midnight
We were drinking on the mats by the beach at Waikiki , close to the old _ heiau _ '' -LRB- temple -RRB- `` that is not far from what is now the Wilders ' beach place . I learned then and for ever what quantities of drink _ haole _ sailormen can stand . As for us _ kanakas _ , our heads were hot and light and rattly as dry gourds with the whisky and the rum . `` It was past midnight , I remember well , when I saw Malia , whom never had I seen at a drinking , come across the wet-hard sand of the beach . My brain burned like red cinders of hell as I looked upon Anapuni look upon her , he being nearest to her by being across from me in the drinking circle . Oh , I know it was whisky and rum and youth that made the heat of me ; but there , in that moment , the mad mind of me resolved , if she spoke to him and yielded to dance with him first , that I would put both my hands around his throat and throw him down and under the _ wahine _ surf there beside us , and drown and choke out his life and the obstacle of him that stood between me and her . For know , that she had never decided between us , and it was because of him that she was not already and long since mine .