IT WAS about a week after Dick Harris moved into his new quarters on Tantalus, that the first kona arrived. That is, his first kona. He had never heard of one before because the kona, or south wind, is as much a taboo topic in Hawaii as earthquakes are in California. Naturally the real estate man wasn't mentioning it when he was showing Dick around. Tantalus is the big green mountain which rises some two thousand feet, upon the very outskirts of Honolulu; and when the agent's car stopped before the break in the hedge in front of one of the only two houses upon a certain narrow ridge of the mountain, Dick was immediately positive that he had found exactly the right spot in which to settle down, "far from the madding crowd," and finish some articles which were overdue and concerning which he was being periodically jacked up by various editors. He gave the place a hasty once-over, closed the deal on the spot and moved in the next day. Dick usually did things that way.
The first week was ideal. Big winds came down
