“I discerned at a glance that she had the instincts of a white woman the world over. As she stared at us she hastily put her hand up to her hair to see if the hibiscus blossoms were in an attractive position. As she squatted on the mat and boldly looked into our eyes, she pulled her picturesque raiment down over the curves of her knees. ‘That’s something that a native woman wouldn’t do,’ was my mental comment. That one little action convinced me that there is an inherent modesty in women of the white races that is not conspicuous in many of the brown races. For, how did she know that women of our race wore long dresses? All the native women about her wore barely anything at all! Besides, there was the swift, instinctive action of an act that could only be the result of inherent modesty. Knowing the chance I had of testing the difference between the white and the brown races, I went through all sorts of artful dodges to find out the various shades of her character. I put my hand out in a caressing way, softly touching her fingers so that she might be assured that I was there only out of friendship. Deny did the same.
“To our delight she repsonded by saying, ‘Yorana, Papalagi,’ and then, in a soft, fawning, cat-like way, returned the caress, touched my wrist, looked into my eyes, and murmured, ‘Oh, whi! whi, nicer,’ alluding to the whiteness of my flesh just up under my coat-sleeve. Then, in a really fascinating way, she admired the smoothness of our boyish faces; put her fingers through my golden hair;—I had hair then.” (He was bald as a badger as he sat there telling us these things.) “Then Deny took the flask from his pocket and, to my surprise, asked her to take a nip of rum! She gave one sip, and made a wry face as she spat the liquid out.
“I looked into her eyes, held her hand, and said:
“‘Wouldn’t you like to leave this village and go across the seas to your own people, see the big cities, large buildings?’
“She only stared at me. I saw that it was all Greek to her. Then I tried to explain civilization to her. I told her that women wore beautiful silken robes to the feet, robes that were adorned with flashing gems. Her eyes sparkled with wonder for a while. She seemed to show true interest only when I described English life, told of the comfortable, cosy homes, the hearth-fires in cold weather, and of the little children. Deny looked up at me, noticed my earnest manner, and thought I was mad. So he said after. Sanga squatted just behind us the whole time, staring at the girl with wonder in her eyes, and never said one word.
“As I told her these things, I watched for some evidence of a desire in her heart to come with us; but the only effect it seemed to have on her was that which one notices on a child when it listens to a fairy story. There was something infinitely sad about it all as she sat there—a girl of our race, lost to the world, irreclaimable, doomed to live on in that hell of a village,—a girl with natural beauty shining from her soft, almost wistful-looking eyes. The wind blew gently through the doorway, the palms sighed mournfully on the mountain slopes, and it seemed that the very zephyrs caressed her with sorrow as they touched the picturesque robe she had put on since we had arrived.
“I can never tell you how Deny and I appealed to that girl, beseeching her to come away with us. For a moment she gazed at us as though in grief, then she put forth her hand and appealed to Deny to give her one of his coat buttons. In a moment my pal had ripped a button off and handed it to her. She held it up in the ray of sunlight that trickled through the doorway, and gave a childish cry of pleasure.
“‘Look at her feet,’ said Deny.
“I had never seen such pretty feet before. The nails were like pearls, and, through the foot having never been cramped up in boots, the toes were exquisitely curved, the lower contours running up and finishing at the ankles in a charming way. Deny took the liberty of tenderly holding her leg up so that I might admire the curves of the calf, the perfect roundness of the knee. She kept a wary eye on him: I’m sure that was the look that I noticed in her eyes. Then, on hearing our impassioned exclamations, and seeing the appreciative glances of our eyes over the beauty of her shape, she gave in; vanity was stronger than modesty. Then Deny spoilt it all; as he held the leg in a graceful position, he deliberately kissed the knee! That’s what my eyes saw! Deny swore that it was a mistake, that he fell forward. But I knew Deny well enough, and never before saw anything so deliberate in the way of impassioned acts.
“From that moment she became reserved in her attitude and manner. But, still, I noticed that her eyes softly gleamed as Deny and I and Sanga crept out of the door to answer the command of Yoraka. It was nearly dusk then, and we had to be in Yoraka’s presence by dark.