s
kindness to them when they were in prison.]

"By nightfall we reached the summit of the mountain, where there was a
house, and there we had an example of Samoan hospitality. The house
was not large enough to hold us and its occupants, too, so they had
built a big oven,[61] stuffed it with food, laid out fine mats for
our beds, and then quietly decamped. We never even saw our hosts to
thank them. It was a glorious night on the summit, for the full moon
made the scene as bright as daylight, and in the distance we could see
the ocean all around us. It made us feel very small and a little
frightened to see what a tiny island it was we had been living on with
such a feeling of security. Before us a beautiful waterfall fell away
into the thickets of greenery.

[Footnote 61: A Samoan oven is made by digging a hole,
lining it with hot stones, putting on top of them pigs,
fish, chickens, taro, yams, etc., all wrapped in banana
leaves, then piling hot stones on them and covering the
whole with earth. In about four hours everything is
cooked.]

"On the way up we crossed many streams, and I held my breath to see
the two men carrying my mother's chair run lightly across the
teetering log bridges, but she sat there smiling, not a bit afraid and
enjoying every minute of it. Our English friends and I were carried
over by the natives. I simply shut my eyes, clutched the thick hair of
my carrier and held my breath till we were on the other side.

"Making ourselves at home in the house so kindly left to our use, we
set the boys to open the oven and remove its contents, and then we sat
down and made a grand feast--roast pig, chicken, taro, yams, and
breadfruit--all fresh and hot. Our boys had brought salt, limes, and
bread, and on the way up we gathered fresh cocoanuts to drink with our
dinner. Then we lay down on the soft mats and fell sound asleep in our
borrowed house on the top of our little world.

"In the morning, we began the descent of the other side, which was
much easier and quicker. When we were within a mile of the village we
were shown a pool; then the men retired and we women took a swim,
after which we put on our 'silika' dresses and started on. Children
had been stationed along the path to look out for us, and, though we
could see no one, we heard shouts of '_Ua maliu mai tamaitai_' (the
ladies are coming), going from o