The Honorable Percival

								

guiding expression.
"I can't say I found your purser over-civil," he went on. "He insists on
putting another passenger in my state-room. Nothing was said about it in
San Francisco, nothing whatever. I shall report the matter at my first
opportunity."
"I bet you've drawn that Chinese bigwig that's booked from here," said
the captain, grinning.
Percival pushed back his plate. A German or an American had appalled
him, but a Chinaman!
"I say, this is a bit thick, you know. What time does the next launch go
ashore?" he demanded, with, a fierce determination to find the purser
and demand satisfaction.
"About to start now," said the captain, adding, with a twinkle: "Better
think twice about that Chinaman. If he takes the upper berth, his
queue'd come in mighty handy to hang your umbrella on."
Percival dashed up the stairs. He had been seeking an excuse for going
ashore for the last four hours, and now he felt that he had one. It was
of the utmost importance, he assured himself, that he see the purser
without further delay.

V
STRANDED

When a man insists too strenuously upon his rights, the imps of
perversity invariably combine to thwart him. Percival was aware of their
pursuing footsteps from the moment he went ashore and lost his umbrella,
to the hour of his return to the dock, when he found himself face to
face with a situation of baffling perplexity.
No sooner had he stepped from the launch that had started him on his
double quest, which ostensibly had only the purser for its object, than
he was surrounded by a noisy, gesticulating crowd. Insistent requests
that he should buy a string of shells, adopt a chameleon, wear a wreath
of carnations, and take a drive, were proffered in broken English, and
he made his escape by jumping into a motor-car and slamming the door.
"Where to, sir?" asked the gratified chauffeur.
"Take me where everybody goes," directed Percival.
"The Pali? Waikiki? Punch-Bowl? Aquarium?"
"Yes, yes. Go on. You see, as a matter of fact, I'm looking for some
one."
Percival's first impression of Honolulu was that of a futurist sketch,
a streak of green standing for the palm-shaded streets, a streak of
scarlet representing the royal Poinciana, and various impressionistic
dots indicating native Hawaiians. The motor in which he found himself
was very ancient, having evidently traveled from the center to the
circumference of civilization by easy stages. Its age and asthmatic
condition should have made it an object of veneration to the chauffeur,
but such was not the case. Like a belated express, it was driven
through the town and out into the open country. Luxurious villas, jungles
of cacti, Chinese tea-houses, taro patches, banana plantations--all
presented one mad panorama to Percival, who jolted from side to side
on the back seat.
Presently there was a precipitous halt, and the chauffeur indicated that
he was to get out.