The four girls now left the house, going toward the canopy of flowers. As they drew near, a murmur of gay voices greeted their ears, a scene of dream-like beauty met their eyes. The rich and varied color of the foliage; the fringed heads of the cocoanuts waving like vast plumes against the sky; the bronzed red of the mangoes hung in luxuriant plenty on hundreds of trees; locust trees showering their fragrant white blossoms all around; the delicate accasia trembling in each breath of air in a thousand feathery masses; the date palm with its pendant shower of fruit; the lou-hale, whose slender spear-like foliage and bright, orange colored fruit lends it a subtle charm; the ohia lifting high its mass of crimson ponpons, all growing in tropical profusion; the ia-ia whose flame colored tufts of bloom seemed to spring from every tree as its parasitic arms spread in all directions; the perfume of flowers was wafted like incense to the god of love on the warm breeze that came softly over the summer sea, whose wavelets touched by the sun, shone like bright silver, and the soft curves of creamy breakers could be seen through this long vista of everlasting green. Already the inhabitants had gathered at the place of festivity, for it was now after the hour of rest; music, sweet, rythmic and weird, arose from tom toms, gourds and a sort of musical rattle accompanied by a hundred girlish voices. Mabel and Etta stood entranced by the charm of it all. Captain Gray and Allen, together with Captain Thornton, or Alii Mahina (moon chief, as he was called by the people of the island), also Ahleka, were already seated on a large mat, watching the gay scene. Allen had a leis of ginger flowers bound around his head, also one about his neck. It looked oddly enough to see these white men and girls dressed in the costume of this strange people. The girls found places on the mat beside Captain Gray, and, when they had been seated about five minutes, there arose a wild shout of joy from hundreds of lips that sung a song of triumph and love. The tom toms and gourds were beaten wildly by the palms of the hands, of a score of players who were arranged a little way off on each side of the avenue or lanai, as it was called. As the weird strains increased young men bounded with joyous leaps toward the lanai where they arranged themselves on one of the lines of mats. They were closely followed by the maidens who quickly placed themselves on the line opposite.