Kaiuolani

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 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 consequences 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 ungrateful subterfuge.

The bonds of nativity fain lay broken in the freedom 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 between 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 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, before facing an unavoidable crisis, the boon of a perfect 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, invoking 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 subjects 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 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 demanded 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 request? 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 unbecoming 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 occasion.

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 inconsiderably, this keen-witted little maiden knew better than her mistress the mainspring governing the movements of a man like Young,—a once favored suitor, who now came pleading for conclusion and encouragement, 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 feelings.

Nor did the unguarded expression fail of its warning, for the princess upon going below met her lover with a reserve that for once augured a decided advantage.

“What would you have of me, this morning?” queried she, in a little while, after having jauntly entered 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 feelings? 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 it,” replied she, haughtily, and with an air of authority that quite overcame her suitor.

“Kaiuolani!” whispered he, utterly unable to comprehend the meaning or to face the possibilities of her changed bearing.

The princess tilted her head the higher, and looking 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 determined 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 prefer 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.