Page:Under Dewey at Manila.djvu/25

Rh "I shouldn't be surprised. I don't care, one way or the other, if only times pick up. I'm alone in the world, but I want to make my living and a little besides, if I can. Last month we had quite a few excursion parties up here,—folks from the Australian steamers and others,—but this month there hasn't been anybody but city folks, and they either don't want anything or else bring it along."

"The Pali ought to be a big attraction, to my notion," answered the boy, as he fell to eating, with more good manners than the average ship hand, as Ralph Harmon noticed. "Captain Morgan was telling me about it—how King Kamehameha the First gathered his fellow-tribesmen around him in the valley and fought the savage hosts of the mighty Oahu and literally drove them over the edge of the precipice. That must have been a battle worth looking at."

"There was nobody here to look at it but those that took part—and it happened a good many years ago. Here, have another cup of coffee; it will do you good." The coffee was served; Ralph Harmon looked out of the doorway, to find the broad highway still deserted, and dropped into a nearby rustic chair. "So you're from San Francisco?" he continued.