The house of pride, and other tales of HawaiiLondon, Jack
General
The house of pride, and other tales of Hawaii
London, Jack
Hawaii -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Short stories, American
He hastened his efforts. For a long time he had been in correspondence
with the chief banks in Shanghai and Macao. Every steamer for several
years had carried away drafts drawn in favour of one, Chun Ah Chun, for
deposit in those Far Eastern banks. The drafts now became heavier. His
two youngest daughters were not yet married. He did not wait, but
dowered them with a hundred thousand each, which sums lay in the Bank of
Hawaii, drawing interest and awaiting their wedding day. Albert took
over the business of the firm of Ah Chun and Ah Yung, Harold, the eldest,
having elected to take a quarter of a million and go to England to live.
Charles, the youngest, took a hundred thousand, a legal guardian, and a
course in a Keeley institute. To Mamma Achun was given the bungalow, the
mountain House on Tantalus, and a new seaside residence in place of the
one Ah Chun sold to the government. Also, to Mamma Achun was given half
a million in money well invested.
Ah Chun was now ready to crack the nut of the problem. One fine morning
when the family was at breakfast--he had seen to it that all his sons-in-
law and their wives were present--he announced that he was returning to
his ancestral soil. In a neat little homily he explained that he had
made ample provision for his family, and he laid down various maxims that
he was sure, he said, would enable them to dwell together in peace and
harmony. Also, he gave business advice to his sons-in-law, preached the
virtues of temperate living and safe investments, and gave them the
benefit of his encyclopedic knowledge of industrial and business
conditions in Hawaii. Then he called for his carriage, and, in the
company of the weeping Mamma Achun, was driven down to the Pacific Mail
steamer, leaving behind him a panic in the bungalow. Captain Higginson
clamoured wildly for an injunction. The daughters shed copious tears.
One of their husbands, an ex-Federal judge, questioned Ah Chun's sanity,
and hastened to the proper authorities to inquire into it. He returned
with the information that Ah Chun had appeared before the commission the
day before, demanded an examination, and passed with flying colours.
There was nothing to be done, so they went down and said good-bye to the
little old man, who waved farewell from the promenade deck as the big
steamer poked her nose seaward through the coral reef.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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