A SHORT STORY.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 561, 26 November 1915, Page 3

A SHORT STORY.

BETWEEN THE SIRENS.

The tourists who periodically overrun our island for a couple of days, carried hither by the three-weekly steamer from the south, invariably vote it the original Garden of Eden. And so it may have been, but for me there has been no Eve to saunter with along the coral paths of Youanai, beneath itswbowcrs of palms ami creeper-covered'timber. It's a lovely snot. So tiny as to pass unnoticed at the horizon's distance, yet important enough to justify peopling with the administrators (I ant one of them) one usually linds in these tiny outposts of■ civilisation. But a narrow strait divides us from.the Papuan mainland, and within hailing distance almost, is the equator. Pale-green waters, clear as crystal, through which the rainbow hues of marine gardens reveal them-, selves, lap. its coral edges and rise and fall on tiny beaches that, like ivory, shine in the. noonday son, and from these one looks out on to the deepening blue of seas that stretch far and far away, dotted here and there with baby islets and atolls, clothed with, dark green tropic, growth. Cocoa nut palms, iall and slender, wave their fronds untiringly in the south-east, .breeze,'and make a welcome shade, while down on the recreation ground, when the sun is' wearing itself Out in the late afternoon, we make play with rubber' balls and racquets, on green turf to the applause or not of the few white folk whose supply of energy has not. yet run dry. tu the south-west quarter, where, in the stillness of noon, the heat is ' relleeted 1 from the white coral chips under foot, i lies the business section; but it is only j on boat days and thereabouts that things move at a leisurely pace. To-night the moon is full, and the south wind is whispering soft nothings to the fireflies, who play hide and seek in and out and round about the lawyer vines and giant leaves of the morning glory.

And perhaps it is just that saine moon that ma do me do it.

Three'.weeks ago the--usual boat came in,- and so sure was I that the usual crowd of camera .-laden tourists would come ashore sightseeing that L stuck to my desk, and refused 4o join the group of white-clad residents on the "jetty, who look to boat days a 8 to the visit of a. rich'.uncle. The next day and the next there was still work to absorb, me, till I felt that,, unless my'limbs were exercised I'd grow, fungus-like, to my office chair. Four o'clock came, so, armed with racquet and shoes, I made for the Island hub; where a dozen or so of the settlement folk were already ex-, ■changing -over- the usual cup of tea what little gossip there was to pass round. I was just about to absorb my share of the beverage when 1 saw Her, ami before I could properly bring myself to attention someone spoke the usual formalities, ' ( Mr Waring, Miss Vereker.'■'. I "declared-myself pleased to meet her* and she turned away to pour tea for the next comer.

I was on good terms with all. the womenfolk of our island, though they did not interest me tol any extent. It doesn't boast of 'more' than 20, and out of that number only about'half a dozen were eligible for the attentions of a bachelor,- but this slight newcomer, in clinging white, was ? f .something different." Exactly what it was I could not iiay. »It _n>ight have been ;hcr; v ha.iiy ; orher complexion,- which the"" colourJess [\ ''face's.'* rouhd^her/'bUtCJ'" think it ; was her 1 -eyes-^rown 1 , shrni ngwith mischief, yet full of kindness and. sympathy. Her mouth was rather larger than the picture postcard brand on show at the stores, and her lips were full and red and made for kissing, I was sure. Eight there I decided to be eligible for a bachelor tax no longer; provided, of course, the girl could be brought to share the risk. It seems she hiid come up by the last boat on a visit to our magistrate's wife, and would stay till the next mail went south. Three weeks —a whole three weeks. Much might be donejn three weeks.

Where the fair sex is concerned I am poor company. With those who have husbands on hand I' am "all at ease, but leave me "alone with anything in skirts from 18 to 40 and I am lost for the sort of talk that women like. lam a quiet sort, of chap, somewhere about (sft in my canvas shoes, with a face that kindly disposed persons describe as rugged for want of a, better term. Also, I am o2 and have no parlour tricks. Well, concerning her. On sundry occasions we met in a casual way, sometimes at tennis, and one when a picnic to a near-by plantation broke the monotony of things; but always the other fellows seemed to put me in the shade. Ten days passed without any progress on my part, but on the. eleventh (the new moon had just showed herself, in company with the evening .star, and I bowed three times for luck) I braced myself up and started for the Residency. At the foot of the hill, where the path turns upward, my. courage failed. I walked round the island once —yon can circle Youanai - easily in 20 minutes, —and was about to do it a second time; but instead T swung off to the left and arrived, with quickening pulse at the bungalow door. A fuzzy-haired houseboy lounged forward, and I inquired if the Sinabada Vereker was "close up" (which .meant was she. at home). Disappointment for me. The boy announced the "Sinabada Verrie walk about, she go alonga natuua belonga Taubada Becker. S.inabada big fella boss, he go too." Becker had scored again with his confounded launch, and t cursed him privately. He was one of those Sahdowbuilt*fellows who had a "way with lim" where the girls were concerned, and when he was around a chap like me might as well make himself scarce. So I turned away, and, not feeling like joining the crowd at the club, made for a spot I knew down by the beach, and thought, of her. At least I could do that without interruption. It was almost, midnight when I got back to quarters, but in the meantime I had been planning to give an extra special picnic for her, to which a very favoured few should be bidden —least of all the Sandow man. We wouhl take a trip to a Robinson Crusoe island'T had bought some time back from a hard-up chief for about £SO trade, and there we would camp, properly chaperoned, of course, in my three-roomed sago house, coming back in the early morning before the town was properly alive. Well, we had the picnic,, There were only six of us—the Grossmiths (a pair of newly-weds), the magisterial couple,

the gal, and myself, with a few niggers to supply the necessary local colour and look after kaikai. u Many were the hints I received from the male section to be included, but I was deaf to all of tlfcm. I bargained with a native chief for the hire of his lakatoi, with my crew specially decorated for the occasion with ehaplets of scarlet hibiscus in their stiff, fuzzy locks, and garbed in sulus of variegated calico, we set sail in the iate afternoon, the wind blowing softly from the S.E., our crew chanting a weird song to the accompaniment of native drums "of hollow wood and lizard skin. On board, in baskets made of palm leaves, wan a cargo of all the tropical fruits I could muster —luscious pawpaws, juicy limes, granadillas, soursops, rich bananas, anil, pineapples that alinost oozed with juice; aud I had arranged that more baskets of frangipaui ■ and D'Albenis creeper and sundry other brilliant blooms should be hung round in plenty when it came to table decorations, and such like. There wasn't going to be any trouble spared in the picnic if 1 knew it.

Altogether things were very picturesque, as we slipped along the rippling waves, the well-oiled bodies of the rowers silhouetted against, the setting sun, and, when, after about an hour's sail, we reached our goal, and the crew leapt over the side to draw our canoe oa to the creamy beach, I felt that-The Girl's exclamation of delight was reward enough for me. It was a glorious spot; the tall timber scarlet, with blossoms, rising up and almost excluding the light; graceful palms and brilliant croton shrubs lined the coral pathways, laid out from the edge of the scrub to the sago house, where all was cool and inviting. After suudovvn we had kai-kai of the daintiest Youani could produce, and when that ( 'peace-with-the-world" sort of feeling came over the scene, we sought a sheltered spot down by the beach, and listened to the weird songs of the natives, as they lay at ease a hundred feet or so away. Presently the newly-weds.thought they would like to walk, ami explore some more, and then the magistrate thought he would smoke inside to drive away any stray mosquitoes, tmd our chaperone decided she would like to help him to do it. So we two were left, with ouly the halffledged moon to play propriety, and 1 felt I was going to be tongue-tied in my usual manner.

But she (I don't mean the moon) must have had an inkling of my helplessness, where women wore concerned, and to make things easy, she took the conversation in hand, and I-.-was audience to her tales ,of people and places I-had never seen;' of books (which I mentally resolved to order by the next boat); and play.?, and of the outside world, from which I had willingly withdrawn these dozen years; till somehow, under the twinkling jewels of heaven ju their velvet setting, the world moved on, and it was time, so the -magistrate announced, through the open door, for inhabitants of Mi Island to be in buuk. This did seem a very ordinary thing to do'after these hours iu-Arcadia.

20th. —By the calendar, three weeks arc nearly np, and still I have not- managed to raise sufficient, courage-to put the question that must be asked and taken for granted.in these modern times. To- night the .town, is dancing my girl farewell, and I am to help to do it, fiddling while all the bachelor crowd encircle her waist, and sit on the beach with her between the dances.

21st.—I have done it, and now I marvel where all my courage came from. lam booked for matrimony; i. who until to-day never dared approach a girl in sentimental mood. I was getting desperate. Most of the town were aboard the Gilli Gilli, including myself, and.lvW^s=d«tormtae<l;i>ot ; te bp the first off ship, ihojugh it .didl Heem tliatf I was not eVen goiiig to liiivethe \manbe'?of taking her The quarter-hour siren shrieked, and good-byes started.

.:■.' '.lt was now: or never. I firmly edged iny way through the crowd to-where she stood, 'the ..centre'.of a masculine group, her arms full of souvenirs, baskets of fruits, and native curios at her feet enough to stock a church bazaar. My .parting gift was a string of pearl blisters I had collected from the traders. Someone moved away, which made room for me, so I opened my package, and handed it to her with a few hesitating words. / . "Oh; how beautiful," was her cry; for, indeed, they were, as they caught the sun, and she thanked me with her eyes as well.

At last my long longed-for courage came. I didn't care who looked on or listened, as I stammered: "Evelyn, I—l want to say something tovyou. Do you card for me Will you promise to marry nie? I love you very, very much/' and'l gripped her hand, trying to send along a current of the feeling" within me that I could not express iu words. "Oh," she gasped, and I was about to feel as small as a baby ant; but, instead; she looked up. biushed most gloriously (who said blushes were an unknown quantity these days), and answered ? 'Yes." ...

We were near the ship's boat, and, without even at the surrounding folk, I led her away to the other side, drew her to me, and-we kissed—once, and many times over, quite indifferent, as to who should see us. I was away in the clouds. I didn't think there could possibly be such ecstasy in such a simple operation as the meeting of two pairs of lips, but I'll believe all the poets have to say after this. Somewhere the voice of the siren sounded again, and we two, -who had been in Elysium for 10 minutes, must needs return to earth and its commonplaces, only to part. But not for long. I'm going down by the next boat, and I'm not coming back alone.—E.O'S" in the "Australasian."