1893.] A DOMESTIC TRAGEDY. 155 lowered into the boat below without accident, when the boat was caught by a wave, dashed against the rocks, and broken into splinters. It was thought that Miss Stevens died of heart disease induced by the shock, and not from being crushed against the cliffs. The body was recovered, prepared for burial, and reverently and tenderly laid upon the table in the saloon of the little steamer, and taken back to Honolulu. As there are no cables between the Islands it was impossible to inform the Minister of the terrible bereavement he had sustained. The revolution had come without any premonition upon the return of the Boston to Hilo, and he was harassed and anxious with the grave duty which he had had to perform. The sister, wholly unconscious of what had happened, went down to the dock with a party of friends to meet the steamer. A messenger was sent ashore to inform her what had happened, and proper notice was sent to the family. The body was then taken home. All through the night, when the daughter lay in her coffin in the drawing-room, taken from him without an instant's warning, in the vigour of life and health, the heart-broken father sat writing the official dispatches, which the steamer, sailing the following noon, must convey to San Francisco, for immediate transmission to the State Department. One can believe that it was no ordinary self-control and fortitude that enabled him to pass through such an ordeal. It was, then, this old and heart-broken man whom Mr. Blount had been commissioned to discredit and publicly humiliate. One would have thought that such sorrow would have been sacred to any one possessed of the commonest human instincts. Mr. Blount was accompanied to Hawaii by his wife, but neither was much in evidence that evening at the hotel where their meals were served. So far as the public was concerned there was not the slightest hint as to his proposed plan of action. President Dole had considered it prudent to withhold the notification he had received from all but the Cabinet and the Advisory Council, as it was uncertain what might occur when the Hawaiian flag was hoisted. It was certainly a tempting opportunity for the natives, who greatly outnumbered the annexationists, to rally, and by a coup de main restore the monarchy in substance with the restoration of its symbol. I had gone to my breakfast in the general dining-room of the hotel, and saw in the morning paper, lying beside my plate, staring head-lines announcing the lowering of the American flag at eleven o'clock. I was thunderstruck; the entire city was in the wildest state of excitement. If the rebuff of the five Hawaiian Commissioners; the summary withdrawal of the treaty upon Mr. Cleveland's succession to office; the high-handed disregard of the Senate and their appointment of a proper commission of investigation for the United A DAY OF LAMENTATION. 1893.] 157 States, had been condoned, this could not be considered other than a determination of the President to refuse his support to the Provisional Government, and eventually to withdraw American protection. And this, time proved, was a correct estimate of his course. The feeling that prevailed among the annexationists in Honolulu could be compared to that felt by the citizens of the North the day when Fort Sumter had been fired upon a day of lamentation and anguish that tried men's souls. Those of the natives - by no means a majority—who sympathised with the Queen were at first elated; but they realised the gravity of the situation, and made no open demonstration. The friends of the Provisional Government were of two minds: one was still bravely hoping for the best, and meeting the crisis with an unruffled front; the other, less confident, made but little effort to conceal dejection and despair. "Royalty shall not be restored," was the common declaration. "We have tried it again and again; we have nothing to hope from it, and the time has now come when we will stand shoulder to shoulder; the United States refuses to protect us, and we will protect ourselves." At ten o'clock the hotel was quite empty, and a stream of people, very different in their uneasiness and fear to the multitudes the day before, streamed steadily in the direction of the Government buildings. There had been three hundred additional police sworn in early that morning, and there were many more volunteers than could be supplied with arms to aid in preserving order. At half-past ten I called a carriage and drove to Camp Boston, to learn if it were true that Captain Swinburne and his company had been ordered on board the Boston. It was a beautiful day, the sun shining brightly, the blue sky without a cloud, the palms stirring in the breeze. Everything about the premises indicated immediate evacuation. There were heaps of baggage, beds, tents, and other portable property piled upon the verandah in charge of the Japanese servants. Sentinels were still pacing to and fro before the east and west gates; the marines were drawn up in line, along the front wall, while the officers were moving about issuing orders. I accosted one of the sentinels and asked to see an officer. The blue-coat saluted, and an instant later Lieutenant Laird courteously presented himself. "Is it true that you are ordered to go on board?” I asked. "Our orders are to march out of here promptly at eleven o'clock." "Do you know the reason?" "It is only another move on the chessboard. We are acting under orders, and have no further instruc 1893.] AN ANXIOUS MOMENT. 159 tions," and he touched his cap and re-entered the gate. At the Government buildings, a stone's throw beyond the camp, the stars and stripes floated from the staff on the tower, an added touch of colour in the tropical landscape, and vividly outlined against the sky. A vast assemblage and a most characteristic one had gathered Americans, Europeans, stolid Japanese and Chinese, Hawaiians—the women in holokus and loaded with leis. The native and Oriental population crowded the sidewalk across the road in front of the Palace; the Americans and Europeans were collected in the grounds or upon the pavement adjoining. All talked in subdued tones, and the most decorous order was preserved. Among the American women present was one who sat in her carriage looking on and weeping passionately. She exclaimed, "They may lower it from the tower, but it shall float over my house as long as I have life and breath to keep it there!" As the minute hand of the clock moved slowly forward every eye was riveted on the flag, — the Hawaiians half exultingly, yet anxiously; the American and foreign Hawaiians (whites born in the Islands), and those who had cast in their lot with them, waiting with set lips and rigid countenances. By this time there was little talking, the silence |