ntry made in her diary on a
certain beautiful, still evening: "It is now half-past eight and very
dark, for the moon is not yet up and the sky is overcast. The air is
fresh and sweetly damp and redolent of many scented leaves and
flowers. I can hear the sea on Apia beach; the sound of it is regular,
like hoarse breathing, or even more like the rhythmic purring of a
gigantic cat. Crickets and tree frogs and innumerable other insects
and small beasts are chirping and pecking with various noises that
mingle harmoniously. Occasionally a bird calls with a startling
cry--perhaps the very bird that murdered my poor pullet. When I stood
in the doorway and looked in, the room seemed to be glowing with
color, glowing and melting, and yet there is nothing to go upon but
the _tapa_ on the walls, the coral, the pink and maroon window
curtains of the coarsest cotton print, a ragged old ink-spotted
table-cover, a few print-covered pillows, and the pandanus mats on the
floor. Louis's books, with their bindings of blue and green, to say
nothing of gold lettering, help greatly on the six shelves, and the
two _kava_ bowls that I have worked as hard to color as a young man
with his first meerschaum have taken on a fine opalescent coating."
This, of course, was when they were living in the temporary quarters
while the main house was being built.

The entry of November 15 gives us an amusing tale of the horses: "The
cart horses, a couple of large, mild-eyed, gentle, dappled grays, have
arrived from Auckland. It was pleasant to see them fall upon the grass
after their tedious sea voyage. Just as we were thinking about going
to bed, an alarming noise was heard from the direction of the stable.
It had been raining hard all day and was still drizzling. The weeds on
the way to the stable were up to my waist and dripping with water. The
prospect was not inviting, but we nobly marched out with the lantern
and an umbrella. As we entered the enclosure where the stable stands,
or rather stood, we became aware of two large white objects showing
indistinctly through the darkness. A little nearer and our two horses
were looking us in the face. They had eaten the sides and ends of
their house quite away. They must have thought it odd to be housed in
an edible stable.[44] When we entered they received us with every sign
of welcome, but we were dismayed to find them tangled with each other
and the wreck of the partition. Louis crawled in under the big hairy