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"I'm glad we've arrived," Mrs. Abercrombie sighed. "It's the best part of any journey, no matter what the poets say!"

The big jet touched down smoothly and they took their leave of the cabin staff who had looked after them so well during the long flight.

"When will you be back again?" the senior steward asked, helping Mrs. Abercrombie down the gangway. "Soon, I hope."

"I am on my way to Scotland," Adele told him.

"Oh, Scotland!" said he. "I was born there."

Elizabeth took her employer's arm as they walked across the tarmac. The sun was dazzlingly bright, standing high above the wide valley between the mountains and the air had a warmth in it that was like a caress. As they approached the departure lounge the doors were opened for them by a smiling Polynesian girl who proffered them a tiny mauve orchid in greeting.

"The girls look much better in their native costumes," Adele remarked. "Those airline skirts and European shirts are most unflattering, as you will see."

Elizabeth was busy pinning the orchid to her lapel, her heart beating high with excitement. This was her first breath of the Islands she had never hoped to see, and it was far beyond her wildest expectation.

"I'll find a taxi while you collect our luggage," Adele said, "and then we will go straight out to the hotel. I expect a message from Henri to be waiting for me there."

They were to stay four nights on the island before flying out again to join Charles Abercrombie in San Francisco on the twenty-second, and to Elizabeth it didn't seem nearly long enough, but it was a wonderful extra bonus as far as she was concerned. It also put the meeting with Charles a little further away.

The taxi wound through the outskirts of the town, away from Pearl Harbor towards the dark bulk of Diamond Head jutting out into Hanauma Bay. Presently it turned along the coast to their destination at Waikiki. The blue sea and the little yachts, the vividly-coloured sails of the catamarans and the long curves of white sand were a revelation to Elizabeth as she gazed from the window, and Adele Abercrombie smiled to herself in a knowing way. Nothing gave her greater pleasure than watching the response of youth to a new experience, and already she had taken this girl to her generous, impulsive heart.

The Hawaiian Village Hotel was large and rambling. Built originally to represent a native village clustered on the beach, it had been added to through the years, yet the heart of the 'village' remained intact.

"Our rooms are adjoining," Adele said. "It will be more convenient that way. I have a dreadful mental block when it comes to remembering room numbers and I frequently lose my key."

An electric lift took them up to the second floor, their luggage following closely behind. Elizabeth was greatly surprised by the sheer luxury of her room, which was really a very elegant suite with a dining section at one end leading on to a wide balcony which overlooked the sea.

Impulsively she rushed to the window, taking in the wide panorama of the beach with its tiny landing-stage and the darkly mysterious bulk of the headland beyond. It was more than she could have wished for in her wildest dreams and she told herself that she would never be able to forget it.

Then, contritely, she turned back to her duties, knocking before she opened the communicating door to her employer's suite. Both rooms were similar: immaculate white spreads covering the beds and a deep, rose-coloured carpet deadening any sound on the floor. A buttoned dralon-covered couch and a comfortable armchair stood in each dining recess, and a wrought-iron table and chairs were grouped on the balcony for outdoor meals.

Mrs. Abercrombie was standing at the tiny desk near her window with a letter in her hand. She looked preoccupied, even sad.

"This must have come yesterday, to await our arrival," she said, her voice full of emotion. "Elizabeth, I fear that I am going to lose my oldest friend. It is from Henri. He is very ill."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Elizabeth crossed to her side. "Can I do anything for you?" she asked, remembering why she was there. "Send a telegram or anything?"

Adele shook her head. For the first time her age was showing."

"I must go to Maui first thing in lie morning," she said.

"How will you travel?"

"There's a light plane connection to the island." Mrs. Abercrombie was plainly concerned for the welfare of her friend. "Henri has a ranch near Spreckelsville—he grows sugar. Someone will meet me at the airstrip."

Elizabeth noted the singular tense.

"You don't want me to. go with you?" she asked.

Adele hesitated.

"It would be best if I went alone, under the circumstances," she decided. "I don't know how ill Henri really is, but if it is serious he may not want too many visitors. Besides, Elizabeth, you must see the Islands now that you are here."

"I'm here to look after you," Elizabeth reminded her.

"You mustn't worry about me. I've been to Maui many times in the past. No harm can possibly come to me, and I'll be with Henri for a little while." There were tears of deep regret in the dark eyes. "It's been a long time—a happy friendship."

They sent a message off to the island as soon as they went down to the reception lounge.

"Henri should have it by midday," Adele said. "And now we must think about you. The day will pass more quickly if you take a trip around the island. Now," she added, seeing the signs of protest in Elizabeth's face, "don't refuse to do as I ask. You couldn't help on Maui and I want you to see as much of Oahu as you can in the short time you will be here. I think you ought to take the Circle Tour, and we must book your seat right away. If we leave it too late you might have very little choice."

Uneasily Elizabeth considered the proposition.

"I don't feel entirely happy about it," she confessed. "I feel I shouldn't be—amusing, myself while you go off to visit a sick friend."

"What could you do if you were with me?" Adele asked. "I will sit by Henri's side and perhaps that will comfort him. Poor Henri! He is so alone."

"Does he still run the plantation?" Elizabeth asked.

"Oh, no, he has ceased to do that for a very long time. He has a most efficient manager, whom I do trust absolutely. Henri's son should have inherited the plantation, but he was killed in an accident several years ago, and this man has taken over since."

Elizabeth had a pretty shrewd suspicion that the old lady would have more to say about the plantation's management once she got to Maui, and perhaps Henri Duroc had already sought her advice. She was, after all, a competent businesswoman in her own right.

Without further hesitation she booked one of the many sightseeing tours for the following day.

"You can't spend all your time on the beach," she decided. "There are often prowlers around. One hates to think of these things in such a lovely place, but it is one of the sterner facts of life when 'civilisation' takes over. Besides, you will see the real island and fall in love with it, which is what I intended."

Elizabeth insisted on paying for her own trip.

"Be independent if you must," Adele smiled. "I will take your money if it makes you feel better, but really I have more than enough for both of us."

They spent the remainder of the afternoon on the beach under a sun-umbrella because Mrs. Abercrombie was still very particular about the effect of sun and a drying wind on her skin.

"Frenchwomen have to be so careful," she explained. "Most of us are born with very sallow skins, which the sun doesn't improve."

"While redheaded Scotswomen have freckles!" Elizabeth laughed.

"That's what you consider yourself," Adele mused. "A good Scot, once removed."

"I can hardly wait to get there," Elizabeth confessed.

They ate a light meal in the restaurant, changing out of their beach clothes into suitable cotton dresses.

"We must turn in early," Adele suggested. "We both have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"I'D come to the airport with you," Elizabeth offered. "There'll just be time."

"You can't take the risk," her companion decided. "You might find difficulty getting a taxi to bring you back here for the coach. The tour starts from Waikiki, and they will return you to the hotel, so there's no danger of you getting lost."

Elizabeth stood on the balcony of her room few a long time that night, looking out over the hotel garden and listening to the gentle voice of the sea. The kerosene flares which lit the pathways to the beach picked out the couples walking hand-in-hand beneath her, and suddenly she was aware of an overwhelming loneliness. Waikiki! It was a place to come with someone you loved. The very name was synonymous with romance.

The deep red aftermath of sunset had lingered in the sky for a long time, kissing the little waves hurrying to the shore, and somewhere down by the water's edge a guitar sobbed out the compelling song of the Islands, each note the nearest thing to a sigh.

Over on Diamond Head a lei of stars seemed to circle the mountain's brow, while other stars, big and bright and glittering, spanned the arc of the heavens above the bay. A night wind rose to whisper among the palms, and suddenly she closed the window, drawing the white curtains tightly against the encroaching darkness.

ELIZABETH slept soundly, no longer disturbed by the haunting music of the guitar or the murmuring of light-kissed waves, but she was awake and out of bed in time to see Mrs. Abercrombie into the taxi which would take her to Honolulu airport.

"I should be back with the evening plane," Adele assured her. "If not, I shall let you know."

An odd fear gripped Elizabeth by the throat.

"I hope you'll be safe," she said.

"My dear child, why not?" her employer exclaimed. "People go out to the islands every day. There are dozens of flights between Honolulu and the smaller resorts. I have done all this before," she added confidently. "It is like taking a bus in London !" She checked on the small bag she carried. "I have everything I need, even for an emergency," she declared, waving goodbye.
"Aloha!
Have a good day!"

Elizabeth ate a hasty breakfast in the restaurant before she took her place in the orderly queue waiting for the tour limousine. It turned out to be a spacious mini-coach with a sliding roof which could be opened in suitable weather conditions to improve the passengers' view, and it seated ten.

Gradually the queue lengthened and she found herself in conversation with the elderly American couple next to her. They were on holiday, they informed her, to celebrate their silver wedding.

"Twenty-five years, Gloria!" the man said to his wife. "It just doesn't seem like half that time since we were married back there in Albuquerque."

They filed into their places and Elizabeth found herself seated beside another American. He was a fresh-faced young man of about her own age and more than willing to be her guide during the journey.

"I've read all about it in the book," he assured her. "It's the really best tour if you want to see the whole island. I guess it just about takes in everything."

He chattered constantly, while Elizabeth resigned herself to his companionship. All the other members of the tour were couples holidaying together; only she and Ed Bugle—he said that was his name—were alone.

The scenic road over which they travelled was magnificent. It skirted the hollowed-out, volcanic Punchbowl and two gigantic peaks which were the termination of the Koolau Range of mountains and went up the Nuuanu valley where the old missionary houses came into view and the ancient heart of Oahu was exposed for them to see. Ed Bugle was an endless source of information gleaned from extensive reading and he was more than willing to pass on his knowledge to an interested stranger. When they stopped for lunch he took it for granted that they should sit together and plied her with eager questions about her destination.

"I've never been to Scotland," he admitted, "but I've read about it and I would like to go there one of these days. I have a sister living on the west coast, at a place called Holy Loch. She's married to a naval lieutenant. Happy—that's my sister's name—is sure happy to be there!" He laughed uproariously. "You see what I mean?"

"I think so," said Elizabeth.

At Laie they visited the site of the famous Hukilau, walking together to the Mormon temple where the blue sky lay reflected in cool water which was almost as blue. All along their route the serrated tops of the Koolau seared the skyline, tinted mauve in the clear light of the afternoon sun. Elizabeth could have stayed there for ever, but sightseeing tours run to a strict schedule and they were soon back in the coach again, driving north and then west towards Waimea Bay. Here they turned south into an amazing valley flanked by the two great mountain ranges which dominated the island.

Everywhere they looked they could see pineapples stretching in an endless sea, field after field of them until there seemed to be nothing else in the entire world but their bulbous golden shells and their flaunting green crests tossing in the wind.

At the farm where they stopped they were allowed to cut their own fruit, and Ed Bugle chose an enormous one.

"I'll carry yours for you," he offered, shifting his prize from one arm to the other.

Elizabeth laughed. One laughed easily in Ed's company.

"You can get away with
one
pineapple," she declared, "but two look ridiculous!"

"Say, that sure is funny," he grinned back. "But let me carry it for you, all the same. I've had a great day, Elizabeth. I'll sure be sorry when it's over."

Elizabeth knew that she would be just as sorry as Ed, but for a different reason. All the same, she had quite enjoyed his company and he had done his best to be amusing. He had certainly enlightened her about Hawaiian history and tradition and she tried to thank him.

"It's been a wonderful day, Ed," she acknowledged. "I'm glad we met."

He bought her a bunch of the tiny wild orchids which grew all over the valley hills.

"To remind you of today," he said, pressing them into her hand with a sentimental smile.