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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b4fda94 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63181 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63181) diff --git a/old/63181-8.txt b/old/63181-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 9176eb0..0000000 --- a/old/63181-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4630 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Japanese Nightingale, by Winnifred Eaton - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: A Japanese Nightingale - -Author: Winnifred Eaton - -Illustrator: Genjiro Yeto - -Release Date: September 11, 2020 [EBook #63181] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A JAPANESE NIGHTINGALE *** - - - - -Produced by Mary Glenn Krause, Ernest Schaal, University -of Toronto: Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - [Illustration: - [See p. 8] - THE STORM DANCE] - - - - - A JAPANESE - NIGHTINGALE - - _by_ - - ONOTO WATANNA - - ILLUSTRATED BY - GENJIRO YETO - - [Illustration] - - NEW YORK AND LONDON - HARPER & BROTHERS - PUBLISHERS M-C-M I-I - - - - - Copyright, 1901, by HARPER & BROTHERS. - - _All rights reserved._ - October, 1901. - - - - - CONTENTS - - CHAP. PAGE - - I. THE STORM DANCE 1 - - II. IN WHICH WOMAN PROPOSES AND MAN DISPOSES 16 - - III. AN APPOINTMENT 34 - - IV. IN WHICH MAN PROPOSES 46 - - V. IN WHICH THE EAST AND THE WEST ARE UNITED 57 - - VI. THE ADVENTURESS 66 - - VII. MY WIFE! 81 - - VIII. YUKI'S HOME 94 - - IX. THE MIKADO'S BIRTHDAY 107 - - X. A BAD OMEN 121 - - XI. THE NIGHTINGALE 131 - - XII. TARO BURTON 137 - - XIII. IN WHICH TWO MEN LEARN OF A SISTER'S SACRIFICE 148 - - XIV. A STRUGGLE IN THE NIGHT 165 - - XV. THE VOW 177 - - XVI. A PILGRIM OF LOVE 188 - - XVII. YUKI'S WANDERINGS 203 - - XVIII. THE SEASON OF THE CHERRY BLOSSOM 215 - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - - - THE STORM DANCE _Frontispiece_ - - THE NIGHTINGALE SONG _Facing p_. 134 - - "THE THOUSAND PETALS OF - CHERRY BLOSSOMS WERE - FALLING ABOUT THEM" " 224 - - - - - A JAPANESE NIGHTINGALE - - I - - THE STORM DANCE - - -The last rays of sunset were tingeing the land, lingering in splendor -above the bay. The waters had caught the golden glow, and, miser-like, -seemingly made effort to keep it with them; but, inexorably, the -lowering sun drew away its gilding light, leaving the waters a dark -green. The shadows began to darken, faint stars peeped out of the -heavens, and slowly, unwillingly, the day's last ray followed the sunken -sun to rest; and with its vanishment a pale moon stole overhead and -threw a seraphic light over all things. - -Out in the bay that the sun had left was a tiny island, and on this a -Japanese business man, who must also have been an artist, had built a -tea-house and laid out a garden. Such an island! In the sorcerous -moonlight, one might easily believe it the witch-work of an Oriental -Merlin. Running in every direction were narrow jinrikisha roads, which -crossed bewildering little creeks, spanned by entrancing bridges. These -were round and high, and curved in the centre, and clinging vines and -creeping, nameless flowers crawled up the sides and twined about the -tiny steps which ascended to the bridges. After crossing a bridge shaped -thus, a straight bridge is forever an outrage to the eye and sense. And -all along the beach of this island was pure white sand, which looked -weirdly whiter where the moonbeams loitered and played hide-and-seek -under the tree-shadows. - -The seekers of pleasure who made their way out to the little island on -this night moored their boats here in the shadows beneath the trees, and -drove in fairy vehicles, pulled by picturesque runners, clear around the -island, under the pine-trees, over miniature brooks, into the mysterious -dark of a forest. Suddenly they were in a blaze of swinging, dazzling -lights, laughter and music, chatter, the clattering of dishes, the twang - of the samisen, the ron-ton-ton of the biwa. They had reached the -garden and the tea-house. - -Some pleasure-loving Japanese were giving a banquet in honor of the full -moon, and the moon, just over their heads, clothed in glorious raiment, -and sitting on a sky-throne of luminous silver, was attending the -banquet in person, surrounded by myriad twinkling stars, who played at -being her courtiers. Each of the guests had his own little mat, table, -and waitress. They sat in a semicircle, and drank the sake hot, in tiny -cups that went thirty or more to the pint; or the Kyoto beer that had -been ordered for the foreigners who were the chief guests this evening. -This is the toast the Japanese made to the moon: "May she with us drink -a cup of immortality!" and then each wished the one nearest him ten -thousand years of joy. - -Now the moon-path widened on the bay, and the moon itself expanded and -grew more luminous as though in proud sympathy and understanding of the -thousand banquets held in her honor this night. All the music and noise -and clatter and revel had gradually ceased, and for a time an eloquent -silence was everywhere. Huge glowing fire-flies, flitting back and forth -like tiny twinkling stars, seemed to be the only things stirring. - -Some one snuffed the candles in the lanterns, and threw a large mat in -the centre of the garden, and dusted it extravagantly with rice flour. -Then a shaft of light, that might have been the combination of a -thousand moonbeams, was flashed on the mat from an opening in the upper -part of the house, and out of the shadows sprang on to the mat a wild, -vivid little figure, clad in scintillating robes that reflected every -ray of light thrown on them; and, with her coming, the air was filled -with the weird, wholly fascinating music of the koto and samisen. - -She pirouetted around on the tips of the toes of one little foot, -clapped her hands, and courtesied to the four corners of the earth. Her -dance was one of the body rather than of the feet, as back and forth she -swerved. There was a patter, patter, patter. Her garments seemed endowed -with life, and took on a sorrowing appearance; the lights changed to -accompany her; the music sobbed and quivered. It had begun to rain! -_She_ was raining! It seemed almost as if the pitter-patter of her feet -were the falling of tiny raindrops; the sadness of her garments had -increased, and now they seemed to be weeping, at first gradually, then -faster and still faster, until finally she was a storm--a dark, blowing, -lightning storm. From above the light shot down in quick, sharp flashes, -the drums clashed madly, the koto wept on, and the samisen shrieked -vindictively. - -Suddenly the storm quieted down and ceased. A blue light flung itself -against the now lightly swaying figure; then the seven colors of the -spectrum flashed on her at once. She spread her garments wide; they -fluttered about her in a large half-circle, and, underneath the rainbow -of the gown, a girl's face, of exquisite beauty, smiled and drooped. -Then the extinction of light--and she was gone. - -A common cry of admiration and wonder broke out from Japanese and -foreigners alike. They called for her, clapped, stamped, whistled, -cheered. One man's voice rose above the clatter of noises that had -broken loose all over the gardens. He was demanding excitedly of the -proprietor to tell him who she was. - -The proprietor, smirking and bowing and cringing, nevertheless would not -tell. - -The American theatrical manager lost his head a moment. He could make -that girl's fortune in America! He understood it was possible to -purchase a geisha for a certain term of years. He stood ready on the -spot to do this. He was ready to offer a good price for her. Who was -she, and where did she live? - -Meanwhile the nerve-scraping dzin, dzin, dzin of a samisen was -disturbing the air with teasing persistence. There is something -provoking and still alluring in the music of the samisen. It startles -the chills in the blood like the maddening scraping of a piece of metal -against stone, and still there is an indescribable fascination and -beauty about it. Now as it scratched and squealed intermittently and -gradually twittered down to a zoom, zoom, zoom, a voice rose softly, and -gently, insinuatingly, it entered into the music of the samisen. Only -one long note had broken loose, which neither trembled nor wavered. When -it had ended none could say, only that it had passed into other notes as -strangely beautiful, and a girl was singing. - -Again the light flashed down and showed her standing on the same mat on -which she had danced, her hands clasped, her face raised. She was -ethereal, divinely so. Her kimono was all white, save where the shaft of -moonbeams touched the silk to silvery brilliance. And her voice! All the -notes were minors, piercing, sweet, melancholy--terribly beautiful. She -was singing music unheard in any land save the Orient, and now for the -first time, perhaps, appreciated by the foreigners, because of that -voice--a voice meant for just such a medley of melody. And when she had -ceased, the last note had not died out, did not fall, but remained -raised, unfinished, giving to the Occidental ears a sense of -incompleteness. Her audience leaned forward, peering into the darkness, -waiting for the end. - -The American theatrical manager stalked towards the light, which -lingered a moment, and died out, as if by magic, as he reached it. But -the girl was gone. - -"By Jove! She's great!" he cried out, enthusiastically. Then he turned -on the proprietor. "Where is she? Where can I find her?" - -The man shook his head. - -"Oh, come, now," the American demanded, impatiently, "I'll pay you." - -"I don' know. She is gone." - -"But you know where she lives?" - -The proprietor again answered in the negative. - -"Now, wouldn't that make one of this country's squatty little gods -groan?" the exasperated manager demanded of a younger man who had -followed him forward. - -"She'd be a great card in vaudeville," the young man contented himself -with saying. - -"There's a fortune in her! I'm going to find her if she's on this -island. Come on with me, will you?" - -Nothing loath, Jack Bigelow fared forth behind the theatrical man, whom -he had never seen before that afternoon, and whom he never expected to -see again. They hurried down one of the narrow, shadowy roads that -almost made a labyrinth of the island. But fortune was with them. A turn -in the road, which showed the waters of the bay not fifty yards ahead, -revealed just in front of them two figures--two women--both small, but -one a trifle taller than her companion. - -"Hi there! You!" shouted the manager, who, though among a people whose -civilization was older than his own, considered them but heathen, and -gave them the scant courtesy deserved by all so benighted in matters -theatrical. The two figures suddenly stopped. - -"Are you the girl who sang?" - -"Yes," came the answer in a clear voice from the taller figure. - -The manager was not slow in coming to the point. - -"Would you like to be rich?" - -Again the positive monosyllable, uttered with much eagerness. - -"Good!" The manager's face could not be seen, but his satisfaction was -revealed in his voice. "Just come with me to America, and your fortune's -made!" - -She stood silent, her head down, so that the manager prompted her -impatiently: "Well?" - -"I stay ad Japan," she said. - -"Stay at Japan!" The manager barely controlled himself. "Why, you can -never get rich in this land. Now look-a-here--I'll call and see you -to-morrow. Where do you live?" - -"I don' want you call. I stay ad Japan." - -This time the manager, seeing a possible fortune escaping him, and -having in mind the courtesy due the heathen, delivered himself of a -large Christian oath. "If you stay here, you're a fool. You'll never--" - -The young man named Bigelow, who had watched the attempted bargaining in -silence, broke in with some indignation. "Oh, let her go! She's got a -right to do as she pleases, you know. Don't try to bully her into going -to America if she'd rather stay here." - -"Well, I suppose I can't use force to make her take a good thing," said -the manager, ungraciously. He drew out his card-case and handed the girl -his card. "Perhaps you'll change your mind after you think about this a -bit. If you do, my name and Tokyo address are on that card; just come -round and see me. I'm going down to Bombay to look out for some Indian -jugglers. I'll be gone about five months, and will be back in Tokyo -before I start out on another trip to China, Corea, and the Philippines, -and then off for home." - -The girl took the card and listened in silence; when he finished, she -courtesied, slipped a hand into that of her companion, and hurried down -the narrow road. - -After the two Americans had made their way back to the tea-garden, the -older one at once sought out the proprietor. - -"You know something about that girl. Come, tell us," he said, -imperiously. - -The proprietor was profusely courteous, but hesitated to speak of the -one who had danced and sung. Finally he unbent grudgingly. He told the -theatrical man and his companion that he knew next to nothing about her. -She had come to him a stranger, and had offered her services. She -refused to enter into the usual contract demanded of most geishas, and -in view of her talents he could not afford to lose her. She was -attracting large crowds to his gardens by her strange dances. Still he -disliked and mistrusted her. She came only when it suited her whim, and -on _fêtes_ and occasions of this kind he had no means of knowing where -she was. It was only by accident she had happened in this evening. Once -he had attempted to follow her, but she had discovered him, and made him -promise never to do such a thing again, threatening to stay away -altogether if he did so. He spoke disparagingly of her: - -"Beautiful, excellencies! Phow! You cannot see properly in the deceitful -light of this honorable moon. A cheap girl of Tokyo, with the blue-glass -eyes of the barbarian, the yellow skin of the lower Japanese, the hair -of mixed color, black and red, the form of a Japanese courtesan, and the -heart and nature of those honorably unreliable creatures, alien at this -country, alien at your honorable country, augustly despicable--a -half-caste!" - - - - - II - - IN WHICH WOMAN PROPOSES AND - MAN DISPOSES - - -Jack Bigelow was beset by the nakodas (professional match-makers). He -was known to be one of the richest foreigners in the city, and the -Nekoosa gave him no rest. Though he found them interesting, with the -little comedies and tragedies to relate of the matches they had made and -unmade, he had remained impregnable to their arts. He naturally shrank -from such a union, and in this position he was strengthened by a promise -he had made before leaving America to a college chum, his most intimate -friend, a young English-Japanese student, named Taro Burton, that during -his stay in Japan he would not append his name to the long list of -foreigners who for a short, happy, and convenient season cheerfully take -unto themselves Japanese wives, and with the same cheerfulness desert -them. - -Taro Burton was almost a monomaniac on this subject, and denounced both -the foreigners who took to themselves and deserted Japanese wives, and -the native Japanese, who made such a practice possible. He himself was a -half-caste, being the product of a marriage between an Englishman and a -Japanese woman. In this case, however, the husband had proved faithful -to his wife and children up to death; but then he had married a daughter -of the nobility, a descendant of the proud Jakichi family, and the -ceremony had been performed by an English missionary. Despite the -happiness of this marriage, Taro held that the Eurasian was born to a -sorrowful lot, and was bitterly opposed to the union of the women of his -country with men of other lands, particularly as he was Westernized -enough to appreciate how lightly such marriages were held by the -foreigners. It was true, of course, that after the desertion the wife -was divorced, according to the law, but that, in Taro's mind, only made -the matter more detestable. - -For five years, up to their graduation four months before this, the -young American and the young half-Japanese had been associated as -closely together as it is possible for two young men to be, and a strong -and deep affection existed between them. - -It had been originally decided that the friends would make this trip -together, which in Taro Burton's case was to be his return to the home -he had left, and, with Jack Bigelow, was to be the beginning of a year's -travel preliminary to entering the business of his father, who was a -rich shipbuilder. But for some reason, which he never clearly set forth -to his friend, Taro had backed out at almost the last minute; yet he had -urged Jack to undertake the trip alone, and, under promise to follow -shortly, finally had prevailed. So Jack Bigelow had made the long voyage -to Japan, and had taken a pretty house of his own a short distance from -Tokyo. - -It was unfortunate that Taro could not have accompanied his friend, for, -while the latter was not a weak character, he was easy-going, -good-natured, and easily manipulated through his feelings. - -The young Japanese, had he done nothing else, at least would have kept -the Nekoosa and their offerings of matrimonial happiness on the other -side of the American's doors. As it was, one of them in particular was -so picturesque in appearance, quaint in speech, and persistent in his -calls, that the young man had encouraged his visits, until a certain -jocular intimacy put their relations with each other on a pleasant and -familiar footing. - -It was this nakoda (Ido was his name, so he told Jack) who brought an -applicant for a husband to his house, one day, and besought him at least -to hold a look-at meeting with her. - -"She is beautiful like unto the sun-goddess," he declared, with the -extravagance of his class. - -"The last was like the moon," said the young man, laughing. "Have you -any stars to trot out?" - -"Stars!" echoed the other, for a moment puzzled, and then, beaming with -delighted enlightenment, "Ah, yes--her eyes, her feet, hair, hands, -twinkling like unto them same stars! She prays for just a look-at -meeting with your excellency." - -"Well, for the fun of the thing, then," said the other, laughing. "I'm -sure I don't mind having a look-at meeting with a pretty girl. Show her -into the zashishi (guest-room) and I'll be along in a moment. But, look -here," he continued, "you'd better understand that I'm only going -through this ceremony for the fun of the thing, mind you. I don't intend -to marry any one--at all events, not a girl of that class." - -"Nod for a leetle while whicheven?" persuaded the nakoda. - -"Nod for a leetle while whicheven," echoed the young man, but the agent -had disappeared. - -When Jack, curious to know what she was like, she who was seeking him -for a husband, entered the zashishi, he found the blinds high up and the -sunshine pouring into the room. His eyes fell upon her at once, for the -shoji at the back of the room was parted, and she stood in the opening, -her head drooping bewitchingly. He could not see her face. She was quite -small, though not so small as the average Japanese woman, and the two -little hands, clasped before her, were the whitest, most irresistible -and perfect hands he had ever seen. He had heard of the beauty of the -hands of the Japanese women, and was not surprised to find even a girl -of this class--she was a geisha, of course, he told himself--with such -exquisite, delicate hands. He knew she was holding them so that they -could be seen to advantage, and her little affected pose amused and -pleased him. - -After he had looked at her a moment, she subsided to the mats and made -her prostration. She was dressed very gayly in a red crêpe kimono, tied -about with a purple obi. Her hair was dressed after the fashion of the -geisha, with a flower ornament at top and long, pointed daggers at -either side; but as she bowed her head to the mats, some pin in her hair -escaped and slipped, and then a tawny, rebellious mass of hair, which -was never meant to be worn smoothly, had fallen all about her, tumbled -into her eyes and over her ears, and literally covered her little -crouching form. She shivered in shame at the mishap, and then knelt very -still at his feet. - -Bigelow was speechless. Never before in his life had he seen such hair. -It was black, though not densely so, for all over it, even where it had -been darkened with oil, there was a rich red tinge, and it was -luxuriously thick and long and wavy. - -"Good heavens!" he said, after the little figure had remained absolutely -motionless for a full minute; "she'll hurt or cramp herself in that -position." - -The girl did not rise at the sound of his voice, but crept nearer to -him, her hair still enshrouding her. It made him feel creepy, and -annoyed and pleased and amused him altogether. - -"Don't do that," he said. "Please stand up. Do!" - -The nakoda told him to lift her to her feet, and the young man did so, -entangling his hands in her hair. When she stood up, he saw her face, -which was oval and rosy, the lips very red. She still drooped her eyes, -so that her face was incomplete. - -"What's your name?" he asked her, gently. "And what do you want with -me?" - -Now she raised her head and he saw her eyes. They startled him. They -were large, though narrow, and intensely, vividly blue. Before, with her -hair neatly smoothed and dressed, he had noticed nothing extraordinary -about her; now, with that rich red-black hair enshrouding her, and the -long, blue eyes looking at him mistily, she was an eerie little creature -that made him marvel. A Japanese girl with such hair and eyes! And yet -the more he looked at her the more he saw that her clothes became her; -that she was Japanese despite the hair and eyes. He did not try to -explain the anomaly to himself, but he could not doubt her nationality. -There was no other country she could belong to. - -"You are Japanese?" he finally asked, to make sure. - -She nodded. - -"I thought so, and yet--" - -She smiled, and her eyes closed a trifle as she did so. She was all -Japanese in a moment, and prettier than ever. - -"You see--your eyes and hair--" he began again. She nodded and dimpled, -and he knew she understood. - -"What is it you want with me?" he asked, desiring rather to hear her -speak than to learn her object, for this he knew. - -She was solemn now. She flushed, and her eyes went down. To explain to -him why she had come to him in this wise was a painful task. He could -guess that, but she forced the words past her lips. - -"To be your wife, my lord," she said in English, and the queer quality -of her voice thrilled him strangely. - -This was the answer he knew was coming; nevertheless it stirred him in a -way he had not expected. To have this wonderfully pretty girl before -him, beseeching him to marry her--he who had as yet never dreamed of -marriage for himself--was disturbing to his balance of mind. Nay, -more--it was revolting. He shrank back involuntarily, wondering why she -had come to him, and this wonder he put into words. - -"But why do you want to marry me?" he asked. - -The expression of her face was enigmatical now. She had ceased to blush -and smile, and had become quite white. Suddenly she commenced to -laugh--thrilling, elfish laughter, that rang out through the room, -startling the echoes of the house. - -"Why?" he repeated, fascinated. - -She shrugged her shoulders. "I mus' make money," she said. - -Of course this was her reason; he knew that before she spoke; but -hearing her say so gave him pain. She was such a dainty little body. - -"Oh, you need not sell yourself for that," he said, earnestly. "Why, -I'll give you some--all you want. You're awfully young, aren't you? Just -a little girl. _I_ can't marry you. It wouldn't be fair to you." - -Again she shrugged her shoulders, and spoke in Japanese to the nakoda. - -"She says some one else will, then," he interpreted. - -"All right," said the young man, almost bitterly. - -She pretended to go towards the door, and then came back towards -Bigelow. - -"I seen you before," she announced, ingenuously. - -"Where?" He was curiously interested. He fancied that her face was -familiar. - -"Ad tea-house." - -"What tea-house?" - -"On liddle bit island. You 'member? I dance like this-a-way." She -performed a few steps. - -"What! you that girl?" He knew her in an instant now. "How could you -remember me?" - -"You following me after dance with 'nudder American gent, and before -thad some one point ad you--ole wooman thad always accompanying me." - -"How did _she_ know me?" - -"She din know you to speag ad, bud--she saying you mos' reech barbarian -ad all Japan." - -"Oh, I see," he said, coldly. - -"She tell me I bedder git marry with you." - -"Indeed! Why?" - -She hung her head a moment. "Because she know I luffing with you," she -said. - -"You loving with _me_!" He laughed outright. Her ingenuousness was -entrancing. - -"Yes," she said, and he, with masculine conceit, half believed her. - -"But wouldn't you rather stay at the tea-house than get married?" he -asked. - -"Not nuff money that businesses," she returned. - -"Do you do everything for money?" - -"How I goin' to live?" - -This question, answering a question, brought her back to the purpose of -her visit. She held her little hands out to him. - -"Ah, excellency, _pray_ marry with me," she begged. - -He took her hands quickly in his own. They were soft and so small. He -could enclose them with one of his. They were delightful. He knew they -were daintily perfumed, like everything else about her. He did not let -them go. - -"You ought not to marry, you know," he said to her, almost boyishly. -"How old are you, anyhow?" - -She ignored his question. - -"I will be true, good wife to you forever," she said, and then swiftly -corrected herself, as though frightened by her own words. "No, no, I -make ridigulous mistage--not forever--jus' for liddle bit while--as you -desire, augustness!" - -"But I don't desire," he laughed nervously. "I don't want to get -married. I won't be over a few months at most in Japan." - -"Oh, jus' for liddle bit while marry with me," she breathed, -entreatingly--"Pl-ease!" - -It hurt him strangely to have her plead so. She looked delicate and -refined and gentle. He put her hands quickly from him. She held them out -and put them back again into his. Her eyes clouded, and he thought she -was going to cry. - -He was seized with a desire to keep her from weeping, if he could, this -little creature, who seemed made for anything but tears. He spoke from -this impulse, without giving so much as a second's thought to the -seriousness of his words. - -"Don't cry. I'll marry you, of course, if you want me to." - -He felt the hands in his own tremble. - -"Thangs, excellency," she said, in a voice that was barely above a -whisper, but it was a voice which had in it no note of joy. - -There was pleasure, however, in the eyes of the nakoda. He had done a -good piece of business, a most excellent piece of business, for the -American gentleman was reputed to be able to buy hundreds and hundreds -of rice-fields if he so cared to do. The nakoda came forward with a -benignant smile to arrange the terms. - -"She will cost only three hundred yen per down and fifteen yen each end -per week. Soach a cheap price for a wife!" - -It was the grinning face of this matrimonial middleman that brought -Bigelow back to his senses. He had said he would marry this little -creature, whose limp hands he was holding. He dropped them as though -they were the hands of one dead, and drew back. - -"I won't do it!" he almost shouted. "Never!" Then he thought what must -be the feelings of the little girl whose yoke of marriage he was -refusing, and softened. "I wasn't thinking when I said I would. I don't -want to marry a Japanese girl. I don't want to marry any girl. I -wouldn't be doing right, and it wouldn't be fair to you." He paused, and -then added, lamely, "I think I'd like you awfully, though, if I only -knew you." - -"But--" spoke up the nakoda, anxiously, who found his dream of a large -fee fading into thin air. - -Jack turned upon him quickly and gave him a sharp look, whereat he -retired hurriedly. - -A look of relief had come over the girl's face when Jack had cried out -that he would not marry her, and at this he wondered much. This relief -in her face, however, was succeeded almost instantly by disappointment. -But she spoke no further word. She gave him a single hurried glance from -beneath fluttering eyelashes, courtesied until her head was almost on a -level with his knees, and left him. - - - - - III - - AN APPOINTMENT - - -Jack Bigelow regarded the attempt of the nakoda and little Miss ---- (he -had not even thought to ask her name) as an incident closed by the -retirement of the one aspiring to wifehood from his sight. But in -passing from his house she had not passed from his mind. This she -occupied in spite of him, though it must be said that Jack made no -effort to eject her. - -He had been approached by many nakodas, who had the disposal of some -most excellent wives, so they had told him, but never before had he -consented to see one of their offerings; so the sensation of being asked -in marriage by a girl whom he had only seen once before, and that under -circumstances which prevented his seeing her clearly, was altogether -new. That he, John Hampden Bigelow, A.B.--he was very proud of that -A.B., it had not cost him any particular labor--should be so sought out -was not at all displeasing to his vanity, a quality that he prided -himself on not possessing; this, notwithstanding the fact that he knew -he had been approached because he had money. - -He chuckled at the event several times during the day. He would keep -this incident in mind, with all its detail, and make use of it now and -then after he had returned home, when he was called upon to talk of his -experiences in other lands. Of course, he would exaggerate a bit here -and tone down a bit there, and would make the girl much prettier. No, -the girl was pretty enough. This part of the incident could not be -improved upon. - -Jack mused about the morning's episode during the entire day, and twice -exploded into such laughter at the idea of his being asked for a husband -that his little man hurried in to see if the gay-eyed barbarian was -taking leave of his senses. In the evening he grew restless, and, having -nothing else to do--so he told himself--he went out to the tea-garden on -the little island which he had visited a few nights before. For an hour -he waited for something--for something that did not appear. Finally, -when the proprietor chanced to pass him, he asked in the manner of one -casually interested: - -"The girl who danced and sang the other night--is she here?" - -She was not, for which the proprietor humbly asked pardon. She had not -visited his poor place since the night the American had seen her. - -For some reason Jack suddenly lost interest in the house and gardens, -and returned to his home. But the next night--again because he had -nothing else to do--found him once more a guest at the tea-garden. This -time he did not leave at the end of an hour; possibly because a weird -dance was performed and a weird song sung by a girl with vivid blue -eyes. He could not see their color from where he sat, but he knew they -were blue. - -After that he fell into the habit of visiting the gardens every -night--these were dull times in Tokyo--never anything else to do. Most -of the evenings so spent were intensely wearisome, but some few of them -were not. It may only have been a series of coincidences, but it so -happened that on the enjoyable evenings there was a weird dance and a -weird song, and on the others there were not the graceful swayings of a -little body, nor the wonderful music of a wonderful voice. - -One evening, immediately after the song had been ended, he found himself -striding down the same road he had taken with the excited theatrical -manager, and this without consciously having decided upon such a course. -But he came down to the beach without seeing man or woman, and, though -he would not acknowledge to himself that he was seeking any one, he -carried away with him a keen sense of disappointment. - -For two weeks the dulness of Tokyo remained unabated, so that the -evenings offered nothing else to do save to go to the tea-gardens. At -the end of that time, Jack, becoming honest with himself, admitted that -there was nothing else, because there was nothing else he wanted to do, -and while in this frank mood he let it become known to himself that -there was nothing else in all the land of the rising sun that held so -much of interest to him as did the girl who had offered herself to him -for wife--nothing, indeed, in all the other lands of the earth. Why this -was, he did not know, not being one given to searching his own soul or -the souls of others. - -While he reclined at his ease one afternoon in the little room in which -he lounged and smoked, he began to place her, in his imagination, here -and there in the house, to try the effect. - -He set her in one of his largest chairs, notwithstanding she would have -been much more comfortable on the floor, in this same room, and she -added wonderfully to the appearance of things. He stood her pensively by -the tokonona; he nodded his head--very good! He placed her out beneath a -cherry-tree in his garden; again he nodded approvingly. And a breakfast -with her sitting opposite him! That would be like unto the breakfasts -eaten by the angels in heaven--if angels partake of other than spiritual -nourishment. Yes, she would be wonderfully effective in his little -house, would harmonize with it greatly. - -But what an odd figure she would make in an American dress! He thought -of her in a golfing costume, and smiled at his fancy. Nevertheless, even -in the gowns worn by the women of his own country, she would be quaint -and charming, he felt sure. She would be awkward, of course, but would -be graceful even in her awkwardness. And she would transgress every -polite convention, and would make herself all the more delightful in so -doing. He compared her to the wives of some of the men he knew, to many -of the girls he had met since girls had begun to have interest for him, -and his admiration for her grew apace. He would be proud of her, he -knew, for she was pretty and would attract attention; men like their -wives to draw eyes towards them. She was unlike the wife of any of his -countrymen he was likely to meet, and this also was much. - -What would his parents think? They'd be angry at first, of course, but -they'd give in; they loved him, and couldn't resist her; no one could -resist her. Anyhow, this prospective trouble was so far ahead that there -was no use in wasting thought upon it now. - -Why the deuce hadn't he learned her name? It was very monotonous this -being compelled to think of her only as "she" and "her." - -But why had she come to him asking him to marry her? He shook his head -at that; he didn't quite like it. But--oh, well, you know, these Japs -have no end of queer customs. This incident just illustrated one of -them. She was clearly a superior kind of a girl. Not an ordinary geisha -as he had thought when his eyes first fell on her. He had seen enough of -the geishas at the tea-houses to know that she was of a different kind; -to his Occidental eyes these last were most pleasing creatures, but-- - -Just then his man straggled through the room and brought an end to his -musing. Marry her? He sat up straight. What had he been thinking about? -The idea was absurd. It was absurd for him to think about marrying any -one. He got to his feet, called back his man, and ordered a jinrikisha -to be brought to him. He rode off to Tokyo to forget all about it. - -But it would not be forgotten. After he had left the jinrikisha he -caught sight of her on the opposite side of the street, turning a -corner. He hurried after her, but when he reached the corner she was -nowhere to be seen. He looked into all the shops on either side of the -street for a distance of a hundred yards, but saw no one who bore the -least resemblance to her. Then he tramped about the immediate vicinity, -his sense of loss deepening with each minute, until he noticed that the -shop-keepers were eying him with suspicion. He gave up the search and -started back to his jinrikisha. - -As he was swinging along disconsolately, his eyes lighted upon another -person whom he knew--Ido, the nakoda--and him Jack did not let escape. -He pounced down upon him, and clapped a hand upon his shoulder. - -"Hallo there!" he called out. - -Ido started back as if he had been set upon by an enemy. He was unused -to such emphatic greetings. But when he saw who his assailant was he -slipped a smile upon his face, smirked and bowed, and hoped that the -august American's days were filled with joy. - -"They'll do," Jack answered. "And how are things with you? Business -good? Making many matches?" - -Ido had introduced four persons to incomparable happiness--which was to -say, he had brought about two marriages. Had his lordship come into like -happiness? - -No, his lordship had not. - -"You making gradest mistage you' whole lifetime," Ido assured him. "You -nod yit seen Japanese woman that please you for wife? No? I know nodder -girl you' excellency nod seen yit. Mos' beautiful in Japan. You like see -her?" - -"No, I've seen enough. By-the-way, Ido, what's become of the girl you -brought around to my place? Married yet?" Jack put on a look of -indifferent interest. - -"No, excellency." - -For one disinterested, Jack found much relief in this answer. - -"But I thing she going to be," Ido went on, calmly. "Two, three--no, two -odder gents--What you say?--consider--yes, consider her." - -These words drove relief from the disinterested Jack's heart, and -instantly set up in its place a raging jealousy. But he compelled -himself to remark, quite easily, "You don't say!" - -Ido confirmed his statement with a nod that was almost a bow. - -"A very pretty girl," Jack commented, loftily. - -Ido's reply was confined to a mere "Yes." There was no use going into -ecstasies when no bargain was in sight. - -"I think I'll go around to see her, and congratulate her," Jack went on. -"Where does she live?" - -"I regretfully cannot tell." - -"Ah, well, let it go then. But, say, I really would like to see her -again before she's married. Rather took a fancy to her, you know. -Couldn't you bring her to call on me to-morrow morning?" - -"I going to be very busy to-morrow." Seeing no chance of earning a -marriage-fee, he saw no reason for taking the trip. - -"I'll pay you for your trouble--needn't worry about that." - -Perhaps Ido could arrange to come; yes, now that he thought again, he -knew he could come. - -So it was settled that he and the girl should visit Jack at ten o'clock -the next day. - - - - - IV - - IN WHICH MAN PROPOSES - - -The announcement of his man that Ido and his charge had arrived -contained no news for Jack, for he had been watching the road from Tokyo -since nine o'clock, and had seen them while they were yet afar off. -Nevertheless, he did not enter the zashishi until his man came to him -with word that guests from the city were awaiting him, and then he had -no definite idea of what he intended to do. - -She was dressed exactly as she had been on her previous visit, and she -made obeisance almost to the floor, in greeting him, as she then had -done. He hastened her recovery from the deep courtesy by taking her -hands and raising her to an upright posture. - -"You have come to see me again? I am very glad to see you," he said, -with eager politeness. - -"Nakoda say you wish see me. Tha's why I come." There was not a trace of -her former coquetry in her manner. - -"Yes, I had to send Ido after you. I don't suppose you would ever have -let me see you again if I had not." - -She shrugged her shoulders imperceptibly. "Me you don' wish marrying -with. You send me 'way. What I do?" - -"We could be capital friends, even if we didn't care to marry, couldn't -we?" - -"Frien'? I don' wan' frien'," she returned, coldly. - -"But I'd like to have you for my friend, all the same, though I'm afraid -it's not possible. Ido"--he hesitated--"Ido says you're going to be -married, you know." - -She inclined her head. - -"You're not married yet, are you?" he asked in alarm, forgetting that he -had put this same question to the nakoda the day before. - -"Nod yit." - -"Do you--um--like him?" - -"Which one, my lord?" She looked up at him innocently. - -"Oh, both of them!" He was beginning to get angry. He would find -pleasure in laying violent hands upon the two, one at a time. - -"Jus' liddle bit, augustness." - -"Better than you do me?" he demanded, jealously. - -She shook her head decisively. "You nod so ole, an nod so--hairy-like." -She rubbed her little hands over her face, by which he understood that -the two wore beards. They were doubtless of his own country. - -He hardly knew what to say next, and the silence grew embarrassing to -him. She broke it by remarking, very quietly: - -"Nakoda inform me you wan' make liddle bit talk ad me." - -He turned to the match-maker, who was pretending deep interest in a -framed drawing on the wall. "Say, Ido, just step into the next room a -minute, will you?" - -He turned back to the girl, as soon as Ido had obeyed him, with -extravagant alacrity. - -"You have never even told me your name," he said. - -"Yuki." - -"That means 'Snowflake,' doesn't it? I like it. Well now, Yuki, mayn't I -visit you at your home, before you are married?" - -He was anxious to see what her people were like, and how she lived. - -"Mos' poor house in all Tokyo--so liddle bit house augustness nod lige -come." - -"But I don't care if it is. I want to come anyhow. I want to see you, -not the house. Won't you tell me where you live?" - -She shook her head. "No," She said with simple directness, and then -added as an after-thought, "House too small. You altogedder too big to -enter thad liddle bit insignificant hovel." - -Her answer gave him offence. He wondered why she should dissemble, -wondered whether she was laughing at him. A glance at her, however, and -his distrust vanished. She seemed such a simple little body, yet he knew -he did not understand her. - -Her eyes, which she had kept turned downward, slowly uplifted and looked -questioningly into his own. Such wonderful eyes! Such a simple, -exquisite face! He was suddenly suffused with a great wave of -tenderness, and he bent low, and gently made prisoners of her hands. -However indefinite his purpose had been up to this time, it was definite -enough now. - -"So you remember, Yuki, what you asked me when you were here before?" - -"Yes." She still gazed at him questioningly. - -"Would you like to--would you rather marry me than one of those other -fellows?" he said, softly. - -"Yes," again, in the smallest voice this time. - -He hesitated, and she asked, quickly, "You _wan_' me do so?" - -"That's just what I want, Yuki, dear," he whispered, drawing her hands -to his lips. - -"All ride." She trembled--perhaps shivered is the better word--as she -said this, but gave no other sign of emotion. - -Before Jack could so much as touch his lips to her forehead, Ido entered -smiling his professional blessing. It was evident that in the other room -he had found no drawing to distract his attention, and a large new -peephole in the immaculate shoji indicated where he had given all his -eyes and ears to what was going on, and he could wait no longer to press -his claim. - -Jack, seeing an unpleasant duty before him, and desiring to have done -with it at once, told Yuki that he would be back in a minute, and led -the nakoda into the room out of which he had just come. - -Ido immediately began to make terms. This part was loathsome to the -young man. - -"Why," he said, hotly, "if we're to be married, she can have all she -wants and needs." - -That wouldn't do at all, the nakoda told him, warily. There would have -to be a marriage settlement and a stated allowance agreed upon. He would -have to pay more, also, as she was a maid and not a widow. - -When the ugly terms of the agreement were completed, the nakoda bowed -himself out, and Jack went back to Yuki. He found her changed; her -simplicity had left her, and her coquetry had returned. She stood off -from him, and he felt constrained and awkward. After a time she demanded -of him, with a shrewd inflection in her voice: - -"You goin' to lige me, excellency?" - -"No question of that," he answered promptly, smiling. - -"No," she repeated, "tha's sure thing," and then she laughed at her own -assurance, and she was so pretty he wanted to kiss her, but she backed -from him in mock alarm. - -"Tha's nod ride," she declared, "till we marry." - -"God speed the day!" he said, with devout joyousness. Still approaching -her, as she backed from him, he questioned her boyishly: - -"And you? Will you like me?" - -She surveyed him critically. Then she nodded emphatically. They laughed -together this time, but when he approached her she grew fearful. He did -not want to frighten her. - -"You god nod anudder wife?" she asked. - -"No! Good heavens!" - -"I god nod anudder hosban'," she informed him, complacently. - -"I should hope not." - -"Perhaps," she said, "you marrying with girl in Japan thad god marry -before. Me? I _never_." - -"No, of course not." He didn't quite understand what she was driving at. - -Then she said: "You pay more money ad liddle girl lige me whad nod been -marry before?" - -He recoiled and frowned heavily at her. - -"I settled that matter with the nakoda," he said, coldly. - -Seeing he was displeased, she tried to conciliate him. She smiled at -him, engagingly, coaxingly. - -"You don' lige me any more whicheven." - -But his face did not clear up. She had hurt him deeply by her reference -to money. - -"Perhaps you don' want me even," she suggested, tentatively. "I bedder -go 'way. Leave you all 'lone." - -She turned and was making her way slowly out of the room, when he sprang -impetuously after her. - -"Don't, Yuki!" he cried, and caught her eagerly in his arms. She yielded -herself to his embrace, though she was trembling like a little -frightened child. For the first time he kissed her. - - * * * * * - -After she had left him, he stared with some wonder at the reflection of -himself in a mirror. So he was to be married, was he? Yes, there was no -getting out of it now. As for that, he didn't want to get out of it--of -this he was quite sure. He was very well content--nay, he was -enthusiastically happy with what the future promised. - -But his happiness might have been felt in less measure if his eyes, -instead of staring at his mirrored likeness, could have been fixed on -Yuki. She had borne herself with a joyous air to the jinrikisha, but -once within it, and practically secure from observation, the life had -seemingly gone out of her. The brown of her skin had paled to gray, and -all the way to Tokyo her eyes shifted neither to right nor left, but -stared straight ahead into nothingness, and once, when Ido looked down, -he found that they were filled with tears. - - - - - V - - IN WHICH THE EAST AND THE - WEST ARE UNITED - - -A few days later they were married. It was a very quiet little -tea-drinking ceremony, and, unlike the usual Japanese wedding, there was -not the painful crowd of relatives and friends attendant. In fact, no -one was present, besides themselves, save Jack's man and maid and the -nakoda, while Yuki herself sang the marriage song. - -They started housekeeping in an ideal spot. Their house, a bit of art in -itself, was built on the crest of a small hill. On all sides sloped and -leaned green highlands, rich in foliage and warm in color. Beyond these -smaller hillocks towered the jagged background of mountain-peaks, with -the halo of the skies bathing them in an eternal glow. A lazy, babbling -little stream dipped and threaded its way between the hillocks, -mirroring on its shining surface the beauty of the neighboring hills and -the inimitable landscapes pictured on the canvas of God--the skies--and -seeming like a twisted rainbow of ever-changing and brilliant colors. -But no surges disturbed its waters, even far beyond where it emptied -into the mellow Bay of Tokyo. - -From their elevation on the hill they could see below them the beautiful -city of Tokyo, with its many-colored lights and intricate maze of -streets. And all about them the hills, the meadows, the valleys and -forests bore eloquent testimony to the labor of the Color Queen. - -Pink, white, and blushy-red twigs of cherry and plum blossoms, idly -swaying, flung out their suave fragrance on the flattered breeze, the -volatile handmaid of young May, who had freed all the imprisoned -perfumes, unhindered by the cynic snarl of the jealous winter, and with -silent, pursuasive wooing had taught the dewy-tinctured air to please -all living nostrils. So from the glowing and thrilling thoughts that -tremble on the young tree of life is love distilled and, unmindful of -the assembling of the baffled powers of cold caution and warning fear, -the heart is filled with fountain tumults it cannot dissemble. - -Jack Bigelow was fascinated and bewildered at the turn events had taken. -He was very good and gentle to her, and for several days after the -ceremony she seemed quite happy and contented. Then she disappeared, and -for a week he saw nothing of her. - -He greatly missed her--his little bride of three or four days. He longed -ardently for her return, and her absence alarmed him. Her little arts -and witcheries had grown on him even in this short period of their -acquaintance. - -Towards the end of the week she slipped into the house quietly, and went -about her household duties as though nothing unusual had occurred. She -did not offer to tell him where she had been, and he felt strangely -unwilling to force her confidence. - -Instead of becoming better acquainted with her, each day found him more -puzzled and less capable of knowing or understanding her. Now she was -clinging, artless, confiding, and again shrewd and elfish. Now she was -laughing and singing and dancing as giddily as a little child, and again -he could have sworn she had been weeping, though she would deny it -stoutly, and pooh-pooh and laugh away such an idea. - -He asked her one day how she would like to be dressed in American -clothes. She mimicked him. She mimicked everything and every one, from -the warbling of the birds to the little man and maid who waited on them. - -"I loog lige this," she said, and humped a bustle under her ridiculously -tight omeshi, and slipped his large sun hat over her face. Then she -laughed out at him, and flung her arms tightly about his neck. - -"You wan' me be American girl?" - -"You are a witch, Yuki-san," he said. - -"I wan' new dress," she returned, promptly, and held a pink little palm -out. He frowned. He almost disliked her when she spoke of money. He -filled her hands, however, with change from his pockets, and when she -broke away from him, which she did as soon as she had obtained the -money, he wanted to take it back. Her pretty laughter sifted out to him -through the shoji at the other side, and he knew she was mocking him -again. - -"It is her natural love of dress and finery," he told himself. "It is -the eternal feminine in her, and it is bewitching." - -The next day, as she sat opposite to him, eating her infinitesimal bit -of a breakfast--a plum, a small fish, and a tiny cup of tea--all on a -little black lacquer tray, he announced mysteriously that he was going -"on business" to the city. - -She desired to accompany him, as became a dutiful wife. - -No, he told her, that was impossible. His mission was of a secret -nature, which could not be divulged until his return. - -Then she insisted that she would follow behind him after the manner of a -slave; and when he laughed at her, she begged quite humbly and gently -that he would condescend to honorably permit her to go with him, and -then he was for telling her his whole pretty story, and the surprise he -had concocted to please her, when she grew capricious and insisted that -she would not stir one little bit of an inch from the house, and that he -must go all alone to the city and attend to his great, magnificent -business! - -He went down to Tokyo, and in his boyish, blundering fashion he -purchased silk and crépe and linen sufficient for fifty gowns for her. - -She thanked him extravagantly. She could not imagine what she would do -with so much finery. Her honorable person was augustly insignificant, -and could not accommodate so much merchandise. - -"Now," he thought with inward satisfaction, "that ghost of a money -question will be laid. She has everything she wants and shall have. I -want to do for her, and give her things without being wheedled into it. -It is that which irritates me." - -But a few days later she came to him breathless and flustered. Lo! some -one had stolen all the beautiful goods he had bought her. It was neither -their man nor maid. No, no! that was altogether impossible. They were -honest, simple folk, who feared the gods. But they were all quite -gone--where she could not say. Who had taken them, she could not guess. -Perhaps she, her unworthy self, and he, his honorable augustness, had -been extremely wicked in their former state, and the gods were now -punishing them in their present life. It would be wicked and unavailing -to attempt to search for the missing goods. It was the will of the gods. -Maybe the gods had been offended at such ruthless extravagance. Ah, yes, -that was a better solution of the theft. Of course the gods were angry. -What gods would not be? It was sinful to buy so many things at once. - -She affected great distress over the loss, and her husband, somewhat -bewildered at her elaborate apologies for the thief who had stolen them, -tried to comfort her by saying he would buy her double the quantity -again, whereat she became very solemn. - -"No, no," she said. "Bedder give me money to buy. I will purchase jus' -liddle bit each time--to please the gods." - - - - - VI - - THE ADVENTURESS - - -The man in the hammock was not asleep, for in spite of the lazy, -lounging attitude, and the hat which hid the gray eyes beneath, he was -very much awake, and keenly interested in a certain small individual who -was sitting on a mat a short distance removed from him. He had invited -her several times to reduce that distance, but up to the present she had -paid no heed to his suggestions. She was amusing herself by blowing and -squeezing between her lower lip and teeth the berry of the winter -cherry, from which she had deftly extracted the pulp at the stem. She -continued this strange occupation in obstinate indifference to the -persuasive voice from the hammock. - -"I say, Yuki, there's room for two in this hammock. Had it made on -purpose." - -She continued her cherry-blowing without so much as making a reply, -though one of her blue eyes looked at him sideways, and then solemnly -blinked. - -"What's the matter, Yuki? Got the dumps again, eh?" - -No reply. - -"Look here, Mrs. Bigelow, I'll come over and elope forcibly with you if -you don't obey me." - -She dimpled scornfully. - -"Ah, that's right! Smile, Yuki. You're so pretty, so bewitching, so -irresistible when you smile." - -Yuki nodded her head coolly. - -"How you lige me smiling forever?" she suggested. - -"That wouldn't do," he said, grinning at her from beneath his tipped -hat. "That would be tiresome." "Tha's why I don' smiling to-day." - -"Why?" - -"All yistidy I giggling." - -He shouted with laughter at her. - -"Move your mat here, Yuki," indicating a spot close to his hammock. "I -want to talk to you." - -"My ears are--" - -"Too small to hear from that distance," finished her husband. "Come." - -"Thangs," with great dignity, "I am quide comfor'ble. I don' wan' sit so -near you, excellency." - -"Why, pray?" - -"Why? Hm! I un'erstan'. Tha's because I jus' your liddle bit slave." - -"You're my wife, you little bit fraud." - -"Wife? Oh, I dunno." She pretended to deliberate. - -"Then you've tricked me into a false marriage, madam," declared her -husband, with great wrath. - -"Tha's fault nakoda." - -"What is?" - -"Thad you god me for wife, and," slowly, "servant." - -"Fault! Come here, servant, then. Servants must obey." - -"Nod so bad master, making such grade big noises," she laughed back -daringly. "Besides, servant must sit long way off from thad same noisy -master." - -"And wife?" - -"Oh, jus' liddle bit nearer." She edged perhaps half an inch closer to -him. "Wife jus' liddle bit different from servant." - -"Look here, Mrs. Bigelow, you're not living up to your end of the -contract. You swore to honor and obey--" - -She laughed mockingly. - -"Yes, you did, madam!" - -"I din nod. Tha's jus' ole Kirishitan marriage." - -He sat up amazed. - -"What do you know of the Christian marriage service?" - -"Liddle bit." - -"Come over here, Yuki." - -"You like me sing ad you?" - -"Come over here." - -"How you like me danze?--liddle bit summer danze?" - -"Come over here. What's a summer dance, anyhow?" - -She ran lightly indoors, and was back so soon that she seemed scarcely -to have left him. She had slipped on a red-and-yellow flimsy kimono, and -had decked her hair and bosom with flaming poppies. - -"Tha's summer sunshine," she said, spreading her garment out on each -side with a joyous little twirl. "I am the Sun-goddess, and you?--you -jus' the col', dark earth. I will descend and warm you with my -sunshine." For a moment she stood still, her head thrown back, her face -shining, her lips parted and smiling, showing the straight little white -teeth within. Then she danced softly, ripplingly, back and forth. The -summer winds were sighing and laughing with her. Her face shone out -above her lightly swerving figure, her little hands and bare arms moved -with inimitable grace. - -"You are a genius," he said to her, when she had subsided, light as a -feather blown to his feet. - -"Tha's sure thing," she agreed, roguishly. - -Her assurance in herself always tickled him immensely. He threw his hat -at her with such good aim that it settled upon her head. She approved -his clever shot, laughed at him, and then, pulling it over her eyes, lay -down on the mats and imitated his favorite attitude to a nicety. He -laughed uproariously. He was in fine humor. They had been married over a -month now, and she had not left him save that first time. He was growing -pretty sure of her now. - -She perceived his good-humor, and immediately bethought herself to take -advantage. She put the rim of his hat between her teeth, imitated a -monkey, and crawled towards him, pretending to beg for her performance. -He stretched his long arms out and tried to reach her, but she was far -enough off to elude him. - -"You godder pay," she said, "for thad nize entertainments I giving you." - -He threw her a sen. She made a face. "That all?" she said, in a -dreadfully disappointed voice, but, despite her acting, he saw the -greedy eagerness of her eyes. All the good-humor vanished. - -"Look here, Yuki," he said, with a disagreeable glint in his eyes, -"you've had a trifle over fifty dollars this week. I don't begrudge you -money, but I'll be hanged if I'm going to have you dragging it out of me -on every occasion and upon every excuse you can make. You have no -expenses. I can't see what you want with so much money, anyhow." - -"I godder save," said Yuki, mysteriously, struck with this brilliant -excuse for her extravagance. - -"What for?" - -"Why, same's everybody else. Some day I nod have lods money. Whad I -goin' do then? Tha's bedder save, eh?" - -"I've married you. I'll never let you want for anything." - -"Oh, you jus' marry me for liddle bit while." - -"You've a fine opinion of me, Yuki." - -"Yes, fine opinion of you," she repeated after him. - -"There's enough money deposited in a bank in Tokyo to last you as long -as you live. If it's ever necessary for me to leave you for a time, you -will not want for anything, Yuki." - -"But," she said, argumentatively, "when you leaving me I henceforward a -widder. I nod marry with you any longer. Therefore I kin nod take your -money." This last with heroic pride. - -"Boo! Your qualms of conscience about using my money are, to say the -least, rather extraordinary." - -"When you leaving me--" she commenced again. - -"Why do you persist in that? I have no idea of leaving you." - -"What!" She was quite frightened. "You goin' stay with me forever!" -There was far more fear than joy in her voice. - -"Why not?" he demanded, sharply, watching her with keen, savage eyes. - -"My lord," she said, humbly, "I could nod hear of thad. It would be -wrong. Too grade sacrifice for you honorable self." - -He was not sure whether she was laughing at him or not. - -"You needn't be alarmed," he said, gruffly. "I'm not likely to stay here -forever." He turned his back on her. - -Suddenly he felt her light little hand on his face. She was standing -close by the hammock. He was still very angry and sulky with her. He -closed his eyes and frowned. He knew just how she was looking; knew if -he glanced at her he would relent ignominiously. She pried his eyes -gently open with her fingers, and then kissed them, as softly as a tiny -bird might have done. Gradually she crawled into the hammock with him, -regardless of non-assistance. - -"Augustness," she said, her arms about his neck now, though she was -sitting up and leaning over him. "Listen ad me." - -"I'm listening." - -"Look ad me." - -He looked, frowned, smiled, and then kissed her. She laughed under her -breath, such a queer, triumphant, mocking small laugh. It made him frown -again, but she kissed the frown into a smile once more. Then she sat up. - -"Pray excuse me. I wan' sit ad your feet and talk ad you." - -"Can't you talk here?" he demanded, jealously. - -"Nod so well. I gittin' dazzled. Permit me," she coaxed. He released her -grudgingly. She sat close to him on the floor. She sighed heavily, -hypocritically. - -"What is it now?" - -"Well, you know I telling you about those moneys." - -"Yes," he said, wearily. "Let's shut up on this money question. I'm sick -of it." - -"I lige make confession ad you." - -"Well?" - -"I god seventeen brudders and sisters!" she said, with slow and solemn -emphasis. - -"What!" He almost rolled out of the hammock in his amazement. - -"Seventeen!" She nodded with ominous tragedy in her face and voice. - -"Where do they live?" - -"Alas! in so poor part of Tokyo." - -"And your father and mother?" - -"Alas! Also thad fadder an' mudder so ole lige this." She illustrated, -bowing herself double and walking feebly across the floor, coughing -weakly. - -"Well?" he prompted sharply. - -"I god take all thad money thad ole fadder an mudder an' those seventeen -liddle brudders an sisters. Tha's all they god in all the whole worl'." - -"But don't any of them work? Aren't any of them married? What's the -matter with them all?" - -"Alas! No. All of them too young to worg or marry, excellency." - -"_All_ of them too young?" - -"Yes. Me--how ole _I_ am? Oldes' of all! I am twenty-eight--no, thirty -years ole," she declared, solemnly. - -He nearly collapsed. He knew she was a mere child; knew, moreover, that -she was lying to him. She had done so before. - -"Even if you are thirty, I fail to see how you can have seventeen -brothers and sisters younger than yourself." - -She lost herself a moment. Then she said, triumphantly, "My fadder have -two wives!" - -He surveyed her in studious silence a moment. Her attitude of trouble -and despair did not deceive him in the slightest. Nevertheless, he -wanted to laugh outright at her, she was such a ridiculous fraud. - -"Do you know what they'd call you in my country?" he said, gravely. - -She shook her head. - -"An adventuress!" - -"Ah, how _nize_!" She sighed with envious blissfulness. "I wish I live -ad your country--be adventuressesses." - -"How much do you want now, Yuki?" - -She pretended to calculate on his fingers. - -"Twenty-five dollar," she announced. - -He gave it to her, and she slipped it into the bosom of her kimono. He -watched her curiously, wondering what she did with all the money she -secured from him. - -All of a sudden she put this question to him. - -"Sa-ay, how much it taking go ad America?" - -"How much? Oh, not much. Depends how you go. Four hundred, or five -hundred dollars, possibly." - -She groaned. "How much come ad Japan?" - -"The same." - -She sighed. "Sa-ay, kind augustness, I wan' go ad America. Pray give me -money go there." - -"I'll take you some day, Yuki." - -She retreated before this offer. - -"Ah, thangs--yes, some day, of course." Then, after a meditative moment: -"Sa--ay, it taking more money than thad three-four hundled dollar -whicheven?" - -"Yes; about that much again for incidentals--possibly more." - -She sighed hugely this time, and he knew she was not affecting. - -A few days later, poking among her pretty belongings, as he so much -liked to do--she was out in the garden gathering flowers for their -dinner-table--he found her little jewel-box. Like everything else she -possessed, it was daintily perfumed. At the top lay the few pieces of -jewelry he had bought for her on different occasions when he had taken -her on trips to the city. He lifted the top tray, and then he saw -something that startled him. It was a roll of bank-bills. He took it out -and counted it. There was not quite one hundred and fifty dollars. He -calculated all he had given her. It amounted to a little over twice this -sum. She had been saving, after all! What was her object? - -And, his suspicions awakened by this discovery, he searched uneasily -further through her apartments, and discovered, rolled like a huge piece -of carpet and covered over by a large basket, the crépe and silks she -had protested were stolen. - - - - - VII - - MY WIFE! - - -The second time his wife left him, Jack Bigelow was very wretched. He -missed her exceedingly, though he would not have admitted it, for he was -also very angry with her. - -When she had gone away that first time, so soon after their marriage, he -had not felt her absence as he did now, for then she had not become a -necessity to him. But she had lived with him now two whole months, and -had become a part of his life. She was not a mere passing fancy, and he -knew it was folly to endeavor so to convince himself, as in his -resentment at her treatment he was trying to do. - -The house was desolate without her. Everywhere there were evidences of -his little girl. Here a pair of her tiny sandals, some piece of tawdry -kanzashi for her hair, her koto, samisen, and little drum; in the -zashishi, in her own little room, and all over the house lingered the -faint odor of her favorite perfume, so subtle it made the young man -weak. - -He grew to hate the silence of the rooms. Their household had always -been small, with just a man and maid to wait on them; and now only one -presence gone from it, and yet how painfully quiet the place had grown! -He realized what all her little movements had become to him. He stayed -out-doors as much as he could, only to return restlessly to the house, -with a faint hope that perhaps she was hiding somewhere in it, and -playing some prank on him, as she was fond of doing, bursting out from -some unexpected place of hiding. But there was no trace of her anywhere; -and when the second day actually passed, the realization that she was -indeed gone forced itself home to him, leaving him stupid with rage and -despair. - -He was bitterly angry with her. She had no right to leave him like this, -without a word of explanation. How was he to know where she had gone or -what might happen to her? And the thought of anything dire really -overtaking her nearly drove him distracted. He hung around the balconies -of the house, wandered down into the garden, and strayed restlessly -about. And all the time he knew he was waiting for her, and in the -waiting doubling his misery. - -She came back in four days, slipped into the house noiselessly and ran -up to her room. He heard her, knew she had returned, but checked his -first impulse to go to her, and threw himself back on a couch, where he -assumed a careless attitude, which he relentlessly changed to a stern, -unapproachable, forbidding one. - -Suddenly he heard her voice. It came floating down the stairs, every -weird minor note thrilling, mocking, fascinating him. "Toko-ton-yare -ron-ton-ton!" she sang. Then the voice ceased a moment. She was waiting -for him to call her. He did not move. He was certainly very angry with -her. He would not forgive her readily. - -She began beating on her drum. He heard her making a great noise in the -little room up-stairs, and understood her object. She was trying to -attract him. Suddenly she whirled down the stairs and burst in on him -with a merry peal of laughter. - -He ignored her sternly. She ceased her noise and laughter, and, -approaching him, studied him with her head tilted bewitchingly on one -side. - -"You angery ad me, excellency?" she inquired with solicitude. - -No reply. - -"You very _mad_ ad me, augustness?" - -Still no reply. - -"You very _cross_ ad me, my lord?" - -Jack regarded her in contemptuous silence. - -She shouted now, a high, mocking, joyous note in her laughter. - -"Hah! You very, very, very, very _affended_, Mister Bigelow?" - -"It seems to please you, apparently," said Jack, scathingly, wasting his -sarcasm, and turning his eyes from her. - -She laughed wickedly. - -"Ah, tha's so nize." - -"What is?" he demanded, sharply. - -"Thad you loog so angery. My! You loog like grade big--whad you call -thad?--toranadodo." She knew how to pronounce "tornado," but she wanted -to make him laugh. She failed in her purpose, however. She tried another -way. - -"_How_ you change!" She sighed with beatific delight. - -Jack growled. - -"Dear me! I thing you grown more nize-loogin," she said. - -Jack got up and walked across to the window, turning his back -deliberately on her, and whistling with forced gayety, his hands in his -pockets. She approached him with feigned timidity and stood at his -elbow. - -"You glad see me bag, excellency?" - -"No!" shortly. - -This emphatic answer frightened her. She was not so sure of herself, -after all. - -"You wan' me go 'way?" she asked, in the smallest voice. - -"Yes." - -She loitered only a moment, and then "Ah-bah" (good-bye) she said -softly. - -He felt, for he would not turn around to see, that she was crossing the -room slowly, reluctantly. He heard the shoji pushed aside, and then shut -to. He was alone! He sprang forward and called her name aloud. She came -running back to him and plunged into his arms. He held her close, almost -fiercely. The anger was all gone. His face was white and drawn. The -dread of losing her again had overpowered him. When she tried to -extricate herself from his arms, he would not let her go. He sat down on -one of the chairs, and held her on his knee. She was laughing now, -laughing and pouting at his white face. - -"My crashes!" she cried. "You loog lige ole Chinese priest ad the -temple." She pulled a long face, and drew her pretty eyes up high with -her finger tips; then she chanted some solemn words, mocking mirthfully -her ancestors' religion. - -But her husband was grave. He had not the heart to find mirth even in -her naughtiness. - -"Yuki," he said, "you must be serious for a moment and listen to me." - -"I listenin', Mr. Solemn-Angery-Patch!" She meant "Cross-patch." "You -loog lige--" - -"Where did you go?" - -"Oh, jus' liddle bit visit." - -"Where did you go?" he repeated, insistently. - -"Sa-ay, I forgitting." - -"Answer me." - -She pretended to think, and then suddenly to remember, sighing -hypocritically the while. - -"I lige forgitting," she said. - -"Forgetting what?" - -"Where I been." - -"Why?" - -"Tha's so sad. Alas! I visiting thad ole fadder an' mudder ninety-nine -and one hundled years ole, and those seventeen liddle brudders an' -sisters. You missing me very much?" she changed from the subject of her -whereabouts. - -"No!" he said, shortly, stung by her falsity. - -"I don' sing so!" - -"Where were you, Yuki?" - -"Now, whad you wan' know for, sinze you don' like me whicheven?" - -"Did I say so?" - -"You say you don' miss." - -"I lied," he said, bitterly. "Where were you?" - -"Jus' over cross street, see my ole friend ad tea-garden." - -"I thought you said you were visiting your people?" - -She was not at all abashed. - -"Sa-ay, firs' you saying you miss me; then thad you lie. Sa-ay, you big -lie, I jus' liddle bit lie." - -"Yuki, listen to me. If you leave me like this again, you need never -come back. Do you understand?" - -"Never?" - -"I mean that." - -"Whad you goin' do? Git you nudder wife?" - -He pushed her from him in savage disgust. She laughed with infinite -relish. - -He sat down a little distance from her, and put his face wearily between -his hands. Yuki regarded him a moment, and then she silently went to -him, pulled his hands down, and kissed his lips. - -"I have missed you terribly," he said, hoarsely. - -She was all compunction. - -"I very sawry. I din know you caring very much for poor liddle me, an -p'raps I bedder nod come bag ad you." - -"Why did you come, then?" he asked, gently. - -"I coon' help myself," she said, forlornly. "My feet aching run bag ad -you, my eyes ill to see you, my hands gone mad to touch you." - -She had grown in a moment serious, but also melancholy. - -After a pause she said, more brightly, "I bringin' you -something--something so nize, dear my lord." - -"What is it, Yuki, dear?" He was reluctant to let her go even for a -moment. - -"Flowers," she said--"summer flowers." - -He released her, and she brought them to him, a huge bunch of azaleas. -She buried her delightful little nose in them. "Ah," she said, "flowers -mos' sweetes' thing in all the worl', an' all them same flowers for you, -for you." - -"Where did you get them, dear?" he asked, taking her hands instead of the -flowers, and drawing her, flowers and all, into his arms. She faltered a -little, and then said, with the old daring smile flashing back in her -face: "Nize Japanese gents making me present those flowers." - -He caught her wrists in a grip of iron. "What do you mean?" he demanded, -fiercely, wild jealousy assailing him. - -She pulled herself from him, and regarded the little wrists ruefully. - -"Ain' you shamed?" she accused. - -"Yes!" He kissed the little wrists with an inward sob. "Tell me all, my -little one. Please do not hide anything from me. I can't bear it." - -"Thad Japanese gent wanter marry with me," she informed him, calmly -smiling, and dimpling as if it amused her, and then making a face to -show him her feelings in the matter. - -"My! How he _adore_ me!" she added, vividly. - -"Marry with you! What do you mean? You are my wife." - -"Yes, bud _he_ din know thad," she said, consolingly; "an' see, I bring -his same flowers unto you." - -He took them from her arms. They were all crushed now, and it distressed -her. No Japanese can bear to see a flower abused. She fingered some of -the petals sadly; then she sighed, looking up at him with tears in her -eyes. - -"Tha's mos' beautiful thing' in all the whole worl'," she said, -indicating the flowers--"so pure, so kind, so sweet." - -"I know something more beautiful and sweet, and--and pure." - -"Ah, whad?" she said, her face shining, the pupils of the blue eyes so -large as to make them look almost black. - -"My wife!" he breathed. - - - - - VIII - - YUKI'S HOME - - -Every day, all unknown to Yuki, her husband looked in her little -jewel-box. The pile of bills grew larger. He no longer refused her -requests for money. The fund was quite large now. The last time he had -counted it there were four hundred dollars. He took a whim to make it -five hundred, and that same day gave her a clear hundred dollars. - -She had given him a solemn promise never to leave him again without his -knowledge and consent, and for a whole month she had kept steadfastly at -home. It was the happiest month in his life, a month that spelled naught -else but joy and sunshine. - -But the day after he had given her the hundred dollars she came to him -and begged very humbly to be permitted to visit her old father and -mother and seventeen little brothers and sisters. She still kept up this -deception. He refused her almost gruffly. He had grown selfish and -spoiled under her care. All the day, however, he watched her -suspiciously, fearful lest she should slip away. And he was right. In -the evening, when she had left him for a moment, he saw her leaving the -house. He took his hat, and, keeping at a good distance from her, but -never losing sight of her for a moment, he followed her. - -Twilight was falling. Softly, tenderly, the darkness swept away the -exquisite rays of red and yellow that the departing sun had left behind, -for it was crossing the waters, until, far in the distance, it dipped -deep down as though swallowed up by the bay. - -Yuki was walking rapidly towards Tokyo. It was only a short distance, -but nevertheless the thought of her little tender feet treading it -alone, and at such an hour, unnerved her husband. Whatever her mission, -wherever she was going, he would follow her. She belonged to him -completely. She should never escape him now, he told himself. - -She seemed to know her way, and showed no hesitation or fear when once -in Tokyo, but bent her steps quickly and with assurance, until finally -they were before the great terminal station at Shimbashi. They had now -come a long distance. The girl looked tired: weary shadows were under -her eyes, as she passed into the railway enclosure and bought a ticket -for a town suburb a short distance from Tokyo. - -Her husband went to the window, inquired where the girl was going, and -bought a ticket for the same place. - -Then began the long journey in the uncomfortable train, where there were -no sleeping accommodations whatever. Yuki found a seat, and sat very -quietly staring out at the flying darkness. After a time she put her -head back against the seat and, despite the jolting of the train, fell -asleep. - -Her husband was close to her now--in the next seat, in fact. He could -have touched her, as he so longed to do, but would not for fear of -disturbing or frightening her. - -When they reached the little town, the banging of the doors, the blowing -of whistles, and shouts of the conductors awakened her. She came to life -with a start, gathered her little belongings together, and left the -train, her husband still following her. - -It was a refined and beautiful little town they had arrived at, -apparently the home of the exclusive and cultivated Japanese. Its -atmosphere was grateful and pleasing after the crowded city of Tokyo, -with its endless labyrinth of narrow streets and grotesque signboards, -and ceaseless noises. - -Yuki had not far to walk. Only a few steps from the little station, and -then she was before one of those old-fashioned, pretentious palaces once -affected by the nobles. There were signs of neglect about the house and -gardens, which had fallen out of repair. No coolies or servants were in -sight. At the garden gate Yuki paused a moment, leaning wearily against -it, ere she opened and passed through, up the garden walk, and -disappeared into the shadows of the palace. - -Her husband stood for a long time as though rooted to the spot. Then -very slowly he retraced his steps to the railway station, bought his -ticket, and returned to Tokyo. He felt sure she would come back to him. - -And she did, hardly two days later. He was very gentle to her this time. -There were no more questions asked, and she vouchsafed no explanation. - -But she came back to him strangely docile and submissive. All the old -mockery and folly had vanished. She was angelic in her sweet tenderness -and solicitude. But once he found her in tears. She protested they had -come there because she had laughed so hard. Another time, when he -offered her money, she refused passionately to accept it. It was the -first time since she had lived with him. Thereafter she refused to take -even the regular weekly allowance agreed upon. He looked in her little -jewel-box, and found the money all gone. - -Her docility and gentleness strengthened his confidence in her. He was -sure she would never leave him again. He even told her of this belief, -and she did not deny it. But her eyes were tearful. With boyish -insistence he teased her. - -"Tell me so--that you will never leave me again." - -"Never?" she said, but the word slipped her lips as a question. - -"Repeat it after me," he demanded. - -"Say: 'I--shall--never--never--leave you again.'" - -"Ah, you makin' fun ad me," she protested, begging the question. - -But he still persisted, and made her repeat slowly after him, word by -word, that she would remain with him till death should part them. - -One day he found her laboriously occupied at her small writing-desk. Her -little hand flew down the page, rapidly drawing the strange characters -of her country's letters. - -"What are you doing? You look as wise and solemn as a female Buddha." - -Yuki carefully blotted and covered her letter. She did not answer him. -Instead she held up her little stained fingers, to show him the ink on -them. He sat down beside her, kissing the tips of her fingers. - -"To whom were you writing, fairy-sage?" he said. - -"To whom? My brudder." - -"Your brother! Ah, you have a brother, have you? And where is he?" - -She still hesitated, and he watched her keenly. - -"He live ad Japan," she said, after a long moment. - -"Japan is quite a big place," remarked her husband, suggestively. "He -has rather large quarters for one fellow, don't you think?" - -"Japan liddle bit country," she argued, trying to change the subject. -"America, perhaps, grade big place, big as half the whole worl'--" - -"Not quite," interposed her husband, smiling. - -"Well, big's one-quarter of the worl', anyhow," she declared. "Bud -Japan! Mos' liddle bit insignificant spot on all the beautiful maps." - -"What part of Japan does your family live in?" - -"Liddle bit town two hundled miles north of Tokyo." - -"Indeed." - -She had spoken the truth, he knew. - -"Why doesn't your brother come to see you?" - -Now that he had commenced it, he stuck to his catechism doggedly. - -"He don't know where I live," she said. - -"Don't know! That's strange. Why doesn't he?" - -"I 'fraid tellin'." - -"Afraid of what?" - -"Afraid he disowning me forever." - -"Why should he do that?" - -He was getting interested. He disliked wringing her secrets from her in -this wise. He wanted her confidence unsolicited; but his curiosity had -the better of him. "Why should he disown you?" he repeated. - -"Because I marrying--" she paused, somewhat piteously, holding one of his -hands closely between her own small ones, and entreatingly pressing it -as though begging him not to pursue his questions. - -"Well?" he said--"because you married--" - -"You," she finished. - -"Oh!" His ejaculation was rueful. Then he laughed, and squared his -shoulders, and shook his finger at her. - -"What's the matter with me? Am I not good enough?" - -"Too honorably good," she declared, humbly. - -"Then why does your family object to receiving me into its bosom, eh?" - -"Because you jus' barbarian," she said, apologetically, and then swiftly -tried to make amends. "Barbarian mos' nize of all. Also _I_ am liddle -bit barbarian. I god them same barbarous eyes an' oogly hair--" - -"Loveliest hair in the world," he said, stroking it fondly. "But never -mind, dearie. Don't look so distressed. It's not your fault, of course, -that your people disapprove of me." - -"They don' dis'prove," she interrupted him, her distress deepening. -"They don' never seen you even." - -"But I thought you said--" - -"I jus' guess. Tha's why I don' tell thad brudder. Mebbe he dis'prove -you when he see you grade big barbarian. Tha's bedder nod tell unto -him." - -"But where does he think you are all the time?" - -"He?" She lost her head a moment. "Likewise," she continued, "he also -travel from home. Perhaps he also marrying with beautiful barbarian -leddy. Tha's whad I dunno." - -"I don't quite understand," said her husband. "But never mind. If you -don't like the subject, and it's plain you don't, you sha'n't be -bothered with it." - -"Thangs," she said, gratefully. - -On another day, as she sat opening his American mail with her small -paper-knife, a picture of a young American girl fell from the envelope. -Yuki picked it up, and regarded it with dilated eyes and lips that -quivered. It was the first shock of jealousy she had experienced. One of -his own country-women then must love him. No Japanese girl would send -her picture to any man save her lover. - -Her first impulse was to tear the picture across. She did not want him -to see it. Perhaps even the pictured face might win him back, she -thought jealously. But she did not destroy it. She hid it in the sleeve -of her kimono, and for a whole week she tortured herself with drawing it -forth from its hiding-place and studying the face whenever she was alone -a moment, comparing it with her own exquisite one in her small mirror. - -Then conscience, or perhaps natural feminine curiosity to know who her -rival was, prompted her to make humble confession to her husband of her -theft. - -He took the matter gayly, and seemed exuberantly happy at the idea of -her being jealous, for she could not well hide this fact from him. He -gloated over this apparent evidence of her love for him. - -"Isn't she lovely?" he asked, enthusiastically, pointing to the picture, -and then pretending to hug it to him. - -"No," said Yuki, proudly. "Mos' oogly girl in all the whole worl'. Soach -silliest things on her haed. I don' keer tha's hat or nod. Flowers, -birds, beas', perhaps, an' rollin' her eyes this-a-way--" - -"This is my sister," said Jack, gravely. "I am sorry you don't like her, -Yuki. She'd be just the sort of girl to love you." - -Her little spurt of temper flickered out pitifully. - -"Ah, _pray_ forgive me," she implored. "I mos' silliest _mousmè_ in all -Japan. She jus' _lovely_, mos' sweet beautiful girl in all the whole -worl'. Jus' like you, my lord." - - - - - IX - - THE MIKADO'S BIRTHDAY - - -The mellow summer was gone. With the dawn of the autumn the languor of -the country seemed to increase. Now that the weather was cooler, -however, they made frequent trips to the city, visiting the -chrysanthemum shows, loitering through Uyeno park, the Shiba temples, -and bazaars. And one day Jack shook gayly before her eyes a really -awe-inspiring document. It was, in fact, an invitation, written in fine -French, from a Japanese person of high rank, inviting him to attend a -very important function, which was to be given at the Hôtel Imperial on -the Mikado's birthday, which function was to be honored by the presence -of "les princes et les princesses." - -"We are going, of course," he told her. "It will be a change, and, -besides, I want to show you off to my friends. There'll be hosts of them -there, you know." - -But she protested. First she set forth as excuse the fact that she was -only an honorably rude and insignificant humble geisha girl, who would -be out of place in so great and extraordinary an assemblage. - -Then her husband quite seriously reproved her, and reminded her forcibly -that she was anything but an insignificant geisha girl. She was, in -fact, a very important person--his wife. - -Ah, yes, she admitted that she had indeed grown in caste since her -marriage with him; nevertheless, they had lived so honorably secluded -together that she had forgotten all the polite mannerisms of society, -which she had never been acquainted with at all, being only a crude girl -of humble parentage. She would surely disgrace not only both of them by -her behavior, but doubtless the whole assemblage. She would not know how -to act, how to look, and when to speak. - -Then Jack insisted, with affected selfishness, that she should look at -and speak to no one but himself. He would commit hari-kari, or joshi, or -any old kind of Japanese suicide, otherwise. And as for her manners, -they were lovely, perfect, just right. - -"Ah, bud you--" she deprecated. "You don' understan', you big barbarian. -Those same honorable monsters, Japanese princes, whad, before all the -gods, they goin' to thing of me?" - -"That you are absolutely adorable. How could they help thinking so, -unless they are stone blind. Besides, this isn't a Japanese affair at -all. It's at a European hotel, and there'll be all sorts and conditions -of people there. I was lucky to get the invitations. They aren't for -every one, you know. This is a big thing." - -"_You_ so big," she said, proudly. - -"Well, no. It had really nothing to do with my size. You see, I have a -half-Jap friend in America, and of course it's through him I'm favored." - -"Ah, thad half-Jap, he was very high-up man ad Japan, perhaps?" - -"Well, he was connected with some of the big families, though he was -quite poor." - -"Thad," said Yuki, with sudden vehemence, "is no madder ad Japan. Money! -Who has thad money? Nod the ole families, the flower of the country; -jus' the shop-keepers and the politicians." - -Her husband was startled at her outbreak. He was astonished at her -knowledge of existing conditions in her country. But she did not pursue -the subject, saying she disliked it. - -And the ball? What about that? - -Well, she would not go with him. He must go to that all alone, for the -million big reasons she had given him. Moreover, all the ladies would -wear Parisian toilettes. It would be a disgrace for his wife to go in a -kimono. - -Again he was astonished at her. How did she know that on such occasions -the ladies, Japanese included, dressed in European gowns? - -Apparently she knew more concerning such matters than he had imagined. -It was becoming plainer to him every day that his wife was of no -ordinary family. And then the memory of the old rambling palace, -doubtless her home, in the exquisite, aristocratic little town where he -had followed her, supported this idea. Who was his wife, after all? Who -were her people, and why had none of them come near her during all these -months? What was the meaning of the mystery in which she had surrounded -herself ever since he had known her. And now, when there was scarcely a -doubt left in his mind of her love for him, why had he failed to win her -confidence? - -"I want to know just who you are, my little wife," he suddenly said. "I -do not believe that tale about your people. I know you are not a geisha -girl. You are not, are you?" - -"No," she said, very softly. - -"Then tell me. Who are your people? It is only right I should know -this." - -She looked up at him with intense seriousness. Then her eyes fluttered, -and she went rambling into one of her fairy tales of nonsense. - -"My people? Who they are? My august ancestors came from the moon. My one -hundled grade-grandfathers fight and fight and fight like the lion, and -conquer one-half of all Japan--fight the shogun, fight the kazoku, fight -each other. They were great Samourai, cutting off the haeds of aevery -humble mans they don' like. So much bloodshed displeased the gods. They -punishing all my ancestors, bringin' them down to thad same poverty of -those honorable peebles killed by them. Then much distress an' sadness -come forever ad our house. All pride, all haughty boasting daed forever. -Aeverybody goin' 'bout weepin' like ad a funeral. Nobody habby. What -they goin' do git bag thad power an' reeches ag'in? Also one ancestor -have grade big family to keep from starving, an' one daughter beautiful -as the moon of her ancestors. He weep more than all the rest of those -ancestors, weep an' weep till he go blind like an owl ad day-time. Then -the gods begin feel sawry. One of them mos' sawry of all. He also is -descendant of the Sun. Well, thad sun-god he comin' down ad Japan, make -big raddle an' noise, an' marrying with thad same beautifullest daughter -of thad ole blind ancestor. Thad sun-god my fadder. Me? I am the -half-moon-half-sun offspring." - -She had promised to accompany him, at all events, to see the review from -the American-legation tent, but at the last moment she backed out. She -had seen it many times before, she declared. She was tired of it. - -At first he swore he would not go without her. Why, the "show," he -declared, would be nothing to him without her to see it with him. Half -the pleasure--nay, all of it--would be gone. He was really keenly -disappointed, but she coaxed and wheedled and petted around him, till, -before he knew that he was aggrieved at her backsliding, he was well on -his way. - -The streets were thronged with a motley crowd of people. Jinrikishas -were scurrying hither and thither, and little bits of humanity, in the -shape of small men, small women, small children, and small dogs and -cats, were colliding and jostling against the many ramshackle vehicles -in the road. Gay flags and bunting were displayed everywhere, and the -town presented a gala appearance. - -Jack got out of his jinrikisha and pushed his way through the crowd -until he came up to the parade-grounds. He found his way to the proper -tent, and, with a half-score of former acquaintances about him, he was -soon drawn into the babble and gush of small talk and jokes that -tourists meeting each other in foreign lands usually indulge in. - -Once on the parade-grounds, where infantry, cavalry, and artillery were -forming themselves, it seemed as if he had suddenly left Japan -altogether, and was once more in the modern Western world, of which he -had always been a part. - -There was nothing Oriental in this brave display of the imperial army. -There was nothing Oriental in this bustling, noisy crowd of foreigners, -each trying to outdo the other in importance and precedence. Only the -skies and the little winds, and, in the distance, the sinuous outlines -of the mountains and forests beyond, and the disks on the national flag -displayed everywhere, were Japanese. And after his long seclusion in the -country the glitter dazzled him. - -There were seven thousand men in the field, and the Mikado, surrounded -by his generals, body-guard, outriders, and standard-bearers, reviewed -the troops; and then, amid a great flourish, and hoarse cheering -drowning the national hymn, which was being played by all the bands at -once, he left the grounds. - -Jack did not return after the parade to his home, much as he would have -liked to do so. Some acquaintances who had crossed on the same steamer -with him on his way to Japan carried him off triumphantly to their -hotel, and that night he went with them to the imperial ball. - -It was very late when he went home to Yuki. There was a faint light -burning in the zashishi, and he wondered with some concern whether she -were sitting up waiting for him. He did not see her at first when he -entered the room, for the light of the andon had fluttered down dimly, -and it was more the grayness of the approaching dawn which saved the -room from complete darkness. Crossing the room, he came upon her. She -had fallen asleep on the floor. She was lying on her back, her arms -encircling her head. He was suddenly struck with her extreme youth. She -seemed little more than a tired child, who had grown weary and had -fallen asleep among her toys, for beside her on a tiny foot-high table -was the little supper she had prepared for him, and which was now quite -cold. On the other side of her were her tiny drum and samisen, with -which she had been attempting doubtless to pass the evening by pulling -from the strings some of that weird music he knew so well now. - -For a long time her husband looked at her, and a feeling of intense -isolation about her came over and suddenly possessed him. Why had he -never been able to bridge that strange distance which lay like a pall -between them, the feeling always that she was not wholly his own, that -she had been but a guest within his house, a tiny wild bird that he had -caught in some strange way and caged--caught, though she had come to -him, as it were, for protection? Just as, when a boy, he remembered how -a robin had beaten at his shutters, and he had saved it from an enemy, -and afterwards how he had caged it, and how it had pined for its -freedom. - -The thought that he might yet lose Yuki caused him such anguish of mind -it almost stunned him. He knelt down beside her, and drew her up in his -arms, and then, as gently as a mother would have done, he carried her up -the queer spiral stairway which led to their little up-stairs room. - -The next day she questioned him anxiously. Were there many ladies more -beautiful than she at the ball? Had he enjoyed himself largely with -them, and how could he live away hereafter from such mirth and gayety? -Why had he come back to little, insignificant her? - -And he told her that never in all his life before had he longed so -ardently for any one as he had for her that previous night. That the day -had been endless; the noise and show, the brassy merriment and cheer, -were abhorrent to him, for she had not been there to rob it of its -vulgarity with the charm of her sweet presence. That he had been rude in -his efforts to escape it, had bullied the jinrikimen because they had -seemed to creep, and that happiness and peace had only come back to him -again when he had crossed his own threshold and had taken her in his -arms. - -Still the wistful distress in her misty eyes was only in part dispelled. - -"Last night," she said, "I broke my liddle jade bracelet. It is a bad -omen." - -"I will buy you a dozen new ones," he said. - -"One million dozens cannot mend jus' thad liddle one," she returned, -sadly, shaking her head. "It is a bad omen. Mebbe a warning from the -gods." - -Of what did they warn her? That she could not say, but she had heard -that such an accident usually preceded the sorrows of love. Perhaps he -would soon pass away from her, and, like the ghost of the fisher-boy -Urashima, who had left his fairy bride to return to his people, he too -would pass out of her life, back into that from which he had come. - - - - - X - - A BAD OMEN - - -It was late in November. The parks were dropping their autumn glories -and taking on the browner hues and hints of hoar-frost, black-and-white -vestments, the sackcloth and ashes of winter. The recessional of the -birds was dying away into silence. Soon the final, long-drawn amen of -the north-wind would be breathed out over the deserted woods, where the -anthem of praise had rung out to the worshipping air all through the -golden days and silver nights of summer. - -The still beauty of the autumn evening was piercingly melancholy, and, -even with a loving sunset still lingering in the skies, a silken, gentle -rain was falling, as though the gods were weeping over the death of the -autumn, were weeping hopeless tears--the most tragic of all. - -The little house that stood alone on the hill faced to the west, its wet -roofs and shingles sparkling and glistening in the rays of the dying -sunset that enveloped it. - -Yuki opened a shoji (sliding paper door) of her chamber, and looked out -wistfully at the city of Tokyo, that in the autumn silence was shining -out like a gem, with its many strange lights and colors. She stole -softly out on to a small balcony, and stepped down into the tiny garden -as the night began to spread its mantle of darkness. A few minutes later -her husband called to her: - -"Yuki! Yuki!" - -He drew her into the room, and closed the shoji behind her. - -"You have been crying again!" he said, sharply, and turned her face up -to the light. - -"It is the rain on my face, my lord," she answered in the smallest -voice. - -"But you mustn't go out in the rain. You are quite wet, dear." - -"Soach a little, gentle rain," she said. "It will not hurt jus' me. I -loogin' aeverywhere 'bout for our liddle bit poor nightingale. Gone! -Perhaps daed! Aeverything dies--bird, flowers, mebbe--me!" - -He put his hand over her mouth with a hurt exclamation. - -"Don't!" he only said. - -The maid brought in their supper on a tray, but before she could set it -down Yuki had impetuously crossed the room and taken it from her hands. - -"Go, go, honorable maid," she said. "I will with my own hands attend my -lord's honorable appetite." - -She knelt at his feet, geisha fashion, holding the tray and waiting for -him to eat, but he took it from her gravely, and put it on the small -table beside them, and then silently, tenderly, he took her small hands -in his own. - -"What is troubling you, Yuki? You must tell me. You are hiding something -from me. What has become of my little mocking-bird? I cannot live -without it." - -"You also los' liddle bird?" she queried, softly--"jus' lige unto my -same liddle nightingale?" - -"I have lost--I am losing you," he said, suddenly, with a burst of -anguish. "I cannot make you out these last few weeks. What has come over -you? I miss your laughing and your singing. You are always sad now; your -eyes--ah, I cannot bear it." His voice went suddenly anxious. "Tell me, -is it--do you--want--need some more money, Yuki? You know you can have -all you want." - -She sprang to her feet fiercely. - -"No, no, no, no!" she cried; "naever any more for all my life long, -_dear_ my lord." - -"Then why--" - -"Ah, _pray_ don' ask why." - -"But why--" - -"Then listen unto me. I nod any longer thad liddle bit geisha girl you -marrying with. I change grade big moach. Now you see me, I am one -wooman, mebbe like wooman one hundled years ole--wise--sad--I change!" - -"Yes," he said. "You are changed. You are my Undine, and I have found -your soul at last!" - - * * * * * - -One oppressive afternoon, when a nagging, bleating wind out-doors had -prevented their going on their customary ramble through the woods or on -a little trip to the city, Jack had fallen asleep. Long before he had -awakened he had felt her warm, soothing presence near him, but with the -pleasure it afforded him was mingled a premonition of disaster and a -dread of something unhappy about her? He awoke to find her standing by -him, her face white and drawn with a despair he could not comprehend. - -"What is it?" He started up fearfully. "Your eyes are tragic! You look -as if you were contemplating something frightful." - -She sank down to his feet, and, despite his protests, knelt and clung to -him there, sobbing with passionate abandon. - -"Don't! Don't! I can't bear you to do that. What is it, Yuki?" - -"Oh, for liddle while, jus' liddle bit while, bear with me," she said. - -"Little while! What do you mean?" he demanded. - -She tried to regain her composure. Her laughter was piteous. - -"I only liddle bit skeered," she said. "I--" she stammered--"I skeered -'bout thad liddle foolish jade bracelet, all smashed and broken." - -"Is that all?" - -"It is soach a bad omen! The gods trying to separate us, mebbe." - -"Separate us?" His suspicions were growing. "How can they do that? It -lies between you and me, such a--such a fate. The gods--ah, you are -talking nonsense." - -"The gods see inside," she said. - -"Inside what?" - -"Our hearts." Her voice was barely above a whisper. - -"And what can they find there to distress you?" he asked, almost -fiercely. She was hurting him with her failure to confide in him. - -"The bracelet--" she began. "It is broken, an' love, too, mus' die--an' -break!" - -From that day her melancholy grew rather than diminished. But she had -roused her husband's suspicions, and her morbidness irritated rather -than appealed to him. He felt that in some way he was being deceived. -The day that he found her wardrobe neatly and carefully folded away in -her queer little packing-case, as though in preparation for a journey, -the full sense of her deceit dawned upon him. Hitherto when she had left -him she had taken none of her belongings with her. He perceived it was -now her intention to desert him utterly. He had served her purpose, -apparently, and she was through with him. - -His wrath burst its bounds. He had not known the capabilities of his -angry passion. He tore the silken garments from the box with the fierce -madness of one demented, then he pushed her into the room, and showed -her where they lay scattered. - -"The meaning of this?" he demanded, white to the lips with the intensity -of his passion. - -She remained mute. She did not even trouble to mock or laugh at him, nor -would she weep. She seemed dazed and bewildered, and he, infuriated -against her, said things which rankled in his conscience for years -afterwards. - -"Does a promise mean nothing to you--a promise--an oath itself? Were -you, parrot-like, merely echoing my words when you swore to stay by me -until--" his voice broke--"death?" - -Still she made him no denial, and her silence maddened him, and drove -him on with his bitter arraignment. - -"What your object has been I fail to see, but you cannot deny that you -have laid yourself out, have used every effort, every art and wile, of -which you are mistress, to make me believe in you. And I--I--like a -blind, deluded fool--ah, Yuki--there is something wrong, some hideous -mistake somewhere. You have some secret, some trouble. Be frank with me. -Can't you see--understand how I--I am suffering?" - -She roused herself with an effort, but her words were pitifully -conventional. She apologized for the trouble and noise she had brought -into his house. - -"You have not answered me!" he cried. "What was your intention? Did you -intend to leave me? You shall answer me that!" - -"It was bedder so," she said, and her voice fainted. She could speak no -further. - -"Then such was your intention!" He could hardly believe her words. - - - - - XI - - THE NIGHTINGALE - - -When Love lives after Trust is dead, then peace is an unknown quantity. -A constraint that was baffling in its intense hopelessness now hedged up -between these two. Yuki grew thin and wistful. Her whole attitude became -one of pitiful attempted conciliation and humility, which with bitter -suspicion her husband took to be confusion and guilt. Had she even -affected somewhat of her old light-heartedness and attempted to win his -forgiveness by her old audacious wiles, her husband would have forgotten -and forgiven everything, glad of an excuse to renew the old close -comradeship with her. But she made no such attempt. - -She had acquired a peculiar fear of her husband, and unconsciously -shrank from him, as though dreading to bring down on herself his further -displeasure. She kept away from him as much as she could, though at -times she made spasmodic, frantic efforts to assume her old -light-heartedness, but these efforts were usually followed by passionate -outbursts of tears, when she had drawn the shoji between them, and was -once more alone with her own inward thoughts, whatever they were. - -Meanwhile her husband kept the watch of a jailer over her. He was -convinced that she was waiting for a chance to leave him, and this he -was determined to frustrate. She had raised in him a feeling of the -intensest bitterness, which amounted almost to antagonism towards her. -And still beneath all this resentment and bitterness a tenderness and -yearning for her threatened to strangle and overpower all other feeling. -Her apparent fear of him hurt him terribly, and caused him distractedly -at times to question whether he had been as kind to her as he might have -been. Then his mind would inevitably revert to the fact that she was -planning to leave him, and his resentment would burn fiercer than ever. - -By a common dread of the subject, both of them avoided alluding to it, -and for this reason it weighed the heavier on their minds. He feared -that any explanation she might attempt to make to him would only be some -excuse put forward to reconcile him, and win his consent to the -impossible situation which he instinctively knew she intended to -consummate. She, on the other hand, watched wildly to turn the subject, -dreading his wrath, which she was conscious was righteous. - -To add to the gloom of their strained relations, a season of drizzly wet -weather set in, which confined them to the house, and moreover Yuki was -grieving and pining over the loss of a favorite nightingale that had -made its home in the tall bamboo out in the midnight garden of their -little home. Jack was misanthropic and cynical, restless as it is -possible for a man to be under such galling circumstances, yearning -nevertheless for things to be as they had been between him and his wife. - -One night, at dusk, after an exceptionally sad and chilly meal in-doors, -Jack had come out alone, and was trying to soothe his senses with a -fragrant cigar. Instinctively he was waiting for his wife. He missed her -if she was absent from his side but a moment. Suddenly out of the -gloaming soared out one long, thrilling note of sheer ecstasy and bliss, -that quivered and quavered a moment, and then floated away into the -maddest peals of melody, ending in a sob that was excruciating in its -intense humanness. The nightingale had returned! - -He sprang to his feet, and, trembling by the veranda rail, stared -outward into the darkness. And then? Yuki came out from the shadows of -their garden, and under the light of the moon, beneath their small -balcony, she looked up into his eyes, and murmured in a voice thrilled -by an inward sob, so timid and meek, so beseeching and prayerful: - -"I lige please you, my lord!" - -"The nightingale!" he whispered, with hoarse emotion. "Did you hear it? -It has returned!" - -"Nay, my lord--tha's jus' me! I jus' a liddle echo!" - -She had learned the voice of the nightingale. - - [Illustration: THE NIGHTINGALE SONG] - - * * * * * - -With an exclamation of indescribable tenderness he drew her into his -arms, and for a few moments at least all the misery and pain and -constraint of the last few weeks between them passed away and gave place -to all their pent-up love and loneliness. - -As he held her close to him, he was conscious at first only of the fact -that she loved him, that she was clinging to him with somewhat of her -old abandon, and then he felt her hands upon his arms. He could almost -see them shaking and trembling. She was attempting to release herself! -Struggling to be free! All of a sudden he released her, and stood -breathing hard, his arms folded across his breast, waiting for her to do -or say something to him. - -She did not move. She stood before him, with her head down; and then her -blue eyes lifted, and timidly, appealingly, they beseeched his own. She -started to speak, stammered only a few incoherent words, and then, with -a half-sob, she unsteadily crossed the room and left him alone. - -Two days later, upon their household gloom came word from Taro Burton, -announcing that he had arrived in Tokyo. Jack rushed off to meet him, -telling Yuki he expected an old friend, and would bring him home that -evening. - - - - - XII - - TARO BURTON - - -It may be that Jack Bigelow first awoke to the fact that for months he -had been literally living in a dream-world when he saw his old -college-chum, Taro Burton--the same dear, old, grave Taro! He rushed up -to him in the old boyish fashion, wringing his hands with unaffected -delight. - -The past dream-months rolled for the moment from his memory, and Jack -was once again the happy up-to-date American boy. - -Taro had been delayed in America, he now told the other frankly, on -account of the failure of his people to send him passage money until -about a month ago. He had a few hardships to recount and some messages -to deliver from mutual friends, and then he wanted to know all about -Jack. Why had he failed to visit his people as promised? How much of the -country had he seen? Why were his letters so few and far between? - -Jack Bigelow laughed shortly. "Burton, old man," he said, "I've been -dead to everything in Japan--in the world, in fact--save one entrancing -subject." - -"Yes?" The other was curious. "And that is--?" - -"My wife." - -"Your wife!" Taro stopped short. They were crossing the main street of -Tokyo on foot. - -"Yes," said the other, laughing boyishly, all his resentment against the -girl lost and forgiven for the time being. - -"And so you did it, after all?" said the other, with slow, bitter -emphasis. His friend, then, was little different from other foreigners -who marry only to desert. - -"Did what?" - -"Got a wife." - -"Got a wife! Why, man, she came to me. She's a witch, the sun-goddess -herself. She's had me under her spell all these months. She has -hypnotized me." - -"And still has you under her spell?" - -"I am wider awake to-day," said Jack, soberly. - -"And soon," said Taro, "you will be still wider awake, and then--then it -will be time for her to awaken." - -"No!" said Jack, sharply, with bitter memory. "She has no heart -whatever. She likes to pretend--that is all." - -"How do you mean?" - -"Simply that we've both been pretending and acting--I to myself, she to -me; she trying to make me believe it was all real to her, at any rate -these last two months; I trying to delude myself into believing in her, -which was more than my conceit was good for, after all. Just when I was -sure of her, I accidentally discovered that she was preparing to desert -me altogether." - -"She apparently has more sense than some of them," said Taro. "Her head -rules her heart." - -"Oh, entirely," Jack agreed, quickly, thinking of the money she had -coaxed from him in the past. - -"And you," Taro turned on him, "have you come out all right?" - -"Perfectly!" the other laughed with forced assurance and airiness that -deceived Taro, who was somewhat credulous by nature. "It wasn't for a -lifetime, you know," he added. - -His reply was distasteful to the high moral sense of Taro Burton--more, -it pained him, for it brought to him a sudden and deep disappointment in -his friend. He changed the subject, and tried to talk about his own -people. He was in a great hurry to go home, and would linger but a day -in Tokyo. He had arrived sooner than they expected him. He was hungry -for a sight of his little sister and mother--they were all he had in the -world. - -Jack's spirits were dampened for the moment, as he had expected his -friend to remain with him for a few days. However, he got Taro's consent -to accompany him to his home for dinner that evening, in order to meet -the "Sun-goddess." - - * * * * * - -Taro was ushered with great ceremony into the quaint zashishi, which was -supposed to be entirely Japanese, and was in reality wholly American, -despite the screens and mats and vases. Jack ran up-stairs to prepare -his wife to meet his friend. - -The girl was panically dressing in her best clothes. The maid had -brushed her hair till it glistened. Long ago her husband had -peremptorily forbidden her the use of oil for the purpose of darkening -or smoothing it, so it now shone a rich bronze black and curled -entrancingly around her little ears and neck. She needed no color for -her lips or cheeks; this also her husband had forbidden her to use. She -looked like the picture of the sun-goddess in some old fairy print, her -eyes dancing and shining with excitement, her cheeks very red and rosy. -She was irresistible, thought her husband, as he held her at arm's -length. Then, to her great mortification and chagrin, he lifted her -bodily in his arms and carried her downstairs. And thus they entered the -room, the girl blushing and struggling in his arms. - -Taro Burton was standing tall and erect, his back to the light. He was -very grave, in spite of his friend's mirth, and, as Jack set the girl on -the floor, he took a step forward to meet her, bowing ceremoniously in -Japanese fashion. - -Yuki stood up, straightened her crumpled gown, and hung her head a -moment. - -"Yuki, this is my friend, Mr. Burton." - -She raised her head with a quick, terrified start, and then -instantaneously hers and Taro's eyes met, and each recoiled and shrank -backward, their eyes matching each other in the intense startled look of -horror. - -The man's face had taken on the color of death, and he was standing, -immovable and silent, almost as if he were an image of stone. The girl -sank to the floor in a confused heap, shivering and sobbing. - -Jack turned from her to Taro, and then back again to the crouching girl. -She was creeping on her knees towards Taro, but the man, having found -the power of movement, went backward away from her, aged all in a -moment. - -He tried to turn his sick eyes from her, but they clung, fascinated as -is the needle by the pole. - -And then Jack's voice, hoarse with a fear he could not understand, broke -in: - -"Burton, what is the matter?" - -Suddenly the girl sprang to her feet and rushed to Taro, sobbing and -entreating in Japanese, but the terrible figure of the man remained -immovable. Jack pulled her forcibly from him. - -"Burton, dear old friend, what is it?" - -The other pushed his hands from him with almost a blow. - -"She is my sister! Oh, my God!" - -Jack Bigelow felt for an instant as if the life within him had been -stopped. Then he grasped at a chair and sank down dazed. - -As though to break up the terrible silence, the girl commenced to laugh, -but her laughter was terrible, almost unearthly. The man in the chair -covered his face with his hands; the other made a movement towards her -as if he would strike her. But she did not retreat: nay, she leaned -towards him. And her laughter, loud and discordant, sank low, and then -faded in a tremulous sob. - -She put out her little speaking, beseeching hands, and "Sayonara!" she -whispered softly. Then there was stillness in the room, though the -echoes seemed to repeat "Sayonara," "Sayonara," and again "Sayonara," -and that means not merely "Farewell," but the heart's resignation: "If -it must be." - -Jack and Taro were alone together, neither breaking by a word the tragic -sadness of that terrible silence. It was the coming into the room of the -maid that recalled them to life. Twilight was settling. She brought the -lighted andon and set it in the darkening room. - -Jack got up slowly. The stupor and horror of it all were not gone from -him, but he crossed to the other man, and looked into his dull, ashen -face. - -"My God! Burton, forgive me," he said, brokenly; "I am a gentleman. I -will fix it all right. She is my wife, and all the world to me. We can -remarry if you wish, and I swear to protect her with all the love and -homage I would give to any woman who became my wife." - -"Yes, you must do that," said the other, with weak half-comprehension. -"But where is she?" - -"Where is she?" Jack repeated, dazedly. They had forgotten her -departure. A dread of her possible loss possessed and stupefied Jack, -and Taro was half delirious. - -"We must look for her at once," said Jack. - -They called to her, and all over the house and through the grounds they -searched for her, their lanterns scanning the dark shadows under the -trees in the little garden; but only the autumn winds, sighing in the -pine-trees, echoed her singing minor notes, and mocked and numbed their -senses. - -"She must have gone home," said the husband. - -"We must go there at once," said the brother. - -"It will be all right, Burton, dear old friend. Trust me; you know me -well enough for that." - -Taro paused, and turned on him burning eyes, in which friendliness had -been replaced by a look that spoke of stern and awful judgment. -"Otherwise," he began, but paused; he went on in a cold hard voice, "I -was going to say, I will kill you." - - - - - XIII - - IN WHICH TWO MEN LEARN OF A - SISTER'S SACRIFICE - - -Jack Bigelow's usually sunny face was bleached to the ashiness of fear -and despair. He was so nervous that he could not keep still a moment at -a time, but would get up and pace the length of the car, only to return -and look with eyes that attested the heartache within at the other man, -silent and grim. Taro seemed the calmer, but well the younger man knew -that beneath that subdued exterior slumbered a fire that needed but a -breath to be turned into avenging fury. - -At last they reached their destination. The little town once again! But -this night Jack was not alone. There was no star or moon overhead to -lighten their pathway; a dull, drizzly, sleety rain was falling. In -silence they left the car; in silence plodded through the mud of the -road and the damp grass of the field beyond. The little garden gate -creaked on its hinges as they went through. They saw the dim outlines of -the old palace before them, with its wide balconies and sloping roofs. -Half-way up the garden was the family pond, freshened by a hidden -spring, and the little winding brook which wound hither and thither -showed how it emptied into the bay beyond. There was even a tiny boat -moored on a toy-like island in the centre of the pond. - -For the first time Taro Burton paused, and looked with dreadful eyes at -its dull surface, which even the darkness of the night and the miserable -rain could not obliterate entirely. What were the memories that crowded -back on him, suffocating him? Here it was that he and Yuki had grown up -together. The little boat was the same, the island as small and neat, -the house seemed as ever; nothing had changed. Yes, there was Yuki! A -deep groan slipped from his lips. - -There was a difference of seven years in their ages, but a stronger bond -of sympathy and comradeship had existed between these two than is usual -between brother and sister. Their nationality had to a large extent -isolated them from other children, for the Japanese children had laughed -at their hair and eyes, and called them "Kirishitans" (Christians). -Until he was seven years of age, Taro had manfully, though bitterly, -fought his battles alone. He had been a queer, brooding little lad, of -passionate and violent temper, and, apparently, scorning any overtures -of friendship from any one outside his own household. - -When the little sister had come, the boy had gone suddenly wild with -joy, and had proceeded to bestow upon her the same worshipful love his -mother gave exclusively to him, for Snowflake had been born when their -English father lay at the gates of death, her tiny soul fluttering into -life just as that of her father drifted outward into eternity, so that -to Omatsu, the mother, who was passionately absorbed in her grief, her -arrival had been a source of irritation. But Taro had carried her to the -family temple, and had, himself, named her "Snowflake" (Yuki), for she -had come at a time when all the land was covered with whiteness. There -had been a frost and even a snowfall, which is rare in that part of the -country. Moreover, she resembled a snowflake, so soft and white and -pure. - -How was it possible for him, after all these years, to come, as he now -had come, once more to this place of which she had always been a part, -and with which she had always been lovingly associated in his mind, and -not be filled with emotions that rent his heart. She had been his -inspiration and all the world to him. - -He remembered how they would drift around in their tiny boat, and she, -little autocrat, would perch before him, her eyes dancing and shining, -while he told her the story of the fisher-boy Urashima and his bride, -the daughter of the dragon king. And when he would finish, for the -hundredth time, perhaps, she would say, "See, Taro-sama, I am the -princess, and you the fisher-boy. We are sailing, sailing, sailing on -the sea 'where Summer never dies,'" and he, to please her fancy, drifted -on and on with her, around and around the little pond, until the sun -began to sink in the west and the little mother would call them -in-doors. - -Now the monotonous drip, drip, drip of the rain-drops as they plashed -from the weeping willow-trees that surrounded the tiny lake, fell upon -its dull surface with mournful sound. Taro groaned again. - -When he had knocked loudly a man came shuffling round from the rear of -the house, and, in reply to his inquiry for Madam Omatsu, informed him -gruffly that she had retired. - -It did not matter; he must awaken her, Taro, who had found voice, told -him with such insistence that the servant fled ignominiously to obey -him. They waited for some time, out in the melancholy night. There was -no sound from within the house. Taro hammered on the door once more. -Then a faint light appeared from a window close by the door, and the -man's head showed again. He begged their honorable patience. He would -open in a fraction of a second. He was very humble and servile now, and, -as he admitted them, backed before them, bowing and bobbing at every -step, for his mistress's entire household had been taught to treat -foreigners with the greatest deference and respect. - -"Go to your mistress," said Taro, briefly, "and tell her that her son -desires to see her at once." - -There was immediately a fluttering at the other side of the shoji. Taro -saw an eye withdraw from a hole. There were a few minutes of silence, -and then the shoji parted and a woman entered the room. Her mother-love -must have prompted her to rush into the arms of her son, for she had not -seen him in five years, but, whatever her emotions, she skilfully -concealed them, for the paltry reason that her son was accompanied by a -stranger, an honorable foreign friend; and it behooved her to affect the -finest manners. Consequently she prostrated herself gracefully, bowing -and bowing, until Taro strode rapidly over to her and lifted her to her -feet. - -She was quite pretty and very gentle and graceful. Her face, oval in -contour, was smooth and unwrinkled as a girl's, for Japanese women age -slowly. It was hard to believe she was the mother of the tall man now -holding her at arm's length and looking down at her with such deep, -questioning eyes. - -"Where is my sister, Yuki?" he demanded, hoarsely. - -"Yuki?" Madam Omatsu smiled with saintly confidence. She had retired. -Would they pray wait till morning? Ah, how was her honorable son, her -august offspring? She began fondling her boy now, stroking his face, -standing on tiptoe to kiss it, ecstatically smoothing and caressing his -hands, feeling his strange clothes, and laughing joyously at their -likeness to those of her dead husband's. But the dark shadow on Taro's -face was deepening, nor would he return or submit to his mother's -caresses till his fears regarding his sister were stilled. - -"Send for her," he said, briefly, and she knew he would not be gainsaid. - -Send for her! Ah, Madam Omatsu begged her noble son's pardon ten million -times, but she had made a great mistake. His sister had, of course, -retired, but it was not within their augustly miserable and honorably -unworthy domicile. She had gone out on a visit to some friends. - -Taro undid the clinging hands and pushed her from him, his brooding eyes -glaring. - -"Where?" - -Where? Why, it was only a short distance--perhaps two rice-fields' -lengths from their house. - -"The house?--the people's name?" - -Madam Omatsu whitened a trifle. Her eyes narrowed, her lips quivered. -She tried once more frantically to prevaricate. - -The people's name? She could not quite recall, but the next day--the -next day surely-- - -"Ah-h," said her son, with delirious brutality, "you are deceiving me, -lying to me. I demand to know where she is. I am her rightful guardian. -I must see her at once." - -Madam Omatsu protested with faint vehemence, but she did not weep. She -even essayed a little laugh, that reminded Jack eerily of Yuki. In the -dimly lighted room she looked strangely like her daughter, save that she -was much smaller and quite thin and frail, whereas Yuki was rosy and -healthy. - -Taro was speaking to her in Japanese, in a sharp, cruel voice, and she -was answering gently, meekly, humbly, consolingly. Jack felt sorry for -her. Suddenly Taro threw her hands from him, with a gesture of sheer -despair and exhausted patience. - -"I can learn nothing from her, nothing," he said in English. Then he -turned on her again. "Listen," he said: "You are my mother, and as such -I honor you, but you must not deceive me. I know all; know that my -sister was married to an American; know how she was married, if you call -such marriage. They do not consider it so, as you must know. What do you -know of this, my mother? It could not have happened without your -knowledge?" - -The mother broke down at last. All was indeed lost if he knew that much. -She sank in a heap at his feet, and again the other man was reminded of -her daughter. - -Taro raised her, not ungently, curbing his emotions. - -"Pray speak to me the truth," he implored. - -"It was for you," she said, faintly, in Japanese. "I desired it, I, your -mother; and, afterwards, she also, she, your sister. It was a small -sacrifice, my son." - -"Sacrifice! What do you mean?" he cried. - -"Alas, we had not the money to keep you at the American school, and -later, when you desired to return, it was still harder." - -"Oh, my God!" - -She went on, speaking brokenly in Japanese. After he had gone to America -their little fortune had been swept away, but of this they had kept him -in ignorance, fearing that he would not remain in the university did he -know how poor they had become. The house belonged to him; they could not -sell it. There had been but poor crops in their few remaining acres of -rice-fields; their income became smaller and smaller. One by one their -servants and coolies had to be sacrificed, till there were only a very -few left, and these refused to be paid for their services. They had -secured money in what manner they could, and sent it to him. It was -hard, but they loved him. - -Then Yuki, unknown to her mother, had gone up to Tokyo each day and -learned the arts of the geisha; later she invented dances and songs of -her own, and soon she was able to command a good price at one of the -chief tea-gardens in Tokyo. - -This for a season had brought them in a fair income, and for a time they -were enabled to send him even more than the usual allowance. Then came -his request for his passage money. Alas! they were but weak and silly -women. They had forgotten to save against this event in their desire to -keep him in comfort. Nakodas had approached Yuki, and tempting offers -were made to her. She had resisted all of them, for she was then below -the age when girls usually marry, but sixteen years of age. Only when it -became imperative to raise the passage money would she even listen to -the pursuasion of her mother and of the nakoda. They had pointed out to -her the great advantage, and finally, as the brother's letters grew more -insistent, she had broken down and given in. After that time she had -assisted them in their efforts to secure her a suitable husband. They -had been exceptionally successful, for she had married a foreigner who -would likely leave her soon, which was fortunate in Omatsu's mind, one -whose excellent virtues and whose wealth were above question. This was -all there was to tell. She prayed and besought her honorable son's -pardon. - -During her recital Taro had leaned towards her, listening with bated -breath to every word that escaped her lips. His thin, nervous face was -horribly drawn, his hands were clinched tightly at his side, his whole -form was quivering. He tried to regain his scattered senses, and his -hand vaguely wandered to his brow, pushing back the thick black hair -that had fallen over it. - -"You cannot understand," he said to the other man, his voice scarcely -recognizable for its labor. "It was for me, me, my little sister sold -herself. To keep me in comfort and ease! Snowflake for me! And they kept -me in ignorance. I did not even dream they were in straitened -circumstances. Oh, had I not willing hands and an eager heart to work, -to slave for them? Why should the whole burden have fallen on her, my -little, frail sister? But it has always been so. There is no such thing -as justice in this land for the woman." - -Jack heard him raving, understood, and bowed his head in impotent -sorrow. - -"Has your mother given you any information of her whereabouts?" he -suddenly broke in. - -Taro had forgotten that they were seeking her. His mother's story had -held all his attention. The horror aroused by that recital of devotion, -the thought of the months of her sweet life which she had sacrificed for -him, and then how he had repulsed her, pressed on his poor numbed -senses. But Jack's inquiry recalled him. A thousand dark surmises -regarding her overwhelmed him. - -"Yes, yes--where is she?" he asked, huskily. - -She had been with her husband some days now. Madam Omatsu expected her -home soon, and this time she would never again return to him. - -Taro's eyes were inflamed. "And she has not returned? She should be here -now! Ah, it is plain to be seen what has happened. She may be taking her -life at this moment. It is what a Japanese girl would do. She had the -blood of heroes in her veins; she would not falter." - -All of a sudden he turned upon his friend. Then the full agony caused by -his sister's disappearance and her great sacrifice descended upon him, -and he tottered. Before Jack could stay him, he swayed forward and, as -he fell, struck his forehead upon the corner of a heavy chair that had -been his father's. When Jack raised the head of the unconscious man he -found blood flowing from a wide cut over the left eye. - -There were hurrying feet throughout the house, terrified whispers, and -sobs, and, above all, a mother's voice raised in terrible anguish. - - - - - XIV - - A STRUGGLE IN THE NIGHT - - -By day and night they kept their unrelaxing watch by the bedside of the -sick man. Ever he tossed and turned and muttered and cried aloud, one -word alone on his lips--his sister's name. - -Tenderly the mother smoothed the fevered brow, softly she stroked the -restless hands, and tried to still their fever between her own cool, -soothing ones. Thin lines had traced their shadows on her worn face; -gray threads had come to mingle with the glossy black of her hair. But -she never permitted herself, after that first night of anguish, to -betray her emotions, for, if she did, well she knew she would be refused -the precious labor of nursing her boy. And she kept her sleepless, -tireless watch night and day. Her maid begged her to lie down herself -and rest, but she shook her head with bright, dry eyes. Rest for her? -While he lay tossing thus? Nay! perhaps when he should find the rest, -the gods would permit her also a respite; till then she must keep her -watch. - -She smiled pathetically when the white-faced American boy tried to -insist that she should sleep, with the little air of authority he had -assumed in the household. But with the gentle smile she also shook her -head in negation. - -"Let me take your place," he pleaded. "He is dear to me also." - -Still she smiled, such a shadowy, heart-aching smile, and turned back to -the sick-bed. - -Jack Bigelow went back to Tokyo, and began his vigilant search for the -missing girl. The services of the entire metropolitan police board were -called forth, and money was not spared. The nakoda who had brought about -their marriage was put through a vigorous catechism, but he could tell -them nothing. The proprietor of the tea-garden swore she had not -returned to him, and when he bewailed the misfortune which was filling -his house and gardens with officers, Jack consoled him by paying -liberally for the loss he claimed he was suffering. - -On the fifth day the mystery of the girl's disappearance still remained -unsolved. Large rewards were offered for a clew to her whereabouts. The -police were sure that she was somewhere in Tokyo, and Jack urged them to -continue unremitting search in the city, but each night dawned upon -their fruitless efforts. Now some one had seen a girl of her description -entering a tea-house on the eve of her disappearance; another had seen -her selling flowers in the market-place; and yet another swore she had -gone on board a German vessel with a dried-up foreigner. This last -person could not be mistaken--a Japanese girl with blue eyes and red -hair. But each clew was found wanting and proved false. - -Then back to Yuki's home, sick-hearted, disappointed, weary, went Jack -Bigelow. A servant met him with the blessed news that the man down with -brain fever was improving; that a merciful calm had at last come to him, -and that now he slept. Wearied from his fruitless endeavors to find some -clew to Yuki's whereabouts, the first good news in days unnerved the -young man. He sat down, covering his eyes with his hands. He was badly -in need of rest himself, but his mind was full of the mother in the -sick-room overhead. - -Madam Omatsu, was she resting? - -No, she still kept her watch, but she was very weak, and they feared she -would break down if they could not prevail on her to rest. - -Jack went slowly up the stairs, tapped softly on the shoji, and then -entered the sick-room. - -Taro lay on the heavy English bed, with its white coverlets and -curtains, his face upturned. - -"You must rest," Jack whispered to the woman with the wan face and -wasted form, kneeling by the bedside. - -She shook her head, resisting. - -"I beg you to," pleaded Jack, and, though she could not understand him, -she knew what he was saying, and still resisted. - -"Come," he said, gently, and put his hands upon her shoulders. "See, he -sleeps now. It is well, and you will be too weak and faint to minister -to him when he awakes, otherwise." - -But she protested that her health was excellent; that she would not -leave her son. He stooped down, and attempted to raise her gently to her -feet, but she would not permit him. - -He saw the tired droop of the eyes. "She will fall asleep soon," he said -to himself, and so sat down beside her, putting his arm about her and -pillowing her head on his shoulder. She did not restrain him. She looked -gratefully into the frank, inviting eyes. She sighed, her head wavered -and dropped. The room was very still and silent. Gradually the woman -fell asleep, and as she slept she sighed from ineffable weariness. - -Jack looked towards the silent figure on the bed. The grayness of the -approaching night gave the face an expression that was sinister in the -extreme. He shuddered and averted his face. The little form in his arms -grew heavier. - -"She will rest better lying down," he thought, and carried her into the -adjoining room and laid her softly down. Then he took the lighted andon, -and, carrying it into the sick-room, set it in a corner near the bed, -and drew down the shutters. After this, he went back to the bed, and -stood for a minute looking down on the sleeping man, an expression of -infinite sadness on his face. Taro stirred, the hand lying outside the -coverlet contracted, then closed spasmodically; the expression of the -face became terrifying. He moaned. It seemed to Jack as if the sleeping -man was haunted by a terrible nightmare which robbed him of the rest -that should have found him. - -And it was with Taro as Jack had thought. He was in the midst of a fever -dream--a nightmare. He thought his little sister, Snowflake, knelt by -his bedside and soothed and ministered to his wants. He felt rested and -at peace at last; but, alas! just as he was slipping into happy oblivion -a dark form loomed up beside his sister, bent over, and clutched at her. -She struggled wildly at first, then weakly; finally her struggles -ceased, and she lay very still and white. The man lifted her up and -carried her away. After a time he came back, and now Taro felt his -breath on his own face. He was bending over him. In a dim haze he saw -the face, and recognized it as that of his friend, Jack Bigelow! He -tried to reach out and grasp him, to strike and kill him, but he was at -the mercy of some invisible power which benumbed him and held him down. -His limbs refused to move, he was unable to lift so much as a finger, -stir an eyelash, and all the time the man's breath was on his face, -stealing into his nostrils and suffocating him. - -Jack noted the gasping of his friend with alarm, and stooped over for -the purpose of removing the pillow to give him relief. But at the touch -of his hand, as he attempted to raise the head on the pillow, the life -blood started vividly, madly, through the man on the bed, and suddenly -he had sprung into wild life. Jack saw the terrible gleam of two -delirious eyes, and stood magnetized. With lightning fury the raving man -had thrown aside the bedclothes, sprung from the bed, and thrown himself -on the other with such force that the two came to the ground together, -the madman on top. - -"I have you now!--traitor! betrayer!" he said, as his hands felt Jack's -warm throat. - -Jack had been taken so by surprise that he was dazed in the first -moment, and in the next realized that he was powerless to defend -himself. He was in the grasp of one temporarily insane, one whose lithe, -physical strength he already knew well. It would be useless to fight -against that strength. His salvation lay in being passive and feigning -unconsciousness; but could he do this with those terrible fingers -closing around his throat, throttling the life out of him? Now they -pressed hard, now relaxed, now caressed his neck and throat, rubbed it, -pinched only to press again. He was playing with him! Jack did not stir. -He had closed his eyes, and was praying for strength to meet -unflinchingly whatever fate held for him. - -"Where have you put her?" came the fierce whisper, close to his ear. -"Where did you carry her to? Hah! you are silent. Have I silenced you -like this and this? You are cold; you cannot breathe now, nor smile nor -laugh at her. No, not while I have my hand here to press so and so. Once -you were my friend, and I loved you. But now--so you killed her! Now I -will kill you like this and this and this!" - -Jack was becoming weaker and weaker. The white-shrouded figure sitting -on him leaned forward, staring dreadfully, but his victim saw nothing, -heard nothing. Suddenly it seemed as if another had sprung upon him and -was beating his life out. He dimly heard a woman's cries, and, -intermingled, a terrible laughter. Then life and consciousness seemed to -depart, and he knew no more. - -When he regained consciousness he found himself on a bed. A woman was -leaning over him, bathing his head, smoothing and caressing it--a woman -with an angelic face, so like Yuki's when she had nursed him during a -brief illness that in his weakness he fainted at the mere dream of her -sweet presence. But it was not Yuki; it was the mother. She had been -awakened by the talking and cries in the sickroom, and, rushing to the -door, had looked in on the terrible scene. Japanese women have little or -no fear of physical disaster for themselves. She raised a fearful cry to -arouse the household, then flung herself on the two men, and with her -puny strength sought to divide them. At first her son laughed and -resisted her, but when her white face flashed before him his grip grew -weak, and he staggered back, dazed by the rush of returning reason. He, -too, had taken her for the ghost of his lost sister! - -The alarmed household had flocked into the room. Gently they prevailed -on him to return once more to the bed, as weak as a child now. - -Jack was not seriously hurt. In his shattered, nervous condition, -however, the shock had temporarily unhinged him, and for several days he -lay in bed, waited on and attended by the gentle Omatsu, who went like a -sweet, soothing spirit back and forth between the two rooms, who called -him "son," and was to him as if she were indeed his mother, till she -could not approach him but he kissed her hands and blessed her from his -heart. - - - - - XV - - THE VOW - - -The happy sadness of the brown autumn had faded in a yellow gleam of -light. December had entered the land with a little drift of frost and -snow which had surprised the country, for December is not usually a cold -month in Japan. Its advent shook the little housewives into action and -life. New mats of rice straw were being laid, and every nook and corner -dusted with fresh bamboo brooms and dusters, for the Japanese begin to -prepare a month in advance for the New Year season, and all the country -seems to wake into active life and present a holiday appearance. - -But the old palace, where dwelt the Burton family, kept its garment of -perpetual gloom, and stood out in mocking contrast to the neighboring -houses. No window was thrown open, no door turned in to air the place -and give it the sunshine of the coming New Year. - -Thick as the dust that had gathered about its unkept rooms, the shadow -of death pervaded the place. Vast shadows, mysterious and oppressive, -crept in, enshrouding it with their ghostly presence. From afar off the -drone of a curfew bell was heard, its slow, mournful cadence seeming to -drift into a dirge. Outside the early winds of winter were wailing a -requiem, and all the spirits of the air floated about and beat against -the sombre palace. - -At dusk consciousness returned to the dying man, and weakly, though -intelligently, he looked about him, and even smiled faintly at the -wailing and moaning that crept upward from the rooms below, where the -few old retainers of the household, who had been in the service of the -family long before Taro had been born, and had stayed by them after -their fortunes had fallen, were huddled together and loudly lamenting -the approaching death of the son of the house. - -Before a tiny shrine in a corner of the room was the prostrate form of -the mother. Her lips were dumb, but her speaking eyes wailed out her -prayer to all the gods for mercy. And at the bedside, his face in his -hands, knelt Jack Bigelow. Perhaps he, too, was praying to the one and -only God of his people. - -"Burton," he said, as the sick man stirred, "you have something to say -to me?" - -He bent over and wiped the dews that lay thick as a frost on lips and -brow. - -"My sister--" Taro began with painful slowness. - -"My wife--" whispered the other, his voice breaking, and then, as Taro -seemed unable to proceed, he put his mouth close down to his ear. - -"Burton, our grief is a common one. I swear by everything I hold sacred -and holy that I will never cease in my efforts to find my wife! Nothing -that strength or money can do shall be spared. I will take no rest till -she is found. Before God, I will right this wrong I have unconsciously -done you and yours--and mine!" - -Taro's eyes, wide and bright, fixed Jack's steadfastly. His long, thin -hand stirred and quivered, and attempted to raise itself. Without a word -Jack took it in his own. He had understood that mute effort to mean -belief and confidence in him. And, kneeling there in the melancholy -dusk, he held Taro's hand between his own until it was stiff and cold. - -Whither had the soul of the Eurasian drifted? Out and along the -interminable and winding journey to the Meido of his maternal ancestors, -or to give an account of itself to the great -Man-God-three-in-one-Creator of his father? - - * * * * * - -The mother crept from the shrine with stealing step, her white face like -a mask of death, her small, frail hands outstretched, like those of one -gone blind. - -A consciousness of her eerie approach thrilled Jack Bigelow. He dropped -Taro's hand and turned towards her, standing before and hiding the sight -of the dead from her. In the dim shadows of the deepening twilight she -looked as frail and ethereal as a wraith, for she had clothed herself in -all the vestal garments of the dead. - -With somewhat of the heroism of her feudal ancestors Omatsu had prepared -herself to face and undertake that perilous journey into the unknown -with her son. In the pitiful tangled reasoning that had wrestled in the -bosom of this Japanese woman, always there had disturbed the beauty of -such a sacrifice the doubt as to whether the gods would indeed receive -her with this son of hers who had dedicated his soul to an alien and -strange God. But she had prepared herself to risk the consequences. And -now she stood there swaying and tottering in all her ghastly attire, -while opposite to her stood the tall, fair-haired foreigner with the -pitying gray eyes of her own dead lord. - -She essayed to speak, but her voice was barely above a parched whisper. - -"Anata?" (Thou). It was a gentle word, spoken as a question, as though -she would ask him, "Condescend to speak your honorable desire with me?" - -"Mother!" he only said--"dear mother!" - - * * * * * - -At Taro's funeral Jack Bigelow made the acquaintance of his wife's -family. He had not imagined it possible for any one to have so many -relatives. They came from all parts of the country, distant and close -cousins and uncles and aunts, and even an old grandfather and -grandmother, the former very decrepit and quite blind. And they all -lined up in order, and wept real or artificial tears and muttered -prayers for the soul of the dead boy. - -A few of them were rich and important men of high rank in Japan; some of -them were suave and courteous, coming merely for form's sake and for the -honor of the family; most of them were of the type of the decayed -gentility of Japan--poor but proud, dignified but humble in their -dignity. - -They all regarded Jack with the same grave, stoical gaze peculiar to the -better-class Japanese, betraying in no way by their expression surprise -or resentment at his presence among them. As a matter of fact, none of -the family were aware of the relation in which he stood to them, and so -had occasion for no real animus against him, regarding him merely as a -friend of Taro's. But in his supersensitive condition Jack imagined that -they looked upon him as an intruder, perhaps as one who had brought -distress and havoc upon their household. - -When, however, after the funeral the little mob of friends and relatives -had gradually dispersed till there was none left besides himself and -Omatsu, the intense loneliness and silence of the big house grated upon -his nerves, so that he would have welcomed the wailing of the servants, -which had now been buried in the grave. - -Omatsu, too, who had borne herself with heroic fortitude and bravery all -through the day, now that the reaction had come was shivering and -trembling, and, when he approached her with a pitying exclamation, she -went to him straightway and cried in his arms like a little, tired -child. He comforted her with broken words, though his own tears were -falling on her little, bowed head. And he tried to tell her, in terribly -bad pidgin Japanese--something Yuki had taught him--how it would be his -care to protect and guard her in the future just as if she were indeed -his mother; that he was not worthy, but he would try to fill the place -of the beautiful boy who was sleeping his last sleep. And he told of the -promise he had given to Taro, how his life would be devoted to but one -end and purpose, to find his wife. Would she accompany him? - -She entreated him to take her with him. But in the end, after all, she -could not accompany him. Her health, which had never been robust, gave -way to her grief, and Jack took her back to her parents, for it was -necessary that he should spare no time from his search, and, moreover, -she was too delicate to travel. Before leaving her he saw to it that she -and her parents should have every comfort possible. - - * * * * * - -The old palace, grim, gray, and haggard in the winter landscape, was now -completely deserted. The townspeople looked askance at it, as at a -haunted house, knowing somewhat of the tragedy that hid within its -closed portals. - -Jack was the last to leave the place. Omatsu had begged him to see to -the closing up, and the paying-off of all the old servants. When he had -finally come out he was shocked at the curious crowd of neighbors who -had gathered about the gates and were whispering and gossiping about him -and waiting for him. But they were quite respectful and silent as he -passed them. He was an object of curiosity, this tall foreigner who had -married among them, and they watched him with round, wondering eyes, -following him all the way to the station, a little, pygmy procession, -very much as children follow a circus. Once or twice he half turned as -though to tell them to leave him, but stopped himself in time, -remembering how strange he must really seem to them. - -At the station he bowed to them gravely, and his bow was solemnly and -politely returned by those in front. And it was in this strangely -pathetic though grotesque manner that the tall, fair-haired barbarian -left the town. - -Less than a year before he had been a light-hearted, joyous boy. He was -now a man, with a burden on his soul and a sacred task to perform. -Moreover, there was an awful abyss in his life that must be bridged. -Never again would life have for him the same rosy bow of promise, not -until he had found that other part of his soul--his Sun-goddess. - - - - - XVI - - A PILGRIM OF LOVE - - -Jack Bigelow went up to Yokohama, where the Tokyo detectives thought -they had a clew to the girl's whereabouts. A new and very beautiful -geisha had appeared among the dancing-girls, and as no one seemed to -know anything about her history it was thought that she might be the -missing Yuki. But she had disappeared only the day before his arrival -there. - -Jack spent a month in the big metropolis, shadowing the tea-gardens, and -watching, with the assistance of men he had hired, every geisha house -and garden; but though many girls apparently answering to the -description of Yuki were brought before him, none of them proved to be -the missing girl, and the disgust the young man experienced at their -total unlikeness to his wife was only equalled by his bitter -disappointment. - -A telegram from police headquarters brought him back to Tokyo. Here he -was told that the detectives had traced the missing girl to Nagasaki, a -seaport on the western coast of Kiushu. This was the city where Yuki's -father had first lived in Japan. He had been the son of a rich silk -merchant, and had come to Japan in order to extend his knowledge of the -silk trade and expand his father's business. But Stephen Burton had -become infatuated with the country, had married a Japanese wife, -assimilated the ways of her people, and in time had even become a -naturalized citizen. He never returned alive to his native England, -though strange, cold, red-bearded men had taken his body from the wife, -and had crossed the seas with it. - -Old Sir Stephen Burton had never forgiven what he considered the -_mésalliance_ of his son, and hence Taro and Yuki had never seen or -known any of their father's people, and he himself had died while they -were yet children. - -Some feeling of sentiment might have brought Yuki to this place. -Moreover, there were many public tea-houses there, where she could -quickly find employment. The police were positive in their statements -that they were not mistaken in the identity of the girl they claimed to -be Yuki. - -Travelling by slow and tedious trains, with no sleeping accommodations -and but few of the modern luxuries that are necessities on American -trains; travelling by kurumma, with the flying heels of his runners -scattering the dust of the highway in his eyes, when the landscape -before, behind, and around him seemed a maze of dazzling blue; -travelling on foot, when he was too restless to do otherwise than tramp, -he was weary and ill when he finally, reached Nagasaki. Here an amazing -horde of nakodas pestered him with their offerings of matrimonial -happiness. He had no heart for them. They stifled him with memories that -were better sleeping. - -The tea-house to which he had been directed was owned and run by an -elderly geisha, who, in her day, had been noted for her own beauty and -cleverness. She was all affectation and grace now. She met Jack with -exaggerated expressions of welcome, and in a sweet, sibilant voice -pressed upon him the comforts and entertainments of her "poor place." - -He did not pause to exchange compliments with her. - -Was there not in her house a girl, very beautiful and very young, who -sang and danced? - -Madam Pine-leaf (that was her name) allowed her face to betray surprised -amusement at the question. Why, her place was famous for the beauty of -her maidens, and every one of them danced and sang more bewitchingly -than the fairies themselves. But she only said, very humbly: - -"My maidens are all unworthily fair, and all of them indulge in the -honorable dance and song. It is part of the accomplishment of every -geisha." - -"Yes, but you could not mistake this girl. She is distinct from all -others. She--her eyes are blue. She is only half Japanese!" - -"Ah-h!--a half-caste." Madam Pine-leaf's lips formed in a _moue_. She -was very polite, however. She pretended to consult her mind. Then she -begged that he would remain, at all events, and see for himself all her -girls. - -Impatiently he waited, a terrible nervousness taking possession of him -at the mere possibility that Yuki might be near him. But though he -scanned with almost seeming rudeness the faces of the inmates of the -place, none of them was like unto her whom he sought. - -When he paid his hostess, who, recognizing in him a generous patron, had -been careful to stay close by him the entire evening, his face betrayed -his exceeding disappointment. - -The woman glanced at the big fee in her hand, and a feeling of pity and -gratitude called up all her native prevarication. - -Now that she had spent the whole evening turning the matter over in her -mind, she recalled the fact that only a few days before a girl answering -exactly to his description of his wife had worked for her for a short -period, but unfortunately she had left her and gone to Osaka. - -Madam Pine-leaf's face was guileless, her words convincing. There was -gentle compassion in her eyes, which added to the comfort of her words. - -Jack wrung her slim hands gratefully till they ached. - -Osaka? How far away was that? Did Madam Pine-leaf believe he had time to -get there before she would leave? What was the exact address? - -Yes, she believed he would be in time, and she drew out a dainty tablet -and wrote an address upon it, and with deep and graceful obeisances she -prayed that the gods would accompany and guide him. - - * * * * * - -He reached Osaka at night, when its many strange canals and narrow -rivers were reflecting the lights of the city, like glittering -spear-heads, on their dark, shining surface. The hotel was miles from -the station, but the streets were deserted, and there was no traffic to -hinder the flying feet of his runner. At night the city seemed strangely -romantic and peaceful, a spot that would have attracted one of Yuki's -temperament. But daylight revealed it as it was--a bustling commercial -centre, where everybody seemed hurrying as though bent on accomplishing -some important mission. - -Jack stayed but a few days in Osaka. She was not there. The proprietor -of the Osaka gardens, hearing his story, humbly apologized for the fact -that while such a girl had honored for a short season his unworthy -gardens, she had left him now some days ago. Whither had she gone? To -Kyoto. - -And in Kyoto, the most fascinating and beautiful city in all Japan, he -was sent from one tea-house to another, each proprietor acknowledging -that one answering to the description had been in his employ, but -declaring that she had left only a short time previous. She was only a -visiting geisha, who moved from place to place. - -Finally he traced her back to Tokyo, the place whence he had started on -his weary pilgrimage. She was the chief geisha, so he was told, of the -Sanzaeyemon gardens. With his brain swimming, his lips almost refusing -him speech, he went straightway to this place. The proprietor received -him with magnificent humility, and, listening to his disjointed -questions, answered that all was well. She was even then within his -honorably miserable tea-house. For the privilege of seeing her he would -be obliged to make an honorably insignificant charge, and, if he (the -august barbarian) desired to take her away with him, a further fee must -be forthcoming. - -Waiving these questions aside, by putting down so much coin that the -little proprietor's eyes matched its glisten, he followed him up the -stairway to the private quarters of the more important geishas. Into one -of the rooms he was unceremoniously ushered. - -A girl who sat on a mat put forward her two hands, and her bowed head on -top of them. Jack watched her with bated breath. He could not see her -face, and the room was badly lighted. But when he could bear no longer -her perpetual bowing and had lifted her, with hands that shook, to her -feet, he saw her face. It was that of a stranger! - -A slight illness now hindered the progress of his search, but he would -not allow himself the rest he needed; and still ill, haggard, and a -shadow of his former self, the young man once more drifted to the -metropolitan police station. - -They had exhausted all their clews, but they were kind-hearted little -men, these Japanese policemen. The chief of police invented a story that -would have done credit to one of Japan's poets. - -Yuki was somewhere in the vicinity of Matsushima Bay, on the -northeastern coast of Japan, near the city of Sendai, where the waters -flow into the Pacific. This was a spot favored by unhappy lovers, and -the chief of police had positive evidence that a girl answering to her -description had been seen wandering daily in that part of the country. -He even produced a telegraph blank, with an indecipherable message in -Japanese characters written on it, purporting to give this information. -His advice to the young man was to go to this honorable place and stay -there for some time. The country was large thereabouts. He might not -find her at once, but soon or late surely she would turn up there. - -Jack was impressed with his glib recital, and then, moreover, he -remembered that Yuki had told him much about this place, which they had -planned to visit together some day. He started straightway for it, -buoyed up with a hope he had not known in months. - -And the chief of police snapped his fingers and bobbed his head and -clinked the big fee he had received. - -"These foreign devils are naïve," he said to an assistant. - -The cringing assistant agreed. "They believe any august lie," he -replied. - -His superior frowned. "It was for his good, after all," he returned, -tartly. - -In the city of Sendai Jack put up at a small Japanese hostelry, and from -there each day he would start out and wander down to the beach of the -wonderful bay. It was all as Yuki had pictured it, with her vivid, -passionate imagery. There were the countless rocks of all sizes and -forms scattered in it, with strange, shapely pine-trees growing up from -them, and the one bare rock called "Hadakajima," or "Naked Island," and -all the beautiful romances, impossible and dreamy as the fairy tales of -a classic Oriental poet, that she had woven about and around this place, -came back to his mind now, haunting him like a beautiful dream, until -the memory of her, and the influence of the beauty of the place, seemed -to cast a mystic spell about him. - -For, oh! the scenes that enwrapped the bay! The slopes and hillocks and -the great mountains beyond were garbed in vestal white, pure and -glistening. The snowflakes had tipped the branches of the pine, and -there they hung, like glistening pearl-drops, sometimes dropping with -little bounds on the rocks, there to freeze or melt into the bay. - -And some vague fancy, baffling in its hopelessness, nevertheless, clung -to him that possibly she might have come hither to this peaceful spot, -far from the scenes where they had loved and suffered so deeply, for, -with unerring insight, Jack knew that she had loved him. Bit by bit he -traced backward in his mind every proof she had given him of this, and -now, when the sorrow of her loss seemed more than he could bear, the -knowledge of this upheld and cheered him always. - -But the beauty of Matsushima could give him no peace of mind or soul, -for he was alone! The stillness and silence of the very atmosphere, the -tall pine-trees, bending gracefully in the swaying, swinging breezes, -seemed to mock him with their calm content. The bay was enchanted--yes, -but haunted too--haunted by the imagination of the little feet that had -perhaps wandered along its shore. - -In a little village only a short distance from the beach, inhabited by a -few simple, honest fisher-folk, Jack tried to ascertain whether they had -seen aught of her he sought. But they babbled fairy stories back at him. -There had been many, many witch-maids who had haunted the shores of -Matsushima; many young girls, who had lost their minds through -unfortunate love affairs, had wandered thither. They were the ghosts of -these unfortunate lovers, who had sought in death the bliss of love -denied them in life, which now haunted the shore of the bay. - -That the strange, fair man who had lost his bride would meet the same -untimely though poetic fate the simple people never doubted. - -And so, like one who has lost his soul, he wandered hither and thither -throughout the islands of Japan in search of it. - -Sunshine had been the dominant element in Jack Bigelow's character, and -in a less degree impulsiveness and generosity. No one had ever given him -credit for intensity of feeling or greatness of purpose. But sometimes -tribulation will bring out such qualities, which have lain hidden -beneath an apparently superficial exterior. - -A deep, abiding love for his summer bride had sprung into eternal life -in his heart. She was never absent from his mind. There were moments -when for a time he would forget his immeasurable loss, and would drift -into memory, and in fancy re-live with her that dream summer. She had -become the soul of him. She would remain in his heart until it ceased to -beat. - - - - - XVII - - YUKI'S WANDERINGS - - -Had Jack followed Yuki on the night she went out of his house and life, -he would have known that she was not to be found in all Japan. She had -hurried from his and Taro's presence with but one object--to take -herself forever from the sight of the brother whom she had loved but who -had repulsed her, whom she had dishonored in trying to assist. She took -the road for Tokyo, and, head downward, sobbing like a little child who -has lost its way in the dark, stumbled blindly along until she had come -within its limits. - -She had no idea whither she was going now, what she would do; her mind -could only contain her grief. But as she wandered aimlessly about, -weeping silently, an address slipped itself into her consciousness--the -address written on the card handed her by the American theatrical man -months before, when he had followed her from the tea-house. She had -studied the card curiously at the time, and now, though the name had -escaped her--she had really never been able to make it out--her mind -still held the address. - -She turned in the direction in which she knew the American's house lay, -and at length found it, wearied both by the anguish of her mind and by -her long walk. Yes, the American gentleman was in, said the garrulous -Japanese servant who answered her timid summons. He had returned from -lands far south less than a week ago, and now in two more days he would -be off again. Did she want to meet him? Perhaps he slept. - -Yuki said she would speak with him but a minute, and the servant -vanished. Almost immediately the manager appeared before her, frowning -heavily. But at sight of her his face brightened wonderfully. - -"Why, if it ain't the girl I heard sing at the tea-garden!" he cried. -"Come right inside." - -And he eagerly drew her, unresisting, within. - - * * * * * - -Two days later, on board the _Yokohama Maru_, Yuki left her native -Japan. - -As the ship weighed anchor, she closed her eyes and faintly clung to the -guard-rail. All about her she could hear the passengers talking and -laughing, a few were cheering and waving flags and handkerchiefs to -friends on shore. And long after the wharf was only a dim, shadowy -outline she still clung there to the rail, her hands cold and tense. - -Some one put an arm about her, and she started as though she had been -struck. - -"You are not ill already, you poor little thing?" said a woman's clear, -pleasing voice. - -Yuki regarded her piteously. She dimly recognized in her the wife of her -employer, and she struggled to regain her scattered wits, but vainly. -She was only able to look up into the sympathetic face of the other with -eyes which could not conceal the turbulent tragedy of her soul. - -"Why, you are shivering all over, and are as cold as--Jimmy, come over -here," she turned and called peremptorily to her husband, who hastened -forward, throwing his cigar overboard. - -"Look here; she's sick already. Better send one of those ayah women, or -whatever you call 'em, over, and have her put to bed right away." - -They undressed her, submissive as a little child, and put her into the -berth of a little stateroom, which seemed to Yuki, who had never in her -life before been on board a vessel of any sort, save the tiny craft -about the rivers at her home, like a tiny cage or vault, wherein she, -exhausted and weary, had been put to die. - -She lay there with the surging bustle of the ship's noises overhead and -the tremulous growl of the waters beneath the ship droning in her ears -like the melancholy ringing of a dying curfew-bell at twilight. - -The ayah reported to the manager's wife, an ex-comic-opera prima donna, -that she was resting and sleeping; but when that impetuous, big-hearted -woman peeped in on her, she found Yuki's eyes wide open. She whirled -into the small stateroom, almost filling it with her large person, and -sat down beside the poor little weary girl and looked at her with -friendly and approving eyes. - -"You are like a pretty picture on a fan," she said; "the prettiest -Japanese girl I've seen. I think we'll be fine friends, don't you?" - -Yuki could only assent with a weary little nod of her head. She closed -her eyes. - -"You are not so dreadfully sick, are you?" said the American. "I thought -maybe we could have a nice little gossip together. You see, my husband's -the boss of this whole outfit that we've got along with us, and I don't -know that there's one of the whole lot I've ever cared to associate with -before. You're different. Now, ain't I good to speak out just what's on -my mind, eh?" - -"I _ought_ to thang you," said Yuki, feebly, "but I am too weary to be -perlite." - -"Then you shall be left alone, you child, you," said the other; then she -kissed Yuki lightly, and went out of the door. - -But after she had gone Yuki's passivity left her. She sat up quivering, -and then with nervous quickness she began to dress herself. She could -not open the door of the stateroom. She was unused to strange doors that -required the pushing of springs and bolts. She had lived in a land where -bolts and locks were almost unknown, where a shoji fell apart at a touch -of a hand. Now she pushed hard against the door, but, as she had not -turned the handle, it refused to move. A terror possessed her that they -had locked her in this tiny, awful cell, to which penetrated no light -save that which filtered through a small porthole against which the -waters beat and beat. - -She flung herself desperately against the door, battering it with her -tiny hands; she felt herself growing dizzy and blind as the ship rocked -and swayed beneath her feet. She tried to pace the tiny length of the -stateroom, her sense of terrible loneliness and homesickness deepening -with every moment. The moving of the ship horrified her, and the -knowledge that it was taking her farther and farther from her home -across the immense bottomless sea filled her with a terror akin to -nothing She had ever known in her life before. - -In the sickening, wearying dazzle of the few days previous to their -sailing, the girl's mind had held but one thought--to go far away from -the scenes of her pain; now perhaps the reaction had come, and her -terror at the step she had taken appalled her. Memory, which had been -thrust out of sight by the ever-present nagging pain that had blinded -her to all else, now asserted its power, merciless and invincible. She -pressed her hands to her head, as though to blot out forever from her -mind the pitiless ghosts that haunted her. - -Like the wraiths that come and vanish in a nightmare, the events of her -life came to her one by one--the happy childhood with her brother, their -passionate devotion to each other, her grief at his departure for -America, the months of struggle that had followed, sacrifices made for -him, her attempts to make a living sufficient for his maintenance in -America, and then--her marriage! After that, memory held no other -thought but the immeasurable craving and longing that was almost madness -for the voice, the touch, the sight of the man she had loved and left. - -It was three days before her illness ended. Then, having begged the -consent of the woman who attended her, she crept up the companion-way -and out on deck, where the passengers were disporting and enjoying -themselves. - -She had looked forward to the time when she would regain sufficient -strength to leave her prison-cell, for such she regarded her stateroom. -In the strange medley of ideas which had curiously woven themselves into -a maze in her mind, she had imagined that once in the open on deck she -would see once more the shores of her home, Fujiyama's lofty peak -smiling against its celestial background, and hanging like a mirage in -mid-air. - -But there was no sight visible to her, as, with her hand shading her -eyes, she looked out before her, save a vast, cold, pitiless waste of -surging waters, jumping up to meet the sky, which smiled or glowered -with its moods. - - * * * * * - -In the months that followed, Yuki met with nothing but kindness from the -American theatrical manager and his wife. With them she went to China, -India, the Philippines, and finally to Australia. From all these -different points the American theatrical scout drew together a motley -troupe of jugglers, fancy dancers, wizards, fencers, and performers of -one sort and another, with which he hoped to make a larger fortune in -America. He had combined business with this long pleasure trip, for he -was on his bridal tour at the time. - -By some remarkable intuition peculiar sometimes to the gayest and most -frivolous hearted of women of the world, the wife of the theatrical -manager had gained some insight into the cause of the pitiful -sensitiveness and shrinking shyness of the queer little Japanese girl -with the blue eyes, to whom she had taken an extravagant fancy. - -She had taken Yuki under her personal charge, and sheltered and shielded -the girl from the overbold scrutiny of those with whom they daily came -in contact. It was many months, however, before she learned her history. -In fact, it was only a few days before their expected departure for -America, the great country in the west, which seemed to Yuki as far -distant as the stars above her. - -As the time for their departure, which had been delayed already much -longer than the manager had anticipated, drew nearer, Yuki grew more -depressed and restless, so that to the exaggerated fancy of the American -woman she seemed to be fading away and entering into what she -emphatically called "the last stages of consumption." - -She cornered the girl relentlessly, and finally wrung from her the whole -pitiful, tragic story of her life. How homesick and weary she had been -ever since she had left Japan, how her heart seemed to faint whenever -she thought of that final interview with her brother, and of the -immeasurable longing for the man she loved, and whom she had married -"for jus' liddle bid while." - -All the big, romantic heart of the American woman went out to her as she -took her into her arms and mingled her own honest tears with Yuki's. - -"You sha'n't go to America," she said, drying her eyes with a tiny piece -of lace which served as a handkerchief. "You are going right back to -Japan, bag and baggage of you. I'm going with you, to see you get there -O.K." - -"Bud--" began Yuki, weakly. - -"Never mind, now. I know he expects to sail in a week. I don't. I'm -boss! See!" - - - - - XVIII - - THE SEASON OF THE CHERRY - BLOSSOM - - -In summer the fields of Japan are alive with color--burning flat -lowlands shimmering with the dazzling gleam of the natane and azalea -blossoms. In autumn the leaves, as well as the blossoms, have caught all -the tints of heaven and earth, and in winter the gods are said to be -resting after their riotous ramblings during the warm months. But in the -spring-time they awake, and in their lavish renewed youth bless hill and -dale and meadow and forest with an abandon unlike any other time of -year. It is the season of the cherry blossom, of the mating of the -birds, the babbling of the brooks, and the chattering and unfolding anew -of all the beauties of nature. - -It was two years from the day when Jack and Yuki had married each other -in the spring-time. And Jack was back in Tokyo. Recalled thither by a -telegram from the police headquarters, he was preparing to depart for -America, where the police claimed they had positive evidence that Yuki -had gone. He was staying at an American hotel in the city proper, and -his heart on this day sickened and yearned for the little house only a -few miles away that he longed and yet dreaded to see again. - -Now that he contemplated leaving Japan, the dread possibility that Yuki -might still be in the country and that he would be placing the distance -of thousands and thousands of miles of land and water between them, -depressed and weighed on his mind, despite the really plausible proof -the police board had that she had gone to America with a theatrical -company--that of the very man he himself had witnessed coaxing her to go -with him. - -The afternoon previous to the day set for sailing, his melancholy and -morbidness grew in intensity. With no fixed purpose in view he started -out from his hotel, tramped half-way across Tokyo, then hailed a -jinrikisha and gave the runner orders to take him to the little house -that had formerly been his home, and which he had struggled against -visiting ever since his return to Tokyo. - -As in a dream the interminable stretch of rice-fields, blue mountains, -and valleys and hamlets, stretching away into misty outlines, flashed by -him, and he noted only half absently how the heels of his runner were -all worn hard just as if they had dried in the sun. Yuki once had called -his attention to this. - -"The honorable soles are the same," she had said. "It is the perpetual -running. The gods have mercifully protected the feet from pain." - -The landscape about him, familiar as the face of a mother, gave him no -pain now. He was conscious only of a sense of ineffable rest and peace, -as a traveller who has wandered long feels when nearing home. And soon -the runner had stopped with a jerk, and was doubling over and waiting -for his pay. - -Should he humbly wait for his excellency to condescend to return to the -city? - -"Just for a little while," Jack told him absently. And he went through -the little garden gate and up the pebbled adobe path, now arched on -either side by two rows of cherry-blossom trees, that met at the top and -made a bower under which to walk. - -When he had pushed the door backward and stepped inside he paused -irresolute, his heart paining him with its rapid beating. Coming from -out the blaze of the out-door light into the shadowed room, his vision -dazzled him. But gradually the objects inside grew upon his -consciousness, and a rosy pain, an ecstasy that stung him with its -sweetness, shot upward like a dawn through all his being. - -He scarcely dared breathe, so potent was the influence of the place upon -him. He feared to stir, lest the spell, ghostly and entrancing as the -influence of a magic hand, might vanish into mistland, for with all the -immeasurable pain that rushed to his heart in a flame was mingled a -tentative, exquisite pleasure--a survival of the old joy he had once -known. - -And there came back to his mind whisperings of the old mysterious -romances she had been wont to ramble into. What was that tale of the -spirit which haunted and was felt but never seen? Was there not behind -it all some mysterious possibility of such a spirit? For the very -furnishings of the room, the mats, the vases, the old broken-down -hammock, and his big tobacco-bon, each and all of them suddenly assumed -a personality--the personality of one he loved. - -Stepping on tip-toe, he crossed the room and stooped to touch the little -drum, the sticks of which were snapped in twain. And then he suddenly -remembered how she had broken them because he had complained one day -that her drum disturbed him. He had liked the koto and the samisen; the -drum she had beaten on when she mocked him. Now the sight of it beat -against his brain and heart. - -He could not bear the sight of those little broken sticks. He tried to -cover them with his handkerchief, as if they were the evidence of a -crime. - -"The place is haunted!" he said, and scarce knew his own hollow voice, -which the echoes of the silent room mocked back at him. - -"I shall go mad," he said, and again the echoes repeated, "Mad! mad! -mad!" - -Then he covered his eyes, and sat in the silence, motionless and still. - - * * * * * - -From afar off there came to him the melancholy sweetness of the bells of -a neighboring temple. They caused his hearing exquisite pain. What -memories were recalled by them! But now every toll of the bells, slow -and muffled, seemed to speak of baffled hope and despair. There was no -balm in their sweet monotone. Would they never cease? Why were they so -loud? They had not been so formerly. Now they filled all the land with -their ringing. What were they tolling for, and, ah, why had the ghostly -visitants of his house caught up the tone, and softly, sweetly, with -piercing cadence, chanted back and echoed the sighing of the bells? - -The house was full of music, inexpressibly dear and familiar. He started -to his feet, trembling like one afflicted with ague. And gradually -words, in a fairy language that he had learned to love, began to form -themselves into the melody of a voice. - -Slowly, painfully, like one led by unseen, subtle, persuasive hands, he -went forward, and up and up the spiral stairs till he had reached her -chamber, and there he stood, like one who has come far and can go no -farther. - -One other presence besides himself was within. This he knew, and still -could not comprehend. He could see her plainly, just as she had been in -life--her little, shining head, her dear, small hands, the long, blue, -misty eyes, and the small mouth with the little pathetic droop that had -come to it in the last few days they had been together. She stood with -her hands raised, dreamily loitering before a mirror, putting cherry -blossoms in her hair on either side of her head. But at the prolonged -silence that ensued she turned slowly about, and then she saw the man -standing silently in the doorway. - -She was not a girl to scream or faint, but she went gray with fear, and -stood perfectly still there in the middle of the room. Then gradually -her eyes travelled upward to the man's face, and there they remained -transfixed. - -For a long while they faced each other thus, both with hearts that -seemed not to beat. Then the man made a movement towards her, a -passionate, wild movement, and she had dropped the flowers from her -hands, and had gone to meet him. The next moment he was crushing her to -him. When he released her but a moment, it was to hold her again and yet -again, as though he feared to find her gone, and his arms empty once -more, as they had been for so long. He could only breathe her -name--"Yuki! Yuki! My wife! My wife!" - -Neither tried to explain. There was time enough for that. They were -absorbed alone in the fact that they were together at last. - -Some one noisily entered the house and whirled up the stairs. It was the -American girl. She gazed in upon them with eyes and mouth agape in -amazement. - -"Well, I never!" she ejaculated, and went out and down the steps, -sobbing aloud. - -"Such a romance! Such a nice, big fellow, too! And, oh, dear me, I've -lost her sure enough now forever! Bother men, anyhow!" and she jumped -into Jack's jinrikisha and bade the man take her on the instant to -Tokyo. - - * * * * * - -Meanwhile the lovers had wandered out into the open air. He was holding -both her hands in his, and his eyes were straying hungrily over her -face; her eyes bewitched him; her lips thrilled him. - -[Illustration: "THE THOUSAND PETALS OF CHERRY BLOSSOMS WERE FALLING -ABOUT THEM"] - -The thousand petals of cherry blossoms were falling about them, and the -birds had all flown to their garden and were twittering and bursting -their little throats with melody. A fugitive wind came up from the bay -and tossed the little scattering curls about her ears and temples. A -strand of her hair swept across his hand. He stooped and kissed it -reverently, and she laughed and thrilled under the touch of his lips. - -"I love you with all my soul," he said. "Do not laugh at me now." - -She said, "Dear my lord, I will never laugh more ad you. I laugh only -for the joy ad being with you." - -"I will take you to my home," he said. - -"I will follow you to the end of the world and beyond," said she. - -"And we will come back here again, love. We will take up the broken -threads of our lives and piece them together." - -"They shall never again be broken," she said. But he must needs spoil -her divine faith. "Till death do us part," he added. - -"No, no. We will have the faith of our simple peasant folk. We are -weded for ever an' ever." - -"Yes, forever," he repeated. - - THE END - - - - - Transcriber Notes: - -Passages in italics were indicated by _underscores_. - -Small caps were replaced with ALL CAPS. - -Throughout the dialogues, there were very many words used to mimic -accents of the speakers. Those words were retained as-is. - -The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up -paragraphs and so that they are next to the text they illustrate. - -Errors in punctuations and inconsistent hyphenation were not corrected -unless otherwise noted. - -In the frontispiece, a closing bracket was added after "See p. 8". - -On page 22, "craêpe" was replaced with "crêpe". - -On page 122, "balony" was replaced with "balcony". - -On page 159, the period before "and later," was replaced with a comma. - -On page 160, "pursuasion" was replaced with "persuasion". - -On page 226, "weded" was replaced with "wedded". - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's A Japanese Nightingale, by Winnifred Eaton - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A JAPANESE NIGHTINGALE *** - -***** This file should be named 63181-8.txt or 63181-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/1/8/63181/ - -Produced by Mary Glenn Krause, Ernest Schaal, University -of Toronto: Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: A Japanese Nightingale - -Author: Winnifred Eaton - -Illustrator: Genjiro Yeto - -Release Date: September 11, 2020 [EBook #63181] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A JAPANESE NIGHTINGALE *** - - - - -Produced by Mary Glenn Krause, Ernest Schaal, University -of Toronto: Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 381px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_cover.jpg" width="381" height="600" alt="A Japanese Nightingale" title="A Japanese Nightingale"/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 548px;"> -<a name="frontispiece" id="frontispiece"></a> -<img class="border" src="images/i_001.jpg" width="548" height="790" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"> -<p class="center">THE STORM DANCE; [See page 8]</p> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<div class="image-center"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_titlepage.jpg" width="512" height="800" -alt="A JAPANESE -NIGHTINGALE - -by - -ONOTO WATANNA - -ILLUSTRATED BY -GENJIRO YETO - -[Illustration] - -NEW YORK AND LONDON -HARPER & BROTHERS -PUBLISHERS M-C-M I-I" -title="A JAPANESE -NIGHTINGALE - -by - -ONOTO WATANNA - -ILLUSTRATED BY -GENJIRO YETO - -[Illustration] - -NEW YORK AND LONDON -HARPER & BROTHERS -PUBLISHERS M-C-M I-I" -/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<p class= "center">Copyright, 1901, by <span class="smcap">Harper & Brothers</span>.</p> - -<p class= "center"><i>All rights reserved.</i></p> - -<p class= "center">October, 1901.</p> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - -<p>Chapter <span class="ralign">"Page"</span></p> - -<ul class="TOCRSC"> - -<li>The Storm Dance <span class="ralign"> -<a href="#page1">1</a></span></li> - -<li>In Which Woman Proposes and Man Disposes<span class="ralign"> -<a href="#page16">16</a></span></li> - -<li>An Appointment<span class="ralign"> -<a href="#page34">34</a></span></li> - -<li>In Which Man Proposes<span class="ralign"> -<a href="#page46">46</a></span></li> - -<li>In Which the East and the West are United<span class="ralign"> -<a href="#page57">57</a></span></li> - -<li>The Adventuress<span class="ralign"> -<a href="#page66">66</a></span></li> - -<li>My Wife<span class="ralign"> -<a href="#page81">81</a></span></li> - -<li>Yuki’s Home<span class="ralign"> -<a href="#page94">94</a></span></li> - -<li>The Mikado’s Birthday<span class="ralign"> -<a href="#page107">107</a></span></li> - -<li>A Bad Omen<span class="ralign"> -<a href="#page121">121</a></span></li> - -<li>The Nightingale<span class="ralign"> -<a href="#page131">131</a></span></li> - -<li>Taro Burtone<span class="ralign"> -<a href="#page137">137</a></span></li> - -<li>In Which Two Men Learn of a Sister’s Sacrifice<span class="ralign"> -<a href="#page147">148</a></span></li> - -<li>A Struggle in the Night<span class="ralign"> -<a href="#page165">165</a></span></li> - -<li>The Vow<span class="ralign"> -<a href="#page177">177</a></span></li> - -<li>A Pilgrim of Love<span class="ralign"> -<a href="#page188">188</a></span></li> - -<li>Yuki’s Wanderings<span class="ralign"> -<a href="#page203">203</a></span></li> - -<li>The Season of the Cherry Blossom<span class="ralign"> -<a href="#page215">215</a></span></li> -</ul> - -<hr /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 514px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_blossoms.jpg" width="514" height="800" alt="" title=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> - -<p class="right">"PAGE"</p> - -<p>THE STORM DANCE<span class="ralign"> -<a href="#frontispiece"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></span></p> - -<p>THE NIGHTINGALE SONG<span class="ralign"> -<i>Facing p.</i><a href="#nightingale">134</a></span></p> - -<p>“THE THOUSAND PETALS OF<br /> -CHERRY BLOSSOMS WERE<br /> -FALLING ABOUT THEM”<span class="ralign"> -<a href="#thousandpetals">224</a></span></p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 595px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_coinsbranch.jpg" width="595" height="800" alt="" title=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page1" id="page1"></a>[pg 1]</span></p> - -<h1>A JAPANESE NIGHTINGALE</h1> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>I<br/> -THE STORM DANCE</h2> - -<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">The</span> last rays of sunset were tingeing -the land, lingering in splendor above -the bay. The waters had caught the -golden glow, and, miser-like, seemingly made -effort to keep it with them; -but, inexorably, the lowering sun drew -away its gilding light, leaving the -waters a dark green. The shadows -began to darken, faint stars peeped out -of the heavens, and slowly, unwillingly, -the day’s last ray followed the sunken -sun to rest; and with its vanishment -a pale moon stole overhead and threw -a seraphic light over all things.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page2" id="page2"></a>[pg 2]</span> -Out in the bay that the sun had left -was a tiny island, and on this a Japanese -business man, who must also -have been an artist, had built a tea-house -and laid out a garden. Such -an island! In the sorcerous moonlight, -one might easily believe it the -witch-work of an Oriental Merlin. -Running in every direction were narrow -jinrikisha roads, which crossed -bewildering little creeks, spanned by -entrancing bridges. These were round -and high, and curved in the centre, -and clinging vines and creeping, -nameless flowers crawled up the sides -and twined about the tiny steps which -ascended to the bridges. After crossing -a bridge shaped thus, a straight bridge -is forever an outrage to the eye and -sense. And all along the beach of this -island was pure white sand, which -looked weirdly whiter where the moonbeams -loitered and played hide-and-seek -under the tree-shadows.</p> - -<p class="indent">The seekers of pleasure who made -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page3" id="page3"></a>[pg 3]</span> -their way out to the little island on -this night moored their boats here -in the shadows beneath the trees, -and drove in fairy vehicles, pulled -by picturesque runners, clear around -the island, under the pine-trees, over -miniature brooks, into the mysterious -dark of a forest. Suddenly they were -in a blaze of swinging, dazzling lights, -laughter and music, chatter, the clattering -of dishes, the twang of the samisen, -the ron-ton-ton of the biwa. They -had reached the garden and the tea-house.</p> - -<p class="indent">Some pleasure-loving Japanese were -giving a banquet in honor of the full -moon, and the moon, just over their -heads, clothed in glorious raiment, -and sitting on a sky-throne of luminous -silver, was attending the banquet -in person, surrounded by myriad -twinkling stars, who played at being -her courtiers. Each of the guests -had his own little mat, table, and waitress. -They sat in a semicircle, and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page4" id="page4"></a>[pg 4]</span> -drank the sake hot, in tiny cups that -went thirty or more to the pint; or the -Kyoto beer that had been ordered for -the foreigners who were the chief -guests this evening. This is the toast -the Japanese made to the moon: -“May she with us drink a cup of immortality!” -and then each wished the -one nearest him ten thousand years -of joy.</p> - -<p class="indent">Now the moon-path widened on the -bay, and the moon itself expanded and -grew more luminous as though in -proud sympathy and understanding -of the thousand banquets held in her -honor this night. All the music and -noise and clatter and revel had gradually -ceased, and for a time an eloquent -silence was everywhere. Huge -glowing fire-flies, flitting back and -forth like tiny twinkling stars, seemed -to be the only things stirring.</p> - -<p class="indent">Some one snuffed the candles in the -lanterns, and threw a large mat in the -centre of the garden, and dusted it extravagantly -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page5" id="page5"></a>[pg 5]</span> -with rice flour. Then a -shaft of light, that might have been -the combination of a thousand moonbeams, -was flashed on the mat from -an opening in the upper part of the -house, and out of the shadows sprang -on to the mat a wild, vivid little figure, -clad in scintillating robes that reflected -every ray of light thrown on them; -and, with her coming, the air was -filled with the weird, wholly fascinating -music of the koto and samisen.</p> - -<p class="indent">She pirouetted around on the tips -of the toes of one little foot, clapped -her hands, and courtesied to the four -corners of the earth. Her dance was -one of the body rather than of the feet, -as back and forth she swerved. There -was a patter, patter, patter. Her garments -seemed endowed with life, and -took on a sorrowing appearance; the -lights changed to accompany her; -the music sobbed and quivered. It had -begun to rain! <i>She</i> was raining! It -seemed almost as if the pitter-patter of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page6" id="page6"></a>[pg 6]</span> -her feet were the falling of tiny raindrops; -the sadness of her garments -had increased, and now they seemed -to be weeping, at first gradually, then -faster and still faster, until finally -she was a storm—a dark, blowing, -lightning storm. From above the light -shot down in quick, sharp flashes, the -drums clashed madly, the koto wept on, -and the samisen shrieked vindictively.</p> - -<p class="indent">Suddenly the storm quieted down -and ceased. A blue light flung itself -against the now lightly swaying -figure; then the seven colors of the -spectrum flashed on her at once. She -spread her garments wide; they fluttered -about her in a large half-circle, -and, underneath the rainbow of the -gown, a girl’s face, of exquisite beauty, -smiled and drooped. Then the extinction -of light—and she was gone.</p> - -<p class="indent">A common cry of admiration and -wonder broke out from Japanese and -foreigners alike. They called for her, -clapped, stamped, whistled, cheered. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page7" id="page7"></a>[pg 7]</span> -One man’s voice rose above the clatter -of noises that had broken loose all over -the gardens. He was demanding excitedly -of the proprietor to tell him -who she was.</p> - -<p class="indent">The proprietor, smirking and bowing -and cringing, nevertheless would -not tell.</p> - -<p class="indent">The American theatrical manager -lost his head a moment. He could make -that girl’s fortune in America! He -understood it was possible to purchase -a geisha for a certain term of years. -He stood ready on the spot to do this. -He was ready to offer a good price for -her. Who was she, and where did she -live?</p> - -<p class="indent">Meanwhile the nerve-scraping dzin, -dzin, dzin of a samisen was disturbing -the air with teasing persistence. -There is something provoking and -still alluring in the music of the samisen. -It startles the chills in the blood -like the maddening scraping of a piece -of metal against stone, and still there -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page8" id="page8"></a>[pg 8]</span> -is an indescribable fascination and -beauty about it. Now as it scratched -and squealed intermittently and gradually -twittered down to a zoom, zoom, -zoom, a voice rose softly, and gently, -insinuatingly, it entered into the music -of the samisen. Only one long note -had broken loose, which neither trembled -nor wavered. When it had ended -none could say, only that it had passed -into other notes as strangely beautiful, -and a girl was singing.</p> - -<p class="indent">Again the light flashed down and -showed her standing on the same mat -on which she had danced, her hands -clasped, her face raised. She was -ethereal, divinely so. Her kimono was -all white, save where the shaft of moonbeams -touched the silk to silvery brilliance. -And her voice! All the notes -were minors, piercing, sweet, melancholy—terribly -beautiful. She was -singing music unheard in any land -save the Orient, and now for the first -time, perhaps, appreciated by the foreigners, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page9" id="page9"></a>[pg 9]</span> -because of that voice—a voice -meant for just such a medley of melody. -And when she had ceased, the last note -had not died out, did not fall, but remained -raised, unfinished, giving to -the Occidental ears a sense of incompleteness. -Her audience leaned forward, -peering into the darkness, waiting -for the end.</p> - -<p class="indent">The American theatrical manager -stalked towards the light, which lingered -a moment, and died out, as if -by magic, as he reached it. But the -girl was gone.</p> - -<p class="indent">“By Jove! She’s great!” he cried -out, enthusiastically. Then he turned -on the proprietor. “Where is she? -Where can I find her?”</p> - -<p class="indent">The man shook his head.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Oh, come, now,” the American demanded, -impatiently, “I’ll pay you.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I don’ know. She is gone.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“But you know where she lives?”</p> - -<p class="indent">The proprietor again answered in -the negative.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page10" id="page10"></a>[pg 10]</span> -“Now, wouldn’t that make one of -this country’s squatty little gods -groan?” the exasperated manager demanded -of a younger man who had -followed him forward.</p> - -<p class="indent">“She’d be a great card in vaudeville,” -the young man contented himself -with saying.</p> - -<p class="indent">“There’s a fortune in her! I’m going -to find her if she’s on this island. -Come on with me, will you?”</p> - -<p class="indent">Nothing loath, Jack Bigelow fared -forth behind the theatrical man, whom -he had never seen before that afternoon, -and whom he never expected to -see again. They hurried down one -of the narrow, shadowy roads that -almost made a labyrinth of the island. -But fortune was with them. A turn -in the road, which showed the waters -of the bay not fifty yards ahead, revealed -just in front of them two figures—two -women—both small, but one a -trifle taller than her companion.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Hi there! You!” shouted the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page11" id="page11"></a>[pg 11]</span> -manager, who, though among a people -whose civilization was older than his -own, considered them but heathen, -and gave them the scant courtesy deserved -by all so benighted in matters -theatrical. The two figures suddenly -stopped.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Are you the girl who sang?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yes,” came the answer in a clear -voice from the taller figure.</p> - -<p class="indent">The manager was not slow in coming -to the point.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Would you like to be rich?”</p> - -<p class="indent">Again the positive monosyllable, uttered -with much eagerness.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Good!” The manager’s face could -not be seen, but his satisfaction was -revealed in his voice. “Just come with -me to America, and your fortune’s -made!”</p> - -<p class="indent">She stood silent, her head down, -so that the manager prompted her -impatiently: “Well?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I stay ad Japan,” she said.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Stay at Japan!” The manager -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page12" id="page12"></a>[pg 12]</span> -barely controlled himself. “Why, you -can never get rich in this land. Now -look-a-here—I’ll call and see you to-morrow. -Where do you live?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I don’ want you call. I stay ad -Japan.”</p> - -<p class="indent">This time the manager, seeing a -possible fortune escaping him, and -having in mind the courtesy due the -heathen, delivered himself of a large -Christian oath. “If you stay here, -you’re a fool. You’ll never—”</p> - -<p class="indent">The young man named Bigelow, -who had watched the attempted bargaining -in silence, broke in with some -indignation. “Oh, let her go! She’s -got a right to do as she pleases, you -know. Don’t try to bully her into -going to America if she’d rather stay -here.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Well, I suppose I can’t use force to -make her take a good thing,” said -the manager, ungraciously. He drew -out his card-case and handed the girl -his card. “Perhaps you’ll change -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page13" id="page13"></a>[pg 13]</span> -your mind after you think about this -a bit. If you do, my name and Tokyo -address are on that card; just come -round and see me. I’m going down -to Bombay to look out for some Indian -jugglers. I’ll be gone about five -months, and will be back in Tokyo -before I start out on another trip to -China, Corea, and the Philippines, -and then off for home.”</p> - -<p class="indent">The girl took the card and listened -in silence; when he finished, she courtesied, -slipped a hand into that of her -companion, and hurried down the narrow -road.</p> - -<p class="indent">After the two Americans had made -their way back to the tea-garden, the -older one at once sought out the proprietor.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You know something about that -girl. Come, tell us,” he said, imperiously.</p> - -<p class="indent">The proprietor was profusely courteous, -but hesitated to speak of the -one who had danced and sung. Finally -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page14" id="page14"></a>[pg 14]</span> -he unbent grudgingly. He told -the theatrical man and his companion -that he knew next to nothing about -her. She had come to him a stranger, -and had offered her services. She -refused to enter into the usual contract -demanded of most geishas, and in -view of her talents he could not afford -to lose her. She was attracting large -crowds to his gardens by her strange -dances. Still he disliked and mistrusted her. -She came only when it -suited her whim, and on <i>fêtes</i> and occasions -of this kind he had no means -of knowing where she was. It was -only by accident she had happened -in this evening. Once he had attempted -to follow her, but she had discovered him, -and made him promise never -to do such a thing again, threatening -to stay away altogether if he did so. -He spoke disparagingly of her:</p> - -<p class="indent">“Beautiful, excellencies! Phow! You -cannot see properly in the deceitful -light of this honorable moon. A -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page15" id="page15"></a>[pg 15]</span> -cheap girl of Tokyo, with the blue-glass -eyes of the barbarian, the yellow -skin of the lower Japanese, the hair -of mixed color, black and red, the form -of a Japanese courtesan, and the heart -and nature of those honorably unreliable -creatures, alien at this country, -alien at your honorable country, -augustly despicable—a half-caste!”</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 514px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_waves.jpg" width="514" height="800" alt="" title=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page16" id="page16"></a>[pg 16]</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>II<br/> -IN WHICH WOMAN PROPOSES AND<br/> -MAN DISPOSES</h2> - -<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Jack Bigelow</span> was beset by the -nakodas (professional match-makers). -He was known to be one of the richest -foreigners in the city, and the nakodas -gave him no rest. Though he found -them interesting, with the little comedies -and tragedies to relate of the -matches they had made and unmade, -he had remained impregnable to their -arts. He naturally shrank from such -a union, and in this position he was -strengthened by a promise he had -made before leaving America to a college -chum, his most intimate friend, -a young English-Japanese student, -named Taro Burton, that during his -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page17" id="page17"></a>[pg 17]</span> -stay in Japan he would not append -his name to the long list of foreigners -who for a short, happy, and convenient -season cheerfully take unto themselves -Japanese wives, and with the same -cheerfulness desert them.</p> - -<p class="indent">Taro Burton was almost a monomaniac -on this subject, and denounced -both the foreigners who took to themselves -and deserted Japanese wives, -and the native Japanese, who made -such a practice possible. He himself -was a half-caste, being the product -of a marriage between an Englishman -and a Japanese woman. -In this case, however, the husband -had proved faithful to his wife and -children up to death; but then he had -married a daughter of the nobility, -a descendant of the proud Jokichi -family, and the ceremony had been -performed by an English missionary. -Despite the happiness of this marriage, -Taro held that the Eurasian was born -to a sorrowful lot, and was bitterly -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page18" id="page18"></a>[pg 18]</span> -opposed to the union of the women -of his country with men of other lands, -particularly as he was Westernized -enough to appreciate how lightly such -marriages were held by the foreigners. -It was true, of course, that after the -desertion the wife was divorced, according -to the law, but that, in Taro’s -mind, only made the matter more detestable.</p> - -<p class="indent">For five years, up to their graduation -four months before this, the young -American and the young half-Japanese -had been associated as closely together -as it is possible for two young men to -be, and a strong and deep affection -existed between them.</p> - -<p class="indent">It had been originally decided that -the friends would make this trip together, -which in Taro Burton’s case -was to be his return to the home he -had left, and, with Jack Bigelow, was -to be the beginning of a year’s travel -preliminary to entering the business -of his father, who was a rich shipbuilder. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page19" id="page19"></a>[pg 19]</span> -But for some reason, which -he never clearly set forth to his friend, -Taro had backed out at almost the -last minute; yet he had urged Jack to -undertake the trip alone, and, under -promise to follow shortly, finally had -prevailed. So Jack Bigelow had made -the long voyage to Japan, and had -taken a pretty house of his own a short -distance from Tokyo.</p> - -<p class="indent">It was unfortunate that Taro could -not have accompanied his friend, for, -while the latter was not a weak character, -he was easy-going, good-natured, -and easily manipulated through his -feelings.</p> - -<p class="indent">The young Japanese, had he done -nothing else, at least would have kept -the nakodas and their offerings of -matrimonial happiness on the other -side of the American’s doors. As it -was, one of them in particular was so -picturesque in appearance, quaint in -speech, and persistent in his calls, that -the young man had encouraged his -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page20" id="page20"></a>[pg 20]</span> -visits, until a certain jocular intimacy -put their relations with each other on -a pleasant and familiar footing.</p> - -<p class="indent">It was this nakoda (Ido was his name, -so he told Jack) who brought an applicant -for a husband to his house, one -day, and besought him at least to hold -a look-at meeting with her.</p> - -<p class="indent">“She is beautiful like unto the sun-goddess,” -he declared, with the extravagance -of his class.</p> - -<p class="indent">“The last was like the moon,” said -the young man, laughing. “Have -you any stars to trot out?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Stars!” echoed the other, for a -moment puzzled, and then, beaming -with delighted enlightenment, “Ah, -yes—her eyes, her feet, hair, hands, -twinkling like unto them same stars! -She prays for just a look-at meeting -with your excellency.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Well, for the fun of the thing, -then,” said the other, laughing. “I’m -sure I don’t mind having a look-at -meeting with a pretty girl. Show -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page21" id="page21"></a>[pg 21]</span> -her into the zashishi (guest-room) -and I’ll be along in a moment. But, -look here,” he continued, “you’d better -understand that I’m only going -through this ceremony for the fun of -the thing, mind you. I don’t intend -to marry any one—at all events, not a -girl of that class.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Nod for a leetle while whicheven?” -persuaded the nakoda.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Nod for a leetle while whicheven,” -echoed the young man, but the agent -had disappeared.</p> - -<p class="indent">When Jack, curious to know what -she was like, she who was seeking -him for a husband, entered the zashishi, -he found the blinds high up and the -sunshine pouring into the room. His -eyes fell upon her at once, for the -shoji at the back of the room was parted, -and she stood in the opening, her head -drooping bewitchingly. He could not -see her face. She was quite small, -though not so small as the average -Japanese woman, and the two little -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page22" id="page22"></a>[pg 22]</span> -hands, clasped before her, were the -whitest, most irresistible and perfect -hands he had ever seen. He had heard -of the beauty of the hands of the -Japanese women, and was not surprised -to find even a girl of this -class—she was a geisha, of course, he told -himself—with such exquisite, delicate -hands. He knew she was holding them -so that they could be seen to advantage, -and her little affected pose amused and -pleased him.</p> - -<p class="indent">After he had looked at her a moment, -she subsided to the mats and made -her prostration. She was dressed very -gayly in a red crêpe kimono, tied about -with a purple obi. Her hair was dressed -after the fashion of the geisha, with -a flower ornament at top and long, -pointed daggers at either side; but as -she bowed her head to the mats, some -pin in her hair escaped and slipped, -and then a tawny, rebellious mass -of hair, which was never meant to be -worn smoothly, had fallen all about -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page23" id="page23"></a>[pg 23]</span> -her, tumbled into her eyes and over -her ears, and literally covered her little -crouching form. She shivered in shame -at the mishap, and then knelt very still -at his feet.</p> - -<p class="indent">Bigelow was speechless. Never before -in his life had he seen such hair. -It was black, though not densely so, -for all over it, even where it had been -darkened with oil, there was a rich -red tinge, and it was luxuriously thick -and long and wavy.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Good heavens!” he said, after the -little figure had remained absolutely -motionless for a full minute; “she’ll -hurt or cramp herself in that position.”</p> - -<p class="indent">The girl did not rise at the sound -of his voice, but crept nearer to him, -her hair still enshrouding her. It -made him feel creepy, and annoyed -and pleased and amused him altogether.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Don’t do that,” he said. “Please -stand up. Do!”</p> - -<p class="indent">The nakoda told him to lift her to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page24" id="page24"></a>[pg 24]</span> -her feet, and the young man did so, -entangling his hands in her hair. -When she stood up, he saw her face, -which was oval and rosy, the lips very -red. She still drooped her eyes, so that -her face was incomplete.</p> - -<p class="indent">“What’s your name?” he asked her, -gently. “And what do you want -with me?”</p> - -<p class="indent">Now she raised her head and he -saw her eyes. They startled him. -They were large, though narrow, and -intensely, vividly blue. Before, with -her hair neatly smoothed and dressed, -he had noticed nothing extraordinary -about her; now, with that rich -red-black hair enshrouding her, and -the long, blue eyes looking at him -mistily, she was an eerie little creature -that made him marvel. A Japanese -girl with such hair and eyes! And -yet the more he looked at her the more -he saw that her clothes became her; -that she was Japanese despite the hair -and eyes. He did not try to explain -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page25" id="page25"></a>[pg 25]</span> -the anomaly to himself, but he could -not doubt her nationality. There was -no other country she could belong to.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You are Japanese?” he finally -asked, to make sure.</p> - -<p class="indent">She nodded.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I thought so, and yet—”</p> - -<p class="indent">She smiled, and her eyes closed a -trifle as she did so. She was all Japanese -in a moment, and prettier than -ever.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You see—your eyes and hair—” he -began again. She nodded and dimpled, -and he knew she understood.</p> - -<p class="indent">“What is it you want with me?” -he asked, desiring rather to hear her -speak than to learn her object, for -this he knew.</p> - -<p class="indent">She was solemn now. She flushed, -and her eyes went down. To explain -to him why she had come to him in -this wise was a painful task. He -could guess that, but she forced the -words past her lips.</p> - -<p class="indent">“To be your wife, my lord,” she -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page26" id="page26"></a>[pg 26]</span> -said in English, and the queer quality -of her voice thrilled him strangely.</p> - -<p class="indent">This was the answer he knew was -coming; nevertheless it stirred him in -a way he had not expected. To have -this wonderfully pretty girl before him, -beseeching him to marry her—he who -had as yet never dreamed of marriage -for himself—was disturbing to his balance -of mind. Nay, more—it was revolting. -He shrank back involuntarily, -wondering why she had come to him, -and this wonder he put into words.</p> - -<p class="indent">“But why do you want to marry -me?” he asked.</p> - -<p class="indent">The expression of her face was enigmatical now. -She had ceased to blush -and smile, and had become quite white. -Suddenly she commenced to laugh—thrilling, -elfish laughter, that rang out -through the room, startling the echoes -of the house.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Why?” he repeated, fascinated.</p> - -<p class="indent">She shrugged her shoulders. “I mus’ -make money,” she said.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page27" id="page27"></a>[pg 27]</span> -Of course this was her reason; he -knew that before she spoke; but hearing -her say so gave him pain. She -was such a dainty little body.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Oh, you need not sell yourself for -that,” he said, earnestly. “Why, I’ll -give you some—all you want. You’re -awfully young, aren’t you? Just a -little girl. <i>I</i> can’t marry you. It -wouldn’t be fair to you.”</p> - -<p class="indent">Again she shrugged her shoulders, -and spoke in Japanese to the nakoda.</p> - -<p class="indent">“She says some one else will, then,” -he interpreted.</p> - -<p class="indent">“All right,” said the young man, -almost bitterly.</p> - -<p class="indent">She pretended to go towards the -door, and then came back towards -Bigelow.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I seen you before,” she announced, -ingenuously.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Where?” He was curiously interested. -He fancied that her face was -familiar.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Ad tea-house.”</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page28" id="page28"></a>[pg 28]</span> -“What tea-house?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“On liddle bit island. You ‘member? -I dance like this-a-way.” She performed -a few steps.</p> - -<p class="indent">“What! you that girl?” He knew -her in an instant now. “How could -you remember me?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“You following me after dance with -‘nudder American gent, and before thad -some one point ad you—ole wooman -thad always accompanying me.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“How did <i>she</i> know me?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“She din know you to speag ad, -bud—she saying you mos’ reech barbarian -ad all Japan.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Oh, I see,” he said, coldly.</p> - -<p class="indent">“She tell me I bedder git marry -with you.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Indeed! Why?”</p> - -<p class="indent">She hung her head a moment. “Because -she know I luffing with you,” -she said.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You loving with <i>me</i>!” He laughed -outright. Her ingenuousness was entrancing.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page29" id="page29"></a>[pg 29]</span> -“Yes,” she said, and he, with masculine -conceit, half believed her.</p> - -<p class="indent">“But wouldn’t you rather stay at -the tea-house than get married?” he -asked.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Not nuff money that businesses,” -she returned.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Do you do everything for money?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“How I goin’ to live?”</p> - -<p class="indent">This question, answering a question, -brought her back to the purpose -of her visit. She held her little hands -out to him.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Ah, excellency, <i>pray</i> marry with -me,” she begged.</p> - -<p class="indent">He took her hands quickly in his -own. They were soft and so small. -He could enclose them with one of his. -They were delightful. He knew they -were daintily perfumed, like everything -else about her. He did not let -them go.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You ought not to marry, you know,” -he said to her, almost boyishly. “How -old are you, anyhow?”</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page30" id="page30"></a>[pg 30]</span> -She ignored his question.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I will be true, good wife to you forever,” -she said, and then swiftly corrected herself, -as though frightened -by her own words. “No, no, I make -ridigulous mistage—not forever—jus’ -for liddle bit while—as you desire, -augustness!”</p> - -<p class="indent">“But I don’t desire,” he laughed -nervously. “I don’t want to get married. -I won’t be over a few months -at most in Japan.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Oh, jus’ for liddle bit while marry -with me,” she breathed, entreatingly—“Pl-ease!”</p> - -<p class="indent">It hurt him strangely to have her -plead so. She looked delicate and refined -and gentle. He put her hands -quickly from him. She held them -out and put them back again into his. -Her eyes clouded, and he thought she -was going to cry.</p> - -<p class="indent">He was seized with a desire to keep -her from weeping, if he could, this -little creature, who seemed made for -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page31" id="page31"></a>[pg 31]</span> -anything but tears. He spoke from -this impulse, without giving so much -as a second’s thought to the seriousness -of his words.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Don’t cry. I’ll marry you, of -course, if you want me to.”</p> - -<p class="indent">He felt the hands in his own tremble.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Thangs, excellency,” she said, in -a voice that was barely above a whisper, -but it was a voice which had in -it no note of joy.</p> - -<p class="indent">There was pleasure, however, in -the eyes of the nakoda. He had done -a good piece of business, a most excellent -piece of business, for the American -gentleman was reputed to be able -to buy hundreds and hundreds of rice-fields -if he so cared to do. The nakoda -came forward with a benignant smile -to arrange the terms.</p> - -<p class="indent">“She will cost only three hundred -yen per down and fifteen yen each end -per week. Soach a cheap price for a -wife!”</p> - -<p class="indent">It was the grinning face of this -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page32" id="page32"></a>[pg 32]</span> -matrimonial middleman that brought -Bigelow back to his senses. He had -said he would marry this little creature, -whose limp hands he was holding. -He dropped them as though they were -the hands of one dead, and drew back.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I won’t do it!” he almost shouted. -“Never!” Then he thought what must -be the feelings of the little girl whose -yoke of marriage he was refusing, and -softened. “I wasn’t thinking when -I said I would. I don’t want to marry -a Japanese girl. I don’t want to marry -any girl. I wouldn’t be doing right, -and it wouldn’t be fair to you.” He -paused, and then added, lamely, “I -think I’d like you awfully, though, if I -only knew you.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“But—” spoke up the nakoda, anxiously, -who found his dream of a large -fee fading into thin air.</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack turned upon him quickly and -gave him a sharp look, whereat he -retired hurriedly.</p> - -<p class="indent">A look of relief had come over the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page33" id="page33"></a>[pg 33]</span> -girl’s face when Jack had cried out -that he would not marry her, and at -this he wondered much. This relief -in her face, however, was succeeded -almost instantly by disappointment. -But she spoke no further word. She -gave him a single hurried glance from -beneath fluttering eyelashes, courtesied -until her head was almost on a level -with his knees, and left him.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 770px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_ladyinstrument.jpg" width="770" height="800" alt="" title=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page34" id="page34"></a>[pg 34]</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>III<br/> -AN APPOINTMENT</h2> - -<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Jack Bigelow</span> regarded the attempt -of the nakoda and little -Miss —— (he had not even thought to ask -her name) as an incident closed by the -retirement of the one aspiring to wifehood -from his sight. But in passing -from his house she had not passed -from his mind. This she occupied in -spite of him, though it must be said -that Jack made no effort to eject her.</p> - -<p class="indent">He had been approached by many -nakodas, who had the disposal of -some most excellent wives, so they -had told him, but never before had he -consented to see one of their offerings; -so the sensation of being asked in marriage -by a girl whom he had only seen -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page35" id="page35"></a>[pg 35]</span> -once before, and that under circumstances -which prevented his seeing -her clearly, was altogether new. That -he, John Hampden Bigelow, A.B.—he -was very proud of that A.B., it had -not cost him any particular labor—should -be so sought out was not at -all displeasing to his vanity, a quality -that he prided himself on not possessing; -this, notwithstanding the fact -that he knew he had been approached -because he had money.</p> - -<p class="indent">He chuckled at the event several -times during the day. He would keep -this incident in mind, with all its detail, -and make use of it now and then -after he had returned home, when he -was called upon to talk of his experiences -in other lands. Of course, he -would exaggerate a bit here and tone -down a bit there, and would make the -girl much prettier. No, the girl was -pretty enough. This part of the incident -could not be improved upon.</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack mused about the morning’s -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page36" id="page36"></a>[pg 36]</span> -episode during the entire day, and -twice exploded into such laughter at -the idea of his being asked for a husband -that his little man hurried in -to see if the gay-eyed barbarian was -taking leave of his senses. In the -evening he grew restless, and, having -nothing else to do—so he told himself—he -went out to the tea-garden -on the little island which he had visited -a few nights before. For an hour he -waited for something—for something -that did not appear. Finally, when -the proprietor chanced to pass him, -he asked in the manner of one casually -interested:</p> - -<p class="indent">“The girl who danced and sang -the other night—is she here?”</p> - -<p class="indent">She was not, for which the proprietor -humbly asked pardon. She had not -visited his poor place since the night -the American had seen her.</p> - -<p class="indent">For some reason Jack suddenly lost -interest in the house and gardens, and -returned to his home. But the next -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page37" id="page37"></a>[pg 37]</span> -night—again because he had nothing -else to do—found him once more a -guest at the tea-garden. This time -he did not leave at the end of an hour; -possibly because a weird dance was -performed and a weird song sung by a -girl with vivid blue eyes. He could -not see their color from where he sat, -but he knew they were blue.</p> - -<p class="indent">After that he fell into the habit of -visiting the gardens every night—these -were dull times in Tokyo—never -anything else to do. Most of the evenings -so spent were intensely wearisome, -but some few of them were not. -It may only have been a series of coincidences, -but it so happened that on the -enjoyable evenings there was a weird -dance and a weird song, and on the -others there were not the graceful -swayings of a little body, nor the wonderful -music of a wonderful voice.</p> - -<p class="indent">One evening, immediately after the -song had been ended, he found himself -striding down the same road he -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page38" id="page38"></a>[pg 38]</span> -had taken with the excited theatrical -manager, and this without consciously -having decided upon such a course. -But he came down to the beach without -seeing man or woman, and, though -he would not acknowledge to himself -that he was seeking any one, he carried -away with him a keen sense of disappointment.</p> - -<p class="indent">For two weeks the dulness of Tokyo -remained unabated, so that the evenings -offered nothing else to do save -to go to the tea-gardens. At the end -of that time, Jack, becoming honest -with himself, admitted that there was -nothing else, because there was nothing -else he wanted to do, and while -in this frank mood he let it become -known to himself that there was nothing -else in all the land of the rising -sun that held so much of interest to -him as did the girl who had offered -herself to him for wife—nothing, indeed, -in all the other lands of the earth. -Why this was, he did not know, not -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page39" id="page39"></a>[pg 39]</span> -being one given to searching his own -soul or the souls of others.</p> - -<p class="indent">While he reclined at his ease one -afternoon in the little room in which -he lounged and smoked, he began to -place her, in his imagination, here and -there in the house, to try the effect.</p> - -<p class="indent">He set her in one of his largest chairs, -notwithstanding she would have been -much more comfortable on the floor, -in this same room, and she added wonderfully -to the appearance of things. -He stood her pensively by the tokonona; -he nodded his head—very good! -He placed her out beneath a cherry-tree -in his garden; again he nodded -approvingly. And a breakfast with -her sitting opposite him! That would -be like unto the breakfasts eaten by -the angels in heaven—if angels partake -of other than spiritual nourishment. -Yes, she would be wonderfully -effective in his little house, would -harmonize with it greatly.</p> - -<p class="indent">But what an odd figure she would -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page40" id="page40"></a>[pg 40]</span> -make in an American dress! He -thought of her in a golfing costume, -and smiled at his fancy. Nevertheless, -even in the gowns worn by the -women of his own country, she would -be quaint and charming, he felt sure. -She would be awkward, of course, but -would be graceful even in her awkwardness. -And she would transgress -every polite convention, and would make -herself all the more delightful in so -doing. He compared her to the wives -of some of the men he knew, to many -of the girls he had met since girls had -begun to have interest for him, and -his admiration for her grew apace. He -would be proud of her, he knew, for she -was pretty and would attract attention; -men like their wives to draw eyes -towards them. She was unlike the wife -of any of his countrymen he was likely -to meet, and this also was much.</p> - -<p class="indent">What would his parents think? -They’d be angry at first, of course, but -they’d give in; they loved him, and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page41" id="page41"></a>[pg 41]</span> -couldn’t resist her; no one could resist -her. Anyhow, this prospective -trouble was so far ahead that there was -no use in wasting thought upon it now.</p> - -<p class="indent">Why the deuce hadn’t he learned -her name? It was very monotonous -this being compelled to think of her only -as “she” and “her.”</p> - -<p class="indent">But why had she come to him asking -him to marry her? He shook his head -at that; he didn’t quite like it. But—oh, -well, you know, these Japs have no -end of queer customs. This incident -just illustrated one of them. She was -clearly a superior kind of a girl. Not -an ordinary geisha as he had thought -when his eyes first fell on her. He -had seen enough of the geishas at the -tea-houses to know that she was of a -different kind; to his Occidental eyes -these last were most pleasing creatures, -but—</p> - -<p class="indent">Just then his man straggled through -the room and brought an end to his -musing. Marry her? He sat up -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page42" id="page42"></a>[pg 42]</span> -straight. What had he been thinking -about? The idea was absurd. -It was absurd for him to think about -marrying any one. He got to his feet, -called back his man, and ordered a -jinrikisha to be brought to him. He -rode off to Tokyo to forget all about it.</p> - -<p class="indent">But it would not be forgotten. After -he had left the jinrikisha he caught -sight of her on the opposite side of the -street, turning a corner. He hurried -after her, but when he reached the -corner she was nowhere to be seen. -He looked into all the shops on either -side of the street for a distance of a -hundred yards, but saw no one who -bore the least resemblance to her. -Then he tramped about the immediate -vicinity, his sense of loss deepening -with each minute, until he noticed that -the shop-keepers were eying him with -suspicion. He gave up the search and -started back to his jinrikisha.</p> - -<p class="indent">As he was swinging along disconsolately, -his eyes lighted upon another -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page43" id="page43"></a>[pg 43]</span> -person whom he knew—Ido, the nakoda—and -him Jack did not let escape. He -pounced down upon him, and clapped a -hand upon his shoulder.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Hallo there!” he called out.</p> - -<p class="indent">Ido started back as if he had been -set upon by an enemy. He was unused -to such emphatic greetings. But -when he saw who his assailant was -he slipped a smile upon his face, smirked -and bowed, and hoped that the august -American’s days were filled with -joy.</p> - -<p class="indent">“They’ll do,” Jack answered. “And -how are things with you? Business -good? Making many matches?”</p> - -<p class="indent">Ido had introduced four persons to -incomparable happiness—which was to -say, he had brought about two marriages. -Had his lordship come into -like happiness?</p> - -<p class="indent">No, his lordship had not.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You making gradest mistage you’ -whole lifetime,” Ido assured him. -“You nod yit seen Japanese woman -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page44" id="page44"></a>[pg 44]</span> -that please you for wife? No? I -know nodder girl you’ excellency nod -seen yit. Mos’ beautiful in Japan. -You like see her?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“No, I’ve seen enough. By-the-way, -Ido, what’s become of the girl -you brought around to my place? -Married yet?” Jack put on a look of -indifferent interest.</p> - -<p class="indent">“No, excellency.”</p> - -<p class="indent">For one disinterested, Jack found -much relief in this answer.</p> - -<p class="indent">“But I thing she going to be,” Ido -went on, calmly. “Two, three—no, -two odder gents—What you say?—consider—yes, -consider her.”</p> - -<p class="indent">These words drove relief from the -disinterested Jack’s heart, and instantly -set up in its place a raging -jealousy. But he compelled himself to -remark, quite easily, “You don’t say!”</p> - -<p class="indent">Ido confirmed his statement with a -nod that was almost a bow.</p> - -<p class="indent">“A very pretty girl,” Jack commented, -loftily.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page45" id="page45"></a>[pg 45]</span> -Ido’s reply was confined to a mere -“Yes.” There was no use going into -ecstasies when no bargain was in sight.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I think I’ll go around to see her, -and congratulate her,” Jack went on. -“Where does she live?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I regretfully cannot tell.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Ah, well, let it go then. But, say, -I really would like to see her again -before she’s married. Rather took a -fancy to her, you know. Couldn’t you -bring her to call on me to-morrow morning?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I going to be very busy to-morrow.” -Seeing no chance of earning a marriage-fee, -he saw no reason for taking -the trip.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I’ll pay you for your trouble—needn’t -worry about that.”</p> - -<p class="indent">Perhaps Ido could arrange to come; -yes, now that he thought again, he -knew he could come.</p> - -<p class="indent">So it was settled that he and the -girl should visit Jack at ten o’clock -the next day.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 720px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_bowingwomen.jpg" width="720" height="800" alt="" title=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page46" id="page46"></a>[pg 46]</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>IV<br/> -IN WHICH MAN PROPOSES</h2> - -<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">The</span> announcement of his man that -Ido and his charge had arrived contained -no news for Jack, for he had -been watching the road from Tokyo -since nine o’clock, and had seen them -while they were yet afar off. Nevertheless, -he did not enter the zashishi -until his man came to him with word -that guests from the city were awaiting -him, and then he had no definite idea -of what he intended to do.</p> - -<p class="indent">She was dressed exactly as she had -been on her previous visit, and she -made obeisance almost to the floor, -in greeting him, as she then had done. -He hastened her recovery from the -deep courtesy by taking her hands -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page47" id="page47"></a>[pg 47]</span> -and raising her to an upright posture.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You have come to see me again? -I am very glad to see you,” he said, -with eager politeness.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Nakoda say you wish see me. Tha’s -why I come.” There was not a trace -of her former coquetry in her manner.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yes, I had to send Ido after you. -I don’t suppose you would ever have -let me see you again if I had not.”</p> - -<p class="indent">She shrugged her shoulders imperceptibly. -“Me you don’ wish marrying -with. You send me ‘way. -What I do?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“We could be capital friends, even -if we didn’t care to marry, couldn’t -we?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Frien’? I don’ wan’ frien’,” she -returned, coldly.</p> - -<p class="indent">“But I’d like to have you for my -friend, all the same, though I’m afraid -it’s not possible. Ido”—he hesitated—“Ido -says you’re going to be married, -you know.”</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page48" id="page48"></a>[pg 48]</span> -She inclined her head.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You’re not married yet, are you?” -he asked in alarm, forgetting that he -had put this same question to the -nakoda the day before.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Nod yit.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Do you—um—like him?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Which one, my lord?” She looked -up at him innocently.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Oh, both of them!” He was beginning -to get angry. He would find -pleasure in laying violent hands upon -the two, one at a time.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Jus’ liddle bit, augustness.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Better than you do me?” he demanded, -jealously.</p> - -<p class="indent">She shook her head decisively. -“You nod so ole, an nod so—hairy-like.” -She rubbed her little hands -over her face, by which he understood -that the two wore beards. They were -doubtless of his own country.</p> - -<p class="indent">He hardly knew what to say next, and -the silence grew embarrassing to him. -She broke it by remarking, very quietly:</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page49" id="page49"></a>[pg 49]</span> -“Nakoda inform me you wan’ make -liddle bit talk ad me.”</p> - -<p class="indent">He turned to the match-maker, who -was pretending deep interest in a -framed drawing on the wall. “Say, -Ido, just step into the next room a -minute, will you?”</p> - -<p class="indent">He turned back to the girl, as soon -as Ido had obeyed him, with extravagant -alacrity.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You have never even told me your -name,” he said.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yuki.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“That means ‘Snowflake,’ doesn’t -it? I like it. Well now, Yuki, mayn’t -I visit you at your home, before you -are married?”</p> - -<p class="indent">He was anxious to see what her -people were like, and how she lived.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Mos’ poor house in all Tokyo—so liddle -bit house augustness nod lige come.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“But I don’t care if it is. I want to -come anyhow. I want to see you, not -the house. Won’t you tell me where -you live?”</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page50" id="page50"></a>[pg 50]</span> -She shook her head. “No,” She -said with simple directness, and then -added as an after-thought, “House -too small. You altogedder too big to -enter thad liddle bit insignificant hovel.”</p> - -<p class="indent">Her answer gave him offence. He -wondered why she should dissemble, -wondered whether she was laughing at -him. A glance at her, however, and his -distrust vanished. She seemed such a -simple little body, yet he knew he did -not understand her.</p> - -<p class="indent">Her eyes, which she had kept turned -downward, slowly uplifted and looked -questioningly into his own. Such -wonderful eyes! Such a simple, exquisite -face! He was suddenly suffused -with a great wave of tenderness, -and he bent low, and gently made -prisoners of her hands. However indefinite -his purpose had been up to -this time, it was definite enough now.</p> - -<p class="indent">“So you remember, Yuki, what -you asked me when you were here before?”</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page51" id="page51"></a>[pg 51]</span> -“Yes.” She still gazed at him -questioningly.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Would you like to—would you -rather marry me than one of those -other fellows?” he said, softly.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yes,” again, in the smallest voice -this time.</p> - -<p class="indent">He hesitated, and she asked, quickly, -“You <i>wan</i>’ me do so?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“That’s just what I want, Yuki, -dear,” he whispered, drawing her -hands to his lips.</p> - -<p class="indent">“All ride.” She trembled—perhaps -shivered is the better word—as she said -this, but gave no other sign of emotion.</p> - -<p class="indent">Before Jack could so much as touch -his lips to her forehead, Ido entered -smiling his professional blessing. It -was evident that in the other room -he had found no drawing to distract -his attention, and a large new peephole -in the immaculate shoji indicated -where he had given all his eyes and -ears to what was going on, and he -could wait no longer to press his claim.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page52" id="page52"></a>[pg 52]</span> -Jack, seeing an unpleasant duty -before him, and desiring to have done -with it at once, told Yuki that he would -be back in a minute, and led the nakoda -into the room out of which he had just -come.</p> - -<p class="indent">Ido immediately began to make -terms. This part was loathsome to -the young man.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Why,” he said, hotly, “if we’re to -be married, she can have all she wants -and needs.”</p> - -<p class="indent">That wouldn’t do at all, the nakoda -told him, warily. There would have -to be a marriage settlement and a stated -allowance agreed upon. He would -have to pay more, also, as she was a -maid and not a widow.</p> - -<p class="indent">When the ugly terms of the agreement -were completed, the nakoda bowed -himself out, and Jack went back to -Yuki. He found her changed; her simplicity -had left her, and her coquetry -had returned. She stood off from -him, and he felt constrained and awkward. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page53" id="page53"></a>[pg 53]</span> -After a time she demanded of -him, with a shrewd inflection in her -voice:</p> - -<p class="indent">“You goin’ to lige me, excellency?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“No question of that,” he answered -promptly, smiling.</p> - -<p class="indent">“No,” she repeated, “tha’s sure -thing,” and then she laughed at her -own assurance, and she was so pretty -he wanted to kiss her, but she backed -from him in mock alarm.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Tha’s nod ride,” she declared, “till -we marry.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“God speed the day!” he said, with -devout joyousness. Still approaching -her, as she backed from him, he questioned -her boyishly:</p> - -<p class="indent">“And you? Will you like me?”</p> - -<p class="indent">She surveyed him critically. Then -she nodded emphatically. They laughed -together this time, but when he approached -her she grew fearful. He did -not want to frighten her.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You god nod anudder wife?” she -asked.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page54" id="page54"></a>[pg 54]</span> -“No! Good heavens!”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I god nod anudder hosban’,” she -informed him, complacently.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I should hope not.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Perhaps,” she said, “you marrying -with girl in Japan thad god marry -before. Me? I <i>never</i>.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“No, of course not.” He didn’t -quite understand what she was driving -at.</p> - -<p class="indent">Then she said: “You pay more -money ad liddle girl lige me whad nod -been marry before?”</p> - -<p class="indent">He recoiled and frowned heavily -at her.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I settled that matter with the -nakoda,” he said, coldly.</p> - -<p class="indent">Seeing he was displeased, she tried -to conciliate him. She smiled at him, -engagingly, coaxingly.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You don’ lige me any more whicheven.”</p> - -<p class="indent">But his face did not clear up. She -had hurt him deeply by her reference -to money.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page55" id="page55"></a>[pg 55]</span> -“Perhaps you don’ want me even,” -she suggested, tentatively. “I bedder -go ‘way. Leave you all ‘lone.”</p> - -<p class="indent">She turned and was making her -way slowly out of the room, when he -sprang impetuously after her.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Don’t, Yuki!” he cried, and caught -her eagerly in his arms. She yielded -herself to his embrace, though she -was trembling like a little frightened -child. For the first time he kissed her.</p> -<hr /> - -<p class="indent">After she had left him, he stared with -some wonder at the reflection of himself -in a mirror. So he was to be married, -was he? Yes, there was no getting -out of it now. As for that, he -didn’t want to get out of it—of this -he was quite sure. He was very well -content—nay, he was enthusiastically -happy with what the future promised.</p> - -<p class="indent">But his happiness might have been -felt in less measure if his eyes, instead -of staring at his mirrored likeness, -could have been fixed on Yuki. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page56" id="page56"></a>[pg 56]</span> -She had borne herself with a joyous -air to the jinrikisha, but once within -it, and practically secure from observation, -the life had seemingly gone out -of her. The brown of her skin had -paled to gray, and all the way to Tokyo -her eyes shifted neither to right nor -left, but stared straight ahead into -nothingness, and once, when Ido looked -down, he found that they were filled -with tears.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 800px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_rickshaw.jpg" width="800" height="779" alt="" title=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page57" id="page57"></a>[pg 57]</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>V<br/> -IN WHICH THE EAST AND THE<br/> -WEST ARE UNITED</h2> - -<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">A few</span> days later they were married. -It was a very quiet little tea-drinking -ceremony, and, unlike the usual Japanese -wedding, there was not the painful -crowd of relatives and friends attendant. -In fact, no one was present, besides -themselves, save Jack’s man and -maid and the nakoda, while Yuki herself -sang the marriage song.</p> - -<p class="indent">They started housekeeping in an -ideal spot. Their house, a bit of art -in itself, was built on the crest of a -small hill. On all sides sloped and -leaned green highlands, rich in foliage -and warm in color. Beyond these -smaller hillocks towered the jagged -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page58" id="page58"></a>[pg 58]</span> -background of mountain-peaks, with -the halo of the skies bathing them in -an eternal glow. A lazy, babbling -little stream dipped and threaded its -way between the hillocks, mirroring -on its shining surface the beauty of -the neighboring hills and the inimitable -landscapes pictured on the canvas -of God—the skies—and seeming like a -twisted rainbow of ever-changing and -brilliant colors. But no surges disturbed -its waters, even far beyond -where it emptied into the mellow Bay -of Tokyo.</p> - -<p class="indent">From their elevation on the hill they -could see below them the beautiful -city of Tokyo, with its many-colored -lights and intricate maze of streets. -And all about them the hills, the meadows, -the valleys and forests bore eloquent -testimony to the labor of the -Color Queen.</p> - -<p class="indent">Pink, white, and blushy-red twigs -of cherry and plum blossoms, idly -swaying, flung out their suave fragrance -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page59" id="page59"></a>[pg 59]</span> -on the flattered breeze, the -volatile handmaid of young May, who -had freed all the imprisoned perfumes, -unhindered by the cynic snarl of the -jealous winter, and with silent, pursuasive -wooing had taught the dewy-tinctured -air to please all living nostrils. -So from the glowing and thrilling -thoughts that tremble on the young -tree of life is love distilled and, unmindful -of the assembling of the baffled -powers of cold caution and warning -fear, the heart is filled with fountain -tumults it cannot dissemble.</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack Bigelow was fascinated and -bewildered at the turn events had taken. -He was very good and gentle to her, -and for several days after the ceremony -she seemed quite happy and contented. -Then she disappeared, and for -a week he saw nothing of her.</p> - -<p class="indent">He greatly missed her—his little -bride of three or four days. He longed -ardently for her return, and her absence -alarmed him. Her little arts and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page60" id="page60"></a>[pg 60]</span> -witcheries had grown on him even in -this short period of their acquaintance.</p> - -<p class="indent">Towards the end of the week she -slipped into the house quietly, and -went about her household duties as -though nothing unusual had occurred. -She did not offer to tell him where she -had been, and he felt strangely unwilling -to force her confidence.</p> - -<p class="indent">Instead of becoming better acquainted -with her, each day found him more puzzled -and less capable of knowing or understanding -her. Now she was clinging, -artless, confiding, and again -shrewd and elfish. Now she was -laughing and singing and dancing -as giddily as a little child, and again -he could have sworn she had been -weeping, though she would deny it -stoutly, and pooh-pooh and laugh -away such an idea.</p> - -<p class="indent">He asked her one day how she would -like to be dressed in American clothes. -She mimicked him. She mimicked -everything and every one, from the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page61" id="page61"></a>[pg 61]</span> -warbling of the birds to the little man -and maid who waited on them.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I loog lige this,” she said, and -humped a bustle under her ridiculously -tight omeshi, and slipped his large -sun hat over her face. Then she -laughed out at him, and flung her -arms tightly about his neck.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You wan’ me be American girl?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“You are a witch, Yuki-san,” he -said.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I wan’ new dress,” she returned, -promptly, and held a pink little palm -out. He frowned. He almost disliked -her when she spoke of money. He -filled her hands, however, with change -from his pockets, and when she broke -away from him, which she did as soon -as she had obtained the money, he -wanted to take it back. Her pretty -laughter sifted out to him through the -shoji at the other side, and he knew -she was mocking him again.</p> - -<p class="indent">“It is her natural love of dress and -finery,” he told himself. “It is the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page62" id="page62"></a>[pg 62]</span> -eternal feminine in her, and it is bewitching.”</p> - -<p class="indent">The next day, as she sat opposite -to him, eating her infinitesimal bit -of a breakfast—a plum, a small fish, -and a tiny cup of tea—all on a little -black lacquer tray, he announced mysteriously -that he was going “on business” -to the city.</p> - -<p class="indent">She desired to accompany him, as -became a dutiful wife.</p> - -<p class="indent">No, he told her, that was impossible. -His mission was of a secret nature, -which could not be divulged until his -return.</p> - -<p class="indent">Then she insisted that she would -follow behind him after the manner of -a slave; and when he laughed at her, -she begged quite humbly and gently -that he would condescend to honorably -permit her to go with him, and -then he was for telling her his whole -pretty story, and the surprise he had -concocted to please her, when she grew -capricious and insisted that she would -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page63" id="page63"></a>[pg 63]</span> -not stir one little bit of an inch from -the house, and that he must go all -alone to the city and attend to his great, -magnificent business!</p> - -<p class="indent">He went down to Tokyo, and in his -boyish, blundering fashion he purchased -silk and crépe and linen sufficient -for fifty gowns for her.</p> - -<p class="indent">She thanked him extravagantly. -She could not imagine what she would -do with so much finery. Her honorable -person was augustly insignificant, -and could not accommodate so much -merchandise.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Now,” he thought with inward satisfaction, -“that ghost of a money question -will be laid. She has everything -she wants and shall have. I want to -do for her, and give her things without -being wheedled into it. It is that -which irritates me.”</p> - -<p class="indent">But a few days later she came to -him breathless and flustered. Lo! -some one had stolen all the beautiful -goods he had bought her. It was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page64" id="page64"></a>[pg 64]</span> -neither their man nor maid. No, no! -that was altogether impossible. They -were honest, simple folk, who feared -the gods. But they were all quite -gone—where she could not say. Who -had taken them, she could not guess. -Perhaps she, her unworthy self, and -he, his honorable augustness, had -been extremely wicked in their former -state, and the gods were now punishing -them in their present life. It would -be wicked and unavailing to attempt -to search for the missing goods. It -was the will of the gods. Maybe the -gods had been offended at such ruthless -extravagance. Ah, yes, that was -a better solution of the theft. Of course -the gods were angry. What gods -would not be? It was sinful to buy -so many things at once.</p> - -<p class="indent">She affected great distress over the -loss, and her husband, somewhat bewildered -at her elaborate apologies -for the thief who had stolen them, tried -to comfort her by saying he would -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page65" id="page65"></a>[pg 65]</span> -buy her double the quantity again, -whereat she became very solemn.</p> - -<p class="indent">“No, no,” she said. “Bedder give -me money to buy. I will purchase -jus’ liddle bit each time—to please -the gods.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 514px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_shuttlecocklady.jpg" width="514" height="800" alt="" title=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page66" id="page66"></a>[pg 66]</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>VI<br/> -THE ADVENTURESS</h2> - -<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">The</span> man in the hammock was not -asleep, for in spite of the lazy, lounging -attitude, and the hat which hid the -gray eyes beneath, he was very much -awake, and keenly interested in a certain -small individual who was sitting -on a mat a short distance removed from -him. He had invited her several times -to reduce that distance, but up to the -present she had paid no heed to his -suggestions. She was amusing herself -by blowing and squeezing between -her lower lip and teeth the berry of -the winter cherry, from which she -had deftly extracted the pulp at the -stem. She continued this strange occupation -in obstinate indifference to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page67" id="page67"></a>[pg 67]</span> -the persuasive voice from the hammock.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I say, Yuki, there’s room for two in -this hammock. Had it made on purpose.”</p> - -<p class="indent">She continued her cherry-blowing -without so much as making a reply, -though one of her blue eyes looked -at him sideways, and then solemnly -blinked.</p> - -<p class="indent">“What’s the matter, Yuki? Got the -dumps again, eh?”</p> - -<p class="indent">No reply.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Look here, Mrs. Bigelow, I’ll come -over and elope forcibly with you if -you don’t obey me.”</p> - -<p class="indent">She dimpled scornfully.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Ah, that’s right! Smile, Yuki. -You’re so pretty, so bewitching, so -irresistible when you smile.”</p> - -<p class="indent">Yuki nodded her head coolly.</p> - -<p class="indent">“How you lige me smiling forever?” -she suggested.</p> - -<p class="indent">“That wouldn’t do,” he said, grinning -at her from beneath his tipped -hat.</p> - -<p class="indent">“That would be tiresome.”</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page68" id="page68"></a>[pg 68]</span></p> - -<p class="indent">“Tha’s why I don’ smiling to-day.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Why?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“All yistidy I giggling.”</p> - -<p class="indent">He shouted with laughter at her.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Move your mat here, Yuki,” indicating -a spot close to his hammock. -“I want to talk to you.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“My ears are—”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Too small to hear from that distance,” -finished her husband. “Come.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Thangs,” with great dignity, “I -am quide comfor’ble. I don’ wan’ sit -so near you, excellency.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Why, pray?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Why? Hm! I un’erstan’. Tha’s -because I jus’ your liddle bit slave.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“You’re my wife, you little bit -fraud.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Wife? Oh, I dunno.” She pretended -to deliberate.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Then you’ve tricked me into a -false marriage, madam,” declared her -husband, with great wrath.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Tha’s fault nakoda.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“What is?”</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page69" id="page69"></a>[pg 69]</span> -“Thad you god me for wife, and,” -slowly, “servant.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Fault! Come here, servant, then. -Servants must obey.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Nod so bad master, making such -grade big noises,” she laughed back -daringly. “Besides, servant must sit -long way off from thad same noisy -master.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“And wife?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Oh, jus’ liddle bit nearer.” She -edged perhaps half an inch closer to -him. “Wife jus’ liddle bit different -from servant.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Look here, Mrs. Bigelow, you’re -not living up to your end of the contract. -You swore to honor and obey—”</p> - -<p class="indent">She laughed mockingly.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yes, you did, madam!”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I din nod. Tha’s jus’ ole Kirishitan -marriage.”</p> - -<p class="indent">He sat up amazed.</p> - -<p class="indent">“What do you know of the Christian -marriage service?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Liddle bit.”</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page70" id="page70"></a>[pg 70]</span> -“Come over here, Yuki.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“You like me sing ad you?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Come over here.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“How you like me danze?—liddle -bit summer danze?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Come over here. What’s a summer -dance, anyhow?”</p> - -<p class="indent">She ran lightly indoors, and was -back so soon that she seemed scarcely -to have left him. She had slipped -on a red-and-yellow flimsy kimono, -and had decked her hair and bosom -with flaming poppies.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Tha’s summer sunshine,” she said, -spreading her garment out on each -side with a joyous little twirl. “I am -the Sun-goddess, and you?—you jus’ -the col’, dark earth. I will descend -and warm you with my sunshine.” -For a moment she stood still, her head -thrown back, her face shining, her -lips parted and smiling, showing the -straight little white teeth within. Then -she danced softly, ripplingly, back and -forth. The summer winds were sighing -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page71" id="page71"></a>[pg 71]</span> -and laughing with her. Her face -shone out above her lightly swerving -figure, her little hands and bare arms -moved with inimitable grace.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You are a genius,” he said to her, -when she had subsided, light as a -feather blown to his feet.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Tha’s sure thing,” she agreed, -roguishly.</p> - -<p class="indent">Her assurance in herself always -tickled him immensely. He threw his -hat at her with such good aim that it -settled upon her head. She approved -his clever shot, laughed at him, and -then, pulling it over her eyes, lay down -on the mats and imitated his favorite -attitude to a nicety. He laughed uproariously. -He was in fine humor. -They had been married over a month -now, and she had not left him save -that first time. He was growing pretty -sure of her now.</p> - -<p class="indent">She perceived his good-humor, and -immediately bethought herself to take -advantage. She put the rim of his hat -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page72" id="page72"></a>[pg 72]</span> -between her teeth, imitated a monkey, -and crawled towards him, pretending to -beg for her performance. He stretched -his long arms out and tried to reach -her, but she was far enough off to elude -him.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You godder pay,” she said, “for thad -nize entertainments I giving you.”</p> - -<p class="indent">He threw her a sen. She made a -face. “That all?” she said, in a dreadfully -disappointed voice, but, despite -her acting, he saw the greedy eagerness -of her eyes. All the good-humor -vanished.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Look here, Yuki,” he said, with a -disagreeable glint in his eyes, “you’ve -had a trifle over fifty dollars this week. -I don’t begrudge you money, but I’ll -be hanged if I’m going to have you -dragging it out of me on every occasion -and upon every excuse you can make. -You have no expenses. I can’t see -what you want with so much money, -anyhow.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I godder save,” said Yuki, mysteriously, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page73" id="page73"></a>[pg 73]</span> -struck with this brilliant excuse -for her extravagance.</p> - -<p class="indent">“What for?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Why, same’s everybody else. Some -day I nod have lods money. Whad I -goin’ do then? Tha’s bedder save, eh?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I’ve married you. I’ll never let you -want for anything.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Oh, you jus’ marry me for liddle -bit while.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“You’ve a fine opinion of me, Yuki.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yes, fine opinion of you,” she repeated -after him.</p> - -<p class="indent">“There’s enough money deposited -in a bank in Tokyo to last you as long -as you live. If it’s ever necessary for -me to leave you for a time, you will not -want for anything, Yuki.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“But,” she said, argumentatively, -“when you leaving me I henceforward -a widder. I nod marry with you -any longer. Therefore I kin nod take -your money.” This last with heroic -pride.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Boo! Your qualms of conscience -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page74" id="page74"></a>[pg 74]</span> -about using my money are, to say the -least, rather extraordinary.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“When you leaving me—” she commenced -again.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Why do you persist in that? I -have no idea of leaving you.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“What!” She was quite frightened. -“You goin’ stay with me forever!” -There was far more fear than joy in -her voice.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Why not?” he demanded, sharply, -watching her with keen, savage eyes.</p> - -<p class="indent">“My lord,” she said, humbly, “I -could nod hear of thad. It would be -wrong. Too grade sacrifice for you -honorable self.”</p> - -<p class="indent">He was not sure whether she was -laughing at him or not.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You needn’t be alarmed,” he said, -gruffly. “I’m not likely to stay here -forever.” He turned his back on her.</p> - -<p class="indent">Suddenly he felt her light little hand -on his face. She was standing close -by the hammock. He was still very -angry and sulky with her. He closed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page75" id="page75"></a>[pg 75]</span> -his eyes and frowned. He knew just -how she was looking; knew if he glanced -at her he would relent ignominiously. -She pried his eyes gently open with -her fingers, and then kissed them, as -softly as a tiny bird might have done. -Gradually she crawled into the hammock -with him, regardless of non-assistance.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Augustness,” she said, her arms -about his neck now, though she was sitting -up and leaning over him. “Listen -ad me.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I’m listening.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Look ad me.”</p> - -<p class="indent">He looked, frowned, smiled, and -then kissed her. She laughed under -her breath, such a queer, triumphant, -mocking small laugh. It made him -frown again, but she kissed the frown -into a smile once more. Then she sat up.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Pray excuse me. I wan’ sit ad -your feet and talk ad you.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Can’t you talk here?” he demanded, -jealously.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page76" id="page76"></a>[pg 76]</span> -“Nod so well. I gittin’ dazzled. -Permit me,” she coaxed. He released -her grudgingly. She sat close to him -on the floor. She sighed heavily, hypocritically.</p> - -<p class="indent">“What is it now?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Well, you know I telling you about -those moneys.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yes,” he said, wearily. “Let’s shut -up on this money question. I’m sick -of it.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I lige make confession ad you.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Well?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I god seventeen brudders and sisters!” -she said, with slow and solemn -emphasis.</p> - -<p class="indent">“What!” He almost rolled out of the -hammock in his amazement.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Seventeen!” She nodded with ominous -tragedy in her face and voice.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Where do they live?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Alas! in so poor part of Tokyo.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“And your father and mother?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Alas! Also thad fadder an’ mudder -so ole lige this.” She illustrated, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page77" id="page77"></a>[pg 77]</span> -bowing herself double and walking feebly -across the floor, coughing weakly.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Well?” he prompted sharply.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I god take all thad money thad ole -fadder an mudder an’ those seventeen -liddle brudders an sisters. Tha’s all -they god in all the whole worl’.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“But don’t any of them work? -Aren’t any of them married? What’s -the matter with them all?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Alas! No. All of them too young -to worg or marry, excellency.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“<i>All</i> of them too young?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yes. Me—how ole <i>I</i> am? Oldes’ -of all! I am twenty-eight—no, thirty -years ole,” she declared, solemnly.</p> - -<p class="indent">He nearly collapsed. He knew she -was a mere child; knew, moreover, -that she was lying to him. She had -done so before.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Even if you are thirty, I fail to see -how you can have seventeen brothers -and sisters younger than yourself.”</p> - -<p class="indent">She lost herself a moment. Then she -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page78" id="page78"></a>[pg 78]</span> -said, triumphantly, “My fadder have -two wives!”</p> - -<p class="indent">He surveyed her in studious silence -a moment. Her attitude of trouble -and despair did not deceive him in -the slightest. Nevertheless, he wanted -to laugh outright at her, she was such -a ridiculous fraud.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Do you know what they’d call you -in my country?” he said, gravely.</p> - -<p class="indent">She shook her head.</p> - -<p class="indent">“An adventuress!”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Ah, how <i>nize</i>!” She sighed with -envious blissfulness. “I wish I live ad -your country—be adventuressesses.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“How much do you want now, -Yuki?”</p> - -<p class="indent">She pretended to calculate on his -fingers.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Twenty-five dollar,” she announced.</p> - -<p class="indent">He gave it to her, and she slipped -it into the bosom of her kimono. He -watched her curiously, wondering what -she did with all the money she secured -from him.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page79" id="page79"></a>[pg 79]</span> -All of a sudden she put this question -to him.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Sa-ay, how much it taking go ad -America?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“How much? Oh, not much. Depends -how you go. Four hundred, or -five hundred dollars, possibly.”</p> - -<p class="indent">She groaned. “How much come ad -Japan?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“The same.”</p> - -<p class="indent">She sighed. “Sa-ay, kind augustness, -I wan’ go ad America. Pray -give me money go there.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I’ll take you some day, Yuki.”</p> - -<p class="indent">She retreated before this offer.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Ah, thangs—yes, some day, of -course.” Then, after a meditative moment: -“Sa-ay, it taking more money -than thad three-four hundled dollar -whicheven?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yes; about that much again for -incidentals—possibly more.”</p> - -<p class="indent">She sighed hugely this time, and he -knew she was not affecting.</p> - -<p class="indent">A few days later, poking among her -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page80" id="page80"></a>[pg 80]</span> -pretty belongings, as he so much liked -to do—she was out in the garden gathering -flowers for their dinner-table—he -found her little jewel-box. Like -everything else she possessed, it was -daintily perfumed. At the top lay the -few pieces of jewelry he had bought for -her on different occasions when he had -taken her on trips to the city. He -lifted the top tray, and then he saw -something that startled him. It was -a roll of bank-bills. He took it out and -counted it. There was not quite one -hundred and fifty dollars. He calculated -all he had given her. It amounted -to a little over twice this sum. She -had been saving, after all! What was -her object?</p> - -<p class="indent">And, his suspicions awakened by this -discovery, he searched uneasily further -through her apartments, and discovered, -rolled like a huge piece of carpet and -covered over by a large basket, the -crépe and silks she had protested were -stolen.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 534px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_koi.jpg" width="534" height="800" alt="" title=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page81" id="page81"></a>[pg 81]</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>VII<br/> -MY WIFE!</h2> - -<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">The</span> second time his wife left him, -Jack Bigelow was very wretched. He -missed her exceedingly, though he -would not have admitted it, for he was -also very angry with her.</p> - -<p class="indent">When she had gone away that first -time, so soon after their marriage, he -had not felt her absence as he did now, -for then she had not become a necessity -to him. But she had lived with him -now two whole months, and had become -a part of his life. She was not a mere -passing fancy, and he knew it was -folly to endeavor so to convince himself, -as in his resentment at her treatment -he was trying to do.</p> - -<p class="indent">The house was desolate without her. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page82" id="page82"></a>[pg 82]</span> -Everywhere there were evidences of his -little girl. Here a pair of her tiny -sandals, some piece of tawdry kanzashi -for her hair, her koto, samisen, -and little drum; in the zashishi, in her -own little room, and all over the house -lingered the faint odor of her favorite -perfume, so subtle it made the young -man weak.</p> - -<p class="indent">He grew to hate the silence of the -rooms. Their household had always -been small, with just a man and maid -to wait on them; and now only one -presence gone from it, and yet how -painfully quiet the place had grown! -He realized what all her little movements -had become to him. He stayed -out-doors as much as he could, only to -return restlessly to the house, with a -faint hope that perhaps she was hiding -somewhere in it, and playing some -prank on him, as she was fond of doing, -bursting out from some unexpected -place of hiding. But there was no -trace of her anywhere; and when the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page83" id="page83"></a>[pg 83]</span> -second day actually passed, the realization -that she was indeed gone forced -itself home to him, leaving him stupid -with rage and despair.</p> - -<p class="indent">He was bitterly angry with her. She -had no right to leave him like this, -without a word of explanation. How -was he to know where she had gone -or what might happen to her? And -the thought of anything dire really -overtaking her nearly drove him distracted. -He hung around the balconies -of the house, wandered down -into the garden, and strayed restlessly -about. And all the time he knew he -was waiting for her, and in the waiting -doubling his misery.</p> - -<p class="indent">She came back in four days, slipped -into the house noiselessly and ran up -to her room. He heard her, knew she had -returned, but checked his first impulse -to go to her, and threw himself back on a -couch, where he assumed a careless attitude, -which he relentlessly changed to -a stern, unapproachable, forbidding one.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page84" id="page84"></a>[pg 84]</span> -Suddenly he heard her voice. It -came floating down the stairs, every -weird minor note thrilling, mocking, -fascinating him. “Toko-ton-yare ron-ton-ton!” -she sang. Then the voice -ceased a moment. She was waiting -for him to call her. He did not move. -He was certainly very angry with her. -He would not forgive her readily.</p> - -<p class="indent">She began beating on her drum. -He heard her making a great noise in -the little room up-stairs, and understood -her object. She was trying to attract -him. Suddenly she whirled down the -stairs and burst in on him with a merry -peal of laughter.</p> - -<p class="indent">He ignored her sternly. She ceased -her noise and laughter, and, approaching him, -studied him with her head -tilted bewitchingly on one side.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You angery ad me, excellency?” -she inquired with solicitude.</p> - -<p class="indent">No reply.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You very <i>mad</i> ad me, augustness?”</p> - -<p class="indent">Still no reply.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page85" id="page85"></a>[pg 85]</span> -“You very <i>cross</i> ad me, my lord?”</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack regarded her in contemptuous -silence.</p> - -<p class="indent">She shouted now, a high, mocking, -joyous note in her laughter.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Hah! You very, very, very, very -<i>affended</i>, Mister Bigelow?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“It seems to please you, apparently,” -said Jack, scathingly, wasting his sarcasm, -and turning his eyes from her.</p> - -<p class="indent">She laughed wickedly.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Ah, tha’s so nize.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“What is?” he demanded, sharply.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Thad you loog so angery. My! -You loog like grade big—whad you -call thad?—toranadodo.” She knew -how to pronounce “tornado,” but she -wanted to make him laugh. She failed -in her purpose, however. She tried another -way.</p> - -<p class="indent">“<i>How</i> you change!” She sighed -with beatific delight.</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack growled.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Dear me! I thing you grown more -nize-loogin,” she said.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page86" id="page86"></a>[pg 86]</span> -Jack got up and walked across to -the window, turning his back deliberately -on her, and whistling with -forced gayety, his hands in his pockets. -She approached him with feigned -timidity and stood at his elbow.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You glad see me bag, excellency?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“No!” shortly.</p> - -<p class="indent">This emphatic answer frightened her. -She was not so sure of herself, after -all.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You wan’ me go ‘way?” she asked, -in the smallest voice.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yes.”</p> - -<p class="indent">She loitered only a moment, and -then “Ah-bah” (good-bye) she said -softly.</p> - -<p class="indent">He felt, for he would not turn around -to see, that she was crossing the room -slowly, reluctantly. He heard the -shoji pushed aside, and then shut to. -He was alone! He sprang forward -and called her name aloud. She came -running back to him and plunged into -his arms. He held her close, almost -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page87" id="page87"></a>[pg 87]</span> -fiercely. The anger was all gone. -His face was white and drawn. The -dread of losing her again had overpowered -him. When she tried to extricate -herself from his arms, he would -not let her go. He sat down on one -of the chairs, and held her on his knee. -She was laughing now, laughing and -pouting at his white face.</p> - -<p class="indent">“My crashes!” she cried. “You loog -lige ole Chinese priest ad the temple.” -She pulled a long face, and drew her -pretty eyes up high with her finger -tips; then she chanted some solemn -words, mocking mirthfully her ancestors’ -religion.</p> - -<p class="indent">But her husband was grave. He -had not the heart to find mirth even -in her naughtiness.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yuki,” he said, “you must be serious -for a moment and listen to me.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I listenin’, Mr. Solemn-Angery-Patch!” -She meant “Cross-patch.” -“You loog lige—”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Where did you go?”</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page88" id="page88"></a>[pg 88]</span> -“Oh, jus’ liddle bit visit.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Where did you go?” he repeated, -insistently.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Sa-ay, I forgitting.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Answer me.”</p> - -<p class="indent">She pretended to think, and then suddenly -to remember, sighing hypocritically -the while.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I lige forgitting,” she said.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Forgetting what?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Where I been.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Why?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Tha’s so sad. Alas! I visiting thad -ole fadder an’ mudder ninety-nine -and one hundled years ole, and those -seventeen liddle brudders an’ sisters. -You missing me very much?” she -changed from the subject of her whereabouts.</p> - -<p class="indent">“No!” he said, shortly, stung by her -falsity.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I don’ sing so!”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Where were you, Yuki?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Now, whad you wan’ know for, -sinze you don’ like me whicheven?”</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page89" id="page89"></a>[pg 89]</span> -“Did I say so?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“You say you don’ miss.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I lied,” he said, bitterly. “Where -were you?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Jus’ over cross street, see my ole -friend ad tea-garden.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I thought you said you were visiting -your people?”</p> - -<p class="indent">She was not at all abashed.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Sa-ay, firs’ you saying you miss me; -then thad you lie. Sa-ay, you big lie, -I jus’ liddle bit lie.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yuki, listen to me. If you leave -me like this again, you need never -come back. Do you understand?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Never?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I mean that.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Whad you goin’ do? Git you nudder -wife?”</p> - -<p class="indent">He pushed her from him in savage -disgust. She laughed with infinite relish.</p> - -<p class="indent">He sat down a little distance from her, -and put his face wearily between his -hands. Yuki regarded him a moment, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page90" id="page90"></a>[pg 90]</span> -and then she silently went to him, -pulled his hands down, and kissed his -lips.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I have missed you terribly,” he said, -hoarsely.</p> - -<p class="indent">She was all compunction.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I very sawry. I din know you -caring very much for poor liddle me, -an p’raps I bedder nod come bag ad -you.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Why did you come, then?” he asked, -gently.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I coon’ help myself,” she said, forlornly. -“My feet aching run bag ad -you, my eyes ill to see you, my hands -gone mad to touch you.”</p> - -<p class="indent">She had grown in a moment serious, -but also melancholy.</p> - -<p class="indent">After a pause she said, more brightly, -“I bringin’ you something—something -so nize, dear my lord.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“What is it, Yuki, dear?” He was -reluctant to let her go even for a moment.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Flowers,” she said—“summer -flowers.”</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page91" id="page91"></a>[pg 91]</span> -He released her, and she brought -them to him, a huge bunch of azaleas. -She buried her delightful little nose -in them. “Ah,” she said, “flowers -mos’ sweetes’ thing in all the worl’, -an’ all them same flowers for you, for -you.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Where did you get them, dear?” he -asked, taking her hands instead of the -flowers, and drawing her, flowers and -all, into his arms. She faltered a little, -and then said, with the old daring -smile flashing back in her face: -“Nize Japanese gents making me present -those flowers.”</p> - -<p class="indent">He caught her wrists in a grip of iron. -“What do you mean?” he demanded, -fiercely, wild jealousy assailing him.</p> - -<p class="indent">She pulled herself from him, and regarded -the little wrists ruefully.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Ain’ you shamed?” she accused.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yes!” He kissed the little wrists -with an inward sob. “Tell me all, my -little one. Please do not hide anything -from me. I can’t bear it.”</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page92" id="page92"></a>[pg 92]</span> -“Thad Japanese gent wanter marry -with me,” she informed him, calmly -smiling, and dimpling as if it amused -her, and then making a face to show -him her feelings in the matter.</p> - -<p class="indent">“My! How he <i>adore</i> me!” she added, -vividly.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Marry with you! What do you -mean? You are my wife.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yes, bud <i>he</i> din know thad,” she -said, consolingly; “an’ see, I bring -his same flowers unto you.”</p> - -<p class="indent">He took them from her arms. They -were all crushed now, and it distressed -her. No Japanese can bear to see a -flower abused. She fingered some of -the petals sadly; then she sighed, looking -up at him with tears in her -eyes.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Tha’s mos’ beautiful thing’ in all -the whole worl’,” she said, indicating -the flowers—“so pure, so kind, so -sweet.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I know something more beautiful -and sweet, and—and pure.”</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page93" id="page93"></a>[pg 93]</span> -“Ah, whad?” she said, her face shining, -the pupils of the blue eyes so large -as to make them look almost black.</p> - -<p class="indent">“My wife!” he breathed.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 553px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_womanupperright.jpg" width="553" height="800" alt="" title=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page94" id="page94"></a>[pg 94]</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>VIII<br/> -YUKI’S HOME</h2> - -<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Every</span> day, all unknown to Yuki, -her husband looked in her little jewel-box. -The pile of bills grew larger. -He no longer refused her requests for -money. The fund was quite large now. -The last time he had counted it there -were four hundred dollars. He took a -whim to make it five hundred, and -that same day gave her a clear hundred -dollars.</p> - -<p class="indent">She had given him a solemn promise -never to leave him again without his -knowledge and consent, and for a whole -month she had kept steadfastly at home. -It was the happiest month in his life, a -month that spelled naught else but joy -and sunshine.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page95" id="page95"></a>[pg 95]</span> -But the day after he had given her -the hundred dollars she came to him -and begged very humbly to be permitted -to visit her old father and mother and -seventeen little brothers and sisters. -She still kept up this deception. He -refused her almost gruffly. He had -grown selfish and spoiled under her -care. All the day, however, he watched -her suspiciously, fearful lest she should -slip away. And he was right. In the -evening, when she had left him for a -moment, he saw her leaving the house. -He took his hat, and, keeping at a -good distance from her, but never losing -sight of her for a moment, he followed -her.</p> - -<p class="indent">Twilight was falling. Softly, tenderly, -the darkness swept away the exquisite -rays of red and yellow that the -departing sun had left behind, for it -was crossing the waters, until, far in -the distance, it dipped deep down as -though swallowed up by the bay.</p> - -<p class="indent">Yuki was walking rapidly towards -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page96" id="page96"></a>[pg 96]</span> -Tokyo. It was only a short distance, -but nevertheless the thought of her little -tender feet treading it alone, and at -such an hour, unnerved her husband. -Whatever her mission, wherever she was -going, he would follow her. She belonged -to him completely. She should -never escape him now, he told himself.</p> - -<p class="indent">She seemed to know her way, and -showed no hesitation or fear when -once in Tokyo, but bent her steps quickly -and with assurance, until finally -they were before the great terminal -station at Shimbashi. They had now -come a long distance. The girl looked -tired: weary shadows were under her -eyes, as she passed into the railway -enclosure and bought a ticket for a town -suburb a short distance from Tokyo.</p> - -<p class="indent">Her husband went to the window, inquired -where the girl was going, and -bought a ticket for the same place.</p> - -<p class="indent">Then began the long journey in the -uncomfortable train, where there were -no sleeping accommodations whatever. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page97" id="page97"></a>[pg 97]</span> -Yuki found a seat, and sat very quietly -staring out at the flying darkness. -After a time she put her head back -against the seat and, despite the jolting -of the train, fell asleep.</p> - -<p class="indent">Her husband was close to her now—in -the next seat, in fact. He could -have touched her, as he so longed to -do, but would not for fear of disturbing -or frightening her.</p> - -<p class="indent">When they reached the little town, -the banging of the doors, the blowing -of whistles, and shouts of the conductors -awakened her. She came to life with -a start, gathered her little belongings -together, and left the train, her husband -still following her.</p> - -<p class="indent">It was a refined and beautiful little -town they had arrived at, apparently -the home of the exclusive and cultivated -Japanese. Its atmosphere was grateful -and pleasing after the crowded -city of Tokyo, with its endless labyrinth -of narrow streets and grotesque signboards, -and ceaseless noises.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page98" id="page98"></a>[pg 98]</span> -Yuki had not far to walk. Only a -few steps from the little station, and -then she was before one of those old-fashioned, -pretentious palaces once affected -by the nobles. There were signs -of neglect about the house and gardens, -which had fallen out of repair. No coolies -or servants were in sight. At the -garden gate Yuki paused a moment, -leaning wearily against it, ere she -opened and passed through, up the garden -walk, and disappeared into the -shadows of the palace.</p> - -<p class="indent">Her husband stood for a long time -as though rooted to the spot. Then -very slowly he retraced his steps to the -railway station, bought his ticket, and -returned to Tokyo. He felt sure she -would come back to him.</p> - -<p class="indent">And she did, hardly two days later. -He was very gentle to her this time. -There were no more questions asked, -and she vouchsafed no explanation.</p> - -<p class="indent">But she came back to him strangely -docile and submissive. All the old -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page99" id="page99"></a>[pg 99]</span> -mockery and folly had vanished. She -was angelic in her sweet tenderness -and solicitude. But once he found -her in tears. She protested they had -come there because she had laughed -so hard. Another time, when he offered -her money, she refused passionately to -accept it. It was the first time since -she had lived with him. Thereafter -she refused to take even the regular -weekly allowance agreed upon. He -looked in her little jewel-box, and found -the money all gone.</p> - -<p class="indent">Her docility and gentleness strengthened -his confidence in her. He was -sure she would never leave him again. -He even told her of this belief, and she -did not deny it. But her eyes were tearful. -With boyish insistence he teased -her.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Tell me so—that you will never leave -me again.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Never?” she said, but the word slipped -her lips as a question.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Repeat it after me,” he demanded.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page100" id="page100"></a>[pg 100]</span> -“Say: ‘I—shall—never—never—leave -you again.’”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Ah, you makin’ fun ad me,” she -protested, begging the question.</p> - -<p class="indent">But he still persisted, and made her -repeat slowly after him, word by word, -that she would remain with him till -death should part them.</p> - -<p class="indent">One day he found her laboriously -occupied at her small writing-desk. -Her little hand flew down the page, -rapidly drawing the strange characters -of her country’s letters.</p> - -<p class="indent">“What are you doing? You look -as wise and solemn as a female -Buddha.”</p> - -<p class="indent">Yuki carefully blotted and covered -her letter. She did not answer him. -Instead she held up her little stained -fingers, to show him the ink on them. -He sat down beside her, kissing the -tips of her fingers.</p> - -<p class="indent">“To whom were you writing, fairy-sage?” -he said.</p> - -<p class="indent">“To whom? My brudder.”</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page101" id="page101"></a>[pg 101]</span> -“Your brother! Ah, you have a -brother, have you? And where is -he?”</p> - -<p class="indent">She still hesitated, and he watched -her keenly.</p> - -<p class="indent">“He live ad Japan,” she said, after -a long moment.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Japan is quite a big place,” remarked -her husband, suggestively. -“He has rather large quarters for one -fellow, don’t you think?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Japan liddle bit country,” she -argued, trying to change the subject. -“America, perhaps, grade big place, -big as half the whole worl’—”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Not quite,” interposed her husband, -smiling.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Well, big’s one-quarter of the worl’, -anyhow,” she declared. “Bud Japan! -Mos’ liddle bit insignificant spot on all -the beautiful maps.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“What part of Japan does your -family live in?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Liddle bit town two hundled miles -north of Tokyo.”</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page102" id="page102"></a>[pg 102]</span> -“Indeed.”</p> - -<p class="indent">She had spoken the truth, he knew.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Why doesn’t your brother come to -see you?”</p> - -<p class="indent">Now that he had commenced it, he -stuck to his catechism doggedly.</p> - -<p class="indent">“He don’t know where I live,” she said.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Don’t know! That’s strange. Why -doesn’t he?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I ‘fraid tellin’.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Afraid of what?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Afraid he disowning me forever.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Why should he do that?”</p> - -<p class="indent">He was getting interested. He disliked -wringing her secrets from her in -this wise. He wanted her confidence -unsolicited; but his curiosity had the -better of him. “Why should he disown -you?” he repeated.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Because I marrying—” she paused, -somewhat piteously, holding one of -his hands closely between her own -small ones, and entreatingly pressing -it as though begging him not to pursue -his questions.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page103" id="page103"></a>[pg 103]</span> -“Well?” he said—“because you -married—”</p> - -<p class="indent">“You,” she finished.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Oh!” His ejaculation was rueful. -Then he laughed, and squared his -shoulders, and shook his finger at -her.</p> - -<p class="indent">“What’s the matter with me? Am -I not good enough?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Too honorably good,” she declared, -humbly.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Then why does your family object -to receiving me into its bosom, eh?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Because you jus’ barbarian,” she -said, apologetically, and then swiftly -tried to make amends. “Barbarian -mos’ nize of all. Also <i>I</i> am liddle bit -barbarian. I god them same barbarous -eyes an’ oogly hair—”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Loveliest hair in the world,” he -said, stroking it fondly. “But never -mind, dearie. Don’t look so distressed. -It’s not your fault, of course, that your -people disapprove of me.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“They don’ dis’prove,” she interrupted -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page104" id="page104"></a>[pg 104]</span> -him, her distress deepening. -“They don’ never seen you even.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“But I thought you said—”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I jus’ guess. Tha’s why I don’ -tell thad brudder. Mebbe he dis’prove -you when he see you grade big barbarian. -Tha’s bedder nod tell unto him.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“But where does he think you are -all the time?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“He?” She lost her head a moment. -“Likewise,” she continued, “he -also travel from home. Perhaps he -also marrying with beautiful barbarian -leddy. Tha’s whad I dunno.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I don’t quite understand,” said her -husband. “But never mind. If you -don’t like the subject, and it’s plain you -don’t, you sha’n’t be bothered with it.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Thangs,” she said, gratefully.</p> - -<p class="indent">On another day, as she sat opening -his American mail with her small -paper-knife, a picture of a young American -girl fell from the envelope. Yuki -picked it up, and regarded it with dilated -eyes and lips that quivered. It was the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page105" id="page105"></a>[pg 105]</span> -first shock of jealousy she had experienced. -One of his own country-women -then must love him. No Japanese -girl would send her picture to -any man save her lover.</p> - -<p class="indent">Her first impulse was to tear the picture -across. She did not want him -to see it. Perhaps even the pictured -face might win him back, she thought -jealously. But she did not destroy it. -She hid it in the sleeve of her kimono, -and for a whole week she tortured -herself with drawing it forth from its -hiding-place and studying the face -whenever she was alone a moment, -comparing it with her own exquisite -one in her small mirror.</p> - -<p class="indent">Then conscience, or perhaps natural -feminine curiosity to know who her -rival was, prompted her to make humble -confession to her husband of her theft.</p> - -<p class="indent">He took the matter gayly, and seemed -exuberantly happy at the idea of her -being jealous, for she could not well -hide this fact from him. He gloated -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page106" id="page106"></a>[pg 106]</span> -over this apparent evidence of her love -for him.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Isn’t she lovely?” he asked, enthusiastically, -pointing to the picture, -and then pretending to hug it to him.</p> - -<p class="indent">“No,” said Yuki, proudly. “Mos’ -oogly girl in all the whole worl’. Soach -silliest things on her haed. I don’ -keer tha’s hat or nod. Flowers, birds, -beas’, perhaps, an’ rollin’ her eyes this-a-way—”</p> - -<p class="indent">“This is my sister,” said Jack, -gravely. “I am sorry you don’t like -her, Yuki. She’d be just the sort of -girl to love you.”</p> - -<p class="indent">Her little spurt of temper flickered -out pitifully.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Ah, <i>pray</i> forgive me,” she implored. -“I mos’ silliest <i>mousmè</i> in all -Japan. She jus’ <i>lovely</i>, mos’ sweet -beautiful girl in all the whole worl’. -Jus’ like you, my lord.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 800px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_boat.jpg" width="800" height="634" alt="" title=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page107" id="page107"></a>[pg 107]</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>IX<br/> -THE MIKADO’S BIRTHDAY</h2> - -<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">The</span> mellow summer was gone. -With the dawn of the autumn the -languor of the country seemed to increase. -Now that the weather was -cooler, however, they made frequent -trips to the city, visiting the chrysanthemum -shows, loitering through -Uyeno park, the Shiba temples, and -bazaars. And one day Jack shook -gayly before her eyes a really awe-inspiring -document. It was, in fact, -an invitation, written in fine French, -from a Japanese person of high rank, -inviting him to attend a very important -function, which was to be given -at the Hôtel Imperial on the Mikado’s -birthday, which function was to be -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page108" id="page108"></a>[pg 108]</span> -honored by the presence of “les princes -et les princesses.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“We are going, of course,” he told -her. “It will be a change, and, besides, -I want to show you off to my friends. -There’ll be hosts of them there, you -know.”</p> - -<p class="indent">But she protested. First she set -forth as excuse the fact that she was -only an honorably rude and insignificant -humble geisha girl, who would -be out of place in so great and extraordinary -an assemblage.</p> - -<p class="indent">Then her husband quite seriously -reproved her, and reminded her forcibly -that she was anything but an insignificant -geisha girl. She was, in fact, a -very important person—his wife.</p> - -<p class="indent">Ah, yes, she admitted that she had -indeed grown in caste since her marriage -with him; nevertheless, they -had lived so honorably secluded together -that she had forgotten all the -polite mannerisms of society, which she -had never been acquainted with at all, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page109" id="page109"></a>[pg 109]</span> -being only a crude girl of humble parentage. -She would surely disgrace not -only both of them by her behavior, but -doubtless the whole assemblage. She -would not know how to act, how to look, -and when to speak.</p> - -<p class="indent">Then Jack insisted, with affected -selfishness, that she should look at -and speak to no one but himself. He -would commit hari-kari, or joshi, or -any old kind of Japanese suicide, otherwise. -And as for her manners, they -were lovely, perfect, just right.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Ah, bud you—” she deprecated. -“You don’ understan’, you big barbarian. -Those same honorable monsters, -Japanese princes, whad, before -all the gods, they goin’ to thing of -me?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“That you are absolutely adorable. -How could they help thinking so, unless -they are stone blind. Besides, -this isn’t a Japanese affair at all. It’s -at a European hotel, and there’ll be -all sorts and conditions of people there. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page110" id="page110"></a>[pg 110]</span> -I was lucky to get the invitations. -They aren’t for every one, you know. -This is a big thing.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“<i>You</i> so big,” she said, proudly.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Well, no. It had really nothing -to do with my size. You see, I have -a half-Jap friend in America, and of -course it’s through him I’m favored.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Ah, thad half-Jap, he was very -high-up man ad Japan, perhaps?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Well, he was connected with some -of the big families, though he was quite -poor.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Thad,” said Yuki, with sudden -vehemence, “is no madder ad Japan. -Money! Who has thad money? Nod -the ole families, the flower of the country; -jus’ the shop-keepers and the -politicians.”</p> - -<p class="indent">Her husband was startled at her -outbreak. He was astonished at her -knowledge of existing conditions in -her country. But she did not pursue -the subject, saying she disliked it.</p> - -<p class="indent">And the ball? What about that?</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page111" id="page111"></a>[pg 111]</span> -Well, she would not go with him. -He must go to that all alone, for the -million big reasons she had given him. -Moreover, all the ladies would wear -Parisian toilettes. It would be a disgrace -for his wife to go in a kimono.</p> - -<p class="indent">Again he was astonished at her. -How did she know that on such occasions -the ladies, Japanese included, -dressed in European gowns?</p> - -<p class="indent">Apparently she knew more concerning -such matters than he had imagined. -It was becoming plainer to him every -day that his wife was of no ordinary -family. And then the memory of the -old rambling palace, doubtless her home, -in the exquisite, aristocratic little town -where he had followed her, supported -this idea. Who was his wife, after all? -Who were her people, and why had -none of them come near her during all -these months? What was the meaning -of the mystery in which she had -surrounded herself ever since he had -known her. And now, when there -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page112" id="page112"></a>[pg 112]</span> -was scarcely a doubt left in his mind -of her love for him, why had he failed -to win her confidence?</p> - -<p class="indent">“I want to know just who you are, -my little wife,” he suddenly said. “I -do not believe that tale about your -people. I know you are not a geisha -girl. You are not, are you?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“No,” she said, very softly.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Then tell me. Who are your people? -It is only right I should know -this.”</p> - -<p class="indent">She looked up at him with intense -seriousness. Then her eyes fluttered, -and she went rambling into one of her -fairy tales of nonsense.</p> - -<p class="indent">“My people? Who they are? My -august ancestors came from the moon. -My one hundled grade-grandfathers -fight and fight and fight like the lion, -and conquer one-half of all Japan—fight -the shogun, fight the kazoku, fight each -other. They were great Samourai, -cutting off the haeds of aevery humble -mans they don’ like. So much bloodshed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page113" id="page113"></a>[pg 113]</span> -displeased the gods. They punishing -all my ancestors, bringin’ them -down to thad same poverty of those -honorable peebles killed by them. -Then much distress an’ sadness come -forever ad our house. All pride, all -haughty boasting daed forever. Aeverybody -goin’ ‘bout weepin’ like ad a funeral. -Nobody habby. What they goin’ -do git bag thad power an’ reeches ag’in? -Also one ancestor have grade big family -to keep from starving, an’ one daughter -beautiful as the moon of her ancestors. -He weep more than all the rest of those -ancestors, weep an’ weep till he go blind -like an owl ad day-time. Then the -gods begin feel sawry. One of them -mos’ sawry of all. He also is descendant -of the Sun. Well, thad sun-god -he comin’ down ad Japan, make big -raddle an’ noise, an’ marrying with thad -same beautifullest daughter of thad ole -blind ancestor. Thad sun-god my fadder. -Me? I am the half-moon-half-sun -offspring.”</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page114" id="page114"></a>[pg 114]</span> -She had promised to accompany him, -at all events, to see the review from -the American-legation tent, but at -the last moment she backed out. She -had seen it many times before, she -declared. She was tired of it.</p> - -<p class="indent">At first he swore he would not go -without her. Why, the “show,” he -declared, would be nothing to him without -her to see it with him. Half the -pleasure—nay, all of it—would be gone. -He was really keenly disappointed, but -she coaxed and wheedled and petted -around him, till, before he knew that he -was aggrieved at her backsliding, he -was well on his way.</p> - -<p class="indent">The streets were thronged with a -motley crowd of people. Jinrikishas -were scurrying hither and thither, -and little bits of humanity, in the shape -of small men, small women, small children, -and small dogs and cats, were -colliding and jostling against the many -ramshackle vehicles in the road. Gay -flags and bunting were displayed everywhere, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page115" id="page115"></a>[pg 115]</span> -and the town presented a gala -appearance.</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack got out of his jinrikisha and -pushed his way through the crowd -until he came up to the parade-grounds. -He found his way to the proper tent, -and, with a half-score of former acquaintances -about him, he was soon -drawn into the babble and gush of -small talk and jokes that tourists meeting -each other in foreign lands usually -indulge in.</p> - -<p class="indent">Once on the parade-grounds, where -infantry, cavalry, and artillery were -forming themselves, it seemed as if he -had suddenly left Japan altogether, and -was once more in the modern Western -world, of which he had always been a -part.</p> - -<p class="indent">There was nothing Oriental in this -brave display of the imperial army. -There was nothing Oriental in this -bustling, noisy crowd of foreigners, -each trying to outdo the other in importance -and precedence. Only the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page116" id="page116"></a>[pg 116]</span> -skies and the little winds, and, in the -distance, the sinuous outlines of the -mountains and forests beyond, and the -disks on the national flag displayed -everywhere, were Japanese. And after -his long seclusion in the country the -glitter dazzled him.</p> - -<p class="indent">There were seven thousand men in -the field, and the Mikado, surrounded -by his generals, body-guard, outriders, -and standard-bearers, reviewed the -troops; and then, amid a great flourish, -and hoarse cheering drowning the -national hymn, which was being played -by all the bands at once, he left the -grounds.</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack did not return after the parade -to his home, much as he would have -liked to do so. Some acquaintances -who had crossed on the same steamer -with him on his way to Japan carried -him off triumphantly to their hotel, and -that night he went with them to the -imperial ball.</p> - -<p class="indent">It was very late when he went home -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page117" id="page117"></a>[pg 117]</span> -to Yuki. There was a faint light burning -in the zashishi, and he wondered -with some concern whether she were -sitting up waiting for him. He did -not see her at first when he entered -the room, for the light of the andon had -fluttered down dimly, and it was more -the grayness of the approaching dawn -which saved the room from complete -darkness. Crossing the room, he came -upon her. She had fallen asleep on -the floor. She was lying on her back, -her arms encircling her head. He was -suddenly struck with her extreme youth. -She seemed little more than a tired -child, who had grown weary and had -fallen asleep among her toys, for beside -her on a tiny foot-high table was the -little supper she had prepared for him, -and which was now quite cold. On the -other side of her were her tiny drum and -samisen, with which she had been attempting -doubtless to pass the evening -by pulling from the strings some -of that weird music he knew so well now.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page118" id="page118"></a>[pg 118]</span> -For a long time her husband looked -at her, and a feeling of intense isolation -about her came over and suddenly possessed -him. Why had he never been -able to bridge that strange distance -which lay like a pall between them, -the feeling always that she was not -wholly his own, that she had been but -a guest within his house, a tiny wild -bird that he had caught in some strange -way and caged—caught, though she -had come to him, as it were, for protection? -Just as, when a boy, he remembered -how a robin had beaten at his -shutters, and he had saved it from an -enemy, and afterwards how he had caged -it, and how it had pined for its freedom.</p> - -<p class="indent">The thought that he might yet lose -Yuki caused him such anguish of mind -it almost stunned him. He knelt down -beside her, and drew her up in his arms, -and then, as gently as a mother would -have done, he carried her up the queer -spiral stairway which led to their little -up-stairs room.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page119" id="page119"></a>[pg 119]</span> -The next day she questioned him -anxiously. Were there many ladies -more beautiful than she at the ball? -Had he enjoyed himself largely with -them, and how could he live away hereafter -from such mirth and gayety? -Why had he come back to little, insignificant -her?</p> - -<p class="indent">And he told her that never in all his -life before had he longed so ardently -for any one as he had for her that previous -night. That the day had been -endless; the noise and show, the brassy -merriment and cheer, were abhorrent -to him, for she had not been there to -rob it of its vulgarity with the charm -of her sweet presence. That he had -been rude in his efforts to escape it, had -bullied the jinrikimen because they -had seemed to creep, and that happiness -and peace had only come back to him -again when he had crossed his own -threshold and had taken her in his arms.</p> - -<p class="indent">Still the wistful distress in her misty -eyes was only in part dispelled.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page120" id="page120"></a>[pg 120]</span> -“Last night,” she said, “I broke -my liddle jade bracelet. It is a bad -omen.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I will buy you a dozen new ones,” -he said.</p> - -<p class="indent">“One million dozens cannot mend -jus’ thad liddle one,” she returned, -sadly, shaking her head. “It is a bad -omen. Mebbe a warning from the -gods.”</p> - -<p class="indent">Of what did they warn her? That -she could not say, but she had heard -that such an accident usually preceded -the sorrows of love. Perhaps he would -soon pass away from her, and, like the -ghost of the fisher-boy Urashima, who -had left his fairy bride to return to his -people, he too would pass out of her -life, back into that from which he had -come.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 587px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_smokingcandle.jpg" width="587" height="800" alt="" title=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page121" id="page121"></a>[pg 121]</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>X<br/> -A BAD OMEN</h2> - -<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">It</span> was late in November. The parks -were dropping their autumn glories and -taking on the browner hues and hints -of hoar-frost, black-and-white vestments, -the sackcloth and ashes of -winter. The recessional of the birds -was dying away into silence. Soon -the final, long-drawn amen of the -north-wind would be breathed out over -the deserted woods, where the anthem -of praise had rung out to the worshipping -air all through the golden days -and silver nights of summer.</p> - -<p class="indent">The still beauty of the autumn evening -was piercingly melancholy, and, -even with a loving sunset still lingering -in the skies, a silken, gentle rain was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page122" id="page122"></a>[pg 122]</span> -falling, as though the gods were weeping -over the death of the autumn, were -weeping hopeless tears—the most tragic -of all.</p> - -<p class="indent">The little house that stood alone on -the hill faced to the west, its wet roofs -and shingles sparkling and glistening -in the rays of the dying sunset that -enveloped it.</p> - -<p class="indent">Yuki opened a shoji (sliding paper -door) of her chamber, and looked out -wistfully at the city of Tokyo, that -in the autumn silence was shining out -like a gem, with its many strange -lights and colors. She stole softly out -on to a small balcony, and stepped down -into the tiny garden as the night began -to spread its mantle of darkness. A few -minutes later her husband called to her:</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yuki! Yuki!”</p> - -<p class="indent">He drew her into the room, and closed -the shoji behind her.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You have been crying again!” he -said, sharply, and turned her face up -to the light.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page123" id="page123"></a>[pg 123]</span> -“It is the rain on my face, my lord,” -she answered in the smallest voice.</p> - -<p class="indent">“But you mustn’t go out in the rain. -You are quite wet, dear.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Soach a little, gentle rain,” she -said. “It will not hurt jus’ me. I loogin’ -aeverywhere ‘bout for our liddle -bit poor nightingale. Gone! Perhaps -daed! Aeverything dies—bird, flowers, -mebbe—me!”</p> - -<p class="indent">He put his hand over her mouth with -a hurt exclamation.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Don’t!” he only said.</p> - -<p class="indent">The maid brought in their supper on -a tray, but before she could set it down -Yuki had impetuously crossed the room -and taken it from her hands.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Go, go, honorable maid,” she said. -“I will with my own hands attend my -lord’s honorable appetite.”</p> - -<p class="indent">She knelt at his feet, geisha fashion, -holding the tray and waiting for him -to eat, but he took it from her gravely, -and put it on the small table beside them, -and then silently, tenderly, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page124" id="page124"></a>[pg 124]</span> -he took her small hands in his -own.</p> - -<p class="indent">“What is troubling you, Yuki? You -must tell me. You are hiding something -from me. What has become -of my little mocking-bird? I cannot -live without it.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“You also los’ liddle bird?” she -queried, softly—“jus’ lige unto my same -liddle nightingale?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I have lost—I am losing you,” he -said, suddenly, with a burst of anguish. -“I cannot make you out these last few -weeks. What has come over you? I -miss your laughing and your singing. -You are always sad now; your eyes—ah, -I cannot bear it.” His voice went -suddenly anxious. “Tell me, is it—do -you—want—need some more money, -Yuki? You know you can have all you -want.”</p> - -<p class="indent">She sprang to her feet fiercely.</p> - -<p class="indent">“No, no, no, no!” she cried; “naever -any more for all my life long, <i>dear</i> my -lord.”</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page125" id="page125"></a>[pg 125]</span> -“Then why—”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Ah, <i>pray</i> don’ ask why.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“But why—”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Then listen unto me. I nod any -longer thad liddle bit geisha girl you -marrying with. I change grade big -moach. Now you see me, I am one -wooman, mebbe like wooman one -hundled years ole—wise—sad—I -change!”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yes,” he said. “You are changed. -You are my Undine, and I have found -your soul at last!”</p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="indent">One oppressive afternoon, when a nagging, -bleating wind out-doors had prevented -their going on their customary -ramble through the woods or on a -little trip to the city, Jack had fallen -asleep. Long before he had awakened -he had felt her warm, soothing presence -near him, but with the pleasure it afforded -him was mingled a premonition of -disaster and a dread of something unhappy -about her? He awoke to find -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page126" id="page126"></a>[pg 126]</span> -her standing by him, her face white and -drawn with a despair he could not comprehend.</p> - -<p class="indent">“What is it?” He started up fearfully. -“Your eyes are tragic! You -look as if you were contemplating -something frightful.”</p> - -<p class="indent">She sank down to his feet, and, despite -his protests, knelt and clung to him -there, sobbing with passionate abandon.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Don’t! Don’t! I can’t bear you to -do that. What is it, Yuki?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Oh, for liddle while, jus’ liddle bit -while, bear with me,” she said.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Little while! What do you mean?” -he demanded.</p> - -<p class="indent">She tried to regain her composure. -Her laughter was piteous.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I only liddle bit skeered,” she said. -“I—” she stammered—“I skeered ‘bout -thad liddle foolish jade bracelet, all -smashed and broken.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Is that all?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“It is soach a bad omen! The gods -trying to separate us, mebbe.”</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page127" id="page127"></a>[pg 127]</span> -“Separate us?” His suspicions were -growing. “How can they do that? -It lies between you and me, such a—such -a fate. The gods—ah, you are -talking nonsense.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“The gods see inside,” she said.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Inside what?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Our hearts.” Her voice was barely -above a whisper.</p> - -<p class="indent">“And what can they find there to -distress you?” he asked, almost fiercely. -She was hurting him with her failure to -confide in him.</p> - -<p class="indent">“The bracelet—” she began. “It is -broken, an’ love, too, mus’ die—an’ -break!”</p> - -<p class="indent">From that day her melancholy grew -rather than diminished. But she had -roused her husband’s suspicions, and -her morbidness irritated rather than appealed -to him. He felt that in some -way he was being deceived. The day -that he found her wardrobe neatly and -carefully folded away in her queer little -packing-case, as though in preparation -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page128" id="page128"></a>[pg 128]</span> -for a journey, the full sense of her deceit -dawned upon him. Hitherto when she -had left him she had taken none of her -belongings with her. He perceived it -was now her intention to desert him -utterly. He had served her purpose, -apparently, and she was through with -him.</p> - -<p class="indent">His wrath burst its bounds. He -had not known the capabilities of his -angry passion. He tore the silken -garments from the box with the fierce -madness of one demented, then he -pushed her into the room, and showed -her where they lay scattered.</p> - -<p class="indent">“The meaning of this?” he demanded, -white to the lips with the intensity -of his passion.</p> - -<p class="indent">She remained mute. She did not -even trouble to mock or laugh at him, -nor would she weep. She seemed -dazed and bewildered, and he, infuriated -against her, said things which -rankled in his conscience for years -afterwards.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page129" id="page129"></a>[pg 129]</span> -“Does a promise mean nothing to -you—a promise—an oath itself? Were -you, parrot-like, merely echoing my -words when you swore to stay by me -until—” his voice broke—“death?”</p> - -<p class="indent">Still she made him no denial, and -her silence maddened him, and drove -him on with his bitter arraignment.</p> - -<p class="indent">“What your object has been I fail to -see, but you cannot deny that you have -laid yourself out, have used every effort, -every art and wile, of which you are -mistress, to make me believe in you. -And I—I—like a blind, deluded fool—ah, -Yuki—there is something wrong, -some hideous mistake somewhere. You -have some secret, some trouble. Be -frank with me. Can’t you see—understand -how I—I am suffering?”</p> - -<p class="indent">She roused herself with an effort, but -her words were pitifully conventional. -She apologized for the trouble and -noise she had brought into his house.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You have not answered me!” he -cried. “What was your intention? Did -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page130" id="page130"></a>[pg 130]</span> -you intend to leave me? You shall answer -me that!”</p> - -<p class="indent">“It was bedder so,” she said, and -her voice fainted. She could speak -no further.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Then such was your intention!” -He could hardly believe her words.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 514px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_bamboo.jpg" width="514" height="800" alt="" title=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page131" id="page131"></a>[pg 131]</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>XI<br/> -THE NIGHTINGALE</h2> - -<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">When</span> Love lives after Trust is dead, -then peace is an unknown quantity. -A constraint that was baffling in its -intense hopelessness now hedged up -between these two. Yuki grew thin -and wistful. Her whole attitude became -one of pitiful attempted conciliation -and humility, which with bitter -suspicion her husband took to be confusion -and guilt. Had she even affected -somewhat of her old light-heartedness -and attempted to win his forgiveness -by her old audacious wiles, -her husband would have forgotten and -forgiven everything, glad of an excuse -to renew the old close comradeship with -her. But she made no such attempt.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page132" id="page132"></a>[pg 132]</span> -She had acquired a peculiar fear of -her husband, and unconsciously shrank -from him, as though dreading to bring -down on herself his further displeasure. -She kept away from him as much as -she could, though at times she made -spasmodic, frantic efforts to assume her -old light-heartedness, but these efforts -were usually followed by passionate -outbursts of tears, when she had drawn -the shoji between them, and was once -more alone with her own inward -thoughts, whatever they were.</p> - -<p class="indent">Meanwhile her husband kept the -watch of a jailer over her. He was -convinced that she was waiting for a -chance to leave him, and this he was determined -to frustrate. She had raised -in him a feeling of the intensest bitterness, -which amounted almost to antagonism -towards her. And still beneath -all this resentment and bitterness a -tenderness and yearning for her threatened -to strangle and overpower all other -feeling. Her apparent fear of him -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page133" id="page133"></a>[pg 133]</span> -hurt him terribly, and caused him distractedly -at times to question whether -he had been as kind to her as he might -have been. Then his mind would inevitably -revert to the fact that she was -planning to leave him, and his resentment -would burn fiercer than ever.</p> - -<p class="indent">By a common dread of the subject, -both of them avoided alluding to it, and -for this reason it weighed the heavier -on their minds. He feared that any -explanation she might attempt to make -to him would only be some excuse put -forward to reconcile him, and win his -consent to the impossible situation -which he instinctively knew she intended -to consummate. She, on the other -hand, watched wildly to turn the subject, -dreading his wrath, which she was -conscious was righteous.</p> - -<p class="indent">To add to the gloom of their strained -relations, a season of drizzly wet weather -set in, which confined them to the house, -and moreover Yuki was grieving and -pining over the loss of a favorite nightingale -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page134" id="page134"></a>[pg 134]</span> -that had made its home in the -tall bamboo out in the midnight garden -of their little home. Jack was misanthropic -and cynical, restless as it is -possible for a man to be under such -galling circumstances, yearning nevertheless -for things to be as they had -been between him and his wife.</p> - -<p class="indent">One night, at dusk, after an exceptionally -sad and chilly meal in-doors, -Jack had come out alone, and was -trying to soothe his senses with a fragrant -cigar. Instinctively he was -waiting for his wife. He missed her -if she was absent from his side but a -moment. Suddenly out of the gloaming -soared out one long, thrilling note -of sheer ecstasy and bliss, that quivered -and quavered a moment, and then -floated away into the maddest peals of -melody, ending in a sob that was excruciating -in its intense humanness. -The nightingale had returned!</p> - -<p class="indent">He sprang to his feet, and, trembling -by the veranda rail, stared outward -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page135" id="page135"></a>[pg 135]</span> -into the darkness. And then? Yuki -came out from the shadows of their -garden, and under the light of the -moon, beneath their small balcony, -she looked up into his eyes, and murmured -in a voice thrilled by an inward -sob, so timid and meek, so beseeching -and prayerful:</p> - -<p class="indent">“I lige please you, my lord!”</p> - -<p class="indent">“The nightingale!” he whispered, -with hoarse emotion. “Did you hear -it? It has returned!”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Nay, my lord—tha’s jus’ me! I -jus’ a liddle echo!”</p> - -<p class="indent">She had learned the voice of the -nightingale.</p> - -<hr/> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 567px;"> -<a name="nightingale" id="nightingale"></a> -<img class="border" src="images/i_142.jpg" width="567" height="800" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"> -<p class="center">THE NIGHTINGALE SONG</p> -</div> -</div> - -<hr/> - -<p class="indent">With an exclamation of indescribable -tenderness he drew her into his arms, -and for a few moments at least all the -misery and pain and constraint of the -last few weeks between them passed -away and gave place to all their pent-up -love and loneliness.</p> - -<p class="indent">As he held her close to him, he was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page136" id="page136"></a>[pg 136]</span> -conscious at first only of the fact that -she loved him, that she was clinging to -him with somewhat of her old abandon, -and then he felt her hands upon his -arms. He could almost see them -shaking and trembling. She was attempting -to release herself! Struggling -to be free! All of a sudden he -released her, and stood breathing hard, -his arms folded across his breast, waiting -for her to do or say something to him.</p> - -<p class="indent">She did not move. She stood before -him, with her head down; and then -her blue eyes lifted, and timidly, appealingly, -they beseeched his own. She -started to speak, stammered only a -few incoherent words, and then, with -a half-sob, she unsteadily crossed the -room and left him alone.</p> - -<p class="indent">Two days later, upon their household -gloom came word from Taro Burton, -announcing that he had arrived in -Tokyo. Jack rushed off to meet him, -telling Yuki he expected an old friend, -and would bring him home that evening.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 514px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_roof.jpg" width="514" height="800" alt="" title=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page137" id="page137"></a>[pg 137]</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>XII<br/> -TARO BURTON</h2> - -<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">It</span> may be that Jack Bigelow first -awoke to the fact that for months he -had been literally living in a dream-world -when he saw his old college-chum, -Taro Burton—the same dear, -old, grave Taro! He rushed up to -him in the old boyish fashion, wringing -his hands with unaffected delight.</p> - -<p class="indent">The past dream-months rolled for the -moment from his memory, and Jack -was once again the happy up-to-date -American boy.</p> - -<p class="indent">Taro had been delayed in America, -he now told the other frankly, on account -of the failure of his people to -send him passage money until about a -month ago. He had a few hardships to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page138" id="page138"></a>[pg 138]</span> -recount and some messages to deliver -from mutual friends, and then he wanted -to know all about Jack. Why had -he failed to visit his people as promised? -How much of the country had he seen? -Why were his letters so few and far -between?</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack Bigelow laughed shortly. -“Burton, old man,” he said, “I’ve been -dead to everything in Japan—in the -world, in fact—save one entrancing -subject.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yes?” The other was curious. “And -that is—?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“My wife.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Your wife!” Taro stopped short. -They were crossing the main street of -Tokyo on foot.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yes,” said the other, laughing -boyishly, all his resentment against -the girl lost and forgiven for the time -being.</p> - -<p class="indent">“And so you did it, after all?” said -the other, with slow, bitter emphasis. -His friend, then, was little different -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page139" id="page139"></a>[pg 139]</span> -from other foreigners who marry only -to desert.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Did what?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Got a wife.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Got a wife! Why, man, she came -to me. She’s a witch, the sun-goddess -herself. She’s had me under her spell -all these months. She has hypnotized -me.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“And still has you under her spell?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I am wider awake to-day,” said -Jack, soberly.</p> - -<p class="indent">“And soon,” said Taro, “you will -be still wider awake, and then—then -it will be time for her to awaken.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“No!” said Jack, sharply, with bitter -memory. “She has no heart whatever. -She likes to pretend—that is -all.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“How do you mean?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Simply that we’ve both been pretending -and acting—I to myself, she -to me; she trying to make me believe -it was all real to her, at any rate these -last two months; I trying to delude myself -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page140" id="page140"></a>[pg 140]</span> -into believing in her, which was -more than my conceit was good for, -after all. Just when I was sure of her, -I accidentally discovered that she was -preparing to desert me altogether.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“She apparently has more sense than -some of them,” said Taro. “Her head -rules her heart.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Oh, entirely,” Jack agreed, quickly, -thinking of the money she had coaxed -from him in the past.</p> - -<p class="indent">“And you,” Taro turned on him, -“have you come out all right?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Perfectly!” the other laughed with -forced assurance and airiness that deceived -Taro, who was somewhat credulous -by nature. “It wasn’t for a -lifetime, you know,” he added.</p> - -<p class="indent">His reply was distasteful to the high -moral sense of Taro Burton—more, it -pained him, for it brought to him a sudden -and deep disappointment in his -friend. He changed the subject, and -tried to talk about his own people. He -was in a great hurry to go home, and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page141" id="page141"></a>[pg 141]</span> -would linger but a day in Tokyo. He -had arrived sooner than they expected -him. He was hungry for a sight of his -little sister and mother—they were all -he had in the world.</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack’s spirits were dampened for the -moment, as he had expected his friend -to remain with him for a few days. -However, he got Taro’s consent to accompany -him to his home for dinner -that evening, in order to meet the -“Sun-goddess.”</p> -<hr /> - -<p class="indent">Taro was ushered with great ceremony -into the quaint zashishi, which -was supposed to be entirely Japanese, -and was in reality wholly American, -despite the screens and mats and vases. -Jack ran up-stairs to prepare his wife -to meet his friend.</p> - -<p class="indent">The girl was panically dressing in -her best clothes. The maid had brushed -her hair till it glistened. Long -ago her husband had peremptorily forbidden -her the use of oil for the purpose -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page142" id="page142"></a>[pg 142]</span> -of darkening or smoothing it, so it now -shone a rich bronze black and curled -entrancingly around her little ears and -neck. She needed no color for her lips -or cheeks; this also her husband had -forbidden her to use. She looked like -the picture of the sun-goddess in some -old fairy print, her eyes dancing and -shining with excitement, her cheeks -very red and rosy. She was irresistible, -thought her husband, as he held -her at arm’s length. Then, to her great -mortification and chagrin, he lifted her -bodily in his arms and carried her downstairs. -And thus they entered the room, -the girl blushing and struggling in his -arms.</p> - -<p class="indent">Taro Burton was standing tall and -erect, his back to the light. He was -very grave, in spite of his friend’s mirth, -and, as Jack set the girl on the floor, -he took a step forward to meet her, -bowing ceremoniously in Japanese fashion.</p> - -<p class="indent">Yuki stood up, straightened her -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page143" id="page143"></a>[pg 143]</span> -crumpled gown, and hung her head a -moment.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yuki, this is my friend, Mr. Burton.”</p> - -<p class="indent">She raised her head with a quick, -terrified start, and then instantaneously -hers and Taro’s eyes met, and each -recoiled and shrank backward, their -eyes matching each other in the intense -startled look of horror.</p> - -<p class="indent">The man’s face had taken on the -color of death, and he was standing, -immovable and silent, almost as if -he were an image of stone. The girl -sank to the floor in a confused heap, -shivering and sobbing.</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack turned from her to Taro, and -then back again to the crouching girl. -She was creeping on her knees towards -Taro, but the man, having found the -power of movement, went backward -away from her, aged all in a moment.</p> - -<p class="indent">He tried to turn his sick eyes from -her, but they clung, fascinated as is -the needle by the pole.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page144" id="page144"></a>[pg 144]</span> -And then Jack’s voice, hoarse with a -fear he could not understand, broke in:</p> - -<p class="indent">“Burton, what is the matter?”</p> - -<p class="indent">Suddenly the girl sprang to her feet -and rushed to Taro, sobbing and entreating -in Japanese, but the terrible -figure of the man remained immovable. -Jack pulled her forcibly from him.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Burton, dear old friend, what is it?”</p> - -<p class="indent">The other pushed his hands from him -with almost a blow.</p> - -<p class="indent">“She is my sister! Oh, my God!”</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack Bigelow felt for an instant as if -the life within him had been stopped. -Then he grasped at a chair and sank -down dazed.</p> - -<p class="indent">As though to break up the terrible -silence, the girl commenced to laugh, -but her laughter was terrible, almost -unearthly. The man in the chair -covered his face with his hands; the -other made a movement towards her as -if he would strike her. But she did not -retreat: nay, she leaned towards him. -And her laughter, loud and discordant, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page145" id="page145"></a>[pg 145]</span> -sank low, and then faded in a tremulous -sob.</p> - -<p class="indent">She put out her little speaking, beseeching -hands, and “Sayonara!” she -whispered softly. Then there was stillness -in the room, though the echoes -seemed to repeat “Sayonara,” “Sayonara,” -and again “Sayonara,” and -that means not merely “Farewell,” -but the heart’s resignation: “If it must -be.”</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack and Taro were alone together, -neither breaking by a word the tragic -sadness of that terrible silence. It was -the coming into the room of the maid -that recalled them to life. Twilight -was settling. She brought the lighted -andon and set it in the darkening room.</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack got up slowly. The stupor and -horror of it all were not gone from -him, but he crossed to the other man, -and looked into his dull, ashen face.</p> - -<p class="indent">“My God! Burton, forgive me,” he -said, brokenly; “I am a gentleman. -I will fix it all right. She is my wife, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page146" id="page146"></a>[pg 146]</span> -and all the world to me. We can remarry -if you wish, and I swear to protect -her with all the love and homage -I would give to any woman who became -my wife.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yes, you must do that,” said the -other, with weak half-comprehension. -“But where is she?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Where is she?” Jack repeated, -dazedly. They had forgotten her departure. -A dread of her possible loss -possessed and stupefied Jack, and Taro -was half delirious.</p> - -<p class="indent">“We must look for her at once,” said -Jack.</p> - -<p class="indent">They called to her, and all over the -house and through the grounds they -searched for her, their lanterns scanning -the dark shadows under the trees -in the little garden; but only the autumn -winds, sighing in the pine-trees, echoed -her singing minor notes, and mocked -and numbed their senses.</p> - -<p class="indent">“She must have gone home,” said -the husband.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page147" id="page147"></a>[pg 147]</span> -“We must go there at once,” said -the brother.</p> - -<p class="indent">“It will be all right, Burton, dear -old friend. Trust me; you know me -well enough for that.”</p> - -<p class="indent">Taro paused, and turned on him -burning eyes, in which friendliness -had been replaced by a look that spoke -of stern and awful judgment. “Otherwise,” -he began, but paused; -he went on in a cold hard voice, “I was -going to say, I will kill you.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 529px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_iris.jpg" width="529" height="800" alt="" title=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page148" id="page148"></a>[pg 148]</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>XIII<br/> -IN WHICH TWO MEN LEARN OF A<br/> -SISTER’S SACRIFICE</h2> - -<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Jack Bigelow’s</span> usually sunny -face was bleached to the ashiness of -fear and despair. He was so nervous -that he could not keep still a moment -at a time, but would get up and pace -the length of the car, only to return -and look with eyes that attested the -heartache within at the other man, -silent and grim. Taro seemed the -calmer, but well the younger man -knew that beneath that subdued exterior -slumbered a fire that needed but -a breath to be turned into avenging -fury.</p> - -<p class="indent">At last they reached their destination. -The little town once again! -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page149" id="page149"></a>[pg 149]</span> -But this night Jack was not alone. -There was no star or moon overhead -to lighten their pathway; a dull, drizzly, -sleety rain was falling. In silence -they left the car; in silence plodded -through the mud of the road and -the damp grass of the field beyond. -The little garden gate creaked on its -hinges as they went through. They -saw the dim outlines of the old palace -before them, with its wide balconies -and sloping roofs. Half-way up the -garden was the family pond, freshened -by a hidden spring, and the little winding -brook which wound hither and -thither showed how it emptied into -the bay beyond. There was even a -tiny boat moored on a toy-like island -in the centre of the pond.</p> - -<p class="indent">For the first time Taro Burton paused, -and looked with dreadful eyes at its -dull surface, which even the darkness -of the night and the miserable rain could -not obliterate entirely. What were the -memories that crowded back on him, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page150" id="page150"></a>[pg 150]</span> -suffocating him? Here it was that -he and Yuki had grown up together. -The little boat was the same, the island -as small and neat, the house seemed as -ever; nothing had changed. Yes, there -was Yuki! A deep groan slipped from -his lips.</p> - -<p class="indent">There was a difference of seven years -in their ages, but a stronger bond of -sympathy and comradeship had existed -between these two than is usual between -brother and sister. Their nationality -had to a large extent isolated them -from other children, for the Japanese -children had laughed at their hair -and eyes, and called them “Kirishitans” -(Christians). Until he was seven -years of age, Taro had manfully, -though bitterly, fought his battles -alone. He had been a queer, brooding -little lad, of passionate and violent -temper, and, apparently, scorning any -overtures of friendship from any one -outside his own household.</p> - -<p class="indent">When the little sister had come, the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page151" id="page151"></a>[pg 151]</span> -boy had gone suddenly wild with joy, -and had proceeded to bestow upon -her the same worshipful love his mother -gave exclusively to him, for Snowflake -had been born when their English -father lay at the gates of death, her -tiny soul fluttering into life just as -that of her father drifted outward into -eternity, so that to Omatsu, the mother, -who was passionately absorbed in her -grief, her arrival had been a source -of irritation. But Taro had carried -her to the family temple, and had, -himself, named her “Snowflake” -(Yuki), for she had come at a time -when all the land was covered with -whiteness. There had been a frost and -even a snowfall, which is rare in that -part of the country. Moreover, she -resembled a snowflake, so soft and -white and pure.</p> - -<p class="indent">How was it possible for him, after all -these years, to come, as he now had -come, once more to this place of which -she had always been a part, and with -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page152" id="page152"></a>[pg 152]</span> -which she had always been lovingly -associated in his mind, and not be filled -with emotions that rent his heart. She -had been his inspiration and all the -world to him.</p> - -<p class="indent">He remembered how they would drift -around in their tiny boat, and she, -little autocrat, would perch before him, -her eyes dancing and shining, while -he told her the story of the fisher-boy -Urashima and his bride, the daughter -of the dragon king. And when he -would finish, for the hundredth time, -perhaps, she would say, “See, Taro-sama, -I am the princess, and you the -fisher-boy. We are sailing, sailing, -sailing on the sea ‘where Summer -never dies,’” and he, to please her -fancy, drifted on and on with her, -around and around the little pond, -until the sun began to sink in the west -and the little mother would call them -in-doors.</p> - -<p class="indent">Now the monotonous drip, drip, drip -of the rain-drops as they plashed from -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page153" id="page153"></a>[pg 153]</span> -the weeping willow-trees that surrounded -the tiny lake, fell upon its -dull surface with mournful sound. -Taro groaned again.</p> - -<p class="indent">When he had knocked loudly a man -came shuffling round from the rear of -the house, and, in reply to his inquiry -for Madam Omatsu, informed him -gruffly that she had retired.</p> - -<p class="indent">It did not matter; he must awaken her, -Taro, who had found voice, told him -with such insistence that the servant -fled ignominiously to obey him. They -waited for some time, out in the melancholy -night. There was no sound -from within the house. Taro hammered -on the door once more. Then -a faint light appeared from a window -close by the door, and the man’s head -showed again. He begged their honorable -patience. He would open in a -fraction of a second. He was very humble -and servile now, and, as he admitted -them, backed before them, bowing -and bobbing at every step, for his -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page154" id="page154"></a>[pg 154]</span> -mistress’s entire household had been -taught to treat foreigners with the -greatest deference and respect.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Go to your mistress,” said Taro, -briefly, “and tell her that her son desires -to see her at once.”</p> - -<p class="indent">There was immediately a fluttering -at the other side of the shoji. Taro -saw an eye withdraw from a hole. -There were a few minutes of silence, -and then the shoji parted and a woman -entered the room. Her mother-love -must have prompted her to rush into -the arms of her son, for she had not seen -him in five years, but, whatever her -emotions, she skilfully concealed them, -for the paltry reason that her son was -accompanied by a stranger, an honorable -foreign friend; and it behooved -her to affect the finest manners. Consequently -she prostrated herself gracefully, -bowing and bowing, until Taro -strode rapidly over to her and lifted -her to her feet.</p> - -<p class="indent">She was quite pretty and very gentle -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page155" id="page155"></a>[pg 155]</span> -and graceful. Her face, oval in contour, -was smooth and unwrinkled as -a girl’s, for Japanese women age slowly. -It was hard to believe she was the -mother of the tall man now holding her -at arm’s length and looking down at -her with such deep, questioning eyes.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Where is my sister, Yuki?” he -demanded, hoarsely.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yuki?” Madam Omatsu smiled -with saintly confidence. She had retired. -Would they pray wait till morning? -Ah, how was her honorable son, -her august offspring? She began -fondling her boy now, stroking his -face, standing on tiptoe to kiss it, -ecstatically smoothing and caressing -his hands, feeling his strange clothes, -and laughing joyously at their likeness -to those of her dead husband’s. -But the dark shadow on Taro’s face -was deepening, nor would he return -or submit to his mother’s caresses till -his fears regarding his sister were -stilled.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page156" id="page156"></a>[pg 156]</span> -“Send for her,” he said, briefly, and -she knew he would not be gainsaid.</p> - -<p class="indent">Send for her! Ah, Madam Omatsu -begged her noble son’s pardon ten -million times, but she had made a great -mistake. His sister had, of course, -retired, but it was not within their -augustly miserable and honorably unworthy -domicile. She had gone out -on a visit to some friends.</p> - -<p class="indent">Taro undid the clinging hands and -pushed her from him, his brooding -eyes glaring.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Where?”</p> - -<p class="indent">Where? Why, it was only a short distance—perhaps -two rice-fields’ lengths -from their house.</p> - -<p class="indent">“The house?—the people’s name?”</p> - -<p class="indent">Madam Omatsu whitened a trifle. -Her eyes narrowed, her lips quivered. -She tried once more frantically to prevaricate.</p> - -<p class="indent">The people’s name? She could not -quite recall, but the next day—the -next day surely—</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page157" id="page157"></a>[pg 157]</span> -“Ah-h,” said her son, with delirious -brutality, “you are deceiving me, lying -to me. I demand to know where she is. -I am her rightful guardian. I must -see her at once.”</p> - -<p class="indent">Madam Omatsu protested with faint -vehemence, but she did not weep. She -even essayed a little laugh, that reminded -Jack eerily of Yuki. In the -dimly lighted room she looked strangely -like her daughter, save that she was -much smaller and quite thin and frail, -whereas Yuki was rosy and healthy.</p> - -<p class="indent">Taro was speaking to her in Japanese, -in a sharp, cruel voice, and she was -answering gently, meekly, humbly, -consolingly. Jack felt sorry for her. -Suddenly Taro threw her hands from -him, with a gesture of sheer despair -and exhausted patience.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I can learn nothing from her, nothing,” -he said in English. Then he -turned on her again. “Listen,” he -said: “You are my mother, and as -such I honor you, but you must not -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page158" id="page158"></a>[pg 158]</span> -deceive me. I know all; know that -my sister was married to an American; -know how she was married, if you call -such marriage. They do not consider -it so, as you must know. What do you -know of this, my mother? It could not -have happened without your knowledge?”</p> - -<p class="indent">The mother broke down at last. All -was indeed lost if he knew that much. -She sank in a heap at his feet, and again -the other man was reminded of her -daughter.</p> - -<p class="indent">Taro raised her, not ungently, curbing -his emotions.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Pray speak to me the truth,” he -implored.</p> - -<p class="indent">“It was for you,” she said, faintly, in -Japanese. “I desired it, I, your mother; -and, afterwards, she also, she, your -sister. It was a small sacrifice, my -son.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Sacrifice! What do you mean?” -he cried.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Alas, we had not the money to keep -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page159" id="page159"></a>[pg 159]</span> -you at the American school, and later, -when you desired to return, it was still -harder.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Oh, my God!”</p> - -<p class="indent">She went on, speaking brokenly in -Japanese. After he had gone to America -their little fortune had been swept -away, but of this they had kept him in -ignorance, fearing that he would not -remain in the university did he know -how poor they had become. The house -belonged to him; they could not sell it. -There had been but poor crops in their -few remaining acres of rice-fields; their -income became smaller and smaller. -One by one their servants and coolies -had to be sacrificed, till there were only -a very few left, and these refused to -be paid for their services. They had -secured money in what manner they -could, and sent it to him. It was hard, -but they loved him.</p> - -<p class="indent">Then Yuki, unknown to her mother, -had gone up to Tokyo each day and -learned the arts of the geisha; later -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page160" id="page160"></a>[pg 160]</span> -she invented dances and songs of her -own, and soon she was able to command -a good price at one of the chief -tea-gardens in Tokyo.</p> - -<p class="indent">This for a season had brought them -in a fair income, and for a time they -were enabled to send him even more -than the usual allowance. Then came -his request for his passage money. -Alas! they were but weak and silly -women. They had forgotten to save -against this event in their desire to -keep him in comfort. Nakodas had -approached Yuki, and tempting offers -were made to her. She had resisted -all of them, for she was then below -the age when girls usually marry, but -sixteen years of age. Only when it -became imperative to raise the passage -money would she even listen to the -persuasion of her mother and of the -nakoda. They had pointed out to -her the great advantage, and finally, as -the brother’s letters grew more insistent, -she had broken down and given in. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page161" id="page161"></a>[pg 161]</span> -After that time she had assisted them in -their efforts to secure her a suitable -husband. They had been exceptionally -successful, for she had married a foreigner -who would likely leave her soon, -which was fortunate in Omatsu’s mind, -one whose excellent virtues and whose -wealth were above question. This was -all there was to tell. She prayed and -besought her honorable son’s pardon.</p> - -<p class="indent">During her recital Taro had leaned -towards her, listening with bated breath -to every word that escaped her lips. -His thin, nervous face was horribly -drawn, his hands were clinched tightly -at his side, his whole form was quivering. -He tried to regain his scattered -senses, and his hand vaguely wandered -to his brow, pushing back the thick -black hair that had fallen over it.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You cannot understand,” he said -to the other man, his voice scarcely -recognizable for its labor. “It was -for me, me, my little sister sold herself. -To keep me in comfort and ease! -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page162" id="page162"></a>[pg 162]</span> -Snowflake for me! And they kept me -in ignorance. I did not even dream -they were in straitened circumstances. -Oh, had I not willing hands and an -eager heart to work, to slave for them? -Why should the whole burden have -fallen on her, my little, frail sister? But -it has always been so. There is no -such thing as justice in this land for -the woman.”</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack heard him raving, understood, -and bowed his head in impotent sorrow.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Has your mother given you any -information of her whereabouts?” he -suddenly broke in.</p> - -<p class="indent">Taro had forgotten that they were -seeking her. His mother’s story had -held all his attention. The horror -aroused by that recital of devotion, -the thought of the months of her sweet -life which she had sacrificed for him, -and then how he had repulsed her, pressed -on his poor numbed senses. But -Jack’s inquiry recalled him. A thousand -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page163" id="page163"></a>[pg 163]</span> -dark surmises regarding her -overwhelmed him.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yes, yes—where is she?” he asked, -huskily.</p> - -<p class="indent">She had been with her husband some -days now. Madam Omatsu expected -her home soon, and this time she would -never again return to him.</p> - -<p class="indent">Taro’s eyes were inflamed. “And -she has not returned? She should -be here now! Ah, it is plain to be seen -what has happened. She may be taking -her life at this moment. It is what -a Japanese girl would do. She had -the blood of heroes in her veins; she -would not falter.”</p> - -<p class="indent">All of a sudden he turned upon his -friend. Then the full agony caused -by his sister’s disappearance and her -great sacrifice descended upon him, and -he tottered. Before Jack could stay -him, he swayed forward and, as he fell, -struck his forehead upon the corner of -a heavy chair that had been his father’s. -When Jack raised the head of the unconscious -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page164" id="page164"></a>[pg 164]</span> -man he found blood flowing -from a wide cut over the left eye.</p> - -<p class="indent">There were hurrying feet throughout -the house, terrified whispers, and sobs, -and, above all, a mother’s voice raised -in terrible anguish.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 800px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_book.jpg" width="800" height="654" alt="" title=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page165" id="page165"></a>[pg 165]</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>XIV<br/> -A STRUGGLE IN THE NIGHT</h2> - -<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">By</span> day and night they kept their -unrelaxing watch by the bedside of -the sick man. Ever he tossed and -turned and muttered and cried aloud, -one word alone on his lips—his sister’s -name.</p> - -<p class="indent">Tenderly the mother smoothed the -fevered brow, softly she stroked the -restless hands, and tried to still their -fever between her own cool, soothing -ones. Thin lines had traced their -shadows on her worn face; gray threads -had come to mingle with the glossy -black of her hair. But she never permitted -herself, after that first night of -anguish, to betray her emotions, for, if -she did, well she knew she would be refused -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page166" id="page166"></a>[pg 166]</span> -the precious labor of nursing her -boy. And she kept her sleepless, tireless -watch night and day. Her maid -begged her to lie down herself and rest, -but she shook her head with bright, -dry eyes. Rest for her? While he lay -tossing thus? Nay! perhaps when he -should find the rest, the gods would -permit her also a respite; till then she -must keep her watch.</p> - -<p class="indent">She smiled pathetically when the -white-faced American boy tried to insist -that she should sleep, with the little -air of authority he had assumed in -the household. But with the gentle -smile she also shook her head in negation.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Let me take your place,” he pleaded. -“He is dear to me also.”</p> - -<p class="indent">Still she smiled, such a shadowy, -heart-aching smile, and turned back -to the sick-bed.</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack Bigelow went back to Tokyo, -and began his vigilant search for the -missing girl. The services of the entire -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page167" id="page167"></a>[pg 167]</span> -metropolitan police board were -called forth, and money was not spared. -The nakoda who had brought about -their marriage was put through a -vigorous catechism, but he could tell -them nothing. The proprietor of the -tea-garden swore she had not returned -to him, and when he bewailed the misfortune -which was filling his house -and gardens with officers, Jack consoled -him by paying liberally for the loss he -claimed he was suffering.</p> - -<p class="indent">On the fifth day the mystery of the -girl’s disappearance still remained unsolved. -Large rewards were offered -for a clew to her whereabouts. The -police were sure that she was somewhere -in Tokyo, and Jack urged them -to continue unremitting search in the -city, but each night dawned upon their -fruitless efforts. Now some one had -seen a girl of her description entering -a tea-house on the eve of her disappearance; -another had seen her selling -flowers in the market-place; and yet -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page168" id="page168"></a>[pg 168]</span> -another swore she had gone on board -a German vessel with a dried-up foreigner. -This last person could not -be mistaken—a Japanese girl with blue -eyes and red hair. But each clew was -found wanting and proved false.</p> - -<p class="indent">Then back to Yuki’s home, sick-hearted, -disappointed, weary, went Jack Bigelow. -A servant met him with the -blessed news that the man down with -brain fever was improving; that a -merciful calm had at last come to him, -and that now he slept. Wearied from -his fruitless endeavors to find some clew -to Yuki’s whereabouts, the first good -news in days unnerved the young man. -He sat down, covering his eyes with his -hands. He was badly in need of rest -himself, but his mind was full of the -mother in the sick-room overhead.</p> - -<p class="indent">Madam Omatsu, was she resting?</p> - -<p class="indent">No, she still kept her watch, but she -was very weak, and they feared she -would break down if they could not -prevail on her to rest.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page169" id="page169"></a>[pg 169]</span> -Jack went slowly up the stairs, tapped -softly on the shoji, and then entered -the sick-room.</p> - -<p class="indent">Taro lay on the heavy English bed, -with its white coverlets and curtains, -his face upturned.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You must rest,” Jack whispered -to the woman with the wan face and -wasted form, kneeling by the bedside.</p> - -<p class="indent">She shook her head, resisting.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I beg you to,” pleaded Jack, and, -though she could not understand him, -she knew what he was saying, and -still resisted.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Come,” he said, gently, and put his -hands upon her shoulders. “See, he -sleeps now. It is well, and you will -be too weak and faint to minister to -him when he awakes, otherwise.”</p> - -<p class="indent">But she protested that her health was -excellent; that she would not leave -her son. He stooped down, and attempted -to raise her gently to her feet, -but she would not permit him.</p> - -<p class="indent">He saw the tired droop of the eyes. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page170" id="page170"></a>[pg 170]</span> -“She will fall asleep soon,” he said to -himself, and so sat down beside her, -putting his arm about her and pillowing -her head on his shoulder. She did -not restrain him. She looked gratefully -into the frank, inviting eyes. She -sighed, her head wavered and dropped. -The room was very still and silent. -Gradually the woman fell asleep, and -as she slept she sighed from ineffable -weariness.</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack looked towards the silent figure -on the bed. The grayness of the approaching -night gave the face an expression -that was sinister in the extreme. -He shuddered and averted his -face. The little form in his arms grew -heavier.</p> - -<p class="indent">“She will rest better lying down,” -he thought, and carried her into the -adjoining room and laid her softly -down. Then he took the lighted andon, -and, carrying it into the sick-room, set -it in a corner near the bed, and drew -down the shutters. After this, he went -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page171" id="page171"></a>[pg 171]</span> -back to the bed, and stood for a minute -looking down on the sleeping man, an -expression of infinite sadness on his -face. Taro stirred, the hand lying outside -the coverlet contracted, then closed -spasmodically; the expression of the -face became terrifying. He moaned. -It seemed to Jack as if the sleeping -man was haunted by a terrible nightmare -which robbed him of the rest that -should have found him.</p> - -<p class="indent">And it was with Taro as Jack had -thought. He was in the midst of a fever -dream—a nightmare. He thought his -little sister, Snowflake, knelt by his -bedside and soothed and ministered to -his wants. He felt rested and at peace -at last; but, alas! just as he was slipping -into happy oblivion a dark form -loomed up beside his sister, bent over, -and clutched at her. She struggled -wildly at first, then weakly; finally her -struggles ceased, and she lay very still -and white. The man lifted her up and -carried her away. After a time he came -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page172" id="page172"></a>[pg 172]</span> -back, and now Taro felt his breath on -his own face. He was bending over -him. In a dim haze he saw the face, -and recognized it as that of his friend, -Jack Bigelow! He tried to reach out -and grasp him, to strike and kill him, -but he was at the mercy of some invisible -power which benumbed him and held -him down. His limbs refused to move, -he was unable to lift so much as a finger, -stir an eyelash, and all the time -the man’s breath was on his face, stealing -into his nostrils and suffocating -him.</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack noted the gasping of his friend -with alarm, and stooped over for the -purpose of removing the pillow to give -him relief. But at the touch of his -hand, as he attempted to raise the head -on the pillow, the life blood started -vividly, madly, through the man on -the bed, and suddenly he had sprung -into wild life. Jack saw the terrible -gleam of two delirious eyes, and stood -magnetized. With lightning fury the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page173" id="page173"></a>[pg 173]</span> -raving man had thrown aside the bedclothes, -sprung from the bed, and thrown -himself on the other with such force -that the two came to the ground together, -the madman on top.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I have you now!—traitor! betrayer!” -he said, as his hands felt -Jack’s warm throat.</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack had been taken so by surprise -that he was dazed in the first moment, -and in the next realized that he was -powerless to defend himself. He was -in the grasp of one temporarily insane, -one whose lithe, physical strength he -already knew well. It would be useless -to fight against that strength. His salvation -lay in being passive and feigning -unconsciousness; but could he do -this with those terrible fingers closing -around his throat, throttling the life -out of him? Now they pressed hard, -now relaxed, now caressed his neck and -throat, rubbed it, pinched only to press -again. He was playing with him! -Jack did not stir. He had closed his -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page174" id="page174"></a>[pg 174]</span> -eyes, and was praying for strength to -meet unflinchingly whatever fate held -for him.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Where have you put her?” came -the fierce whisper, close to his ear. -“Where did you carry her to? Hah! -you are silent. Have I silenced you -like this and this? You are cold; you -cannot breathe now, nor smile nor -laugh at her. No, not while I have -my hand here to press so and so. Once -you were my friend, and I loved you. -But now—so you killed her! Now I -will kill you like this and this and this!”</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack was becoming weaker and -weaker. The white-shrouded figure -sitting on him leaned forward, staring -dreadfully, but his victim saw nothing, -heard nothing. Suddenly it seemed as -if another had sprung upon him and -was beating his life out. He dimly -heard a woman’s cries, and, intermingled, -a terrible laughter. Then life and -consciousness seemed to depart, and he -knew no more.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page175" id="page175"></a>[pg 175]</span> -When he regained consciousness he -found himself on a bed. A woman -was leaning over him, bathing his head, -smoothing and caressing it—a woman -with an angelic face, so like Yuki’s -when she had nursed him during a -brief illness that in his weakness he -fainted at the mere dream of her sweet -presence. But it was not Yuki; it was -the mother. She had been awakened -by the talking and cries in the sickroom, -and, rushing to the door, had -looked in on the terrible scene. Japanese -women have little or no fear of -physical disaster for themselves. She -raised a fearful cry to arouse the household, -then flung herself on the two men, -and with her puny strength sought to -divide them. At first her son laughed -and resisted her, but when her white -face flashed before him his grip grew -weak, and he staggered back, dazed by -the rush of returning reason. He, too, -had taken her for the ghost of his lost -sister!</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page176" id="page176"></a>[pg 176]</span> -The alarmed household had flocked -into the room. Gently they prevailed -on him to return once more to the bed, -as weak as a child now.</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack was not seriously hurt. In his -shattered, nervous condition, however, -the shock had temporarily unhinged -him, and for several days he lay in -bed, waited on and attended by the -gentle Omatsu, who went like a sweet, -soothing spirit back and forth between -the two rooms, who called him “son,” -and was to him as if she were indeed -his mother, till she could not approach -him but he kissed her hands and blessed -her from his heart.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 386px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_lanterngarden.jpg" width="386" height="600" alt="" title=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page177" id="page177"></a>[pg 177]</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>XV<br/> -THE VOW</h2> - -<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">The</span> happy sadness of the brown -autumn had faded in a yellow gleam -of light. December had entered the -land with a little drift of frost and snow -which had surprised the country, for -December is not usually a cold month -in Japan. Its advent shook the little -housewives into action and life. New -mats of rice straw were being laid, and -every nook and corner dusted with fresh -bamboo brooms and dusters, for the -Japanese begin to prepare a month in -advance for the New Year season, and -all the country seems to wake into -active life and present a holiday appearance.</p> - -<p class="indent">But the old palace, where dwelt the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page178" id="page178"></a>[pg 178]</span> -Burton family, kept its garment of -perpetual gloom, and stood out in mocking -contrast to the neighboring houses. -No window was thrown open, no door -turned in to air the place and give it the -sunshine of the coming New Year.</p> - -<p class="indent">Thick as the dust that had gathered -about its unkept rooms, the shadow of -death pervaded the place. Vast shadows, -mysterious and oppressive, crept -in, enshrouding it with their ghostly -presence. From afar off the drone of a -curfew bell was heard, its slow, mournful -cadence seeming to drift into a dirge. -Outside the early winds of winter were -wailing a requiem, and all the spirits of -the air floated about and beat against -the sombre palace.</p> - -<p class="indent">At dusk consciousness returned to the -dying man, and weakly, though intelligently, -he looked about him, and even -smiled faintly at the wailing and moaning -that crept upward from the rooms -below, where the few old retainers of -the household, who had been in the service -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page179" id="page179"></a>[pg 179]</span> -of the family long before Taro had -been born, and had stayed by them after -their fortunes had fallen, were huddled -together and loudly lamenting the -approaching death of the son of the -house.</p> - -<p class="indent">Before a tiny shrine in a corner of -the room was the prostrate form of the -mother. Her lips were dumb, but her -speaking eyes wailed out her prayer to -all the gods for mercy. And at the -bedside, his face in his hands, knelt -Jack Bigelow. Perhaps he, too, was -praying to the one and only God of his -people.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Burton,” he said, as the sick man -stirred, “you have something to say to -me?”</p> - -<p class="indent">He bent over and wiped the dews -that lay thick as a frost on lips and -brow.</p> - -<p class="indent">“My sister—” Taro began with -painful slowness.</p> - -<p class="indent">“My wife—” whispered the other, -his voice breaking, and then, as Taro -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page180" id="page180"></a>[pg 180]</span> -seemed unable to proceed, he put his -mouth close down to his ear.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Burton, our grief is a common one. -I swear by everything I hold sacred and -holy that I will never cease in my efforts -to find my wife! Nothing that strength -or money can do shall be spared. I -will take no rest till she is found. Before -God, I will right this wrong I have -unconsciously done you and yours—and -mine!”</p> - -<p class="indent">Taro’s eyes, wide and bright, fixed -Jack’s steadfastly. His long, thin hand -stirred and quivered, and attempted to -raise itself. Without a word Jack took -it in his own. He had understood that -mute effort to mean belief and confidence -in him. And, kneeling there in -the melancholy dusk, he held Taro’s -hand between his own until it was stiff -and cold.</p> - -<p class="indent">Whither had the soul of the Eurasian -drifted? Out and along the interminable -and winding journey to the Meido -of his maternal ancestors, or to give -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page181" id="page181"></a>[pg 181]</span> -an account of itself to the great Man-God-three-in-one-Creator -of his father?</p> -<hr /> - -<p class="indent">The mother crept from the shrine -with stealing step, her white face like -a mask of death, her small, frail hands -outstretched, like those of one gone blind.</p> - -<p class="indent">A consciousness of her eerie approach -thrilled Jack Bigelow. He dropped -Taro’s hand and turned towards her, -standing before and hiding the sight -of the dead from her. In the dim -shadows of the deepening twilight she -looked as frail and ethereal as a wraith, -for she had clothed herself in all the -vestal garments of the dead.</p> - -<p class="indent">With somewhat of the heroism of her -feudal ancestors Omatsu had prepared -herself to face and undertake that -perilous journey into the unknown -with her son. In the pitiful tangled -reasoning that had wrestled in the -bosom of this Japanese woman, always -there had disturbed the beauty -of such a sacrifice the doubt as to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page182" id="page182"></a>[pg 182]</span> -whether the gods would indeed receive -her with this son of hers who had dedicated -his soul to an alien and strange -God. But she had prepared herself -to risk the consequences. And now she -stood there swaying and tottering in -all her ghastly attire, while opposite -to her stood the tall, fair-haired foreigner -with the pitying gray eyes of her own -dead lord.</p> - -<p class="indent">She essayed to speak, but her voice -was barely above a parched whisper.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Anata?” (Thou). It was a gentle -word, spoken as a question, as though -she would ask him, “Condescend to -speak your honorable desire with me?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Mother!” he only said—“dear -mother!”</p> -<hr /> - -<p class="indent">At Taro’s funeral Jack Bigelow -made the acquaintance of his wife’s -family. He had not imagined it possible -for any one to have so many relatives. -They came from all parts of -the country, distant and close cousins -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page183" id="page183"></a>[pg 183]</span> -and uncles and aunts, and even an -old grandfather and grandmother, the -former very decrepit and quite blind. -And they all lined up in order, and -wept real or artificial tears and muttered -prayers for the soul of the dead boy.</p> - -<p class="indent">A few of them were rich and important -men of high rank in Japan; -some of them were suave and courteous, -coming merely for form’s sake and for -the honor of the family; most of them -were of the type of the decayed gentility -of Japan—poor but proud, dignified -but humble in their dignity.</p> - -<p class="indent">They all regarded Jack with the -same grave, stoical gaze peculiar to -the better-class Japanese, betraying in -no way by their expression surprise or -resentment at his presence among -them. As a matter of fact, none of the -family were aware of the relation in -which he stood to them, and so had -occasion for no real animus against -him, regarding him merely as a friend -of Taro’s. But in his supersensitive -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page184" id="page184"></a>[pg 184]</span> -condition Jack imagined that they looked -upon him as an intruder, perhaps -as one who had brought distress and -havoc upon their household.</p> - -<p class="indent">When, however, after the funeral the -little mob of friends and relatives had -gradually dispersed till there was none -left besides himself and Omatsu, the -intense loneliness and silence of the -big house grated upon his nerves, so -that he would have welcomed the wailing -of the servants, which had now -been buried in the grave.</p> - -<p class="indent">Omatsu, too, who had borne herself -with heroic fortitude and bravery all -through the day, now that the reaction -had come was shivering and trembling, -and, when he approached her with a -pitying exclamation, she went to him -straightway and cried in his arms -like a little, tired child. He comforted -her with broken words, though his own -tears were falling on her little, bowed -head. And he tried to tell her, in terribly -bad pidgin Japanese—something -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page185" id="page185"></a>[pg 185]</span> -Yuki had taught him—how it -would be his care to protect and guard -her in the future just as if she were -indeed his mother; that he was not -worthy, but he would try to fill the -place of the beautiful boy who was sleeping -his last sleep. And he told of the -promise he had given to Taro, how his -life would be devoted to but one end -and purpose, to find his wife. Would -she accompany him?</p> - -<p class="indent">She entreated him to take her with -him. But in the end, after all, she could -not accompany him. Her health, which -had never been robust, gave way to -her grief, and Jack took her back to -her parents, for it was necessary that -he should spare no time from his search, -and, moreover, she was too delicate to -travel. Before leaving her he saw to it -that she and her parents should have -every comfort possible.</p> -<hr /> - -<p class="indent">The old palace, grim, gray, and -haggard in the winter landscape, was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page186" id="page186"></a>[pg 186]</span> -now completely deserted. The townspeople -looked askance at it, as at a -haunted house, knowing somewhat of -the tragedy that hid within its closed -portals.</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack was the last to leave the place. -Omatsu had begged him to see to the -closing up, and the paying-off of all the -old servants. When he had finally come -out he was shocked at the curious crowd -of neighbors who had gathered about the -gates and were whispering and gossiping -about him and waiting for him. But -they were quite respectful and silent -as he passed them. He was an object -of curiosity, this tall foreigner who had -married among them, and they watched -him with round, wondering eyes, following -him all the way to the station, -a little, pygmy procession, very much -as children follow a circus. Once or -twice he half turned as though to tell -them to leave him, but stopped himself -in time, remembering how strange he -must really seem to them.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page187" id="page187"></a>[pg 187]</span> -At the station he bowed to them gravely, -and his bow was solemnly and politely -returned by those in front. And it -was in this strangely pathetic though -grotesque manner that the tall, fair-haired -barbarian left the town.</p> - -<p class="indent">Less than a year before he had been -a light-hearted, joyous boy. He was -now a man, with a burden on his soul -and a sacred task to perform. Moreover, -there was an awful abyss in his -life that must be bridged. Never again -would life have for him the same rosy -bow of promise, not until he had found -that other part of his soul—his Sun-goddess.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 496px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_dragon.jpg" width="496" height="800" alt="" title=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page188" id="page188"></a>[pg 188]</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>XVI<br/> -A PILGRIM OF LOVE</h2> - -<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Jack Bigelow</span> went up to Yokohama, -where the Tokyo detectives -thought they had a clew to the girl’s -whereabouts. A new and very beautiful -geisha had appeared among the -dancing-girls, and as no one seemed -to know anything about her history it -was thought that she might be the -missing Yuki. But she had disappeared -only the day before his arrival -there.</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack spent a month in the big metropolis, -shadowing the tea-gardens, -and watching, with the assistance of -men he had hired, every geisha house -and garden; but though many girls -apparently answering to the description -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page189" id="page189"></a>[pg 189]</span> -of Yuki were brought before him, none -of them proved to be the missing girl, -and the disgust the young man experienced -at their total unlikeness to -his wife was only equalled by his bitter -disappointment.</p> - -<p class="indent">A telegram from police headquarters -brought him back to Tokyo. Here -he was told that the detectives had -traced the missing girl to Nagasaki, -a seaport on the western coast of Kiushu. -This was the city where Yuki’s father -had first lived in Japan. He had been -the son of a rich silk merchant, and -had come to Japan in order to extend -his knowledge of the silk trade and expand -his father’s business. But Stephen -Burton had become infatuated with the -country, had married a Japanese wife, -assimilated the ways of her people, and -in time had even become a naturalized -citizen. He never returned alive to his -native England, though strange, cold, -red-bearded men had taken his body from -the wife, and had crossed the seas with it.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page190" id="page190"></a>[pg 190]</span> -Old Sir Stephen Burton had never -forgiven what he considered the <i>mésalliance</i> -of his son, and hence Taro -and Yuki had never seen or known any -of their father’s people, and he himself -had died while they were yet -children.</p> - -<p class="indent">Some feeling of sentiment might -have brought Yuki to this place. Moreover, -there were many public tea-houses -there, where she could quickly find employment. -The police were positive in -their statements that they were not -mistaken in the identity of the girl -they claimed to be Yuki.</p> - -<p class="indent">Travelling by slow and tedious trains, -with no sleeping accommodations and -but few of the modern luxuries that are -necessities on American trains; travelling -by kurumma, with the flying heels -of his runners scattering the dust of -the highway in his eyes, when the -landscape before, behind, and around -him seemed a maze of dazzling blue; -travelling on foot, when he was too -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page191" id="page191"></a>[pg 191]</span> -restless to do otherwise than tramp, -he was weary and ill when he finally, -reached Nagasaki. Here an amazing -horde of nakodas pestered him with -their offerings of matrimonial happiness. -He had no heart for them. They -stifled him with memories that were -better sleeping.</p> - -<p class="indent">The tea-house to which he had been -directed was owned and run by an -elderly geisha, who, in her day, had -been noted for her own beauty and -cleverness. She was all affectation and -grace now. She met Jack with exaggerated -expressions of welcome, and in -a sweet, sibilant voice pressed upon him -the comforts and entertainments of her -“poor place.”</p> - -<p class="indent">He did not pause to exchange compliments -with her.</p> - -<p class="indent">Was there not in her house a girl, -very beautiful and very young, who -sang and danced?</p> - -<p class="indent">Madam Pine-leaf (that was her name) -allowed her face to betray surprised -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page192" id="page192"></a>[pg 192]</span> -amusement at the question. Why, her -place was famous for the beauty of her -maidens, and every one of them danced -and sang more bewitchingly than the -fairies themselves. But she only said, -very humbly:</p> - -<p class="indent">“My maidens are all unworthily fair, -and all of them indulge in the honorable -dance and song. It is part of the accomplishment -of every geisha.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yes, but you could not mistake this -girl. She is distinct from all others. -She—her eyes are blue. She is only -half Japanese!”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Ah-h!—a half-caste.” Madam -Pine-leaf’s lips formed in a <i>moue</i>. She -was very polite, however. She pretended -to consult her mind. Then she -begged that he would remain, at all -events, and see for himself all her girls.</p> - -<p class="indent">Impatiently he waited, a terrible -nervousness taking possession of him -at the mere possibility that Yuki might -be near him. But though he scanned -with almost seeming rudeness the faces -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page193" id="page193"></a>[pg 193]</span> -of the inmates of the place, none of -them was like unto her whom he sought.</p> - -<p class="indent">When he paid his hostess, who, recognizing -in him a generous patron, -had been careful to stay close by him -the entire evening, his face betrayed his -exceeding disappointment.</p> - -<p class="indent">The woman glanced at the big fee in -her hand, and a feeling of pity and -gratitude called up all her native prevarication.</p> - -<p class="indent">Now that she had spent the whole -evening turning the matter over in -her mind, she recalled the fact that only -a few days before a girl answering -exactly to his description of his wife -had worked for her for a short period, but -unfortunately she had left her and gone -to Osaka.</p> - -<p class="indent">Madam Pine-leaf’s face was guileless, -her words convincing. There was gentle -compassion in her eyes, which added -to the comfort of her words.</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack wrung her slim hands gratefully -till they ached.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page194" id="page194"></a>[pg 194]</span> -Osaka? How far away was that? -Did Madam Pine-leaf believe he had -time to get there before she would -leave? What was the exact address?</p> - -<p class="indent">Yes, she believed he would be in time, -and she drew out a dainty tablet and -wrote an address upon it, and with -deep and graceful obeisances she prayed -that the gods would accompany and -guide him.</p> -<hr /> - -<p class="indent">He reached Osaka at night, when -its many strange canals and narrow -rivers were reflecting the lights of the -city, like glittering spear-heads, on -their dark, shining surface. The hotel -was miles from the station, but the -streets were deserted, and there was no -traffic to hinder the flying feet of his -runner. At night the city seemed -strangely romantic and peaceful, a -spot that would have attracted one of -Yuki’s temperament. But daylight revealed -it as it was—a bustling commercial -centre, where everybody seemed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page195" id="page195"></a>[pg 195]</span> -hurrying as though bent on accomplishing -some important mission.</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack stayed but a few days in Osaka. -She was not there. The proprietor -of the Osaka gardens, hearing his -story, humbly apologized for the fact -that while such a girl had honored for -a short season his unworthy gardens, -she had left him now some days ago. -Whither had she gone? To Kyoto.</p> - -<p class="indent">And in Kyoto, the most fascinating -and beautiful city in all Japan, he was -sent from one tea-house to another, -each proprietor acknowledging that one -answering to the description had been -in his employ, but declaring that she -had left only a short time previous. She -was only a visiting geisha, who moved -from place to place.</p> - -<p class="indent">Finally he traced her back to Tokyo, -the place whence he had started -on his weary pilgrimage. She was -the chief geisha, so he was told, of the -Sanzaeyemon gardens. With his brain -swimming, his lips almost refusing him -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page196" id="page196"></a>[pg 196]</span> -speech, he went straightway to this place. -The proprietor received him with magnificent -humility, and, listening to his -disjointed questions, answered that all -was well. She was even then within -his honorably miserable tea-house. For -the privilege of seeing her he would be -obliged to make an honorably insignificant -charge, and, if he (the august barbarian) -desired to take her away with -him, a further fee must be forthcoming.</p> - -<p class="indent">Waiving these questions aside, by -putting down so much coin that the -little proprietor’s eyes matched its glisten, -he followed him up the stairway -to the private quarters of the more important -geishas. Into one of the rooms -he was unceremoniously ushered.</p> - -<p class="indent">A girl who sat on a mat put forward -her two hands, and her bowed head on -top of them. Jack watched her with -bated breath. He could not see her -face, and the room was badly lighted. -But when he could bear no longer her -perpetual bowing and had lifted her, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page197" id="page197"></a>[pg 197]</span> -with hands that shook, to her feet, he -saw her face. It was that of a stranger!</p> - -<p class="indent">A slight illness now hindered the -progress of his search, but he would -not allow himself the rest he needed; -and still ill, haggard, and a shadow -of his former self, the young man once -more drifted to the metropolitan police -station.</p> - -<p class="indent">They had exhausted all their clews, -but they were kind-hearted little men, -these Japanese policemen. The chief -of police invented a story that would -have done credit to one of Japan’s -poets.</p> - -<p class="indent">Yuki was somewhere in the vicinity -of Matsushima Bay, on the northeastern -coast of Japan, near the city of -Sendai, where the waters flow into the -Pacific. This was a spot favored by -unhappy lovers, and the chief of police -had positive evidence that a girl answering -to her description had been seen wandering -daily in that part of the country. -He even produced a telegraph blank, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page198" id="page198"></a>[pg 198]</span> -with an indecipherable message in Japanese -characters written on it, purporting -to give this information. His advice -to the young man was to go to -this honorable place and stay there for -some time. The country was large -thereabouts. He might not find her at -once, but soon or late surely she would -turn up there.</p> - -<p class="indent">Jack was impressed with his glib recital, -and then, moreover, he remembered -that Yuki had told him much -about this place, which they had planned -to visit together some day. He -started straightway for it, buoyed up -with a hope he had not known in -months.</p> - -<p class="indent">And the chief of police snapped his -fingers and bobbed his head and clinked -the big fee he had received.</p> - -<p class="indent">“These foreign devils are naïve,” -he said to an assistant.</p> - -<p class="indent">The cringing assistant agreed. -“They believe any august lie,” he -replied.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page199" id="page199"></a>[pg 199]</span> -His superior frowned. “It was for -his good, after all,” he returned, tartly.</p> - -<p class="indent">In the city of Sendai Jack put up at -a small Japanese hostelry, and from -there each day he would start out and -wander down to the beach of the wonderful bay. -It was all as Yuki had -pictured it, with her vivid, passionate -imagery. There were the countless -rocks of all sizes and forms scattered -in it, with strange, shapely pine-trees -growing up from them, and the one -bare rock called “Hadakajima,” or -“Naked Island,” and all the beautiful -romances, impossible and dreamy as -the fairy tales of a classic Oriental -poet, that she had woven about and -around this place, came back to his mind -now, haunting him like a beautiful -dream, until the memory of her, and -the influence of the beauty of the place, -seemed to cast a mystic spell about -him.</p> - -<p class="indent">For, oh! the scenes that enwrapped -the bay! The slopes and hillocks and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page200" id="page200"></a>[pg 200]</span> -the great mountains beyond were garbed -in vestal white, pure and glistening. -The snowflakes had tipped the branches -of the pine, and there they hung, like -glistening pearl-drops, sometimes dropping -with little bounds on the rocks, -there to freeze or melt into the bay.</p> - -<p class="indent">And some vague fancy, baffling in -its hopelessness, nevertheless, clung -to him that possibly she might have -come hither to this peaceful spot, far -from the scenes where they had loved -and suffered so deeply, for, with unerring -insight, Jack knew that she -had loved him. Bit by bit he traced -backward in his mind every proof -she had given him of this, and now, -when the sorrow of her loss seemed -more than he could bear, the knowledge -of this upheld and cheered him always.</p> - -<p class="indent">But the beauty of Matsushima could -give him no peace of mind or soul, for -he was alone! The stillness and silence -of the very atmosphere, the tall -pine-trees, bending gracefully in the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page201" id="page201"></a>[pg 201]</span> -swaying, swinging breezes, seemed to -mock him with their calm content. The -bay was enchanted—yes, but haunted -too—haunted by the imagination of -the little feet that had perhaps wandered -along its shore.</p> - -<p class="indent">In a little village only a short distance -from the beach, inhabited by a -few simple, honest fisher-folk, Jack -tried to ascertain whether they had -seen aught of her he sought. But -they babbled fairy stories back at him. -There had been many, many witch-maids -who had haunted the shores of -Matsushima; many young girls, who -had lost their minds through unfortunate -love affairs, had wandered thither. -They were the ghosts of these unfortunate -lovers, who had sought in death -the bliss of love denied them in life, -which now haunted the shore of the bay.</p> - -<p class="indent">That the strange, fair man who had -lost his bride would meet the same -untimely though poetic fate the simple -people never doubted.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page202" id="page202"></a>[pg 202]</span> -And so, like one who has lost his -soul, he wandered hither and thither -throughout the islands of Japan in -search of it.</p> - -<p class="indent">Sunshine had been the dominant -element in Jack Bigelow’s character, -and in a less degree impulsiveness and -generosity. No one had ever given -him credit for intensity of feeling or -greatness of purpose. But sometimes -tribulation will bring out such qualities, -which have lain hidden beneath -an apparently superficial exterior.</p> - -<p class="indent">A deep, abiding love for his summer -bride had sprung into eternal life in -his heart. She was never absent from -his mind. There were moments when -for a time he would forget his immeasurable -loss, and would drift into memory, -and in fancy re-live with her that -dream summer. She had become the -soul of him. She would remain in -his heart until it ceased to beat.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 526px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_ladywithfan.jpg" width="526" height="800" alt="" title=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page203" id="page203"></a>[pg 203]</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>XVII<br/> -YUKI’S WANDERINGS</h2> - -<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">Had</span> Jack followed Yuki on the -night she went out of his house and -life, he would have known that she -was not to be found in all Japan. She -had hurried from his and Taro’s -presence with but one object—to take -herself forever from the sight of the -brother whom she had loved but who -had repulsed her, whom she had dishonored -in trying to assist. She took -the road for Tokyo, and, head downward, -sobbing like a little child who -has lost its way in the dark, stumbled -blindly along until she had come within -its limits.</p> - -<p class="indent">She had no idea whither she was going -now, what she would do; her mind -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page204" id="page204"></a>[pg 204]</span> -could only contain her grief. But as -she wandered aimlessly about, weeping -silently, an address slipped itself into -her consciousness—the address written -on the card handed her by the American -theatrical man months before, when he -had followed her from the tea-house. -She had studied the card curiously at -the time, and now, though the name -had escaped her—she had really never -been able to make it out—her mind -still held the address.</p> - -<p class="indent">She turned in the direction in which -she knew the American’s house lay, -and at length found it, wearied both -by the anguish of her mind and by -her long walk. Yes, the American -gentleman was in, said the garrulous -Japanese servant who answered her -timid summons. He had returned from -lands far south less than a week ago, -and now in two more days he would be -off again. Did she want to meet him? -Perhaps he slept.</p> - -<p class="indent">Yuki said she would speak with him -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page205" id="page205"></a>[pg 205]</span> -but a minute, and the servant vanished. -Almost immediately the manager -appeared before her, frowning heavily. -But at sight of her his face -brightened wonderfully.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Why, if it ain’t the girl I heard sing -at the tea-garden!” he cried. “Come -right inside.”</p> - -<p class="indent">And he eagerly drew her, unresisting, -within.</p> -<hr /> - -<p class="indent">Two days later, on board the <i>Yokohama -Maru</i>, Yuki left her native Japan.</p> - -<p class="indent">As the ship weighed anchor, she -closed her eyes and faintly clung to -the guard-rail. All about her she could -hear the passengers talking and laughing, -a few were cheering and waving -flags and handkerchiefs to friends on -shore. And long after the wharf was -only a dim, shadowy outline she still -clung there to the rail, her hands cold -and tense.</p> - -<p class="indent">Some one put an arm about her, and she -started as though she had been struck.</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page206" id="page206"></a>[pg 206]</span> -“You are not ill already, you poor -little thing?” said a woman’s clear, -pleasing voice.</p> - -<p class="indent">Yuki regarded her piteously. She -dimly recognized in her the wife of her -employer, and she struggled to regain -her scattered wits, but vainly. She -was only able to look up into the sympathetic -face of the other with eyes -which could not conceal the turbulent -tragedy of her soul.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Why, you are shivering all over, and -are as cold as—Jimmy, come over -here,” she turned and called peremptorily -to her husband, who hastened -forward, throwing his cigar overboard.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Look here; she’s sick already. Better -send one of those ayah women, or -whatever you call ‘em, over, and have -her put to bed right away.”</p> - -<p class="indent">They undressed her, submissive as a -little child, and put her into the berth -of a little stateroom, which seemed to -Yuki, who had never in her life before -been on board a vessel of any sort, save -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page207" id="page207"></a>[pg 207]</span> -the tiny craft about the rivers at her -home, like a tiny cage or vault, wherein -she, exhausted and weary, had been put -to die.</p> - -<p class="indent">She lay there with the surging bustle -of the ship’s noises overhead and the -tremulous growl of the waters beneath -the ship droning in her ears like the -melancholy ringing of a dying curfew-bell -at twilight.</p> - -<p class="indent">The ayah reported to the manager’s -wife, an ex-comic-opera prima donna, -that she was resting and sleeping; but -when that impetuous, big-hearted woman -peeped in on her, she found Yuki’s -eyes wide open. She whirled into the -small stateroom, almost filling it with -her large person, and sat down beside -the poor little weary girl and looked at -her with friendly and approving eyes.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You are like a pretty picture on a -fan,” she said; “the prettiest Japanese -girl I’ve seen. I think we’ll be fine -friends, don’t you?”</p> - -<p class="indent">Yuki could only assent with a weary -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page208" id="page208"></a>[pg 208]</span> -little nod of her head. She closed her -eyes.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You are not so dreadfully sick, are -you?” said the American. “I thought -maybe we could have a nice little gossip -together. You see, my husband’s -the boss of this whole outfit that we’ve -got along with us, and I don’t know -that there’s one of the whole lot I’ve -ever cared to associate with before. -You’re different. Now, ain’t I good -to speak out just what’s on my mind, -eh?”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I <i>ought</i> to thang you,” said Yuki, -feebly, “but I am too weary to be perlite.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Then you shall be left alone, you -child, you,” said the other; then she -kissed Yuki lightly, and went out of -the door.</p> - -<p class="indent">But after she had gone Yuki’s passivity -left her. She sat up quivering, -and then with nervous quickness she -began to dress herself. She could not -open the door of the stateroom. She -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page209" id="page209"></a>[pg 209]</span> -was unused to strange doors that required -the pushing of springs and bolts. -She had lived in a land where bolts and -locks were almost unknown, where a -shoji fell apart at a touch of a hand. -Now she pushed hard against the door, -but, as she had not turned the handle, -it refused to move. A terror possessed -her that they had locked her in this -tiny, awful cell, to which penetrated no -light save that which filtered through -a small porthole against which the waters -beat and beat.</p> - -<p class="indent">She flung herself desperately against -the door, battering it with her tiny -hands; she felt herself growing dizzy -and blind as the ship rocked and swayed -beneath her feet. She tried to pace -the tiny length of the stateroom, her -sense of terrible loneliness and homesickness -deepening with every moment. -The moving of the ship horrified her, -and the knowledge that it was taking -her farther and farther from her home -across the immense bottomless sea filled -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page210" id="page210"></a>[pg 210]</span> -her with a terror akin to nothing She -had ever known in her life before.</p> - -<p class="indent">In the sickening, wearying dazzle of -the few days previous to their sailing, -the girl’s mind had held but one thought—to -go far away from the scenes of her -pain; now perhaps the reaction had -come, and her terror at the step she -had taken appalled her. Memory, which -had been thrust out of sight by the ever-present -nagging pain that had blinded -her to all else, now asserted its power, -merciless and invincible. She pressed -her hands to her head, as though to -blot out forever from her mind the pitiless -ghosts that haunted her.</p> - -<p class="indent">Like the wraiths that come and vanish -in a nightmare, the events of her -life came to her one by one—the happy -childhood with her brother, their passionate -devotion to each other, her grief -at his departure for America, the months -of struggle that had followed, sacrifices -made for him, her attempts to make a -living sufficient for his maintenance in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page211" id="page211"></a>[pg 211]</span> -America, and then—her marriage! After -that, memory held no other thought but -the immeasurable craving and longing -that was almost madness for the voice, -the touch, the sight of the man she had -loved and left.</p> - -<p class="indent">It was three days before her illness -ended. Then, having begged the consent -of the woman who attended her, -she crept up the companion-way and -out on deck, where the passengers were -disporting and enjoying themselves.</p> - -<p class="indent">She had looked forward to the time -when she would regain sufficient -strength to leave her prison-cell, for -such she regarded her stateroom. In -the strange medley of ideas which had -curiously woven themselves into a maze -in her mind, she had imagined that -once in the open on deck she would see -once more the shores of her home, Fujiyama’s -lofty peak smiling against its celestial -background, and hanging like a -mirage in mid-air.</p> - -<p class="indent">But there was no sight visible to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page212" id="page212"></a>[pg 212]</span> -her, as, with her hand shading her eyes, -she looked out before her, save a vast, -cold, pitiless waste of surging waters, -jumping up to meet the sky, which -smiled or glowered with its moods.</p> -<hr /> - -<p class="indent">In the months that followed, Yuki -met with nothing but kindness from -the American theatrical manager and -his wife. With them she went to -China, India, the Philippines, and -finally to Australia. From all these -different points the American theatrical -scout drew together a motley troupe -of jugglers, fancy dancers, wizards, -fencers, and performers of one sort and -another, with which he hoped to make -a larger fortune in America. He had -combined business with this long pleasure -trip, for he was on his bridal tour -at the time.</p> - -<p class="indent">By some remarkable intuition peculiar -sometimes to the gayest and most -frivolous hearted of women of the world, -the wife of the theatrical manager had -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page213" id="page213"></a>[pg 213]</span> -gained some insight into the cause of -the pitiful sensitiveness and shrinking -shyness of the queer little Japanese girl -with the blue eyes, to whom she had -taken an extravagant fancy.</p> - -<p class="indent">She had taken Yuki under her personal -charge, and sheltered and shielded -the girl from the overbold scrutiny -of those with whom they daily came -in contact. It was many months, however, -before she learned her history. In -fact, it was only a few days before their -expected departure for America, the -great country in the west, which seemed -to Yuki as far distant as the stars -above her.</p> - -<p class="indent">As the time for their departure, which -had been delayed already much longer -than the manager had anticipated, -drew nearer, Yuki grew more depressed -and restless, so that to the exaggerated -fancy of the American woman she -seemed to be fading away and entering -into what she emphatically called -“the last stages of consumption.”</p> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page214" id="page214"></a>[pg 214]</span> -She cornered the girl relentlessly, and -finally wrung from her the whole pitiful, -tragic story of her life. How homesick -and weary she had been ever since -she had left Japan, how her heart seemed -to faint whenever she thought of that -final interview with her brother, and -of the immeasurable longing for the -man she loved, and whom she had -married “for jus’ liddle bid while.”</p> - -<p class="indent">All the big, romantic heart of the -American woman went out to her as -she took her into her arms and mingled -her own honest tears with Yuki’s.</p> - -<p class="indent">“You sha’n’t go to America,” she -said, drying her eyes with a tiny piece -of lace which served as a handkerchief. -“You are going right back to Japan, -bag and baggage of you. I’m going -with you, to see you get there O.K.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Bud—” began Yuki, weakly.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Never mind, now. I know he expects -to sail in a week. I don’t. I’m -boss! See!”</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 575px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_peddler.jpg" width="575" height="800" alt="" title=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<p class="indent"><span class="pagenum"><a name="page215" id="page215"></a>[pg 215]</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>XVIII<br/> -THE SEASON OF THE CHERRY<br/> -BLOSSOM</h2> - -<p class="indent"><span class="smcap">In</span> summer the fields of Japan are -alive with color—burning flat lowlands -shimmering with the dazzling -gleam of the natane and azalea blossoms. -In autumn the leaves, as well -as the blossoms, have caught all the -tints of heaven and earth, and in winter -the gods are said to be resting after -their riotous ramblings during the -warm months. But in the spring-time -they awake, and in their lavish -renewed youth bless hill and dale and -meadow and forest with an abandon -unlike any other time of year. It is -the season of the cherry blossom, of -the mating of the birds, the babbling -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page216" id="page216"></a>[pg 216]</span> -of the brooks, and the chattering and -unfolding anew of all the beauties of -nature.</p> - -<p class="indent">It was two years from the day when -Jack and Yuki had married each other -in the spring-time. And Jack was -back in Tokyo. Recalled thither by a -telegram from the police headquarters, -he was preparing to depart for America, -where the police claimed they had -positive evidence that Yuki had gone. -He was staying at an American hotel -in the city proper, and his heart on -this day sickened and yearned for the -little house only a few miles away that -he longed and yet dreaded to see again.</p> - -<p class="indent">Now that he contemplated leaving -Japan, the dread possibility that Yuki -might still be in the country and that -he would be placing the distance of -thousands and thousands of miles -of land and water between them, depressed -and weighed on his mind, despite -the really plausible proof the police -board had that she had gone to America -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page217" id="page217"></a>[pg 217]</span> -with a theatrical company—that of the -very man he himself had witnessed -coaxing her to go with him.</p> - -<p class="indent">The afternoon previous to the day -set for sailing, his melancholy and -morbidness grew in intensity. With no -fixed purpose in view he started out -from his hotel, tramped half-way across -Tokyo, then hailed a jinrikisha and -gave the runner orders to take him -to the little house that had formerly -been his home, and which he had struggled -against visiting ever since his return -to Tokyo.</p> - -<p class="indent">As in a dream the interminable stretch -of rice-fields, blue mountains, and valleys -and hamlets, stretching away into misty -outlines, flashed by him, and he noted -only half absently how the heels of -his runner were all worn hard just -as if they had dried in the sun. -Yuki once had called his attention to -this.</p> - -<p class="indent">“The honorable soles are the same,” -she had said. “It is the perpetual -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page218" id="page218"></a>[pg 218]</span> -running. The gods have mercifully -protected the feet from pain.”</p> - -<p class="indent">The landscape about him, familiar -as the face of a mother, gave him no -pain now. He was conscious only of -a sense of ineffable rest and peace, as a -traveller who has wandered long feels -when nearing home. And soon the -runner had stopped with a jerk, and -was doubling over and waiting for -his pay.</p> - -<p class="indent">Should he humbly wait for his excellency -to condescend to return to the -city?</p> - -<p class="indent">“Just for a little while,” Jack told -him absently. And he went through -the little garden gate and up the pebbled -adobe path, now arched on either side -by two rows of cherry-blossom trees, -that met at the top and made a bower -under which to walk.</p> - -<p class="indent">When he had pushed the door backward -and stepped inside he paused -irresolute, his heart paining him with -its rapid beating. Coming from out -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page219" id="page219"></a>[pg 219]</span> -the blaze of the out-door light into the -shadowed room, his vision dazzled him. -But gradually the objects inside grew -upon his consciousness, and a rosy pain, -an ecstasy that stung him with its -sweetness, shot upward like a dawn -through all his being.</p> - -<p class="indent">He scarcely dared breathe, so potent -was the influence of the place upon him. -He feared to stir, lest the spell, ghostly -and entrancing as the influence of a -magic hand, might vanish into mistland, -for with all the immeasurable pain -that rushed to his heart in a flame was -mingled a tentative, exquisite pleasure—a -survival of the old joy he had once -known.</p> - -<p class="indent">And there came back to his mind -whisperings of the old mysterious romances -she had been wont to ramble -into. What was that tale of the spirit -which haunted and was felt but never -seen? Was there not behind it all some -mysterious possibility of such a spirit? -For the very furnishings of the room, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page220" id="page220"></a>[pg 220]</span> -the mats, the vases, the old broken-down -hammock, and his big tobacco-bon, -each and all of them suddenly -assumed a personality—the personality -of one he loved.</p> - -<p class="indent">Stepping on tip-toe, he crossed the -room and stooped to touch the little -drum, the sticks of which were snapped -in twain. And then he suddenly remembered -how she had broken them -because he had complained one day -that her drum disturbed him. He had -liked the koto and the samisen; the -drum she had beaten on when she -mocked him. Now the sight of it beat -against his brain and heart.</p> - -<p class="indent">He could not bear the sight of those -little broken sticks. He tried to cover -them with his handkerchief, as if they -were the evidence of a crime.</p> - -<p class="indent">“The place is haunted!” he said, and -scarce knew his own hollow voice, -which the echoes of the silent room -mocked back at him.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I shall go mad,” he said, and again -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page221" id="page221"></a>[pg 221]</span> -the echoes repeated, “Mad! mad! -mad!”</p> - -<p class="indent">Then he covered his eyes, and sat -in the silence, motionless and still.</p> -<hr /> - -<p class="indent">From afar off there came to him the -melancholy sweetness of the bells of a -neighboring temple. They caused his -hearing exquisite pain. What memories -were recalled by them! But now -every toll of the bells, slow and muffled, -seemed to speak of baffled hope -and despair. There was no balm in -their sweet monotone. Would they -never cease? Why were they so loud? -They had not been so formerly. Now -they filled all the land with their ringing. -What were they tolling for, and, -ah, why had the ghostly visitants of -his house caught up the tone, and -softly, sweetly, with piercing cadence, -chanted back and echoed the sighing -of the bells?</p> - -<p class="indent">The house was full of music, inexpressibly -dear and familiar. He started -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page222" id="page222"></a>[pg 222]</span> -to his feet, trembling like one afflicted -with ague. And gradually words, in -a fairy language that he had learned -to love, began to form themselves into -the melody of a voice.</p> - -<p class="indent">Slowly, painfully, like one led by unseen, -subtle, persuasive hands, he went -forward, and up and up the spiral -stairs till he had reached her chamber, -and there he stood, like one who has -come far and can go no farther.</p> - -<p class="indent">One other presence besides himself -was within. This he knew, and still -could not comprehend. He could see -her plainly, just as she had been in -life—her little, shining head, her dear, -small hands, the long, blue, misty eyes, -and the small mouth with the little -pathetic droop that had come to it in -the last few days they had been together. -She stood with her hands -raised, dreamily loitering before a mirror, -putting cherry blossoms in her hair -on either side of her head. But at the -prolonged silence that ensued she turned -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page223" id="page223"></a>[pg 223]</span> -slowly about, and then she saw the -man standing silently in the doorway.</p> - -<p class="indent">She was not a girl to scream or faint, -but she went gray with fear, and stood -perfectly still there in the middle of the -room. Then gradually her eyes travelled -upward to the man’s face, and -there they remained transfixed.</p> - -<p class="indent">For a long while they faced each other -thus, both with hearts that seemed -not to beat. Then the man made a -movement towards her, a passionate, -wild movement, and she had dropped -the flowers from her hands, and had -gone to meet him. The next moment -he was crushing her to him. When he -released her but a moment, it was to -hold her again and yet again, as though -he feared to find her gone, and his arms -empty once more, as they had been for -so long. He could only breathe her -name—“Yuki! Yuki! My wife! My -wife!”</p> - -<p class="indent">Neither tried to explain. There was -time enough for that. They were absorbed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page224" id="page224"></a>[pg 224]</span> -alone in the fact that they were -together at last.</p> - -<p class="indent">Some one noisily entered the house -and whirled up the stairs. It was the -American girl. She gazed in upon -them with eyes and mouth agape in -amazement.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Well, I never!” she ejaculated, and -went out and down the steps, sobbing -aloud.</p> - -<p class="indent">“Such a romance! Such a nice, big -fellow, too! And, oh, dear me, I’ve lost -her sure enough now forever! Bother -men, anyhow!” and she jumped into -Jack’s jinrikisha and bade the man -take her on the instant to Tokyo.</p> -<hr /> - -<p class="indent">Meanwhile the lovers had wandered -out into the open air. He was holding -both her hands in his, and his eyes were -straying hungrily over her face; her -eyes bewitched him; her lips thrilled -him.</p> - -<hr/> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 524px;"> -<a name="thousandpetals" id="thousandpetals"></a> -<img class="border" src="images/i_234.jpg" width="524" height="800" alt="" /> -<div class="caption"> -<p class="center">THE THOUSAND PETALS OF CHERRY BLOSSOMS WERE FALLING -ABOUT THEM</p> -</div> -</div> - -<hr/> - -<p class="indent">The thousand petals of cherry blossoms -were falling about them, and the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page225" id="page225"></a>[pg 225]</span> -birds had all flown to their garden and -were twittering and bursting their little -throats with melody. A fugitive wind -came up from the bay and tossed the -little scattering curls about her ears -and temples. A strand of her hair -swept across his hand. He stooped and -kissed it reverently, and she laughed -and thrilled under the touch of his -lips.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I love you with all my soul,” he said. -“Do not laugh at me now.”</p> - -<p class="indent">She said, “Dear my lord, I will never -laugh more ad you. I laugh only for -the joy ad being with you.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“I will take you to my home,” he -said.</p> - -<p class="indent">“I will follow you to the end of the -world and beyond,” said she.</p> - -<p class="indent">“And we will come back here again, -love. We will take up the broken -threads of our lives and piece them -together.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“They shall never again be broken,” -she said. But he must needs spoil -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page226" id="page226"></a>[pg 226]</span> -her divine faith. “Till death do us -part,” he added.</p> - -<p class="indent">“No, no. We will have the faith of -our simple peasant folk. We are wedded -for ever an’ ever.”</p> - -<p class="indent">“Yes, forever,” he repeated.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 800px"> -<img class="border" src="images/i_ladywithbook.jpg" width="800" height="492" alt="" title=""/> -</div> - -<p class="center">THE END</p> - -<hr class="hr2" /> - -<div class="tnote"> -<h2>Transcriber Notes:</h2> - -<p class="indent">Throughout the dialogues, there were words used to mimic accents of -the speakers. Those words were retained as-is.</p> - -<p class="indent">The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up -paragraphs and so that they are next to the text they illustrate.</p> - -<p class="indent">Errors in punctuations and inconsistent hyphenation were not corrected -unless otherwise noted.</p> - -<p class="indent">In the frontispiece, a closing bracket was added after “See p. 8”.</p> - -<p class="indent">On page 22, “craêpe” was replaced with “crêpe”.</p> - -<p class="indent">On page 122, “balony” was replaced with “balcony”.</p> - -<p class="indent">On page 159, the period before “and later,” was replaced with a comma.</p> - -<p class="indent">On page 160, “pursuasion” was replaced with “persuasion”.</p> - -<p class="indent">On page 226, “weded” was replaced with “wedded”.</p> -</div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's A Japanese Nightingale, by Winnifred Eaton - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A JAPANESE NIGHTINGALE *** - -***** This file should be named 63181-h.htm or 63181-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/1/8/63181/ - -Produced by Mary Glenn Krause, Ernest Schaal, University -of Toronto: Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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