as the succession of epidemics to which ordinary
childhood is subject; but anything graver than this
it was absurd!

There dwells in the soul of every man living- and from this category not one is exempted — a fixed belief, confessed or unacknowledged, that political problems are wholly beyond the comprehension of the feminine intelligence. It is not in the least worth one's while to combat this inherent and inherited prejudice. All that the feminine intelligence can do is to show itself capable of grappling with political questions and situations, and it will then be rewarded with a special verdict that one exceptional success simply proves the rule of unalterable incapacity.

My chimerical scheme was hesitatingly unfolded. I was pretty well read in Hawaiian history by this time, and, in order to prove the correctness of my theories, dates, facts, and names were glibly rattled off — the latter subject to painfully acquired amendment afterwards, when the correct pronunciation was acquired.

It was a hot afternoon, as hot as only a September afternoon in Chicago can be, with a burning sirocco sweeping across the prairies from the west, bringing with it the stench of slaughter-houses and porkpacking establishments a little addition which millionaire pork-packers are permitted to contribute to the public discomfort.

The new man was warm and tired; he was

1892.]

A REBUFF.

37

nervously irritable; and, moreover, he was distraught with the pains and perplexities of an amateur editor who has a lot to suffer as he acquires his experience.

He looked at me coldly through his spectacles;

upon his sharply cut features and the tightly compressed lips there was an expression of justifiable weariness. He looked at me, and then remarked, with an effort to be satirical:

"Do you think anybody is interested in Hawaiian politics?"

“But it is not a question of Hawaiian politics," I protested; "it is a matter of international politics." And as I write these words a woman's spiteful sense of triumph comes over me when I think how time obligingly verified that rash assertion.

The interview was not prolonged. It became evident that my speedy withdrawal was urgently desired, and the unspoken wish was respected.

As I closed the door, I said with fervent relief: "Thank Heaven, you are only the publisher; you are not the editor, and there still remains the court of final appeal."

This rebuff was only an encouragement to new and more determined effort. All the data that could be obtained were collected, and with them some forty letters of introduction, twenty of these from a relative then in command of the Pacific squadron, RearAdmiral Brown, who had been a warm friend of the Hawaiian sovereigns and their people. These

included letters to the Queen's Chamberlain, for the monarchy, which, though even then cracking in places and peeling off in spots, was still intact; the chief lady-in-waiting, a most charming and cultured Hawaiian woman; the Chief Justice and Mrs. Judd, one of the historical families of Honolulu; with others to the American Minister, Mr. Stevens, the American Consul, and men of equal consequence and social position.

Successful newspaper work may have been accomplished once by a system of spying and eavesdropping and backstairs espionage; but all astute editors and correspondents know nowadays that, quite apart from personal qualities of endurance and perseverance, with a greater or less ability to write grammatically, it has become almost a question of credentials and introductions. Twenty facts of value are to be obtained at an official dinner-table, where one is picked up regularly or irregularly in the highways and byways, and the continuance and worth of future information worthy the name depends upon the manner in which official confidence is abused or respected. This will be considered heretical by those who advocate other and more enterprising methods; but it is one that has been tested, and has been found to serve extremely well. The collection of letters was a sort of treasure, counted over with something of miserly satisfaction, and read and re-read some scores of times. With

1892.]

FEMININE DIPLOMACY.

39

all their undeserved reputation for cowardice and distrust of adventure, women after all have ten times the daring and resolution of men; and if the generality of them only knew how safe are the high roads and even the uninhabited places of the world, and how purely imaginary are the dangers that seem to threaten when one leaves the beaten track, there would be a hundred explorers like Mrs. Bishop and Miss Kingsley where there is one to-day.

I had learned wisdom. Masculine prudence did not look kindly upon my views. Denial should not be rashly and carelessly risked again. Columbus had appealed to kings and courtiers, only to be repulsed with indifference and scorn. It was the Castilian Queen, alone, who listened, believed, and pledged her jewels to enable him to sail away into Nowhere — as all the world of that age confidently believed.

The Isabella of my expedition was my friend Mrs. N, the wife of the managing editor of my newspaper, to whom I already owed encouragement, appreciation, promotion, and kindnesses innumerable. She was a woman of liberal education, a fine linguist, she had lived much abroad, and her mind had been liberalised by contact with the world. As is inevitable with such women, she had great influence with her husband, who relied much upon her judgment, and respected her opinion, and always found it profitable.

The matter was discussed with her over a tête-à-tête

supper at her house one dreary November night. The letters of introduction were produced, and all that it meant for the newspaper and its correspondent she fully and immediately realised. She did not ask chillingly, "Do you think people are interested in Hawaiian politics?" but she said, "I believe it is an admirable plan, and that it will be well worth while."

Thus far we were able to discuss and reach conclusions with the dignity and self-respect of rational human beings. We might contrive to rise superior to conditions of possible danger, inevitable discomfort, fatigue, and disappointment; but we could not sweep away by one bold stroke, with all our audacity, the inevitable limitations of sex. We both knew that, just, generous, and kind as her husband was, the chances were that if we approached him singly, consecutively, or even in pairs, he too might fail to perceive the practicableness of our designs.

We were forced to resort to schemes and conspiracies, to the exercise of so-called "tact," as usual when women must deal with men in matters a little out of the common, and attempt to demonstrate the performance of the impossible. We sat in silence for a moment, and then she remarked thoughtfully: "I will talk to Mr. N-about it to-morrow, and then you can see him the next day." This, then, was the plan of attack when we parted, I setting out to my home across the city in the teeth of a driving storm, and we carried it out to the letter.