Hawaii (109 page)

"Yes. When I took service with the government, I swore allegiance to Hawaii."

"How interesting. Would you care to join me in a cup of English tea?"

"I'd be delighted," Micah said. They walked through lovely pine-kden gardens and came to a small rustic house, where a serving-maid waited.

"What your king proposed," the Japanese said, afraid that Micah was not going to ask, "was that the heir to his throne, the Princess Kaiulani, be given in marriage to the son of the emperor, so as to bind Japan and Hawaii closer together."

Micah lost his aplomb. He choked on his tea, spilled it, skmmed the cup down, and gasped, "What did you say?"

"He proposed an alliance of mutual interest, to be sealed by the marriage of the princess to one of our princes. When I heard the facts, Mr. Hale, I choked, too."

The two diplomats stared at each other, aghast. Finally Micah stammered, "What had I better do?"

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"You'd better get the king out of Japan immediately." "Of course, of course. But I mean . . . with the emperor?" "A formal offer of marriage has been extended. It's got to be considered by the Imperial family . . . and the staff. In a year or so we'll send an answer."

"Excellency, please take pains to insure that the answer is no." "It is now beyond my control. How old is your princess?" "Let me see, she's six." "We have time."

That night Micah completed plans to whisk his unpredictable king out of Japan, but as they sat at supper, the king still having said nothing concerning his impromptu visit with the emperor, Micah studied his fat, jolly face and thought: "I wonder what transpires in that surprising brain? How did he think up a state marriage with the Japanese royal family? Where did he get the idea for an alliance with Japan? Such a thing would destroy all hope of eventual union with Americal My goodness, what can we expect him to do when he gets to Europe!" From that prophetic day, Micah Hale had appreciated the inherent danger that Hawaii might one day associate itself with Japan. He had therefore fought against the importation of Japanese farmers onto the sugar plantations, but greedy men like John Janders and the Hewlett boys had insisted upon it. He was frightened by the adroit manner in which the little Japanese, who had begun arriving in the 1880's, accommodated themselves to Hawaiian life, and he had tried to pass kws forbidding them to leave the plantations and open stores. When alone with friends he often referred to the "Yellow Menace," and he foresaw that the Japanese would multiply and grasp for political power in a way that the more easygoing Chinese never would. Therefore he had constructed an international-relations platform that had only two planks: "Make Hawaii American. Keep the Japanese away."

Consequently, when Wild Whip uttered the phrase, "It begins to look as if Japan might . . ." vibrant chords were struck in Micah Hale's memory. "What was that last point, Whip?" he asked his nephew.

"I was saying that if you want to see your basic dream come to pass, you can do it only through me."

"I mean about Japan," Micah explained, and suddenly Whip realized that his uncle had heard nothing of his last statements. He had been daydreaming about some forgotten incident that Whip didn't know about, but with sure instinct, Whip knew that his uncle's reverie concerned Japan and that it had produced fear. He therefore decided to play upon that fear.

"I was saying about Japan, that there is a good deal of evidence that the Yellow Menace would be glad to take Hawaii if the United States doesn't."

"Do you think so?" Micah asked fearfully.

"What more natural?" Whip asked, shrugging his shoulders.

FROM THE STARVING VILLAGE 547

"Do you think Japan would extend herself so far from her own islands?"

"Not by design, but if we don't get Hawaii into the United States, she'll have to."

"I am terribly afraid of that," Micah admitted. "And if not Japan, then England or Germany."

"Obviously, if we allow the islands to lie around unwanted, someone will surely grab them."

"But suppose the monarchy cleansed itself," Micah temporized. "Suppose we got rid of Liliuokalani and put somebody else on the throne?"

Wild Whip saw that his uncle was clutching at straws, so he hammered home his points: "The revolutionists will tolerate no Hawaiian monarch. None that you could propose, Uncle Micah, would be acceptable."

His nephew's position startled the white-bearded old man and he said, "Then even though you are uncertain of what comes next, you're determined to overthrow the monarchy?"

Whip was not to be trapped into such an admission of irresponsibility. Suavely he replied, "But we are certain of what comes next, Uncle Micah. You come next. You justify us before'world opinion and lead us into the United States. It's what you've always wanted. It's what you know is right."

The two men fell into silence, as Micah, a leader on whom all the glories and perquisites available to the kings of Hawaii had been visited, considered what he must do. He was caught in wild currents of confusion, and any antagonist other than Wild Whip Hoxworth would have retired at this moment and allowed his uncle to study the matter through the remainder of the night, but now the mark of Whip's character stood out. He rose from his chair, went to the door, stretched as if he were leaving, looked out at the stars dancing over Diamond Head and turned back toward his uncle. Lifting a chair and placing it so that its back faced Micah, he sat with his arms folded across the top of the back and his legs straddling the seat. This brought his scarred face close to his uncle's, and he said coldly, "Uncle Micah, so far we've been sparring. Now we've got to get down to the bedrock base of this revolution. There's no escape. You've got to stand before the public."

Micah replied: "I cannot betray the Hawaiians who have befriended me."

Whip said: "But you're ready to betray the Americans who own these islands."

Micah replied: "When I took my oath of allegiance to Hawaii, I believed what I was doing. I became a Hawaiian."

Whip said: "I didn't. I remained an American. I'm going to call on American warships to protect my property for me."

Micah replied: "You can act that way. I can't."

Whip said: "That is not the action we're talking about, Uncle Micah. I'm saying that I am determined to lead a revolution against

a weak and corrupt form of government. I'm going to win my part of the revolution. But only you can cany it to its logical conclusion: union with America."

Micah replied: "And that I refuse to do."

Whip said: "If you shared your Stubborn conclusion with the silly queen, she'd applaud. But if you told Aunt Malama how you were wasting the tides of history and allowing them to slip away from you, even though she's a Hawaiian she'd say you were stupid."

Micah replied: "I cannot betray these good people."

Whip said: "Then you will allow the forces of history to betray them to Japan."

Micah replied: "That's a risk we'll have to take."

Whip said: "It's not a risk, Uncle Micah. It's a certainty. These islands are doomed. There is only one way to save them. Pick up our revolution and lead it to a good end."

Micah replied: "I will not prostitute myself to protect a gang of sugar robbers."

Whip said: "Unless you protect us, every good thing you have ever wanted for Hawaii will be lost."

Micah replied: "I would relinquish even Union with America rather than attain it as a result of unchristian acts."

Whip said: "I am surprised you speak of Christianity. Are you willing to abandon these islands to opium, lotteries, debauchery, with streets unsafe for women?"

Micah replied: "These are problems we must solve within the framework of established government, not by revolution."

Whip said: "Where was the framework of your established government when the late king used to convene his Ball of String Society?"

Micah replied: "That was an aberration. God has surely punished him for that."

Whip said: "It was the mark of the monarchy. The old fool stood facing a crowd of beautiful women and threw a ball of string at them. He held one end and the girl who caught the ball followed him obediently to bed."

Micah replied: "I hardly expected you to preach morality."

Whip said: "I'll preach anything that will end the monarchy."

Micah replied: "The one evil thing I did in my life was to ally myself with your grandfather against my own father. God has never forgiven me for this, and I often wake at night in dreadful sweat and lie there for hours reflecting upon the devilish compact I made with Captain Hoxworth. Now you ask me to make a worse with his grandson. I can't risk any more sleepless nights, Whipple."

Whip said: "The alliance between you and old Rafer Hoxworth may have been unholy in its inception. But look at the good it's done Hawaii. The building, the jobs, the ships, the fields. Somebody had to accomplish those things, Uncle Micah. Your influence in doing them the right way was fundamental. Now you have got to ally yourself with me to insure a proper culmination to our revolt."

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Micah replied: "Must a good man always use such evil instruments as you and your grandfather?"

Whip said: "Yes. Because good men never have the courage to act. You can only direct and safeguard movements already set into motion by men like me."

Micah replied: "I will not compound the evil I did once. I will not help you, Whip."

Whip said: "You do not hurt me, Uncle Micah, but you destroy the future of these islands."

He bowed and left his austere uncle. It was nearly three in the morning when he walked down the path to King Street, and his last view of Micah was of the white-bearded old man sitting erect at his desk, staring at his books.

At the secret meeting of the committee held the next day, Sunday, January 15, Wild Whip reported frankly to his conspirators: "Uncle Micah will not join us."

"Then I can't either," said David Hale. Two of the Hewletts also withdrew.

John Janders suggested: "We'd better not try to force the revolution. If Micah Hale's against it, he might inflame public opinion against us. Then we'd be lost. I'm going to call off tomorrow's mass meeting."

There was a buzz of excitement and Wild Whip could feel the resolve of the would-be revolutionists ebbing away like the surf after a high tide. Men in groups were discussing how, having just coached Ed Hewlett in what to tell the mob tomorrow, they must now cancel his oratory.

"You may have misunderstood me," Whip said quietly. The revolutionists stopped retreating, eager to hear any words of direction. "I meant to say that Uncle Micah will not join us willingly. What I didn't say was that I shall force his hand, and make him join. Everything goes ahead as planned. In two days, gentlemen, Hawaii will be a republic, and the men in this room will govern it. With Micah Hale as our face to the world."

"How do you propose accomplishing that?" one of the Hales asked. "If Uncle Micah makes up his mind . . ."

"Your uncle is a patriot," Whip replied. "He loves Hawaii and is loyal to it. He will never see these islands disintegrate into formless revolution. He'll be with us."

"How will you force his hand?"

"I think we can get the American troops to march ashore tomorrow night . . . just after the mass meeting. This will accomplish two ends. It will encourage our side and scare hell out of the monarchists. We occupy the government buildings, throw the queen out, and on Monday morning Micah Hale will have to join us."

"Are you certain of this?" one of the trembling Hales asked.

"I am going to begin drafting the proclamations now," Whip

replied, "for him to sign, and I want David Hale and Micah Whipple to help me."

The revolution that overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy and passed the government into the hands of the sugar planters was under way. In her palace, the wild-willed queen shuddered as she saw American troops file ashore to invade her territory. She was disposed to fight them, for she knew that this was a cruel perversion of the ordinary relationships between sovereign nations, but the sugar planters quickly immobilized her loyal troops, and she was left defenseless, a stubborn, anachronistic woman in her mid-fifties, regal in appearance but totally unaware that the nineteenth century was ebbing to a close and taking with it the concepts of government to which she adhered.

However, in the dying moments of her reign she was not completely without support, for after her troops were disbanded without firing a shot, a squad of volunteer loyalists materialized from the alleys of Honolulu and marched out to defend their queen. In their ranks, and typical of their quality, waddled the old kanaka maile gatherer, Kimo. He had a musket that he had grabbed from a man in a pool hall and he held his uniform�a pair of sagging pants and that was all�about his waist with a length of red rope. His hair had not been combed for some days, he needed a shave and he was barefooted, but like his companions he gave every evidence of being willing to die for his queen. The sparkling American troops with new rifles watched in amazement as the volunteers marched up to give them battle, but a courageous officer in whites ran unarmed to the leader of the irregulars and said, "There's no war. The queen has abdicated."

"She's what?" the leader of the loyalists asked.

"She's abdicated," the young American said. Then he shouted, "Anybody here speak Hawaiian?"

A haole bystander idled up and asked, "What you want, General?"

"Tell these men that there is to be no war. The queen has abdicated."

"Sure," the haole agreed. Turning to Kimo and his men he said, "Eh, you kanaka! Liliuokalani pau. She go home. You pau too. You go home."

And so far as the actual fighting was concerned, in this manner the revolution ended. Kimo trundled his unused musket back to the poolroom and listened to the gibes of his friends. Then in great disturbance of spirit, for he knew that he had participated in the death of a world he had loved�the horses prancing in gold tassels, the royal guard marching in bright uniforms, the queen going forth in a gilt carriage�he walked slowly down Beretania Street and up Nuuanu to the small house where he lived with his wife Apikela and his Chinese family. He went directly to bed and lay there without talking or laughing until he died.