Vendors of beautiful wreaths of flowers, curios, and succulent fruit greet the visitor on all sides. These flower wreaths are worn around the band of the hat and around the neck; they are a traditional necessity, without which you are staged, in this city of the Pacific, in a class by yourself. Pineapples, pineapples, pineapples, everywhere you look; the most delicious pineapples in the world come from Hawaii, the bulk of the exportation to the United States being marketed along the Pacific slope. The shore privileges of the battalion being restricted, we had to be content with taking observations from the taffrail. I had been to Honolulu several times while in the navy, and had stopped here _en route_ to the islands with the Twenty-ninth Infantry, so that I naturally felt disappointed at my inability to go ashore,――so much, in fact, that I decided to eradicate the feeling at the risk of a court-martial. Having anticipated making a social call, besides expecting mail addressed to the Alexander Young Hotel, I was determined on getting ashore, if it necessitated going down over the anchor-chains, as we did in the navy when shore leave was not forthcoming, which, however, would not be necessary in this case, as our ship was moored to the dock. On the strength of being a non-commissioned officer, I thought that perhaps a diplomatic hand played judiciously might have some weight with the colonel. Investing myself in a fresh-laundried suit of war-clothes, with carefully wound puttees, I approached without dismay headquarters, and with the determination, if rebuffed, to await complacently the first opportunity for smuggling myself ashore, when presently I heard my name being called out near the gangway. Hastening in this direction, I found a Hawaiian messenger with a note for me. Hastily tearing open the envelope, the missive read as follows: “My dear Mr. A――――, We are friends of your cousin May; call up 091 Aloho Lane immediately.” Had I received my mail from Young’s Hotel, I would have understood the message thoroughly; but, alas! it was Greek,――not too Greek, however. Detaining the messenger, I sought the advice of the regimental sergeant major, who informed me that it would be absolutely futile to apply for shore leave, as a number of applications had been disapproved. Feeling chagrined over my inability to comply with the request in the message, I resorted, after considerable thought, to the miserable subterfuge of denying my presence on board. Seeking the assistance of Sergeant Allen, I dictated the following: “This message was opened inadvertently; Mr. A――――has been detained in Japan; will be through on a liner next month. (Signed) ALLEN.” The boy departed (after I had tipped him on keeping his counsel), leaving me meditating on how I was to get ashore.