One of the chief difficulties which beset us was the matter of transportation.  In those days there was no street-car system—­or at least the apology for one which they had was not patronized by Europeans.  The heat and the frequent showers made a conveyance an absolute necessity.  The livery stables were not fully equal to the demand upon them, and, in addition, there was no telephone at the Exposition Building.  As a consequence, we had to rely largely on street carromatas.  We had a force of small boys, clad in what Mr. Kipling calls “inadequate” shirts, whose business it was to go forth in response to the command, “Busca carromata,” and to return not till accompanied by the two-wheeled nightmare and the Lilliputian pony.

On the morning on which we drew our travel-pay checks, one of the Radcliffe girls was most eager to get down town before the bank closed.  The shops of Manila had been altogether too alluring for the very small balance which remained in her purse after our ten days at Honolulu.  The efforts of the small boys were apparently fruitless, so she resorted to the expedient of trying to gather up a carromata from some one leaving his at the Exposition Building.  Every time a carromata drove up, she thrust her cherubic countenance out of the window and inquired of its occupant whether he was going to retain his conveyance or to dismiss it.  Most of the visitors signified their intentions of never letting go a carromata when once they had it; and failure had rather dimmed the bravery of her inquiry, when one young man replied that he wished to retain his carromata, but that he was returning immediately to the city and would be happy to assist her and to take her wherever she wanted to go.

The Radcliffe girl closed with this handsome offer at once, accepting it in the chummy spirit which is supposed to be generated in the atmosphere of higher culture.  A more worldly-wise woman might have suspected him, not only on grounds of general masculine selfishness, but on the fact that he had no business to transact at our hostelry.  He did not enter its doors, but remained sitting in the carromata till she joined him.  The girl had her mind on salary, however, and had no time to question motives.  The banks had closed, but her guardian angel drove her to a newspaper office, where he introduced her, vouched for her, and induced the bookkeeper to cash her check.  He then expressed a desire for a recognition of his services in the form of introductions to some of the teachers at the Exposition Building.  The young woman was rather taken aback, for she had put all his civility down to disinterested masculine chivalry; but she reflected that she ought to pay the price of her own rashness.  She was, however, a girl of resources.  She agreed to let him call that afternoon and to introduce him to some of her new friends.