A Romance That

Fell Flat!

From Our Own Gorresvondent.

PAPEETE, March 24.

EVERYONE in the Islands remembers the romantic story of old William Masters, who obtained a conces sion for the island of Palmerston, where he ruled as absolute autocrat for years, and whose numerous chil dren populated the Island.

His grandson, Jimmy Masters, now mate of the “Tiare Taporo,” has much of his father’s blood in him.

He recounted to the writer how, a few years ago, he became enamoured of a young lady in Penrhyn. The par ents objecting, Jimmy simply borrowed a whaleboat belonging to the local trading company, loaded it up with drinking-nuts, put the girl on board one dark night, and set out for Mani hiki. After about 40 days at sea, they fetched up in the Gilberts, where Jimmy and the girl were arrested for stealing a boat, and sent back to Raro tonga.

Jimmy served nine months; the girl married a better provider; and Jimmy has just lately finished paying the com pany for the boat!

All of which goes to show that South Sea romance has fallen upon evil days.

It seems to me that any really up to-date movie company would have immediately contracted Jimmy for at least a hundred a week, made a Pen rhyn princess out of the girl, and sent them both on a lecture tour through the Larger Centres of Culture with lantern slides illustrating “Home Life on a Coconut a Day,” or “Love’s Labour

Lost’.

Anyway, Jimmy had a great laugh over it while telling us the story and, as he bit the tops off half-a-dozen bottles of beer, remarked that he sure was lucky that the girl married another man.

Jimmy is not yet ,“cinematised.”