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THE FLOWER OF LANAI.
21

out. They journeyed a long way, until they reached a lonely place on the coast, when Kaa expostulated, saying, “My mother is not here. Do we look for her among the sharks?” With rage in his eyes and voice her father answered: “Among the sharks shall be your home; but they will not devour you; you shall live among the gods of the deep sea unless your hateful husband can buy you back from their realm.” Then seizing her in his arms, and unmindful of her prayers for pity, the revengeful man leapt into the vortex which showed the entrance to the Spouting Cave. Down they sank through the eddying waters, and were swept by the strong current up to the rocky beach within the dim twilight of the cave. Here the furious old man laid the body of the maiden, threatening that, if she did not promise to forsake her husband and marry one whom he should select, that she should be left among the slimy creatures of the cavern. Though horrified, and nearly dead with fear, the girl refused to promise, and her father dived into the water, and returned through the whirlpool to the upper air.

Day after day passed, and still Kaa did not return to her husband. Her father had come back to his house alone, and the distracted