Prince Hinoe had gathered about him a group of pretty girls, to whom he was promising a feast in the country. All the tourists,

row a mate whose mispoise made self-locomotion impossible. The trio danced on the wharf, sang a chantey about "whisky being the life of man," and declared they would stay all t

s, and the ruffians were of a mind to "beat them up." They raised their fists in attit

The second in command drew a revolver, and pointing at the hairy breast of the leader of the No

he unlimbered the revolver more firmly in the direction of the seamen. The

ared the leader. "I'll write to the Sydney pa

ee recalcitrants jumped on the bulwarks, and joined by a dozen others, yelled defiance at the authorities. As the Noa-Noa gradually drew out these cries became more definite, and the honor of France and of all Frenchmen was assai

wharf rushed for shelter behind posts and carriages, the horses pranced and snorted, and M. Lontane leaped to the fore. He advanced to the edge of the qu

officer of the Noa-Noa said a word to stop them, evidently fearing a general strike of the crew, and when the missiles cut open the head of a native stevedore and fell even among the laughing girls, the cou

eguminous shot of the Australasians, seized lumps of coal or coral, and took the van of the shore legions. Atupu struc

rew into a fierce battle, and only the increasing distance of the vesse

retary-general of the Etablissements Fran?aises de l'Oceanie, bearded and helmeted, white-faced and nervous, thro

whose carriage I had t

! Why this crazy people must be f

, with patriotic anger, "We French are lo

descended into his boat and returned to the quay, while the liner hovered a hundred yards away, the captain afraid to

mand, and several old residents. They would apply to the British consul for warrants for the arrest of

steam, while the high officials paced the wharf shaking t

s of excited provincials, who had vague ideas that la guerre was on. The wedding party, only six motor-cars full on the second day, all in wreaths of tuberoses and wild-cherry rind, the bride still in her p

now both disciplin

e secretary, a dapper little man whose flirting had made his wife a Ni

of a mustache, "it is more than serious page 122now; it is no longer the

nd though the crowd chaffed the police, the sweep of wharf was

ion at Paris had not removed the companies of soldiers who until recently had been the pride of Papeete! And crown of misfortune, the gun-boat, sole guard

standing near me with his arms folded on his breast an

e may all have to stand together, we wh

the Noa-Noa to save the face of la belle republique, for the blackened and blackguardly stokers still dangled t

en page 123a darker color to the scene, the procureur-général, the Martinique black, tall, protuberant, mopping his bald head, took the center of the concl

then they ordered the pilot to return to the Noa-Noa, and that vessel, whi

d their homes and the restaurants, for it was nearly sev

e secretary-general. "It will go

,-he, as all police, ride bicycles-his khaki helmet

our victory," he said gallantly. "We

te secretary, sighted the carriage of the governor, who had not appeared until t

climbed to the wide veranda of the Cercle B

he page 124steamer streaking through the reef gat

n the international incident. He was playing bridge with the go

I told them the Noa-Noa couldn't proceed without the stokers, and as it carries the French mail, the

or to each other's own people. New Zealand governs the Cook group, of which Raratonga is the principal island. Comparisons of sanitation, order, neatness, and businesslike management of these is

f neatness and golf links and cricket-grounds. Eh bien! There are other and better things. And as for drink, o

sez-faire of the Noa-Noa officers, and the British consul received a letter fro

he governor, who was a first-rate hand at bridge, and even knew the difference between a straight and a flush, putting down in black and white, sealed with the seal of the

n many a fever-stricken and robber-ridden port of the Near and Far East. He pinned upon his most obstreperous uniform the medal won by merit, straddled

sieur Lontane put a revolver against the stomach of one of the stokers, and that provoked the nastiness. Until then it page 126had been uncouth mirth caused by the vile liquor sold by the saloons licensed by the Government, and against the Papeete regulations that no more intoxicants shall be sold to a man already drunk. But when this British citizen, scum of Sydney or G

nd available guard be summoned from the country to preserve order, and that, as asked

ving unlimbered his falchion and removed his helmet, he and the g

ict of the limes, the coal, and the potatoes." A new himene was improvised about it, and

hing like th

ish men they

the lime

in fear the

hitians alon

e many more v