Lolima A Tale of Samoa

Observer, 21 December 1893, Page 24

Lolima A Tale of Samoa

Wkitten fob the Observer by H. Cakrick, Inyercaegill.

H, yes ! Quite so ! But, my dear fellow, it is the common practice — a, practice honored by everyday observance. No doubt the morality you preach is the proper thing in Christian countries ; I admit that under ordinary ciicumstances a man ought to cleave unto the woman he has » ai i CU uv , ynic, uu.u that exemplary custom does not apply in this beastly — I mean otherwise beastly — country of Samoa. Here most of us take our wives with the intention of getting rid of them again when it suits our convenience, although there are some infatuated ones who get married with all due formality. It is the custom, my chivalrous young friend, and the man whose wife can only claim to be so faa Samoa, that is according to Sanioan, is just as' highly respected as he who has paid due regard to the ordinances of the Church." "And the women ? What becomes of them V" "Oh, they go to their relatives, and are all right." " And when, as in your case, there is a child ?"' "So much the better. The woman has then something to occupy her mind, something upon which to lavish her unpleasantly exuberant affection. "When you are a little longer in batnoa you will know all about it, and come to adopt the generally recognised law of tropical morality." "I'm afraid it is useless arguing with you. You are determined, it seems, to discard the girl who has been so faithful and devoted to you; to cast her off without remorse or compunction." "A few dollars will soothe her outraged feelings, and a cask or two of beef from the store will pacify her friends. It is an awkward business, however, to begin the negotiations for a disruption, and I think if I took a run round to Apia I might get someone to explain matters before my return, and get the woman induced to go quietly away. I suppose you would not care about doing me this little service, would you ?" "Look here, Hardie. You and I have known each other a long time, although we have been only a few months together in Samoa, and we have been good friends, but to do what you ask me, to tell that affectionate, confiding, faithful little woman, a woman who has trusted you and who has sacrificed everything for your sake — to tell her that you have tired of her and want to get rid of her, why — well, I'll simply see you damned first !" And with these words, vehemently and angrily uttered, young Arthur Courtenay seized his hat from the floor of the verandah on which it had been carelessly flung, jumped down the steps, opened the gate, banged it after him, and marched hurriedly down the road. The older man, Joseph Hardie, owner of trading stations in various parts of the islands, and of the cosy little home in front of which he stood, looked after the other and smiled in a manner which, although intended to be ironical, was only sickly. He also attempted a derisive chuckle, but he knew it was a dismal failure. " The youngster's got all sorts of high-falutin' notions about the divinity of women, but he can't see that these same notions do not fit in with the exigencies of Sanioan life. I suppose he has been reading .Robert Louis Stevenson again, and has taken for his beau ideal that virtuous and honourable trader — ye Gods ! a virtuous and honourable trader ! — who marries his Uma in proper form when he finds the original ceremony to have been a mockery. It is quite true, however, that some of the fellows have lately been doing the same thing, whether incited to it by Stevenson's rubbish or not I don't know, and I suppose it would be only justice to Lulima, now that she is a mother, if I were to make her my wife. Poor little devil, she hints at it often enough, with her pathetic little complaints that the properly married women slight and swear at her — curse them." For a moment, the better part of the man's nature asserted itself, and even his hard and cold, though handaome features, showed a gleam of tenderness. But the reaction was at hand. " What the deuce am I maundering about. Lulima is all very well, and I am sorry for her, but she is in my way. She stands between me and Miss Raymond and, by Heaven, she's got to be disposed of. I'll do as many have done before. I'll give her a hundred or two dollars and effectually — though metaphorically — kick her out." These were the thoughts of Joseph Hardie, not his deliberately and coherently spoken words, and in them lay the secret motive for the course he proposed to take, a course he vainly endeavoured to persuade himself was neither unjust nor contemptible. Some two years before, he had taken to his home a young and lovely Samoan girl, almost fair enough to be mistaken for a half-caste, with great lustrous, liquid, black eyes, with teeth like rows of matchless pearls, shapely lips continually wreathed in happy smiles, a perfect form, and, above all, the amiable and extremely

lovable disposition of true Sanioan womanhood. From the first, she had showered upon him the whole wealth of her great affection, and it was sometimes painfully affecting to note how she followed his every look, anticipated his every wish, hung upon his words, and was made happy by his smiles. And now that a little one had cpme'to crown her great and enduring love, her cup of earthly bliss seemed to be full to overflowing. Alas, it was soon to be dashed to the ground, wrested ruthlessly from her hand by anotherjind a fairer woman. The niece of a well-to-do trader on a neighbouring isle had recently come to reside with her uncle. Her parents had both been English, but both were dead, and the care of their only child devolved upon George Eaymuod, the father's brother. After a liberal education in Europe, she undertook the control of her uncle's Pacific home, reigning with queenly dignity, and commanding the homage of all who came within her sphere. Tall and slender, her figure was perfect in its symmetry and willowy grace. The small head, with its perfect oval face, was superbly set upon her snowy shoulders, and the very sight of her beautifully moulded form caused many a masculine sigh. This was the divine creature, whom Joseph Hardie loved, or rather loved as much as his nature would permit. He paid persistent attention to the lady, and continually found that pressing business called him to the island whereon her uncle's home nestled amongst a luxuriance of tropical verdure. As his absences from his own home grew more frequent, as his farewells to Lulima became increasingly numerous, her long, loving, hungering looks into his eyes became more and more and more wistful. Be it understood' that Hardies connection with Lulima was considered no obstacle to his suit by Miss Kaymond's

uncle, or even by the fair Tessie herself. These little temporary affairs with native women are not uncommon in the South Seas, and by no means render a man ineligible for a subsequent honourable union. The effect upon the woman is a matter of no consequence. Tessie distinctly favoured Hardies suit, for presentable educated white men are considerably above par in a market glutted with several varieties of undesirable humanity. Courtenay also worshipped at the shrine, and laid the adoration of a passionate and chivalrous heart at her feet, but Hardie was handsomer and, withal, the possessor of more in the way of worldly goods. Tessie naturally, therefore, preferred Joseph Hardie, or imagined she did, which in a woman is about the same thing, and it had become tacitly understood that as soon as Lulima had been disposed of his avowal might be openly made. And this was the task that lay before Hardie, a task repugnant even to him, but a task necessary to the gratification of his own wishes, and, therefore, demanding immediate attention and inexorable firmness. As .young .Courtenay stalked down the road, fuming and fretting, HarHie turned fiSont the verandah ;into the comfortably if not luxuriously, furnished sitting-room, pondering deeply over the problem that presented itself to his mind, and with contracted brows and compressed lips threw himself on a sofa. How to broach the subject to Lulima was the difficulty — not how to break it to her most gently and considerately, but how to find some fitting opportunity to deal a final and decisive blow. A graceful female form stole silently into the room and glided to the sofa where Joseph Hardie lay. A sweet though dusky face was pressed lovingly to his, and two

bare, brown, shapsly arms crept caressingly round his neck, and a palpitating bo3om was pressed closely to his breast. "What the deuse do you want now?" was Hardies response to the endearing embrace, and the tender, doting woman was roughly pushed away. A sudden convulsive gasp, unbidden tears rolling down her cheeks, and then, with an effort pitifully brave, Lulima mastered her emotions, trying to smile through the mist before her eyes. " You came back to-day, Missi Hardie ? Me glade you no go away soon." " I go away again to-morrow, and don't you make any fuss about it ; mind that." The mists grew denser. The flickering sunshine of the pleading, plaintive smile vanished, but Lulima stood firm and erect. She had something to say, something to ask for, that was dearer to her than all else in the world since her little one had come. A long pause, during which Lulima was steeling herself for what she knew by bitter experience would be an ordeal terrible to her gentle, -womanly heart ; and during which Joseph Hardie was considering how he could turn matters so as to obtain his desired opportunity. "Missi Hardie," at length Lulima began in broken, heartrending tones, " Missionally say my bebe no good cause me no your wife. Missi Hardie, you mally me make my bebe good bebe ?" The opportunity had come. " Confound those missionaries for meddlesome, canting humbugs ! Why can't they leave the women alone and not teach them things they have no use for. No, once for all, I won't marry you, and no amount 01

whimpering or snivelling will alter the fact. lam going to marry a white lady, and the sooner you get out of here with that kid of yours the better." Lulima's gaze had become fixed and stony, her eyes hard and dry. Her knowledge of English was not perfect enough to follow every word Hardie uttered, or to realise their fiendish brutality. But she understood that he wanted to marry a white lady, and that she and her baby were to go away. When she grasped the terrible truth, she stretched out her hand feebly and aimlessly, and for a moment seemed as if about to fall. But Samoan women do not faint. Gradually, her strength returned, and at last, with one long despairing look at the man to whom she had freely given her all — the love of her great and noble heart — she turned and silently left the room. An hour or so later, Lulima, stripped of the European finery she had so lately worn, and dressed only in the native garb with which she had entered the white man's home, crept out of the house. She stood for a moment looking at the window of the sitting-room, and catching a. ..glimpse of a stalwart figure she murmured " Tofa" (good-bye) softly and with infinite sadness — and then she went away. Away into the bush, to the home of her people, with a broken heart and blighted life. And her "bebe" was closely pressed to her bosom. ****** The marriage took place the following Christmas, and Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Hardie lived happily ever afterwards.