Page:Off For Hawaii.djvu/166

152 stores, a hundred or more houses, twice that many bamboo huts, a music hall, and a hotel—and that is all. Back of the town are the hills and mountains, clothed with the ever-present tropical growth of palms, big and little, giant ferns, mangoes, plantains, and ti trees, the leaves of which are used for hut thatching.

As soon as we could we went ashore and began our watch for Ramon Delverez. But though we remained around the dock for the best part of two hours not a trace of the Spaniard was to be seen. Then Oliver boarded the steamer again to have a last look around, and I followed.

"The Spaniard escaped up the shore!" came from the head porter. "One of the deck hands saw him drop into a native canoe, and the Kanaka paddled off as fast as he could."

A glass was handy, and by its aid we made out a canoe which was heading for the entrance to the Wailuku River, as the stream just north of Hilo is named. The canoe contained but two persons and we felt certain that one of them must be Delverez.

"Let us go after him," said Oliver promptly.

"I'm willing," I returned. "But he has got a pretty good start of us."

"Never mind—we can row a boat faster than that native can paddle his canoe."

We hurried ashore again and to where we had