d admired his singing, had told him that he
sang with such expression. She laughed aloud, hysterically, at the
recollection. With such expression!--when he had been pouring his heart
out in his voice. She knew now, and it was too late. Why had he not
spoken? Then she realized that girls of her age did not marry. But
girls of her age did marry--in Hawaii--was her instant thought. Hawaii
had ripened her--Hawaii, where flesh is golden and where all women are
ripe and sun-kissed.

Vainly she scanned the packed multitude on the dock. What had become of
him? She felt she could pay any price for one more glimpse of him, and
she almost hoped that some mortal sickness would strike the lonely
captain on the bridge and delay departure. For the first time in her
life she looked at her father with a calculating eye, and as she did she
noted with newborn fear the lines of will and determination. It would be
terrible to oppose him. And what chance would she have in such a
struggle? But why had Steve not spoken? Now it was too late. Why had
he not spoken under the _hau_ tree at Waikiki?

And then, with a great sinking of the heart, it came to her that she knew
why. What was it she had heard one day? Oh, yes, it was at Mrs.
Stanton's tea, that afternoon when the ladies of the "Missionary Crowd"
had entertained the ladies of the Senatorial party. It was Mrs.
Hodgkins, the tall blonde woman, who had asked the question. The scene
came back to her vividly--the broad _lanai_, the tropic flowers, the
noiseless Asiatic attendants, the hum of the voices of the many women and
the question Mrs. Hodgkins had asked in the group next to her. Mrs.
Hodgkins had been away on the mainland for years, and was evidently
inquiring after old island friends of her maiden days. "What has become
of Susie Maydwell?" was the question she had asked. "Oh, we never see
her any more; she married Willie Kupele," another island woman answered.
And Senator Behrend's wife laughed and wanted to know why matrimony had
affected Susie Maydwell's friendships.

"_Hapa-haole_," was the answer; "he was a half-caste, you know, and we of
the Islands have to think about our children."

Dorothy turned to her father, resolved to put it to the test.

"Papa, if Steve ever comes to the United States, mayn't he come and see
us some time?"

"Who? Steve?"

"Yes, Stephen Knight--you know him. You said good-bye to him not five
minutes ago. Mayn't he, if he ha