OF THE SOUTH SEAS 115 



He drank champagne from a bottle, a clear four inches 

 between its neck and his, and not a drop spilled. 



Lovaina sat on her bench in the porch and marked 

 down the debits : 



Fat face 3 Roederer 



New Doctor 5 champag 



Hair on nose 2 champ 



Willi 4* pol . 



The electric lights went out. There was a dreadful 

 flutter among the girls. Some one went to the piano 

 and began to play, "Should Auld Acquaintance be For- 

 got," and the Americans and English sang, the French 

 humming the air. The wine flattened in the glasses and 

 open bottles, but no one cared. They gathered in the 

 garden, where the perfume of the tiare scented the 

 night, and the stars were a million lamps sublime in 

 the sky. Song followed song, English and French, and 

 when the lazy current pulsated again, the ball was over. 



We walked to the beach, Nance and I. 



"It 's hell how this place gets hold of you," said Nance, 

 who had shot pythons in Paraguay and had a yacht in 

 Los Angeles harbor. "I dunno, it must be the cocoa- 

 nuts or the breadfruit." 



Walking back alone through a by-path, I saw the 

 old folks sitting on their verandas and the younger at 

 dalliance in the many groves. Voices of girls called 

 me: 



"Haere me neT "Come to us!" "Hoere mai u net 

 ite po ia u neil" 



The Himene tatou Arearea of our Moorea expedi- 

 tion came from many windows, the accordions sweet and 



