 Honolulu by Somerset mom read by Bologna times this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Honolulu the wise traveler travels only in imagination an old Frenchman he was really a Savoyard once wrote a book called Voyage autour de ma chambre I have not read it and do not even know what it is about but the title stimulates my fancy in such a journey I could circumnavigate the globe an icon by the chimney piece can take me to Russia with its great forests of birch and its white dome churches the Volga is wide and at the end of a straggling village in the wine shop bearded men and rough sheepskin coats sit drinking I stand on the little hill from which Napoleon first saw Moscow and I look upon the vastness of the city I will go down and see the people whom I know more intimately than so many of my friends Alyosha and Vronsky and a dozen more but my eyes fall on a piece of porcelain and I smell the accurate odors of China I am born in a chair along a narrow causeway between the patty fields or else I skirt a tree clad mountain my bearers chat gaily as they trudged along in the bright morning and every now and then distant and mysterious I hear the deep sound of a monastery bell in the streets of Peking there is a motley crowd and it scatters to allow passage to a string of camels stepping delicately that brings gins and strange drugs from the stony deserts of Mongolia in England in London there are certain afternoons in winter when the clouds hang heavy and low and the light is so bleak that your heart sinks but then you can look out of your window and you see the coconut trees crowded upon the beach of a coral island the sand is silvery and when you walk along in the sunshine it is so dazzling that you can hardly bear to look at it overhead the minor birds are making a great to-do and the surf beats ceaselessly against the reef those are the best journeys the journeys that you take at your own fireside for then you lose none of your illusions but there are people who take salt in their coffee they say it gives it a tang a savor which is peculiar and fascinating in the same way there are certain places surrounded by a halo of romance to which the inevitable disillusionment which you must experience on seeing them gives a singular spice you had expected something holy beautiful and you get an impression which is infinitely more complicated than any that beauty can give you it is like the weakness in the character of a great man which makes him less admirable but certainly makes him more interesting nothing had prepared me for Honolulu it is so far away from europe it has reached after so long a journey from san francisco so strange and so charming associations are attached to the name that at first i could hardly believe my eyes i do not know that i had formed in my mind any very exact picture of what i expected but what i found caused me a great surprise it is a typical western city shacks are cheek by jaw with stone mansions dilapidated frame houses den next door to smart stores with plate glass windows electric cars rumble noisily along the streets and motors fords buicks packards lined the pavement the shops are filled with all the necessities of american civilization every third house is a bank and every fifth the agency of a steamship company along the streets crowd an unimaginable assortment of people the americans ignoring the climate where black coats and high-starch collars straw hats soft hats and bowlers the kanakas pale brown with crisp hair have nothing on but a shirt and a pair of trousers but the half-breeds are very smart with flaring ties and patent leather boots the japanese with their obsequious smile are neat and trim and white duck while their women walk a step or two behind them in native dress with a baby on their backs the japanese children in bright colored frocks their little head shaven look like quaint dolls then there are the chinese the men fat and prosperous wear their american clothes oddly but the women are enchanting with their tightly dressed black hair so neat that you feel it can never be disarranged and they are clean in their tunics and trousers white or powder blue or black lastly there are the filipinos the men in huge straw hats the women in bright yellow muslin with great puffed sleeves it is the meeting place of east and west the very new rub shoulders with the immeasurably old if you have not found the romance you expected you have come upon something singularly intriguing all these strange people live close to each other with different languages and different thoughts they believe in different gods and they have different values two passions alone they share love and hunger and somehow as you watch them you have an impression of extraordinary vitality though the air is so soft and the sky so blue you have i know not why a feeling of something hotly passionate that beats like a throbbing pulse through the crowd though the native policemen at the corner standing on a platform with a white club to direct the traffic gives the scene an air of respectability you cannot but feel that it is a respectability only of the surface a little below there is darkness and mystery it gives you just that thrill with a little catch at the heart that you have when at night in the forest the silence trembles on a sudden with the low insistent beating of a drum you are all expectant of i know not what if i have dwelt on the incongruity of honolulu it is because just this to my mind gives its point to the story i want to tell it is a story of primitive superstition and it startles me that anything of the sort should survive in a civilization which if not very distinguished is certainly very elaborate i cannot get over the fact that such incredible thing should happen or at least be thought to happen right in the middle so to speak of telephones tram cars and daily papers and the friend who showed me honolulu had the same incongruity which i felt from the beginning was its most striking characteristic he was an american named winter and i had brought a letter of introduction to him from an acquaintance in new york he was a man between 40 and 50 with scanty black hair gray at the temples and a sharp featured then face his eyes had a twinkle in them and his large horn spectacles gave him a demureness which was not a little diverting he was tall rather than otherwise and very spare he was born in honolulu and his father had a large store which sold hosiery and all such goods from tennis rackets to tarpaulins as a man of fashion could require it was a prosperous business and i could well understand the indignation of winter pair when his son refusing to go into it had announced his determination to become an actor my friend spent 20 years on the stage sometimes in new york but more often on the road for his gifts were small but at last being no fool he came to the conclusion that it was better to sell sock suspenders in honolulu than to play small parts in cleveland ohio he left the stage and went into the business i think after the hazardous existence he had lived so long he thoroughly enjoyed the luxury of driving a large car and living in a beautiful house near the golf course and i am quite sure since he was a man of parts he managed the business competently but he could not bring himself entirely to break his connection with the arts and since he might no longer act he began to paint he took me to his studio and showed me his work it was not at all bad but not what i should have expected from him he painted nothing but still life very small pictures perhaps eight by ten and he painted very delicately with the utmost finish he had evidently a passion for detail his fruit pieces reminded you of the fruit in a picture by gerland dajo while you marveled a little at his patients you could not help being impressed by his dexterity i imagine that he failed as an actor because his effects carefully studied were neither bold nor broad enough to get across the footlights i was entertained by the proprietary but yet ironical error with which he showed me the city he thought in his heart that there was none in the united states to equal it but he saw quite clearly that his attitude was comic he drove me around to the various buildings and swelled with satisfaction when i expressed a proper admiration for their architecture he showed me the houses of rich men that's the stubs house he said it cost a hundred thousand dollars to build the stubs are one of our best families old man's stubs came here as a missionary more than 70 years ago he hesitated a little and looked at me with twinkling eyes through his big round spectacles all our best families are missionary families he said you're not very much in honolulu unless your father or your grandfather converted to heathen is that so do you know your bible fairly i answered there is a text which says the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge i guess it runs differently in honolulu the fathers brought christianity to the kanaka and the children jumped his land heaven helps those who help themselves i murmured it surely does by the time the natives of this island had embraced christianity they had nothing else they could afford to embrace the kings gave the missionaries land as a mark of esteem and the missionaries bought land by way of laying up treasure in heaven it surely was a good investment one missionary left the business i think one may call it a business without a fence and became a land agent but that is an exception mostly it was their sons who looked after the commercial side of the concern oh it's a fine thing to have a father who came here 50 years ago to spread the faith but he looked at his watch gee it stopped that means it's time to have a cocktail we spent along an excellent road bordered with red hibiscus and came back into the town have you been to the union saloon not yet we'll go there i knew it was the most famous spot in honolulu and i entered it with a lively curiosity you go to it by a narrow passage from king street and in the passage are offices so that thirsty souls may be supposed bound for one of these just as well as for this alone it is a large square room with three entrances and opposite the bar which runs the length of it two corners have been partitioned off into little cubicles legend states that they were built so that king kala kaal might drink there without being seen by his subjects and it is pleasant to think that in one or other of these he may have sat over his bottle a cold black potentate with robert louis stevensson there is a portrait of him and oils in a rich gold frame but there are also two prints of queen victoria on the walls besides our old line engravings of the 18th century one of which and heaven knows how it got there is after a theatrical picture by d wild and there are oleographs from the christmas supplements of the graphic and the illustrated london news of 20 years ago then there are advertisements of whiskey gen champagne and beer and photographs of baseball teams and of native orchestras the place seemed to belong not to the modern hustling world that i have left in the bright street outside but to one that was dying it had the savor of the day before yesterday denji and dimly lit it had a vaguely mysterious air and you could imagine that it would be a fit scene for shady transactions it suggested a more lurid time when ruthless men carry their lives in their hands and violent deeds diapered the monotony of life when i went in the salon was fairly full a group of businessmen stood together at the bar discussing affairs and in a corner two kanakas were drinking two or three men who might have been storekeepers were shaking dice the rest of the company plainly followed the sea they were captains of tramps first mates and engineers behind the bar busily making the hanalu cocktail for which the place was famous served two large half-caste in white fat clean shaven and dark skin with thick curly hair and large bright eyes winter seemed to know more than half the company and when we made our way to the bar a little fat man in spectacles who was standing by himself offered him a drink no you have one with me captain said winter he turned to me i want you to know captain butler the little man shook hands with me we began to talk but my attention distracted by my surroundings i took small notice of him and after we had each ordered a cocktail we separated when we had got into the motor again and were driving away winter said to me i'm glad we ran up against butler i wanted you to meet him what did you think of him i don't know that i thought very much of him at all i answered do you believe in the supernatural i don't exactly know that i do i smile a very queer thing happened to him a year or two ago you want to have him tell you about it what sort of thing winter did not answer my question i have no explanation of it myself he said but there's no doubt about the facts are you interested in things like that things like what spells and magic and all that i've never met anyone who wasn't winter pause for a moment i guess i won't tell you myself you ought to hear from his own lips so that you can judge how are you fixed up for tonight i've got nothing on at all well i'll get hold of him between now and then and see if we can't go down to his ship winter told me something about him captain butler had spent all his life on the pacific he had been in much better circumstances than he was now for he had been first officer and then captain of a passenger boat flying along the coast of california but he had lost his ship and a number of passengers had been drowned drink i guess said winter of course there had been an inquiry which had cost him his certificate and then he drifted further afield for some years he had knocked about the south seas but he was now in command of a small schooner which sailed between honolulu and the various islands of the group it belonged to a chinese to whom the fact that his skipper had no certificate meant only that he could be had for lower wages and to have a white man in charge was always an advantage and now that i had heard this about him i took the trouble to remember more exactly what he was like i recalled his round spectacles and the round blue eyes behind them and so gradually reconstructed him before in my mind he was a little man without angles plump with a round face like the full moon and a little fat round nose he had fair short hair and he was red faced and clean shaven he had plump hands dimpled on the knuckles and short fat legs he was a jolly soul and the tragic experience he had gone through seemed to have left him unscarred though he must have been 34 or 35 he looked much younger but after all i had given him but a superficial attention and now that i knew of this catastrophe which had obviously ruined his life i promised myself that when i saw him again i would take more careful note of him it is very curious to observe the differences of emotional response that you find in different people some can go through terrific battles the fear of imminent death and unimaginable horrors and preserve their soul unscathed while with others the trembling of the moon on a solitary sea or the song of a bird and a thicket will cause a convulsion great enough to transform their entire being is it due to strength or want of imagination or instability of character i do not know when i called up in my fancy that scene of shipwreck with the shrieks of the drowning and the terror and then later the ordeal of the inquiry the bitter grief of those who sorrowed for the lost and the harsh things he must have read of himself in the papers the shame and the disgrace it came to me with a shock to remember that captain butler had talked with the frank obscenity of a schoolboy of the hawaiian girls and of yulei the red light district and of his successful adventures he laughed readily and one would have thought he could never laugh again i remembered his shining white teeth they were his best feature he began to interest me and thinking of him and his gay and sociance i forgot the particular story to hear which i was to see him again i wanted to see him rather to find out if i could a little more what sort of man he was winter made the necessary arrangements and after dinner we went down to the waterfront the ship's boat was waiting for us and we rode out the schooner was anchored some way across the harbor not far from the breakwater we came alongside and i heard the sound of a ukulele we clambered up the ladder i guess he's in the cabin said winter leading the way it was a small cabin bedraggled and dirty with a table against one side and a broad bench all around upon which slept i suppose such passengers as were ill advised enough to travel in such a ship a petroleum lamp gave a dim light the ukulele was being played by a native girl and butler was lolling on the seat half lying with his head on her shoulder and an arm around her waist don't let us disturb you captain said went her facetiously come right in said butler getting up and shaking hands with us what'll you have it was a warm night and through the open door you saw countless stars in a heaven that was still almost blue captain butler were a sleeveless undershirt showing his fat white arms and a pair of incredibly dirty trousers his feet were bare but on his curly head he wore a very old and very shapeless felt hat let me introduce you to my girl ain't she a peach we shook hands with a very pretty person she was a good deal taller than the captain and even in the mother hubbard which the missionaries of a past generation had in the interests of decency forced on the unwilling natives could not conceal the beauty of her form one could not but suspect that age would burden her with a certain corpulence but now she was graceful and alert her brown skin had an exquisite translucency and her eyes were magnificent her black hair very thick and rich was coiled round her head in a massive plate when she smiled in a greeting that was charmingly natural she showed teeth that were small even and white she was certainly a most attractive creature it was easy to see that the captain was madly in love with her he could not take his eyes off of her he wanted to touch her all the time that was very easy to understand but what seemed to me stranger was that the girl was apparently in love with him there was a light in her eyes that was unmistakable and her lips were slightly parted as though in a sigh of desire it was thrilling it was even a little moving and i could not help feeling somewhat in the way what had a stranger to do with this lovesick pair i wish that winter had not brought me and it seemed to me that the denji cabin was transfigured and now it seemed a fit and proper scene for such an extremity of passion i thought i should never forget that schooner and the harbor of honolulu crowded with shipping and yet under the immensity of the starry sky remote from all the world i like to think of those lovers sailing off together in the night over the empty spaces of the pacific from one green heli island to another a faint breeze of romance softly found my cheek and yet butler was the last man in the world with whom you would have associated romance and it was hard to see what there was in him to arouse love in the clothes he wore now he looked podger than ever and his round spectacles gave his round face the look of a prim cherub he suggested rather a curate who had gone to the dogs his conversation was peppered with the quainess americanisms and it is because i despair of reproducing these that at whatever loss of vividness i mean to narrate the story he told me a little later in my own words moreover he was unable to frame a sentence without an oath though a good-natured one and his speech albeit offensive only to prudish ears in print would seem coarse he was a mirth-loving man and perhaps that accounted not a little for his successful amores since women for the most part frivolous creatures are excessively bored by the seriousness with which men treat them and they consult and resist the buffoon who makes them laugh their sense of humor is crude diana of a thesis is always prepared to fling prudence to the winds for the red-nosed comedian who sits on his hat i realized that captain butler had charm if i had not known the tragic story of the shipwreck i should have thought he had never had a care in his life our host had rung the bell on our entrance and now a chinese cook came in with more glasses and several bottles of soda the whiskey and the captain's empty glass stood already on the table but when i saw the chinese i positively started for he was certainly the ugliest man i had ever seen he was very short but thick-set and he had a bad limp he wore a singlet and a pair of trousers that had been white but were now filthy and perched on a shock of bristly gray hair an old weed deer stalker it would have been grotesque on any chinese but on him it was outrageous his broad square face was very flat as though it had been bashed in by a mighty fist and it was deeply pitted with smallpox but the most revolting thing in him was a very pronounced hair-lip which had never been operated on so that his upper lip cleft went up in an angle to his nose and in the opening was a huge yellow fang it was horrible he came in with the end of a cigarette at the corner of his mouth and this i do not know why gave him a devilish expression he poured out the whiskey and opened a bottle of soda don't round it john said the captain he said nothing but handed the glass to each of us then he went out i saw you looking at my chink said butler with a grin on his fat shining face i should hate to meet him on a dark night i said he sure is homely said the captain and for some reason he seemed to say it with a peculiar satisfaction but he's fine for one thing i'll tell the world you just have to have a drink every time you look at him but my eyes fell upon a calabash that hung against the wall over the table and i got up to look at it i had been hunting for an old one and this was better than any i had seen outside the museum it was given me by a chief over on one of the islands said the captain watching me i've done him a good turn and he wanted to give me something good he certainly did i answered i was wondering whether i could discreetly make captain butler an offer for it i could not imagine that he sat in his store on such an article when as though he had read my thoughts he said i wouldn't sell that for ten thousand dollars i guess not said winter it would be a crime to sell it why i asked that comes into the story returned winter doesn't it captain it surely does well let's hear it then the night's young yet he answered the night distinctly lost its youth before he satisfied my curiosity and meanwhile we drank a great deal too much whiskey while captain butler narrated his experiences of san francisco in the old days and of the south seas at last the girl fell asleep she lay curled up on the seat with her face on her brown arm and her bosom rose and fell gently with her breathing in sleep she looked silent but darkly beautiful he had found her on one of the islands in the group among which whenever there was a cargo to be got he wandered with his crazy old schooner the konakas have little love for work and the laborious chinese the cunning jabs have taken the trade out of their hands her father had a strip of land on which he grew taro and bananas and he had a boat in which he went fishing he was vaguely related to the mate of the schooner and it was he who took captain butler up to the shabby little framehouse to spend an idle evening they took a bottle of whiskey with them and the ukulele the captain was not a shy man and when he saw a pretty girl he made love to her he could speak the native language fluently and it was not long before he had overcome the girl's timidity they spent the evening singing and dancing and by the end of it she was sitting by his side and he had his arm around her waist it happened that they were delayed on the island for several days and the captain at no time a man to hurry made no effort to shorten his stay he was very comfortable in the snug little harbor and life was long he had a swim around his ship in the morning and another in the evening there was a Chandler shop on the waterfront where sailor man could get a drink of whiskey and he spent the best part of the day there playing cribbage with the half-caste who owned it at night the mate and he went up to the house where the pretty girl lived and they sang a song or two and told stories it was the girl's father who suggested that he should take her away with him they discussed the matter in a friendly fashion while the girl nestling against the captain urged him by the pressure of her hands and her soft smiling glances he had taken a fancy to her and he was a domestic man he was a little dull sometimes at sea and it would be very pleasant to have a pretty little creature like that about the old ship he was of a practical turn too and he recognized that it would be useful to have someone around to darn his socks and look after his linen he was tired of having his things washed by a chink who tore everything to pieces the natives washed much better and now and then when the captain went ashore at Honolulu he liked to cut a dash and a smart duck suit it was only a matter of arranging a price the father wanted two hundred and fifty dollars and the captain never a thrifty man could not put his hand on such a sum but he was a generous one and with the girl's soft face against his he was not inclined to haggle he offered to give a hundred and fifty dollars there and then and another hundred and three months there was a good deal of argument and the parties could not come to any agreement that night but the idea had fired the captain and he could not sleep as well as usual he kept dreaming of the lovely girl and each time he awoke it was with the pressure of her soft sensual lips on his he cursed himself in the morning because a bad night at poker the last time he was at Honolulu had left him so short of writing money and if the night before he had been in love with the girl this morning he was crazy about her see here bananas he said to the mate i've got to have that girl you go and tell the old man i'll bring the dough up tonight and she can get fixed up i figure we'll be ready to sell at dawn i have no idea why the mate was known by that eccentric name he was called wheeler but though he had that english surname there was not a drop of white blood in him he was a tall man and well made though inclined to stoutness but much darker than as usual in hawaii he was no longer young and his crispy curling thick hair was gray his upper front teeth were cased in gold he was very proud of them he had a marked squint and this gave him a saddening expression the captain who was fond of a joke founded a constant source of humor and hesitated the less to rally him on the defect because he realized that the mate was sensitive about it bananas unlike most of the natives was a taciturn fellow and captain butler would have disliked him if it had been possible for a man of his good nature to dislike anyone he liked to be at sea with someone he could talk to he was a chatty social creature and it was enough to drive a missionary to drink to live there day after day with a chap who never opened his mouth he did his best to wake the mate up that is to say he chafed him without mercy but it was poor fun to laugh by oneself and he came to the conclusion drunk or sober bananas was no fit companion for a white man but he was a good seaman and the captain was shrewd enough to know the value of a mate he could trust it was not rare for him to come aboard when they were sailing fit for nothing but to fall into his bunk and it was worth something to know that he could stay there till he had slept his liquor off because bananas could be relied on but he was an unsociable devil and it would be a treat to have someone he could talk to that girl would be fine besides he wouldn't be so likely to get drunk when he went ashore if he knew there was a little girl waiting for him when he came on board again he went to his friend the chandler and over a peg of gin asked him for a loan there were one or two useful things as ships captain could do a ship's chandler and after a quarter of an hour's conversation in low tones there is no object in letting all and sundry know your business the captain crammed a wad of notes in his hip pocket and that night when he went back to his ship the girl was with him what captain butler seeking for reasons to do what he had already made up his mind to do had anticipated actually came to pass he did not give up drinking but he ceased to drink to excess an evening with the boys when he had been away from town two or three weeks was pleasant enough but it was pleasant to get back to his little girl he thought of her sleeping so softly and how when he got into his cabin and leaned over her she would open her eyes lazily and stretch out her arms for him it was as good as a full hand he found he was saving money and since he was a generous man he did the right thing by the little girl he gave her some silver back brushes for her long hair and a gold chain and a reconstructed ruby for her finger gee but it was good to be alive a year went by a whole year and he was not tired of her yet he was not a man who analyzed his feelings but this was so surprising that it forced itself upon his attention there must be something very wonderful about that girl he couldn't help seeing that he was more wrapped up in her than ever and sometimes the thought entered his mind that it might not be a bad thing if he married her then one day the mate did not come in to dinner or to tea butler did not bother himself about his absence at the first meal but at the second he asked the chinese cook where's the mate you know come tea no wanchi said the chink he ain't sick no sabi next day bananas turned up again but he was more sullen than ever and after dinner the captain asked the girl what was the matter with him she smiled and shrugged her pretty shoulders she told the captain that bananas had taken a fancy to her and he was sore because she had told him off the captain was a good a humored man and he was not of a jealous nature it struck him as exceeding funny that bananas should be in love a man who had his squint like that had precious poor chance when tea came round he chaffed him gaily he pretended to speak in the air so that the mate should not be certain that he knew anything but he dealt him some pretty shrewd blows the girl did not think him as funny as he thought himself and afterwards she begged him to say nothing more he was surprised at her seriousness she told him he did not know her people when their passion was aroused they were capable of anything she was a little frightened this was so absurd to him that he laughed heartily if he comes bothering around you you just threaten to tell me that'll fix him better fire him i think not on your sweet life i know a good sailor when i see one but if he don't leave you alone i'll give him the worst looking he's ever had perhaps the girl had a wisdom unusual in her sex she knew that it was useless to argue with a man when his mind was made up for it only increased his stubbornness and she held her peace and now on the shabby schooner threading her way across the silent sea among those lovely islands was enacted a dark tense drama of which the fat little captain remained entirely ignorant the girl's resistance fired bananas so that he ceased to be a man but it was simply blind desire he did not make love to her gently or gaily but with a black and savage ferocity her contempt now was changed to a hatred and when he besought her she answered him with bitter angry taunts but the struggle went on silently and when the captain asked her after a little while whether bananas was bothering her she lied but one night when they were in the Honolulu he came on board only just in time they were sailing at dawn bananas had been ashore drinking some native spirit and he was drunk the captain rowing up heard sounds that surprised him he scrambled up the ladder he saw bananas beside himself trying to wrench open the cabin door he was shouting at the girl he swore he would kill her if she did not let him in what the hell are you up to cried butler the mate let go of the handle and gave the captain a look of savage hate and without a word turned away stop here what are you doing with that door the mate still did not answer he looked at him with sullen bootless rage i'll teach you not to pull any of your queer stuff with me you dirty cross-eyed nigger said the captain he was a good foot shorter than the mate and no match for him but he was used to dealing with native crews and he had his knuckle duster handy perhaps it was not an instrument that a gentleman would use but then captain butler was not a gentleman nor was he in the habit of dealing with gentlemen before bananas knew what the captain was at his right arm had shot out and his fist with its ring of steel caught him fair and square on the jaw he felt like a bull under the pole ax that'll learn him said the captain bananas did not stir the girl unlocked the cabin door and came out is he dead he ain't he called a couple of men and told them to carry the mate to his bunk he rubbed his hands with satisfaction and his round blue eyes gleamed behind his spectacles but the girl was strangely silent she put her arms around him as though to protect him from an invisible arm it was two or three days before bananas was on his feet again and when he came out of his cabin his face was torn and swollen through the darkness of his skin you saw the livid bruise butler saw him slinking along the deck and called him the mate went to him without a word see here bananas he said to him fixing his spectacles on his slippery nose for it was very hot i ain't gonna fire you for this but you know now that when i hit i hit hard don't forget it and don't let me have any more funny business then he held out his hand and gave the mate that good-humored flashing smile of his which was his greatest charm the mate took the outstretched hand and twitched his swollen lips to the devilish grin the incident in the captain's mind was so completely finished that when the three of them sat at dinner he chafed bananas on his appearance he was eating with difficulty and his swollen face still more distorted by pain he looked truly a repulsive object that evening when he was sitting on the upper deck smoking his pipe a shiver passed through the captain i don't know what i should be shivering for on a night like this he brumbled maybe i've gotten a dose of fever i've been feeling a bit queer all day when he went to bed he took some quinine and next morning he felt better but a little washed out as though he were recovering from a debauch i guess my liver's out of order he said and he took a pill he had not much appetite that day and toward evening he began to feel very unwell he tried the next remedy he knew which was to drink two or three hot whiskies but that did not seem to help him much and when in the morning he surveyed himself in the glass he thought he was not looking quite the thing if i ain't right by the time we get back to Honolulu i'll just give Dr. Denby a call he'll sure fix me up he could not eat he felt a great lassitude in all his limbs he slept soundly enough but he awoke with no sense of refreshment on the contrary he felt a peculiar exhaustion and the energetic little man who could not bear the thought of lying in bed had to make an effort to force himself out of his bunk after a few days he found it impossible to resist the langer that oppressed him and he made up his mind not to get up bananas can look after the ship he said he has before now he laughed a little to himself as he thought how often he had lain speechless in his bunk after a night with the boys that was before he had its girl he smiled at her and pressed her hand she was puzzled and anxious he saw that she was concerned about him and tried to reassure her he had never had a day's illness in his life and in a week at the outside he would be as right as rain i wish you'd fired bananas she said i've got a feeling that he's at the bottom of this damn good thing i didn't or there'd be no one to sail this ship i know a good sailor when i see one his blue eyes rather pale now with the whites all yellow twinkled you don't think he's trying to poison me little girl she did not answer but she had one or two talks with the chinese cook and she took great care with the captain's food but he ate little enough now and it was only with the greatest difficulty that she persuaded him to drink a cup of soup two or three times a day it was very clear that he was very ill he was losing weight quickly and his chubby face was pale and drawn he suffered no pain but merely grew every day weaker and more languid he was wasting away the round trip on this occasion lasted about four weeks and by the time they came to Honolulu the captain was a little anxious about himself he had not been out of bed for more than a fortnight and really he fell too weak to get up and go to the doctor he sent a message asking him to come on board the doctor examined him but could find nothing to account for his condition his temperature was normal see here captain he said i'll be perfectly frank with you i don't know what's the matter with you and just seeing you like this don't give me a chance you come into the hospital so that we can keep you under observation there's nothing organically wrong with you i know that and my impression is that a few weeks in hospital ought to put you to rights i ain't gonna leave my ship Chinese owners were queer customers he said if he left his ship because he was sick his owner might fire him and he couldn't afford to lose his job so long as he stayed where he was his contract safeguarded him and he had a first-rate mate besides he couldn't leave his girl no man could want a better nurse if anyone could pull him through she would every man had to die once and he only wished to be left in peace he would not listen to his doctors ex postulations and finally the doctor gave in i'll write you a prescription he said doubtfully and see if it does you any good you better stay in bed for a while there ain't much fear of my getting up doc answered the captain i feel as weak as a cat but he believed in the doctor's prescription as little as did the doctor himself and when he was alone amused himself by lighting his cigar with it he had to get amusement out of something for a cigar tasted like nothing on earth and he smoked only to persuade himself that he was not too ill too that evening a couple of friends of his masters of tramp steamers herring he was set came to see him they discussed his case over a bottle of whiskey and a box of philippine cigars one of them remembered how a mate of his had taken queer just like that and not a doctor in the united states had been able to cure him he had seen in the paper an advertisement of a patent medicine and thought there'd be no harm in trying it that man was as strong as ever he'd been in his life after two bottles but his illness had given captain butler a lucidity which was new and strange and while they talked he seemed to read their minds they thought he was dying and when they left him he was afraid the girl saw his weakness this was her opportunity she had been urging him to let a native doctor see him and he had stoutly refused but now she entreated him he listened with harassed eyes he wavered it was very funny that the american doctor could not tell what was the matter with him but he did not want her to think that he was scared if he let a damn nigger come along and look at him it was comfort her he told her to do what she liked the native doctor came the next night the captain was lying alone half awake and the cabin was dimly lit by an oil lamp the door was softly opened and the girl came in on tiptoe she held the door open and someone slipped in silently behind her the captain smiled at this mystery but he was so weak now the smile was no more than a glimmer in his eyes the doctor was a little old man very thin and very wrinkled with a completely bald head and the face of a monkey he was bowed and gnarled like an old tree he looked hardly human but his eyes were very bright and in the half darkness they seemed to glow with a reddish light he was dressed filthily in a pair of ragged dungarees and the upper part of his body was naked he sat down on his haunches and for ten minutes looked at the captain then he felt the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet the girl washed him with brightened eyes no word was spoken then he asked for something that the captain had worn the girl gave him the old felt hat which the captain used constantly and taking it he sat down again on the floor clasping it firmly with both hands and rocking backwards and forwards slowly he muttered some gibberish in a very low tone at last he gave a little sigh and dropped the hat he took an old pipe out of his trouser pocket and lit it the girl went over to him and sat by his side he whispered something to her and she started violently for a few minutes they talked and hurried under tones and then they stood up she gave him money and opened the door for him he slid out as silently as he had come in then she went over to the captain and leaned over him so that she could speak into his ear it's an enemy praying you to death don't talk full stuff girly he said impatiently it's truth it's god's truth that's what the american doctor couldn't do anything our people can do that i've seen it done i thought you were safe because you were a white man i haven't an enemy bananas what's he want to pray me to death for you ought to have fired him before he had a chance i guess if i ain't got nothing more to matter with me than bananas who do i shall be sitting up and taking nourishment in a very few days she was silent for a while and she looked at him intently don't you know you're dying she said to him at last that was what the two skippers had thought but they hadn't said it he sure were passed across the captain's wand face the doctor says there ain't nothing really the matter with me i've only to lack quiet for a bit and i shall be all right she put her lips to his ear as if you were afraid that the air itself might hear you're dying dying dying you'll pass out with the old moon that's something to know you'll pass out with the old moon unless bananas dies before he was not a timid man and he had recovered already from the shock her words and still more her vehement silent matter had given him once more a smile flickered in his eyes i guess i'll take my chance girly there's 12 days before the new moon there was something in her tongue that gave him an idea see here my girl this is all bunk i don't believe a word of it but i don't want you to try any of your monkey tricks with bananas he ain't a beauty but his first rate mate he would have said a good deal more but he was tired out he suddenly felt very weak and faint it was always at that hour he felt worse he closed his eyes the girl watched him for a minute then slipped out of the cabin the moon nearly full made a silver pathway over the dark sea it shone from an unclouded sky she looked at it with terror for she knew that with its death the man she loved would die his life was in her hands she alone could save him but the enemy was cunning and she must be cunning too she felt that someone was looking at her and without turning by the sudden fear that seized her knew that from the shadow the burning eyes of the mate were fixed upon her she did not know what he could do if he could read her thoughts she was defeated already and with a desperate effort she emptied her mind of all content his death alone could save her lover and she could bring his death about she knew that if he could be brought to look in a calabash in which was water so that a reflection of him was made and the reflection were broken by hurtling the water he would die as though he had been struck by lightning for the reflection was his soul but none knew better than he the danger and he could be made to look only by a guile which had lulled his least suspicion he must never think that he had an enemy who was on the watch to cause his destruction she knew what she had to do but the time was short the time was terribly short presently she realized that the mate had gone she breathed more freely two days later they sailed and there were 10 now before the new moon captain butler was terrible to see he was nothing but skin and bone and he could not move without help he could hardly speak but she dared do nothing yet she knew that she must be patient the mate was cunning cunning they went to one of the smaller islands of the group and discharged cargo and now there were only seven days more the moment had come to start she brought some things out of the cabin she shared with the captain and made them into a bundle she put the bundle in the duck cabin where she and bananas ate their meals and at dinner time when she went in he turned quickly and she saw that he had been looking at it neither of them spoke but she knew what he suspected she was making her preparations to leave the ship he looked at her mockingly gradually as though to prevent the captain from knowing what she was about she brought everything she owned into the cabin and some of the captain's clothes and made them all into bundles at last bananas could keep silence no longer he pointed to a suit of ducks what are you going to do with that he asked she shrugged her shoulders i'm going back to my island he gave a laugh that distorted his grim face the captain was dying and she meant to get away with all she could lay hands on what will you do if i say you can't take those things they're the captains they're no use to you she said there was a calabash hanging on the wall it was it was the very calabash i had seen when i had when i came into the cabin and which we had talked about she took it down it was all dusty so she poured water into it from the water bottle and rinsed it with her fingers what are you doing with that i can sell it for fifty dollars she said if you want to take it you'll have to pay me what do you want you know what i want she allowed a fleeting smile to play on her lips she flashed a quick look at him and quickly turned away he gave a gasp of desire she raised her shoulders in a little shrug with a savage bound he sprang upon her and seized her in his arms then she laughed she put her arms her soft round arms about his neck and surrendered herself to him voluptuously when the morning came she roused him out of a deep sleep the early rays of the sun slanted into the cabin he pressed her to his heart then he told her that the captain could not last more than a day or two and the owner wouldn't so easily find another white man to command the ship if bananas offered to take less money he would get the job and the girl could stay with him he looked at her with lovesick eyes she nestled up against him she kissed his lips in the foreign way in the way the captain had taught her to kiss and she promised to stay bananas was drunk with happiness it was now or never she got up and went to the table to arrange her hair there was no mirror and she looked into the kalabash seeking for her reflection she tidied her beautiful hair then she back into bananas to come to her she pointed to the kalabash there's something in the bottom of it she said instinctively without suspecting anything bananas looked full into the water his face was reflected in it in a flash she beat upon it violently with both her hands so that they pounded on the bottom and the water splashed up the reflection was broken in pieces bananas started back with a sudden horse cry and he looked at the girl she was standing there with the look of triumphant hatred on her face a horror came into his eyes his heavy features were twisted and agony and with a thud as though he had taken a violent poison he crumpled up onto the ground a great shutter passed through his body and he was still she leaned over him callously she put her hand on his heart and then she pulled down his lower eyelid he was quite dead she went into the cabin in which lake captain butler there was a faint color in his cheeks and he looked at her in a startled way what's happened he whispered they were the first words he had spoken for 48 hours nothing's happened she said i feel all funny then his eyes closed and he fell asleep he slept for a day and a night and when he awoke he asked for food and a fortnight he was well it was past midnight when winter and i rode back to shore and we had drunk innumerable whiskies and sodas what do you think of it all asked winter what a question if you mean have i any explanation to suggest i haven't the captain believes every word of it that's obvious but you know that's not the part that interests me most whether it's true or not and what it all means the part that interests me is that such things should happen to such people i wonder what there is in that commonplace little man to arouse such a passion in that lovely creature as i watched her asleep there while he was telling the story i had some fantastic idea about the power of love being able to work miracles but that's not the girl said wonder what on earth do you mean didn't you notice the cook of course i did is the ugliest man i ever saw that's why butler took him the girl ran away with the chinese cook last year this is a new one he's only had her there about two months well i'm hanged he thinks this cook is safe but i wouldn't be too sure in his place there's something about a chink when he lays himself out to plays a woman she can't resist him end of honolulu by Somerset mom the log by Guy the Mopassant this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information and to find out how you can volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the log by Guy the Mopassant the drawing room was small full of heavy draperies and discreetly fragrant a large fire burned in the great and a solitary lamp at one end of the mantelpiece threw a soft light on the two persons who were talking she the mistress of the house was an old lady with white hair one of those old ladies whose unwrinkled skin is as smooth as the finest paper and scented impregnated with perfume with the delicate essences which she had used in her bath for so many years he was an old friend who had never married a constant friend a companion in the journey of life but nothing more they had not spoken for about a minute and were both looking at the fire dreaming of no matter what in one of those moments a friendly silence between people who have no need to be constantly talking in order to be happy together when suddenly a large log a stump covered with burning roots fell out it fell over the fire dogs and into the drawing room rolled onto the carpet scattering great sparks around it the old lady with a little scream sprang to her feet to run away while he kicked the log back on the hearth and stamped out all the burning sparks with his boots when the disaster was remedied there was a strong smell of burning and sitting down opposite his friend the man looked at her with a smile and said as he pointed to the log that is the reason why I never married she looked at him in an astonishment with the inquisitive gaze of a woman who wished to know everything that I which women have who are no longer very young in which a complex and often roguish curiosity is reflected and she asked how so oh it is a long story he replied and rather unpleasant my old friends were often surprised at the coldness which suddenly sprang between one of my best friends whose christian name was julienne and myself they could not understand how two such intimate and inseparable friends as we had been could suddenly become almost strangers to one another and I will tell you the reason for it he and I used to live together at one time we were never apart and the friendship that united us seemed so strong that nothing could break it one evening when he came home he told me that he was going to get married and it gave me a shock as if he had robbed me or betrayed me when a man's friend marries it is all over between them the jealous affection of a woman that suspicious uneasy carnal affection will not tolerate the sturdy and frank attachment that attachment of the mind of the heart and that mutual confidence that exists between two men you see however great the love may be that unites them man and a woman are always strangers in mind and intellect they remain belligerents they belong to different races they must always be conqueror and conquered a master and a slave now the one now the other they are never two equals they press each other's hands those hands trembling with amorous passion but they never press them with a long strong loyal pressure with that pressure which seems to open hearts and to lay them bare in a burst of sincere strong manly affection philosophers of old instead of marrying and procreating children as consolation for their old age children who had abandoned them sought for a good reliable friend and grew old with him in that communion of thought which can only exist between men well my friend julian married his wife was pretty charming a little curly haired blonde plump and lively who seemed to worship him at first i went but rarely to their house feeling myself superfluous but somehow they attracted me to their home they were constantly inviting me and seemed very fond of me consequently by degrees i allowed myself to be allured by the charm of their life i often dine with them and frequently when i returned home at night thought that i would do so as he had done and get married as my empty house now seem very dull they appeared to be very much in love and were never apart well one evening julian wrote and asked me to come to dinner and i naturally went my dear fellow he said i must go out directly after business and i shall not be back until 11 o'clock but i shall be back at 11 precisely and i reckon on you to keep bertha company the young woman smiled it was my idea she said to send for you i held out my hand to her who are as nice as ever i said and i felt a long friendly pressure of my fingers i paid no attention to it so we sat down to dinner and at eight o'clock julian went out as soon as he had gone a kind of strange embarrassment immediately seemed to arise between his wife and me we had never been alone together and in spite of our daily increasing intimacy this tetetet placed us in a new position at first i spoke vaguely of those indifferent matters with which one fills up an embarrassing silence but she did not reply and remained opposite me with her head down in an undecided manner as if she were thinking over some difficult subject and i was at a loss for small talk i held my tongue it is surprising how hard it is at times to find anything to say and then also i felt something in the air something i could not express one of those mysterious premonitions that warn one of another person's secret intentions in regard to yourself whether they be good or evil that painful silence lasted some time and then bertha said to me would you be kind enough to put a log on the fire for it is going out so i opened up the box where the wood was kept which was placed just where yours is took out the largest log and put it on top of the others which were three quarters burned and then silence again reigned in the room in a few minutes the log was burning so brightly that it scorched our faces and the young woman raised her eyes to mine eyes that had a strange look to me it's too hot now she said let us go and sit on the sofa over there so we went and sat on the sofa and then she said suddenly looking at me full in the face what would you do if a woman were to tell you that she were in love with you upon my word i replied very much at a loss for an answer i cannot foresee such a case but it would depend very much upon the woman she gave a hard nervous vibrating laugh one of those false laughs which seems as if they must break thin glass and then she added in her never either venturesome or spiteful and after a moment of silence she continued have you ever been in love mr. poorl i was obliged to acknowledge that i certainly had and she asked me to tell her about it whereupon i made up some story or other she listened to me attentively with frequent signs of disapproval and contempt and then suddenly she said no you understand nothing about the subject it seems to me that real love must unsettle the mind upset the nerves distract the head that it must how shall i express it be dangerous even terrible almost criminal and sacrilegious that it must be a kind of treason i mean to say that it is bound to break laws fraternal bonds sacred obligations when love is tranquil easy lawful without dangers is it really love i did not not know how to give answer to her and i made this philosophical reflection to myself oh female brain here indeed you show yourself while speaking she had assumed a demure saintly air and resting on the cushions she stretched herself out at full length with her head on my shoulder and her dress pulled up a little so as to show her red stockings which the firelight made look still brighter in a minute or two she continued i suppose i have frightened you i protested against such an ocean and she leaned against my breast altogether and without looking at me she said if i were to tell you that i love you what would you do and before i could think of an answer she had thrown her arms around my neck had quickly drawn her head down and put her lips to mine oh my dear friend how can i tell you that i did not feel at all happy what sieve julian become the lover of this little silly wrong-headed deceitful woman who was no doubt terribly sensual and whom her husband no longer satisfied to betray him continually to deceive him to play at being in love merely because i was attracted by forbidden fruit by the danger incurred and the friendship betrayed no that did not suit me but what was i to do to imitate joseph would be acting a very stupid and more over difficult part for this woman was enchanting in her perfidity inflamed by audacity palpitating and excited let the man who has never felt on his lips the warm kiss of a woman who is ready to give herself to him throw the first stone at me well a minute more you understand what i mean a minute more and i should have been no she should have been i beg your pardon he would have been when a loud noise made us both jump up the log had fallen into the room knocking over the fire irons and the fender and onto the carpet which it had scorched and had rolled under the armchair which it would certainly set a light i jumped up like a madman and as i was replacing on the fire that log which saved me the door opened hastily and julian came in i am free he said with evident pleasure the business was over two hours sooner than i expected yes my dear friend without that log i should have been caught in the very act and you know what the consequences of that would have been you may be sure that i took great care never to be found in a similar situation again never never soon after i saw that julian was giving me the cold shoulder as they say his wife was evidently undermining our friendship by degrees he got rid of me and we have all together ceased to meet i never married which ought not surprise you i think the end of the log by gie de maupassant read by roi schreiber the rondoli sisters by gie de massapon this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information and to find out how you can volunteer please visit Librivox.org the rondoli sisters by gie de massapon part one i set out to see italy thoroughly on two occasions and each time i was stopped at the frontier and could not get any further so i do not know italy said my friend charles and yet my two attempts gave me a charming idea of the manners of that beautiful country sometime however i must visit its cities as well as its museums and works of art which it abounds i will make another attempt to penetrate into the interior which i have not yet succeeded in doing you don't understand me so i will explain in the spring of 1874 i was seized with an irresistible desire to see venice florence roam and naples i am as you know not a great traveler it appears to me a useless and fatiguing business knights spent in a train a disturbed slumber of the railway carriage with the attendant headache and stiffness in every limb sudden waking in that rolling box the unwashed feeling with your eyes and hair full of dust the smell of coal on which one's lungs feed those bad dinners in the drafty refreshment rooms are according to my ideas a horrible way of beginning a pleasure trip after this introduction we have the miseries of the hotel some great hotel full of people and yet so empty the strange room and the doubtful bed i am most particular about my bed it is the sanctuary of life we entrust our almost naked and fatigued bodies to it so that we may be reanimated by reposing between soft sheets and feathers there we find the most delightful hours of our existence the hours of love and of sleep the bed is sacred and should be respected venerated love by us as the best and most delightful of our earthly possessions i cannot lift up the sheets of a hotel bed without a shutter of disgust who has occupied it the night before perhaps dirty revolting people have slept in it i begin then to think of all the horrible people with whom one robes shoulders every day people with suspicious looking skin which makes one think of the feet and all the rest i call to mind those who carry about with them the sickening smell of garlic or of humanity i think of those who are deformed and unhealthy of the perspiration emanating from the sick of everything that is ugly and filthy and man and all this perhaps in the bed in which i am about to sleep the mere idea of it makes me feel ill as i get into it and then the hotel dinner those dreary hotel dinners in the midst of all sorts of extraordinary people or else those terrible solitary dinners at a small table in a restaurant feebly lighted by a wretched composite candle under a shade again those terribly dull evenings in some unknown town do you know anything more wretched than the approach of dusk on such an occasion one goes about as if almost in a dream looking at faces that one never has seen before and never will see again listening to people talking about matters which are quite indifferent to you in a language that perhaps you do not understand you have a terrible feeling almost as if you were lost and you continue to walk on so as not to be obliged to return to the hotel where you will feel more lost still because you are at home in a home which belongs to anyone who can pay for it and at last you sink into a chair in some well-lit cafe whose gilding and lights oppress you a thousand times more than the shadows in the streets and you feel so abominably be alone in front of the glass of flat Bach Pier that a kind of madness seizes you the longing to go somewhere or other no matter where as long as you need not return in front of the marble table amid the dazzling lights and then suddenly you are aware that you are really alone in the world always and everywhere and that in places which we know the familiar jostlings give us the illusion only of human fraternity at such moments of self-abandonment and somber isolation in distant cities one thinks broadly clearly profoundly then one suddenly sees the whole of life outside the vision of eternal hope apart from the deceptions of our innate habits and of our expectations of happiness which we indulge in dreams never to be realized it is only by going a long distance from home we can fully understand how shard lived and empty everything near at hand is by searching for the unknown we perceive how commonplace and effervescent everything is only by wandering over the face of the earth can we understand how small the world is and how very much like it is everywhere how well i know and how i hate and almost fear those haphazard walks through unknown streets and this is the reason why as nothing would induce me to undertake a tour of Italy by myself i made up my mind to accompany my friend paul you know paul and how he idolizes women to him the earth is habitable only because they are there the sun gives light and is warm because it shines upon them the air is soft and balmy because it blows upon their skin and ruffles the soft hair on their temples and the moon is charming because it makes them dream and in parts a langerous charm to love every act in action of paul's has woman for its motive all his thoughts all his efforts and hopes are centered in them when i mentioned italy to paul he at first absolutely refused to leave paris i however began to tell him of the adventures i had had on my travels i assured him that all Italian women are charming and i made him hope for the most refined pleasures at naples thanks to certain letters of introduction that i had and so at last he allowed himself to be persuaded the rondoli sisters part two we took the express one thursday evening paul and i hardly anyone goes south at that time of the year so that we had the carriages to ourselves and both of us were in a bad temper on leaving paris sorry for having yielded to the temptation of this journey and regretting marley the sane and our lazy boning excursions and all those pleasures in and near paris which are so dear to every true parisian as soon as the train started paul stuck himself in his corner and said it is most idiotic go all that distance and as it was too late for him to change his mind then i said well you should not have come he made no answer and i felt very much inclined to laugh and i saw how furious he looked he certainly is almost rather like a squirrel but then every one of us has retained the type of some animal or other as the mark of his primitive origin how many people have jaws like a bulldog or heads like goats rabbits foxes horses or oxen paul is a squirrel turned into a man he has its bright quick eyes its hair its pointed nose its small fine supple active body and a certain mysterious resemblance in his general bearing in fact a similarity of movement of gesture and of bearing which might almost be taken for a recollection at last we both went to sleep with that uncomfortable slumber of the railway carriage which is interrupted by horrible cramps in the arms and neck and by the sudden stoppages of the train we woke up as we were passing along the rome soon the continued noise of crickets came in through the windows that cry which seems to be the voice of the warm earth the song of Provence and seemed to instill into our looks our breaths our soul a light and happy feeling of the south that odor of the parched earth of the stonian light soil of the olive with its gray green foliage when the train stopped again a railway guard came along the train calling out Verlens in a sonorous voice with an accent again that gave us a taste of that Provence which the shrill note of the crickets had already imparted to us nothing fresh happened till we got to Marseille where we alighted for breakfast when we returned to our carriage we found a woman installed there Paul with a delighted glance at me gave his short mustache a mechanical twirl and passed his fingers through his hair which had become slightly out of order with the night's journey then he sat down opposite the newcomer whenever i happened to see a striking face either in traveling or in society i always have the strongest inclination to find out what character mind and intellectual capacities are beneath those features she was a young and pretty woman certainly a native of the south of France with splendid eyes beautiful wavy hair which was so thick and long that seemed almost too heavy for her head she was dressed with a certain southern bad taste which made her look a little vulgar her regular features had none of the grace and finish of the refined races of that slight delicacy which members of the aristocracy inherit from their birth and which is the hereditary mark of thinner blood her bracelets were too big to be of gold she wore earrings with large white stones that were certainly not diamonds and she belonged unmistakably to the people once surmised she would talk too loud and shout on every occasion with exaggerated gestures when the train started she remained motionless in her place in the attitude of a woman who was indignant without even looking at us Paul began to talk to me evidently with an eye to effect trying to attract her attention shockkeepers expose their wares to catch the notice of passers-by she however did not appear to be paying the least attention too long ten minutes to wait refreshment room the porter shouted Paul motioned to me to get out and as soon as we had done so he said i wonder who on earth she could be i began to laugh i'm sure i don't know and i don't in the least care he was quite excited she is uncommonly fresh in a pretty girl what eyes she has and how cross she looks she must have been dreadfully worried for she takes no notice of anything you will have all your troubles for nothing i growled he began to lose his temper i am not taking any trouble my dear fellow i think her an extremely pretty woman that is all if one could only speak to her but i don't know how to begin can not you give me an idea can't you guess who she is upon my word i cannot however i should rather think she is some strolling actress who is going to rejoin her company after a love adventure he seemed quite upset as if i had said something insulting what makes you think that on the contrary i think she looks most respectable just look at her bracelets i said her earrings and her whole dress i should not be the least surprised if she were a dancer or a circus rider most likely a dancer her whole style smacks very much of the theater he evidently did not like the idea she is much too young i am sure how she is hardly 20 well i replied there are many things that one can do before one is 20 dancing and elocution are among them take your seats for niece vintamaglia the guards and porters called we got in our fellow passenger was eating an orange and certainly she did not do it elegantly she had spread her pocket handkerchief on her knees and the way in which she tore off the peel opened her mouth to put in the pieces and then spat the pips out the window showed her training had been decidedly vulgar she also seemed more put out than ever and swallowed the fruit with an exceeding comic air of rage paul devoured her with his eyes and tried to attract her attention and excite her curiosity but in spite of his talk and of the manner in which he brought in well known names she did not pay the least attention to him after passing frazier and san rafael the train passed through a veritable garden a paradise of roses and groves of oranges and lemons covered with fruits and flowers at the same time at the delightful coast from marseille to genoa is a kingdom of perfumes in the home of flowers june is the time to see it in all its beauty when every narrow valley on every slope the exquisite flowers are growing luxuriously and roses fields hedges groves of roses they climb the walls blossom on the roofs hang from the trees peep out from among the bushes they are white red yellow large and small single simple self-colored dress or full of heavy brilliant toilets their breath makes the air heavy and relaxing and the still more penetrating odor of the orange blossoms sweetens the atmosphere till it might almost be called the refinement of odor the shore with its brown rocks was bathed by the motionless Mediterranean the hot summer sun stretched like a fiery cloud over the mountains over the long expanses of sand and over the motionless apparently solid blue sea the train went on through the tunnels along the slopes above the water on straight wall-like viaducts and on a soft vague saltish smell a smell of drying seaweed mingled at times with the strong heavy perfume of the flowers but paul neither saw looked at nor smelled anything for our fellow traveler engrossed all his intention when we reached car as we wished to speak to me he signed me to get out and as soon as i did so he took me by the arm do you know she is really charming just look at her eyes and i never saw anything like her hair don't excite yourself i reply or else address her if you have any intentions that way she does not look unapproachable i fancy although she appears to be a little bit grumpy why don't you speak to her he said i don't know what to say for i'm always terribly stupid at first i can never make advances to a woman in the street i follow them go round and round them and quite close to them but never know what to say at first i only tried to enter into conversation with a woman in that room i promised paul to do all i could to bring about a conversation and when we had taken our place again i politely asked our neighbor have you any objection to the smell of tobacco madam she merely replied non capisco so she's an italian i felt an absurd inclination to laugh as paul did not understand the word of that language i was obliged to act as his interpreter so i said in italian i asked you madam whether you had any objection to tobacco smoke then angry look she replied she may fall she had neither turned her head nor looked at me and i really did not know whether to take this what do i care for an authorization a refusal a sign of indifference or for a mere let me alone madam i replied if you mind the smell of tobacco in the least she again said mica in a tone which seemed to mean i wish to goodness you would leave me alone it was however a kind of permission so i said to paul who may smoke he looked at me in that curious sort of way that people have when they try to understand others who are talking in a strange language before them and asked me what did you say to her i asked whether we might smoke and she said might do whatever we liked whereupon i lit my cigar did she say anything more if you had counted her words you would have noticed she used exactly six two of which gave me to understand that she knew no french so four remained and much can be said in four words paul seemed quite unhappy disappointed and at sea so to speak but suddenly the atajian asked me in that tone of discontent which seemed habitual to her do you know what time we shall get to genoa at 11 o'clock i replied then after a moment i went on my friend and i are also going to genoa and if we can be of any service to you we shall be very happy as you are quite alone but she interrupted with such a meekah that i did not venture another word what did she say asked paul she said she thought you were charming but he was in no humor for joking and begged me dryly not to make fun of him so i translated her question and my polite offer which had been so rudely rejected then he became as restless as a cage squirrel if we only knew he said what hotel she was going to we could go to the same try to find out and so as to have another opportunity to make her talk was not particularly easy and i did not know what pretext to invent as arous as i was to make the acquaintance of this unapproachable person he passed niece monaco mentone and the train stopped the frontier for the examination of luggage although i hate those ill-bred people who breakfast and dine in railway carriages i went and bought a quantity of good things to make one last attack on her by their means i felt sure that this girl must ordinarily be by no means inaccessible something had put her out and made her irritable very little would suffice a mere word or some agreeable offer to decide her and vanquisher we started again and we three were still alone i spread my edibles on the seat i cut up the foul with the slices of ham neatly on a piece of paper and then carefully laid out our dessert strawberries plums cherries and cakes close to the girl when she saw that we were about to eat she took a piece of chocolate and two little crisp cakes out of her pocket and began to munch on them ask her to have some of ours paul said in a whisper that is exactly what i wish to do it is rather a difficult matter as she however glanced from time to time at our provisions i felt sure that she would still be hungry when she finished what she had with her so as soon as her frugal meal was over i said to her it would be very kind of you if you would take some of this fruit again she said mica with us crossly than before well then i said may i offer you a little wine i see you have not drunk anything it is a titan wine and as we are now in your own country we should be very pleased to see such a pretty titan mouth except the offer of its french neighbors she shook her head slightly evidently wishing to refuse but very desirous as accepting and her mica this time was almost polite i took the flask which was covered with straw in the titan fashion and filled the glass i offered it to her please drink it i said a bit as welcome to your country she took the glass with her usual look and emptied it in a draught like a woman consumed with thirst and then gave it back to me without even saying thank you i then offered her the cherries please take some i said but she'd be glad if you will out of her corner she looked at all the fruit spread beside her and said so rapidly that i could scarcely follow her i do not care for cherries or plums only for strawberries i put a newspaper full of wild strawberries on her lap and she ate them quickly tossing them into her mouth from some distance in a coquetish and charming manner when she had finished the little red heap which soon disappeared under the rapid action of her hands i asked her what may i offer you now i will take a little chicken she replied she certainly devoured half of it tearing it to pieces with the rapid movements of her jaw like some carnivorous animal then she made up her mind to have some cherries which she did not like and then some plums then some little cakes then she said i've had enough and sat back in her corner i was much amused and tried to make her eat more insisting in fact till she suddenly flew into a rage and flung a furious meek at me that i would not any longer run the risk of spoiling her digestion i turned to my friend my poor paul i said i'm afraid we have had our trouble for nothing the night came on one of those hot summer nights which extend their warm shade over the burning and exhausted earth here and there in the distance by the sea on capes and promontories bright stars which i was at times almost inclined and confound with lighthouses began to shine on the dark horizon the scent of the orange trees became more penetrating and we breathed with delight extending our lungs to inhale it more deeply the balmy air is so soft delicious almost divine suddenly i noticed something like a shower of stars under the dense shade of the trees along the line where it was quite dark it might have been taken for drops of light leaping flying playing and running among the leaves or for small stars fallen from the sky in order to have an excursion on the earth but they were only fireflies dancing a strange fiery ballet in the perfumed air one of them happened to come into our carriage and shed its intermittent light seemed to be extinguished one moment and to be burning the next i covered the carriage lamp with its blue shade and watched the strange fly careening about its fiery flight suddenly settled on the dark hair of our neighbor who was half dosing after dinner all seemed delighted with his eyes fixed on the bright sparkling spot it seemed like a living jewel on the forehead of the sleeping woman the Italian woke up about 11 o'clock with the bright insect still in her hair and i saw her move i said we are just getting to genoa madam and she murmured without answering me as if possessed by some obstinate and embarrassing thought what am i going to do i wonder and then suddenly she asked would you like me to come with you i was so taken aback that i really did not understand her with us how do you mean she repeated looking more and more furious would you like me to be your guide now as soon as we get out of the train i am quite willing but where do you want to go she shrugged her shoulders with an air of supreme indifference wherever you like what does it matter to me she repeated her shamey fa twice but we are going to the hotel very well let us all go to the hotel she said in a contemptuous voice i turned to paul and said she wishes to know whether we should like her to come with us my friend's utter surprise restored my self-possession he stammered with with us where to what for how i don't know she made this strange proposal to me in a most irritated voice i told her that we were going to the hotel and she said very well let us all go there i suppose she is without a penny certainly she has a very strange way of making acquaintances paul who was very much excited exclaimed i am quite agreeable tell her that we will all go wherever she likes then after a moment's hesitation he said uneasily we must know however with whom she wishes to go with you or with me i turned to the italian did not even seem to be listening to us and said we shall be very happy to have you with us but my friend wishes to know whether you will take my arm or his she opened her black eyes wide with vague surprise and said shamey fa i was obliged to explain myself in italy i believe when a man looks after a woman fulfills her wishes and satisfies her caprices he is called a patito which of us two would you take for your patito without the slightest hesitation she replied you i turned to paul you see my friend she chooses me you have no chance all the better for you he replied in a rage then after thinking for a few moments he went on do you really care about taking this creature with you she will spoil our journey what are we to do with this woman who looks like i don't know what they will not take us in any decent hotel i however began to find the italian much nicer than i had thought her at first and i was now very desirous to take her with us the idea delighted me i replied my dear fellow we have accepted and it is too late to recede you were the first to advise me to say yes it was very stupid growl do as you please the train whistled stack and speed and we ran into the station i got out of the carriage and offered my nuke companion my hand she jumped out lightly and i gave her my arm she took with an air seeming repugnance as soon as we had claimed our luggage he sat off into the town paul walking in utter silence to what hotel shall we go i asked him it may be difficult to get into the city of paris with a woman especially with this italian paul interrupted me yes with an italian who looks more like a dancer than a duchess however that is no business of mine do just as you please i was in a state of perplexity i had written to the city of paris to retain our rooms and now i did not know what to do two commissaires followed us with our luggage i continued we might as well go on first and say that we are coming and give the landlord to understand that i have a a friend with me and that we should like rooms quite by ourselves for us three so as not to be brought in contact with other travelers he will understand and we will decide according to his answer but paul growled thank you such commissions such parts do not suit me by any means i did not come here to select your apartments or to minister to your pleasures but i was urgent look here don't be angry it is surely far better to go to a good hotel than a bad one and it is not difficult to ask the landlord for three separate bedrooms and a dining room i put the stress on three and that decided him he went on first and i saw him go into a large hotel while i remained on the other side of the street with my fair Italian who did not say a word and followed the porters with the luggage paul came back at last looking as dissatisfied as my companion that is settled he said and they will take us in but here are only two bedrooms you must settle it as you can i followed him rather ashamed of going in with such a strange companion there were two bedrooms separated by a small setting room i ordered a cold supper and then i turned to the italian with a perplexed look we have only been able to get two rooms so you must choose which you like she replied with her eternal shame eva i thereupon took up her little black wooden trunk such as servants use and took it into the room on the right which i had chosen for her a bit of paper was fastened to the box on which was written mademoiselle francesca randoli janowa your name is francesca i asked and she nodded her head without replying we shall have supper directly i continued meanwhile i dare say you would like to arrange your toilet a little she answered with amica a word which he employed just as frequently as chimifah but i went on it is always pleasant after a journey then i suddenly remembered that she had not perhaps the necessary requisites for she appeared to me in a very singular position as if she had just escaped from some disagreeable adventure and i brought her my dressing case i put out all the little instruments for cleanliness and comfort which had contained a nail brush a new toothbrush i always carry a selection of them with me a nail scissors a nail file and sponges i encorked a bottle of oda cologne one of lavender water and a little bottle of new moon hay so that she might have a choice then i opened up my powder box and put out the powder puff placed my fine towels over the water jug and a piece of new soap near the basin she watched my movements with the look of annoyance in her wide open eyes without appearing either astonished or pleased at my forethought here is all you require i then said i will tell you when supper is ready when i returned to the sitting room i found paul had shot himself in the other room so i sat down to wait the waiter went to and fro bringing plates and glasses he laid the table slowly then put a cold chicken on it and told me all was ready and knocked gently on mademoiselle ron dolly's door come in she said and when i did so i was struck by a strong heavy smell of perfumes as if i were in a hairdresser's shop the Italian was sitting on her trunk in an attitude either of thoughtful discontent or absurd mindedness taule was still folded over the water jug that was full of water and the soap untouched and dry was lying beside the empty basin but one would have thought that the young woman had used half the contents of the bottles of perfume the odocolon however had been spared as only about a third of it had gone to make up for that she had used a surprising amount of lavender water and new moon hay a cloud of violet powder a vague white mist seemed still to be floating in the air from the effects of her overpowering her face and neck it seemed to cover her eyelashes eyebrows and her hair on her temples was like snow while her cheeks were plastered with it and layers of it covered her's nostrils and corners of her eyes and her chin when she got up she exhaled such a strong odor of perfume that it almost made me feel faint when we sat down to supper i found that paul was in a most excruple temper and i could get nothing out of him but blame irritable words and disagreeable remarks my name is elfrancesca eight like an ogre and as soon as she was finished her meal she threw herself upon the sofa in the sitting room sitting beside her i said gallantly kissing her hand shall i have the bed prepared or will you sleep on the couch it is all the same to me jamey fa our indifference vexed me should you like to retire at once yes i'm very sleepy she got up yawned gave her hand to paul who took it with a furious look and i lighted her into the bedroom a disquieting feeling haunting me here is all you want i said again the next morning she got up early like a woman who is accustomed to work she woke me up doing so i watched her through half closed eyelids she came and went without hurrying herself as if she were astonished at having nothing to do the length she went to the dressing table and in a moment emptied all my bottles of perfume she certainly also used some water but very little when she was quite dressed she sat down on her trunk again and clasping one knee between her hands she seemed to be thinking at that moment i pretended to first notice her and said good morning francesca without seeming at all in a better temper than the previous night she murmured good morning when i asked her whether she had stepped well she nodded her head and jumping out of bed i went and kissed her she turned her face toward me like a child who is being kissed against its will but i took her tenderly in my arms and gently pressed my lips on her eyelids which she closed with evident distaste under my kisses on her fresh cheek and full lips which she turned away do not seem to like being kissed i said to her meekha was her only answer i sat down on the trunk by her side and passing my arm through hers i said meekha meekha meekha in reply to everything i shall call you mademoiselle meekha i think for the first time i fancied i saw the shadow of a smile on her lips but it passed so quickly that i may have been mistaken but if you never say anything but meekha i shall not know what to do please you let me see what shall we do today she hesitated a moment as if some fancy had flitted through her head and then she said carelessly it is all the same to me whatever you like very well mademoiselle meekha we will have a carriage and go for a drive as you please she said all was waiting for us in the dining room looking as bored as third parties usually do in love affairs i assumed a delighted air and shook hands with him a triumphant energy what do you think he of doing he asked first of all we shall go and see a little of the town and then we might get a carriage and take a drive into the neighborhood we breakfasted almost in silence and then set out i dragged francesca from palace to palace and she either looked at nothing or merely glanced carelessly at various masterpieces hall followed us growling all sorts of disagreeable things then we all three took a drive in silence into the country and returned to dinner the next day same thing and the next day again and on the third all said to me look here i'm going to leave you i am not going to stop here for three weeks watching you make love to this creature i was perplexed and annoyed for to my great surprise i had become singularly attached to francesca a man is but weak and foolish carried away by the nearest trifle and a coward every time his senses are excited or mastered i clung to this unknown girl silent and dissatisfied asheru always was i liked her somewhat ill-tempered face the dissatisfied droop of her mouth the weariness of her look i liked her fatigued mo movements the contemptuous way in which she let me kiss her the very indifference of her caresses a secret bond at mysterious bond of physical love which does not satisfy bound me to her i told paul so quite frankly he treated me as if i were a fool and then said very well take her with you but she obstinately refused to leave genoa without giving any reason i be sought i reasoned i promised and all was of no avail and so i stayed on paul declared that he would go by himself and went so far as to pack up his portmanteau but he remained all the same thus a fortnight passed francesca was always silent and irritable lived beside me rather than with me responded to all my requirements and all my propositions with her perpetual chimifah or with her no less perpetual mica my friend became more and more furious but my only answer was you can go if you are tired of staying i am not detaining you then he called me names overwhelming with reproaches and exclaimed where do you think i can go now we had three weeks at our disposal and here is a fortnight gone i cannot continue my journey now and in any case i'm not going to venice Florence and Rome borrowed by myself but you will pay for it and more dearly than you think most likely you are not going to bring a man all the way from paris in order to shut him up at a hotel in genoa with an italian adventurous when i told him very calmly to return to paris he exclaimed that he intended to do so the very next day the next day he was still there still in a rage and swearing by the time we began to know the streets through which we wandered from morning till night sometimes french people would turn round astonished at meeting their fellow countrymen in the company of this girl with such a striking costume who looks singularly out of place not to say compromising beside us she used to walk along leaning on my arm without looking at anything why did she remain with me with us who seemed so little to amuse her was she where did she come from what was she doing had she any plan or idea where did she live as an adventurous by chance meetings i tried in vain to find out and to explain it the better i knew her the more enigmatic she became she seemed to be a girl of poor family who had been taken away and then cast aside and lost what did she think would become of her or whom was she waiting for she certainly did not appear to be trying to make a conquest of me or to make any real profit out of me i tried to question her to speak to her of her childhood and family but she never gave me an answer i stayed with her my heart unfettered my senses in chained never worried of holding her in my arms that proud and quarrelsome woman captivated by my senses or rather carried away overcome by a youthful healthy powerful charm which emanated from her fragrant person and from the well molded lines of her body another week passed and the term of my journey was drawing on for i had to be back in paris by the 11th of july by this time paul had come to take his part in the adventure though still grumbling at me while i invented pleasures distractions and excursions to amuse francesca and my friend and in order to do this i gave myself a great amount of trouble one day i proposed an excursion to santa margarita that charming little town in the midst of gardens hidden at the foot of a slope which stretches far into the sea up to the village of portofino we three walked along the excellent road which goes along the foot of the mountain suddenly francesca said to me i shall not be able to go with you tomorrow i must go and see some of my relatives that was all i did not ask her any questions as i was quite sure she would not answer me the next morning she got up very early when she spoke to me it was in a constrained and hesitating voice if i do not come back again shall you come and fetch me most certainly i shall is my reply where shall i go to find you then she explained you must go into the street victor emanuel down the falcony road and the side street san rafael and into the furniture shop in the building on the right at the end of a court and there you must ask for madame randoli that is the place and so she went away leaving me rather astonished when paul saw that i was alone he stammered out where is francesca and when i told him what had happened he exclaimed my dear fellow let us make use of our opportunity in bolt as it is our time is up two days more or less make no difference let us go at once go and pack up your things off we go but i refused i could not as i told him leave the girl in that manner after such companionship for nearly three weeks at any rate i want to say goodbye to her and make her accept a present i certainly had no intention of behaving badly to her but he would not listen he pressed and worried me and i would not give way i remained indoors for several hours expecting francesca's return but she did not come and at last at dinner paul said with a triumphant air she has flown my dear fellow it is certainly very strange i must acknowledge that i was surprised and rather vexed he laughed in my face and made fun of me it is not exactly a bad way of getting rid of you though rather primitive just wait for me i shall be back in a moment they often say how long are you going to wait i should not wonder if you were foolish enough to go and look for her at the address she gave you does madame randoli live here please no miss here i'll bet that you are longing to go there not in the least i protested and i assure you that if she does not come back tomorrow morning i shall leave by the express at eight o'clock i shall have waited 24 hours and that is enough my conscience will be quite clear i spent an uneasy and unpleasant evening for i really had at heart a very tender feeling for her i went to bed at 12 o'clock and hardly slept at all and i got up at six called paul packed up my things and two hours later we set out for france the randoli sisters part three the next year at just about the same period i was seized as one is with a periodical fever with a new desire to go to italy and i immediately made up my mind to carry it into effect there is no doubt that every really well educated man ought to see florans venice and roam his travel has also the additional advantage providing many subjects of conversation in society and of giving one an opportunity of bringing forward artistic generalities which appear profound this time i went alone and i arrived in genoa at the same time as the year before but without any adventure on the road i went to the same hotel and actually happened to have the same room i was hardly in bed when the recollection of francesca which since the evening before had been floating vaguely through my mind haunted me with strange persistency i thought of her nearly the whole night and by degrees the wish to see her again seized me a confused desire at first which gradually grew stronger and more intense at last i made up my mind to spend the next day in genoa to try to find her and if i should not succeed to take the evening train early in the morning i set out on my search i remembered the direction she had given me when she left me perfectly victor manual street house of the furniture dealer at the bottom of the yard on the right i found it without the least difficulty and i knocked at the door of a somewhat dilapidated looking dwelling it was open by a stout woman who must have been very handsome but who actually was only very dirty although she had too much plumpness she still bore the lines of majestic beauty her untidy hair fell over her forehead and shoulders and one fancied one could see her floating about in an enormous dressing gown covered with spots of dirt and grease round her neck she wore a great gilt necklace and on her wrists her splendid bracelets of genoa filigree work in a rather hostile manner she asked me what i wanted and i replied by requesting her to tell me whether francesca rondoli lived here what do you want with her she asked i had the pleasure of meeting her last year and i would like to see her again the old woman looked at me suspiciously where did you meet her she asked by here in genoa itself what is your name i hesitated a moment then i told her i had hardly done so when the italian put out her arms as if to embrace me oh you are the frenchman how glad i am to see you but what grief you caused my poor child she waited for you for a month yes a whole month at first she thought it would come to fetch her she wanted to see whether you loved her if you only knew how she cried when she saw you were not coming she cried till she seemed to have no tears left and she went to the hotel but you had gone she thought that most likely you were traveling in idly and that you would return to genoa to fetch her as she would not go without you and she waited more than a month monsieur and she was so unhappy so unhappy i am her mother i really felt a little disconcerted but i regained my self-possession and asked where is she now she has gone to paris with a painter a delightful man who loves her very much and who gives her everything she wants just look at what she sent me they are very pretty are they not and she showed me with quite southern animation her heavy bracelets and necklace i have also she continued earrings with stones in them and a silk dress and some rings but i only wear them on grand occasions oh she is very happy monsieur very happy she would be so pleased when i tell her you have been here pray come in and sit down you will take something or others surely but i refused as i now wish to get away by the first train but she took me by the arm and pulled me in saying please come in i must tell her that you have been here i found myself in a small rather dark room furnished with only a table and a few chairs she continued oh she is very happy now very happy when you met her in the train she was very miserable she had had an unfortunate love affair in marseille and she was coming home poor child but she liked you at once she was still rather sad you understand now she has all she wants and she writes and tells me everything she does his name is belamin and they say he is a great painter in your country he fell in love with her at first sight but would you take a glass of syrup it is very good are you quite alone this year yes i said quite alone i felt an increasing inclination to laugh as my first disappointment was dispelled at what mother randoli said i was obliged however to drink a glass of her syrup so you are quite alone she continued how sorry i am that francesca is not here now she would have been company for you all the time you stayed it is not very amusing to go about by oneself and she will be very sorry also then as i was getting up to go she explained would you like to go with carlotta she knows all the walks very well she is my second daughter monsieur no doubt she took my look of surprise for consent before she opened the inner door and called out up the dark stairs which i could not see carlotta carlotta may case my dear child i tried to protest but she would not listen no she will be very glad to go with you she is very nice a much more cheerful than her sister and she is a good girl a very good girl whom i love very much in a few moments a tall slender dark girl appeared her hair hanging down and her youthful figure showing unmistakably beneath an old rest of her mother's the latter at once told her how matters stood this is francesca's frenchman you know the one whom she knew last year he is quite alone and has come to look for her poor fellow so i told him that you would go with him to keep him company the girl looked at me with handsome dark eyes and said smiling i have no objection if he wishes it i could not possibly refuse and merely said of course i should be very glad of your company her mother pushed her out go and get dressed directly put on your blue dress and your hat with the flowers and may soon as she had left the room the old woman explained herself i have two others but they are much younger it costs a lot of money to bring up four children luckily the eldest is off my hands at present then she told all about herself about her husband who had been an employee of the rail world but who was dead and she expiated on the good qualities of carlotta her second girl who soon returned dressed as her sister had been in a strikingly peculiar manner her mother examined her from head to foot and after finding everything right she said now my child you can go and turning to the girl she said be sure you are back at 10 o'clock tonight you know the door is locked then the answer was all right mama don't alarm yourself she took my arm and we went wandering about the streets just as i had wandered the previous year with her sister we returned to the hotel for lunch and then i took my new friend to santa margarita just as i had taken her sister the previous year during the whole fortnight which i had at my disposal i took carlotta to all the places of interest in and about janowa she gave me no cause to regret her sister she cried when i left her and the morning of my departure i gave her four bracelets for her mother besides a substantial token of my affection for herself one of these days i had intend to return to idly and i cannot help remembering the certain amount of uneasiness mingled with hope at madame rondoli has two more daughters the end of the rondoli sisters read by roi schraber