As the disappointed lover rode away, down the avenue, toward the city
in the foreground, Kaiuolani hastened to the window above and peering
from behind the half-drawn curtains stole a last, determined glance.
Now that he had gone, her heart quaked and all the world had been
a thankless price could she have recalled those words; and sinking
unconsciously to the floor, a hard-said prayer inaudibly escaped her
cold-drawn lips.
“How could I! God forgive me!” cried she; in a voice that startled Uena
from the nearby watch she had vigorously maintained.
“Please help me to my horse,” demanded Kaiuolani, of her trusted maid;
“I must join the procession; the Daughters will conjure alarm at my
tardiness. Is Ipo in readiness? Where are the footmen? Why do you look
so serious, Uena?--I wish you could accompany me.”
Directly the princess had gone Elmsford drove up, proposing to ask Sir
Charles to share his carriage in the procession. He had just left the
palace,--where the officers, dignitaries and foreign diplomats were
already assembling,--and brought much of interest to say to his pleased
and curious host.
“Is the representation complete?” asked Prentiss, having accepted the
invitation and seated himself at Elmsford’s side.
“Oh, by the way,” continued he, changing the subject, as the driver
started off, “hold, a minute; I should like to give some instructions.”
“With pleasure,” replied Elmsford.
“Hislop? Here, please,” commanded Sir Charles, addressing a shabbily
departing attendant. “You and as many of the household as like are at
liberty to attend the ceremonies. You can drive down, and--I should be
pleased to see you all going.”
“Thank you,” answered the aged derelict, without disclosing any
apparent nervousness.
“That is all, Mr. Elmsford: I thank you for the kindness,” said
Prentiss, returning his attention to the puffed-up host at his side.
“The attendance was complete,” began Elmsford, resuming an interrupted
conversation, “but I doubt if it shall remain thus, through the day.”
“Why so, my good Elmsford?” asked Prentiss, quickly, being a little
surprised.
“I question Harvenoiq’s good faith,” replied the cool Britisher,
without the least hesitation. “He is a slippery fellow--as all
Americans are, so far as my experience goes.”
“The minister has no authority, however; and, furthermore, the country
he represents is not sufficiently settled in policy to make a specific
demand--outside of thread and needles, perhaps,” replied the long ago
naturalized Hawaiian, confidently, and with no thought of national
interference from that source.
“That is quite true,” continued Elmsford, “and the very fact that its
foreign representatives are wholly unbound by conservative rules gives
designing politicians--appointed to self-ridding outside posts--an
opportunity to make shift any kind of wholesome or unwholesome
interference. That sort of diplomat is the most dangerous of all grouty
pretenders; and once a decisive step is taken the false patriotism of
his hot-headed countrymen will lead their awfully elusive government
into dire straits, even at the cost of shame, to avoid what a
bragadocia nature shuns most of all; the possibility of having to face
a backing down and out’s ever scornful finger.”
“But Harvenoiq is weak,--too puerile to rise above the taint of
flattery,--and his country, a republic? My friend, the dawn of empire
in America is a thing our remotest posterity need not presume to see,”
remarked the other, with the certainty of a pent up and unmistakable
conviction.
“And should that particular star chance to peep above their checkered
horizon--well, there is one consolation; John Bull shall see it safely
set. What an inspiration; the very thought--touch of old Jack! The
unwinding may be slow, but sooner or later its folds shall make common
the lot of all this earth’s deserving. It is invincible, traditionally
grand!”
“Ergo!” fairly shouted the, for the moment, unconscious disallegiant.
“But what about those he disdains? You know, John is not bestowing his
patronage except the vintage be satisfying. Struggling principalities,
too small or tasteless to tempt--for instance, it is not so long since
Mr. Bull deliberately refused our own, these very islands, as a gift.
Come; should we not be content?”
“Until routed, I should say; I myself dislike anything that smacks too
much of encouraged activity.”
“You are the right sort, Elmsford: only you are, if I may say it, a
little too suspicious. Let the world wag on; each, active or passive,
tolerable or intolerable, shall get his due, even his Americanism.”
“And that’s no play; the force is there; eighty millions--no; they
lack consistency. England is bearer. The cross! Brotherhood! Finality!
Sweet, oh sweet eternity!”
“Aye, aye; good Samaritan, vain prophet; you forget the lesson of
to-day’s events; you shall see a queen vouchsafe the blessings of man,
providential mortal. How thankful!”
“Not I,” replied Elmsford, as he looked round at the drawn,
open-mouthed that everywhere waited, they knew not what.
Nor did clamor avail the credulous or disturb those who reasoned. A few
gathered together and ordered while the multitude gaped in ignorance.
A thousand strong hearts quaked mute and aimless amid the concord of
intellectual sway, utterly unable to invoke a bloodless right or to
arrest their traditional despoilation.
At the palace were congregated all those who count, or that had not
their interests elsewhere. Ihoas consoled with the queen, and Gutenborj
supported her in the trifling contentions that seemed to arise on every
hand.
The throne room had been set apart as the most agreeable and more
proper place for the signing of the big parchment roll that should,
from the doorstep, at high noon, be proclaimed the sovereign law of
Hawaii; and shortly before the hour of promulgation had arrived, or the
procession that was to carry hence the unsigned document had moved,
the queen proceeded to seat herself in the olden chair of state. As
the venerable woman marched down through the assembled throng a thrill
of pride ran triumphantly over all; there were present a host of
admirers and all the dignitaries who were known not to be engaged with
the doings on the outside. Ministers and appointees of all nations
represented at the capital were there; the Royalists came in force, and
disgruntled Kamehamehas buried for the occasion what jealousy may have
lingered; Patriots filled the room to overflowing, and the open windows
wafted afar their happy approbation.
A long line of guards stood like statues on either side the passageway
that led from the queen’s boudoir to the respected seat of might,
and as the stately sovereign, led by bearers of tall Kahili,--the
significant emblem of justice,--made her way down the cleared aisle all
men bowed their heads, and a silent prayer filled the hearts of those
who appreciated the force of will.
Climbing the short, easy stairs that led to empire’s sway a myriad
clustering, golden _oo_ feathers wavered and fluttered in the soft
light that glistened and shadowed in the folds of her traditional garb.
It was the cloak of divinity, and tens of thousands had spent their
lives in the weaving, and the gathering; centuries had come and gone
since its beginning; the touch of its hem had been held a privileged
honor; the long train widened and spread before a worshipping
multitude, and yet beneath its royal shelter there beat the heart
of a human--a woman who prized the welfare of a nation. Slowly but
deliberately ascending, she calmly turned and resolutely faced an
eager, attentive throng.
No man or woman there would have changed that scene: even Bender
flushed with the pride of privilege, and could he recall the last
hours would have surrendered to the heed of righteousness. Only
Harvenoiq winced and labored with the strain of abeyance. He had
rushed upon the head of state, would have snatched away the jewelled
scepter, and placed the crown upon his own ungrateful brow. The claims
of fitness to him bore no significance, and an ugly frown wrinkled his
hard-set countenance.
Calmly surveying the expectant, upturned faces all about her,
Liliuokolani in a deep, convincing voice announced the purpose of the
meeting, and ordered the ministry to attend her at the throne. Thus
none was absent, and without a hesitation all approached and seated
themselves at either side the minister of finance in front; whereat her
majesty announced:
“It is my privilege and, I trust, your pleasure this day in the
presence of all nationalities here assembled to execute and publish to
all the world a new constitution, the supreme law of this our destined
land. Is there one who would protest?”
A breathless silence overcast the room. Not a sound disturbed the
refreshing air that fanned their flushed and eager faces. Bender’s
heart beat hotly with the delights of a quickened transformation. His
whole soul went over to the delectable, and not a member shrank at the
thought of doing his bounden duty. Only stillness seemed a fitting
answer, and then rudely and arrogantly the American minister stalked
into the open, close at the queen’s place. A guard seized and held him
back, as he shouted and brandished, huskily:
“I deny the right. It is the people’s business!”
The queen made no answer, and Gutenborj hastened to hustle the
diplomat from the scene of his unpardonable behavior.
“You are mad, man,” said the roused planter, thrusting the slight,
half-turned fellow aside. “At least have the decency to save your
country’s shame; rude, untutored lout, that you proclaim yourself to
be.”
“Who are you, that you would dictate? I am sponsor here, I would have
you know, ungrateful beggar,” replied Harvenoiq, tearing himself loose,
and stamping away, toward a convenient exit, the while firing and
fuming with ungoverned rage.
With Harvenoiq, a foreign minister’s disappearance, the audience broke
into an involuntary chatter, and Gutenborj quite forgetting himself
earnestly begged her majesty to grant him the privilege of apologizing
on behalf of the country to whose flag he as a matter of convenience
still bore allegiance. Without condescending to reply, the farcical
nature of the whole situation forced itself upon the queen’s immediate
attention to such extent that she quite neglected for the time being to
restore order or proceed with the business at hand.
The pause occasioned by Harvenoiq’s disorderly conduct not only gave
doubtful and weak-kneed local ministers a chance to question in their
own minds and parley with each other the propriety of continuing in the
absence of one so vital to their welfare, but it at once became the
signal for casual though earnest remarks on the part of others: if less
concerned about material interests, then more deeply conscious of a
wounded dignity.
“It is a most unpardonable offense,” wildly urged the redoubtable
Mr. Earnest de Seionoff, resident charge d’ affairs and minister
plenipotentiary of the French republic, in discussing the circumstance
with Sir James S. Hardthrust, diplomatic representative from Great
Britain.
“A trifle enthusiastic, my good Mr. Seionoff. I dare say, no harm
is meant or ill shall come of it. We, who are wise, must make due
allowance--I am heartily pleased with the queen. How does she
impress you, this morning, brother ambassador?” replied the discreet
Englishman, in a vain attempt to allay the Frenchman’s heated nerves.
“It is not for me to answer while in a state of very great upsetting.
The American: he has given cause for the most severe treating about his
disciplinableness. We are spokesmen for our speaking and cannot hold
ourselves within ourselves--”
“I shouldn’t be a bit disturbed by the Honorable Mr. Harvenoiq’s
mistakes,” intercepted the judicious Hardthrust, sympathetically. “He
will make amends--just give him a chance.”
“Oh! You are too most easy of feeling. It is only a Frenchman who can
see, who can do----”
“Have you--pardon the digression--seen a draft of the proposed new
constitution, Mr. Seionoff?”
“Constitution? Constitution? I have looked at only insult. It is most
unbearable, this unfeeling of politeness; I must make myself amends,”
shouted the excited diplomat, huskily in his neighbor’s dull ears, the
while dancing about like a suddenly decapitated fowl.
“Politeness will follow development: it is not so long, you know, since
the great La Fayette discovered America,” ventured the thoughtful
Britisher, good-naturedly.
“La Fayette! Oh, the too not far seeing. Only for without him we had
already a big empire where now is but confusion for money. It is a
large disgrace in the world. La Fayette! La Fayette!”
The decidedly heated though close conversation between the two foreign
diplomats significantly escaped the attention of everybody there,
excepting only one. The queen remained too deeply absorbed with
consciousness and suspicion to observe or realize the purport of any
the incidental and chaotic surroundings. Bender’s keen eye and ready
ear, on the other hand, divined everything, even the pained, telltale
look that disturbed her majesty’s presence.
Surmising Great Britain’s careless attitude and France’s
unpreparedness, the shrewd minister of finance dismissed with a sweep
of the intellect any possible thought of interference from either one
or the other. With renewed courage and lessening respect his temporary
and sudden patriotism began rapidly to wane. After all it seemed but
a matter of self-provision. Why concede anything? The plans were
laid, and withal a force stood ready to do his bidding. Harvenoiq
had blundered himself into the blame, why not drive to a finish the
resolution that seemed all but a reality.
Deprived of an ideal the world seemed cold and dreary: in one opportune
moment ambition claimed and drove its faltering victim. The blood of
royalty had but rosed the pathway to success.