Yone Santo: A Child of Japan

XXII.

YONE AT PLAY.

AMONG the numerous villages which glisten and sparkle upon the breasts of the Hakone hills, Miyanoshita claims distinction as the most popular of holiday resorts. Accident, rather than superiority of natural charms, has given it this preëminence; for, although the entire region is so bounteously endowed that no single spot is without its share of loveliness, the attractions of the prosperous watering-place are by many degrees less rare and exquisite than those of its more modest neighbors. Fashion, however, has favored it with constant and steady approval, and the preference awarded it by dignitaries of the court has conferred a social lustre to which none of its rivals has attained. The season was early when we arrived at this centre of activity and gayety, yet we found the place thronged with visitors of all grades and nationalities. In the spacious and showy European hotel, divers phases of Western idleness were plentifully represented. The state apartments of the honjin, or leading Japanese inn, were occupied by a lady whose rank and exceptional position in the imperial household were regarded by the foreign circle as inviting and authorizing the most intrusive scrutiny. The retinue of this lofty patroness was distributed among the first-class lodging-houses, and the humbler grade of taverns, of which the hamlet is chiefly composed, were so overcrowded that we were glad to take refuge in a quiet Buddhist temple, from the privacy of which we were enabled, for a while, to gaze with the interest of unconcerned spectators upon the human kaleidoscope that briskly revolved before us.

But only for a while. First through our hosts, the charitable priests, and presently by other agencies, the youngest of our party was drawn into participation with the living interests around her, and was soon engaged in the pursuits which best accorded with her inclinations, and which, remembering her characterization of them at Dogashima, we began to describe as “ Yone’s play.” At the outset she gave no heed to this pleasantry, but its frequent repetition gradually attracted her attention, and appeared to touch her in some sensitive spot. Being asked by Miss Gibson, with a peculiar intonation, at the close of one of her busy days, if she had found plenty of partners to play with, during the afternoon, she regarded us earnestly, and said, in a manner implying a shade of anxiety, —

“Am I absent too often, Marian ? ”

“ What an idea ! How can you imagine such a thing ? ” was the reply ; whereupon Yone addressed herself to me : —

“Have I been neglecting you, doctor ? ”

“Not that I know of, my child. Perhaps Miss Gibson is afraid you will tire yourself.”

“ It is impossible to be tired with nothing but ” — She checked herself at the familiar word, which seemed to be assuming a new significance, and again looked at ns inquiringly.

“You need not be so solemn,” observed Miss Gibson ; “ you shall entertain yourself as you like, if you will not try to do too much. But I am not sure that you can be allowed to have any more acquaintances to look after. Who was the young man that spoke to you, on the bridge ? ”

“ Did you see him ? I wanted to tell you. But he is not an acquaintance ; he is a stranger. He gave me a compliment.”

“ Gave you what ? ” I exclaimed, astonished.

“ A compliment, doctor, — a delightful one.”

“ What on earth do you mean ? ”

“ I suppose he was puzzled by my dress. He said he had seen me walking with many sick people, and thought I was a nurse.”

“ Do you call that a compliment ? Then you probably told him how wonderfully kind the sick people are, to permit you to go about taking care of them.

“ Now the doctor is pretending to be severe,” she retaliated, lightly. “ No, the strange gentleman wished to know if I would go and see a young girl, who is ill at Fuji-ya inn.”

“ Dear me ! ” cried Miss Gibson. “ I hope you did not promise.”

“ I did not quite promise, for I thought you might not like that, but I said I would ask Dr. Charwell to go to her; and if she really is ill ” — She looked wistfully at us, leaving the phrase unfinished.

“ Who is she?” I inquired, — “a foreigner ? ”

“ The gentleman is a foreigner,” she answered, with a little hesitation. “ I believe the young girl is Japanese.”

“ Oh, pray be cautious! ” said Miss Gibson. “ Think what it means : a foreigner, you do not know who, asking you to visit one of your country-women. There is that spiteful Miss Jackman watching every movement you make, from the balcony of Nara-ya, like a ” —

“Like a guardian angel,” I hinted, as she seemed at a loss for a comparison. “ But I did not know Miss Jackman was here.”

“ She came over from Hakone, three days ago,” explained Yone. “ This is her vacation time. Yes, she is very watchful; but can you indeed care, Marian, for what that lady does or says ? ”

“ I ought not, perhaps ; yet it harasses me to have her near us. I wish she had stayed away.”

“ She might annoy us by one device or another,” I remarked ; “but we certainly are not bound to consider her, and she must not stand in the way of anything that Yone seriously wishes to do.”

“ It is only in case I am really needed,” said Yone. “ If there is no illness, I do not wish — I prefer not. You will see the young girl, doctor ? ”

“ I will see her. What is her name ? ”

“I have not heard. The gentleman’s name is Roberts.”

“ Does he know who you are ? ” asked Miss Gibson.

“Not at all. He spoke to me, and I answered, in Japanese. But I will not think of it any more, since there may be an objection. I was inclined to consent, because I had refused, a few minutes before, to call upon another person, and I did not like to say ‘ no ’ twice.”

This surprised us. It was a novelty to hear that Yone was able to reject any demand upon her attention, and we at once prepared ourselves for an interesting disclosure. But she appeared reluctant to pursue the subject, and for the moment our expectation remained unsatisfied. At a later period of the evening, she seemed on the point of enlightening us, and had gone so far as to say that she wanted our counsel in a difficult matter, when we were startled by a voice from without, loudly calling : —

“ Is Dr. Charwell anywhere about here ? ”

“ It is he, — Mr. Roberts,” Yone whispered hurriedly.

“ He chooses his time oddly,” I said, not too well pleased ; “ and he has an original way of announcing himself.”

“ The young girl may be worse,” our peacemaker suggested.

“ He shall come in, but I will see him alone, if you please ; ” and I went forth, while my companions retired to an inner chamber.

I found the visitor engaged in a noisy colloquy with the simple priests, and led him to the apartment which served as our drawing-room.

“ Beg pardon. Dr. Charwell, for shouting so,” he commenced volubly, “ but they told me you were in one of the temples, and gave me no other clue. If I had n’t sung out, I should never have got at you. Allow me, my name is Roberts ; ‘ Fitch, Burgess and Roberts, Number Four Hundred and Seven.’ ”

He was easily recognizable as belonging to the middle shopkeeping class of Yokohama, — a forward, unpolished, self-satisfied man, about thirty years of age, with signs of a somewhat quicker intelligence than is commonly found among his order, and with an alertness of speech and bearing which showed at least that he had thus far kept himself out of the torpid stagnation into which the majority of aliens sink, after a brief experience of Oriental inertia, and through which their existence in Japan becomes a prolonged and sluggish hibernation, His accent betrayed Scottish birth, and the squareness of his jaw indicated that he possessed no small share of the national stubbornness ; but there was a pleasant gleam in his eye, and the harshness of his features was tempered by a smile in which a kindly humor seemed to contend with an assumption of shrewd conceit. In rapidly forming these impressions, I was doubtless influenced by the circumstance that his countenance, otherwise an ordinary one in his sphere, was notably free from signs of the hard brutality which the average British trader acquires by contact with what it is his habit to call the inferior Asiatic races. Still, his appearance was not on the whole attractive, and I waited to learn his errand without much predisposition in his favor.

“ I’m sorry to intrude at this hour,” he said, as he stood, hat in hand, “but I could n’t help it, — I really could n’t. My little girl is in great trouble. I suppose you have heard about her ? ”

“ I have heard of a case of sickness at Fuji-ya,” I answered, “and that you spoke of it to Mrs. Santo, this afternoon.”

“ Yes, Mrs. Santo, — that’s it; Yone Santo is the name. I came to see her, if I can.”

“ You had better speak with me, if a physician is needed.”

“ But I want her,” he persisted.

“ Indeed ! ” I replied, with growing disapproval. “ The ladies of my party are not accustomed to this sort of summons, Mr. Roberts, nor ordinarily subject to the call of strangers.”

“ Precisely, yes, — no, I suppose not,” he responded, slightly abashed. “ Naturally you think you should be asked first, but it’s a peculiar case, Dr. Charwell. It is n’t illness alone, but low spirits, miserably low. I don’t mind telling you the whole story. There’s a parcel of missionary women in this town, and they’ve got hold of my poor girl and set her just topsy-turvy, unbeknown to me. I brought her here because she was pining, and, instead of mending, she has been drooping all the time. They have been tackling her every day, when my back was turned, and I tell you, sir, they have worried her so that she is nearly off her head. An excitable little thing she is. As for her position, she — it does n’t matter about her position. I won’t have her sat on and torn to pieces by a pack of hyenas, — heartless hyenas, I call them. You agree with me, I am sure.”

“Not in the least, sir,” I rejoined, more and more dissatisfied ; “ and I do not see how this concerns me or anybody in my charge.”

“ Why, Dr. Charwell, I thought you and I were passengers in the same boat.

I was told that you had your own good reasons for wishing the missionaries exterminated, root and branch ; that you knew, better than most of us, what a low-lived, useless crew they are.”

“ I don’t care to discuss my opinions, or the reasons for them,” I retorted curtly, “ and I am very far, at this particular moment, from regarding the body you speak of as low-lived or useless. If you have no other business ” —

He stared at me as if I had propounded the most startling of paradoxes. “ I — I did n’t reckon upon this,” he stammered ; “ I don’t take it in, at all. This is the last thing. In the name of Dai Butsu, will you tell me what use they are, on the face of the earth ? ”

“ Since you ask me, I will. They are useful, extremely useful, in setting a pattern of social cleanliness and decorum, which foreigners generally would do well to copy. They are useful in showing the natives of this land that domestic life is possible without looseness and irregularity. You know well enough what the conspicuous vice of the country is, and you ought to know that the Japanese people are singularly susceptible to good examples. They cannot help remarking that the missionary element is disfigured by none of the licentiousness which is their own bane, and against which they take too little pains to guard themselves. The lesson is a sound and wholesome one, and I am not aware that it is taught by any other section of the foreign community. To that extent the missionaries are in a high degree useful. They preach the virtues of morality, and in their practice they offer a model to be respected, if it cannot be followed, by the laity.”

The color mounted to the young man’s face, and he twisted his hat nervously in his fingers. “ That is one for me, I presume ; red-hot, with dynamite attachment. I see I have given offense, though I did n’t mean it. That was not in my calculations, I can assure you. Out I go, sir, as quietly as I can.” His speech was fantastic, but there was no trace of boisterousness or bravado as he turned away. “No use, now, to ask you to see my poor baby ; put my foot in it too deep for that. Good-evening, sir.” He paused at the threshold. “ Do you know — can you tell me if there is another doctor in Miyanoshita ? I may ask that much, I hope.”

A rustling noise in the adjoining room apprised me that the dialogue had been overheard, and a jarring of the loose partition led me to apprehend a sudden incursion.

“ Why do you say that ? ” I demanded quickly. “ I will go to her; if she is ill I will go at once.”

“ I thought, from the way you turned the missionary hydrant on me, that I had no chance. There was something else, but you knocked me out of time before I could get to it; drove everything I had to say clean out of my head.”

“ Say it now, if you like.”

“ Yes, it is n’t much. I did n’t know who the Japanese lady was, but she mentioned your name, and when I repeated it to my little girl she almost went wild. ‘ It must be Yone who is with him ! ’ she cried out. ‘ Do beg her to come and help me ; ’ and she told me all about Mrs. Santo. Then I had to give her a warning. I hated to do it, for you know how thin-skinned these poor creatures are ; but I was obliged to tell her that the younglady, or her friends, might object, under the circumstances. Well, sir, she would n’t listen to me. ‘ I know she will come,’she kept saying; " she will surely come to Shizu Miura ’ ” —

In the flash of an instant the door was thrown aside, and Yone was with us.

“ Shizu ! my playfellow, my schoolmate ! Why did you not tell me at the bridge ? Doctor — Marian — she was my dear friend when I was a child, in Nagoya.”

Mr. Roberts surveyed her, and Miss Gibson, who had also entered, with astonishment. He had never before heard a Japanese girl speak English with such fluency, nor seen one upon such terms of equal intimacy with an alien of herown sex.

“ Perhaps, then,” he ventured, " you will go, after all.”

“ Indeed, yes,” said Yone. “I am ready now.”

“ It is getting to be very late,” observed Miss Gibson, with an anxiety which Yone would have been unable to fathom. " Is it not better that Dr. Charwell should make the first visit ? If he finds — if he consents, you can go to-morrow.”

“ But she is in trouble. Oh, Marian, did you not hear ? It is hard to stay, if she needs me.”

“ Miss Gibson is right,” I felt bound to declare. " If there is nothing in the way, you can go early in the morning, Yone. And for you, Mr. Roberts, that ought to be sufficient.”

“ It ought, sir ; certainly it ought. It is n’t the fair thing for me to insist, but to tell you the truth, although Shizu is really ill. the young lady can do more for her than the doctor. She has been in a wretched state all this day, grieving and fretting to the depths, until she took the notion that her friend was here ; and then — you never saw such a change. She brightened up as if a sunbeam had struck her; actually thought of leaving her bed and coming out herself, to hunt for — for a little womanly kindness. It was nothing but ‘ Yone,’—'I must go to her,’— ‘ Yone will help me,’— ‘ Yone knows,’— and the like, until I undertook to get a message for her, even if I had to go back alone.”

He gazed eagerly at each of us in turn. Yone said nothing, but laid her hand beseechingly on Miss Gibson’s arm.

“I do hope you will give permission, miss,” resumed the Yokohama merchant. " She sha’n’t get an atom of harm. There’s nothing — I pledge you my word, there’s nothing very bad about Shizu ; she’s just a child. I beg your pardon,” he went on, almost breathlessly, noticing that Miss Gibson averted her head with a movement of repulsion ; “I’ve made another mess of it. I’m not fit to plead the case, — that’s the truth. But it is my fault; don’t let my stupidity set you against the poor girl.”

“I will go with you, Yone,” said Miss Gibson, in a low tone and with evident effort. " You must have me by your side. Whoever sees you shall see that we are together.”

“ It’s amazing kind of you, miss,” broke in the irrepressible stranger ; " not like those — Excuse me, doctor; I’m so confused, I believe I have lost my wits. I ’ll tell you what I will do : walk ahead to show you the road, and leave you to go in by yourselves. Then I ’ll keep myself out of the way entirely; you sha’n’t be bothered by another sight of me.”

His uncouth awkwardness was more to his credit than he was aware of, and altogether preferable to the bold assurance with which he had set out, and which one of his grade might have been expected to maintain to the end. But the situation was disagreeable, However viewed, and I was fully conscious that Miss Gibson had taken upon herself a difficult and distasteful task, out of regard to Yone, whose thoughts were exclusively bent upon giving relief to a fellow-being in distress, and to whom the embarrassment under which her companion labored was not, for the moment, perceptible.

“ We will do this,” I announced. " The hotel is close at hand. Mr. Roberts shall take me to the invalid, and I will see what is needed in my way. If everything is as I anticipate, I will return by myself for both of you.”

“ I may be with her alone ? ” entreated Yone. “ I have known her all my life, until a few months ago. We were infants together.”

“ That is what I meant,” I replied. “ Miss Gibson and I will wait for you in the hotel dining-room. We will give you half an hour to-night, and to-morrow—well, to-morrow shall take care of itself.”

XXIII.

A PITIFUL DISCLOSURE.

So it was carried out. Within five minutes I was at the bedside of a sweet-faced, slenderly framed girl, whose physical ailment, due apparently to over-exertion, was increased by a mental strain she had recently undergone, the nature of which I was able to conjecture from Roberts’s vindictive allusions, although the sufferer showed no disposition to enlarge upon it. Her yearning for Yone’s comforting presence was uncontrollable, and it was plain that little could be done to relieve her while she was kept apart from the friend of her early days. I saw no reason for opposing her wish. The considerations which would naturally weigh heavily with Miss Gibson, and possibly compel her, as an obligation of duty, to resist the exposure of our protégée to what she conceived to be a contaminating association, had no force with me ; for I knew that the evil of this young creature’s life was undoubtedly a burden imposed upon her by a cruel fate, and that her soul was free from the guilt, if her body was not free from the shame, to which others had condemned her.

After instructing Roberts as to the course of treatment which I deemed expedient, I sent him into banishment, and brought Miss Gibson and Yone from the temple. To the hapless victim of an odious Japanese usage our gentle ministrant carried the consoling sympathy and charity which instinct enabled her to impart with ineffable delicacy, and which was more urgently needed, as it was infinitely more welcome, than the service it had been my province to render. While waiting in the dining-hall, I endeavored to engage the unsophisticated Bostonian in conversation upon matters concerning which she was imperfectly informed, and which required to be presented to her judgment in a new light. It was essential to her peace of mind that she should divest herself of some prejudices inseparable from her Western training, before confronting the painful social problems which cannot be long concealed in Japan, and the solution of which, even in individual cases, demands a courage, a luminous impartiality, and a rigorous renunciation of commonly accepted traditions, of which many of her sex are incapable. But she was too profoundly absorbed in her own reflections to respond to my advances. At the end of the stipulated half hour Yone rejoined us, also grave and thoughtful, and we quietly returned to our temporary quarters. Roberts was standing at the hotel gate as we passed, but he made no attempt to accost us, and offered no sign of recognition beyond a formal salutation ; which exercise of self-restraint was noted to his advantage by at least one of our party. It was about ten o’clock when we were again seated in our little brevet parlor. Without direct declaration of her desire, Yone made it obvious that she had intelligence of some importance to communicate, and we allowed the customary hour of retirement to go by unobserved.

“ This has been a strange meeting,” she said, when she saw that we were ready to attend, — “ very strange, very unexpected, very sad. You know who she is, doctor ? ”

I shook my head in denial.

“ You have heard me speak of her: my schoolfellow, Shizu Miura, whose uncle adopted her, and saved her from a marriage which she wished to avoid.”

“ I remember now. I thought all was well with her.”

“ All has been ill, since that time. The marriage would have been easier to bear than what followed. Her uncle had made himself an akindo [merchant], and his business seemed to prosper for a short while ; but the samurai of my country have no cleverness in buying and selling. All they ever learned of trade was to despise it. The unskilled gentleman could not stand against the men of ingenious craft. He became poorer than his brother, and Shizu went back to her old home, knowing that her selfishness had brought difficulty to two households. By accepting the husband provided for her, she would have lightened the cares of her family, and perhaps given them a new hope of support; but now she felt herself to be a heavier load than before. No one reproached her ; only her conscience told her she had added to the misfortunes of those whom she could have helped, and ought to have helped. I cannot describe to you how poor they were. Marian, you would not understand it, but the doctor does, for he has seen the calamities of our feudal gentry, — those who were thrown upon the world when the great change came, who were ignorant of every kind of industry, who could earn no livelihood, who knew nothing, not even how to beg. In one day they saw their incomes taken away, and themselves, with their kindred, cast down to ruin. There was no warning for them, no gradual loss. They fell, millions of them, I have been told, from comfort, ease, perfect content, to the lowest depth of despair. Yet they endured their lot patiently, and without much complaining, for they knew that their rulers were not to blame. They hid their griefs, so far as they could, even from the strangers whose coming had brought the disasters upon them, and who, we have always believed, have kept our people in poverty for their own gain.”

“ Yone, it cannot be,” cried Miss Gibson ; “ it is incredible. Tell her, doctor, that she is — that they are deceived.”

“ It is God’s truth,” I answered; “ the governments of Europe and America are indeed responsible for the direst woes of this country. But you have promised me, Yone, not to agitate yourself by brooding upon these things.”

“ Forgive me ; it is Shizu’s sorrowful story that has brought them to my mind. I will speak of them no more. You have made me comprehend that they are too awful for a child like me to dwell upon.” She shuddered, as she sat silent for a moment, and seemed to struggle against the perturbing and oppressive recollections which had suddenly overwhelmed her. When she resumed, her thoughts were once more centred upon the immediate object of her compassion.

“ For a long time Shizu watched the frightful contest of her family with the penury which was wasting their flesh and blood, and prayed for the relief which would not come. Everything they owned was sold ; of all that had once been theirs, only one article of value remained in their possession. Even this was pawned, though they would rather have given up their lives than part with it forever. Oh, the torture of those days of hunger, and sickness, and death ! — for death came to more than one of them. The first to leave them was a little sister. I knew that I had no cause to lament her ; the pain of her existence was ended. Then the aged brother of her grandfather fell ill; his voice grew weak, his eyes were dim, all his strength forsook him, for want of food, — nothing but want of food. I could send them only a small portion ” —

“ You speak as if you had witnessed these scenes,” I interrupted. “ Did you know, at the time, how they were situated ? ”

“ I knew, but we also were poor, doctor, and my hands were not free, as you can remember.”

“ For Heaven’s sake, why did you keep it from me, my child ? ”

“ Ah, doctor, do you think that they alone, among my friends, were in that terrible condition ? There were hundreds whose suffering was as great, perhaps greater. I never doubted your goodness, but I could not tell you of all who were afflicted. It was not in your power to save them, much as you would have wished it.”

“You should have told me of this case, if, as I fear, the girl was driven by desperation to sacrifice herself.”

“Not then ; that happened later. I tried to do what was best, but I lost sight of them before the darkest days came. There were other deaths ; not slow, like those which I knew of, but hasty and violent enough to distract a helpless girl’s mind. The fading lives of all who were left depended upon her ; they were famishing, and she could rescue them. Knowing what the people of my country are, I dare not judge her, but I may ask Marian if I have not the right to love her still.”

“ Don’t ask me! ” Miss Gibson cried, recoiling from her appeal. “ I am horrified at everything I have heard. I don’t know what to say or think. I never dreamed that such enormities could be. You tell me, Dr. Charwell, that the Christian nations have combined to desolate this feeble and burdened race, and that is bad enough; but the picture which Yone is drawing has a background so hideous that I cannot bear to look at it. .Are these things true ? If they are, don’t ask me to pronounce upon them. The worst I have dreaded was trivial in comparison. I never have believed — I only guessed — faintly — a little part ” — Her utterance was choked by a hysterical flood of tears, as she turned aside and covered her face with her hands.

Yone sat motionless, stricken with consternation, uncertain how to meet this unlooked-for outburst, which had been evoked by her possibly abrupt disclosure of one of the shocking realities in the domestic system of Japan. To me it appeared that the abruptness of the disclosure was of little moment. It could scarcely be called premature, inasmuch as a person coming to the country with Miss Gibson’s definite purpose might reasonably be accounted familiar with the notorious fact that the women are often expected and required to degrade themselves for the material benefit of those to whose authority they are subject. In any case it was inevitable, without much delay, and was not especially to be regretted. I was convinced that a few decisive words would be effectual in allaying the present disquietude, and providing against future misconceptions.

“ You will be calm, Miss Gibson,” I said, “ and will not prolong Yone’s distress, which is greater than you ought to inflict upon her. I did not know you were so ill prepared, but since you have been unwisely left in ignorance, I have some satisfaction in assuring you that you have no further revelations to apprehend. There is nothing, in all Japan, beyond what you have now caught sight of. You know the worst that you will have to contend with as long as you remain here. Of course there is no palliation for it, but I shall try, to-morrow, to show you how to place your condemnation where it is merited, and not to apply it where commiseration alone is due. To-morrow, if you please; tonight we will all rest, as tranquilly as we can.”

XXIV.

THE HELPING HAND.

Before leaving the temple, on the following day, Yone took me aside, and questioned me with respect to the possibility of finding a means of livelihood for a young person who had precisely the qualifications which she herself possessed, and was equally capable of serving as interpreter or copyist.

“ I have no secrets from you,” she said ; “ I am thinking of Shizu. She was a good scholar at Jo-gakko, and understands English well, though she has had but little chance to speak it — until lately. If I have been of use, in my poor way, I am sure she could gain enough for her needs. A very little would support her.”

The difficulty of extricating this friend from her present mode of existence was greater than Yone could divine; but if the experiment could be tried, I was willing to coöperate, and to provide occupations, in case of need, which should be sufficiently genuine for the purpose in view. In addition to my habitual desire to encourage and participate in her benefactions, this particular scheme was in direct accordance with a project I had long entertained, and promised to supply an instrument essential to my operations. I therefore assured her that the employment should not be lacking, if the girl were disposed to devote herself to it.

“ There is no doubt of that,” she answered ; “ I know her well. If I had told you all, you would have no fear.”

Miss Gibson declared herself again ready to proceed to Fuji-ya, but I explained that an escort had been desirable in the first place only because we had no knowledge of the invalid’s surroundings, and it seemed possible that Yone might be drawn into a false position. As there was now nothing to be apprehended on that score, it was better, all points considered, that she should go alone. She was absent several hours, and on her return informed us that she hoped we would be pleased with what she had done, although she foresaw that Mr. Roberts would soon be with us, and that his visit would perhaps not be an agreeable one. She would not ask Miss Gibson to be present at the impending interview, as he would certainly bring up unpleasant topics, and Marian had already been made too uncomfortable and unhappy. The doctor knew what was likely to occur, and he would give all the assistance that was absolutely needed. in arranging matters with the gentleman from Yokohama.

“ I will do whatever you wish,” said the Boston girl, not without signs of contrition. “ Do not think so meanly of me as to suppose I would desert you at a difficult moment. I am ashamed of my behavior last night. I should at least have had more consideration for you, my dear. I see things more clearly now, and if you want me with you, my place is by your side, no matter what is to happen.”

“ Indeed I want you,” replied Yone, glowing with satisfaction. “ To have you near me will give me strength, if I grow timid, and your presence will produce a great effect upon Mr. Roberts. Simply to see you with me, and to know that you are supporting me, will make him listen carefully to what I say. If he understands that you trust me, he will believe that he also may trust me. Am I not right, doctor ? ”

I told her she was entirely right, and that we both would assist her to the limit of our power ; for I thought it injudicious then to acquaint her with my conviction that she alone could exert an appreciable force in the enterprise to which she had addressed herself, and that her influence would be far more effectual than ours in carrying it to a successful issue.

We had not long to wait. About the middle of the afternoon Mr. Roberts presented himself, flushed and agitated, and proclaiming defiance in demeanor, tone, and gesture.

“ I have called to settle accounts, Dr. Charwell, and close the connection. I don’t propose to be rude, but I can’t allow any interference in my private affairs. I did n’t look for it, sir, from you. However, that is neither here nor there. I ‘ll pay your bill, and thank you to keep away from me and mine, hereafter. You understand me, and that is enough.”

“Not altogether ; it may be that Mrs. Santo does,” I answered, feeling instinctively that I could not do better than entrust all the proceedings to Yone’s tact and discretion.

“ Mr. Roberts means that I have endeavored to induce Shizu to leave him.”

“ That’s what I mean, and I take it extremely ill, I can assure you. Her relations with me are nobody’s business but mine.”

“Hers, surely,” said Yone, with perfect gentleness ; “ and perhaps mine, since I am her oldest friend. May I not call it my business to think of her welfare ? ”

“ That’s what those — the others — always say. No, I thank you, I can take first-class care of her welfare ; and if Dr. Charwell will be good enough to hand me his bill, I ’ll not detain you any longer.”

“ Dr. Charwell will ask you — we will all ask you — to wait a little, while I speak about Shizu. She is like a sister to me, my only sister. You will not be so unkind as to refuse. I beg you to be seated, and listen to me.”

His eyes had been wandering restlessly around the room, but as they met Yone’s clear and earnest glance he composed himself, and replied, with a perceptible abatement of surliness : —

“ Oh, yes, I ’ll listen. I don’t want to be rough, and I ’ll listen, but my mind is made up. I won’t let her go.”

“ Not if she wishes it ? ”

“ I don’t wish it, and that’s sufficient. I can’t get on without her. Think of my children ; it was mostly on their account that I took her. I never could manage them, never; and she, — I don’t mind saying it, — young as she is, she’s the same as a mother to them. They have no mother of their own, poor things.”

“ Ah, how old are they, Mr. Roberts ? ”

“ Three, and four. I could n’t send them back to my people at home, you see, at their age.”

“ And when they grow up ? ” continued Yone, inquiringly.

“ What then ? ”

“ When they begin to be young ladies, what will become of Shizu ? ”

“ Right you are ! I must have her out of the way before that time. But you need n’t fear. If she runs a Straight course, she shall never come to grief ; I will look out for that.”

“ You mean that you will give her money, and send her away from you. What will her feelings be, then? You are thinking only of yourself and of your children, Mr. Roberts.”

“ Bless my soul, Mrs. Santo, what are you thinking of ? If I provide for her, I am not bound to trouble myself about her feelings, half a dozen years from now. What claim has she upon me ? I don’t mean to give offense, not the least in the world, but do you know the position she was in before she came to me, — where she would have been in less than a week, if I had n’t taken command and towed her into a safe port ? You’ll excuse me, but I can’t put much stock in the feelings of a girl of that kind.”

Miss Gibson uttered an indignant exclamation, and would have given her rebuke a more intelligible form, if I had not hastily taken upon myself the duty of replying to this last observation.

“ I have no doubt, Mr. Roberts, that you are doing yourself an injustice, and assuming a callousness which is not at all in your nature, in order to make a conventional point of argument. You could not pass a single week in close association with any Japanese girl of gentle birth, and fail to discover that her sensibilities are exceptionally acute and tender. So we may let the question of ‘ feelings ’ go by without discussion. But if you expect to produce an adverse impression, or any impression but one of profound pity, upon Mrs. Santo by speaking of the position to which her unhappy friend was reduced, you will be disappointed. She cannot enter into your view of the matter. Women do not, in this part of the world, necessarily descend through successive stages of vice to the lowest level of abasement. The transition is often instantaneous from innocence and purity to a condition which in your estimation implies the abandonment of every virtue, and familiarity with every form of depravity. Here it implies nothing of the kind. You must bear in mind the distinction between guilt and misfortune, or you will he hopelessly at cross-purposes with this lady. Shizu’s position, whatever it may have been, cannot be turned to her disadvantage in this conversation.”

“ I know what her position was,” said Yone sadly; “ but no one would be so cruel as to believe it, was her own choice, or that she looked upon it otherwise than as a heavy disaster. I am thinking less of that than of Mr. Roberts’s opinion that she has no claim upon him. Perhaps she has not. I would not myself say there is anything that can be called a claim, directly, and she would be the last to remind him of one, if it existed. But I can show him, unless I am mistaken, that her great afflictions entitle her to more of his consideration than he has given, if not to his respect, and that when he coldly speaks of her as ‘ a girl of that kind,’ his judgment is wrong in every way.”

“ To be sure, I might have put it more mildly,” Roberts rejoined ; “ but I have to go by what I have seen and heard. I know this much : that her father was the commonest sort of a servant in the house of the Tokio head of our firm ; and she — there’s no getting over it; I would, n’t be so blunt if I could help it — she was on the verge of selling herself outright when I stepped in to the rescue.”

“And that is all you know? Have you not learned the truth about her father’s death ? ”

“ I always fancied that some part of that affair had been kept back ; but Shizu was shy of referring to it, and I could n’t very well press her. It was a mystery how he came to be so desperately wounded, and no one else seriously damaged. Some of us would have been badly enough damaged, if he had n’t been on hand, — I, for example. I never was so scared in all my life. May be that is what you mean by a claim. I have n’t overlooked that, I can assure you. If there is anything behind, I should be glad to hear it, — indeed I should.”

“ I must tell you, then, that my knowledge of all that touches Shizu is as certain as if she were a member of my own family. Her father, as my friends here will remember, was a faithful retainer of ours, and it used to be said in Nagoya, my native city, that the fortunes of Yamada depended upon the constant adherence of Miura.”

“ Miura ? ” repeated Miss Gibson. “ Why, yes, Miura was the ancient hero whose adventures you related. Is it possible that this is one of his descendants ? ”

“ You don’t mean that the rugged soldier of Sekigahara was the ancestor of this poor child ? ” I exclaimed. “ This is a rare surprise.”

“ She is the daughter of Miura, our vassal,” answered Yone. “ I thought you would have recognized the name.”

“ And so I ought; I heard it plainly enough. But I could not associate that fragile, delicate creature with the marvelous tale you told. I can’t quite realize it even now.”

“ Nor I,” said Miss Gibson. “ It brings the Middle Ages close within our reach again. It is wonderful.”

“Not to me,” Yone responded. “ In my youth, Japan had not stirred from the Middle Ages. Many of our people still belong to that time which seems to you so far away. Miura was one who might have lived in the very days of Iyeyasu.”

Mr. Roberts rose, and advanced toward us, with bewilderment and curiosity in his eyes. “ If you could let me into the secret, I should take it kindly. I have n’t an idea what this is about.”

“ Nor had any of us until this moment, except Mrs. Santo,” I answered. “ Shizu Miura is the lineal descendant of one of the stalwart old heroes of Japanese history. But I dare say you are not particularly interested in that. Go on, Yone, with what concerns Mr. Roberts.”

“ You should n’t say that, sir. I am interested, extremely interested, in all that relates to her. It is strange she never spoke to me of her parentage.”

Yone looked intently at him, as he drew his chair nearer and resumed his seat. “ She is not of the vulgar rabble ; she belongs to a family of singular pride and reserve. Though their rank was not lofty, they were held in high repute, and had commanded the respect of the gentry in our province for many generations, — I can almost say centuries. Shizu is only a woman, but the blood of her forefathers runs in her veins. She has fallen very low, and in her degradation she has not the heart to recall the scenes of the past, or speak of the time when the name she bears was honored by all. I do not wonder that she has told you nothing of her people. In Owari they were prosperous ; they had six villages assigned to them by the daimio, from which their income came. Until the great revolution, when Shizu was seven years old, they were almost rich, as wealth is reckoned in Japan ; then they lost all. They came to Tokio, thoughtlessly and blindly, and the change was fatal to the simple country gentleman. It was as if he had stepped from a forgotten age into an unknown land. He was as helpless as the children he brought with him. Two of his family died of hardship and privation while I was dwelling near them, and before my marriage took me to a distant part of the city. What happened afterward I learned last night. Crushed by calamities, Miura bent down his haughty head, and begged for employment among the foreigners whom he disliked and feared. He offered himself as a servant, — ‘ the commonest sort of a servant,’ Mr. Roberts ; it was all he was fit for, — and in the house of your friend in Tsukiji he found a chance to earn a little money by the roughest kind of toil.”

“ It is n’t my fault,” Roberts remonstrated, “ if your Japanese samurai, as you call them, never learned to make themselves useful. I spoke of him as I found him, when I passed a fortnight at our place in Tsukiji. How could I know ? After all, he made a living, and he was n’t badly treated — as a rule. Have you heard that Mr. Burgess gave him an advance of wages, to get him out of some scrape ? ”

“ I have; and also what it cost Miura to ask and accept that boon. He was deeply in debt; his mother was dying, and he could not purchase the necessities for her comfort, nor call a physician to restore her. More than this, to his mind, he was threatened with the loss of an article most sacred to him. It was to redeem this precious relic, — an heirloom, or perhaps a talisman, you would term it, — that he placed himself under obligation to his master.”

“ It was the sword ! ” cried Miss Gibson, in unwonted excitement.

“ It was the sword with which his ancestor slew himself on the battle-field. The weapon was dearer than life to its humble possessor. It cost him his life, indeed, to regain it.”

“ How is that possible ? ” inquired Roberts. " I don’t see any connection.”

“ You do not forget the letter promising repayment, which he brought to Mr. Burgess ? ”

“ Certainly not. Burgess had it translated, and thought the man was making game of him. He gave him a terrific cuff. Rather hasty it was, I will say, though Burgess is my senior partner, and a good fellow at most times, in spite of his hot temper. But it was a cranky document, you must admit. I got it by heart, and many a laugh I have raised with it, since. What do you say to this, Dr. Charwell ? ‘I, the inferior Miura Senzo, have borrowed twenty yen from you, the honorable Burgess lord, and if I do not repay, you have my full permission to call me a fool.’ ”

There was no laugh now over the eccentric acknowledgment. Yone’s gravity was a check upon the mirth it might ordinarily have provoked.

“ It was the only method of binding himself that he knew,” she explained. " He was completely ignorant of business, and the best he could do was to make use of a declaration which was formerly in common use, and which he thought, in his simplicity, would be as satisfactory to a foreigner as to any Japanese who knew the ancient practices.”

“ But just conceive of it,” said Roberts. " ‘ If I do not repay, you may call me a fool.’ Burgess took it for granted that he was chaffed, and he never could stand that, even from one of us. What do you make of it, Dr. Charwell ? ”

“I have seen hundreds of these oldfashioned bonds,” I replied, " and they all seem to be based upon the peculiar Japanese sense of honor. A samurai would suffer anything rather than submit to insult. Nothing worse could happen to him than to receive an opprobrious epithet without the power to resent it, and in these quaint pledges the signer put himself more absolutely at the mercy of the creditor than would be possible by any proffer of material security. It is a survival of the feudal customs; quite incomprehensible, I take it, to the practical experience of Messrs. Fitch, Burgess, and Roberts.”

“ You may say that, and a good deal more. I never expect to get inside the heads of these people. But I was sorry Burgess hit him, and I did n’t hesitate to say so when I picked him up, — for he was knocked quite flat. I took him to my room, and gave him a drink. He seemed to need it; his face was ghastly, — not white, but a sort of sickly green. His hand shook so that he could hardly hold the glass. I really imagined he was badly injured, until the next night, when he showed what sound stuff he was made of. He could n’t have felt it much.”

“ It was his death-blow,” said Yone, in a tone that chilled us who knew her, and the solemnity of which quelled the rattling vivacity of the Yokohama tradesman. " The bruises, the hurts to his body, were nothing, but his manhood was destroyed. He could not avenge himself, for a samurai must not attack the master with whom he has taken service. If that were possible, there would be many tragedies in the homes of foreigners. Moreover, he had accepted and used the twenty yen, and with that obligation hanging over him his hands were doubly tied. But his spirit was utterly broken. He went to his little residence in Asabu, where his mother lay dying, and told her and his daughter what had befallen him; and then it was that Shizu resolved upon the sacrifice which the women of my country are expected to make, in the extremest need, on behalf of those to whom they owe obedience. She would have taken this course before, if her education, by American teachers, had not given her new views of duty. Now there was no influence to restrain her, and she determined to avail herself of the last resource.”

“ In the name of reason,” Roberts exclaimed, “ how am I to take this ? You would n t mislead me, but are you sure you have n’t been misled yourself ? What do you say, doctor ? This sounds like a horrid passage from the Tales of Old Japan.”

“ Naturally it does,” I answered; “the Tales of Old Japan are literally true. I should rejoice to believe there was anything extraordinary in what she tells us. You are amazed only because it is the first time that such facts are brought home to you.”

“ And to me,” sighed Miss Gibson; “it is all as strange as it is terrible.”

“ I have little more to say,” Yone resumed ; “ but to you who are unfamiliar with the habits and the sentiments of my people, the end will be an additional surprise. You remember, Mr. Roberts, how the midnight robbery of the house in Tsukiji was prevented ? ”

“ Every particular: it was Miura who gave the warning. Burgess did n’t half believe in it, though the burglars had raided every third compound in the settlement, he told me. It had an odd appearance that a servant should know exactly what they were projecting.”

“They looked to Miura for assistance. News flies with magical swiftness among the poor classes in Tokio, and the abuse he had undergone was talked of throughout the foreign quarter. The thieves, who had made themselves a terror to the neighborhood, were confident that he would welcome the opportunity. They knew the stock of which he came, and offered to make him their leader, but they understood only a part of his character. He had one rule of life, and he never abandoned it. Before bidding his mother and daughter farewell, on that last day, he said, ‘ I shall leave no debt to be charged against me. That will be wiped away by the service I shall perform this night. If there is danger for my master and his friends, I will defend them. There is one among them whom I shall be glad to keep from harm, for he has a true heart, and he soothed me with kind words when I was beaten like a dog.’ ”

“ Do you think he meant me ? ”

“ It was of you he spoke. Shizu has never forgotten it.”

“ Poor fellow, — poor fellow! And she would not tell me.”

“ I have said that she has the pride of her race; and besides, we are always doubtful how foreigners will receive the things which affect us most deeply. But I do not hesitate to tell you. I wish you to know all: how Miura, with fierce hatred in his heart toward the master who had put deadly shame upon him, was steadfast to his honor ; how by the courageous performance of a duty he freed himself, as he believed, from a burden of obligation which he had no other means of removing.”

“ Why do you say ‘ no other means ’ ? It was only a few months’ wages, at the outside. But there would have been no question of that paltry sum, if he had lived. He could have had anything he wanted from Burgess or from me, after his gallant fight, that night. He settled the beggarly gang, and drove them away almost single-handed ; the other servants did nothing but run about and howl.”

“They were not samurai,” said Yone.

“We had no idea he was so much hurt; he was steady enough, to look at, after it was over, though, he said he must go home. He even talked of walking, and declared the slashes in his side amounted to nothing, but I would n’t hear of that. I put him into a norimono, and he thanked me with a smile. I don’t think I ever saw him smile but that once ; he was a gloomy sort, — well he might be, considering what he had gone through. When we went to look after him, the next day, it was all over. Burgess was very much cut up; he offered to do anything for the old woman and Shizu, but they would n’t have it, — actually turned their backs upon him. The girl said she had plenty of money coming to her ; but when I learned where it was coming from, and what it was for, I had to interfere. It was too monstrous.”

“ They did not refuse you, Mr. Roberts.”

“ No, no ; I am thankful they did n’t, — more thankful to-day than I ever was before. Still, they would n’t let me do the half of what I wished to. I undertook to spend any reasonable amount in hunting down the murderers, but they went on their knees and begged me not to say another word upon the subject. That was one thing I never could make out.”

“ Murderers ! There were none. The wounds which the robbers gave were trifles. Miura Senzo killed himself with the same sword that had ended Kit as aburo’s life, nearly three hundred years before.”

There was no response, and for a minute the dead silence in our little parlor was unbroken. The revelation was not unexpected by me, and I think Miss Gibson had partly foreshadowed what was to come; but Roberts was astounded. He stared straight before him like one bound by a spell, until Yone rose and approached him, apparently to study his countenance; for the sun had set behind the high Hakone hills, and the light was dim. Then he rose likewise, not without an effort, and leaned heavily upon the back of his chair, as if a sudden dizziness had overmastered him.

“ Now, Mr. Roberts, you have heard the truth, all the truth, about my friend. You know what her father was, what she is, and by what fearful necessity she was driven to the position for which you despise her ” —

“ I don’t despise her,” he interrupted ; " I never despised her. I was a brute to hint at it.”

Yone lifted her hand to stem the torrent of protestation he was ready to pour forth.

“ Will you now refuse to release her ? ” she inquired.

“ I will do anything in the world ; only let me be sure it is for her good. If you say so — if she says so ’ —

“ We do say it.”

“ Then you have no need of my consent ; there is nothing to chain her.”

“ She cannot leave you without it; she is your servant. She owes you what she lives upon, from day to day. She is in your debt for the comforts you gave her mother, while that poor woman lingered, and for the graves in which her parents rest. She is bound to you for your kindness to her father, and for your benevolence in saving her from the lowest misery. She cannot break away, unless you consent.”

“ Don’t — don’t talk to me in that way,” said Roberts, in a quavering voice ; “ I can’t stand it. Don’t yon see there ’s another side to the bargain ? Do I owe her nothing ? I must get out of this. Dr. Charwell, is it too much to ask you to walk to Fuji-ya with me ? I am still in the dark, here and there, and you can enlighten me.”

“ I have your promise ? ” Yone urged.

“ You have; anything that is for her good. I will not keep her a day, if she wishes to go. Give me till tomorrow to think about it. I ’ll not disappoint you, Mrs. Santo ; you are a good woman.”

XXV.

YONE’S TRIUMPH.

I went with Roberts to the hotel, but this did not content him, and in the evening he came again to the temple, eager to be made acquainted with the antecedent history of Shizu’s family, of which he had caught only glimpses during the afternoon interview. Although he had dwelt several years upon the soil of Japan, his associations, like those of his class in general, had been almost exclusively alien, and this was his first introduction to the realities of Japanese life and character. He was much impressed by finding himself enveloped in an atmosphere of antiquity which he had always considered to be far beyond his range, and which he had regarded as belonging, if not to the region of fable, at least to an ideal and insubstantial sphere, with which he could never be brought into relationship. Being a Scotchman, however, his imagination did not utterly revolt at the contemplation of extravagances which would probably have thrown the average mercantile mind of Yokohama off its balance. Familiarity with the legends of his own country assisted him to comprehend the clannish devotion, the exaggerated sense of personal honor, and the stern fatalism of the samurai, even though his faith in the solid proprieties of the nineteenth century forbade him to approve these qualities. His final judgment of Miura Senzo was summed up in a series of observations, to the effect that of course he was crazy, and it seemed impossible for a man imbued with the ideas of Japanese chivalry to be anything else ; that his notion of rushing to suicide as the suitable solace for a bodily indignity was reconcilable only with a madness exceeding the proper allotment of an army of hatters and a wilderness of March hares ; but his pluck was magnificent, even if wofully misapplied, and his respectability was guaranteed by a pedigree of the length of which a Highland chief need not be ashamed. Roberts made no attempt to conceal his altered estimate of the daughter, regarding her as the last representative of an ancient family, and the legitimate bearer of a hereditary crest, the significance of which he had never suspected, but which he now chose to consider a badge of aristocratic distinction, conferring upon its owner attributes not dissimilar to those of a titular nobility.

He announced, on the following day, that he was willing to accede to Yone’s solicitations, being convinced that they were earnestly seconded by Shizu, but it was evident that the concession had cost him a severe struggle. “ I could n’t have believed that any one would have brought me to this,” he averred ; “ but I see she has the right to dispose of her future, and I ’ll not stand in her way. It will be hard on the children; they are mightily fond of her, as well they may be. And so am I. What a fraud it is for me to talk about the children ! I shall be the biggest baby of the lot, when she goes.” He at first insisted upon making her an allowance, — settling a pension on her, he termed it, — affirming that it was done every day, and that it would be shabby for him to permit her to go out into the world unprovided for ; but this was resolutely resisted by Yone, to whose influence he submitted with remarkable pliancy. Upon another point, however, he was less tractable. He assumed that he and his offspring were to maintain friendly communications with the young girl so long as his affairs should keep him in Japan, and warmly resented the proposition that every tie should be definitely and permanently sundered. His perverse obstinacy would have worn out the patience of most people, but Yone had good reasons, as we presently discovered, for dealing gently with him, and allowing his irritability no opportunity to assert itself. After hours of ineffectual persuasion, at the end of which it seemed inevitable that she should either succumb or risk a rupture of the negotiations, she asked to speak with him privately, and led him to a far-off corner of the building, beyond sight or hearing of Miss Gibson and myself. Here, imposing secrecy upon him, and appealing to his humanity to keep her friend, especially, in ignorance of what she was about to impart, she put forward her last and most pathetic plea.

It was very simple and ingenuous. Ardent gratitude had been the first sentiment awakened in Shizu’s heart by the young man’s generous intercession at the most critical moment of her destiny, but the unexpected sympathy which she received in her subsequent bereavement and loneliness had drawn her more tenderly to him, and the attachment she already felt promised to become intense and absorbing, if the separation were not made complete and absolute. It was for him to decide whether she should be subjected, in her new career, to a more painful trial than any she had yet endured, with the certainty of a perpetual and ever-increasing sorrow hanging over her, or be left free for time to efface all disturbing recollections. What forms of argument or exhortation Yone employed I never knew, but it was not long before their effect was made manifest in an unlooked-for way. The young merchant presented himself before us, with a bearing and aspect so diametrically opposite to those with which he had made us familiar as to suggest that he had undergone some radical process of moral transformation. Miss Gibson was later heard to declare that his attitude, at this crisis, was “ most interesting ; ” but my more critical scrutiny detected nothing that could identify the pert, underbred, colonial tradesman, even in appearance, with a typical hero of romance. He was surprisingly subdued, however, and seemed for the moment to have forgotten that aggressive arrogance was one of the features of his rôle as a commercial civilizer of the far East. In fact, he seemed to have forgotten everything but his determination to show that there was a manly side to his character, and that he was capable of acting up to it.

“ Do you know what she wants me to do ? ” he asked. " She has n’t proposed it, but I have seen it working in her mind for the last half hour. It is n’t to jump down into the crater of Fujiyama: oh, no; that would be easy, in comparison. She wants me to make myself the laughing-stock of Yokohama, — don’t contradict me, Mrs. Santo ; that’s just what it is: to walk into the British consul’s office, and tell him to draw up a matrimonial contract between Archibald Roberts, of Scotland, and Shizu Miura, of Japan. That’s the upshot of it, Miss Gibson ; that’s what I must do to please her, Dr. Charwell.”

He had commenced in a querulous and plaintive strain, but raised his voice as he proceeded, until the last words were almost shouted. Miss Gibson had nothing to say; she was too astonished. I was not less so, but the impulse seized me to conceal the fact, and to accept his announcement as a simple matter of course.

“ If that is what you must do,” I said quietly, “ you had better set about it at once.”

“ I intend to,” he replied, moderating his tone. “I won’t disappoint Mrs. Santo ; she is too good a woman for that. And she is one who will not laugh at me, no matter what everybody else does.”

“ Laugh at you ! ” exclaimed Yone, “ I do not understand what you mean. I respect and honor you, and it makes me happy to know you will be rewarded for your goodness and your courage. Ah, yes, you will be rewarded, Mr. Roberts ; have no doubt of that.”

“ I have no doubt of anything, when you tell it to me. Don’t I say you are a good woman ? You look like the others, but there’s a difference, is there not, Miss Gibson ? I’m not so sure that she’s a woman at all. You have put a European frock upon her shoulders, but I don’t believe it fits them, any more than her kimono. You won’t find the garment to suit her in your fashionplates ; no room for wings in any of them. I suppose they have wings, the Japanese kind, just the same as ours. Never mind, Mrs. Santo ; you can’t take in my poor jests, and you don’t need wings to convince me how good you are.”

After he had left us, to break the great news to Shizu, and to make ready for his own immediate return to Yokohama, Miss Gibson thought it expedient to dilate upon this farewell burst of rhetoric.

“ He may not be the cleverest of men,” she remarked, “ but he has learned how to turn a compliment more gracefully than when he mistook our Yone for a nurse. Let me explain it to you, dear.”

“ It is not necessary,” said Yone, lifting her hand to her face, and looking at us through her parted fingers with what was, for her, quite a creditable attempt at roguishness.

“ Then you did understand him ! How do you dare to know what such things mean ? I thought that they were far beyond — that you were far beyond their comprehension.”

“Why should you?” I demanded, with austerity. “ The meaning of flattery is the first thing a vain girl learns in any language, and this is the vainest girl in all Japan. You will find it out in good time, Miss Gibson. But I beg you to believe that I never taught her such absurdities.”

“ They are very pretty, those absurdities,” replied Yone. “ We seldom hear them in this country, but it is pleasant to be praised, — in earnest, — even if not true.”

“ It is true enough,” I rejoined. “ I have been telling you, for years, what you really are. Witches have wings, you know, as well as other flighty supernatural creatures. No genuine, authentic witch would be admitted to practice without them.”

“For shame! ” cried Miss Gibson. “ Yone, do not listen to him.”

“Would you have me believe that anything short of witchcraft could take the conceit out of a Yokohama shopkeeper, a British shopkeeper in Japan, and convert him into the semblance of a human being ? Come here, my little girl, and let me look straight at you. Hold up your head, like the best of small children. There, that will do. Now! Miss Gibson may give you what name she likes, and so may Mr. Roberts, but nobody can be more contented with you than I, or happier in your charming success. Shall I call it a miracle ? Shall I say you are a magician ? Do you want me to tell you what I truly think of you, at this moment, — the whole of it ? ”

“ No, dear doctor; I am afraid you would say something to make my eyes dim, and that is not the way to end this joyful day.”

“ I should think not. Tears at a jubilee ? Never; we will hold high festival, — nothing less. You, Miss Gibson, shall hang out banners and lanterns, and ring the temple bells, if the priests permit, while I wend forth, and summon two guests to banquet in state this eve. Since Shizu is to join our party, we may wisely expedite her coming. Of course she will remain in our care until Mrs. Roberts’s mansion is ready for her reception, in the foreign cosmopolis which she and her husband will inhabit. Let us go for them, Yone, at once. Miss Gibson will welcome our reappearance with salutes of grape and canister, — grape in fermented and other forms, and canisters replete with succulent viands. We will respond with detonating engines from the cellars of Fuji-ya, admirable for their explosive properties, if not entirely trustworthy with respect to the beverages they contain. We will celebrate with pomp and circumstance, to the uttermost extent of Miyanoshita’s resources, and the ides of May shall be recorded in our private annals, and commemorated forever as the anniversary of Yone’s triumph.”

E. H. House.