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diff --git a/old/64924-0.txt b/old/64924-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index fcf0a14..0000000 --- a/old/64924-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5063 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Japanese Blossom, 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 -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: A Japanese Blossom - -Author: Winnifred Eaton - -Illustrator: L. W. Ziegler - -Release Date: March 25, 2021 [eBook #64924] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Mary Glenn Krause, Charlene Taylor, Barry Abrahamsen, and the - Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - (This file was produced from images generously made available - by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A JAPANESE BLOSSOM *** - - -[Illustration: - - “THEY CALLED ACROSS MERRILY TO EACH OTHER” -] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - _A JAPANESE - BLOSSOM_ - - - - - _by_ - - ONOTO WATANNA - - - ILLUSTRATED BY - - L. W. ZIEGLER - - - -[Illustration] - - - - _NEW YORK AND LONDON - HARPER & BROTHERS - PUBLISHERS M-C-M-V-I_ - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - - Copyright, 1906, by HARPER & BROTHERS. - - _All rights reserved_. - - Published October, 1906. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - _TO - MY CHILDREN_ - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - - - “THEY CALLED ACROSS MERRILY TO EACH _Frontispiece_ - OTHER” - - “MARION SAT ON A GIGANTIC 52 - MOSS-GROWN ROCK, LOOKING ... AT - THE CHILDREN IN THE FAMILY POND” - - “THE LITTLE WAITRESS BROUGHT HER 170 - SAMISEN, AND ... BEGAN TO PLAY - AND SING” - - “HE SEIZED HER HAND SUDDENLY IN HIS 226 - OWN AND FELL ON HIS KNEES BEFORE - HER” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - _A JAPANESE BLOSSOM_ - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - _A JAPANESE BLOSSOM_ - - - - - I - - -THE children sat in a little semi-circle about their grandmother, -listening intently as she read to them the last letter from their father -in America. Ever since they could remember, his business as a tea -merchant had taken him away from Japan on long visits to the foreign -countries. His latest absence had continued for three years now, and -little Juji—born a short time after his departure—had never seen him. - -As the grandmother finished the letter, the children instinctively -looked first of all at Juji, sitting there in placid indifference, -stolidly sucking his thumb. Juji had ceased to be the baby of the -Kurukawa family. Afar off in America a new, strange baby had been born, -and had taken the place of Juji, just as its mother one year before had -taken the place of Juji’s mother, who was dead. - -When the old grandmother, with whom they made their home, had gently -broken the news to the children that their father had taken a new wife -from the daughters of America, she had impressed upon them the -seriousness of their duty to their new parent. They must love her as a -mother, revere her as their father’s wife, remember her with their -father in their prayers, and endeavor to learn those things which would -be pleasing to her. - -Gozo, who was the eldest of the children—he was seventeen years of -age—set his little brothers and sisters a bad example. He grew red with -anger, allowing himself to be so overcome by his feelings that for a -moment he could not speak. Finally, he snapped his fingers and said, as -his eyes blazed: - -“Very well. So my father has put a barbarian in my mother’s place. I -cannot respect him. Therefore I cannot further obey him. _I_ shall leave -his house at once!” - -At these revolutionary words, his old grandfather commanded him sternly -to keep his place while he taught him a lesson. - -“To whom,” asked the old man, “do you owe your existence, and therefore -your first duty in life?” - -The hot-headed boy, who for a number of years had had neither father nor -mother to guide him, answered, immediately: - -“To the Emperor I owe my existence and duty, sir. _He_ comes even before -my father. Therefore, in leaving my father’s house to enter the service -of Ten-shi-sama [the Mikado] I am but doing my highest duty.” - -The grandfather looked at the flushed face of the young boy. - -“You will enlist?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“You are too young, my boy.” - -“I can pass for much older,” said Gozo, proudly. - -“You are but seventeen,” said his grandfather, quietly. - -The boy’s heart heaved. - -“Life would be unbearable here,” said he, “with such a change in the -family.” - -“Do not use such expressions before your young brothers and sisters,” -said the grandfather, sternly. “You almost make me think you are unfit -to be an elder brother.” - -At this Gozo winced and became pale. He had always been proud of his -position as the young master of the family. - -Then his grandmother spoke, and her words reached the heart of the boy. - -“Be not rash, my Gozo. Our dearest daughter, your mother, would have -been the first to urge you to filial thought for your father.” - -“Grandmother,” cried the boy, “I can’t bear—” He flung his hand across -his eyes as though to hide the tears. Now all the children began to weep -in sympathy with their big brother. Miss Summer, the daughter of their -father’s friend, set up a great wail, declaring between her sobs that -never, never, never could she be induced to wash the feet or be the -slave of a barbarian woman. For Summer, though but twelve years old, was -some day to marry Gozo—so their fathers had said—and in Japan a -daughter-in-law is under the command of the mother-in-law. - -By patience and reasoning, the grandparents at last exacted from Gozo a -promise that he would not leave home until his step-mother came to -Japan. It was possible she might never come. Gozo, the proud and -stubborn, sullenly gave the promise. During the months that followed, -however, he seemed greatly changed in disposition. He became studious, -quiet, given to gloomy moods, when he would lock himself up in his room -and brood over what he considered the wrong and insult done to his -mother’s memory. He would have found it hard enough to bear if his -father had married a Japanese woman, but the thought of an American -mother overwhelmed him with dismay. He pictured to his young mind her -influence upon his sisters Plum Blossom and Iris, twelve and eight years -old respectively; in boyish indignation he saw her punishing his little -ten-year-old brother Taro, who could not keep his face and hands clean -nor keep his clothes whole. One night Gozo dreamed he saw his -step-mother in the guise of a hated fox-woman soundly switching with a -bamboo stick his little, fat, baby brother Juji. When he awoke in the -middle of the night to find it only a dream, he got up from his couch, -and, going to where Juji slept, carried him to his own bed. He held the -little, warm body closely in his arms. Juji slept on, and snuggled down -comfortably in his brother’s arms for the rest of the night. - -It was the following morning that the letter had come from America -telling of the birth of the new baby. As if this news were not bad -enough, the father, unconscious of the resentment he had awakened, -announced his intention of returning at once to Japan with his wife, the -new baby, and his two young step-children, for he had married a young -American widow. - -The children’s faces wore a frightened expression as the grandmother -read the letter aloud. Little Plum Blossom glanced stealthily at her -brother; then suddenly, to the surprise of them all, she spoke up: - -“Well,” said she, “Daikoku [god of fortune] is good. He has given us -another sister. _I_ shall make him a great offering this year.” - -Iris, who was a mere echo of her sister, ventured a little sing-song -assent. - -“I shall make a big offering, too.” - -Taro grinned apprehensively in the direction of his moody brother; then -said, defiantly: - -“As for me, _I_ shall beat every single day of the honorable year that -barbarian step-brother”; for there was a little step-brother of the same -age as Taro, and the latter, boylike, longed to try his powers upon him. - -Gozo ground his teeth together. - -“The gods only know,” said he, “what you poor little ones will do. As -for me, I shall not be here to bow to the barbarian. My time has come. -The Emperor needs me.” - -“Oh, please don’t leave us, brother,” said Iris, resting her face on his -hand; “I shall die of fear if you are not here to help us defy her.” - -“Children, hush!” cried the old grandmother. “Never did I dream I should -hear such words from my children. Ah, had my beloved daughter lived, you -little ones would have had more filial principles.” - -“It is not right to distress grandmother,” said Plum Blossom, “and it is -very wrong to speak evil of one we do not even know. I, for one, am -going to—to—love the foreign devil!” - -“So am I,” sobbed Iris, still caressing Gozo’s hand, “b-but I shall hate -her if she drives our Gozo away!” - -Gozo patted the little girl’s head, but said nothing. - -Meanwhile, little Juji’s thumb had fallen from his mouth. For some time -he had been watching in perplexed wonder the expressions upon the faces -of his brothers and sisters. He could not decide in his small mind just -what was troubling them all; but troubled they surely were. The weeping -Iris had finally decided Juji. Plainly something was wrong. The baby’s -lower lip, unnoticed by any one, had gradually been swelling out. -Suddenly a gasp escaped him, the next moment the room resounded with his -cries. When Juji cried, it seemed as if the very house shook. Though not -often given to these tempestuous storms, he seemed fairly convulsed when -once started upon one. He would lie on his back on the floor, stiffened -out. First he would hold his breath, then gasp, then roar. Juji’s crying -could never be stopped until a pail of water was thrown in the face of -the enraged child. This time, however, he became the object of intense -commiseration. The children felt that he had acquired somehow a sense of -their common calamity. - -The screaming child was alternately hugged and petted and fanned, until -finally, his fat little legs kicking out in every direction, he was -carried from the room by Gozo. Out in the garden, the big brother ducked -him in the family pond. Kind travellers in Japan have made the -extraordinary statement that Japanese children never cry. Certainly they -could never have heard Juji—and there are many Jujis in Japan, just as -there are in every country. - -Juji’s crying fit broke up the little family council for that day, but -he was the only member of the family who slept soundly that night. - -The little girls cried softly together, as they whispered under the -great padded coverlid of their bed. Taro was quite feverish in his -imaginative battles with his step-brother. - -As for Gozo, he sat up all night long, gazing with melancholy eyes at -the stars, thinking himself the most miserable being on the face of the -earth. He, too, like Juji, needed a little pail of something dashed upon -him, and soon he was to have it! - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - II - - -“OH, dear, _how_ I can ever bear this corset!” - -Plum Blossom subsided in a little, breathless heap on the floor. - -Early in the day both she and Iris had been dressed in their best—a -plum-colored crêpe kimono for little Plum Blossom, and an iris-colored -crêpe one for little Iris. Their hair had been carefully arranged in the -pretty mode at this time fashionable for little girls in Japan. Flower -ornaments glistened at the sides of the glossy coiffures. The -grandmother had regarded them with pride when the maid brought them -before her. - -“Certainly,” said she, “your father and mother will be proud to see -you.” - -“And _we_ have a great surprise, too, for her,” said Iris, her bright -eyes dancing. - -Plum Blossom put a plump little hand over her sister’s mouth. - -“Hush! Not even grandmother shall know yet.” - -Grandmother smiled knowingly. - -“And now,” said she, “can you say all the big English words—you -remember?” - -“Yes, yes,” cried Iris, excitedly. At once she began to shout in her -most sing-song voice: - -“How de do! Ver’ glad see you two days. Thanzs your healt’ is good. Most -honorable welcome at Japan. Pray seated be and egscuse the most unworthy -house of my fadder.” - -Plum Blossom was chanting her welcome before Iris had quite finished. - -“Mos’ glad you cum. Come agin. Happy see you. Come agin. Liddle girl, -welcome for sister. Liddle boy, too. Nize bebby! Please I will kees. -So!” - -She indicated the kiss by putting a little, open mouth against her -sister’s cheek, leaving a wet spot behind. Iris wiped her cheek -carefully with one of her paper handkerchiefs; then as carefully she -repowdered the spot where her sister’s moist lips had rested. - -Ever since their father had been in America, the family had been -learning to speak English. Their teacher was a missionary priest, and -now, at the end of three years, even the smallest child could speak the -language, though imperfectly. In order to obtain fluency, they had made -English the spoken language in the family. The speeches of welcome to -the step-mother were composed: by the grandmother; the children had -learned them like parrots. Madame Sano tapped both of the little girls -on the shoulder and caressed them. Clinging to each other’s sleeves, off -they tripped into the other room, where was the great “secret.” The -secret consisted of a few articles of American attire, which the little -girls had induced a jinrikiman to bring them from Tokio. All of the -money Gozo had left behind for them as his parting gift had been -expended thus. How the boy’s angry heart would have stormed had he known -his little sisters had spent his gift for such a purpose! - -Plum Blossom wore a corset outside her kimono. Some one had told her -that this was the most important article of a barbarian woman’s -wardrobe, and the tighter it was the better. So the little Japanese girl -had tied herself by the corset-string to a post. By dint of hard pulling -she had managed to encase her plump form so tightly that she could -scarcely breathe. Iris, with hands clad in large kid gloves, was drawing -on a pair of number five shoes. Her feet were those of the average -American child of seven or eight years. At this juncture Miss Summer -(who being engaged to Gozo was always called “Miss” by the little girls) -opened the shoji and thrust a flushed and excited face between the -partitions. She was six months older than when she had wailed aloud her -determination not to wash the feet of a barbarian mother-in-law, but she -seemed as childish and silly as ever as she came tittering into the -room, an enormous straw hat, from which dangled ribbons and bedraggled -ostrich-feathers, upon her head. The sisters gasped in admiration, their -eyes purple with envy and wonder. Only in pictures had they seen -anything so gorgeous as that hat. - -“_Where_ did you get it?” inquired Plum Blossom, letting the corset out -a bit by the simple method of breathing hard, hence snapping the fragile -cord. - -“Well,” said Summer, confidentially, “I will tell you if you will never, -never repeat it to my future husband.” - -“Gozo?” - -Summer nodded. “Gozo hates much Otami Ichi,” said Summer, with meaning. - -Plum Blossom’s scorn burst the last string of the corset. It slipped -from her as she arose. - -“Hi,” she said, “Otami Ichi! _He_ says he is two years too young to be a -soldier. He is older than Gozo. Did you take gifts from _him_!” - -Summer giggled and shrugged her shoulders. - -“Why not? His honorable father keeps a fine foreign store in Tokio.” - -It was Plum Blossom’s turn to shrug. She undid her obi and tied the -corset to her with the sash. - -“What do you suppose Taro has been doing?” said Iris. - -“Something bad?” - -“No, not bad exactly,” said Plum Blossom, who disliked her future -sister-in-law. “He has been learning jiu-jitsu.” - -It was Summer’s turn to gasp, thus displacing her elaborate headgear. - -“What! A baby of ten learn jiu-jitsu?” - -“Eleven,” corrected Plum Blossom. “His grandfather was samurai. Ver’ -well. That grandfather’s friend teach him jiu-jitsu—a few tricks of -jiu-jitsu.” - -“What for? Will he, too, fight the Russians?” inquired Miss Summer, -sarcastically. - -“N-no,” said Plum Blossom, dubiously, “but he says he will fight -_somebody_.” - -“And little Juji,” put in Iris, “has a fine present for our dear -mother.” - -“What is it?” - -“A bag of peanuts!” - -“That’s nize. _How_ can I keep this hat on. It falls off if I move.” - -“You must pin it on,” suggested Plum Blossom, “for so the fashion-books -say. There, take one of your hair-pins.” She adjusted the hat back to -front on Summer’s head, and fixed it firmly in place with a long -hair-dagger she took from the girl’s coiffure. - -Summer found a seat and began to fan herself languidly. “My sleeves feel -very heavy to-day,” said she. - -“Why?” - -“They are much weighted,” declared Summer; “I carry in them five -love-letters.” - -“Oh! Oh-h! From our Gozo? Why, has he already written to you, Summer?” - -“I’ll tell you a secret,” said Summer, giggling. “No, you must not -listen, Iris. You are too young.” She whispered into Plum Blossom’s ear. -Suddenly the latter thrust out her little, plump hands. - -“Go away. You are not good girl. Only my brother should write you -love-letters!” - -Plaintively Summer made a gesture of annoyance. - -“I must spend a lifetime with Gozo,” said she. “Therefore, is it not -better to have a little fun first of all?” - -Iris cried out something in a very jeering voice. Summer pretended she -did not hear. - -“What is that?” cried her sister, excitedly. - -“Oh, I know who wrote Summer’s love-letters to her.” - -“Who did?” - -“She wrote them herself.” - -“I did not.” - -“You did.” - -“I did _not_!” - -“You did, for your cousin told me so.” - -“Oh, the wicked little fiend!” - -“Young ladies,” called a maid from below. “Come, come; come quickly. -Your father is seen. The jinrikishas! Hurry! Your honorable grandmother -wishes you to be at the door to welcome him!” - -In a panic the little girls rushed about the room, gathering up their -various articles. Then, grasping each other’s sleeves, they tripped down -the stairs. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - III - - -WHILE the husband assisted the children and nurse to alight from the -jinrikishas, Mrs. Kurukawa the second stood looking about her. - -She was a little woman, possibly thirty-five years old. Her face was -expressive, showing a somewhat shy and timid nature. Her large, brown -eyes had a look of appeal in them as she turned them towards her -husband. He smiled reassuringly and put an affectionate hand upon her -arm. Immediately her momentary restraint and fear left her. - -“Is this the famous Plum Blossom Avenue?” she asked, indicating the -budding trees under which they now passed, and which served as an -exquisite pathway through the garden. - -“This is Plum Blossom Avenue,” replied her husband, “and as you see, I -keep my promise. You know I cabled to Japan to have the plum blossoms -all in bud for us when we should arrive.” - -“How good of you!” she laughed. “Just as if you didn’t know they bloom -at the end of March! But where are the children? You also promised that -they would be under the trees waiting for us.” - -Mr. Kurukawa looked a bit worried. - -“It’s strange,” he said. “Ah, here come my mother and father-in-law.” - -His first wife’s father and mother hastened down the path to meet them. - -To the delight of the little American children, the old man and woman -favored them with the most wonderful bows they had ever seen. In fact, -the boy afterwards insisted that the old man’s bald head had literally -touched his own boots. - -The new wife held out both her hands with a pretty impulse. - -“Oh,” she said, “I have heard all about you—how very, very good you have -been to the children.” - -The old couple did not quite understand what she said, but feeling -assured that it was something complimentary, they began a fresh series -of bows, repeating over and over again one of the English words they had -learned. - -“Thangs, thangs, very thangs.” - -Mr. Kurukawa now inquired anxiously for his children. He had certainly -expected they would be at the gate to meet them. The grandmother -explained that only a moment before the two little boys had been with -her, and she had sent immediately for the little girls. But just as they -came to the door the little boys had run away in fright, and were now -shyly hiding somewhere. - -“Gozo? What of Gozo?” - -The two old people looked at each other. They did not know what to say. - -“Pray come into the house, my son,” said Madame Sano. “We can better -speak there.” - -They had been talking in Japanese. Noting her husband’s look of worry, -Mrs. Kurukawa anxiously inquired the reason. Without explaining, he led -her into the house. As they entered they were startled by the strange -sound that greeted them. It was like the sharp sigh of a wind in an -empty house. In reality it was the panic-stricken flight from the -hallway of the children of Mr. Kurukawa. - -Grouped closely together, the four children and Miss Summer had -retreated to the far end of the hall, where they awaited the advent of -the dreaded “barbarian” step-mother, for such Gozo had made them believe -she must be. For many months they had conjured up in imagination -pictures of their step-mother and her children. - -They had seen but one foreigner in their town, the missionary, who had -been their teacher. Him they had held in as much awe and fear as they -would a strange animal. - -Now their father appeared in the hall, holding by the arm what seemed to -the children a most extraordinary looking creature, while behind them -came, hand in hand, the strangest-looking little boy and girl, with eyes -so big that Plum Blossom thought them like those of a goblin. The face, -however, which frightened them most was that of the Irish nurse, who -bore the baby in her arms. The children gazed only a moment at this -outlandish group; then with one accord they fled, each in a different -direction. - -The strangers coming from the out-door sunlight into the darkened hall -had barely time to see the children ere they were gone. They had a hazy -glimpse of a patch of color at the end of the hall, and then its sudden, -wild dispersion. For a moment they stood looking about them in blank -astonishment. Suddenly Mr. Kurukawa, who was ebullient with humor and -good-nature, burst into laughter. He laughed so hard, indeed, that his -wife, the children, and the nurse joined him. This unusual mirth in the -house brought the children cautiously back, too curious and inquisitive -to withstand the novelty of the situation. - -Through the paper walls little fingers were cautiously thrust; little -black eyes peered at the new-comers from behind these frail -retrenchments. - -When his mirth had subsided, Mr. Kurukawa favored his wife with a sly -wink, and then quick as a flash he pushed back one of the shojis, -disclosing the little figure behind it. He lifted it up by the bow of -its obi. Something strange stuck closely to it and invited the gaze of -Mrs. Kurukawa. It was the corset! - -At the same time the father perceived it, and, pulling it off, held it -aloft. - -“Ah, ha!” he cried, “here is surely a little flag of truce.” - -He threw it aside and caught the little, trembling Plum Blossom in his -arms, hugging her tightly. She hid her face in his bosom. After a time -he set her down upon the floor. - -“This,” he said, “is Plum Blossom. In America she would be called -Roly-poly—she is so fat, and, like her father, good-natured,” and he -pinched her cheek. “Go now,” he bade her, “and kiss your new mother.” - -She went obediently, but with fear in her eyes, towards Mrs. Kurukawa. -The latter knelt and held out both her arms. She was crying a bit, and -possibly it was the tears and the sweet sound of her voice that won Plum -Blossom. She tried to remember the speech she had learned, but the only -words that came to her lips were: - -“Come agin,” and this she kept mechanically reiterating. “Come agin—come -agin—come agin.” - -Here it is painful to relate that the young son of Mrs. Kurukawa chose -to make himself heard in uncouth American slang. Billy spoke almost -reflectively, as if he had heard that “Come agin” somewhere before. -“Come agin, on agin, gone agin, Finnegan!” said Billy, promptly. - -“Oh, Billy, hush!” said his mother, reprovingly, but Plum Blossom’s face -radiated. Here was a kindred spirit, one who had repeated her own words. -“Come agin,” and then possibly finer ones. - -Meanwhile, Iris, showing first a curious little topknot, gradually -projected her head, and then her whole body through the dividing doors. -She stood in the opening greedily watching Plum Blossom. Half hidden -behind her scanty little skirt, the small, fat face of Juji peered. -Though no one so far had seen him, Juji, with the usual consciousness of -two and a half years, was alternately showing and then hiding his face, -being divided between a desire to stand joyfully on his head, or indulge -in one of his famous roars. Iris, edging farther into the room, drew him -after her. Mrs. Kurukawa perceived them. On the instant Juji sank to the -floor, impeding the further progress of his sister by clinging to her -legs. - -“Oh, the darling little boy!” cried the little American girl, and ran to -him to lift him up. Juji’s lip began to protrude ominously. Plum Blossom -sprang into the breach. - -“Juji! Juji!” she cried, in motherly Japanese, “don’t cry! Good boy! -Give nice present to—l-lady!” - -Whereupon Juji held out a grimy little hand, from which Plum Blossom -extracted a crumpled paper package. She presented it to Mrs. Kurukawa -with a smiling bow. - -“Peanut!” said she, in English; “nize. For you!” She had remembered the -words now. - -“Oh, thank you, thank you, darling,” said Mrs. Kurukawa. Wishing to show -her delight in the gift, she added: - -“Come, we will all have some.” - -She emptied the contents into her lap, then stared for a moment. -Gradually her astonishment changed to laughter. - -The package contained only shells. Juji had eaten the peanuts. - -Plum Blossom and Iris felt completely disgraced. Iris, from the shelter -of her father’s arms, whither she had gone, now flew towards the wicked -Juji. - -“Oh, the bad boy!” she cried. - -Juji’s lip broke. One of his terrific roars ensued. He was borne from -the room by the humiliated little girls. - -“And now,” said Mr. Kurukawa, rubbing his hands and speaking in a loud -voice: “Where are my sons? Taro!” he called. - -Promptly the boy answered. He came literally tumbling into the hall, -which, with the panels pushed aside, had now become a large room. - -Taro’s eyes evaded his father. For some time he had been watching -intently the American boy from his peep-hole in the paper shoji. As he -appeared at the call of his father, his eyes were still riveted upon his -hated rival. Suddenly he made a catlike spring in the boy’s direction -and landed sprawling on Billy’s chest. For the astonished Billy, tripped -unawares, was lying on his back. A great flame of indignation, and yet -almost unwilling admiration, stirred within the heart of the prize -fighter of a certain Chicago school. - -Could it be possible that this little mite of a Jap was sitting -victoriously on his chest? He growled and moved a bit, but Taro, wildly -trying to keep in mind the few jiu-jitsu tricks he had lately learned, -touched the boy’s arm in a sensitive place. - -Billy rose like a lion shaking off a troublesome cub. As Taro caught him -about the calf of his leg, Billy reached down and took the little -Japanese boy by the waist and coolly tucked him under his arm; then he -marched up and down, singing at the top of his voice: - - “Yankee Doodle came to town, - Riding on a pony— - Took a little Jappy Jap - Who was a bit too funny!” - -Here it may be well to explain that Billy, besides being the prize -fighter of his school, was also the class poet. - -Mrs. Kurukawa rescued the little “Jappy Jap” from her big son’s hands, -and gave the latter a reproving look, saying: - -“Oh, Billy, is that the way to treat your little brother?” - -“Well, mother,” protested Billy, “he did get funny, now didn’t he, -father?” He appealed to Mr. Kurukawa, who was patting the ruffled head -of the discomfited and conquered jiu-jitsu student. - -Taro’s expression had undergone a change. In his little black eyes a -gleam of respect for Billy might have been seen. Suddenly he nodded his -head significantly, and made a motion of his hand towards the garden, -signifying in boy language the invitation: - -“Come outside. I’ll show you some things.” - -Out they wandered together, excellent friends at once. - -“Sa-ay,” said Taro, pausing on the brink of his own private -garden brook, “you—you,” he touched Billy with a stiff little -finger—“_you_—Gozo!” - -Billy was at a loss to understand what “say—you—Gozo!” could mean, but -he liked the look on Taro’s face, so grinned and said: “Me—Gozo.” Taro -nodded. He had paid Billy the highest compliment in his power, likening -him to the hero of the Kurukawa family, the great, elder brother Gozo. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - IV - - -MEANWHILE, in the house, Mr. Kurukawa was inquiring urgently for Gozo. -Where was he? Why was he not the first to greet his parents? The -grandparents would not respond to his inquiries, but remained silent, -looking very dejected and miserable. Their aspect alarmed Mr. Kurukawa, -who now clapped his hands loudly. Several servants came running into the -room in answer to his summons. Immediately the master questioned them: - -“Where is my son Gozo?” - -But all the response he received from the servants was a profound -silence, broken by that hissing, sighing sound peculiar to the Japanese -when moved, a drawing in of the breath through the teeth. Mr. Kurukawa -recognized a boy who had been his own body-servant, and to him he -strode, seizing the latter by the shoulder of his kimono. But the boy -slipped from his hand to the ground and put his head at his master’s -feet. There, with his face hidden, he answered the questions put to him. - -“Speak, my boy, where is Gozo?” - -“O Excellency, young master—sir—” he broke off and began to cry, beating -his head as he did so on the floor. Mr. Kurukawa raised him forcibly to -his feet. - -“What is it, Ido? Has anything happened to our Gozo?” - -He could hardly bring the words out. The bare thought that misfortune -had befallen his eldest son horrified him. - -Ido dried his face on his sleeve, and from his new hiding-place spoke: - -“Young master, sir, gone away, O Excellency!” - -Mr. Kurukawa’s grasp on the boy’s shoulder relaxed. He stepped back and -stood a moment silent, his hand against his forehead. - -“What is it, Kiyo? What is it?” asked his wife, going to him and -throwing an arm about him. - -The color came back into her husband’s face. He laughed a bit weakly. - -“I thought it possible that my boy was—” - -She held his hand tightly, her eyes full of tears. - -“Oh, I understand. I do,” she said. “But where is he?” - -Her husband stepped back to the spot where Ido had been. Then he saw -that in almost complete silence the servants, including Ido, had slipped -from the room. - -He fancied he heard the slight movement of their feet on the padded -floor beyond the shoji. Impetuously and insistently he clapped his hands -again, and silently they answered his summons. Nearly all the servants -of the Kurukawa family had been in their service for years, some of them -having served the grandparents. Their averted faces alarmed Mr. -Kurukawa. This time he did not question them. - -“Send Plum Blossom-san to me at once,” he said. - -The little girl was brought in. With her Iris and the consoled Juji -came. - -The father took the eldest girl by the hand; kneeling, he spoke to her -almost pleadingly. - -“Tell father all about Gozo,” he said. - -Plum Blossom grew very red and looked towards Mrs. Kurukawa. Then she -spoke low in Japanese, her hand half pointing in the direction of her -step-mother. - -“She—she—send away our Gozo,” she said. - -At the mention of Gozo’s name Juji paused in his eating of a juicy -persimmon to give signs of a renewal of his late tear-storm. Little Iris -drew him comfortingly into her arms, soothing him in this wise: - -“There, there, Juji, don’t cry! Gozo is coming back some day. Oh, you -should laugh, Juji, because our Gozo is so brave and fine. Think of it! -He is a soldier of the beloved Ten-shi-sama!” - -“Soldier!” cried Mr. Kurukawa, and leaped to his feet. “My boy a -soldier!” he cried, almost staggering forward. - -“Yes, father,” said Plum Blossom. “Gozo is a _g-great_ soldier now!” - -Mr. Kurukawa went towards the grandparents. - -“What does this mean? He was left in your charge. He is only a child—a -mere boy of eighteen. How could he enlist at such an age?” - -“He passed for older,” said the grandmother, slowly. “We did everything -to prevent his going—but he has gone.” - -“Ah, I see—I understand,” said Mr. Kurukawa. For a moment his face was -lighted as a look of pride swept across it. “The boy was inspired. He -could not wait to come of age. He wanted to give his young life for his -country, his Emperor. I am proud of him. Where is he now?” - -“The last time we heard from him he was at Port Arthur. That was—two -months ago.” - -“Ah-h! Condescend to give me his letter—” - -The grandmother slowly and reluctantly took it from her sleeve and -handed it to the father. Mr. Kurukawa’s eager fingers shook as he -unfolded the letter, a long, narrow sheet, covered with the bold and -characteristic writing up and down the pages of his son Gozo. As he -perused it his face grew darkly red. The sheet rustled in his hands. -When he had finished he crushed it, and stood for a moment in silence, -anger and sorrow combating within him. - -“So,” he finally spoke, “it was not honorable loyalty to the Mikado -which inspired him, but a mean emotion—hatred of one he does not even -know. I expected better of my son.” - -He let the crumpled letter fall from his hand. Stooping, the grandmother -picked it up, to place it tenderly in her sleeve. She spoke with a touch -of reproach in her voice: - -“Kurukawa Kiyskichi,” she said, “never before have I heard your lips -speak bitterly of your eldest son. Be not inspired to feel anger towards -him.” She glanced at Mrs. Kurukawa as though she were the one at fault. -“Gozo is a good boy, has always been so. It was not hatred, as you say, -which prompted him to leave his own. Call it rather a boy’s feeling of -resentment, that the place of the one he had loved dearly—his -mother—should so soon be filled—and by a bar—” - -She did not finish the word. Her son-in-law stopped her with a stern -gesture. - -“Say no more, honorable mother-in-law. It is enough that my son has, -without so much as referring to me in the matter, left my house. In his -letter he speaks slanderously of one who is good, who was ready to love -him as her very son. She is my wife just as much as Gozo’s mother was. -She is not an intruder in her husband’s house, and my son has no right -to question her place here. Of his own free will he has left his -father’s house. Very well, he shall never return to—” - -“What does it all mean?” broke in his wife with agitation. “Tell me what -you are saying, Kiyo. Where is Gozo?” - -“_I_ will tell unto you,” spoke the grandmother, going towards her. -“Better, madame, that you should know. I say not English well, but—” - -“I understand you.” - -“Gozo—our boy—go way—mek soldier—fight Lussians. He angry account -_you_—therefore he be soldier—” - -“Account—_me_! Why, I don’t understand—that is—Yes—I think I do -understand. He was opposed to his father’s marriage?” - -“He love his _mother_,” said the old woman, and then began to tremble, -for Mrs. Kurukawa had hidden her face in her hands. The grandmother -spoke uncertainly. - -“Pray egscuse—I sawry—ve’y sawry. Gozo—Gozo—_bad_.” She brought the word -out as if it hurt her to admit this much of her best-loved grandchild. - -“No, no,” said Mrs. Kurukawa, softly. “He is not bad. I understand him. -Why, it was only natural.” She moved appealingly towards her husband. -“Don’t you remember, Kiyo, I feared this—that the children might not -_want_ me.” - -“And I told you,” said he, quickly, “that it was not my children you -were marrying, but myself.” - -“You are angry with that boy,” she cried. - -“Angry! I will never forgive him!” - -“Oh, you don’t mean that.” - -“We will not talk of it any longer,” said her husband, turning away. - -The boy had written: - - - “The barbarian female who has taken my mother’s place is a - witch—a fox-woman—a devil! Otherwise how could she have worked - upon my father’s mind so soon to forget our mother? I could not - remain at home and face such a woman. Better that I should go. - Here, at least, my bitter thoughts can do no injury. How I long - to be exposed to great danger! Maybe, if I die, my father will - be sorry!” - - -Such unfilial, rebellious words were unheard of from a Japanese son. -Left to the care of his doting old grandparents, Mr. Kurukawa saw -clearly how much Gozo had needed the guiding hand of a father. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - V - - -MARION sat on a gigantic moss-grown rock, looking with somewhat wistful -eyes at the children in the family pond. She envied them their intense -enjoyment. The family pond, it should be explained, was also the family -bath-tub. It was a great pool of water, set in the heart of the garden, -a beautiful and alluring spot for the children. All about it the -blossoming trees bent their heads as if to look at their own reflected -images in the mirror of the water. The Kurukawas had added to its -natural beauty by placing along its banks huge rocks of strange -formation, very charming to look at, and comfortable to sit upon. - -[Illustration: - - “MARION SAT ON A GIGANTIC MOSS-GROWN ROCK, LOOKING ... AT THE CHILDREN - IN THE FAMILY POND” -] - -Out over the water a sort of pleasure-booth was built, over which the -wistaria vines clambered and bloomed in wild profusion. This was the -dolls’ house of the little Japanese girls. In the water were two -diminutive sampans and also a raft, the property of Taro, inherited from -Gozo. - -The pond was a natural one. It might have been termed a small lake, but -the family had always referred to it as “the pond,” and even had called -it the “bath,” for that was its chief use. The little Kurukawas dipped -into it sometimes three times a day in the summer. They had almost -literally spent their lives in it. Even three-year-old Juji would throw -his fat little hands over his head, and dive into the water, swimming as -naturally as a wild duck. - -Now as Marion watched the shining brown bodies of her step-brothers and -sisters her eyes unconsciously filled with tears. Why could not she -throw aside her white starched clothes and join them in their pleasures? -It was not that her mother would not permit her; but Marion’s sensitive -soul had been deeply wounded by the manner of her step-sisters when -first she had put on a kimono, and had gone, with innocent friendliness, -to join them. At first the little girls had regarded her with amazement. -Summer, who happened to be with them, hid her face behind her fan, where -she giggled and tittered in the most provoking way imaginable. Plum -Blossom asked, bluntly: - -“Wha’s thad? Dress?” - -“My kimono,” faltered Marion. - -“Where you git?” - -“Mother bought it at a Japanese store in Chicago.” - -Plum Blossom shook her head disapprovingly, while Iris, in imitation of -Summer, began to titter also. - -“Thas nod Japanese,” said Plum Blossom, severely. - -Marion had moved proudly and silently away. - -“Mother,” she cried, running into her room, with crimson cheeks and -flashing eyes, “give me back my own clothes. Oh, I never, never, never -want to wear these horrid things again,” she sobbed in her mother’s lap. - -And now, a week later, Marion still wore her white starched gown of -piqué, and sat there on the rock, quite alone; for Billy was one of the -happy bathers in the shining spring-pond. It was against him she felt -most bitter. He was her own, own brother; yet there he was quite at home -with the enemy, even sometimes pushing the boat which held that “nasty -Miss Summer,” who was at the root of all her trouble. She felt sure she -could have been happy with Plum Blossom and Iris had not Summer, in some -way, influenced them against her. And as for dear, little, fat Juji, -why, she just loved him!—even if he did scream every time she came near -him and ran from her as fast as his little, fat, frightened legs could -carry him. Summer had told him Marion was a fox-girl, who would bite him -if she caught him. At first Juji had regarded this announcement with -doubt. Full of confidence because of the winning, smiling face of -Marion, he had even timorously gone into her arms. Lo and behold, she -had indeed attempted to “bite” him, for such the kiss had seemed to -Juji, who had never been kissed in all his life. After that, Juji had -kept his distance from the “yellow-haired fox-girl.” - -There was a sudden squeal of delight from the pond. Something flashed in -the sun a moment. Then over went the sampan in which the three little -Japanese girls were seated. Billy had tipped it over, immersing the -three girls, who came up shaking their little black heads, and swam -towards the raft, upon which they clambered. - -Leading from the booth to the shore was a little arched bridge, part, -indeed, of the pleasure-booth. Suspended between a pole on shore and -another half-way out in the water, was a long, delightful bamboo rest. -The gymnastic Taro would climb out on this pole as easily as a kitten; -he would twist and twirl about, and end with his head hanging over the -water and his feet clinging to the pole. Each time he performed these -tricks Billy was filled with an intense ambition to transport his -step-brother to America, to exhibit him to his old school-mates. - -Now the rock on which Marion sat was close to the shore end of the -bamboo pole, and near to the little arbor. As she sat there in sad -dejection, Taro softly clambered up from the water end of the bamboo -pole and crawled along the ridge until he stood over the head of the -unconscious girl. His body swayed, until he rested in his favorite -position and hung by his feet from the pole. One quick, sharp push, and -the next moment the little girl on the rock was plunged head-foremost -into the water below. Taro had revenged the upsetting of his sisters -from the boat by Billy. The latter went suddenly white to his lips and -began swimming frantically in the direction of his sister. - -One fleeting glimpse of the boy’s horrified face Taro had; then he -understood. Marion could not swim! - -On the instant he threw up his arms and dived. Never had Billy seen -anything so quick as that lightning dive and swift return of Taro. He -supported his step-sister while he swam with her to the shore. She had -been hardly a minute in the water; but she was frightened. Her little -hands and face were blue, her teeth were chattering, and she was -shivering and crying hysterically, although it was sultry and warm. The -first words she spoke were: - -“Billy—I—I’m all right. Pl-please don’t fight Taro about it,” for Billy -was pugnaciously regarding his step-brother. - -The other children were now all about her, Plum Blossom’s motherly -little face looking very concerned. The water was dripping from the -kimonos of the three Japanese girls. As they looked at the drenched -Marion a kindred feeling must have possessed them simultaneously, for -suddenly they all laughed outright in unison, Marion joining with them. -She was almost glad of the adventure now, as she said: - -“If I had on a kimono—I’d—I’d go into the water with you.” - -“You want keemono?” inquired Taro, eagerly. - -“Yes,” she nodded. - -He brought her his own. - -She laughed with delight, and Iris and Plum Blossom clapped their hands. -What fun to see the yellow-haired one arrayed in a boy’s kimono! But -Marion had disappeared with the garment. A few minutes later she -returned clad in it, to the uproarious delight of every one. - -Taro himself wore with great pride one of Billy’s bathing-suits. - -As the sampan moved down the surface of the tiny lake, Marion confided -to Plum Blossom, who held one of her hands, while Iris held the other: - -“I wanted so much to go into the water, but—I thought you didn’t want -me. Oh, dear, I feel so _comfy_ in this dear old loose thing,” she -added. - -“Tha’s nize,” said Plum Blossom. - -“Vaery nize,” agreed Iris. - -Summer, sitting in the stern of the boat, opened her paper parasol. The -sight of it sent the little girls into another peal of laughter. When -Billy upset the boat the parasol had shared the fate of its owner as it -was thrust into her obi in front. The effect of its bath was ludicrously -apparent. Being of paper, it split in several places as she opened it. -Now as she held it loftily above her head, water of several shades of -color rolled from it to splash upon its haughty owner, for just at this -moment Summer was endeavoring to make an impression upon the sisters. -She had succeeded beyond her expectations. The boat rocked with the wild -gale of their mirth. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - VI - - -IT was the day after Marion’s accident that the baby was lost, or, -rather, “shtolen,” as the nurse-maid put it. - -Norah had taken it in its carriage a short distance from the house. In -Chicago it had been her daily duty to push the baby up and down the -street on which they lived. The Kurukawas’ garden was of a fair size, -but its dimensions were limited for Norah’s purpose. Moreover, the girl -was intensely homesick “for the soight of the face of a foine cop!” - -When she had gone to America, one of the first things she noticed was -that all, or nearly all, the policemen were Irish. The idea occurred to -her that it might be the same in Japan. And so, unmindful of the -instructions of her mistress not to leave the vicinity of the house, -Norah sallied forth, and wandered on until she came to the main street -of the little town. The news of the presence in the street of a most -extraordinary looking foreign devil, a giant in size, pushing an -outlandish jinrikisha with a pale-faced, yellow-hair baby in it, spread -like wildfire through the surrounding streets. Soon a small mob of -children and a number of curious men and women were following and -surrounding Norah. Some of them ran ahead of her, impeding the progress -of the baby-carriage. At first Norah regarded them with inherent -good-humor, but after a time she became embarrassed and annoyed. A -little girl of about seven years had actually climbed over the front of -the carriage, and there she perched, regarding the baby with great -curiosity. - -Norah stopped. One hand sought her plump hip, and the other doubled to a -fist, which she shook. - -“Now, you young spalpeen,” said she, “you climb down, or I’ll put you -down none too gently. Off with you, you haythen imp!” - -The little girl regarded her unblinkingly, but the surrounding crowd -began to jabber excitedly. Norah turned upon them. - -“Shure, it’s a fine lot of haythens you be! wid nothing better to -consarn yersilves wid than the business of others. Off wid you all, or -Oi’ll make short worruk of the boonch of yez.” - -A threatening movement cleared a space about her. Her fighting blood was -up. She began to lay about her in every direction, spanking a little boy -on her right, pushing along by the ear another, and cuffing a giggling -maiden of fifteen summers, whose tittering had for some time irritated -her. But in attacking the children following her, Norah made a mistake. -The “haythens,” merely curious at first, now became aggressive. In a few -minutes there was a concerted rush in the direction of the Irish girl. -She took fright at this, and at the top of her voice shrieked: - -“Police! Police! Murdher! Hilp!” - -Her cry had immediate effect. Some one came running towards her. The -crowd fell back, and indeed dispersed almost in silence at the approach -of the little, uniformed figure which descended upon them. He made his -way straight to Norah with wonder. She watched the magic effect of his -coming upon the crowd, and as he came up to her she spoke admiringly: - -“Shure it’s the Mikado himself yer afther being, I should think, from -the grand way you’re threated.” - -He touched her arm with a hand of authority. - -“I have the honor to arrest you,” said he, in distinct English. - -“Arrest me!” shouted the now irate Norah. “And who in Harry are you?” - -“Police,” said the little man, shortly. - -“You a policeman!” cried Norah. “Now the saints forgive you for the lie! -Shure, I niver saw a policeman of your sawed-off size before! Where I -come from—” - -But the grip upon her arm had tightened. Indignantly Norah sought to -withdraw, but to her astonishment she could not move. The little, -“sawed-off” policeman held her in a tighter grip than any Irish -policeman could have done. Norah’s red face blazed. - -“It’s yersilf that’ll be arrested for the outrage,” she said, and then -began to wail aloud in most distressing accents. - -“Oh, wirrah, wirrah, wirrah! And why did I iver lave the ould country? -And why did I iver come to this haythen land of savages? Shure it was -love for the innocent babe that—” - -She stopped and turned to look for the baby. Carriage and child were -gone! - -A frightful scream escaped the lips of the terrified girl. Then she -collapsed heavily in the arms of the little “haythen” policeman. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - VII - - -IT would be cruel to dwell upon the sufferings of Norah. She came to -consciousness while being carried bodily through the streets by half a -dozen of “the finest” in Japan. But she retained consciousness only long -enough to give vent to another terrific shriek and then faint again. -When next she came to, she was in the “dhirty haythen doongeon,” as she -termed it. There Mr. Kurukawa found her, secured her release, and took -her home. - -But the baby! It was only a little after nine when Norah had gone forth -so bravely. By five in the afternoon the search for the baby had not -ended. Everybody in the village appeared to have had the baby at one -time or another through the day. The little one had been passed from -house to house as an object of curiosity. Its clothing was a marvel to -all Japanese eyes; its blue eyes were extraordinary; its little wisps of -yellow hair the most amazing of sights ever seen in the little town; and -its milk-white skin positively unreal. Japanese mothers brought their -own brown offspring and put them side by side with the little white -baby. They patted its little, chubby hands, and put their fingers into -its mouth. The latter never failed to please the Kurukawa baby, which -immediately fell to sucking the finger greedily. After a time, however, -as no milk was forthcoming from the numberless fingers thus offered, the -baby became cross. - -Then nobody wanted it any longer. - -Mr. and Mrs. Kurukawa and a policeman went about the town hunting for -the child. The mother was almost prostrated, but insisted on -accompanying her husband. As they turned away from each house the mother -grew paler and more fearful. Finally the policeman suggested that they -abandon the search until the following morning. It was getting towards -night, and the Japanese retire early. - -The parents would not hear of this. They would search all night if -necessary. The policeman shrugged his shoulders. Very well, he had other -duties. As the honorable excellencies could see for themselves, the -streets were already almost deserted. Indeed, there were only a few -children left yonder in the street. The father and mother turned almost -aimlessly towards the place where a number of children were playing skip -rope. One little girl after another would jump back and forth over the -swinging rope. One girl seemed less nimble than the others. She slipped -once, and trod on the rope often. As the Kurukawas came nearer to the -group they noticed her because she seemed humpbacked. But the hump upon -her back bobbed and moved up and down. When she stopped skipping and -came to their side of the rope the hump upon her back moved a bit -higher, until it rested against her neck. It was a little baby’s head! - -Mrs. Kurukawa uttered a faint cry and rushed upon the little girl, -pitifully trying to drag the baby from her back. It was sound asleep and -seemed perfectly comfortable and none the worse for its late adventures. -Mrs. Kurukawa hugged it wildly. - -“Oh, my little, little baby!” she sobbed. It opened its sleepy blue eyes -and gooed and gurgled softly. - -From this time forth the baby became the centre of attraction to all the -family. Even Juji seemed to be conscious of its enviable position. Was -it not surrounded at all times by the little girls? Was it not hugged -and petted in a way he had considered due only to him from his sisters? - -He had watched with wonder the queer little plaything ever since it had -come into the house. It was no larger than some dolls his sisters had; -but when it opened its mouth it could make a noise almost as loud as -Juji himself. In fact, its noises and its limbs and everything about it -had an absorbing interest for Juji. He began to hang about its vicinity. -Norah would discover him pressed up close to her knee, his little, -serious slits of eyes intent upon every movement of the baby. - -“Bless his heart,” she would say. “Shure the little lamb loves his wee -brother. Then give him a nice kiss,” whereupon she would put the baby’s -face close to Juji. The latter would rub his nose against the fat, soft, -baby cheek. He must have pondered over his little step-brother, for one -night Norah was awakened by strange little sounds in the vicinity of the -baby’s bed. She reached over in the dark, found and enclosed a little -hand in her large one. Then she saw a little figure in bed with the -baby. Juji was sitting up and leaning over the baby. In his hand was a -bottle, the end of which was thrust into the baby’s mouth! - -Norah was too astonished at first to do anything but watch the child. -Then she seized him. - -“You lamb!” said she. “If you aren’t the swatest haythen, shure I don’t -know who is!” - -“Opey mouth,” said little Juji, in English, and pushed the bottle -towards Norah’s lips. - -He had seen the nurse-maid do this with the baby, and had heard her say: - -“Opey mouthie, lovey!” - -He had found the bottle, and while all were asleep and there was no one -to interfere with him, he had sought to feed his baby step-brother. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - VIII - - -MARION came flying into the garden, her cheeks aglow, her bright eyes -dancing. - -“Iris—Blossom!” she called, excitedly. - -She could hardly get her breath to tell them the great news. In her hand -she waved aloft a sheet of paper. - -“What ees’t?” asked Plum Blossom, puzzled. - -“A letter,” cried Marion. “Guess who from?” - -“Gozo,” both answered at once. - -Marion nodded. - -“Right,” she said, “and to me!—_me_!” She began dancing airily about, -waving the letter triumphantly and then caressing it. - -Iris shrieked the news across the garden to Taro, pirouetting on his -beloved pole. He leaped down and came running to join them. - -“Why he ride unto _you_?” demanded Plum Blossom, enviously. - -“Well, now, I’ll tell you,” confided Marion, sweetly. “You know ever -since we’ve been here I’ve heard nothing but Gozo, Gozo, Gozo, from you -all. Goodness! you never speak a sentence without ‘Gozo’ in it. Well, -_I_ began to think him a real hero, and I just longed to _know_ him. -Besides”—she lowered her voice—”I did think he ought to be warned about -that—about Summer!” - -“About Summer?” repeated Plum Blossom, hazily. - -“We kinno understan’. You spik so fast.” - -“Oh, dear, don’t you see? Why, she’s not good enough for a _hero_—now is -she?” - -“Wha’s ‘hero’?” asked Taro, disgustedly. Had they brought him from his -favorite sport merely to bother him with words he could not understand. - -“A hero is—is—well, he’s something _grand_!” - -Iris yawned sleepily. She had forgotten all about the letter and now was -lying on the grass blinking sleepily at the blue sky overhead. - -“You’re not listening, Iris,” said Marion, frowning upon her and forcing -her to get up. - -“Don’t you want to hear Gozo’s letter?” - -“Yes, yes—spik it,” urged Plum Blossom. - -“But I didn’t finish what I was saying—explaining _why_ he wrote me. -Don’t you see, _I_ wrote to him first. Yes, I did, too, I wrote him the -longest letter, and I told him about you all—and—and—can he read -English?” - -Billy had joined the group, and he spoke up now: - -“Ah, sis, go on now—read his answer. What’s he say?” - -“But I can’t read it. See, it’s in Japanese.” - -“You read it, Taro.” - -“Me?” Taro seized the letter, and began laboriously reading it in -Japanese. - -“Well, well, what does he say?” asked Marion, excitedly. - -Plum Blossom looked over her brother’s shoulder and translated in this -wise: - - - “M-M-MADAME,—Your letter got— - - “Yours truly forever, - - “KURUKAWA GOZO.” - - -“Is that all?” inquired Marion, blankly, her blue eyes filling with -tears. - -“Postscript,” shouted Taro, then read it: “Write agin, thangs!” - -Marion pouted and sat down in deep dejection. - -“Well, I won’t do it, if _that’s_ the way he answers _my_ letters.” - -She took the letter and went to her mother. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - IX - - -ON the 15th of April the children dressed themselves in pink-and-white -kimonos, simulating cherry blossoms, and strolled abroad for _hanami_ -(flower picnic). They had been looking forward to this delightful -occasion for weeks. The costumes had been prepared by their grandmother -some days in advance of the festival. Even Marion had a little, white -crêpe kimono embroidered with the pale pink flower, and with the sash or -obi of the same shade. She made quite a picture, as with her eyes -dancing and shining she came running into the garden to join her -step-sisters. The wings of the dainty sleeves of her dress fluttered -back and forth. Her cheeks were the color of the cherry blossom, and the -golden crown of her hair, drawn up into the Japanese fashion, glistened -in the sun. Plum Blossom wore a crêpe silk gown of deep pink, shading at -the ends to white. The sash was white with pale green leaves and stalks -embroidered on it. Iris, too, was in pink, and the bow of her obi was -tied to imitate a cherry blossom. The three little girls had flowers in -their hair—cherry blossoms, of course. They waited now in the garden for -their brothers and parents. As the festival was new to Marion, she was -the most eager of the girls. - -From above their heads a voice rang out: - -“Here, you, girls! get your masks and petals ready.” - -“Where are you, Billy?” called Marion, looking everywhere about them. - -“Here—up in the tree.” - -He was perched in an old cherry-tree, where with vandal hand he was -plucking the blossoms. - -“O-o-oo!” exclaimed Plum Blossom. “You ba’ boy! No can pig flower. Tha’s -nod ride!” - -“Why, father _said_ we were to fill our sleeves—get all we could,” -called down Billy. - -“Yes, pig from ground,” said Plum Blossom; “never mus’ pig from tree.” - -“Billy, you vandal, what are you doing up there?” - -Mr. Kurukawa had joined the children in the garden. He, too, was in -Japanese dress. - -“Why,” said Billy, “you said—” - -“Now, my boy, come down.” - -Very promptly Billy obeyed. - -Taking his step-son by the hand, Mr. Kurukawa taught him a lesson known -to all Japanese children. - -“Never pluck the flowers wantonly, least of all the sacred cherry -blossom. When you wish the flower in your house, pluck out one branch, -one flower. See, you have filled the front of your kimono, your sleeves, -and your obi with the blossoms. Look at them!” - -He held up the crushed branches to view. They drooped almost -reproachfully at Billy. - -“But, father,” he began again. “You did tell me—” - -“To gather all the cherry-blossom petals you could. See, the ground is -thick with them.” - -“But they are all apart. They have no stalks.” - -Mr. Kurukawa stooped and filled his hands full of petals. He held them a -moment and then lightly tossed them into the air. - -“_That_ is how we want them, boy. We use them like confetti. Now fill -all your sleeves, children. Get as many as you can, and then we’ll -start.” - -Soon the long sleeves of their dresses were filled with the petals, and -hung like little pillows. Mrs. Kurukawa was the last to join the merry -party. All the children helped her to fill her sleeves, for she, too, -wore the national kimono. - -“Here are your masks, children,” said the father. With laughing chatter -they fastened on the grotesque masks and clambered into the jinrikishas. -It was a joyful day. - -They passed numbers of picnickers, and exchanged showers of -cherry-blossom petals with them. - -They ate a delicious luncheon under a tree fairly weighted down with the -heavenly flower. While they were in the midst of their repast, Taro and -Billy mounted into the tree and shook it till the lunch was almost -hidden under the petals, and the heads of all were crowned in cherry -pink. - -The petals they slipped into their food purposely, declaring that it -added a delicious taste. Then the children played battledore and -shuttlecock. Later, there being a pleasant wind, Mr. Kurukawa sent up a -kite. Billy was permitted to hold the string. This was great fun, -especially when Taro’s kite had a race with Billy’s, and finally won. By -four in the afternoon they were all so refreshingly tired that nobody -wanted to go home, and soon “father” was besieged for a story. - -“Make it modern, father,” said Billy, “for we like that kind best.” - -“Well, let’s see. What shall it be about?” - -“War,” shouted Taro. - -For a while there was silence, and Mr. Kurukawa looked very grave. He -was thinking of Gozo. - -“Very well,” said he, after a moment’s thought. “I will tell you a true -story of to-day which has to do with a war.” - -“Make it very, very long, father,” said Plum Blossom. - -“And exciting,” said Taro. - -“With a little girl in it,” said Iris. - -“No, no, a liddle boy,” growled Juji. - -“It’s about a little woman,” said Mr. Kurukawa, “and she was called ‘The -Widow of Sanyo.’” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - X - - -THIS is the story the Japanese father told, in English, for his own -children understood the language better than they spoke it. - -“You must know, children, that all loyal Japanese love and reverence -Ten-shi-sama (the Mikado). No true Japanese would hesitate to give his -life for the father of us all. That is why our boys go to war with faces -shining like the sun. That is why we bid them go, and do not weep -because we love them. We are proud and glad to give them for such -service.” - -“Father,” put in little Iris very gently, “_we_ are glad to give our -Gozo, are we not?” - -He hesitated a moment, and then said, simply: - -“Yes, my child. But this story is not of Gozo.” - -It was the first time since his return that he had mentioned his son’s -name, and he did it without any sign of bitterness. His wife reached out -and sought his hand, which she held for a moment closely. - -“Go on,” urged Billy. “What do you want to interrupt for, Iris?” - -She leaned against her father. He put his arm about her. - -“Ten million egscuse,” said she to Billy. - -“Where does the _widow_ come in?” asked Billy. - -“Well, she was not a widow at the beginning. She was just a very young -and very beautiful girl. But she had the spirit of a man. You see, -before she came, her parents had prayed for a son to give to the service -of Ten-shi-sama; but they were unfortunate. Their gods gave them only a -girl, and they never felt quite the same to her as they would to a boy. -They were very powerful people, and of noble ancestry, so they did not -wish their race to die out. They prayed constantly for a son, and all -they got was one daughter. Quite unfairly, they neglected the girl, just -as if it were her fault that she were not born a boy. She grew up in the -great shiro (palace) all alone, under the care of servants and tutors. -None of the relatives cared to see her. Her mother died when she was -born, and her father, being in the cabinet service of the Mikado, rarely -saw her. But though a maiden, as I have said, she had the soul of a man, -and she yearned to do the deeds of a man and a hero. Every morning of -her life, as a little girl, she would prostrate herself before her -shrine and beseech the gods to perform some miracle whereby she might -indeed become a man. But that was a child’s prayer, and of course vain. -So from childhood she came to womanhood. Looking one day into her -mirror, she beheld the most beautiful face she had ever seen. Hitherto -she had scorned to loiter over her mirror. Her thoughts were on other -matters than her looks, she told herself. But this day she picked up her -mirror on a sudden impulse, and the face which looked back at her so -enthralled her that she could not put it down. - -“‘Why,’ said she, ‘I am the most beautiful maiden in Japan!’ For a long -time she continued to look at her face. Then she spoke again: - -“‘And to think,’ said she, ‘that no one but my servants have ever seen -me!’” - -“What did she look like?” asked Marion. - -“Well, let me see. I do not know whether Americans would regard her as -the highest type of beauty, but to the Japanese mind she would have been -considered peerless. Her hair was so black and shiny it was like -lacquer. Sometimes when her maid would take it down it fell to her knees -in a perfect glory of ebony. Her eyes were of the same color, almost -pure black, and they were very long and poetic looking, the thick lashes -veiling them. Her brows were perfectly formed, a slim, silky black line -above the eyes. Her nose was thin and very delicate. Her mouth was -small, the lower lip a trifle pointed, curling up just the least bit at -the corners. The lips were red as blood. The shape of her face was oval, -though her chin was delicately pointed. And she had tiny pink ears, as -pretty as a baby’s, and small, exquisite hands.” - -“Kiyo,” said Mrs. Kurukawa, gently, “who is this Japanese Venus?” She -smiled. - -“The Widow of Sanyo,” he replied as gently. “This is as she appeared -when she looked at her own image in the mirror. - -“Well, it was on that very day that Japan proclaimed war against China, -and the country was pulsing with fever. Haru, as her name was, had spent -many wretched hours in her chamber. Her despair and impatience at being -unable to serve the Mikado and her country, was breaking her heart. What -could she do, a helpless maiden? All the employment left to women she -scorned. She wanted to do something more than a mere woman could -accomplish. Her soul was the soul of a man, not a maiden’s. All day she -prayed, and all night, and then she looked into her mirror and saw that -lovely face! Suddenly the face changed, became curiously illuminated. A -great idea had come to her. It was this: - -“The gods had given her marvellous beauty. What man could resist her? -She would wed a man, bear him children, and give them all to the Mikado. - -“That was her first thought. - -“But the war would be over by the time her children were grown—and they -might not be men! - -“No, that would never do! - -“A better way presented itself to her. She sprang wildly to her feet, -and wildly she clapped her hands, so!” - -He illustrated her action, and the children did likewise, as they moved -nearer their father to hear, their eyes wide with excitement. - -“Her servants came running to answer her summons. She bade them dress -her in the most beautiful and luxurious garments. At once a dozen maids -waited on her. One brushed her glossy hair; dressed it in the most -becoming mode, placed long, golden daggers and pins with sparkling -stones glistening in them, and on either side of her ears set precious -kanzashi. Another manicured, perfumed, and massaged her little hands. -Still another softly kneaded her face until the blood sprang to the -surface, and made it more beautiful than any paint could do. Then they -robed her in a rosy gown—one fit only for a princess—as perhaps she -was.” - -He paused here, and the impatient children prompted him. - -“Well—well?” - -“What did she do then?” - -“She was carried from the house and gently lifted into a gorgeous -norimono.” - -“A norimono!” cried Billy. “What’s a norimono?” - -“Why—a little—something they used before jinrikishas.” - -“But did not this all happen recently?” It was Marion’s question. - -“Yes, that’s so,” admitted the romancer. “Now that I think of it, what -she did was to walk down to her gate and allow them to lift her into the -jinrikisha. That’s where the ‘lifting’ comes in.” - -“Then where did she go?” - -“I know,” said Taro. - -“Where?” queried Billy. - -“She go ad temple.” - -“What for?” - -“Pray to gods mek her man ride away.” - -“Did she, father?” - -“No. She drove to—” Again he paused. - -“Where? Where?” - -“To the house of the best known Nakoda in the town.” - -“Nakoda!” Even Mrs. Kurukawa echoed the word. - -“Professional match-maker.” - -“Oh-h—what did she want there?” questioned Marion. - -“A husband,” said Mr. Kurukawa. “Well, in she walked, and the Nakoda, -when he beheld her glorious beauty, was overcome with the honor of her -presence in his house. Said she: - -“‘Honorable creature, cease to degrade yourself at my insignificant -feet. Pray arise.’ - -“He did so, humbly and apologetically. - -“Now, in America, a girl might have said: ‘Have you any husbands for -sale?’ In Japan the girl said: ‘Deign to prepare a look-at meeting for -me. I wish to marry.’ - -“Then she proceeded to explain herself further by means of questions. - -“‘Know you many men creatures so depraved of mind they prefer not to go -to the war?’ - -“‘I am, alas, acquainted with many such depraved reptiles,’ answered the -Nakoda. - -“‘Ah! Well, it is such a one I would marry. Do you think I can secure -such a husband?’ - -“‘No man can look in the sublime direction of your serenity without -immediately being willing to do anything you might command,’ declared -the Nakoda. - -“‘That is well, then,’ she smiled, graciously. ‘Bring forth a man-worm!’ - -“Well, a man-worm was brought forth and he fell at her feet. The thought -of his great fortune in being able to marry any one so beautiful nearly -drove him out of his senses. - -“They were married at once, without much ceremony, and she took him -home. He was like one in a dream of heavenly bliss. Well, the first -thing she said to him as they entered the palace was: - -“‘Man, dost thou adore me?’ - -“He fell on his face and kissed the hem of her robe.” - -“Kiyo, I believe you’re making it all up as you go along,” interposed -his wife here. - -“Hush! Hush! We are coming to the thrilling part.” - -“What a story to tell children!” - -“When does the war begin?” asked Billy. - -“Oh, the war is going right on now. Well, then, he fell on his face; she -graciously bent over and lifted up his head, and she spoke in the most -wooing of voices: - -“‘If you of a truth adore me, are you ready to die for me?’ - -“He said he wanted to live for her. She shook her head, and said she -wanted better proof of his affection than that. He then declared he -would do anything she asked. - -“She thereupon said: ‘You must be a soldier!’ At this he began to -tremble, for he was a great coward at heart. However, she kept him in -her house for five days, teaching him the principles of bravery and -valor. At the end of that time she had so wrought upon his feelings that -she persuaded him to enlist. She went in person to see him march away, -which he did quite bravely for him! Her last words were the noble ones -Japanese women say to their men at such a time: ‘I give you to -Ten-shi-sama. Come not back to me. Glorious may be your end. The -blessings of Shahra upon you.’ - -“He was not a good soldier; he turned out to be a wretched one, indeed, -and in a short time was killed. She was free again to marry. Then she -chose another man-worm, and again she sacrificed him to her Emperor, -with the same result. He was one of those doomed in a transport sunk in -Chinese waters. She married again, and her third husband was killed. Her -fourth husband was blown to atoms, and her fifth met the fate of the -first. Her sixth died scarcely six months later, and her seventh died of -melancholia while in Manchuria. - -“Now, seven is a lucky number, and she stopped there. She said: ‘If I -marry another I will have no more luck. He will live, and I have given -seven men already to the Emperor. What woman of Japan has done more? -Behold, I am a widow seven times over.’ - -“That is why she is called ‘The Widow of Sanyo.’” - -So the story ended. - -“Is she still beautiful?” questioned Plum Blossom, wistfully. - -“Very.” - -“Ugh!” said Marion, “I think she’s horrid.” - -Taro rolled into Billy on the grass. - -“I’ll be the next,” said Billy. - -Iris was softly crying. - -“Why, what’s the matter?” asked her father. - -“Oh, father,” said she, “I—I’m afraid that _she_ was the fox-woman who -sent away our Gozo—and not—mother!” - -He embraced her. - -“There, it was a foolish story.” - -“And told,” said his wife, “in the way an American would tell it—not a -Japanese!” - -“Hm!” Mr. Kurukawa cleared his throat. “Well, I think you’ll admit I -began in the most approved Japanese style, but as I went on I fell under -your American influence, and by the time I reached the end the story was -just as you might have told it.” - -They gathered up their baskets and piled them into the jinrikishas. Juji -was sound asleep on the grass. The cherry-blossom petals had fallen so -thickly upon him that he seemed half buried in them. Mr. Kurukawa bent -over him tenderly. He turned his head back towards his wife; at once she -came and knelt among the petals by his side. His voice was husky. - -“That is how my Gozo looked as a little boy,” he said, softly. - -She kissed the sleeping Juji. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - XI - - -LIFE would be delightful were it made up entirely of flower picnics. But -even in the land of sunrise storms must come. - -The little family of Kurukawa, idling and playing in the small inland -town, for the nonce seemed to put behind them all thought of care. Even -the father, in the first few weeks of his return, refused utterly to do -otherwise than enjoy what he termed his “honeymoon” with his wife and -children. But the honeymoon season began to wane. It was not possible -for any Japanese, however optimistic and cheerful in temperament, at -such a crisis in his nation’s history to be free from care. Then, was -not Gozo at the front? Mr. Kurukawa might laugh and play all day with -the children, but at night, when, worn out, they slept soundly and well, -he would lie awake thinking and worrying. At first it was his boy Gozo -who occupied his night thoughts to the exclusion of all else. After all, -he was a true Japanese at heart, for, although father-like, he scarcely -dared to think of the possible death of his son, yet he was glad that -Gozo was serving the Mikado. All the papers, local and foreign, he could -get he read with avidity. Because he knew it would give his wife pain, -he read them at night when she was asleep. After a time the father-love -was slowly pushed aside for a greater, deeper emotion, the longing to -help his country. He was of samurai ancestry, and patriotism was as -natural and deep-rooted in him as life itself. Yet he had married a -woman belonging to a country that believed that the men of his age did -their duty best by remaining at home, the protectors of the weak. So she -had told him many times. Often he had believed himself convinced of its -truth. - -But reading and hearing of his countrymen’s sacrifices, struggles, -splendid heroism and victories, a wavering, an aching grew within him to -emulate their example and give himself to the glorious service of his -nation. - -A Japanese wife would have shared in his confidence at this time, would -have understood his feelings and suffered with him. More, she would have -been the first to urge him, command him to leave her. - -Mr. Kurukawa thought he understood completely the character of the -American woman who was his wife. Hence he hid from her his feelings. - -But his wife was more sensitive than he knew. Her husband’s evident -depression began to be noticed by her. She sought the cause, and -attributed it to the absence of Gozo. She, too, suffered because she was -the innocent cause of his exile. One night there was a moon festival in -the little town. The people gathered in the river booths and drank their -_sake_ and tea in the moonlight. She remarked to her husband that more -than three-quarters of the festival-makers were women. He had turned -about with a sudden movement; then answered in an almost hoarse voice: - -“That is as it should be.” - -So silent and taciturn was he during the rest of the evening that for -her the festival was spoiled; but even the moon gave not enough light to -show her tears. Restless that night, she could not sleep, or slept so -lightly that she waked at intervals. It must have been almost morning, -when, waking from a restless sleep, she saw the dim light of an andon -shining through the paper shoji that divided their chamber from an -adjoining room; clearly outlined by the light on the shoji was the -silhouette of her husband. His bed was empty. She went to him quickly -and pushed the shoji apart. Then she saw the papers about him on all -sides. He had not time to hide them. His startled face betrayed him. - -She sank down on the floor beside him, terror in her eyes. - -“Kiyo!” she cried. “Oh, Kiyo! I understand—everything. Why did you not -tell me before?” - -He spoke with difficulty. His hands trembled as he folded up the papers. - -“It is all right. I read the news—of the victories. What Japanese could -help himself?” - -“Oh, but you read it in secret; you hide your feelings from me. Why do -you not confide in me?” - -He took her hands and stroked them very gently. - -“If you were a Japanese woman—” he began, when she interrupted: - -“It ought to make no difference what I am. I am your wife. Do not treat -me as an alien—a stranger.” - -He drew her warmly to him at that. - -“No, I will not,” he said. “I will tell you everything—all my thoughts. -You know, Ellen, I am of samurai ancestry, and as a young man I was -brought up in that school. When I became old enough I served for a time -in the army. I hold a commission. Later, my father, who was one of the -most enlightened of the men of old Japan, was imbued with the new -thought. He put aside old traditions and pride. I was forced, so to -speak, into a commercial life. Conditions changed for the samurai then. -We were desperately poor for a time. They looked to me to redeem the -family fortunes. And to do it I had to be taken from one school of -thought and put into another—from samurai to tradesman. It was a strange -transformation for a Japanese of such ancestry as mine. But I learned to -like the work. I succeeded. You know of my long sojourn in America, till -I could almost believe that I thought as your people think, and saw -things as you in America see them. I seemed to be a living example of -the evolution of an Oriental mind long swayed by Occidental environment. -I called myself American many times, as you know. We came back here. The -war, with all it meant to Japan, and the old patriotic feeling aroused, -began a struggle with my acquired Occidental sense. Now I know that I -never can be other than what I am by every inherent instinct—a true -Japanese! I loved you, so I feared to tell you. You married me thinking -possibly I was other than I am, Japanese only by birth, but of thought -the same as you. That is why I have not confided in you.” - -“But I knew it all the time,” she said. “_I_ never thought you other -than you were. Because you wore our dress, it did not make you of our -country, nor did I love you for that, Kiyo. I did not require that _you_ -should become like my people. _I_, as your wife, was willing to become -one of you, if you would let me.” - -For a long time he was silent. Then with a sudden impulse he held the -light before her face. - -“Let me see your face then,” he said, “when I tell you of my resolve.” - -“Tell me,” she whispered; “I am not afraid.” - -“I must give you up for one who has a larger claim upon me—for beloved -Ten-shi-sama!” - -He saw her face whitening in the dim light. She tried to part her lips -to speak, but no words came. Then she smiled, a smile so full of bravery -and love that he almost dropped the light. - -“Now I know,” he said, “that you are my own true wife—not foreign to me, -but as my wife should be.” - -Then she spoke: “Yes, as a Japanese wife would be. Oh, Kiyo, _I_ have -understood them. It is not because they do not love their husbands that -they do not weep and protest when they must lose them for a glorious -cause. It _is_ brave to give up the loved ones freely, willingly.” - -He began rapidly to discuss plans for his going, watching her face -closely. She bore it all with that brave cheerfulness peculiar to the -Japanese woman. Only when he planned the disposition of his fortune in -case of his death, did she protest. - -“We will not anticipate the worst, Kiyo.” - -“Is it not best to do so?” he gently interposed. - -“I know it is Japanese,” she said, wistfully, “but I will always look -for you to return. In that you can’t make me Japanese.” - -“A Japanese soldier never expects to return. His wife gives him up -forever. But I, like you, will have the better hope, my wife. _I_ will -come back to you.” - -“It is a promise,” she said, and for the first time her eyes were full -of tears. He took her in his arms and held her closely. - -“It is a promise,” he said, solemnly. He wiped the tears away from her -eyes. - -“There must be no more of these,” he said, “else how can I have the -strength to go?” - -“I have shed my last tear, Kiyo,” was her answer. “You have promised -me!” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - XII - - -THE “glorious news,” as they termed it, was given to the children the -following morning. Even Juji was called to the family council, while the -nurse-maid, Norah, held the baby in her arms. - -Mr. Kurukawa talked of his going to the front as if it were a cause to -make them happy and rejoice. His words had the desired effect upon the -Japanese children. Taro, Plum Blossom, and Iris were thrilled with pride -and excitement. Taro wanted to rush out to the village at once to -proclaim to every one the great tidings. His father was going to serve -Ten-shi-sama. He was going to recruit a new regiment from their town and -vicinity. And they would all march away, with drums beating and the sun -flag flying. His satisfaction and excitement spread to some extent to -Billy, who began begging his step-father to let him and Taro go, too, as -“drummer-boys,” just as the little boys in the Kipling stories did. But -Marion stole from the room to weep. She loved her step-father as dearly -as if he were her own father, and so in imagination she saw him wounded, -or even killed. Her tender little heart was bruised at the thought. The -pride and elation of her step-brothers and sisters horrified her. She -could not understand it. She cried out her thoughts in her mother’s -arms. - -“Oh, mamma, mamma, hear them singing! Oh!—and papa may be killed, and -they are _glad—glad_!” - -She had expected her mother at least to understand, and to weep with -her, but to her astonishment her mother put her gently from her arms. - -“Listen, Marion! Listen, darling, to what they are singing! Don’t you -know what it is? It is the national hymn, Marion. Oh, my little girl, be -brave, too, with them. There is nothing to cry about—nothing—nothing!” - -Taro bounded into the room, his cheeks aflame. “My fadder goin’ ride -away. Mebbe he leave to-marl-low.” - -Billy’s voice was heard in raised tones outside. - -“Then we can see into the chest to-day!” he cried, excitedly. - -“Yes.” - -Taro rushed into the hall to speak in excited Japanese to his father. -With the two boys clinging to his arms Mr. Kurukawa came into the room. - -“There’s a little ceremony I have promised the boys, mother,” he said. -“It was once customary for Japanese soldiers to look at, and often -worship, the swords of their ancestors before starting for the seat of -war.” - -“We are going to look into the ancestor’s chest,” cried Billy; “that old -brown thing in the go-down.” - -The “old brown thing” was brought reverently into the room by careful -servants. At Mr. Kurukawa’s quiet command complete silence reigned -before he touched it. Then he said, in the gravest of voices: - -“You children must learn to control your feeling. You exhibit too much -excitement. You, Billy, and Taro, both of you, evince the same -excitement over a solemn occasion such as this, as you would over a -festival or a game. Appreciate and remember this occasion, my boys.” - -The boys, reproved, hung their heads. Mr. Kurukawa then opened the old -chest. One by one he brought forth the various articles within it. Some -of them were mouldering with age. These he handled with reverent touch. -He explained to the family what each relic was after this fashion: - -“This garment, my children, was worn exactly three hundred years ago by -your ancestor, Carsunora. He was in the service of the Emperor. The -Shogun Lyesade set a price upon his head, and after repeated battles -with his clan they succeeded in surrounding his fortress at Carsunora. -Here for fifty-five days they kept a siege. His brave men preferred -death to surrender, despite the promise of Lyesade. Day and night the -assault was made upon the fortress. Its turrets and windows were -demolished. Starvation stared them in the face. Still your ancestor held -out. Finally one of the enemy started a fire under the walls, and the -brave ones were driven out into the open. Your ancestor was surrounded -on all sides. The swords of his enemy pierced him. See, there are the -rents in his garments. It is said there were over a hundred wounds upon -his body. But desperately and valiantly he fought on, killing or -wounding all who came within touch of his sword. See it, my children, -bent and rusty, with the very stains of the enemy’s blood preserved upon -it! But even the most valiant of heroes cannot bear up against a host of -men. With his retainers dead on all sides, wounded by the eager swords -of a thousand enemies, he suddenly signified his intention of committing -supuku. - -“For the first time in many hours the enemy, out of respect, lowered -their weapons. Your ancestor broke his shorter sword—here are the -pieces. Then taking the longer one, he thrust it into his bowels, and -expired.” - -One bit of grewsome history after another he related to the children, -listening with awe-struck faces. - -Subdued and very quiet the children left the room when the “ceremony” -was over. Marion alone had been unable to contain her emotion, and, -weeping bitterly, had been sent from the room. Now husband and wife were -alone for the first time that day. - -“Does it seem strange to you,” he said, “that I should repeat such tales -to my children?” - -“No,” she said, steadily, “not if they are accustomed to such things.” - -“Japanese children are told stories of war from their youngest years. -That is why they seem impassive when their own family’s gory history is -unfolded to them.” - -“But the little girls,” she said; “their eyes shone with as great a zeal -as Taro’s.” - -“Yes, they are fine girls. You have heard of their ancestry.” - -“And Taro?” she said. - -“Taro,” smiled the father, “has a great sorrow. He is too young yet to -emulate the deeds of his ancestors. His little heart is almost ready to -burst with his longing.” - -“Will it be the same with our baby?” she asked, earnestly. - -“Would you have it so?” was his question. - -She thought a moment, and then she said: “Yes—yes, indeed. Who would -not? Even our Billy is affected.” - -“Billy has inquired most earnestly of me whether when he grew up he -could be a Japanese soldier, and I told him he would have to be a -Japanese citizen first. He said his father—meaning me—was Japanese, and -he would be whatever he was!” - -“And so he will be,” said she, earnestly. - -“But we will wait till he is a man to decide that,” said her husband. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - XIII - - -THE old grandmother was the first to arise on the auspicious morning. -The sun had not yet made its appearance when she opened her shoji and -looked out at the dawning. - -She dressed herself hastily, and then went to arouse the servants. While -the family still slept the house was put in perfect order, and soon -breakfast was preparing. When she had set all the maids at their tasks -the grandmother returned to the floor above, and entered the room now -shared jointly by Taro and Billy. Opening the shutters she let in the -light. Then as they did not stir, she deftly turned down their -bedclothes and drew the pillows from beneath their heads. Taro sat up -grumbling and yawning, while Billy turned over on his side, felt about -for the pillow, and then slept uneasily without it. Taro, now awake, -shook Billy. - -“Oh, let me sleep,” complained Billy. - -“All ride,” said Taro, slipping out of bed and beginning to put on his -clothes quickly. “You kin sleep when we marsh off with my fadder. No -more Port Authur. Soon no more Lussians!” - -Billy was out of bed in a minute, suddenly recalled to the fact of what -this day was to bring forth. - -“I’ll beat you dressing,” said he. - -Meanwhile, Madame Sano was helping the little girls with their toilets. - -Iris was standing patiently while her hair was being dressed in an -elaborate mode. Plum Blossom, her round, fat little face still flushed -with sleep, was sitting on the floor drawing on a white stocking. - -A maid was helping Marion. The latter’s hair was arranged in the same -fanciful mode as her step-sister’s. - -“Grandmother, please let me wear my new cherry-blossom kimono to-day,” -coaxed Iris. - -“You must wear your white,” said the grandmother; “all wear white -to-day. You must look your best. Now, Plum Blossom, let O’Chika arrange -your hair.” - -“Please, grandmother, tie my obi. You do it so beautifully,” begged -Marion. - -Smiling, Madame Sano pulled and twisted the little girl’s kimono into -correct shape, wound the sash about her, and tied it in a huge bow -behind. Then she slipped a fan and two little paper handkerchiefs into -the sleeves of each little girl. Now that they were all ready, she took -occasion to give them a short lecture. - -“You mus’ wear sweed, smiling face to-day, liddle gells. No more cry.” - -“Oh, grandmother, how can I help it?” asked Marion, a catch in her voice -which already betokened the forbidden tears. “I’d better stay home. I -_can’t_ see father go away to that awful, cruel war.” - -“When Gozo went away I nebber cry one tear!” said Plum Blossom, -fervently. - -“I no cry needer,” said Iris; “and when he say good-bye I laff and wave -both these han’s like this.” - -“She have flag in both those han’s,” explained Plum Blossom. “She have -_my_ flag also; so when I also wave _my_ han’s I have no flag, but jus’ -same—me—_I_ laff, too.” - -“Oh, didn’t Gozo feel bad to see you laughing at him like that?” - -“No,” cried Plum Blossom, indignantly. “My! how good he feel. He hol’ -himself like thisaway.” She threw out her chest in illustration. “And -when he reached corner of street he put Juji down.” - -“Juji? Where was he?” - -“Gozo carry him on shoulder all way down stleet. And Taro he too marsh -ride nex’ his side with Gozo. Then when Gozo reach that corner he put -Juji down and he putting his han’ on his head thisaway, and then he turn -quick, and thad was las’ time we saw Gozo.” - -Her voice fell at the end, and her face had now a distressed expression. - -“_I_ only cry after he gone way,” admitted Iris. - -Plum Blossom turned on her fiercely. - -“If you talk of thad cry _now_, you goin’ cry again, and to-day you -_mus’_ smile, accounts our fadder marshing, too.” - -Iris smothered all signs of tears. - -“_Me?_ _I_ cry to-day?” she said. “Never I cry.” - -“Did Juji cry?” asked Marion, curiously, mindful of the child’s talent -in that direction. - -“No, Juji never cry, even after Gozo gone. Everybody cry then ’cept -Juji. He forget he god brudder naime Gozo.” - -“Now all honorably go down-stairs and sedately wait for your august -parents to descend for breakfast.” - -Later the grandmother dressed little Juji, and the baby, too, for the -lazy Norah could not see the necessity for such early rising, and -grumbled at being awakened. - -“Shure an’ wot time is it he’s afther goin’ away?” she inquired of the -grandmother. - -“Your master go away at three o’clock,” said the grandmother, quietly. - -“Thray o’clock! In the afthernoon, may I arsk?” - -“Certainly.” - -“And you get up at thray in the morning because he laves at thray in the -afthernoon?” - -The grandmother did not answer. She was unused to such questioning from -her own servants, and found it hard to tolerate it from the Irish girl. -But Norah persisted: - -“What’s the sinse of getting up before you’re awake?” - -The grandmother condescended an explanation. - -“We desire to make this day a long one, since we can’t have your master -with us long.” - -Still grumbling, the Irish girl dressed herself, and then took the baby -from the grandmother. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - XIV - - -THE farewell breakfast was as merry a one as they could make it under -the circumstances. To please the father, it was served in the -ceremonious Japanese fashion peculiar to such a time. There were hot -rice and freshly fried fish, fruit, persimmons and oranges, and clear, -delicious tea. Everything, in fact, there was to tempt the appetite at -this time, when the appetite might fail them. Even Mrs. Kurukawa, whose -white face showed a night of wakefulness, ate some of the crisp, -inviting fish, and drank the tea with grateful relish. Mr. Kurukawa -appeared all cheerfulness. He made them gifts. Each of the family had an -exchange gift for him. Smiling whimsically, he looked at the little -pile. - -“Do you suppose I can find room to take them to the front with me?” he -asked his wife, jocularly. - -“Oh yes, yes,” she said, earnestly, “for I advised them all to get you -something you could use there.” - -“Let me see.” He began going over the heap of presents. There were -needles and thread from Plum Blossom. Iris had bought a tiny pair of -scissors. Taro’s gift was a little drinking-cup which folded up, a -foreign novelty. Billy gave a jack-knife, such a one as he had long -saved to buy for himself. A little Bible was Marion’s gift. The -grandparents gave the most sensible gift—certain clothes he would -appreciate, compactly rolled in a small bundle, and consisting of -Japanese underwear and sandals. He would find them grateful after long -use of the uniform. Juji had been permitted to choose his own gift. - -“Buy something for father,” said Plum Blossom in the store. Then Juji -had pointed with a fat finger at something bright. It proved to be a -silk handkerchief. Even Norah and the baby had gifts for him. A pin the -Irish girl had prized much, since it had been given her by an old -sweetheart, and which bore in twisted letters of silver the legend, -“Remember me,” was the nurse’s tribute. The baby’s gift Mrs. Kurukawa -had chosen—a leather folder containing the photographs of the entire -family. Her own gift she put upon his finger, a ring he had given her. -“Bring it back to me,” she said, and he promised that he would. - -The parting took place on the threshold. It was not similar to that of -most Japanese farewells, for Mr. Kurukawa embraced his little girls and -his wife, and they clung about his neck and kissed him, while Marion, -because she could not keep back her tears, rushed into the house to hide -them. - -The boys, Billy, Taro, and Juji, were allowed to go with him to the -train. As Gozo had done, Mr. Kurukawa carried Juji on his shoulder. - -The little boys waved their flags as the train drew out, and shouted at -the top of their voices. - -“Banzai! Banzai! Banzai Dai Nippon!” - - * * * * * - -They were silent as they made their way homeward. Even Billy, the -garrulous, found he could not speak with such a great lump choking his -throat. When they reached the house they found all the blinds drawn. -Suspecting that the “females,” as Taro called them, had retired to weep -in their rooms, Taro drew Billy towards the pond. - -“Let’s play,” said he. - -Billy shook his head. - -“Play fight,” urged Taro. “_I_ will be Admiral Togo—you be the Lussian -admiral.” - -“_Me_ a Russian!” cried Billy, fiercely. - -“Yaes, because you loog jes’ same.” - -At the insult Billy became purple. He shouted: - -“I don’t. Father says when I wear your old kimono I look Japanese. -_I’ll_ be Togo. I’m the oldest.” - -Taro shook his head. - -“I tell you what,” said Billy. “Juji can be the Russian. See how sleepy -and lazy he looks. Let’s just duck him in the water and wake him up.” - -“He’ll cry too much.” - -“Oh, the Russians all cry and pray and make a big noise, but they can’t -do anything after a Jap gets them. We won’t really hurt Juji. He’ll -groan like a wounded Russian, and you can be a Red Cross Japanese doctor -and make him better.” - -“All lide,” said Taro. - -So they began to play. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - XV - - -SUMMER, with its flowers, carnivals, moonlight fêtes and banquets, is a -season of unalloyed bliss to Japanese children. It seemed as if all -nature took a holiday, and bade the children and the grown folks, too, -come forth from their houses and rejoice at her beauty and happiness. - -Never before had the Japanese held so many celebrations. But this year -their festivals were not in honor of the beauty of the flowers or the -glory of the moon. They tossed their fans, their parasols, any article, -above their heads. They marched the streets of the towns at night with -swinging lanterns and torches in their hands, sometimes singing and -always shouting, “Banzai! Banzai!” Impassive faces turned ruddy with -excitement and pride. Even delicate-faced ladies leaned from their -jinrikishas in the public streets and waved the sun flags in their -hands. Never had a flower festival drawn forth such enthusiasm and -excitement. On all sides people spoke the word, breathlessly, with -smiling lips: - -“Victory! Always victory for Dai Nippon.” - -The Kurukawa family caught the spirit of the country. There was not a -member of the little flock that did not feel a personal pride in Japan’s -achievements. Even Mrs. Kurukawa, after the first shock of the actual -sense of loss had passed, refused to be oppressed by her sorrow. By this -time her husband’s friends in the town were hers. She became a member of -a society which had for its aim the succor of the town’s poor families -whose wage-earners had been given to the war. No Western women’s club or -society ever worked harder than did these little Japanese women when -they took upon themselves the actual support of the poor of the town. -Mrs. Kurukawa found a wonderful comfort in the work. All the little -girls assisted. Immediately after the departure of her husband the -grandmother had come to her with a suggestion that at first she could -not understand. - -“Now that the master has gone,” had said the old woman, “shall we not -dismiss all the servants?” - -“But why?” she had inquired, astonished. “We can afford to keep them, -can we not?” - -Madame Sano could not make her reasons understood. For a time she went -about the house very gloomy and unhappy, shaking her old head as the -servants waited upon their mistress and the children. She herself -refused to be waited upon. Her own meals she cooked herself. It was -shortly after she had become a member of the Aid Society that Mrs. -Kurukawa learned from another member that most of the war families had -dismissed their servants, or kept at most but one scullery maid. The -little Japanese lady told her at the same time that none of them had -bought new clothes since the beginning of the war, and that some of them -had refused fire, food, and luxuries. The reason was this. Their -husbands, sons, fathers, and brothers were suffering hardship and peril. -It would be unseemly for them to live in luxury. Since they could not -share that hardship at the front with their men they would deny -themselves at home. - -“But what of the servants?” Mrs. Kurukawa had asked. “They would be -without employment.” - -The answer was prompt. “The men-servants belong to the war service. Some -of the women receive reduced wages. The money saved is devoted to -charity. The servants themselves understand that they, too, must make -sacrifices. Some of them are sent by their mistresses to the homes of -the poor and the sick, there to work.” - -When she returned home Mrs. Kurukawa called the family together to tell -them of her resolve. They would keep but one maid-servant and Norah, the -nurse. The maid-servant would do the cooking and the scullery work. -Marion, Plum Blossom, and Iris were to do all the chamber work and keep -the second floor clean and sweet. Madame Sano would do the sewing. The -boys must take care of the garden and draw the water. Mrs. Kurukawa -would see to the rest of the house. As the average Japanese family of -similar circumstances kept a great many servants—in fact, any number of -“assistants,” cook’s assistant, scullery assistant, etc.—the Kurukawas -had in all fourteen, including the men who worked in the garden and the -rice-fields. Of these, one old man’s services were retained. The younger -men were advised to enlist if they could. If not, they would receive -reduced wages and be employed in caring for the poor. So the work -previously done by the servants was now done cheerfully and happily by -the members of the Kurukawa family. - -No chamber-maid ever cleaned a sleeping-chamber with more pleasure than -did the little girls. Their hair wrapped about in white linen, their -sleeves rolled up, they made the bamboo brooms fly across the floor. - -“If one liddle bit of dust be in corner even,” said Plum Blossom, “I -shall die of shame.” - -That was the spirit of all. - -They who had never known what it was to wash their own bright faces, now -joyfully did all such services for themselves and for one another. They -were always so busy that they found no time for sadness. They arose with -the sun to busy themselves in the house throughout the mornings. The -afternoon was given to more pleasurable work. They would sew and -embroider in the garden, or write letters to their father and Gozo. -Often all of them would go on missions of charity to the town. Japan has -no actual slums in her smaller towns. Asylums and “Refuges” are scarcely -needed. The charity work done is all personal, and perhaps, better. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - XVI - - -OCTOBER forced the little family in-doors. It was a bleak month, cold -and chilly this year. There is a general superstition in Japan that this -desolate month, when the gods are all absent, will bring disaster to all -who observe events connected with home joys. The Kurukawas were -Christians, and had no faith in these childish superstitions; -nevertheless, they instinctively felt the contagion of the general -feeling of dreariness everywhere. Nearly every afternoon they were wont -to gather together in the great ozashiki, and there they would talk of -the war, or listen to tales of their ancestors’ valor told by the -grandfather, a garrulous story-teller when once upon a theme that -pleased him. It is true his English was at times almost unintelligible, -and he chose the most gory subjects for his tales, but he held his -listeners spellbound. Indeed, Marion, high-strung and excitable as she -had been, became quite hardened and used to stories of bloodshed. - -“I believe, mamma,” she said, “_I_ could see a great fight now without -closing my eyes.” - -The gloominess of the month was broken by a great letter from the -father. It had been written September 5th, during the action at -Lyago-yang. He told the family little or nothing of the war itself -beyond simple descriptions of his companions and of Russian prisoners he -had seen. There was no word of the hardships, no word of the battles -fought, and he was now a veteran. He wrote that at night when he closed -his eyes he could see them all so clearly, as they had looked in their -cherry gowns on that day of the flower festival. It seemed now so far -away that he sometimes wondered if he were the same man who, covered -with cherry-blossom petals, told them the foolish story of “The Widow of -Sanyo.” There were messages for each child individually. Finally he -wrote that he had not seen Gozo, but that he knew of his whereabouts. -Soon he hoped to be with him. - -The children rushed for their little writing-desks. Soon, heels doubled -under, all of them were busily engaged in writing to father. Mrs. -Kurukawa, too, writing at her desk, described the absorbed group about -her. After a time the various epistles were read aloud by their authors. -With her little lisp Plum Blossom read her letter: - - - “HONORABLE FADDER,—We got you proud ledder. Oh, how happy we - feel! I kees this ledder ride this one place. Please kees me bag - agin. I lig kees. I am now chamber-maid and Marion she also - chamber-maid and Iris also. House never so clean before. We keep - light all time burn for you and Gozo. Juji burn his liddle - finger with match. When we hear of grade victory we blow plenty - fire worg and Juji burn match. Thas something for him. I am now - soon 13 years ole. Kees agin that spot as I do. - - “Your most obedient and filialest - - “daughter foraver, - - “P. B.” - - -As soon as Plum Blossom ceased, Iris began reading. Her letter proved to -be, however, an almost exact copy of her sister’s, for, sitting close to -Plum Blossom, she had simply copied her sister’s letter bodily, thus -saving herself the labor of composition. They all laughed when she -re-read Plum Blossom’s letter. Marion read hers shyly. - - - “DEAR FATHER,—Please come back soon. I pray for you every night. - Have you got my Bible still? I hope you read it. Do you remember - Miss Lamb in Chicago? She used to be my Sunday-school teacher, - and when you became my papa she told me to be sure to urge you - to read the Bible, for that was the way to convert the heathen, - and I told her you were not a heathen, but my own dear father, - and the best man in the world. But I don’t know why I - condescended to write about Miss Lamb at this time. It makes my - letter so long. - - Dear father, I do love you. Mamma cries for you at night.” - - -She was interrupted here by a protest from the family. Father ought not -to be told of tears. So she scratched that sentence out laboriously, and -then continued: - - - “I know she cries at night, because her eyes show it, and it’s - because she loves you so. So please come back to her at once - and—” - - -Billy interrupted this time. “How much longer is it?” he asked, gruffly. -Marion continued, her face flushed: - - - “—and this is all, dear father, and I hope you will win the - fight, only please, please don’t kill anybody or let any one - kill you. Your own little ‘Yankee girl,’ - - “MARION.” - - “P. S.—Give my best love to Gozo, and tell him I pray for him, - too, and, please, also, would you lend him the Bible I gave you - sometimes?” - - -It was Taro’s turn. He began reading in Japanese, put was forced to -translate: - - - “AUGUST FATHER,—I would like much to be with you and fight. I - could kill ten Russians now for Samurai Komatzou has taught me - some great tricks. Billy says I would make a giant Russian look - like ‘30 cents.’ Billy also wants to be Japanese soldier. We - hope war lasts till we grow up so your two dutiful sons may - enlist. I sign myself now your unworthy son, - - “TARO.” - - -Billy’s letter was characteristic. - - - “DEAR FATHER,—Are there any drummer-boys our age? Have _you_ - killed any Russians yourself? How did you do it? Did you shoot - him or run your sword through his bowels like that ancestor you - told us about did? Do you use my jack-knife any? I hope it’s - useful. I wish I was grown-up. Say, would you ask Gozo, when you - see him, to send me some Russian buttons. He sent one to Marion. - It was all rusty, and she gave it to me, as Taro told there was - blood on it. Taro and I worked very hard this summer in the - garden, but it’s great sport. We pretended we were digging - trenches, and whenever we found stones we said they were - bullets, and we piled them up together, and after a time had - lots of ammunition. Say, there’s a French boy living out here, - and he told Taro that after a time there’d be no Japs left, - because Japan was so small, and he said we’d all be killed off, - and he said that the regiments would have to have boys in them - soon, because his father said so. Is it true, and if so, can’t - Taro and I come at once? Taro licked the Frenchy till he - squeaked for mercy, and his father came out and jabbered a lot - of gibberish, and he got terribly excited and said, ‘Insoolt to - France!’ and everybody laughed at him. Well, this is all. We - want the French boy to play war with us, but he’s like - Rojestvensky, he bluffs—but we’ll catch him yet. Say, father, - write something about the fight and if you’re wounded anywhere. - Aff., “BILLY.” - - -“Talk about long letters,” said Marion. - -“Oh, well,” said Billy, “_I_ had something to say. Besides, if it’s true -what the Frenchy says, Taro and I will be soldiers soon, too, and father -ought to know.” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - XVII - - -THERE was a long silence from the soldier in Manchuria. The Kurukawas, -like many other families in Japan, watched for the mail each day with -greedy feverishness. But the autumn passed away and there was no further -word from Kurukawa. He had told his wife she must expect these long -silences. There were reasons that she must understand for such -interludes. A soldier’s letter cannot be had every day. And so she -waited with the patience worthy of a brave woman. But when December was -ushered in with a little drift of snow, and she knew that winter was -coming, her thoughts wandered unceasingly to that one out there in the -frozen Manchuria, and, brooding over it, her strength gave way. Nights -passed; alone with a terrified imagination further exhausted her. -Suddenly she decided that she must go at once to Tokio and make inquiry -of the Minister of War of the fate of her husband. Leaving Juji and the -baby at home, she took the three little girls and two older boys with -her. She told the children nothing of her fears. They believed the trip -to Tokio was made for the purpose of making purchases for the Christmas -and New-Year’s season. - -“When you come back,” had said the smiling old grandmother, “the -honorable house will be quite new and fresh for New-Year’s.” - -The children were excited by the prospect of a visit to Tokio. The -Japanese children had never been in the large town. Thus it actually -fell to Billy and Marion to describe Tokio to them, for they had passed -two days in the city. - -The little party arrived at the Shinbasi Station, where they took -jinrikishas and rode through the bewildering streets to the Imperial -Hotel. As it was past six o’clock, the children after dinner went -straight to bed, thoroughly tired out. But Mrs. Kurukawa sought to see -some one who could allay her anxiety. There were only two clerks left in -the War Office at this hour. They were excessively polite and even -sympathetic, going over all the lists of the dead and wounded they -possessed. There were two Kurukawas among the wounded, but neither was -her husband. She felt that a great load had been lifted from her, and -with a happier heart she drove back to the hotel. For the first time in -many days she slept in peace. - -Early in the morning she was awakened by the children. They were crowded -at the windows, looking out upon the streets and chattering. - -“I’m going to buy all my gifts to-day,” announced Marion, “because if we -don’t buy early all the best things will be snapped up,” she added, -wisely. - -Taro said, reflectively: “I’m going to wait till second January.” - -“Second January!” cried Billy. “Why, that’s after Christmas!” - -Taro nodded. - -“I nod give Christmas presents. I give only New-Year’s gift.” - -“Oh, Taro!” cried Marion. “Why, we’re going to have a Christmas-tree! -Who wants to wait till January second?” - -“But thad is day the otakara (treasure-ships) are on streets,” explained -Plum Blossom. - -“Yes,” said Iris, “and in Tokio he has beau-tee-ful presents.” - -“Mother says we’ll be home for Christmas. So how can you wait till -January second?” - -The little Japanese children’s faces fell. - -“Tha’s true,” admitted Iris, dejectedly. - -“Oh, well,” said Plum Blossom, consolingly, “the toshironschi is open in -December, and I wan’ take home wiz me plenty mochitsuki” (nice pastry). - -“Are you dressed, children?” asked Mrs. Kurukawa, coming into the room. - -They were in their quaint blue linen Japanese night-dresses, a queer -little group, all barefooted. - -They dressed quickly, busily talking and planning as they did so. The -day was to be spent in the stores of Tokio. Never were there more -enticing stores to shop in, the children thought. They got out their -little savings, rolled up in paper handkerchiefs in their sleeves, and -counted them over and over. - -Billy had the most money, nearly twenty dollars in all. He had not saved -a penny, but becoming desperate as the Christmas season advanced, he had -sold nearly all his American clothes to various susceptible Japanese -youth of the town. One paid him two dollars for a sailor hat. A young -man of eighteen years now wore the twelve-year-old Billy’s short -trousers under a kimono. Three of his shirts had been purchased by Miss -Summer, which she proudly wore on festival occasions. Even his -suspenders had proved marketable, and also his heavy shoes and rubbers. -When he had asked his mother’s permission to “give” his clothes away she -had laughed and told him that by the time he ceased to wear kimonos -again he would be too large for the American clothes he now possessed, -and so had lightly given her consent. But she was quite distressed when -she learned he had sold them. Billy, however, was equal to the occasion, -and soon persuaded her that he had done right. “It would have been wrong -to make the proud Japanese accept second-hand American clothes as -charity.” So Billy was now rich, and accordingly avaricious. He wished -he had a hundred dollars instead of twenty dollars; then he could buy -cameras and guns and such things which cost plenty of money, but since -there was such a large family, and since the Japanese had to have -presents at New-Year’s as well, he couldn’t afford costly ones. In any -event he wanted them all to know that he was not going to spend more -than half his money, as he was saving the other half for something for -himself—he wouldn’t tell what. - -Ten dollars was Taro’s total, but he had in addition an unopened bank -half full of sen (pennies). He had been saving all summer, and would -have had a larger sum, but he had generously contributed two yen to the -support of an old coolie whose sons were at the war and whom his mother -was befriending. Billy, too, had made a like contribution, though he -said nothing about it now. Taro, however, could not forget that two yen. - -“If I had thad two yen more I could buy fine present for you, Billy, but -I have only liddler got—I gotter buy for girls first. Mebbe I buy you -something if I have aeny left.” - -“Well, you’d just better,” snorted Billy, “and you know what I want.” - -Taro grunted discontentedly, but made no rash promises. - -“How much have you got?” Billy asked Plum Blossom, who had her money -arranged in a neat row. - -“Three yen and—” she began counting the sen again. - -“And you, Iris?” - -“Jus’ same Plum Blossom,” said Iris, who had not bothered to count. - -“Why, no, you silly, you haven’t. I’ll count for you.” Iris possessed -three yen and seventy-five sen, about two dollars and a quarter. - -Marion had seven dollars; two dollars she had saved, and five dollars an -aunt had sent her “to buy a pretty kimono with.” - -“But I have lots of kimonos,” said Marion, “so I’ll buy Christmas -presents instead, as it’s more blessed to give than to receive,” she -added, piously. - -“All right,” grinned Billy. “You must not expect to _receive_ much, -sis.” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - XVIII - - -WHEN the little Kurukawa family started for the shopping district the -streets were bathed in the beautiful early winter sun. In a city where -the distances are very great, where large parks and actual stretches of -bare country exist in seemingly the centre of the town and where the -streets zigzag in every direction, it is a matter often of hours to -reach certain points. But the children enjoyed the long ride. They would -have laughed aloud at the average foreigner’s complaint against the -“jerking jinrikisha.” What child does not prefer a vehicle that bumps up -and down a bit to one that runs inanely and smoothly? - -Taro and Billy occupied one jinrikisha, Marion and Plum Blossom another, -while Iris rode with her mother. They called across merrily to each -other. When one runner, swifter-footed for the moment than his fellows, -sped on ahead, the pair in advance would cheer in delight. - -The speed with which the jinriki-men ran, Billy thought wonderful. - -“They would beat anybody at our Sunday-school picnic races,” he told -Taro. - -It would be great fun, suggested Taro, if some time they could come to -Tokio alone and apprentice themselves to jinriki-men. Then they _would_ -learn to run! The suggestion thrilled Billy. He saw in it glowing -possibilities of easily earned money; the opportunity to own a -jinrikisha and learn to run like the wind. But, then, how would they be -soldiers? Certainly their military ambitions came first. - -At the end of two hours’ running they drew up before a tea-house which -stood within a little park of its own. Smiling and bowing the -jinriki-men suggested that their patrons must be thirsty, as they, the -runners, were. Would they not condescend to refresh themselves with tea -and sweetmeats? The suggestion went to the hearts of the children. They -had no idea how hungry they were, and so “mother” smilingly nodded to -the little, begging faces. In a few moments they were within the -tea-house. At that season of the year the tea-house is not well -patronized, but as it was close to the noon hour, a number of Japanese -business-men sat at the various tables eating their luncheon. - -A maiden with roguish black eyes came running over to the Kurukawas to -help the children into their seats. Her rosy mouth slipped open as she -saw that her visitors, despite their dress, were not all Japanese. For a -moment she stood perfectly still staring at Marion, but when Mrs. -Kurukawa addressed her she slipped to her knees, bowed very deeply, and -inquired what they might command her to bring. - -All of them wanted tea and sweetmeats except Billy, who insisted upon -having a piece of rare steak with fried onions. When Taro translated -this astonishing order the little maid shook her head and laughingly -declared that they were too poor a house to serve such extraordinary -luxuries. - -“Well,” said Billy, crossly, “I’m tired of rice-cakes and sweet things. -I want something else. Do you keep chop-suey?” It was a dish he liked -very much, having become acquainted with it through a Chinese cook -lately employed. The little maid thought she might bring something -resembling chop-suey. So she sped away to fill the orders. Soon she was -back, followed by another maid carrying the luncheon on black lacquer -trays. The omelets ordered by Mrs. Kurukawa were served in the most -attractive shapes. Each omelet was formed in a different pattern, as a -chrysanthemum, a twig of pine-tree, a plum blossom. - -“They’re too pretty to eat,” said Marion, looking with delight at the -flower form before her. - -[Illustration: - - “THE LITTLE WAITRESS BROUGHT HER SAMISEN AND .... BEGAN TO PLAY AND - SING” -] - -Billy’s chop-suey was a chicken-stew, to which had been added mushrooms. -As they ate the meal the little waitress brought her samisen, and, -running her fingers lightly across it, she began to first play and then -to sing: - - “Oh, the soldiers march away! - See them march away. - The maids at home must stay, - Hush! do not weep, but pray, - Oh, the soldiers march away! - - “Oh, how long now will they stay? - No one truth can say. - When soldiers march away, - List! often ’tis for aye, - Oh, the soldiers march away!” - -Her queer little staccato voice fell mournfully at the end, and the -samisen concluded her song in its lower keys. - -Plum Blossom tried to explain to them what it was she sang, though both -Billy and Marion now partially understood the language. - -“The soldiers marching way, naever, naever come bag. All maidens must -not cry, bud pray for them.” - -She threw a reproachful look at Marion, who had wept so often. - -“Tell her to sing something happy,” said Billy. - -Mrs. Kurukawa addressed the girl, as she spoke Japanese with more than -usual fluency. - -“Whose songs do you sing?” - -“My own, honored one.” - -“You make up your own songs?” - -“Yes, gracious lady.” - -“The music, too?” - -“Yes, augustness. By profession I am a geisha, but since the war our -business is so poor we are obliged to become tea-waitresses also.” - -“And are geishas also poetesses and musicians?” - -“Yes, gracious one. Shall I write my honorably foolish poetry for you, -and will you condescend to accept it?” - -“I should be delighted. I should keep it always. But sing to us again.” - -She sang shrilly, to the high notes of her samisen: - - “Look! the moon is peeping, - Little maid, take care! - Lovers trysts are keeping, - Little maid, take care! - - “Lovers oft are weeping, - Little maid, take care! - When the moon is peeping, - Little maid, take care! - - “Who is this comes creeping? - Little maid, take care! - Hah! the moon still peeping, - Little maid, take care! - - “Oh, the heart upleaping! - Little maid, take care! - Lovers?—moon a-peeping! - No! It’s brother there! - Little maid, take care!” - -Still squatting on her heels, the little geisha-girl wrote her poems in -Japanese characters for the American woman. Then bowing very deeply she -presented them to her, saying sweetly: - -“Two sen, highness, one sen for each poem.” - -Mrs. Kurukawa paid the price, and laughed as she did so. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - XIX - - -THE tea-house was only a short distance from the shops, and the runners, -rested and refreshed by sake, drew them swiftly into the heart of the -town. Soon they were in a shop kept by a tiny Japanese, very old and -very wrinkled, who begged, as he bowed deeply, that they would help -themselves to all they saw in his most insignificant shop. The -magnificence of this offer, made in intelligible English, quite -delighted Billy. He began to have visions of what he would do with his -twenty dollars since this Japanese was so polite that he was actually -offering to _give_ them the articles. Soon he was undeceived. In a short -time the unwary children were enmeshed in the wily bargaining web of the -shrewd small merchant of Tokio. - -Billy saw a flag which warmed his heart. It was a large Japanese flag, -with the sun solidly embroidered in its centre. What a gift to send to -his father! In imagination he saw the flag torn and cut by bullets. He -priced it. It was ten dollars. The old man insinuated that he might take -eight dollars for it. Billy shook his head, swallowing deep -disappointment. The old man would let it go for five dollars. No? -Possibly the young augustness was poor? Billy flushed proudly and dipped -into his sleeve for his money. Then he said, sturdily: “I’ll give you a -dollar for it.” - -The old man shrugged, protested, but finally rolled up the flag tenderly -and gratefully took the dollar in exchange. - -“My goodness!” said Billy, “are there Jews in Japan?” - -“Be careful, Billy,” his mother warned. - -She herself, however, was feeling strangely drawn towards a certain -padded silk dressing sack, heavily embroidered with chrysanthemums of -the color most admired by her husband. Unlike Billy, she did not pause -to bargain. Her husband had warned her: “The Japanese shop-keeper will -take what he can get. Set your price and give no more.” - -“I’ll give you five dollars for that,” said she. Then she felt ashamed -of herself when he, with a sad shake of his head, began wrapping it up -for her. - -The little girls’ purchases were trifling but pretty. Their sleeves, -being full of parcels, hung down on either side like heavy bags. Billy’s -and Taro’s purchases, however, were so large that there was some -question how they were to be carried. - -Three swords, an old American rifle, and a water-pistol were among -Taro’s acquisitions. Billy had his large flag, a soldier’s uniform, a -miniature cannon, and a folio of bright pictures describing war. At the -last moment his conscience smote him. Neither he nor Taro had bought -presents for the girls. Both had been too absorbed in buying things for -boys. They put their heads together and whispered now. Ten cents -remained to each. Taro bought toothpicks, cheapest facepowder, -nail-polish, and a back-scratcher, each article costing three cents. He -grudgingly gave up one of the articles he had already, and instead -purchased for the mother a pot of the rosiest paint. - -Billy, too, begrudged the money necessary to spend on the girls, so he -was determined not to part with any of his own things. His gifts cost in -the neighborhood of a cent or two cents each. For Marion he bought one -paper handkerchief, for Plum Blossom a brass ring, for Iris a hat-pin, -for Juji a bit of candy, and for Norah tooth-blacking. This, he thought, -she could utilize for her shoes. As the presents looked very bright and -gaudy, Billy and Taro felt that they had done their duty, and that the -girls ought to be duly grateful. - -On the way home a shrill voice shouting in the street was recognized by -the sharp-eared Taro. - -“The treasure-ship!” he cried, excitedly. - -Around the corner came a most wonderful cart piled high with brightly -colored toys and things dear to the heart of a child. Following the cart -was a veritable procession of little children. Loudly the vendor -shouted: - -“Otakara! Otakara!” - -Ambitious to imitate the commercial foreigner, the treasure-vendor had -decided to play this little trick on his fellows. He would not wait till -January 2d, but would appear on the street with his treasure-cart thus -early in the season when people had not yet spent all their money. - -The entreaty in the faces of the children Mrs. Kurukawa could not -resist. Soon some of the bright things of the treasure-cart were -transferred to the jinrikishas. - -“But, mind you, children,” she said, as they turned gleefully homeward, -“I’m going to put everything away until Christmas.” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - XX - - -THE following day Mrs. Kurukawa yielded to the coaxing of the children -and took them to hear one of the famous story-tellers of Tokio. There is -not a child, I believe, of any nationality, who does not love a “story.” -In Japan story-telling is an actual profession, possessing its own halls -and houses of entertainment. But the audience is not made up of -children. People of all ages attend, though the story-teller is not as -popular to-day as he once was. With eagerness, then, the little Kurukawa -children, after hanging their clogs among others, entered the hall. They -were led into a square little booth or box. In a few minutes a waitress -from an adjoining tea-house sold them refreshments. - -The hall was dimly lighted by candles. As black cloths were draped about -the stage the place had a gloomy appearance. Presently the story-teller -entered and seated himself on the raised dais. So horrible and weird was -his aspect that the little girls involuntarily clung to one another’s -hands and looked at their mother apprehensively. His face and bald head -were chalky white. Seen from the distance of their box his eyes were -black chasms set into his white face. He appeared to have enormous teeth -which protruded as long fangs beyond his lips. As he seated himself on -the dais all the candles in the hall went out, seemingly of their own -accord. Only those upon the stage remained burning. - -“Oh,” said Marion, grasping Taro’s hand in the darkness, “he looks like -some horrible ghost!” - -“Sh!” whispered the little Japanese boy. “He’s going to tell a -ghost-story.” - -“I thought,” broke in Billy, “they told war-stories.” - -“Sh! I’ll tell you what he says, if you be quiet.” - -“I don’t want to hear,” said Marion, covering her ears with her hands, -for at that moment the deep and hollow voice of the story-teller fell -upon the hushed audience. He was a pantomimist as well as a -story-teller. As both Billy and Marion understood some Japanese he made -his story clear even to them. As he proceeded with his tale the candles -on the stage gradually flickered out, until he was in darkness, save for -a weird yellow glow surrounding him. Then it was that the thrilled -audience thought saw strange white shapes fluttering about him, first -hovering over and covering the speaker, then wandering about the stage. - -The tale he told was an old one known to all Japanese. It was the story -of the faithless husband who swore to his young and dying wife that he -would never marry again. Scarcely, however, had she been cold in her -grave before he married a young and beautiful girl. For many nights the -bride was visited by a wraith with warning to leave her husband. She -would wake screaming with fright, but always her husband, lying there -beside her, would reassure her. Finally the ghost set a day for the -bride’s departure, telling her that if she did not go on that day a -terrible fate would befall her. That night the husband set a guard of -twelve watchmen in their chamber. When the ghostly visitor entered the -room of armed men they fell dead at the feet of the spirit as it crossed -the threshold and went straight to the bed where the frightened bride -cowered close against her sleeping lord, for although he had sworn to -keep the watch with the guards he had yielded to irresistible slumber. -The following morning, waking early, he stretched his arms out to enfold -his bride. The form he held was stiff and cold. Something wet and slimy -touched him. As he put out a hand to caress her hair he saw the thing -beside him, a trunk from which the head had been torn away. - -As the story-teller finished the recital there was a long interval of -absolute silence in the hall. Then out of the darkness of the stage a -white figure bore upon the vision. In the weird light that suddenly -enwrapped the spectre the audience saw that it held aloft the head of a -woman, the long, black hair floating away from the deathly face as -though a wind were blowing through the hall. - -A stir, a shiver seemed to pass at once over the whole audience. -Then—almost an unknown thing in Japan—a child’s shrill voice startled -the silence. Mrs. Kurukawa reached out to catch Marion in her arms; the -little girl had become almost paralyzed with fear. A moment later the -candles were lighted. People looked at one another in the new -light—everywhere faces were pale and lined with fear. - -“Oh, let’s go home,” pleaded Marion, at which the mother arose. - -“No, no!” protested Taro. “He’ll tell war-tales now. _We_ want to stay.” - -“Of course we do,” cried Billy. “That old cry-baby always spoils our -fun.” - -A smiling waitress with candy beans assured them that the lights would -not be turned out again, and so Marion leaned against her mother -resignedly. - -“_I_ wasn’t the only one afraid,” she said, plaintively. “All of you -were, even mother, weren’t you?” - -“Yes, I was,” she answered, truthfully. “I didn’t know I could feel -quite so shivery over a mere ghost-story.” - -“Don’t they ever tell pretty fairy-stories?” asked Marion. - -“No,” said Taro, disgustedly. “They would have no business then.” - -“Story-tellers’ halls,” said Billy, didactically, “aren’t for girls. -Girls haven’t the sense to enjoy tragedy.” - -They remained until five o’clock, listening to exaggerated accounts of -the war. Graphic details were recounted of the battles. Many Japanese -fed their imaginations at the story-teller’s table after the hunger left -by mere official accounts published in the newspapers. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - XXI - - -THREE more days the little party remained in Tokio. Then, tired out, -happy, and loaded down with purchases, they returned to their home. -There they found the long-looked-for letter from the soldier. It had -come during their absence. - -He had not written sooner because the soldiers had been forbidden to -write to their families during a certain period of operations. He hoped -that his letter would reach them in time to make their Christmas and New -Year season happy. His letter ran: - - - “As I write, I am a happy man, despite the many things of which - I am deprived. First, I am a servant in a glorious cause. Who - could choose a nobler way to die? It is with cheerfulness that - we soldiers bear the enforced hardships. Indeed, we scarcely - feel them, so buoyed up are we by our cause. But I have still - another reason for happiness at this time. I am with my boy Gozo - at last, and if the fates but permit, we shall never separate - again. I have told him about you all, and his letter to you will - reach you with my own. The experiences he has been through since - leaving his father’s home have made a man of him. And it is with - a man’s deep understanding that he asks your pardon. But he - speaks for himself. - - “I cannot send you gifts this year, my children and my wife, but - my prayers and blessings are for you always. Tell Billy I cannot - send him the Russian buttons for which he asks. I think he would - understand if he were here. Let him imagine the kind of man who - would cut away a trifling souvenir from the body of a dead - enemy. Tell the boys also that I do not doubt their zeal to - serve Japan, but that it is not likely we shall need their - services. Their French friend had better revise his thoughts. - - “I read many times the letters from my little girls. Tell Plum - Blossom so well have I kissed the spot she indicated in her - letter that there is a little hole there now. Tell my little - Yankee girl, too, that not only have I lent her Bible to Gozo, - but it is the common property of the little band of Christians - in our regiment. There are fifteen of us in all. It will give - Marion pleasure to know that her gift to me passes from hand to - hand, and fifteen loyal soldiers of Ten-shi-sama unconsciously - bless her each day they read. - - “Take care of my house for me, my children, and my wife. - Encourage my boys in thoughts of patriotism. Remember that - always I think of you, and that is happiness enough.” - - -The letter from Gozo was brief, but his step-mother read it greedily. It -was written in the English language. - - - “ESTEEMED MADAME, AND MOTHER-BY-LAW,—I know not to express - myself good in your language. How I can find words begging your - pardon? Put my rudeness to you down to my ignorance. I am more - old to-day and through my honored father’s words I am now - acquainted with your respected character. I shall never have - pleasure to look upon your honorable face, for I have given my - insignificant life to my Emperor, yet I write begging for your - affection. - - “Also I humbly asking that you will continue to show kindness to - my little brothers and sisters, whom though they be unworthy, I - am very sick to see. Sometimes I think all night long of that - little Juji brother. Pray excuse each foolish emotion. I beg - remain, - - “Your filial step-son forever, - - “KURUKAWA GOZO.” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - XXII - - -THE country was ringing with the hateful news of the Kamrahn Bay -incident. When a French name was mentioned, Japanese faces looked dark -and bitter. Foreigners in Japan talked more about the matter than did -the Japanese themselves, however, for they were silent and thought much. -Nevertheless, this incident and others pierced deeply. Women, smiling -strangely, told their little sons the story, and they repeated after -their mothers the words: “We Japanese never forget!” In the higher -classes of the schools the teachers quietly instructed their pupils of -the unfriendly act of a “friendly” nation. The story-tellers in their -halls enlarged upon the theme, and told the story over and over again, -with greater exaggeration each time. By-and-by the news reached the ears -of the Kurukawa family. Billy and Taro held a council of war. - -“How to be revenged?” that was the question. - -They marched up and down the little garden-path discussing the subject -from every stand-point. By some unfortunate coincidence the little -French boy from the neighboring street happened to pass the Kurukawa -house at the fateful moment when this fierce debate was in progress. In -one of those flashes that often come, even to children, Billy and Taro -simultaneously recognized in him the object for just vengeance. With a -bound Taro sprang through the garden-gate and seized the helpless and -unsuspecting French boy, whom he dragged down the path. Then Taro sat -upon him. Billy was jumping about wildly, throwing out his fists, and -pretending to spit upon them. Taro, however, was quite calm. - -“We kinnod,” said he, proudly, “_both_ beat thad French boy. That’s nod -fair.” - -Billy’s jaw dropped. Then his face brightened. - -“Say, Japan doesn’t want to fight France _yet_. You leave him to _me_. -They interfered in what wasn’t their affair, and now America’s going to -do the same.” - -Taro shook his head. - -“You be England,” said he, wisely; “she our honorable ally.” - -“I am English, then,” shrieked Billy; “all our people come from England -originally. Mamma said so. Let him up.” - -Taro reluctantly arose, permitting the crushed young Frenchman to do -likewise. He was a little fellow, though past his fourteenth year. His -eyes were very black and furtive, and he had a tiny little mouth that -would not keep closed. Actually his face was smiling. He spoke Japanese -with only slight hesitancy. His polite suggestion was that they should -go to his father to borrow swords with which to fight a decent duel. The -boys received this suggestion with shouts of derision. Then the little -Frenchman declared he would not fight at all, and crossing his arms over -his chest, told them they could murder him if they wished. - -Billy surveyed him contemptuously. - -“Say, what’s your name, anyhow?” he queried, after a moment. - -“Alphonse Napoleon Tascherean.” - -“Well, what do you think of that Kamrahn Bay matter?” continued Billy, -curious to know the boy’s views; but Alphonse only shrugged expressive -shoulders and smiled a little, subtle, sneering smile. - -“D’ye remember how Taro licked you last fall?” - -The French boy turned darkly red. His hands were in his pocket, and one -of them suddenly flashed out. He had a knife. - -“I no longer am afraid of heem,” he said, contemptuously. “I will cut -him up—so! if he touch me once again!” - -“You will?” cried Billy. “You think _we’re_ afraid of your old knife? -Get it, Taro.” - -Taro did get it, though he had a scratch on his hand to show how -dangerous the undertaking was. Then the French boy’s assured manner -vanished as if by magic. Quite piteously he began to cry. At the top of -his voice he shouted aloud for “Pa-pa! Pa-pa!” - -“We’re not going to hurt you after all,” said Billy, after a moment. -“We’ll make you do something you’ll remember. Taro, help me tie his -hands first.” - -They secured him firmly. - -“Now,” ordered Billy, “you run to the house and get that old French flag -you and I have been using as a mark for firing at for some time, and get -a Jap flag, too.” - -Taro was gone but a moment, and then returned with the desired flags. -These Billy took and held before the French boy. - -“Now, you,” said he, “if you don’t want to stay tied up here all night, -you just do what we tell you. Kiss that sun flag—right in the centre. -That’s the thing! What!—Ah, you will, you divil,” for the French boy put -his lips against the flag but a second, and then withdrew them to spit -at it. - -Taro had turned livid. In a flash he had seized the flag and was ramming -it fiercely into the mouth of the French boy. Billy fought Taro back. - -“Here, Taro! That’s not fair! He’s tied!” - -He drew forth the flag. The dye ran down in livid streams on Alphonse’s -chin. He fought vainly to free his arms. - -“Now, you,” said Billy, “we’ll let you free if you’ll fight either one -of us alone. But if you won’t, you’d better do what we tell you. If you -don’t—” - -Taro had quietly stripped himself to the waist prepared for battle. He -was younger by several years than the French boy, but the latter had -already felt the taste of the little Japanese’s strength. When he -encountered that bloody purpose in the eye of Taro he trembled visibly. - -“I will do what you ask,” he decided, suddenly. - -“Good!” cried Billy. “_You_ believe in spitting, eh? Well, now you just -spit good and plenty at _that_!” He thrust the French flag before -Alphonse, who spat at his country’s flag. Then shrugging his shoulders, -he swore as little boys of some nationalities do not. - -Fifteen times he was forced to bow to the Japanese flag, touching each -time the ground with his head. Finally he cried as instructed at the top -of his voice: - -“Vive la Nippon! Banzai!” - -He went home a very much wilted and bedraggled little Frenchman, but he -did not tell his papa or mamma of the flag incident. - -When his father read with apparent exultation further news of Kamrahn -Bay, Alphonse raised his little thin shoulders and eyebrows to venture -the astonishing remark: - -“Was it _wise_ of France, pa-pa?” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - XXIII - - -THERE came not many letters during the winter months to the little -Kurukawa family, but the ones that did come were all the more precious. -Before the first flowers of the year had begun to tint the plum-trees -with their pink beauty, all Japan knew that the war would have but one -ending. Victory followed victory. Instances of heroism became so -frequent they could scarcely keep count of them. People, smiling, would -hear the tale of a certain officer or soldier’s self-sacrifice for his -country, then they would say, still with that mysterious smile so common -in Japan: “He has done only what any soldier of Japan would do.” - -The newspapers, little, slim sheets, containing less than a quarter of -the words an American newspaper would give to the war-story, seemed to -drift about the empire. Everywhere they were found, everywhere people -carried them. - -It was in April that the _Far East_ published a story of a certain act -of surpassing heroism performed by a Japanese officer. Mrs. Kurukawa had -seen the head-lines, and stopping in the street had bought the paper. -She read it through slowly, still standing there in the street. As she -stood, perfectly still, her white face tense and drawn, curious -passers-by stopped to look at her, wondering what it was the foreign -woman found in the paper to make her look so strangely. It was the act -of a child which aroused her. Passing, he lightly pulled the sleeve of -her kimono. She started as if struck, the paper fluttered from her hand. -Mechanically she reached for it, but a sudden wind caught it up and blew -it hither and thither about the street. She stood there watching its -flight until it had passed out of sight. It disappeared utterly. Surely -it had never been at all, she had not really held it in her hand and -read the story of her husband’s terrible fate! Walking unsteadily and -blindly, she started down the street. - -Madame Sano came swiftly from the garden-path to meet her, for the news -had reached the house in Mrs. Kurukawa’s absence. - -Japanese women are not demonstrative, but they are exquisitely tender. -The touch of Madame Sano’s hands upon her face was balm itself. The -stricken woman’s features quivered. Sobs burst from her lips, and in the -other woman’s arms she wept as though she had found the haven of a -mother’s breast. Without speaking, Madame Sano led her into the house. -The children, a pitiful, frightened group, were in the hall, waiting for -her. Passionately, Marion called her mother by name, and clung to her a -moment, but Madame Sano gently put the little girl aside and took the -mother to her room. There she induced her to lie down until she waited -upon her, murmuring words in soothing Japanese. When the younger woman -was calmer, Madame Sano gently spoke of the sad news. She said, in a -reverent voice: - -“God is good, my daughter. How gloriously he has rewarded your husband!” - -The woman on the bed did not stir or speak. Madame Sano continued: - -“Think how many families there are in Japan whose men have never had the -opportunity to give such august service to their Emperor. We are -fortunate indeed.” - -Mrs. Kurukawa covered her face with her hands. The tears came slipping -through them; helpless, silent tears which would not be held back. Her -voice was choked but inexpressibly sweet: - -“I know,” she said, “it is all—very—glorious—but—I will not give up -hope.” - -“Hope?” repeated Madame Sano. “Our best hopes are realized, my daughter. -Kurukawa Kiyskichi has made the supreme sacrifice. He has given his life -to his Emperor and to his country.” - -Now, Mrs. Kurukawa raised herself. Two spots of red appeared in her -cheeks. Her eyes were feverish, her nervous fingers clasped each other -spasmodically. - -“I will tell you my hope—my belief. I feel, in spite of what we have -heard, that my husband is not dead. I _feel_ it somehow. I cannot -explain. Only this I do know: he promised he would return, and he must! -Oh, I am sure he will!” - -Gently the old woman spoke, smoothing the hands of the other woman as -she did so. - -“My child, he will truly return to you as he has promised. All Japanese -soldiers expect to return to their wives, but in the spirit!” - -Mrs. Kurukawa drew her hands passionately away. - -“That was not his meaning,” she said. - -Madame Sano shook her head sadly. - -“Ah, my child, be reconciled to the august inevitable.” - -There was a smile upon the pale lips of the younger woman. - -“You do not understand my faith,” she said, “and I cannot explain it. -When I read that story in the street I felt as if something had struck -me. I tried to push it from me with my hands, and I do not know how I -found my way home. I still feel as if I had been hurt and bruised in -some way, and yet I know—I feel—that it is not true—that he is—dead.” - -Her voice whispered the word, and for a long interval there was silence -in the room. Then she said, slowly: “It is a mistake—a horrible mistake. -God give us courage to bear the mistake. But that is all it is.” - -“You do not believe the story of your husband’s magnificent heroism?” - -“I do believe it.” - -“Then you must admit that he has passed away. Is it not clearly stated -that after he had saved almost the entire division that was caught in -the ambush that he himself was struck down and his body carried away by -the Russians, for what purposes can only be surmised?” - -Mrs. Kurukawa was silent. After a while she arose, and, though her hands -were trembling, she dressed herself afresh with calmness. Madame Sano -watched her in silence. - -After a while she asked: - -“You are going out?” - -“Yes, to learn what I can. If necessary I will go again to Tokio, -leaving the children with you.” - -The old woman nodded. - -“They will make an honorable effort,” she said, “to obtain possession of -your husband’s body, and he will be given an exalted funeral. ‘He died -gloriously for Dai Nippon’ will say all loyal Japanese.” - -Mrs. Kurukawa smiled wearily. - -“He is not dead,” she said. “Do not, dear Madame Sano, rob me of my -hope. I want to be courageous, for while I feel he is not gone truly -from me, I do not know what may have befallen him. It may be that he is -wounded—sick—tortured—a prisoner. Oh, I cannot bear to think of it!” - -“Better, my child,” urged the old woman, gently, “to believe he is at -rest. Cherish not false hopes. Ah, had you been a true daughter of -Japan, you would have looked for, expected, and even hailed this -bereavement, but—” - -“Do not reproach me,” cried Mrs. Kurukawa. “My husband would not have -done so. Oh, I have tried to be as he would wish me, and—and—I feel that -he would have me believe as I do. I know he will keep his promised word. -He will return to me.” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - XXIV - - -TWO weeks later the mail for Tokio contained several pathetic epistles. -Most of them were written in the wandering, crude, yet peculiarly -attractive handwriting of little children. Mrs. Kurukawa read them over -and over again, crying softly as she did so. - - - “DARLING MAMMA,—Do please let us come to you in Tokio. You do - not know how sad we are without you. Little girls have little - hearts, but I know that they can suffer much, just the same. - Grandmother, too, is very sad, and Norah is crying, ‘Wirrah, - wirrah, wirrah!’ all the time, and, oh, mamma, she says she - hears the banshee every night wailing outside our house. - Grandmother says it’s only that old gray cat of Summer’s. You - probably remember her. But Norah says it is the banshee, and it - means that some one in our family is dead. Oh, mamma, _how_ it - made me cry! Grandmother has made us all the strangest-looking - kimonos. They are of black crêpe, and I cannot bear to put mine - on. She says that black is not the mourning color in Japan, but - we must wear black in honor of you, mamma, because black crêpe - is mourning in America. So yesterday we all went to church in - those black kimonos, and everybody stared at us, and I put my - head down on the pew, and cried and cried. Plum Blossom and Iris - also hid their faces, and though they say _they_ did not cry, I - think they did, for their eyes were all red. Everybody treats us - as if we were great people. In church they all bowed so deeply - to us as we went in. Sometimes the men we meet on the street - will cheer when they see us. Taro says it is because father did - such heroic things. Taro has no heart, I sometimes think, for he - seems to be proud and happy that father is gone, and he says he - wishes he could have the chance to do what father did. Billy is - very serious these days. He thinks he ought to be with you in - Tokio, to take care of you and protect you. Oh, dear mamma, do - let us know all the news you hear, and if we cannot come to you, - _please_, please come home to us soon. - - “Your affectionate and loving, - - “MARION.” - - - “BELOVED DAUGHTER-IN-LAW,—I hope that your health is excellent - and that you will return home soon. The servants weep for their - okusama (honorable lady of the house). The children are augustly - sad without you. Billy has lost his appetite for food. He has - the pale face got. When I request, ‘Are you ill, Billy?’ he - makes reply, in boy rough way, ‘No, but I ought to be with my - mother.’ Marion spoils her pretty eyes with too much weep. She - and Juji weep enough tears for all the honorable family. Plum - Blossom does all your work most neatly, and is learning - excellently to be a good house-keeper. You chose wisely to put - her in your place, and she feels proudly your august confidence - in her. Iris assists her in all things, but neither does she - appear in good health. She has too much paleness in the face - also. Taro is a great comfort. His father’s heroism has inspired - him with noble ambitions. He is a worthy son, though young. The - baby has more words to say each day. Yesterday she spoke of the - white moon which appeared in the sky while it was yet day as - “ball,” and she said, ‘It is too high!’ Those are many words for - one so young. She has her august mother’s eyes. - - “Excellent daughter-in-law, I beseech you to earnestly seek - details concerning the fate of our beloved Gozo. It is said - in some of the papers that he did accompany his father upon - this expedition. I entreat you to think first of all of your - august health and happiness. I sign myself, Your unworthy - mother-in-law, - - “SANO-OTAMA.” - - - “DEAR MOTHER,—Since father is dead, _I_ ought to take care of - you. I think about it all the time and want to come to you. I - don’t think it right for a woman to be alone, and I must come to - you at once. Taro and I have not felt like doing anything - lately. I don’t know what’s the matter with everything. The - house doesn’t seem the same without you. I can’t write much. I - want to be with you, mother. - - “Your boy, - - “BILLY.” - - - “ESTEEMED MOTHER,—The plum-trees have much buds again got now, - but very sad they make us this year. I think only of those - cherry blossoms we did see with our honorable father. They are - so like the plum. Billy says they make him sick if he look upon - those trees. So we go not out much, as it makes so sorrow in the - hearts to see those same trees shine. - - “Earnestly I endeavor to follow your honorable counsel about the - house, and it is unworthily clean to your honor. I am become - like Marion. Always my eyes those tears in them when I think - about you, and several times I make my pillow wet. Therefore I - praying until you _please_ come home with us. Tha’s very sad - that our father die and go way, but tha’s sadder that we lose - our mother also. - - “Unworthy and insignificant, - - “PLUM BLOSSOM.” - - - “DEAR MAM,—I thought I would write you a letter, hoping that you - are well. i like you very much, mam, and i love the precious - lambs, both the babby and Juji, but, mam, i cannot bear any - longer so much sorrow, and it’s a letter to you i’m writing to - say i must go back to the old country, for i cannot bear so much - trouble and i have heard the banshee cry at night and it’s - afraid i am that there’s death hovering about. Will you buy my - ticket, please, mam? And it’s breaking my heart sure to leave - you and the lambs. - - “Respectfully, - - “NORAH O’MALLEY.” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - XXV - - -THE letters brought the mother back to her home. She had altered -strangely in the two months she had been in the city. Always slim, she -seemed now a mere shadow of a woman—slight and frail as if a breath -would blow her away. But the thin face still retained its gentle -sweetness of expression and the eyes held that smile of hope. - -The children were glad to see her. Laughing and crying they clung to -her. - -“Why,” she said, as if she had only just realized it, “what a lot there -is to live for!” - -“Seven of us, mother,” said Marion; “no, eight!—for there’s Gozo, too.” - -She took no one into her confidence, but began, in secret, a -correspondence with the Minister of War. All of her inquiries were -answered. In Japan her husband had not been without high influence, and -his heroism had made his name revered by all Japanese. Hence the -requests of his widow were given the greatest attention. Soon they had -reached the highest authorities. Orders went straight to the field of -action. At last there came a day when she knew that a special search was -to be made for her husband—dead or alive. - -The Russians would tell if he were with them. If not, then, at least, -his body must be found. Such were the orders issued from a high place. - -She was like a flower opening to the sunshine and spring rain. The color -came back to her pale cheeks and lips. Back also came the light of -health to her eyes. She moved like a new person. - -The assurance that no stone would be left unturned to learn her -husband’s fate, and her strange faith that he was still alive, -invigorated her. The change effected in her rapidly spread to the entire -household. Gloom slipped out of the door and sunshine ventured in with -summer. And this is as it should be in the house of children. - -While the cherry blossoms were still flying like myriad pink-and-white -birds in the skies and all the mossy ground was white with the flowery -carpet blown from the trees, the family went out once again on a flower -picnic. - -In the same little flowery gowns, the sleeve-wings weighted with petals, -they started gayly for the picnic grounds where “father” had taken them -only a year before. A gentle melancholy which pervaded even the youngest -of them, at the memory of that absent one, was dispersed with the -mother’s thought! - -“Father would have you happy to-day, children. This is _his_ day, -darlings. So be happy.” - -And so they were. They played the games popular in Japan, engaged in the -fascinating sport of kite-flying, listened with eager ears to the tales -of the grandfather, and then, sleepy, homeward bound in their -jinrikishas, lazily attacked passing festival-makers with the petals, to -be smothered in turn with the flowery shower. - -When they reached home it was gloaming. Norah made the discovery that -most of the children were asleep. - -“Shure,” said the girl, “they’re all babbies, mam, just look at the -darlints,” and she indicated the heads of the three little girls all -resting asleep on the back of the seat. Marion was in the middle with a -hand of each step-sister in her own. Mrs. Kurukawa stood silently -looking at them, then Norah interrupted her thoughts again. - -“Did you think, ma’am, I’d have the heart to leave them?” - -“I hoped not, Norah,” she answered, gently, “but I know it has been hard -for you, and you are a good girl.” - -She helped the Irish girl lift the sleeping Juji from the carriage. As a -maid from the house came to the jinrikisha Mrs. Kurukawa turned to -direct her to assist Norah. Something in the girl’s face startled her. -The usual impassive expression was gone, and in the dim light of the -evening her mistress saw the silent tears rolling down her face. - -“Why are you crying, Natsu?” she said. “Are you in trouble?” - -The girl shook her head. - -“What is it? You are unhappy about something.” - -Suddenly the girl slipped to the ground and buried her face in the folds -of her mistress’s kimono. Madame Sano drew her almost roughly away. - -“What is it?” she demanded, harshly, in Japanese. “It is unseemly to act -so in the okusama’s presence. Keep your troubles for your own chamber.” - -“But I have no troubles,” said the girl, rising and wiping her eyes with -her sleeves. “I w-weep because I am happy.” - -She brought the last word out with such hysterical vehemence that she -woke the older sleepers. They sat up, looking about them, startled from -their dreams. But Mrs. Kurukawa shook the girl by the arm. Her voice was -hoarse. - -“What is it, Natsu? Tell me quickly!” - -For answer the girl turned towards the house and pointed to the silent -figure standing there by the doorway. Even in the twilight the Japanese -children knew him. They jumped tumblingly from the jinrikishas and ran -towards him, calling his name aloud: - -“Gozo! Gozo! Gozo!” - -Mrs. Kurakawa turned and blindly followed the children. - -He put the clinging children aside from him and advanced a step towards -her. Then suddenly he stopped short, standing uncertainly. She spoke -with a note of irresistible appeal in her voice. - -“Oh, you bring me news of my husband—your father!” she said. - -He made a sort of smothered sound; then, with a movement strangely -reminiscent of his father, he seized her hand suddenly in his own and -fell on his knees before her. - -“Good news—for good woman!” he said. - -“He is alive!” she cried. - -“In Japan—the hospital at Saseho. I unworthily brought him home on—” - -He noticed that her hand fell feebly from his. Then he caught her as she -reeled. She had fainted. - -[Illustration: - - “HE SEIZED HER HAND SUDDENLY IN HIS OWN AND FELL ON HIS KNEES BEFORE - HER” -] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - XXVI - - -THE following morning Mrs. Kurukawa was with her husband, having -travelled all night, accompanied by Gozo. He had known she would come. -When she approached his bed he raised himself on his elbow and greeted -her cheerily, with an airy wave of his arm. When she saw his dear, -familiar face, with the kindly smile lighting up the features, she -rushed with an inward sob towards him. She could not speak, so deep were -the emotions that assailed her, but she clung to his hand as he -whispered to her. - -Later, when she was calmer, she took the chair Gozo placed for her; -then, with broken sentences, she poured out to her husband all that was -in her heart. - -The days that followed were cheery ones for the soldiers in Mr. -Kurukawa’s ward. His wife would come each day loaded with flowers, -books, magazines, and food of various sorts. She seemed to forget no one -in the ward. Sometimes her impatient and selfish husband actually -begrudged the little time she spent away from his side, as she went from -cot to cot with her gifts and her words of comfort and praise. He would -hold her hand greedily when she would come to him and say: - -“There! At last, you have come. Tell me everything now. Ah! the letters. -Read them, please, at once.” - -They always began the day with her reading of the pile of letters that -came from the impatient children at home. - -Taro wanted his father’s sword sent, unwashed, by express. If he waited -until they returned home he feared that some one might steal the -precious weapon in the interval. Of course, Gozo, as the eldest son, was -rightfully entitled to the sword, but he had a sword of his own already, -and Taro had none. If his father would only give him this one he would -swear by it to use it only in glorious service. Billy, apparently -inspired at his step-brother’s request, wrote an eloquent plea for his -father’s rifle. If his father could spare his uniform, which must be all -ragged and worn from bullet wounds and blood, Billy would cherish it as -his choicest possession. Marion’s epistles were always blurred by tear -marks. They were sometimes almost undecipherable. Because the invalid -insisted on hearing every word she had written, Mrs. Kurukawa usually -spent more time over her letters than any of the other children’s. The -little girl was given to dissecting her inmost emotions. Her letters -were usually a recital of how she felt when she heard this and that -about her dear, dear, _dear_, brave father, whom she loved so much. - -Plum Blossom wrote pages of flowery words. The father had simply made a -bird of her, she said. She wanted to sing and laugh all the time. She -had a calendar on which she chalked off each day the date, so she could -keep count of the days until her father would return. The baby had -fallen down the stairs, she wrote, but the floor, fresh padded with -rice-paper, in anticipation of the return of “father,” was so soft that -she only bounced when she reached the bottom. When Norah had picked her -up the baby had actually laughed, and said: “Coco faw down.” The baby -could make long sentences now. She could even say a prayer Marion had -taught her, but she was very rude, and often said “Amen” right in the -middle. - -There were three soldiers in the town, and everybody was making a great -fuss over them. Miss Summer had said she wished she could marry one of -them, which showed she had no sense, since Gozo already was a soldier. -Anyhow, the soldiers never deigned to look at little girls, and they -only marched by the Kurukawa house because they wanted to see Norah, who -said they were “small, but grand!” - -Iris’s letters brimmed over with the same expressions of love and -entreaties for the quick return of her parents. - -Finally, there came an extraordinary little document penned by Juji. It -was written in English, apparently under the direction of the faithful -Norah, for at the bottom of the sheet she had written: - - - “If you please, mam, it was Norah that taught the little lad to - write the beautiful letter.” - - -Beautiful it was to the eye of the fond father. Every letter was printed -and loving words misspelled. There were three smudges of ink on the -page. One distinct little mark, where a dirty little finger had rested -for a moment, pleased him. - -“Do you know,” said Mrs. Kurukawa, very earnestly, “I would still be in -Tokio if it had not been for the children’s letters. They used to come -in every mail—little, soiled epistles of love, all bearing their -childish pleas for mother to return. Why, I could not stay away from -them. They just drew me back.” - -Her husband looked at her fondly. - -“What a _mother_ you are!” he said. - -“Yes,” said she, “that’s my strongest trait—maternity. I love all -children. There’s nothing sweeter in the world than baby arms about -one’s neck, baby voices, baby kisses, baby touches. Oh, they are the -most precious things in life!” - -He looked a trifle injured. - -“You think more of babies than of husbands, then.” - -She laughed with the tears in her eyes. - -“Why, husbands are the biggest babies of all!” she said. “I’ve always -felt like a mother to you, you know.” - -“You have?” - -She nodded brightly. - -“Don’t you know what first appealed to me in you?” - -“No.” - -“Well, it was your utter loneliness in a strange country. You seemed so -strangely alone in America, and you wanted so much to be friendly. I saw -it in your face.” - -“Yes, I did want to be friendly—with you,” he admitted, gravely. - -“You did not find it hard, did you?” she asked, still smiling. - -“Yes, I did.” - -“Why, I gave you every encouragement.” - -“I know, but still I could not know that.” - -Gozo came into the ward, and, joining them, tossed upon the bed a number -of newspapers and periodicals. - -“What are you talking about?” he asked, noting their smiling -expressions. - -Blushing like a girl, the wife looked at her husband shyly. - -“We were talking about our courtship days, my son,” said Mr. Kurukawa. - -“Ah,” said Gozo, very seriously, “it makes one happy to think of those -times, does it?” - -“Very, very happy,” said his step-mother. - -Gozo sighed. - -“I cannot understand why,” he said, simply. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - XXVII - - -“HURRY down to Takashima, Taro, and tell him he must send us without -fail two large cases of the best and brightest fire-flies. Now, -remember, they must be delivered by to-morrow morning at latest.” - -“Can’t we bring them back, grandma?” queried Taro. - -“No, oh no, you might break the netting and the flies escape. Where is -Beely?” - -“Here I am, gam,” answered the boy from his place on the back piazza. He -was engaged in pasting carefully in a scrap-book several newspaper -pictures of his step-father. - -“Beely,” said Madame Sano, speaking now in English, “you must go down to -the river and get all the white pebbles and shells you can find. Fill up -your sleeves full.” - -“Aw right, gam,” said the boy, obediently, though he left his -fascinating book reluctantly. - -“What d’ye want with them, gam?” - -“For the flower-beds I desire. You would not have them look shabby when -your honorable father comes.” - -Billy sauntered off on his errand, whistling, overtook Taro, and they -raced down the street, Taro in the lead. - -“Marion!” the grandmother called up the little stairway. In answer to -the call she came running. - -“Yes, gramma.” - -“Where’s those bamboo palms?” - -“I’ll get them. Do you want them now?” - -“Ride away.” - -“All right.” - -Madame Sano took them from her and showed the little girl how to dust -the eaves with them. - -“Bamboo means long life,” she explained. “I always clean the house with -them, and the gods will deign long life to give.” - -“The gods!” gasped Marion, reproachfully. “Oh, grandmamma!” - -Madame Sano’s withered little face turned rosy. She had been from -girlhood a Christian, as she was proud to say. - -“I speak, my child,” she explained, “only poetically, not religiously.” - -“Oh,” said Marion, dubiously; then after a moment of silent work she -stopped and regarded the old woman earnestly. - -“Dear grandma, you _aren’t_ a heathen, are you?” - -“Dear grandma” grunted, but went on with her work, her little old face -puckered into a rather disdainful expression. - -“_Are_ you, grandma?” pleaded Marion. - -“Little girls make foolish question,” she answered finally, crossly. - -“Well, _are_ you a Christian, dear grandma?” persisted Marion. - -“Certainly I am,” replied the old lady, with dignity. - -Marion kissed her impulsively, whereupon she declared that the little -girl was honorably rude, and no help at all. - -“Join your sisters for flowers,” she ordered. - -“Shall we want so many flowers for the house, grandma?” asked Marion. - -“No, no, no. Only one small bunch for house.” - -“Then why—?” - -“The flowers are for the honorable picnic booth. It must have plenty.” - -“O—o-h! Why, grandma, it’s just covered heavy with wistarias now—” - -“Such a talk-child! Hush! Go at once.” - -The little girl obeyed this time, though she thrust a mischievous face -back between the shoji for a moment. - -“Grandma,” she called, “I’m going to take a wagon along and fill it. -Will that be enough?” - -“Go, go, naughty one!” and the naughty one fled. - -On this day the Kurukawa house seemed alive with busy ones. In every -room some one was moving about. Many of the old servants had been -recalled. From the top to the bottom of the house work was in progress. -The shoji of the entire upper floor had been pushed aside, making a sort -of roofed pavilion of this upper level. The little balconies were heaped -with flowers and green trailing vines were threaded in and out among the -railings. The long, bare expanse of exquisite matted floor needed no -relief of furniture. This cool interior was the most attractive place -imaginable. From all sides the breezes swept in, making it delightfully -cool. Madame Sano bustled about the place throwing mats about. - -Here the family would dine this day. The outlook was picturesque, for -one could see the blooming country and the blue fields and hills, and -nestling in its heart the little village. - -This was the floor on which the children slept. It was only the work of -a few minutes to slip the sliding-walls back into place again. Japanese -beds need no making. On the second floor Madame Sano had been most busy. -How the chamber of the okusama shone! The long, white, foreign bed -seemed not at all out of place in the room. It was the only furniture -Mrs. Kurukawa had brought with her. She used the little toilet-boxes of -Japan, and there were several bamboo chairs and one small rocker her -husband had bought for her in Yokohama. - -The room was sweet with the odor of some faint perfume. Perhaps it was -only the sandal-wood of the toilet-boxes, or the odor of sweet-smelling -incense which had recently been burned to purify the house. There was -not a speck of dust on the floor. Even Madame Sano, from whose sharp -little eyes nothing seemed to escape, seemed satisfied as she drew the -sliding-doors in place and descended to the lower floor. - -In the guest-room a maid was polishing something round and dark golden -in color. It was very ancient and beautiful, an old hibachi, highly -prized by the master of the house. A serving-boy stood waiting at the -tokonoma. He handed Madame Sano reverently the things he had brought -from the go-down. - -She did not put the kakemona in place, but left it on a stand, for there -was much else to see before she could spare the time for the tokonoma, -always the last and pleasantest task. Besides, she had promised Plum -Blossom the task of flower arrangement in the ancient house, and the -hanging of the scroll. - -A visit to the kitchen revealed the fact that the cook and four -assistants were deep in the preparation of a meal which promised to be -perfect in its excellence. - -Madame Sano felt and smelled of every bit of fish and meat, of fruit and -vegetable, to see that everything was fresh. She condescended to speak a -word of praise to the cook, an old man long in the service of the -family. - -“Choice marketing is an art, excellent Taguchi. Worthily you excel.” - -The cook bowed with the grace of an old-time courtier, his face wreathed -in smiles. Did the elderly grandmother believe that the okusama would -deign to be satisfied? - -The okusama would be honorably pleased, indeed, Madame Sano assured him. -She left the kitchen helpers in a glow, and outside the door listened, -her old face smiling to their happy chatter within. - -One said: - -“Hah! the master always liked his fish just so. If I give one more beat -to the fish it will be spoiled. These cakes are ready now for frying.” - -“The master,” said another, “has not eaten civilized food for many -moons. These rice-balls will water his palate.” - -A woman’s voice broke in shrilly. - -“Okusama will ask for the sugar-coated beans first of all. Look at -these, fresh as if growing. Think of the pleasure of her tongue.” - -“Talk less, work more,” came the admonishing voice of the old chief -cook. For a moment there was silence, then a woman’s voice broke into -song, and the song she sang was of war, furious, glorious war! - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - XXVIII - - -JUST before the noon hour the train bearing the Kurukawas arrived. They -were unprepared for the reception. The towns-people had gathered at the -station. When Mr. Kurukawa, pale, but able to walk alone, appeared on -the platform, a murmur which rapidly became a cheer arose from the -crowd. Old friends and neighbors rushed forward to greet him. He was -overwhelmed by the storm of banzais and cheers. The Japanese people do -not often give way in this fashion, but in these times they let -themselves loose, and they shouted now with all the pent-up enthusiasm -of months. Their heroes were sacred objects to them—to look at them even -was an honor. How proud the little town had become! Did they not boast -as a citizen one of the bravest heroes of the war? The gods had singled -them out for the peculiar honor. Grateful and proud indeed they felt. -Always a modest man by nature, the homage offered Mr. Kurukawa now -almost distressed him. Indeed, his face showed bewilderment and -embarrassment. Respectfully the people permitted his son to lead him to -the waiting jinrikisha. The crowds impeded the progress of the vehicles, -which they followed all the way to the house. - -At the house everything was ready for the reception. The children were -in their gayest clothes. All were rosy with excitement. About them -everything seemed to shine. Madame Sano, old as she was, made quite a -picture. Her withered old cheeks were pink with pride. - -They were all waiting there in the hall. Hard by, the servants in their -best attire waited also. - -“It’s after twelve already,” said Billy, consulting for the twentieth -time his Christmas watch. “They’re late.” - -“I hear sounds,” said Taro, his ears pinched up like a small dog’s. - -Taro rushed to the shoji, and before his grandmother could prevent him -he had thrust his fist through the beautiful new paper upon it. Billy, -however, made a rush for the door, forgetting in one moment all the -grandmother’s injunctions concerning the “dignified and most refined” -reception due at such a time. Billy’s departure seemed to affect the -girls. They looked at one another in hesitation. Then almost with one -accord they followed their brother’s lead, dragging little Juji along -with them. Down the garden-path they sped, stocking-footed, for they had -not stayed to put on clogs. Billy and Taro pushed through the gate -ruthlessly. Down the road they dashed. A moment later they were in the -midst of the crowd following and cheering their father. They shouted as -they ran and waved their arms wildly above their heads. Mr. Kurukawa saw -them while still a distance off, and suddenly arose in his seat. -Unmindful of the crowd, he gave an answering shout to the boys. How he -reached the house he never could remember. His wife told him afterwards -that the children seemed to fall upon him at once. They clung about his -legs, his hands, and his waist. - -Once across the threshold, he gave a great sigh. Then in a voice which -went straight to the very heart of old Madame Sano, he said: - -“This house seems to be the most beautiful place on earth.” - -He permitted an excited, happy maid to take off his sandals and bathe -his feet. Then followed by the happy ones, he ascended the stairs to the -upper floor, where the meal was served. Never in his life, he declared -over and over again, had he been so hungry. He ate everything placed -before him. When the children begged to be told this or that about his -adventures he would answer: “After dinner. Talk, all of you, if you -wish, but let _me_ eat.” - -“I thought,” said Billy, “that you were wounded, and that wounded men -aren’t allowed to eat so much.” - -“So _I_ thought in Saseho, my boy. We ate not much in Manchuria, but we -famished in the hospital.” - -“Honorable father, why did you not send me that sword?” queried Taro. - -“I had none to send, my son. It was lost.” - -“And the rifle, too, father?” asked Billy. - -“The rifle, too.” - -“But what about the uniform?” - -“Well, it was, as you thought, torn and worn from service. The Russians -gave me a new one.” - -“What!” cried Billy, in horror, “a Russian uniform!” - -Mr. Kurukawa smiled. - -“Hardly that, my boy. You see a sick man on a stretcher usually wears -a—er—-nightie—isn’t that what they call it?” - -“Oh-h!” said Taro and Billy both together, apparently disappointed. - -“If they put a Russian uniform on _me_,” growled Taro, “I would tear it -off!” - -Billy’s eyes rolled. - -“Hm! They’d never get one _on_ me!” said he. - -“What did they put on you, Gozo?” asked Taro, turning to his brother. - -“Yes,” added Billy. “_You_ weren’t wounded.” - -“Neither was my uniform,” smiled Gozo. “They permitted me to retain my -honorable garment.” - -“Huh! Well, did they torture you?” - -“No—oh no.” - -“Not even knout you?” - -“No. They were augustly kind—sometimes.” - -“Sometimes!” repeated Billy, excitedly. “Then some other times they were -cruel, huh?” - -“Not exactly, but—well, there were many things we thought reasonable to -ask for, and they did not agree with us.” - -“What things?” - -Gozo looked at his father. The latter, still eating, nodded to him to -continue. - -“Well, sometimes we begged for letters to be sent to our friends.” - -“And they wouldn’t—” - -“They would take our letters, but they did not send them. Our people -permitted Russian prisoners to write to their friends. Not always were -the Japanese allowed to do so.” - -“But on the whole,” put in Mrs. Kurukawa, gently, “they treated you -kindly, did they not?” - -Gozo’s face was inscrutable. Then after a slight silence he answered, -gravely: - -“We were prisoners, madame—mother—not guests.” - -“I bet they herded you together like cattle!” cried Billy, indignantly. - -Gozo and his father exchanged smiles. - -“Hardly,” said Mr. Kurukawa. “There were not enough Japanese prisoners -to ‘herd,’ you know.” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Illustration] - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - XXIX - - -“TELL us a story of horrible carnage,” said Billy, his freckled face -aglow with excitement. - -Gozo took the long-stemmed pipe Plum Blossom had filled for him with -sisterly solicitude. Three or four puffs only he drew, then permitted -Iris in turn the pleasure of refilling it. - -“You better wait till father is more better. He kin tell better story,” -he said, gravely. - -“Oh, _you’re_ a veteran, too,” declared Billy, admiringly. - -“And a _hero_!” added Marion, in an awed voice. - -Gozo permitted the ghost of a smile to flicker across the tranquillity -of his face. - -“In liddle while,” said Plum Blossom, smiling happily, “father coming -down into garden. He’ll tell story then.” - -“He naever tell story ’bout his own self,” said Taro, discontentedly. -“He mos’ greatest hero of all. Tha’s right, Gozo?” - -Gozo nodded gravely. - -“Mos’ of all,” he agreed. - -“’Cept _you_,” said Marion, still bent on hero worship. - -Gozo smiled in the little girl’s direction. His usually impassive face -was strangely winning when he smiled. Marion went closer to him, and, -taking her hand, put it fondly against his cheek. - -“You see, Gozo,” she said, “I used to think about you as a hero even -before father went away.” - -“Yes,” said Billy, disgustedly, “she thinks you’re a greater hero than -Togo even.” - -“But Miss Summer—she say that you better have die,” put in Taro. - -“Yes,” said Gozo, sighing, “it was my misfortune not to get killed.” - -“Oh, don’t, don’t! Just think how unhappy we would all have been if you -had never come home,” said tender-hearted Marion, “and think what you’d -have missed—never to have seen us—mother and Billy and the baby and me.” - -Gozo admitted that their acquaintance certainly was worth living for. - -“Our _acquaintance_!” said Marion, reproachfully; “our _love_ you should -say. We love you, Gozo.” - -“Then if you love Gozo why you nod waid upon him like unto Iris an’ me?” -queried Plum Blossom. “See how we fill up thad pipe mebbe twenty-one -times an’ also we bring wiz tea—” - -“An’ also I fan him,” added Iris, suiting the action to the words. - -For a moment Marion looked very thoughtful. - -“I know,” she said, “that you love him, too, but even if I just talk to -him, I can love him just the same. Can’t I, Gozo?” - -“Yes, but you only love me for mebbe liddle w’ile. Then soon’s my father -come you desert me. Tha’s same thing with Plum Blossom and Iris. Me? I -am grade hero when I am alone, but when my father come, I am jus’ liddle -insignificant speck—nothing!” - -“Oh, Gozo!” - -“Never mind,” he said, with mock seriousness. “Nex’ week I goin’ sail -for America. _Then_, perhaps, you sorry.” - -The tears slipped from Marion’s eyes, and she wiped them with the pink -sleeve of her kimono. - -“Take me with you, dear Gozo!” - -“An’ me, also.” - -“An’ me, too,” cried the two little girls. - -“Girls,” said Billy, with contempt, “aren’t allowed in colleges. You -haven’t any sense, Marion!” - -“Well, b-but I could keep house for Gozo.” - -“A fine house you’d keep,” said her brother, witheringly. - -Marion’s pride arose. She ignored Billy entirely. - -“Gozo,” she said, “mother let me do all kinds of work when the servants -went.” - -“Hoom!” grunted Billy, “you used to play at work. Plum Blossom did it -all. If you take any _girl_”—he spoke the word with almost Oriental -contempt—”take Plum Blossom.” - -The latter smiled gratefully in the direction of her step-brother. - -“I goin’ wait till you grow up, Beely. _Then_ I keep house for you.” - -“You gotter git marry with Takashima Ido,” put in Taro. - -“I _nod_ got!” cried the little girl, indignantly. - -“You _got_!” persisted Taro. “His fadder already speag for you to our -fadder.” - -“Tha’s jus’ account our fadder becom’ hero. _He_ wan’ be in our family -also. But I nod goin’ marry thad boy all same. He got a small-pox all -over his face.” - -“Plenty husband got small-pox,” said Taro. “He also got lots money. -Mebbe one hundred dollars.” - -Plum Blossom pouted. - -“I goin’ marry jus’ same my mother. Me? I goin’ _loave_ my husband.” - -“What’s all this talk of husbands?” queried a cheerful voice. - -Mr. Kurukawa seated himself among the children. Plum Blossom and Iris -found a seat, one on each of his knees. Between them Juji nestled -against his father’s shoulder. The hand which had rested so contentedly -in Gozo’s a moment since had become a bit restless. Marion, the fond, -showed an inclination again to desert; but Gozo maliciously held her -small hand tightly so that she could not escape. - -“I want to say something to father,” she said. - -“Say it to me,” said Gozo. - -“Yes, but—” - -“Hah! Did I not say so? Very well, you love me only sometimes. Tha’s not -kind love.” - -She was contrite in a moment, essaying to put her hand back in his, but -he waved it away bitterly. - -“No, no. Tha’s too lade. Never mind. I know one girl never leave me.” - -“You mean Summer?” - -“Summer-san. What a beautiful name!” - -Marion turned her back upon him. - -“Listen,” he said into her little pink ear. “I go alone at America, but -after four years I come bag, an’ then I goin’ tek to America with me—” - -“Summer?” - -“No.” - -“Me?” - -“No—nod exactly.” - -“Then _who_, Gozo?” - -“All of you.” - -“Oh, won’t that be lovely,” she cried. “Father, are we all going to -America in four years?” - -He nodded, smiling. “After Gozo graduates.” - -“An’ naever come bag at Japan?” cried Plum Blossom, in a most tragic -voice. - -“Oh yes, it will be only a visit, perhaps.” - -“I goin’ to die ride away when I cross that west water,” averred the -little Japanese girl. - -“Why,” grumbled Billy, “you just now promised you’d be my house-keeper.” - -“In Japan,” said Plum Blossom. - -Taro had finished whittling the bamboo arrow he had been industriously -fashioning. - -“Pleese, my father, tell now thad story of yourself.” - -“Yes?” - -“Oh do.” - -All of the children chorussed assent. - -“Very well. Now it’s a long, long story, and if any of you go to sleep -in the telling—” - -“Oh, how could we?” breathed Marion. - -“Very well, then. Come close, all of you.” - -They drew in about him, their small, eager faces entranced at once. He -smiled about the circle, touched a little head here and there, and then -began his tale: - -“Once upon a time—” - - - THE END - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ● Transcriber’s Notes: - ○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected. - ○ Typographical errors were silently corrected. - ○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only - when a predominant form was found in this book. - ○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A JAPANESE BLOSSOM *** - -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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