A DEAL IN OPIUM

[Pg 9]

A DEAL IN OPIUM

f course, the people which participated in things of this sort are dead now, and so is nearly every one which ever knew anything about the matter, but occasionally you will run across an old Hawaiian whose memory you can always refresh by showing him a bit of silver, and then you will hear tales of the days when smuggling opium into Honolulu was a common practise.

There are some who will tell you that the blocks on the sidewalk on the right hand side of Alakea street were taken from the holds of smugglers. Nothing so very astonishing, only, in the middle of these blocks the initiated found a can of opium. Parties would contract for a load of Chinese stone and the unsuspecting Customs man would pass the ship which brought it. But when the stones were safely carried away, this same Customs man would have been astonished, could he have seen a man remove a layer from a block and take out from the cavity a can.[Pg 10] He would have been further astounded could he have seen what the can contained.

Ah Pung had contracted for such a load of stone and was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the ship bearing it.

Smuggling opium was getting to be a risky proposition and in view of the alarming number of captures which the government had made and the large amount of fines which it had collected from those whom it captured, Ah Pung made a mental resolve, as he walked down to the Pilot House to ask if the Fanny had been sighted, that with the sale of this load, his part in this illegal business terminated.

The Fanny was making an unusually slow passage, and many were the conjectures placed upon her delay.

“Bet you she’s got a load of opium this trip,” said one old sea dog to a group of his companions.

“Your bet is safe,” was the reply from the youngest of the number, “she had a load of it last trip. My opinion on her delay is this: Her captain’s got the wind that somethin’ is blowing wrong and he’s not going to risk his cargo and his ship by coming in, unless the coast is clear.

“Old Captain Mitchell is too crafty a sea dog to be caught napping. He’s been engaged in this smuggling business for over twenty years.[Pg 11] Used to smuggle wines from Portugal into Boston Harbor at one time, and then, when he found the job getting pretty hot, he took his ship when no body was looking, and went into smuggling opium. I was first mate under him two trips ago, and I know.

“I’ll bet you,” he said suddenly to the first speaker, “I’ll bet you that this old Chink has got the cargo on board the Fanny this time.”

The group fixed its eyes on Ah Pung who was nervously watching a customs officer who, from time to time, was scanning the horizon with his glass.

Hearing what the mate said, Ah Pung turned to them and said, “Yes, me got calgo on boad the Flanny. Too muchee building stone this trip. Got big contlact make floo’ for lice thleshing, up Waiau.”

A number of the sailors nodded as if they accepted the Chinaman’s story, but the mate smiled. “That’s all right, John; don’t need to worry about us, you pig-tailed heathen. I know very well what’s inside them stones, but if you can land them without that chap nabbing you, you’ll have my sincerest admiration. I tell you,” he said lowering his voice, “you’d better get some kind of a signal out to the Fanny telling her not to land those stones at the wharf.”

The Chinaman looked the mate over carefully and then, as if satisfied with his examination,[Pg 12] he said, “My lice schooner captain he sick. You number one sailor; you take my boat to Waiau now.”

Roberts understood the ruse and got up smilingly from his box and went over to Ah Pung’s rice schooner. The sails were hoisted and the little schooner bounded out of the harbor. Instead of turning to his right, to where Waiau lay, Roberts steered the schooner in the direction of Diamond Head.

In response to the Chinaman’s inquiring look Roberts said, “That government schooner is out somewhere. We’ll have to find out where before we can do anything.”

The schooner was skimming along at a good clip when Ah Pung’s excited eyes saw another schooner bearing down upon them.

“No,” Roberts said after looking the new comer over, “that’s not the Fanny; that’s the customs’ schooner. Well, we’ll make for Waiau.”

Carefully swinging her around, he started back to town but was hailed with the cry, “Ship ahoy!”

“The Moi Wahine,” was the reply.

“Haul hard until we come up to you,” was the order.

Roberts had the one sailor on board haul down the sails and awaited the coming of the customs boat.

[Pg 13] “What are you doing?” he was asked.

“Merely trying this boat.”

“What for?”

“Want to buy her.”

“What made you turn around when you saw us?”

“Didn’t see you until after I had started to come back.”

The officer seemed appeased and he ordered his own sail up. Roberts followed suit and turning to the captain he said, “I’ll race you back to the harbor for a drink all around.”

“That’s to find out who has the faster boat,” he muttered to himself.

“All right, let her go,” he shouted and both boats fairly flew, cutting the water with clean, sharp strokes as they sped along.

Roberts put on all the sail he had; the customs man did the same and gained rapidly.

“Whew,” muttered Roberts, “not much of a chance for us, Ah Pung, if we were in a pinch now. But wait a moment, I’ll fix him.” He veered slightly to the left and took advantage of a sudden puff of wind. That was all the Moi Wahine needed; her masts fairly groaned under the spread of canvas and soon the customs man was out of sight.

“I understand her now,” Roberts said, “I’ll guarantee to beat anything in these waters. But[Pg 14] let’s go to Waiau. I want to see what kind of a harbor they have there.”

“Nothing decent,” was his verdict. “Catch us here easy. I have it,” he said finally, “there’s Ford’s Island off there,” jerking his thumb in the direction of the island, “that’ll help us alright. Now let’s go back to the harbor and get those drinks the captain owes us.”

The captain was found pouring a drink from a demijohn in his office. “It’s on me,” he called as Roberts passed by. He entered and took the mug which the captain filled for him.

“By the way,” he asked, “what were you doing out by Diamond Head this afternoon?”

“Looking for the Fanny. I can’t imagine what’s become of the boat.”

“What’s so wonderful on the Fanny that makes you so anxious to meet her?”

“Opium.”

“What do you intend to do?”

“Do? Nothing now. Wait until she gets into the harbor and then nab the man that her cargo is assigned to.”

“But supposing he manages to land the cargo before the boat reaches the harbor, then what?”

“Take a mighty smart man to skin me, old fellow. Fill up your mug, I see it’s empty.”

“Here’s to the Fanny; may she make port safely.”

[Pg 15]The captain looked at Roberts in mild surprise but he drank the toast and added, “May she make port safely and give her cargo up to the government.”

Roberts left the room and found Ah Pung waiting for him.

“You come my house eat,” he said.

The invitation was accepted and Roberts was soon at Ah Pung’s home. It was a pretentious dwelling, for Ah Pung had money. He had married a Hawaiian woman who possessed a large quantity of land. A part of this her husband had sold to enable him to buy opium, and after the second trip, he was counted a rich man.

Ah Pung had a daughter. Though dark-skinned, Kealoha was fair to behold. She had inherited her mother’s Hawaiian beauty, and her only Chinese characteristic shown from her eyes.

Sam Roberts was a roving sort of a fellow. Many were the girls who would have gladly married him “back East,” but he would have none of them. Tonight, as he sat on the floor, which formed Ah Pung’s dining table, by the side of pretty Kealoha, he thought he had never seen any Hawaiian or any other maiden look so lovely.

Around her head she had a lei of red carnations, and another of ilima hung around her neck. Lost in the contemplation of so lovely a[Pg 16] vision, Roberts failed to do justice to the excellent meal which Ah Pung had provided.

When dinner was over, Ah Pung led his guest out to the lanai and together they planned their campaign.

“You help me, I help you,” said Ah Pung.

“Yes, I help you, but what do I get out of this business?”

Ah Pung had noticed the effect which Kealoha had produced upon Roberts and with a crafty smile he answered, “You help me, make me win, I give you Kealoha.”

“But suppose she won’t have me?”

“Kealoha have anybody I tell her have,” was the Chinaman’s response.

“The stake is well worth the risk,” Roberts muttered. “I make the old Chink win.”

Kealoha came out with her guitar and in the short twilight, she sang several plaintive Hawaiian melodies. Then she suddenly arose and went into the house.

Roberts got up from his chair and said, “Let’s go out to Diamond Head. I have an idea that the Fanny is somewhere around there.”

They went to the wharf and rousing the sailor aboard the Moi Wahine, the sails were raised and in the calm moonlight they sped away to Diamond Head. When they were in full sight of the light house, Roberts saw a green light flash out over the water from a large black[Pg 17] mass which was blacker than the darkness around it. The green light was followed by two red ones, and then by a white one. Roberts returned the signal and sailed for the spot.

“Ship ahoy!” he called softly.

“The Fanny” was the response. “Who are you?”

“The Moi Wahine. Don’t attempt to land at Honolulu. Customs’ men are on to you. They were looking for you yesterday.”

The Fanny’s captain laughed. “What would you advise, Roberts?”

“Go to Pearl Harbor instead. Nobody has seen you. The old fellow up there is asleep and we can get up to Pearl Harbor with this wind before daybreak. Once there, you can remain in hiding ’til night. Then I’ll come and transfer your cargo into the Moi Wahine.”

Capt. Mitchell favored the plan and with the Moi Wahine in the lead, the two schooners sailed to Pearl Harbor, where the Fanny was anchored. The Moi Wahine was sailed back to town and moored at her usual place.

“Nobody will be the wiser, old chap,” he said to Ah Pung. “We’ll stay at home today and tonight the opium will be brought back. Let the stones stay in the hold until the next night, then we’ll bring them to your house, a few at a time. Then, Ah Pung, I’ll claim my reward.”

[Pg 18] Ah Pung nodded and invited Sam in to spend the day at his house.

After breakfast he followed Kealoha into the yard, and watched her make a lei.

They were silent for a while when Kealoha asked, “You’ll help my father land his opium?”

“Yes,” he replied.

“How much money will you get for the job?”

“No money at all; my dear, I get you.”

“You get me?”

“Yes, your father has promised to let me marry you if I succeed in landing the opium so that the customs men won’t know.”

“Can you do it?”

“Dead easy.”

“But if I don’t want to marry you?”

“But you will,” he said smilingly.

“But I won’t,” she returned firmly. “Do you think I sell myself or let my father sell me for a load of opium. No, sir! What’s more, I am to marry Kea.”

“Don’t you love your father?”

“Yes, very much.”

“Then do you want to see him go to jail?”

“No.”

“Well, if I say the word, I’ll get him into jail.”

Kealoha burst into tears. “You white men are so cruel,” she sobbed out in Hawaiian. “Not[Pg 19] content with defrauding us out of our lands, you wish to keep us from marrying one another.”

Roberts bit his lips. He disliked to see woman in tears. He took her hands in his and said gently, “Kealoha, listen to me.”

She raised her head and with brimming eyes looked him full in the face.

“Kealoha,” he said, “couldn’t you learn to love me?”

She shook her head.

“Do you love Kea?”

“Yes,” she said softly.

“Then, Kealoha, I am not the man to cross the love path of another man.” He was silent for a moment then he continued: “I love you as I have never loved before. You say you love your father. For your sake, dear heart, I’ll not betray him. Go, tell your father that I have given my permission for you to marry Kea tonight. Go.”

Kealoha threw her head upon his shoulder and sobbed out her thanks. Then raising her pretty face to his, she pressed a kiss on his lips and left him to himself.

[Pg 21]

A MODERN EVANGELINE

[Pg 23]

A MODERN EVANGELINE

he sun was sinking behind the purple hills in a little village in Madeira as a tall, swarthy Portuguese hurried to his little home.

“Ah, Manuel,” he cried as an older man came out of a little side street, “have you heard the latest bit of news?”

“Não, Gabriel, what is it?”

“A man from the Sandwich Islands has come here, offering to give us free passage to Honolulu provided we work for three years on the sugar plantations. He promises us twenty-two dollars a month together with a house and free water. I, for one, intend to go. Twenty-two dollars a month! Why, fourteen is all I can make here, working from early morning ’til late at night. What say you; will you be one of the company?”

[Pg 24] “That I will. I have a brother there and my wife has a sister. We shall tell the man that we will go to his plantations, and then when we get to the capital, I march up to my brother’s, while the rest of you can go and till the soil. I am a carpenter, and none of that dirty work for me. A free trip! ha, ha, ha; I’ll beat the American at his own game.”

“I do not consider that fair,” was Gabriel’s response. “The American expects us to keep our word. Furthermore, he is offering a reduced passage rate to those who want to pay their way.”

“That won’t do for me. Why, even at the smallest possible rate, it would be an utter impossibility for me to take one child, let alone fourteen!”

Gabriel laughed. “Well, I am going to those islands, but it is to work on a plantation. Three years is but a short while, when you stop to consider it, and by the end of that time, I will have saved enough to get married on.”

“Do as you want to, boy, but I tell you frankly that you are a fool. You are an excellent mason; why throw away the gift which the blessed virgin gave you, to kill yourself on an old plantation for the sake of sentiment. It is expected that there will be some that will take advantage of this free trip idea, and you may[Pg 25] as well be one of those as not. But we’ll not quarrel over the matter.”

They walked on in silence for some moments until they came to a neatly white-washed cottage. There were vines over the front and in the little garden in the back, neat garlic patches shared the space with cabbages.

“Will you come in?” Manuel asked.

“No, I have much to do yet tonight. The ship leaves in two or three days and I must leave my affairs in something like decency. Boa noite.”

“Boa noite, Gabriel, come over tomorrow and let us make our plans.”

“All right,” and Gabriel continued on his way, while Manuel turned into the cottage. He was met at the door by his daughter, Maria da Cruzs. He had eight daughters and all eight were named Maria—of something or other. Of course they all had middle names and occasionally they were called by their middle names to avoid confusion.

“Who was that you were just speaking to,” she asked him.

“What! Did you fail to recognize the voice? It was that of your own Gabriel.”

Maria da Cruzs blushed violently as she said, “He is not my Gabriel.”

Her father laughed at his daughter’s discomfiture[Pg 26] and added teasingly, “He leaves for the Sandwich Islands very soon.”

“For the Sandwich Islands? Why, they are so many, many miles away. Has he enough money to pay his passage?”

“No; an American has arrived offering us free passage to Honolulu, provided we promise to work on the sugar plantations for three years.”

“Oh, father! Let us go.”

“I thought it was but yesterday that you said nothing could induce you to leave Madeira.”

“Yes,” she said slowly, “but—”

“But you didn’t know then that Gabriel was going away,” her father supplied. “Well, I have almost decided to go myself, but not to work on an old plantation, mind you. I am a carpenter, and none of your dirty work on a field for me.”

While they talked, Gabriel appeared in the doorway.

“I came back to tell you,” he said, after he had greeted Maria, “that if you decide to go, you must send in your names tomorrow. The man has been here for some time but in this out of the way place, news travels slowly, so that I but heard it yesterday when I went to Senhor Marques’ house to repair his wall, which fell in the last wind storm.”

[Pg 27] “Yes, I believe I shall send in my name tomorrow,” said Manuel slowly, rising from his comfortable position on the floor and going out to the kitchen where his wife was preparing the dinner for her hungry family, leaving Gabriel and Maria da Cruzs together.

“Ah, Maria,” he said, “to think that we shall soon be able to get married. In that blessed paradise, I can surely make enough money to support both of us. Then, too, our house will be free of rent; and that is quite a saving.”

Maria was silent, but Gabriel could read in her silence that she, too, was pleased with the prospect which he was painting.

“Had we better get married before the boat sails, or shall we wait until we get to Honolulu?” he asked.

“Oh, let us wait until we get to the Islands, and then we can tell better what lies before us.”

“Let it be as you say,” Gabriel responded, inwardly well pleased that Maria was as enthusiastic about the islands as he was.

“I must go now,” he said finally, “but I shall see you again in the morning. Boa noite minha querida,” and he disappeared into the darkness.

[Pg 28]

II.

The next morning, Manuel rose earlier than his usual early hour, and waited for Gabriel.

“Ah, my boy,” he said walking toward the road as Gabriel finally made an appearance, “if you are as slow as that on the plantation, your boss will hurry you up with his big black whip.”

“The bosses do not use whips any more,” Gabriel responded.

“They do not? How do you know?”

“The American said so.”

“The American lies. I have a brother there who went over with the first lot of Portuguese, which left on the Priscilla nearly twenty-five years ago, to Honolulu. The tales which he used to tell me, when he came back, of how the bosses, lunas, they call them there, used to treat them, would simply scare you. No, sir, no plantations for me, sir; and if you knew what I know, you would say the same thing.”

“Yes, I know what you know; how the lunas used to take up the hoes which the men were using, and bang them on the head with the handles just because they felt like it. I know, too, that they used to tie the men up to the fence and whip them with their snake whips just because the men were a trifle slow, and I know, too, that things have changed within the last[Pg 29] years. With the coming of Annexation, the plantation laborer does not suffer what he used to, so to the plantations for me.”

“Well, I am sure you have my permission, but let us hurry; the sun is getting quite high and we have a number of miles to go yet.”

They quickened their pace and were soon in town where they found a crowd of men and women gathered around a large building.

“That is where the American has his office,” said Gabriel, “he is now receiving the names of those who want to go. Come, let us enter.”

They walked in together and awaited their turn to book.

“Your name,” asked the clerk finally of Manuel.

“Manuel Gomes da Silva.”

“How many children have you?”

“Quartorze.”

“How many is that?” asked the “Americano.”

“Fourteen.”